Wisdom

"How are you feeling?"

Hope opened his eyes to see the young face of the dental surgeon smiling down at him. He was in the same office and the same chair that he had been put under in. His eyes scanned the cream colored room with red and brown geometric paintings hanging from the wall. Various monitors around him beeped as they made sure his vitals were stable while they preformed the surgery. He didn't know which ones meant what, but he figured the steady beeps meant that he hadn't died.

"I'm not sure..." he said, his voice sounding muffled to him.

"You have gauze in your mouth. Make sure you keep it in for an hour and then you can take it out. It helps with the clotting," the young sandy haired surgeon informed him with a cheery smile. "You have to wait here for thirty minutes until you can leave. Your girlfriend is waiting for you in the lobby. I'll have her come in soon," he said as he picked up Hope's chart and left the room.

Girlfriend? Hope wondered, not sure what the surgeon meant when it suddenly dawned on him. Oh, he must mean Light. That wasn't the case, although the thought of it made his heart race a bit. He knew because a machine to his left started beeping faster. He took a deep breath in an attempt to calm down. That did the trick.

It was nearing the end of summer and Hope's wisdom teeth had been bothering him for a few months. His father scheduled his appointment, but ended up having to leave on a business trip the same day. He then took the liberty of asking Lightning to escort him to his appointment and watch over him during his recovery period. Naturally, Hope was mortified to find this out. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy the thought of Lightning looking after him, she always did a good job. It was just that he didn't want her to see him with his swollen cheeks.

He reached his hands up and placed them over his cheeks. He could barley feel the pressure he applied. Everything was swollen, but numb for the most part. He couldn't feel his lips or chin at all and even they felt two sizes too big.

"It's not as bad as it feels, I promise," a nurse said as she came in and saw Hope feeling his swollen face. "You'll be numb and swollen for a few days, but it should go down as long as you ice your face and take the medicine we've prescribed for you," she told him and started removing the wires hooked up to his body. The beeping of the machine quickly stopped and she then turned it off. She also removed the needle from his arm that was connected to the IV drip. He made sure not to watch as she pulled it out. Needles made him queasy.

"Did everything go well?" he choked out, the gauze making it hard for him to speak.

She nodded. "It went very well. There were no complications. You should be ready to go home now," she told him with a reassuring smile. He tried to smile back but couldn't feel if he had actually accomplished it or not.

"So, how long have you two been together?" the surgeon's voice asked from right outside the door. He opened the door and Lightning followed him in, her face flushed.

"We're not like that..." she quickly dismissed and walked over to Hope's side.

The surgeon looked at her in surprise. "Really now? You completely had me fooled," he said while looking between the two of them. Hope felt nauseous and he didn't know if it was because of the uncomfortable air between him and Lightning, or the anesthesia wearing off.

Lately, situations liked this had been occurring more frequently. Almost everytime he and Lightning went out somewhere together, they were being mistaken for a couple. When they went out to dinner a few nights ago at a nearby diner, the waiter brought his milkshake with two straws. An older woman in the grocery store told Lightning to hold onto him after carrying her bags to the car. "There aren't many gentlemen left in this world, dearie. Hold onto him, he's a keeper," she said before driving off, leaving them exchanging baffled glances. That was only the beginning. Even Snow was hinting about the increasing amount of the time they spent together. That there was the possibility they could be feeling more than just friendly feelings.

As for Hope, well, he pretty much knew how he felt about her. He had liked her for years and hadn't been able to work up the courage to tell her. He wasn't completely sure if he wanted to tell her in the first place. She was harder to read than a book in a foreign language. There was just no telling what her feelings for him were.

"I'm prescribing him some antibiotics to prevent infection during healing. He's to take one everyday. I'm also filling out one for Oxycodone and 400 mg of Etodolac, which is just a stronger ibuprofen. He should try the Etodolac first before the Oxycodone. If that doesn't help with the pain, then I encourage him to take one to two of the Oxycodone, depending on his pain," he told Lightning and Hope could see her absorbing the information, her face completely serious. He handed the paper to Lightning who put them into the pocket of her jeans.

