Pretend

A one-shot written by: Cendrée

(This is where I say I don't own anything.)

He didn't like the way this was making him feel. He didn't like the bubbly feeling in his stomach, he didn't like the sudden elation that washed over him when he felt her hands on his shirt, and he didn't like the sudden awareness of everything about Moze, like how her lips were very soft and her skin was very soft and she was very warm and she smelled very nice and tasted very good and--.

And he had enjoyed it. There was no point in trying to deny it. In fact, that kiss just might have topped his list of amazing experiences.

He definitely should not be enjoying kissing his best girl friend (not girlfriend) this much.

And he definitely should not be enjoying pretend kisses with his best girl friend. Especially pretend kisses that were only happening because Missy was being crazy and Moze was nice enough to help out; kisses that he was sure didn't mean anything to Moze; kisses that were affecting him like no other kisses had.

And they were really getting to him, to the point where he was almost hoping that crazy-Missy, even after seeing them lock lips, wouldn't believe them and force (or in his case, provide him with the opportunity for) them to kiss again.

"The twenty-four hours are not up yet!" Missy growled, waving a pink clock at them.

Ned vaguely registered that Missy stormed off and that he and Moze were now free to act like they normally did around each other. The major problem was that he couldn't seem to remember what normal was.

He cleared his throat and straightened his shirt, intent on avoiding Moze's eyes.

"Wow," he said, chuckling nervously. "That was…uh…pretty convincing."

"Way to be tactful, Ned," he thought. "Way to act normal."

"Anything for a pal." Moze replied, interrupting his internal monologue.

Her words registered, albeit slowly. A pal. A pal. Meaning a friend, referencing to Ned. They were just friends. Just friends, right? They've known each other forever, they were, and still are, just friends. He knew this. He firmly believed in this. And yet, for some strange reason, he had now started talking about things that should definitely not be brought up between two friends who just shared a pretend kiss.

"So," he began, his voice steadily getting higher. "How are you and Faymen doing—?"

A little voice in his head screamed. "What the HELL are you doing?!"

"—Jus—just asking," he finished rather shakily before punching Moze in the arm, just as shakily.

Internal Ned was now attempting to give himself a concussion.

Well, now he wasn't sure that there was even a point to pretending anymore. He thought about this while Moze explained something about fighting to him. Sumo wrestlers who he assumed were Faymen and Seth smashed each other against lockers.

"'How are you and Faymen?'" He thought, amazed with his tactlessness. Moze was still talking, but he was only catching little pieces of what she was saying.

Who was he kidding? He should just tell her outright that he was sick of this and that they should just go out for real. No more pretending. Then he would kiss her again. It probably would have helped him feel better.

He jumped and his thoughts scattered when the sumo-boys crashed against the metal of the lockers. The adrenaline from the kiss was making him rather edgy. They crashed again and Ned slowly began gathering his thoughts back up, trying to return to sensibility.

Okay, he told himself, he wasn't going to do anything drastic. He wasn't going to act any differently around her. He wasn't going to grab Moze and try to ravish her. Definitely not. He was going to play it off as though nothing had happened. That sounded like a good plan for now.

Moze was now very cautiously tugging at his shirt to get him to move. From what he could tell, she was talking about being late for class.

He could do this. He just wouldn't think about how the kiss made him feel. The obvious chemistry between them would not cross his mind; he would suppress the giddiness that welled up inside him when they acted like a couple. This would work, he was sure it could.

He'd take things a step at a time, and the first step would be to walk with Moze to class. Normally.

And without thinking about the kiss.

And maybe...maybe he'd try something when Missy wasn't being crazy and chasing after him and sumo-wrestlers weren't trying to girl-honor-fight each other over Moze. But that would come later. So, first things first: acting normal. And not thinking about potential feelings.

Alright, he decided, this would be the end of all thoughts of Ned and Moze as (pretend or otherwise) boyfriend and girlfriend.

Well, for a while, at least.

Hm. I should have posted this a while ago. Too many ideas, too little time, I guess. Well, there you go then. A plotless Ned/Moze drabble thing. I'm a little unsure how to feel about it because it was a spur-of-the-moment, Jealousy-inspired, "ZOMGNEDANDMOZEKISSEDYESSS" sort of story. But feel free to tell me what you thought.

(As a head's up: you might see this story change in some minor ways. I have a nasty habit of tweaking after posting.)