*~~ Dried Tears ~~*

Amu soon fell asleep, causing Ikuto to sigh. 'Such a dense girl, falling asleep with a boy around, she's just lucky I wouldn't try anything,' he thought and then looked down at her sleeping face. 'I can't blame her, though, she probably was crying for a while before I came, so she's probably just tired from that.' Ikuto's expression soon turned to pained. 'That's right… she was going out with Tadase, I promised myself not to interfere, and this is what happens,' he sighed. 'And if I try to win her now it'll sound like I'm trying to get her on the rebound-.' He cut his thoughts short when he felt hot tears on his shirt.

"Huh?" he realized that Amu was sobbing in her sleep.

"Why Tadase, if you never loved me why'd you ask me out in the first place, why cause me such misery now?" she cried. 'This is going to be the second time I've done this, and if I wake her up, I'm going to have to beg for forgiveness, but if it stops the water-works, I'll do anything for her,' he sighed and began inching closer to her. He abruptly stopped, slightly nervous. 'She's pretty cute when she's asleep… I wonder why my heart's beating so fast…' Pulling her chin towards him, Ikuto began to lightly graze her lips. She kissed back, parting her lips. Ikuto felt his tongue instinctively snake its way around hers. 'Oh god, if she wakes up in the middle of this I'm going to get killed.' Ikuto, fortunately, kept himself from moaning until he pulled away, out of breath and aware that if she heard him panting she'd surely wake up. 'Why was she so cooperative during the kiss? Oh, that's right, she was crying about Tadase, so she probably unconsciously thought I was him.' Not certain why, Ikuto's heart felt heavy. 'Or was it her instincts that she had held back before? Ugg, this doesn't make sense at all. Wouldn't her instincts kick in the first time since it was her first kiss, and then her having more control the second time?' Once Ikuto had caught his breath, Amu's eyes blinked open and she instantly backed away from him.

"What did you do to me while I was asleep?"

"Why do you think I did anything?" he smirked. "Or could it be that you wanted me to?" She rolled her eyes.

"Oh, dream on."

"Then how do you know I did something?"

"You were staring at me while I was asleep; staring like you liked what you did." She crossed her arms begrudgingly. "So tell me what you did."

"Well, can I show you?" Amu raised her eyebrows curiously. Ikuto slowly kissed Amu's cheek, causing Amu to sigh.

"Where at?"

"Lips," he said, and then whispered, "and tongue."

"You frenched me?!" she whispered/screamed. "While I was asleep?!" Ikuto sighed, grabbing her wrists before she could slap him.

"Well, you started crying in your sleep, so I decided to see if the kiss thing would work again, and well, it worked a bit too well and you opened your mouth and… instincts took over before I could stop."

"You mean I'm the reason why you frenched me?"

"I'm not lying, Amu, I wouldn't try to take advantage of you; I just wanted to stop you from crying," he protested.

"I believe you; I just don't understand why you'd do something like that for me." She blushed.

"Because I… because I… I…" he couldn't bring himself to say those dreaded words. He knew he didn't have a chance with her; she was in love with Tadase, someone nothing like he was. Plus, even if Amu felt the same way, he would seem like he was hoping for her to break up with Tadase.

"Because you what?" Amu pressed. "Tell me, or the next time that happens I'll bite down." Ikuto sighed and averted his eyes.

"Because I love you, alright? I have since I first met you. I knew you'd never feel the same way, I knew you loved Tadase and you liked me. But every time I see you, my heart pounds faster, and my worries just drown away. Amu, I really love you, more than Tadase does, and more than you do for me," his voice was fading towards the end. 'Damn it, this isn't how I wanted to tell her!'

"No, that's not true."

"Of course it is you just don't believe me."

"That's not what I mean, you crybaby." Amu turned his face to look into his eyes. "I mean that I love you, too. You should've been able to tell, didn't you notice how calm I acted when you came, when before that I was broken down and crying?" Ikuto smiled.

"If I'm asleep, never wake me up. Unless you're going to tell me that this isn't a dream. There's no way you could love Tadase and me. We're nothing alike, he's kind, gets good grades, and has a heart-stopping smile."

"You do, too. You'd notice it if you would smile more, but girls everywhere start blushing whenever you smile." Amu sheepishly smiled. "Especially this one."