"Take this too," the nurse said, handing Lightning a blue brochure and a little baggie. "It has all the instructions you'll need to take care of him and some extra gauze. He's going to need some help walking to the car so if you could assist him..."

"I don't need help," Hope said and began to pull himself up out of the chair. He managed to get to his feet before he took a step and fell forwards. Lightning managed to catch him in her arms before he fell to the ground. His head fell on her shoulder and he couldn't help but breathe in her sweet vanilla scent. It had a calming effect on him.

"Now's not the time to be a man, Hope. Let me help you," she said and wrapped her arms around his back and held his arm with her hand. "Thank you for all your help," she said to the surgeon and lead him out of the office.

When they got into her black car, which was modern but also practical, Hope got his first glance at himself in the reflection on the side-view mirror. His cheeks were just as puffy as he imagined them to be, but his lips and chin didn't appear as swollen as he imagined. He was thankful for that, at least.

Lightning put the car in reverse, skillfully backed up by making sure not to hit any pedestrians (you go, Light!), and pulled out onto the main road. They drove in silence for a few minutes before Lightning turned to look at him with a concerned expression on her face.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, her voice gentle.

"I don't really know. It hurts," Hope mumbled through the gauze.

"I bet. I remember having my wisdom teeth taken out too. Don't worry, I'll stop by the pharmacy right now and pick up your prescription. Then we'll go straight home," she told him with a reassuring smile. If there was one thing he was looking forward to, it would be those pills. He could already feel the anesthesia wearing off.

A part of him was happy that she didn't mention the conversation the surgeon had with her. It was something they both acknowledged, but they never really talked about it. He could only imagine that the conversation would be extremely awkward.

'Hey, Light! So, people keep think that we have feelings for each other. What's up with that?'

'No idea, Hope. No idea. Those people sure are crazy!'

'I know, right?'

Yeah, like that'd go over real well.

He wasn't completely sure that he wanted to bring the subject up either. A part of him was convinced that there was no way that a woman like her would have feelings for him, an eighteen year old boy who was barely a man. Still, it didn't stop him from secretly wishing.

Lightning pulled up in front of the pharmacy and parked by the door.

"I'll be right back. You stay here. You probably won't be able to walk well after the anesthesia," she told him and he nodded.

Hope sat in the car, poking his cheeks and biting on his lip. It was so weird that he couldn't feel anything. He was rapidly poking his numb chin when Lightning came back and gave him a look that read 'what in the world are you doing to your face?'. Hope tried to smile, but he still couldn't be sure if it was working. A trail of blood slid out from the corner of his mouth and dribbled onto his pants. Lightning reached over and opened the glove compartment where she grabbed a napkin. She gingerly placed her hand on his jaw and turned his face towards her so that she could wipe the blood off.

"You need to bite down firmly. It's important that it clots. I don't want you to get dry rot," she said and crumpled up the napkin which she put in the empty cup holder. At the very mention of dry rot, he clenched his jaw down on the gauze.

It was a good fifteen minute drive to Lightning's house. They pulled up in front of her familiar house and she parked the car. She quickly picked up his bag of prescriptions and dashed around to his side. She opened the door and held out her hand to him. He wanted to decline, but he placed his hand in hers anyways. He didn't want to have a repeat of the fall he at in the surgeon's office.

She slowly managed to lead Hope up the walkway, into the house, past the kitchen, and up the stairs to the guest bedroom which he frequently occupied. Sometimes they'd be hanging out and he didn't feel like going home so he'd spend the night. He had his own drawer with clothes and a spare toothbrush there. He even had some shampoo, body wash, and a towel.

Alright, so maybe it did look like they were involved. He could see it. That wasn't the case though. They were just really close friends. Really.

Lightning turned on the light in his room and lead him over to his bed. He sat down and she turned down the covers for him. He kicked off his shoes, slid off his pants, and crawled under the covers. He wasn't too embarrassed by Lightning seeing him in his boxers. The puffy cheeks were far more embarrassing to him.

