Posted this MONTHS late. Written for a Shadowplay challenge - but I can't remember anymore which one.

"Just a Kiss"

. . .

She didn't know her heart could beat that hard.

. . .

There was no need for love in Caldera.

Well, at least romantic love. Her brothers and sisters (or fellow clones, as Alan liked to call them at times - that jerk) cared about each other and loved each other plenty. Sure, there were some bad apples in their bunch here and there, those who didn't understand warmth and friendliness even if these stared at them right in the face, but for the most part, they all understood this platonic yet deep emotion that forged bonds.

Romance, though – that was something they were pretty clueless about.

In all honesty, she wondered before how much of it she actually understood. When she came to Earth, she saw the movies. She saw the TV shows. She saw the way human girls looked at human boys—and vice versa—and the way their smiles just grew like wildflowers on the side of the road whenever they see their affections returned.

She liked the warm feelings that came from seeing that; it was refreshing, like the rain. But she didn't know if it was because she thought it was just pretty to look at, or if it was because she wanted to experience it, too.

For a while, there was no way to tell. There was no one in Mighty Med that made her want to explore. The male superheroes checking in and out day in and day out were either married or married to their duties. Plus, they were all older.

Occasionally, a teenage guy would come in. Sometimes they were cute. Sometimes they were handsomely dedicated to saving lives, which made their hearts attractive.

Oftentimes, though, they were lackluster. They never got any farther than sheer curiosity.

None of them dared her to try.

There was also Alan, but...no.

Not even close.

Not long after, she met Kaz and Oliver. Kaz was...not an option. He's like Alan, but a little closer to her and kinder to others.

Oliver, though – Oliver had been different.

Everybody said his feelings for her was obvious, which means she was just either painfully oblivious because she didn't notice it for a long time, or she wasn't too interested in cultivating that further. Yeah, he was nice, and yeah, she thought he was different from all the boys she had met before, but she just didn't think much of it.

He was a nice boy with an impressive brain on his head. For a while, though, she only thought of him as a reliable friend.

But soon, that changed. Certain days he looked cuter than she remembered, and certain days his words touched her deeper than they usually did. It was part of their jobs, but eventually the two of them (plus Kaz, too) have grown close enough that they were willing to die for one another.

It was the first time she wondered whether that was the love that she kept seeing on TV and all around her. She cared very much about him, a little more than she cared about Kaz. She liked his smile, and at one point the idea of him being with another girl was plain displeasing. She enjoyed the sometimes idea that comes to her head of her being with him. Just sometimes.

That was love, right? The elements that made up their relationship, whatever it actually was, seemed to indicate so.

Yet, when they actually grew closer and closer past the friendship and into the confusing medium of just enjoying each other's company and actually dating, she began to feel that something was lacking.

She wasn't...happy. It was like admiring a white lily and wrapping her fingers tightly around its neck to pluck it from the ground where it had been growing happily. She and Oliver were growing older together, happily, but she didn't know that she saw them doing so togethertogether.

Her smile and life and heart strings didn't intertwine with his. With him, she was a destructive ivy: beautiful as a decoration but intrusive and misplaced in her purpose.

When she told him they couldn't be, that they were too different and honestly, Oliver – you deserve a girl who will love you the way you should be loved, it broke her heart. Not because she realized she had been wrong to nip everything at the bud but because it made her sad to see him sad. She was also genuinely sad that it didn't work out for them. In another place, in another time, and in another sequence of events, they could've been great together. They could've been happy and in love – a picture perfect couple.

But things were different, and she knew that even if it hurt now, it would be the best decision for both of them in the long run.

She thought then that that was the end of it for her. No more searching for something that her kind never found necessary in the first place. Maybe Chase had been right: since romantic bonds usually led to marriage then having children, she subconsciously just didn't find it necessary. Why would she? Calderans didn't procreate. They just...were.

Plus, she didn't even know if she was capable of having children of her own (hello, Mystery Genetic Makeup).

Maybe she was okay being by herself, which honestly wasn't as depressing as many humans campaign it to be.

But then, like autumn rain, he came.

It wasn't so spectacular like writers and poets make it to be, at least not their story. When it began (that word had always been subjective, she thought), it was their second time to meet.

Leo. It had been years since she last saw him. Back then, he was a newly minted superhero whom she thought was hyperactive and tried too much. Her impression of him during their absence from each other's lives didn't improve either: Bree and Chase talked about their little brother like he was the most fickle and unstable thing to exist on planet Earth. As always, she took it with a grain of salt. Over time, though, after hearing only their reports of how their father had to insure nearly everything in their home in Mission Creek because of him, she began believing it.

