- Kiss To Make Better -

He shouldn't of done it, he knew it instantly, but pretty girls shouldn't cry, and for some reason he thought kissing her would make it better, make all the problems go away. He wasn't thinking. But it had stopped her crying, so there was that. He held his head in his hands, elbows on knees, rocking back and forth slightly, wishing anything for a time machine to go back and undo his actions.

"Why? Why did you do that?" She was still sitting next to him on the couch, too shocked to move. Her voice soft and confused.

"I-" He managed before trying to curl in on himself more.

"Dylan? Dylan are you okay?"

Oh that was funny, he was the one kissing her and she was asking if he was okay, okay not that funny, but still, it wasn't supposed to be that way. And what could he really say? That he wanted her to stop crying? Who did that, what kind of person did that?

"Dylan! Dylan look at me! Look at me, it's okay! I'm not mad, confused, but not mad. Dylan come on, don't freak out on me, I'm not in a place to handle that."

Her voice was becoming slightly panicked and her hands were on his shoulder and arm, gripping and shaking him at the same time. He looked at her. Her face was pale and covered in worry, her eyes big and still wet, she smiled just a little, trying to be reassuring.

"I'm sorry Alex. I-, I wasn't thinking, I shouldn't have done that."

"No, probably not, but it's okay. I'm fine, well not really, but not because of you." She hastily amended. "Oh Dylan, this night is a huge mess. I just want to go home." She completed with a sigh and slouching back completely into the cushions of the couch.

She was right, the night was a total mess. He should leave, why was he even at a college party again, he had a vague memory about being handed a flyer and having nothing else to do. Finding his ex's sister crying in the corner was just another weird twist that was his life, kissing her the glass on the road of his life, though she did seem somewhat fine about it. He was calming down too, able to raise his head and look at her properly. Her features sad under the tear stains on her face, her eyes still wet but glazed over not really looking at anything, she seemed so tired, and there that damn urge to kiss everything away was again, he shook his head, fighting it, and started to straighten up to stand get far away from here.

"Well that was fast." Some guy Dylan had never seen before was blocking his path, standing almost directly in front of him and glaring at Alex. Something hot started bubbling at the back of Dylan's mind.

"Go away Brad." Alex spoke hollowly, not moving.

"Why? So you can make-out with some random guy you just met? Maybe he slips you something and you wake up naked not knowing what happened, maybe he doesn't slip you anything and you still wake up naked. Is that what you want Alex?"

"What do you care? You broke up with me, remember?"

"Well yeah, but it was just a few minutes ago. And, and you already have your tongue down someone else's throat!"

"Hey-" Dylan made to reply, he most certainly had not had his tongue down Alex's throat, or she his, maybe he bit her lip a little, but that was all, he was silenced by her placing her hand on his arm. One look at her face told him she could handle this guy and what ever came out of his mouth, didn't stop the urge to punch him across the jaw though.

"Well when it's the right one you just know, you know? Not really your concern anyways, is it? What, did Sara not want to see you like you wanted to see her? Or any of the other girls who've been 'throwing' themselves at you? Where are they Brad, I don't see any of them clinging onto you, unable to resist your charms. Wasn't that the problem, too many girls, no time for a girlfriend with so many girls who want you and just won't leave you alone, or did you escape for a moment to question why your magnetic pull no longer seemed to affect me? As considerate as you are to try and prevent me from having sex, it's really not your business anymore, is it?

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

"But, you were crying."

"Yeah, I was, but now I'm not. And you know what? All it took was a kiss from this completely random guy who I'm seriously considering dry humping right here in front of everybody."

Dylan was glad he had finally been able to distinguish Alex's sarcastic tone, which was something he wasn't sure if Brad was able to do or not. Judging by the look on the guy's face Dylan was leaning toward not.

"My friends were right about you."

"Your friends are right about nothing."

And just like that Brad shut his mouth and walked away, the few heads that had actually turned their way went back to their own activities and left Dylan and Alex sitting on the couch in the corner alone. Dylan watched as Alex's features changed from hard to soft, the fierce glare in her eye fading away to something he couldn't name. Her body relaxing and leaning back into the couch again, she glanced at him catching his eye and giving a small smile again, that one that tried to reassure him that she was fine.

"So that's my ex."

"Yeah, I put it together. Is he why you were crying?"

"Seems stupid now."

"No, he hurt you."

"Not enough to justify crying in public. Though I did get a kiss out of it." She watched him out of the corner of her eye.

"Again, I'm sorry about that Alex."

"Don't be. It was sweet of you to try to help me." Her smile was getting bigger, more genuine. "Though maybe you shouldn't try it with girls you don't know, no telling how they'd react." She laughed a little at that, he did too.

"I think you'll be the last one I do that to. Kissing something doesn't really make the pain go away."

"Mmm, I don't know about that. My pain seems to be gone."

"You sure?"

"Oh yeah, any broken heart I had is long gone, mostly thanks to you."

"Pretty sure you had a part in it."

"Yeah, I did didn't I? So, team effort?"

"Sure, team effort."

"Seriously though," Alex's expression sobered a bit, looking right at him, "Thank you Dylan. I needed someone on my side." She stretched her body up, placing her hands on his shoulder to balance herself, and kissed him on the cheek, just catching the corner of his lips.

Despite the dim lighting he was able to see the flush of color on her face, no longer pale, no longer sad.

" I believe I'll go wash my face and then go home." She pulled herself from the couch, heading toward what Dylan assumed was the restroom.

"Hey, did you need a ride?"

"Yeah, that'd be great, thanks."

As she disappeared into the crowd and Dylan moved toward the door, he started to think that this urge to kiss Alex had nothing to do with her tears.

~ fin ~