"I'll be right back," she said and left the room. She returned a second later with a large glass of water and two pills in her hand.

"Alright. You're going to need to take the gauze out of your mouth so you can take these. It'll be a little gross. Just a forewarning," she told him and sat on his bed next to him. She held out her hand and waited for him to give her the gauze in his mouth.

Hope cringed as he reached into his mouth and pulled out the gauze on the right side. It was completely soaked with his blood and looked dark red. He placed it into Lightning's expectant hand and was glad to see that she didn't make a disgusted face. He did the same with the other and she got up and tossed the gauze into the nearby trash can. She handed him the two pills and water which he took as quickly as he could. It was hard for him to tell if he had the glass pressed against his lips because he couldn't feel them. Water slid out of his mouth mixed with blood and fell onto the blankets.

Lightning was quick about reaching for a tissue and wiping his face up. It was embarrassing having her take care of him like this. He felt like a baby, but he was in too much pain and far too out of it to complain.

"I'm sorry," he apologized, thankful not to have the gauze in his mouth anymore so he could actually talk a bit.

Lightning shook her head. "Don't worry about it. I don't mind taking care of you," she told him with a small, sympathetic smile. "Now before you put more gauze in, I need you to eat a little bit. It's been well over eleven hours since you last ate. I'll go get you some food," she said and left the room.

Hope wondered what he was going to get her. She had told him that she got food for him to eat since she had been through the surgery herself.

Lightning reappeared at the door a minute later with a large bowl and spoon in her hand. She walked over to his bed, sat down, and handed him the bowl. Hope looked down at the large amount of applesauce that she had prepared for him.

"I want you to eat all of it," she sternly told him, her face completely serious.

"All of it? I don't think I can..."

"I have faith in you," she told him. "I'll feed it all to you if I have to."

"That's okay... I can do it," he said and picked up the spoon. He scooped as much of it as he could onto the spoon, but it barely made a dent in the large bowl. He raised it to his mouth and swallowed. He could barely taste it.

It took him about thirty minutes to eat the whole bowl. Lightning didn't leave his side for a second. After every bite he took she was there, urging him with her eyes to take another until the bowl was empty. A part of him thought he was going to throw it up.

He handed her the bowl. "No more," he said and she smiled at him.

"Good job. I won't make you eat anymore. Just drink some more water," she told him and handed him in glass. He did his best to drink as much as he could and hated the fact that he could still taste the blood in his mouth.

"I'm still bleeding," he regretfully informed her.

"You'll need to put more gauze in," she told him and picked up the bag the surgeon gave her off the floor. She opened it and pulled out two pieces of gauze. She folded them over and handed them to Hope. He tried his best to put them where the previous ones had been and bit down firmly.

"I need to go get you an icepack for your cheeks," she told him. She came back a minute later with a large ice pack that he could easily wrap around his jaw. It was covered in a thin towel so he would still get the full effects of the coldness. She handed him the ice pack and he wrapped it around his face.

"Do you want to watch some TV?" she asked and he nodded.

She picked up the remote off of his bedside table and turned the small TV on his dresser on. It took a few seconds for the picture to come in. She handed the remote to him and walked towards the door.

"Make sure to keep that ice pack on. I'll be in the room next to you. Let me know if you need anything, alright? Just bang on the wall and I'll be sure to hear it," she said and Hope gave her a thumbs up, not even bothering with talking anymore. She smiled at him and left the room.

As soon as she left, Hope instantly wanted her to come back. A part of him was happy that she was taking care of him as opposed to his father. Although it was horribly embarrassing, she was truly good at taking care of people. She had a lot of experience with Serah, and even him when he was younger.

He flipped through the channels, annoyed that nothing good was on in the afternoon. He flipped through various talk shows and soap operas and eventually settled on a movie. Even though he knew it was a romance, he couldn't keep himself from watching it. It was the tale of a older woman teacher who had an affair with one of her male students. Hope couldn't help but relate to the student. It was hard being in love with someone and feeling like you couldn't be with them. What was even harder than that was watching the sex scene while knowing Lightning was in the room next to him. It made things very...very...hard.

