Disclaimer, I own nothing. The characters presented by my story belong to Gearbox and 2K. The characters are fictional, any events that occur are purely coincidental. (IE If one day a Siren walks up to you, Phaselocks you, and shoots you, please don't sue me)

Also, this story is based on Maya. She is my favorite character and I will be writing this story in relation to how I believe she is thinking. In the interest of not plagiarizing the entire game, I will find ways to skip unimportant dialogues and go straight to my own work.

*Italicized texts are Maya's thoughts*

Chapter 25

What is a Kiss?

Shit…. Why isn't she reacting? Did I do something wrong?… Uhhh, what do I do?

Maya and Lilith were still locking lips, neither moved to further the kiss nor to break it. Lilith was too surprised by the Maya's sudden boldness, while Maya on the other hand was wondering why she was kissing Lilith in the first place. What made her think that it would be the right thing to do? Suddenly they heard a knock on the door, Lilith pushed herself up and hurried downstairs. Maya gratefully got up and put on her clothes.

Oh fuck…. She's still mad at me, I thought that would help the situation not make it worse! Back then I always kissed them to say sorry…. But why did I kiss her lips instead…. Oh God, those lips. Shit I'm burning up again, what the HELL is wrong with me?!

Maya threw her clothes on as quickly as she could, looking around to make sure that nothing was left behind. When she was certain that she had everything Maya headed down the stairs to see who was there. As she proceeded downstairs she heard a familiar voice at the bottom.

"Yeah! I'm here to grab her so we can go out for a bite, the guys are grabbing pizza and we'll chill somewhere," Maya smiled when she realized that it was Axton.

"You know if we have pizza all the time you're gonna get fat," Maya quipped. Axton stood up from the couch and flipped the bird.

"Whatever bro, just because you're fat don't mean this hot bod will ever get there."

"HAH! Hot bod? Surely you kid yourself."

Axton stuck out his tongue, "Psh Missy A-Cup. Don't think you're all that just because you got boobs… Oh wait, you don't!"

Maya feigned outrage and punched his arm playfully, "Why! I'll have you know that how much boobage I have is none of your business…. -Compensator. We all know why you designed such a big turret."

"Oh really?"

Maya smiled victoriously, "Oh yeah! Zer0 told me that men usually have big toys when they have small guns."

Axton was bewildered, "Wait what?"

"He said that you had a big turret because you don't have a big gun, although it boggles my mind why you don't just buy an assault rifle."

"Maya…. Sweetie…. Do you know what he meant when Zer0 said, small gun?"

"Yes… He said that you have a small gun, I don't see where you're getting confused here."

"Right," Axton snickered trying to contain his laughter, but failed quickly, "AHAHAHAHA! YOU THINK HE ACTUALLY MEANT GUN?! Jeez woman, I knew you were innocent but this is HILARIOUS! The guy that gets with you is in for a treat!"

Maya stomped her feet indignantly, "HEY! Shut the fuck up! Any guy that gets me would be damn lucky! It's not everyday you get to say your girlfriend is a Siren you know!"

"Um…. I'm sorry am I interrupting?" Maya turned and noticed that she forgot about Lilith.

Oh crap, don't look at her. Just look away and change the topic. Agh, just do your best to ignore her and only talk when necessary.

"Ahahaha, haha, ahhh, sorry Lilith forgot you were right there," Axton apologized as he stood up. "We'll be out of your hair now…. Unless, would you like to join us?"

"NO!" Maya said, her voice louder than she was expecting. "She's tired, she should get some rest."

Lilith turned her attention to Axton and replied, "Yeah I need to stay back and relax. It's been a long day. Thanks for the invite though."

Axton nodded his head and opened the door, motioning Maya to come. When the door shut Lilith immediately fell back onto her couch, closed her eyes, and remembered what just happened. She remembered how angry she was at Maya, how she nearly choked her to death, and how Maya's sad eyes broke her heart. Then, the kiss. Lilith was completely taken off guard by Maya's kiss, she wasn't expecting it and didn't know how to react.

