There is a moment in everyone's life when they temporarily wish that they had been born without a tongue. And that moment had arrived for Skye Penderwick. "He's my boyfriend." Ugh!

On a logical level, she understood why she had said it. She had been stuck, trapped, like a deer in the headlights, and that quick phrase had been the easy way out. But as she felt the words slide out of her mouth, and watched the expression of disbelief fall into place on Jeffrey's face, she would have given anything to turn time back just five seconds. How could she have said that?!

It wasn't that the idea was such a repulsive one. As far as boys went, Jeffrey was by far the best one she knew. If she HAD to have a boyfriend, he would be a pretty good choice, she felt, but the emphasis lay in the "had". After all, he was her best friend, and only kooks or brainless teenage girls ended up dating their best friends.

But at the moment, she didn't really have the luxury of time to ponder such ideas. Chaos had broken out all around her. Upon hearing her latest "epiphany", Jane had gasped, a choking, strangled noise, Jeffrey turned pale and swallowed hard, as if he couldn't believe that had just happened. The thug, however, just snorted.
"Yeah, sure... Does he know about that?"

She glared at him, mustering all her courage and saying a silent prayer that Jeffrey would understand and forgive her for what she was about to do. "That's the stupidest question I've ever heard. Of course he knows about it!"

"Sure..." Chuckling to himself in a rather drunken way, he turned on the boy in question. "Did you know that you were her boyfriend? Because you two certainly don't act like a couple..."

Here, Skye butted in again. "And how, exactly, would you know that?! It's not like you've met us before! And I'll thank you to mind your own business in the future."

All it took were two threatening strides and he had her backed up against a tree, his face so close to her own that she could taste the alcohol on his breath.

"I'll tell you what, girl. You prove to me that you two are dating and I'll leave you alone. But if you just lied to me, then I get a kiss. Sound good?" She kicked him in the shin, as hard as she could. "Listen to me! Prove that you're dating this wimp before I loose my temper, got it?"

Grinding her teeth together so hard that they squeaked, she yanked herself out of his grip, and stalked over to Jeffrey. Taking a deep breath, she squeezed her eyes closed, and tried not to think about what she was about to do. And then it was time.

Grabbing the back of his neck, she slammed his lips to her own, and let instinct take over. When Jane asked her about it later, she lied and said that it had been disgusting, like kissing one's own brother.

But, in reality, it was a good kiss. A very good kiss. Or, at least, it would have been, had she been able to get over the fact that it was Jeffrey she was kissing. Jeffrey! Best friend and honorary brother; someone she couldn't possibly have non-platonic feelings for.

And as their mouths separated, and the warmth of his body left her own, she licked her lips and allowed herself one second of horror at what had just occurred, before turning back to the task at hand.

As she whirled around, smart comment ready and eyes flaring for a fight, she was met with the sight of her antagonist stumbling away in a dejected, drunken haze. Somewhat satisfied with her victory and not at all willing to assess the damage that might have been done to her most vital friendship, she wiped her hands on her jeans.

"Okay then, let's get out of here."


Jane couldn't ever remember being so angry in her entire life. She and Skye had had their fair share of brawls, and she certainly didn't always see eye to eye with said sister, but never had she been more ashamed of the way the blonde had acted. She had played with Jeffrey's feelings, and, knowledgeable or not of how much power she wielded over the boy, that was completely unacceptable.

She had ignored Skye all the way home, and now was seated cross-legged in her bedroom, contemplating how to handle the situation. She couldn't just let it slide. Such a grievous offense against one so close to her heart could not go by unaddressed. No, she would just have to face Skye and get it over with.


Skye had certainly never fully understood her sisters, but this took confused to a whole new level. Jane had been pleasant enough while Jeffrey was still in the car, but the moment they had dropped him off at his dorm she had gone silent. And it wasn't just a "there really isn't anything to talk about" silence, but one of the "you have done something so hideous I will never speak to you again" variety.

And Skye couldn't, for the life of her, figure out what she had done wrong.