He couldn't help but feel relieved when the movie was over. It would have been incredibly awkward for Lightning to have walked in while it was on. It made him feel a bit less guilty about his feelings for her though.

He cringed as a sharp stabbing pain ran through his jaw. The pain was getting progressively worse and he could tell that the medicine wasn't doing much. He knocked on the wall next to him and Lightning quickly came.

"What's wrong?" she asked and he pointed to his mouth.

"The pain's really bad now," he managed to say.

"I'll give you some of the Oxycodone then. It's downstairs. I'll be right back," she said and left his room.

More than anything, Lightning felt bad for Hope. She hated seeing him in pain. She could easily recall how painful it was to get her teeth out as well. She mentally cursed wisdom teeth as she opened the bottle of Oxycodone and shook two into her palm. She pulled out a glass from the cupboard, walked over to the refrigerator, and filled up the glass with some filtered water.

"These should help with the pain," she said to Hope as she handed him the two pills. "Now give me your gauze. You've had them in long enough. You should be okay now," she said and waited for him to put them in her hand.

The bloody, saliva drenched wads didn't really bother her. She didn't have a weak stomach to begin with, but there was something about her closeness with Hope that diminished the grossness of the whole situation.

She tossed them away in the trashcan and sat on the edge of his bed next to him.

"How are you feeling? The medicine should work pretty quickly. They're narcotics so they're pretty strong," she told him and he nodded.

"The pain's pretty bad. I'm looking forward for it working," he told her with a smile. She couldn't help but find his swollen cheeks to be adorable.

She gently patted his leg. "I'm gonna go. I'll be back in fifteen minutes to check on you," she said and left the room.

After reading through some emails and responding to the more important ones, Lightning went back to check on Hope.

"Hey, how are you doing? Feel better now?" she said and sat down next to him.

"I'm great! The pills you gave me were amazing, Light! They made everything better!" he said with a large smile plastered on his swollen face.

His response was slightly concerning. "I'm glad you're not in anymore pain. Let me know if you need anything else, alright?" she said, getting ready to head downstairs to read the side effects of Oxycodone.

"Wait! Don't go, Light! Can't you stay with me for a little bit longer?" he said, grabbing her hand so that she wouldn't be able to leave.

"Um...sure. If you want me to stay that badly I guess I can. Are you sure you're feeling okay?" she asked. He was acting far too happy for someone who had just gotten four teeth removed.

"I'm amazing!" he said with a dorky grin. "Hey, Light. Did I ever tell you how pretty you are? Because you're really quite beautiful. I've always been too shy to tell you though," Hope said, scooting closer to her and gripping her hand tightly.

Lightning could feel her cheeks start to burn with embarrassment. "No, I don't think you ever have. I think something's wrong with you, Hope. Maybe I should call your surgeon..."

"Nothing's wrong, Light! I swear, I've never felt this happy before. I need to tell you something. It's really important. Please let me tell you," Hope begged and he looked up at her with wide eyes.

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea, Hope. You should lay down and I should go call your doctor..." she gently told him, trying to stand up but he only pulled her closer. When did he get so strong? she wondered as she looked down at his large hand wrapped around her own.

"Lightning, I love you. I always have. Everyone else can see how I feel for you but you. I'm sick and tired of hiding this from you. I just want to be with you. I want to hold you and I want to kiss you," he admitted and Lightning was having a hard time catching what he was saying since his swollen mouth made it hard for him to talk. At the same time, she couldn't believe what she was hearing. Did he...did he actually mean it?

"Hope...I don't...I don't know what to say," she said, completely dumbfounded. Her heart was racing in her chest and she could feel her temperature rising.

"You don't have to say anything," he said and leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers.

Lightning's eyes widened in shocked at the sudden kiss. His swollen lips were pressed firmly against hers. Lightning didn't know what was happening. All she knew was that she didn't want him to stop kissing her. And that fact alone was insanely confusing.

When did his eye lashes get so long? Why are his lips so soft? Why does his hand feel so warm in mine? Why is my heart racing?

