*~~ Dried Tears~~*

Amu locked her door and fell onto her bed, tears already staining her cheeks.

"Why'd he have to do this to me?" she repeated for the fiftieth time that afternoon. "I thought he was in love with me!" As the tears overflowed her eyes she silently made a prayer, 'Please, God, I never want to fall in love ever again! Let my heart piece itself back together and never fall apart again, please.' As soon as she had buried her face in her pillow, she heard a knock on her balcony and a velvety voice call, "Yo."

"W-what are you doing here?" her voice trembled, trying to hide the fact she was crying, knowing Ikuto would just press for a reason.

"I came to visit you, what else?" he asked, walking towards her. "Amu, are you okay, are you sick or something?" She turned over so he wouldn't see her tears.

"Nothing's wrong, so just leave!"

"Well, if you're fine that means you're crying about something."

"N-no I'm not c-crying," her self-control was waning. Ikuto walked to the side she was facing and held her waist so she couldn't turn to the other side again.

"Yes you are, now tell me why." He locked his gaze with hers, staring deeply into her golden orbs. All at once she snapped, cracking from his stare.

"Alright already, I'm crying, I'm a mess, just hurry up and leave me alone to be miserable myself!" she sobbed, blushing more out of embarrassment than because of Ikuto. This time, that is.

"Amu, calm down and tell me why you're crying, if it's something stupid like a bad grade I won't laugh, just tell me why."

"He cheated on me!" she exclaimed, pushing herself into Ikuto's chest. He blinked, and then pulled her closer.

"Do you want to talk about it, Amu?" he wiped away her tears.

"W-well, I got a text from T-Tadase asking me to go to the park and meet him there, but when I got there he was k-kissing another girl," immediately his eyes softened and he began combing through her hair.

"I'm sorry Amu, I can't see why he'd cheat; you're a perfect girl with hardly any flaws, anyhow, what did you do?"

"Once he saw me he started sputtering excuses and then telling the girl I was just a friend, so I slapped him and ran away." She began to quiver, feeling like she was going to cry again.

"Ikuto, what should I do?" she cried. "No matter how much I think and say that I don't want to see him and that I hate him, it still hurts so much, I don't know how to make this unbearable pain in my heart go away!"

"I might have an idea." He smirked and then whispered, "Are you willing to betray him, too?" He sat up and pulled her into his lap with their eyes at the same level.

"H-huh-?" Ikuto cut her off. Amu's eyes widened as Ikuto kissed her as sweetly as she had seen Tadase had kissed the girl. 'I-I can't… kiss back, but Tadase already has… so I guess it would be okay…' As Ikuto held tighter and broke the kiss Amu panted for breath.

"T-That was m-my first k-kiss!" she whisper/screamed as a shiver rippled down her spine.

"I enjoyed my first, too." He pulled her further into his chest and nuzzled her ear.

"Alright, Ikuto, I've calmed down, so let go."

"No," he childishly sighed. "I never want to let go; besides, if I just leave you'll go back to crying like before I came." She sighed at the way he was acting more like a seven year old than a seventeen year old. But no matter how childish he was, she had to admit that he could be comforting when he wanted to.

"I guess you're right…"

"See, I'm not just cuddling you for my own enjoyment," he smirked in pleasure. "But I certainly am enjoying it."

"Save your perverted side for when I'm not about to cry," she was close to elbowing him in the gut.

"Alright, alright," he leaned back and put his arms behind his head. "You're really a catch, Amu; don't think that you're not just because you caught Tadase with another girl." Amu laid back and closed her eyes.

"I'd like you a lot more if you'd be like this more often…"

"And I'd like you a lot more than I do if you were this affectionate always."

"You just have to ruin it, don't you?"

"Yep," he closed his eyes. Amu gave in and leaned into his embrace and blushed, 'Ugg, I can feel my face heating up, Ikuto's never gonna let me live this down.'

"Why're you being cooperative all of a sudden?" she could hear his smirk in his voice.

"I'm tired, so just be quiet and stop teasing me."

"Okay, if you ask a little sweeter," he grinned. Amu took a deep breath and prepared her face for him.

"Oh, Iku-koi, I'm really sleepy, so could you be quieter for a bit?" she batted her eyelashes. "Please?"

"Anything for you, Amu-koi," he chuckled.