"A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous."
-Ingrid Bergman

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The rain immediately began soaking through Joey's ball gown. She could feel the slippery mud squish under her bare feet and in between her toes as she ran. She couldn't care less. There was only one thing on her mind at the moment: get away from everyone. She was crying so hard by now, that she was having trouble breathing. The harsh, freezing cold wind was beating against her wet skin, and she began feeling very alone. She stopped running when she came to a tree. There was no sign of lightning now, only a heavy downpour, so she decided to take shelter under its vast canopy of branches.

She was still hyperventilating from the crying when she leaned up against the tree's trunk and slid her back down it, into a squatting position. She rested her elbows on her knees, and just cried bitterly into her hands. Her hair was soaked through, and her braids had fallen out. They now dangled limply in front of her make-up smeared face.

She had so much to think about . . . so much to feel sorry for herself about. But she didn't feel sorry for herself. In fact, she blamed herself. How could she have ever forgiven Amos for hurting her in the first place? This never would have happened if she had just listened to Sirius. Sirius knew all along that Amos was going to hurt her, and yet he allowed her to carry on in dating him. How could he have done this to her! She cried even harder in spite of herself. Men were not to be trusted. An entire race that just followed their hormones before anything else! She would never let her barrier down again.

Suddenly, through the deafening roar of the heavy rainfall all around her, she could hear the fallen brush crunch to the side of the tree she was leaning against. Someone was approaching. It was Sirius. She kept her face in her arms, desperately trying to cease her crying. It was impossible . . . the tears were coming to quickly now. He stepped cautiously over to her, like he were approaching a wild animal.

"Joe?" he whispered loud enough so it was audible over the heavy pattering of rain. "Joey . . . oh sweetie, I am so sorry. I-"

"Go ahead and say it!" Joey cut him off flatly. "I should have listened to you."

"What?" Sirius sounded hurt and confused. "No, Joey I would never s-"

"But you know it's true!" She snapped back as she stood up. She wiped the tears from her face and was now glaring into Sirius' stunned expression. "Why should I have ever trusted that creep! You knew all along that he would end up hurting me . . . I knew all along that he would!"

"Joey . . ." Sirius' was trying to sound understanding.

"Don't try to disagree! We both knew that he would eventually do this! He couldn't change! I never should have thought he loved me . . . it was a complete lie!" the tears were beginning to stream down Joey's face again. She tried to wipe them away, but she just ended up making it worse by smearing the makeup that was all running down her cheeks. She let out a loud, angry sob. "I hate men! You're all full of shit!"

"Joey! Would you just listen to yourself!" Sirius was sounding a little exasperated. "You're making such wild generalizations! That's ridiculous! Amos is just one guy!"

"What!" she practically screamed at him as a fresh batch of tears fell from her eyes.

"Why does it matter! I'll never be able to trust another man again! They're all the same . . . all cheating, lying, sex-driven jerks!"

"Now that's not fair," Sirius said with a surprisingly calm voice.

"Not fair? Not fair! What the hell do you consider fair, Sirius?" she sobbed. "I never did anything to hurt anyone! Look at me! Do I deserve this! I shouldn't be so open and trusting! I need to put up walls to block myself from everything. . . from everyone!" Sirius took a step closer to her, trying to reach out to her.

"No, Joey," he practically whispered. "Please don't put up a barrier around yourself, away from everyone . . . away from me . . ." Sirius' cool grey eyes were pleading with her.

"I can't love you, Sirius . . ." she spoke softly. "My heart is too broken right now . . ." Sirius' eyes showed all of the suffering he was going through. He turned away from Joey. He couldn't look her in the eyes when he said what he was about to say.

"Joey, you think you're the only person who's ever felt the agony in love?" Joey was surprised at the firmness of his previously soothing voice. "Let me tell you my thoughts on love. For the past many months, I've been watching this girl I love torment herself, thinking she isn't good enough for some jerk she's dating. Yes, I say torment. This girl is the most intelligent and beautiful person I've ever met, and yet she continues to put up with this horrible boyfriend. And that's not even the saddest part . . . the saddest part is that she actually blames herself for the way that stupid prick hurts her!" Sirius turned around to look back into Joey's teary eyes. "Joey, I can't even describe the pain I feel every single time I watch that jerk hold the girl I love . . . and yet it's because I love her so, that I hate myself more and more for every passing day that I don't tell her how I feel."

Joey stared up into his face. She could feel her heart creep up into her throat. She was more confused and emotionally unstable now than she had felt all evening. It was too much for her to handle at the moment. She wanted to run again, but her feet refused to budge. "How can you possibly know what love is?" she murmured. "We are too young to say we are in love . . . people get hurt that way."

Sirius grasped both of her shoulders and pulled Joey closer to him so that he was looking directly down into her face. His soggy, mud-streaked hair was dripping down onto her tear-stained cheeks. His voice was back to a soothing whisper when he spoke.

"If I know what love is, it's because I've known you for the past seven years of my life. I can't even explain why I love you . . . I simply do because I can't help it. Joey, I haven't been able to think much about anything lately without thinking about you . . . I see you in every passing face . . . I day dream about you when you're away . . . I find myself wondering if you ever even think about me in the same way. It's like I have a disease that I can't and don't want to get over! I don't even think words can describe how I feel about you . . .," he paused for a moment to get a hold of himself. He let go of her arms and took a step back. He was beginning to feel very overwhelmed. He ran both hands through his hair and smoothed back the water that was collecting in it. "Joey, I've never known anyone before you whose own happiness was vital for my own."

"Sirius-"

"Don't you get it?" he pleaded as he grasped her shoulders again, "I don't just love you for who you are, but for who I am when we're together."

Joey backed away from his grasp and looked down at the mucky ground beneath her toes. She was trying desperately to not look him in the eye as she contemplated over what he had just said. Her saturated hair fell in front of her eyes. Backing up, she found the tree behind her and leaned up against it, just like she had before. She could feel all of the dry, salty tears that covered her face. With her eyes still on the ground, she noticed that Sirius had taken a step closer to her, so that he was now directly in front of her. She felt his hand come up and brush the hair out of her eyes and tuck it behind her ear. Instead of moving his hand away, he cradled her chin and tried to lift it up so that she was looking back into his eyes. As she looked up into his face, she tried to speak, "Sirius, I-"

In one swift motion, Sirius moved his face in and gently pressed his warm lips up to hers. She closed her eyes tightly, and felt another tear roll down her face and drip off the side of her chin. She found herself leaning into him as she pushed herself away from the tree, and wrapped both of her shaking arms around his neck. Sirius' free arm moved around her waist and put a light pressure on the base of her back as he lovingly pulled her into him. She let out a deep sigh, and Sirius slowly pulled away from her. She stared up into his eyes that were now gleaming in the moon light, and she could see a pleading look on his face.

"Sirius . . . deep down, I've loved you since the day I've met you," she breathed out. "I just don't want to be hurt again . . ."

Sirius leaned down and kissed her affectionately on the top of her head. Still breathing a little heavily from the burst of emotion just a few moments before, he said, "I will never ever hurt you, Joey. You're my best friend . . . I promise that you will always be able trust me." She wrapped her exhausted arms around his waist and laid her head down on his chest. She felt more secure there, wrapped in his arms in the middle of a thunderstorm, than anywhere else she could think of.

"I know," she muttered as she closed her eyes and breathed him in.

Thank you for making my day with a review! Love, SJ