Thinking back, how could she have possibly reacted? Lilith's rage at the moment clouded all her logical thinking as she just kept remembering that weekend with Roland. The first time they said 'I love you', the first time they made love, the first time they promised to be together forever. It was all so perfect and yet there it was broken on her bedside table.

Shattered by the woman that she only met a few hours ago, the woman whose body she could not keep her hands off of, the woman who she nearly killed out of spite, the woman whose kiss made her mind go blank. This woman had more control over her than she cared to admit. Lilith brought her fingers up to her lips and kissed them gently, then sighed, "Maya what have you done to me?"

Meanwhile Maya and Axton were making their way out of Sanctuary to meet up with the guys; however as they got closer they noticed that the food was there, but the company wasn't. The two looked at each other in confusion, then Maya asked, "I thought you said we were all eating?"

"Yeah, I thought so too," Axton replied. "Lemme call them on their ECHO Device, maybe they went back to grab a drink of something."

Axton scrolled around then rang up Zer0 and Salvador, "Hey! Where the hell are you two? And why is there only one pizza? I thought we agreed on three."

Zer0 was first to reply, "I apologize for this inconvenience but Tannis informed me that she discovered a new technology that would be very useful with my CT and I decided to stay back and speak with her about it."

"Okay…. That's your excuse, what about you Salv?"

"I ALREADY ATE THE PIZZAS! And the local Bunkers and Badasses club is meeting for their WEEKLY GAME! I must play!" Salvador replied excitedly.

"WHAT?! So one is ditching us for technology and the other is playing a board game? Are you men or are you nerds?!" Axton yelled.

Maya giggled at their conversation, she walked over to Axton and leaned on his shoulder, "You know, boys will be boys. Just let them have their fun. I'm sure we'll have fun without them."

Axton scowled, "Fine. I'll let them go this time. Bye you dweebs!"

Maya walked over to the clothe and sat down, she admired how beautiful the sunset was. She found it funny how she was only noticing it now.

It's a really pretty day, if only I could have spent it with…. No, get her out of your head! She's mad at you, it's already too late to fix this friendship. Ugh, the only woman in your life that you ever get close to, quite possibly the first woman who will ever be your friend and you ruin it like that. Just like that. But why was she so mad about the kiss? I did it all the time, ughhhh I hate this.

Maya laid back and groaned loudly, "Why am I so stupid?"

"Well I'd say it's in the blood and based on personal knowledge, I guess it runs in the family," Axton retorted.

"Right now is not the time for your jokes Axton."

Axton was taken back, Maya's usual witty attitude was now dreary and self-defeating he didn't like it one bit, "You aiite sis?"

"Yes, I'm perfectly fine. That's why I'm laying here frustrated and asking about why I'm stupid," Maya shot back.

"Okay…. I'll take that as a no," Axton responded politely, he popped open a Moxxi's Mystery they bought from Moxxi's and handed one to Maya. "Here drink some, maybe it'll calm your nerves."

Maya took the can and drank it dry in one gulp, the two sat there in awkward silence for about five minutes because Axton finally got up the guts to say something.

"So what's got you down? Usually after five minutes alone with me you're either about to tear out my heart or you're spilling your heart. What's up?"

Maya sighed, then turned to Axton staring him dead in the eye, "What does a kiss mean to you?"

Axton was slightly stunned by the question, "A kiss? Like what kind?"

"There are kinds of kisses?" Maya was bewildered, it never occurred to her there was more than one type of kiss.

"Well…yeah. It depends on the person, the time, the place, lots of things matter, not every kiss is the same you know."

Maya moved closer to Axton, "What are they?"

Axton didn't know why this suddenly mattered to Maya, but from the look in her eyes he knew it was important for her to know. He took a moment to think then replied, "Well. There are kisses of passion, kisses of friendship, kisses that don't say anything, and kisses that say everything. That's why sometimes a kiss can mean so much. Because after you kiss, there is no need to speak. Everything's already been said."

"Really…. I see."

Maya thought back to all the kisses she had given in the past, when she kissed the Brothers it was because she had to, when she kissed Kyle it was out of affection for him, and…. that was it. Those were all the kisses she had ever given. But with Lilith, something just felt...different.