To be perfectly honest, she did have other things on her mind. Plenty of other things. For starters, her guilty conscience was acting up again. She had told a blatant lie, regardless of the fact that the man was too drunk to remember anything anyway, and she hated herself for doing so. But it was necessary, and so she could sort of rationalize it.

No, what was really bothering her was that kiss. Skye was no stranger to kissing (most of the time not of her own volition) and so she had enough data in her mental storage to draw a lot of comparisons between previous lip-locks and the one she had just experienced. And the results were all the same.

Somehow, and she really didn't know how, this most recent bought had been mind-blowingly superior to any other she had participated in. Which was really sickening if she stopped to think about it. What sort of psycho would prefer the kiss of her best friend to that of any other boy she had ever met. That went against all the rules of platonic feelings.

And, if she was being completely honest with herself, that was what scared her the most. The fact that, taking into mind all the evidence, there was a very good chance that, somewhere along the line, her feelings for Jeffrey had strayed from the familiar path.

These were the thoughts that she was mulling over when the door to her bedroom slammed. There, in the doorway, looking like a woman on a mission, stood Jane. And then the storm of fury was released.

Skye, an expert at understanding angry dialogue, had a hard time following the arguments being thrust at her fort he first few minutes, until Jane finally slowed to an audible level. And even then it was quite the switch from the silent treatment.

"How dare you?! I don't care how smart or beautiful you are! You never, NEVER get to play with a guys feelings that way! Ever!"

To say she was confused would be an understatement. "What the heck are you talking about?! I didn't play with anyone's feelings!"

Jane looked absolutely disgusted. "You can't even see it, can you?! You have no idea what you just did, do you?!"

"I didn't do anything!" And then something dawned on her. "Hold on a second, do you mean to tell me that you're angry because I lied to that thug?! He was drunk and he was trying to kiss me. I think those of pretty good grounds for a lie!"

Jane just wailed. "No, that isn't at all what I am talking about! God, you are so blind!"

"Well, since I'm so blind... Why don't you tell me what the heck you're talking about?!" She was really at her wit's end by now.

"I'm talking about Jeffrey, you imbecile!"

If that was supposed to shed light on the subject, it didn't work. Now Skye's confusion was ten-fold.

"What are you talking about?! I think he'll forgive me for one kiss. I did, after all, explain it to him."

"Ugh! Skye, you really don't see it, do you? He'd forgive you for anything, and that's exactly the problem. He cares about you!"

"Um... Duh! What's wrong with that? I care about him, too!" More than care about him, if her analysis was accurate.

"God, you really are an idiot, do you know that? He likes you, Skye. Like likes you. And you just kissed him to get rid of another guy! Can you image how he must feel right now?"

No, she couldn't image how he must feel. But she certainly knew how she felt. It was a strange mixture of joy, excitement, a huge amount of relief, and more than a touch of shame. Ouch. She really had messed everything up, hadn't she?

Had it been Rosy in the room, or actually anyone else but Jane, she might have asked for advice on what to do. But she knew that Jane's plan would most likely involve roses and romantic music and candles, and so she decided to take it into her own hands. After all, it was Jeffrey, and she couldn't really make the evening any worse, could she?

Grabbing her keys off the desk, she ran out of the room, ignoring Jane's inquiries as to where she was going. There was only one place she could go, and that was back to Jeffrey.


Fairly resigned to her rejection by now, Jeffrey was surprised at how different he felt this time around. Maybe it was just that this one had caught him off guard, or maybe it was the fact that she had actually kissed him, but somehow it was much more painful and he was sort of struggling to regain his resignation. And so, 45 minutes later when Skye burst through the door of his dorm room without knocking, he was still somewhat downtrodden.

His first thought was somewhat random, but very solid in origin. "How the heck did you get in here?" It was an all boy's dormitory, after all, and the guards were very strict about that policy.

She just shrugged. "That's not important right now."

She took a deep, shaky breath, and that was when he realized that something was off with her. She looked very unsure of herself and well, almost scared. Neither of which was usual Skye emotions. To be perfectly honest, she was sort of freaking him out.

"Skye, what's wrong?"

She shook herself slightly, and blinked. "Uh, nothing. I just wanted to... I mean I just came to..." She sighed. "I'm sorry, Jeffrey."