He didn't seem that much different when he visited Centium City with Adam. He was still more or less hyper, and he hadn't seem to have outgrown his clumsiness as much as his family probably expected him to.

He had aged, though – not quite in a good way. He looked...tired, like he had seen way too many horrors more than people their age should have seen.

She knew it was a cruel thought but, she resented him a little for that. They were all tired, weary of having seen the worst of the world nearly every day. How could he feel so free to show what they all felt inside? He was supposed to be happy, like he used to be, like they all tried to be in front of people. He wasn't supposed to be tired.

However, she figured that she didn't have to confront that curiosity about him because they wouldn't be there for long. It was just a vacation, they said, as their father shuffled around the other bionic kids to give them their new assignments. They'd only be there for about three months.

But two months, or 57 days to be exact, had been more than enough.

They had become friends-like before she could even decide whether she wanted to or not. He was charming, easy-going, and a fantastic conversationalist. He would smile at her in the mornings, greet her good morning, and ask her how she was. "Fine" was all she would say at first before going on her day.

Soon enough, though, Fine started to come with a smile, and the Fine with a smile would turn into I'm okay. Didn't sleep too well last night.

And him, being him, would ask why, and her, being her, would politely oblige to a dialogue that she thought wouldn't matter in the long run.

They became friends not long after due to a few things. He was amazingly resourceful whenever they were out on their missions, and he had a wicked sense of humor. With Adam there, Chase had taken to showing his older brother that he was the leader of their team (he was not) and that he had limitless control over them (he did not). In his show of power, he always sent her and his little brother out on dinner runs, which in turn gave her the chance to see how funny Leo could actually be.

Leo, being rebellious as he was, liked to make Chase wait for their food by making unnecessary stops to corner shops. She, being fed up with her team member's sudden megalomania, was only happy to enable him and to even go along with his plans.

That was where it all took a turn, she guessed, when they began spending more time together. He would make her laugh, create many inside jokes with her that secretly made her feel that she belonged. He would tell her stories about himself while also drawing her out to tell her stories, too. They would scheme together of subtle ways to have Chase understand that they were not his puppets.

Before she knew it, being physically together became insufficient. They began sending texts to each other at nights until they fell asleep even when they lived in the same headquarters.

It still wasn't love then, she didn't think. It was just companionship – a companionship she never realized was available for her.

She would have been content with that, she thought, thinking what they had was enough for her, if he hadn't been so bold and curious and unafraid of risks like she was.

They were out one night when he asked. They were observing a closed down car repair shop for their villain-of-the-week from a beat up car with heavily tinted windows. Out of nowhere, he looked at her with worry in his eyes.

Getting contact worry from him, she asked, 'What? What is it?'

He shook his head then turned his attention back to the motionless building. In the back of the car, Kaz snored louder. 'I was just wondering about something.'

'Wondering?'

'Mm-hm.'

'About...?'

He picked up the 44-ounce drink he bought at the gas station earlier, took a long sip, and then said, 'Us.'

Her brows had quirked at him. Kaz complained for a whole half hour about getting stuck with the stakeout, and she thought he was going to do the same.

Instead, he took a quick breath – a breath of courage. Then, he looked at her. 'I think I like you.'

Five words, and she was left speechless. A grin pulled at her lips not long after; he must have meant something else. 'What?'

He sighed. 'I know. This is a problem.'

Problem. That meant...

Instinctively, she turned her head to see if Kaz understood what Leo said the way she understood it. The guy only snored.

'Don't worry. You don't have to do anything about it,' Leo had said forgivingly. 'I just...thought it was fair for you to know. I also don't like banking on false hopes, so. I mean, this is the worst time, of course. We're stuck in this car for goodness knows how much longer, and then now you've got me flipping out like—'

He stopped himself from rambling. He took a moment, took a breath, and then continued, 'It's just – I like you, that's all. You don't have to do anything about it. I just wanted to see if I have a chance, I guess.'

She only stared when he smiled at her.

'So, like, I haven't told you yet, but Big D just called me last night with my options for reassignment. Maybe that's why I wanted to see if, you know – what's the best thing to do. I really do like you but, if I don't have a chance, I'd like to know. Whatever your answer is, I'll be okay. I just want to know so I'm not hanging around you and making things awkward if you don't see us as something more than friends.'

He ventured to lift his eyes up at her then. The look in them was kind, which surprised her. She didn't get that he demanded any sort of answer from her as if the situation they were in was a time bomb. She only read patience, as if he waited on the colorful spring to come as winter finishes its course.

Her brain was the first to react at that. Dating? Did she even have room for it? She was old enough (actually, by Earth's standards, she'd been 'old enough' five years ago). But, was it going to be conducive to what she had planned for herself? She wanted to keep saving people. Would dating get in the way of that, or vice versa?