"That kiss would have been perfect if I could actually feel my lips," he said with a loopy smile.

"That's a potential problem..." Lightning muttered, still in shock.

"Hey, Light. I'm getting really sleepy..." he said and his eyelids started to lower slightly. "Can you stay with me while I sleep?"

"I don't know if that's a good idea, Hope. I need to call your surgeon," she said and tried to pull away, but his grip on her hand was too strong.

"I want you to stay with me. Please?" he begged and Lightning found herself agreeing. A part of her even wanted to stay with him.

He laid down on the bed and she crawled up next to him. He wrapped his arm around her and tucked her head beneath his own. She could feel his body heat radiating off of him and she hoped that he didn't have a fever.

He didn't say a word after that and it only took a few minutes for him to begin softly snoring. Lightning laid awake and secured in his arms as questions rushed through her head. She had to make sense of what was happening.

Alright, so, recently people have been mistaking Hope and I for a couple. We've gotten to that point where he looks older than his age and I still look more or less like I did when I was twenty one. It never really bothered me that people made the mistake. It was more embarrassing, if anything. But why was it embarrassing? It wouldn't be embarrassing if I didn't have feelings for him too, right? Wait...does this mean I actually might have feelings for Hope?

Lightning looked down at the strong arms that embraced her. They weren't the scrawny arms that he once possessed as a boy. They were undoubtedly the arms of a man. Light arm hair coated his fair skin that was still a shade darker than her own. She could see the veins in his hands and his fingers were long. She could clearly remember how nicely her hand fit in his and it made her stomach do somersaults.

What is going on? she questioned and knew that she had to get to the bottom of this.

She carefully removed herself from his arms and crawled off the bed. She stared at his sleeping figure for a moment and strangely found herself wanting to crawl back into bed with him. She shook her head and left the room and went downstairs.

She found the surgeon's number on the brochure they gave her and she proceeded to call the number. It was late, but she was hoping that she'd catch them right before they closed. The phone rang a few times and she was starting to get worried. On the fourth ring, a young woman picked up the phone.

"Hello. I'm sorry to bother you so late, but I'm the caregiver of a patient you had today, Hope Estheim? I was wondering if I could speak to his surgeon. He's been acting strangely and I'm slightly concerned...yes, I can hold," Lightning said and waited for a moment. She could hear voices in the background and some shuffling of papers before it sounded like the phone was picked up.

"Hello?" a young voice asked that Lightning recognized as Hope's surgeon.

"Good evening, sir. I hate to bother you so late," Lightning apologized, truly feeling bad. It was around six in the evening and she figured they would be closing soon. Doctor offices didn't like to stay open late.

"It's no trouble. I heard from my receptionist that you said that Hope was acting strangely. How so?"

Lightning took a deep breath. "Well, he was okay until I gave him some Oxycodone. He was in significant pain, so I gave him two pills to help him. Around fifteen minutes later...he seemed extremely happy and started telling me things that he really probably wouldn't have told me if he didn't take the medicine. He then quickly fell asleep. I'm wondering if this is normal..." she said as she nervously paced back and forth across her kitchen.

"Ah, well. Oxycodone is a narcotic and one of it's most common side effects are drowsiness and a sense of euphoria. Oxycodone triggers the brain to release pleasure chemicals such as serotonin and dophamine. These chemicals can often make the patient extremely happy. It isn't anything to concern yourself over. Is he doing alright aside from that?"

"Yes, he seems to be doing well. Thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it," Lightning said, feeling truly relieved that there wasn't anything seriously wrong with Hope.

"Anytime. I hope that he didn't do too much damage with the things he told you. Sometimes people can get loose-lipped when they experience euphoria," he told her and she could perfectly picture him smirking on the other line.

"I've noticed. Thank you once again. I'll do my best to keep an eye on him."

"Please do. You're a good girlfriend. Feel free to call me if you have any other trouble," he said and ended the conversation before Lightning had the chance to correct him once more.

Lightning walked over to her living room and sat down on her comfy burgundy sofa. She tilted her head back and closed her eyes.

