Disclaimer, unfortunately the characters are not mine...I keep dreaming that one day they are mine...so far no luck.....

A few mistakes, a kiss and an apology

Dom and Kel were walking through the palace after having just come in from the practice courts. Kel found that even though she no longer rode solely they still had the best practice partners when her fellow knights refused to practice with her. That and she still had yet to get over her enormous crush on a certain blue-eyed sergeant.

"Oh Domitan…" A shrill nasal voice called from somewhere behind them, Dom stiffened grabbed Kel and shoved her into the nearest open room and closed the door. Pressing his ear against the door he waited until the woman's footsteps retreated before looking sheepishly at Kel,

"Sorry about that Kel, Lady Melody has yet to see that I'm not interested in her, even though she thinks I am."

"I see, why don'tyou just tell her that, instead of hiding every time you think you see her."

"Believe me I have. She's worse then Meathead at not hearing things she doesn't want to hear." At this point Lady Melody walked in the room and looked around until she spotted them. Her eyes narrowing as she saw Kel

"Oh, Dommy I found you, but what on earth are you doing in here and with her?" Melody simpered…

Dom would later regret the next moment of his life, he had only one option and he hoped that he wouldn't die for it, but he looked at Melody then back at Kel who had one eyebrow raised, so he did something completely impulsive.

He grabbed Kel and pressed her up against the wall, and kissed her fiercely. All the while noticing how soft her lips were, and how nice she tasted, and he heard Melody humph and storm out, but he couldn't stop kissing Kel. He knew she was kissing him back and he couldn't be happier until she pushed him away.

He looked into her eyes hoping to see if she felt the same way that he did about her, but all he saw was hurt and anger. Kel looked at him and then she slapped him.

"I don't appreciate being used Dom" Then she stormed away, angry at him for using her, flustered because she had loved being in his arms with his mouth on hers, but upset because she thought he didn't mean anything by it.

Dom had pressed his hand to the cheek she had slapped and watched as she walked away and he called himself ten kinds of idiot. He knew he had just ruined their friendship, and he was truly sorry, but he could not bring himself to regret the kiss they had shared.

Dom walked slowly back to his rooms not paying attention to the curious stares he was getting from servants, and as he sat on his bed he could only think about Kel and her lips.

An hour later that was where Neal found him, sitting and thinking about Kel and how he had been an idiot for kissing her in front of someone.

"So dear cousin, I do believe that the name Meathead should now officially be yours. Not only have you offended Kel, you have also caused an obscene amount of gossip and speculation. Now most of the conservatives at court have placed her in your bed at least one hundred times by now, thanks to your oh so public display in front of Lady Melody." Neal said quite seriously.

"I didn't mean for anything to come of it Neal, I just didn't have any other options and Kel was there and well its complicated and…"

"You care for her?"

"Yes" Dom said, and Neal could not doubt the emotion he showed in his eyes

"She's not mad that you kissed her, she's angry because she thinks that you used her like you've used other people before. I wish you knew what that did to her. She's liked you for ages you idiot. If you had just stopped thinking about it and done something this would have made your life that much easier."

"What should I do?"

"I think that you should go apologize to her, and maybe kiss her again."

"Thanks Meathead." Dom got up and made to leave out of his room

"Oh, and Dom, you might want to avoid some of Kel's friends right now, they aren't all that happy with you." Neal said with a slight smirk and walked away in the opposite direction of Kel's rooms.

Kel was sitting in the rooms at her desk, staring at the last letter Dom had written her, it was the note from Midwinter, she had saved it foolishly hoping that one day she would receive more like it. She knew know that Dom only used her to be a decoy, he would never want her as anything more. With a snort she wondered why she had ever thought differently, no one had ever really seen her as a woman and a warrior. They always wanted her to be one or the other… Kel was jolted out of her reverie by a knock on the door which she assumed would and could only be the Meathead

"Go away Neal, I really don't want to talk about Dom anymore"

"You don't want to talk about me but how about talking to me?" A voice Kel knew all to well said from her doorway

"I don't think there is really anything to say" Kel kept her face carefully blank and her eyes were trained on the floor as she saw Dom's boots come closer

"Kel look at me, please."

It was the please that did it, Kel could never say no when someone said please. She looked up into his blue eyes and saw an emotion she wasn't able to recognize.

"I'm sorry for making you think I was using you. I was, but I didn't mean for it to be like that. I've liked you, no I'm not stupid, I've loved you for ages Kel, but I always thought that there could be nothing between us. I'm sorry. Can you forgive me for being a stupid idiot and making you think that I have cared nothing for you when I would have given you the world if I could"

Kel was looking in to his eyes as he said that, and she would never forget the way he looked at her

Dom stepped up close to her, and as his mouth bent to hers he whispered that he loved her to her and then kissed her again.

This time the kiss kept going till a chuckle interrupted them, breaking apart they looked for the source.

"Next time you decide to reconcile you might want to close the door. People might think you want an audience." Neal hastily closed the door as two pillows came flying at him.

"You know something Dom?" Kel said later as she leaned against him "What's that Kel?"

"I think I'm actually grateful for Lady Melody today" Dom looked at Kel with raised eyebrows

"Well if she hadn't found you today, we still wouldn't be together and that is something I may have to thank her for that one day."

"Yes it does seem that we owe her doesn't it. But we will also have to do something in the near future to deflate Meathead's ego, or we are going to hear stories about him getting us together forever."

"I have an idea" Kel said with a smirk

And that was how they spent many of their next years together, and even as Kel became Keladry of Masbolle neither she nor Dom ever forgot to prank Neal and often the pranks would be more and more outrageous, but sometimes the simple ones worked the best. And as the stories say, Kel and Dom lived happily ever after, raising many future knights for Tortall, and becoming important citizens in the time of Roald's rule.

Yeah, I know I should be working on Holding You, but this story just popped in my head and I had to write it down...now be good, and leave me a review and tell me what you thought!!!

~Kari