A follow up to the last chapter. I went back and edited in that Cinder uses a cane in the last chapter. I thought of it a little while after I posted it.

One mile from the diner Cinder's car gave a jolt as she ran into a pothole.

"What was that?" Kai asked as Cinder cursed quietly and pulled the car over to the side of the road.

"I think I blew my tire." She said, scowling. She parked the car and reached into the backseat for her cane. "I'll check."

Kai got out as well and came around to Cinder's side of the car where –just as she had suspected –the front tire had blown.

Cinder looked at Kai sheepishly. "Sorry to delay dinner. I'll get this changed pretty quickly though."

"You don't have to! My dad pays for roadside assistance so I can just call them!" Kai said quickly.

Cinder caught herself right before she rolled her eyes. "No, it will be quicker if I just do it." She said and head back to the trunk.

Kai followed and hovered by her shoulder as Cinder removed the spare tire and jack. She could carry them with one arm and her hand but Kai held out a hand to take something so she handed him the jack. At the burst tire Cinder plopped the tire on the ground and then knelt on the pavement.

"What should I do with this?" Kai asked turning the jack at different angles.

Cinder laughed a little. "Have you never changed a tire?" She asked. Kai blushed and shook his head. "It goes under the car near the tire."

She shifted onto her side to examine the underside of the car. "Here." She said and held out her hand. Kai handed her the jack and Cinder had the car raised up in no time. Kai offered to do some of the work but she waived him off saying, "I'm the one who hit the pothole."

Kai watched her in fascination as she worked. "Have you done this a lot?" He asked.

Cinder shrugged. "I've always been good at mechanical stuff and my step mom… appreciates if I help keep her car in good condition. Plus everything else in the house." She muttered the last part, but Kai didn't miss it.

"Is that why we dropped Peony and Iko's house?" He asked quietly. "So your step mom wouldn't know that you were done with the car?"

Cinder shook her head. "We were going to all three stay at Iko's tonight anyway. I would have just said we should take your car otherwise."

"Oh, I didn't mean to mess up your sleepover plans!" Kai said.

"It's fine really! We stay over a lot." She was blushing now. Why had she mentioned the sleepover to Kai? Why was she talking about her messed up family life? The whole school already looked at her as a weirdo and she was just proving it true to Kai.

"Well, I'm glad that you decided to come out." Kai said smiling.

Cinder smiled back as she removed the old wheel and put the spare in place. "Even with the literal pit stop?" She asked.

Kai grinned. "It's not like we're in a ditch or something and besides, literally anything would be better than having to sit through the cast party with Levana clinging all over me."

Cinder allowed herself a little laugh at that. "So she's really not your type huh?"

Kai made a gagging noise. "Not at all. I may never act again if she sticks with drama club."

"So what is your type?" She asked as she tightened the bolts in place.

"You –you know, I don't think I really have one." Kai stuttered. Cinder had whipped her head around to stare at him when he had started speaking and she wasn't quite convinced by his recovery. The first 'you' had sounded like a complete sentence itself.

Cinder let it go though. She turned back to the tire and just said. "Oh, uhuh."

From the corner of her eye she could see Kai running his hand through his hair. He looked about ready to speak again but Cinder cut him off.

"Alright! We are ready to go here!" She shifted over a bit to start lowering the car. "Can you take the tire back to the trunk while I finish up?"

"Yeah. Of course." Kai said. He shifted a bit from foot to foot but then took the old tire away without saying anything else.

Cinder bit her lip. She wasn't sure why she had cut him off. She had never expected any one to take this kind of interest in her before and the idea that she could be Kai's 'type' was somehow terrifying to her.

She brought the jack back to the trunk, got everything settled, and drove them in an awkward silence the last bit to the diner. The whole night was going to be awkward now, she just knew it. Just when she was starting to allow herself to admit Iko might be right about her crush on Kai too.

"I think I might have left something in you trunk. Can we check?" Kai asked as they parked.

Cinder nodded. "Yeah of course."

They went back around the car and Cinder leaned her can against the bumper as she opened the trunk. Kai didn't look inside though. He was looking at her.

Cinder turned from the trunk to Kai. Confusion must have been plain on her face because Kai smiled an apology and said, "I didn't actually leave anything in your trunk, I just wasn't ready to go in yet. There's something that I can't stop thinking about and I'm pretty sure I won't be able to keep up even a half decent conversation if I don't do something about it now."

"Oh?" Cinder started to ask what it was but Kai had taken a step forward and leaned forward even more. Just as she realized he wanted to kiss her she also realized that he had paused –his hand just barely resting against her shoulder and his lips inches from her own –waiting for a sign from her that it was welcome. Cinder took a breath and closed the gap between them. His lips were soft against hers and it felt like something was fluttering inside her chest. Like her heart had been given the rapidly beating wings of a hummingbird.

The kiss was over almost as quick as it had begun; fleeting like a shooting star. Kai and Cinder both grinned at each other. She was sure she was blushing, but he was too.

"Well… That was nice." She said. "Should we go in?"

"Yeah it was." Kai said and then bit his lip. "Before we go in though, you might want to know that you've got a grease smudge on your forehead."

"What!" Cinder exclaimed. She grabbed her cane and hurried to one of the side mirrors to look. Just as he'd said, there was a smear of grease and dirt. Kai closed the trunk and came to stand next to her. Cinder wiped the smudge mostly off and then stood and glared at Kai.

"Why didn't you say something earlier?" She asked.

"I was too nervous about kissing you." He said with a shy laugh.

Cinder twisted her mouth. "I can't believe my first kiss was with a big smudge on my face."

"I thought it was cute." Kai shrugged.

Cinder rolled her eyes and started to walk toward the diner.

"Wait, come back!" Kai called to her.

She walked back, trying not to scowl and just let the whole thing go. It was fairly futile since Cinder could stew in an embarrassment like this for days. When she looked at Kai though his eyes were dancing with mischief and the light in them sent all other thoughts out of her mind.

"What?" She asked.

"Well, I was thinking, if it matters to you that much we should have a second kiss now while your smudge free. You know, since it might not last long." He said, smiling but breathless.

Cinder smiled back and stepped forward to kiss him again.

Kai seems a little ooc to me in how bold he is with Cinder, but I don't think it's unbelievable. Hopefully you agree! Please leave me a review and let me know how you liked it!

This is the only follow up to this story I have planned but I am going to use this fic as a place to keep all of my short Kaider pieces in one place. The next three chapters will be moved from what I already published in All Made of Passion and Wishes, but I will eventually write new things here. I hope that this little drabble makes up for any annoyance from my moving my fics around. It will be a onetime thing.