She was now completely out of her comfort zone, and there was no denying that. They had just shattered what she thought was a platonic friendship. But was she naive to thing that friendship was all they had between them? Sure, she had caught Hope staring at her for extended periods of times. She would just shrug it off. There had been times where she caught herself admiring his manly physique. He wasn't the boy that she once knew. Things were changing between them.

What really was on her mind though...was how much of what he said was actually true. Did Hope really mean all that he said to her? Did he actually love her like he claimed to? Even more, he actually kissed her.

Thinking back to the kiss made a shiver run down her spine. She still couldn't believe that it had happened. She was surprised by how much she actually enjoyed the feeling of her lips pressed against his. Wasn't it normal to enjoy a kiss though? It was hard to enjoy a kiss if it's by someone you're not attracted to though. Now that Hope's all grown up, Lightning found it hard not to be attracted to him. He was taller than her and muscular in all the right places without being bulky. He still had his lean build that she found herself so attracted to. His silver hair was neater but his eyes were exactly the same. They just shone with maturity.

Any feelings she had she pushed back and would burry them deep under the ground. She was afraid of what would happen if she actually acknowledged them. Still, Hope was mature for his age. She knew that. He probably felt just as bad for having feelings for an older woman as she did for having feelings for a younger man.

Maybe everyone was right. Maybe there was something between them that everyone else could see but she couldn't. Maybe...maybe she should be more open to the possibility.

Hope woke up feeling particularly well rested. His mouth didn't hurt as nearly as bad as it did a few hours ago. He looked at the clock on his nightstand to see that it was 9:00pm. He swung his legs over the edge of his bed and took a sip of his warm water.

Man, that was a crazy dream. I can't believe I told Lightning how I felt and actually kissed her! Hope thought as he reflected upon the dream he had. He couldn't believe how real it felt to him though.

He stood up and took a few steps to make sure he had his balance before he made his way downstairs to get some cold water. He walked past the living room where he saw Lightning sitting alone on the sofa.

"Oh, hey, Light! I just had a crazy dream. You and I kissed and-" he stopped. Lightning turned to look at him and was slowly shaking her head. Her face was completely serious.

Shit. Oh, shit.

He took a few steps backwards. "It wasn't a dream...I actually did it. Well, that would explain why it felt so real," he said and rubbed the back of his head.

"We...we don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. I can try to forget that it ever happened," she told him and he could see a small frown on her face.

"But ignoring it doesn't make it go away," he told her. It happened and he was sure of it. Sure, a lot of it-well, all of it, really- had to do with the fact that whatever pills she gave him made him all happy and blissful. That doesn't mean that they can forget about it. He at least knew that he couldn't. How could he ever forget kissing her? Even if he couldn't actually feel it due to the numbness in his lips?

"Do you want to sit down?" Lightning asked, scooting over so he would have a place to sit.

"Sure. I just want to get some water first. Would you like some?" Hope offered, feeling a little tense.

"Water would be nice," Lightning said and Hope went to the kitchen to get them some. He got two glasses and filled them with with cold water from the refrigerator.

While he was in there, he couldn't believe that he had actually confessed to her. A part of him was glad that he did it, but he would have liked to do it in a much better state of mind where he could actually think about what he was doing. He hoped that it wouldn't ruin their friendship.

Hope carried the two glasses into the living room and set them down on the coasters on the coffee table. Lighting was easily bothered by water rings.

"Lightning, I'm really really-"

Lightning held up her hand to indicate for him to stop.

"Don't apologize, Hope. How much of it do you remember?" she asked, looking at him with expectant eyes.

He looked away and stared at his glass on the table. "All of it..." he softly admitted.

"How much of it did you mean?" she asked and Hope looked up at her. Her blue eyes seemed to be filled with confusion and he could tell how badly she wanted an answer from him.

"All of it," he said firmly. It was the truth too. "I really do think you're beautiful. I always have had feelings for you. I've just always been afraid to tell you. I meant every word I said, Light," he confessed, feeling his pulse quicken and his heart pounding in his chest.