Okay, that was not what he had been expecting...

"Look, I didn't really mean to put you in that position earlier. I just freaked and it seemed like an easy way out. I shouldn't have done it, though."

He was silent for a moment. "Are you talking about the kiss?"

She nodded and blushed-actually blushed. That was a rare sight in itself.

"Skye, it's okay. I get it."

She shook her head, fiercely. "No, it's not okay, and you don't get it. Jeffrey, I had no right to do that. No right at all. Though I kinda wish I did." The last part was said under her breath, and as the words came out of her mouth her eyes widened in shock. Had she really said that out loud?

As he stared at her, partly in shock at what he had just heard, and partly because she was so darn easy to stare at, he felt a small smirk slide into place on his face. "Well, maybe not, but I'm sort of glad you did." She blinked. "Look, Skye, I'm not mad, okay? To be perfectly honest, I'd been wanting you to do just that for quite a long time now." Years, in fact. "The circumstances were less than favorable, sure, but I'm really not too picky at this point."

She stared at him, in wonder, until a grin slowly spread over her face. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?!"

And then, in true Skye fashion, she didn't wait for an answer. She just attacked him, hands and lips and tongue and all. It was a far better kiss than the one earlier had been, but he wasn't prepared for the full-on jump, and the weight of her sent them both flying backwards into his desk.

Despite the bruises that he would most likely find on his back in the morning, though, he couldn't find it in himself to pull away. He had waited to so long for this, he wasn't letting anything, not even physical pain, interrupt them now.

After a bit, she drew back, her eyes alight with the mischievous gleam he had come to know and love, and she chuckled. "So, about your mother..."

He just laughed. "Oh, shut up." And then he kissed her again.


Two miles away, in her sister's apartment, Jane was lying on her bed, feeling very pleased. Her work here was done.

(End.)


Well, that's a wrap, folks. I know I originally planned it to be a few chapters longer but, as many of you know, I was recently offered a job writing stories for one of my favorite magazine (!), and so my free writing time is now next-to-nothing. Sorry to do that to.

Moving on to reviews. Seriously. You guys are awesome! :-)

Jane - Wow, thank you! Sorry it took so long to get this up. I hope you enjoyed it, though.

Babybubble262 - Thanks, I plan on it. It just will be much more sporadic than it has been...

applesandbananas - Thank you for the kind words! That means a lot to me. :-) And thanks for the luck on my novel. I'm having a lot of fun with it, but it too is moving very, very slowly. Good luck on your book, as well! What is it about?

Guest I - I hope you liked it!

StardustTARDIS - Thanks, I'll need it...

PartyCat77 - Right now I'm just striving for the update part of that, but I'll keep in mind the 'more often', too. :-) Haha! I'm 16... :-) Well, I kept my promise about the before Halloween part, at least. Well, if it puts your mind at ease, most of my stories (now all of them) are completed now. I usually only have, at most, 2 stories in progress at one time. I'm really glad to hear that you enjoyed AHP. That is still probably my favorite of my stories. I had a wonderful time writing it and I'm more than a little sad that it's over. Thanks so much for your loyalty and support.

Guest II - Well, I think I just found a kindred spirit. Gosh, thank you so much for all of the compliments. You're so sweet... :-)

Ice - Haha! Thanks!

Smoke and Lavender - Thank you!

Frecklesglasses - Yeah, I had a ton of fun writing those... :-) Gosh, you're going to give me a fat head. That's high praise. And no, I certainly didn't take it the wrong way. Thanks for your support.

Anonymous - Wow, thank you! Yeah, I had WAY too much fun on that section. :-)

Babybeluga747 - Sorry for the long wait. I hope you liked it, though... :-)

Thank you all for your insane amount of support! I'm sure I don't deserve reviewers that are HALF as good as you guys. But seriously, I do this for you, and you are the reason that I keep doing it.

I WILL still be participating in this fandom, but my stories will be few and far between, I'm sorry to say.

Wish me luck on this new phase of my life. I have a feeling I will need all that I can get... :-) Thanks so much, guys!

Signing off (for now),

Readwriteedit