Just Friends

Disclaimer: Sadly, this all belongs to a man named Josh. Oh, and Frank Sinatra (along with Billie Holiday) sang the song Just Friends. All songs quoted are by Frank Sinatra.

Feedback: Your comments are greatly appreciated. Thank you to everyone who has stuck by me for the duration of my first (published) story. Did I mention that reviewing gets chapters posted more quickly?

Author's Note: There's just one chapter left.

Chapter 13: The Story Ends

I thought I knew, the magic of you

And then, you kissed me

Dear, when you kissed me

I simply stood there and gazed, completely amazed

"And Then You Kissed Me"

Marissa hesitantly took a step backwards, farther away from Ryan. He gulped. Was she going to run? Then, Marissa looked over her shoulder. Ryan cringed. This was it. She was really going to ditch him because of the dead tree. He couldn't believe it. Their love was stronger than that, he knew it was!

Ryan felt a pair of warm, wet hands cup his jaw. Marissa was mere inches away from his face, and her lips were moving, breathing warm, sweet air onto his damp skin.

"Ryan," Marissa said gently, "I can't let you get away because our tree died. Our love isn't going to die just because of the tree."

Ryan let his lips do the talking. He firmly pressed his lips up against Marissa's, licking her upper lip to taste the salty tears she'd just been crying. Opening his mouth, he enveloped Marissa in a deep, passionate kiss.

Neither noticed the rain stopping and the sun coming out, along with the faintest traces of a rainbow. That is, until Marissa shrieked and began to shake her leg. "There's an ant up my pants!"

Ryan could hardly suppress his laughter. He bent down and stuck his hand under the soaked material of Marissa's pants, feeling around until a small ant found its way into his hand. He gently removed his hand and placed the ant on the ground, letting it scurry away into safety.

His eyes couldn't help but follow the ant to its anthill. Ryan remembered the perseverant ants he'd watched a while back. They had made it, just like he and Marissa were going to make it, just like this one ant was going to make it.

He and Marissa hadn't given up, weren't going to give up. They were strong, their love for each other was strong.

"What are you thinking about?" Marissa asked. Ryan tore his eyes away from the ant, who was crawling into its anthill, and focused on his beautiful girlfriend.

"You," Ryan answered, lowering his voice. "I love you."

"I love you too." Marissa leaned in for a sweet, breathtaking kiss from Ryan, but he put his hand to her lips. She opened her eyes, surprised. "Wha—"

"Don't ever do that to me again," Ryan pleaded. "I don't think I can hold my breath that long next time."

"Oh, there won't be a next time, Ryan." Marissa smiled. "You're in this for the long run, now. There's no escaping me."

"And that's a bad thing because…?" Ryan closed his eyes and placed his hand around the nape of Marissa's neck, drawing her in closer. Just as their lips met, Marissa giggled, and a feeling of warmth spread throughout Ryan's body.

This was real. This was what he'd been looking for all along. He'd had it in the first place. When he and Marissa had broken up, Ryan hadn't been so sure they were right for each other. But they'd found their way back to each other, and now he knew for sure.

They were meant to be. This was how it was supposed to be. He was supposed to be falling more in love with Marissa every second. With every breath he took, Ryan was falling…

Marissa opened her eyes for a moment and gazed at Ryan. His eyes were closed, full of concentration. On her. She was completely amazed. Even just a few weeks ago she would've been dreaming of a night like this.

Ryan was once again in her arms. She'd spent too many nights crying over him, thinking of whether or not she should tell him how she felt, how she'd always felt. Now they were together.

Marissa would be open with Ryan this time. She wanted him, needed him, and most definitely wasn't going to let him go…not again.

Everything was perfect…almost everything. She stole a look over Ryan's shoulder and felt a pang of unhappiness when she saw their willow tree, split in two, bent over like an old woman plagued with arthritis.

Perfection could be easily achieved. For now, she'd just focus on kissing Ryan.