Lightning took a deep breath. "I've been sitting down here for hours thinking. Thinking about you and me and how things have been changing between us. How everyone can see the chemistry between us. They have the wisdom to see that we're so right for one another, but I've been blind to it. I don't want to be blind anymore," she told him and looked him directly in the eyes.

"I don't...I don't understand what you're saying," he said, completely baffled by the message she was trying to get through to him.

"I need to sort out my feelings for you. I need to make sure that what I felt for you when you kissed me wasn't a fluke," she said. Hope could tell how serious she was. It was important to her.

"You felt something when I kissed you?" he asked, genuinely surprised by the fact.

"Yes. I did. Now I need to make sure that I wasn't imagining things," she said and Hope saw how flushed her cheeks were.

"Well, what do you want me to do?"

"I want you to kiss me," she insisted and his eyes widened in shock for a moment before he could tell that she was completely serious about it.

"I think I can manage that..."

Hope leaned in and slid his hand behind her head, his fingers intertwining with her pink locks. He placed his hand on top of her and pressed his lips against hers in a loving kiss.

The best thing about it? Hope could actually feel it this time.

The numbness is his lips had worn off considerably and he could actually feel the warmth and tenderness of her lips. He gently caressed her lips with his own and was surprised to feel her kissing back. He gingerly kissed her, still in pain from the surgery, but also because he wanted her to feel the love he had for her in every kiss. Even though he wanted her and he would have loved to discover her taste, he knew that this kiss was only a test. A test he desperately wanted to pass.

He slowly pulled away to see that her eyes were still closed. He could still feel her warm breath on his lips and it made him want to kiss her again, but he resisted.

"So?" he whispered and gently stroked the back of her head with his thumb. "Was it a fluke?"

"Definitely not a fluke," she whispered back and placed her lips against his. She wrapped her arms around his neck, but was careful not to apply too much pressure to his sore jaw.

This time, Hope was happy to feel the affection she had for him packed into the kiss. In general, they were two people completely in love with one another, but desperately tried to hide it to prevent themselves from ruining the relationship they had built. They needed a push in the right direction. Who would have thought that push was people making assumptions about them and narcotics?

Lightning was the first to pull away. She ran her fingers through his hair which felt insanely good. He wanted her to do it again, but of course she didn't.

"You should probably go back to sleep. You need more rest," she advised.

"Only if you come with me," he said and gently kissed her once more.

"I don't see how I can say no to that," she said with a small smile.

Hope stood up and took her hand in his. He lead her up the stairs and he stopped right out front of his bedroom.

"I'm gonna go get changed. I'll be right back," she informed him and he let go of her hand.

He went into his room and crawled into his bed and waited for her. He couldn't believe that she had feelings for him too. He was amazed at how natural things felt between them. Kissing her didn't even have a hint of awkwardness to it. Perhaps they were both just waiting for it to happen all along.

Lightning came back to his room wearing one of his large t-shirts and crawled into bed beside him. She slid herself under the covers and pressed her back against his chest. Hope leaned over and turned the light off on his nightstand so that they were engulfed in darkness.

He ran his hand up and down her arm and kissed her neck which made her laugh. He pulled her even closer to him, savoring the closeness between them. The closeness that he always desired but was never able to achieve until now.

They didn't speak another word. There was nothing else to be said at that moment. Eventually they would end up clearly defining their relationship. They were just happy to be together without having to keep their feelings a secret.

When Snow heard that Hope would be getting his wisdom teeth out, he had the whole surprise planned. He even asked Lightning before hand if it would be okay. She wasn't that keen on the idea at first, but she decided to give in anyways. Although the girl was stubborn, Snow knew how to get hiw own way when it came to her. At least, he liked to think he did.

It was nine in the morning and he figured that Lightning would be up, but he knew for a fact that Hope would be asleep. Hope typically didn't wake up until eleven or twelve. He was such a typical teenager.

Snow parked in front of her house and carefully inserted his spare key into the lock. He slowly turned the doorknob to find the house silent. He didn't even smell coffee, which was unusual for Lightning. He figured that she wasn't awake yet, which was even more unusual.

