Promises

"Guess who?"

"Do I have to?"

"Yup."

"Um..Brooke?"

"No, dummy! It's me!" She said, turning his head to face her.

"Oh, hey me."

"Shut up," She grinned.

"Sorry, hey you."

"Much better." She stuck her tongue out at him.

He smiled softly at her, but she saw right through it.

"Something wrong?"

"I guess not."

"You guess not? Give me a break, Mouth. I'm not that dumb."

"Life is like a pen, you can cross something out but you can never erase it."

"Uh oh. What did you do this time?" She asked him.

"Rachel! Why do you think I did something?"

"I don't know. When you get all moody like this, you've usually done something, you're not so proud of." She said, twisting her long red hair around her finger as she spoke.

"Why do you always have to be right?" Mouth sighed.

"One of my god given talents. Calculus being another."

Mouth rolled his eyes.

"But no, in all seriousness, what's wrong?" She smiled.

"What if Shelley was the one?" He frowned.

"Mouth, not again."

"Yes, again."

Rachel thought about this for a moment.

"Okay, idea. What about this." She said.

Mouth nodded, waiting for her to continue.

"How can Shelley be the one, if I'm the one?" She asked, staring at the boy that sat in front of her.

"Rachel, you're a nice..."

"Mouth McFadden, don't you dare call me a nice person. I just put my heart on the line there." Rachel snapped. "It's dead obvious, Mouth, that Shelley wants nothing to do with you. But you've got a girl that loves you right in front of you, and you're ignoring her!"

Mouth thought about this. Maybe Rachel was right. Maybe Shelley really wasn't going to come back. Maybe Rachel really was the better choice here. Maybe he loved Rachel more than Shelley anyways.

"Don't waste your time on a girl, that wouldn't waste her time on you." Rachel whispered.

Mouth looked into Rachel's gorgeous eyes and it was there that he found comfort for the first time in months.

Rachel looked back at him, seeing the vulnerability in Mouth's pale face. It was clear that he was scared as hell. He was tired of putting himself out there and ending up with his heart broken.

"I won't hurt you, Mouth." She smiled, but the tears rolled down her cheeks anyways.

"I believe you," Mouth said quietly, "I trust you, Rachel."

Rachel took Mouth's hand in hers and squeezed it lightly.

Mouth's eyes moved downwards from her eyes, until he found her lips. Soft and pink, he brought his free hand up, tracing them gently. His hand found her cheek, cupping it softly.

"Can I kiss you?" Mouth asked softly.

Rachel nodded slowly.

And so Mouth kissed her lips softly. He kissed her as he had kissed no one else, not even Shelley. It felt right kissing Rachel, and from that one kiss, he knew that Rachel wouldn't leave him. As they slowly broke apart, Rachel smiled at Mouth.

"I really do love you, you know."

"I love you too, Rachel."

"Promise?"

"Promise."