What was our kiss? It wasn't passion, was it? Well, I've never felt passion so I guess I wouldn't even fucking know would I? Why did I kiss her? I kissed her because I was sorry, for hurting her, for breaking her picture, for being in her house uninvited… but…. ugh what's this nagging feeling I have?

She was so deep in thought that she didn't notice Axton staring at her. His eyes were sad, why was Maya questioning a kiss? It had never come up in conversation before, was there something she wanted to tell him? Axton just leaned back and stared at Maya, his eyes wandered from her hair, to her eyes and then her cheeks, they were redder than usual.

Then his eyes got to Maya's neck and he popped up leaned in to get a closer look, "What the hell is this?"

Maya snapped out of her inner turmoil and turned to him, "What the hell is what?"

"The marks on your neck."

"Oh this? It's nothing, just a scratch," Maya reached up to cover it, usually her regular gear would cover up her entire neck but after the last fight it got torn and she just ripped it off when she got back. Now she was severely regretting it.

"A scratch? Maya I can see fucking finger marks, who did this to you?"

"It's nothing, don't worry about it! It was my fault anyways."

Axton was furious, don't worry? He was sitting next to the first woman who genuinely cared for him as a person, someone who he cared for deeply as well, someone that risked her lives on multiple occasions for the sake of other people, a person he truly cared for and respected, yet she was telling him not to worry? She had a lot to learn about him.

"Maya… Tell me… Who. Did. This. To. You?"

Maya swallowed deeply, she had never seen Axton so angry before, "It...it was Lilith, but listen to me it was my fault! I broke her picture with Roland and you know how much she loves him and she got a little carried away. So then she kinda choked me a little, then I almost passed out, but then she stopped, then I cried and she cried, and then I kissed her and then… Just, forget it. Please."

Axton just sat there staring at Maya, he took a few moments to absorb the sudden rush of information and eventually said softly, "You kissed her?"

"Yes, I thought it would calm her down but it seemed to just make her more mad."

"Hah… What were you expecting? You piss someone off and then make out, that it's going to solve all your problems?"

"We didn't make out! I just kissed her, that's what I used to do at the abbey. It was my way of showing affection and apologizing."

It was now that Axton put two and two together, he wondered why Lilith was so flustered when she opened the door earlier. So they got in a fight, Maya tried to kiss and make it better but obviously it meant totally different things to both parties, and here she was spilling the beans without any clue that what she did was probably misunderstood.

Axton didn't know whether he should laugh at how innocent Maya was or punch Lilith in the face for hurting his baby sister. Although they weren't blood related, in a dangerous world like Pandora and in Axton's line of work, forming a quick bond was what kept soldiers alive. He genuinely cared for Maya as his little sister and the thought of anyone hurting her drove him insane.

After a minute or two Axton made up his mind about a course of action, he licked his lips and opened the box of pizza. He took one for himself and passed another along to Maya.

"Here, eat. You are seriously the most idiotic girl I've ever met in my life. Just because some traditions are accepted on your planet doesn't mean everywhere is the same. I'll talk to Lilith for you," Axton said as he opened another can of Moxxi's Mystery. "Troublesome little twerp."

Maya opened her mouth to talk back, but thought better of it.

I'll let you get away with it this time jerk…

"Thanks."

**Okay so I revised my outline and am back on track with my original plans. Thanks for the honest opinions, I just wanted to test the waters to see what's up and since it is what it is I'll be writing naturally now. Nonetheless, shoot me a review, favorite, and follow**

Random Brain EXPLOSIOOOOON:

1) So if some of y'alls knew what Bunkers and Badasses was, then good news is that I'm going to write about the Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon's Keep DLC sometime later on in the series.

2) I'm going to introduce Gaige and Krieg fairly soon, hopefully sometime in the following week for those wondering.

3) There is no such thing in the Borderlands world as Moxxi's Mystery drink, I just wrote that in so I could explain how they, you know, don't die of thirst.

4) ON A FINAL IMPORTANT NOTE! I'm thinking of doing a short special on the Zer0/Tannis relationship. Comment and tell me if you'd like that and I'll do it for the next chapter!