With an extra-large triple strawberry delight smoothie in hand, Snow made his way up the steps as quietly as a 6'7" man could. He tiptoed down the hallway and stopped in front of the guest bedroom which Hope essentially took over. Snow carefully pushed the door open with one finger and stepped into the room.

He almost dropped the smoothie.

"No way..." he whispered to himself.

In front of him was Lightning and Hope cuddling all cutely in bed. The covers were halfway off of them and Snow could see Hope's arms wrapped tightly around Lightning as she buried her face in his chest, her lips curled upwards in a small smile. It was adorable. And Snow planned to exploit it as much as possible.

Snow sat the smoothie down on the dresser and pulled out his camera phone. He pressed the button to activate the camera mode, moved a little closer, and snapped the picture. He admired his work before clicking 'send'.

Send by picture message?

Yes.

Enter contacts:

Serah

Sazh

Gadot

Lebreau

Maqui

Yuj

Amodar

Bartholomew Estheim

and 10 others...

Enter text:

Called it!

Send.

Snow smiled smugly as the picture was sent to all their friends. He pulled out a pen and wrote on the napkin that he got from the Smoothie Shack.

Hey, you two. You guys looked far too cute that I didn't want to wake you. You've got some explaining to do when you do though. I'm just going to leave this here before you two wake up and Hope attempts to murder me (again!). Remember, we all knew it'd happen!

-Snow

p.s. I hope you feel better, Hope. Looks like Lightning has that covered though. ;)

Snow left the note next to the smoothie on the dresser. He wasn't too concerned about it melting since he knew that they would be waking up very shortly. He took one last look at the love birds, let out a soft chuckle, and quickly made his way out of the house and back to his own.

Lightning woke up to about every phone ringing in her house. Her cell phone, Hope's cell phone, her main phone...

"What's going on?" Hope groggily asked as he rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands.

"I'm not sure..." Lightning admitted as she checked her phone. She had multiple text messages from Serah, two from Sazh, one from Amodar, another from Lebreau...and that was only the beginning.

"Check your phone," Lightning instructed and Hope grabbed his.

"Woah," he exclaimed as he looked at all the text messages.

Lightning read through them silently, her eyes wide with shock. They were all congratulating her. They were all congratulating her on finally recognizing her feelings for Hope.

A few of them also mentioned how cute they looked sleeping together.

"Are they...are they congratulating you too? I even got one from my dad," Hope said with a sightly horrified look on his face.

"Yes. Yes they are," she said, her voice flat.

"Hey, Light. What's that on the dresser?" he asked and pointed to a large styrofoam cup on the dresser.

It then all hit her. She had agreed to let Snow surprise Hope with his favorite smoothie the day after the operation. She jumped out of bed and grabbed the napkin on the dresser and read the note. She walked over to Hope, handed the napkin to him, and clenched her fist tightly. She waited for Hope to read the note before a flash of anger crossed his face.

"I'm going to kill him."

"I'm not going to try to stop you this time."

"Good," he said and smiled at her. She couldn't help but smile back. Although she was angry and she knew that they would somehow manage to get back at him, she wasn't too worried about it. The secret would come out anyways, and she didn't plan on keeping it a secret for much longer to begin with.

"What do you say we turn off our cellphones, unplug all the phones in the house, lock the doors, close the blinds, and watch movies all day?" Lightning suggest as she handed him the smoothie and crawled back into bed with him.

"Sounds like a plan," Hope said with a smile and took a sip of the smoothie.

And that's what they did.

AN: Hello, lovely readers. :) I hope you enjoyed this one-shot, because I had an amazing time writing it! I actually wrote the beginning of it the same day I got my wisdom teeth out. I then ended up finishing it a month later. Getting you wisdom teeth out is a miserable experience. At least it was for me.

Anyway, if you liked it, please leave a review! It'll inspire me to write more. I apologize to everyone who's waiting for the next chapter of Separate Ways. I promise, it's coming. I just was in the mood for something a little different.

-Lady Val