Plus, was she ready to do that over again? When she tried that with Oliver, it hadn't been the best experience. She ended up losing their friendship. Was she ready to lose her friendship with Leo if it didn't work out?

She returned her gaze at him and for a moment imagined what it would be like being with him. It surprised her to see them being just the way they'd been: laughing, joking, exploring things and places Yelp suggested. They would be friends first and foremost. But also, they'd be...

Her eyes instinctively fell on his hand. What would it be like holding it, her own calloused fingers intertwining with his scarred ones? And all the way up, to his shoulder – what would it be like to lay her head there and feel his warmth next to her?

What would it be like having someone so close, someone she cared so deeply about, and knowing that they were threads that had been intricately woven together by space and time?

She looked back into his eyes. Her heart began beating hard, so hard. She told herself to look away because looking on might just cause her heart to explode into countless pieces. To her horror and her surprise, she couldn't.

It was like he had locked her to him.

'Okay,' she told him, the halves of her mind and heart floating somewhere in blissful space.

'Okay?'

She nodded, and for the first time she felt clumsy.

His brows quirked. 'Okay go away, or okay...?'

I don't know how to be a girlfriend, she wanted to tell him. Bree told her sometime ago that Leo has had a girlfriend before. There had also been a few other girls who tried to get his attention. She didn't know if he had any expectations with her. Did he like girls with two-hours worth of makeup on their faces, hair done, wearing formfitting, pretty dresses? She only owned two lipsticks, a lip balm, hair ties, and jeans. What if that wasn't enough?

And she...she hasn't even had her first kiss yet. She almost kissed Oliver before, but she almost killed him too.

Leo laughed. 'Well, that's nice to know.'

She tilted her head. What?

His grin shrunk to a warm smile. 'And, that's not a big deal to me. I haven't had my first kiss either,' he admitted shyly.

Her heart stopped. She could die. Did she actually tell him that she hadn't had her first kiss?

As her cheeks bloomed of pink while he continued talking, she wondered how it felt to kiss someone. She saw them before, onscreen and in real life. She knew how it looked like, but how did it feel like?

Pushed by adrenaline and overwhelming curiosity, she jumped from her seat and planted a quick kiss on Leo's lips.

She felt as if she had been electrocuted—both in good and bad ways. He stared at her wide-eyed like she had done an unthinkable thing. She did, actually; she realized that at that moment. She had stolen his first kiss, and she hadn't even officially agreed to date him.

It was stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

But—her heart and mind and her whole being, it felt as if she had been jumpstarted to life. There was a nice fire kindling in her heart, so cozy and warm and alluring.

She hadn't felt that before.

'I'm...I'm sorry,' she said. 'I don't know what I was thinking.'

'No, that's...' He shook his head, stunned by her action. He cleared his throat. 'So, um, is that, you know – ' he shrugged, 'a Yes? Like, are we dating now?'

A small smile pulled at her lips. 'I guess so.'

'Okay,' he said, his voice breaking. He cleared his throat again. 'Yeah. I mean, I guess I'd have to call Big D tomorrow and tell him I want to go to Emerald Cove instead of, you know, Denmark.'

She grinned.

The events that followed that night were strange, but she found them as the good kind of strange. Her housemates stared when the two of them came back from their first date with their arms linked (to be fair, they didn't know they had gone off on a date). They definitely stared when they hugged each other tightly the morning Leo and Adam left Mission Command.

'You two are getting a little too friendly, aren't you?' Bree commented.

The comment annoyed her. 'He's my boyfriend, Bree. I think I'm allowed to hug him now,' she said.

That stunned the Davenport siblings.

Kaz, on the other hand, clucked his tongue. 'I knew I didn't just dream that!' To Bree he said, 'See? I told you! You brother asked Skylar out the night we had the stakeout!'

The calendars indicated that she and Leo saw each other for 564 days after that, but it didn't even feel that long. Before falling asleep one night, she thought that maybe it was because they always enjoyed being together. Through the time she spent with him, she came to understand the joys and sorrows and the victories and insecurities that were all in him. She adored every strong and weak parts of him.

She loved him.

She loved him.

That shocked and elated her at the same time. Love? She didn't even know much about it, much more so be capable of showing it. Now she freely thought in terms of it when he was on her mind.

It was different, and new. In a good way.

There may have been no need for that kind of love in Caldera but for her, in Earth, she found that she now wanted it. And on the night he told her 'I love you,' she realized she needed it too.

She needed his love and affection and adoration, and she knew deep down that he needed all of these things from her, too.