"Shit.... shit, shit, shit," Kristina thought. "What's Taylor doing answering his cell phone?"

"You know, I should have known you'd try something like this," Taylor said snobbily. "Only you, Kristina. You know, you're just like your father, thinking the whole world belongs to you. I can't stand that. Leave Joey alone," she added before hanging up.

Kristina hung up, speechless. She couldn't do anything but stare at the phone in disgust. She hated that girl. All her father's warnings about the Alcazars were right. "What can I do?" Kristina wondered, confused. "I need to talk to Joey tonight, or I'll never be able to do it."

She knew he'd started working at the Haunted Star, and hoped he had a shift at that time. She grabbed her purse off the dresser and she ran downstairs. "Be back later!" Kristina called on her way out the door. She took her own car, and even though she knew one of her father's men was following her, Kristina felt as though she was finally alone.

"Now don't be nervous," she told herself. "Just listen to what he has to say. If it sounds good, maybe you can negotiate something," Kristina added, realizing how much she sounded her father.

By the time Kristina reached Haunted Star, she had calmed herself down and was confident with herself. She walked in with her head held high and looked around for Joey. She sat down at the bar and looked around for Joey, she didn't see him, but the bartender said he was working. A few minutes later Kristina saw him come out from the back and called his name. When Joey saw her face, his own lit up, and it was evident how happy he was to see her.

"Miss Corinthos, what can I do for you?" he asked, coming closer to her, but not pushing it. He knew that if he got too cocky, Kristina would walk away from the situation. His father had taught him that.

"Well, I figured I was a little harsh on you this morning, and I decided to give you a chance. I'm willing to hear your side of the story, if you're willing to tell it," she said quietly.

Joey nodded and seemed to be thinking about it. "I guess I can tell you. You're not going to forgive me if I don't tell you, and you probably still won't forgive me if I do tell you, but it's better if you know."

Kristina looked back at him confused. Elise had said it would be worth it to hear Joey's story, so why did Joey think she still wouldn't forgive him? "Well, when can you do it? You don't seem to have a lot of time on your hands right now," she said anxiously.

"Actually, you caught me at a really good time. My shift ends in about five minutes," he told her.

"Yeah, a really good time," Kristina thought. "I almost missed him."

"So, like I said just five more minutes and then we can go to my old apartment. Taylor called and mentioned talking to you," Joey said.

"Well, more like yelling, but yeah, we talked. She basically told me to stay away from you, and that you want nothing to do with me."

"Yeah, well, she tends to overreact to some things," Joey replied, amused.

"Just a little," Kristina said sarcastically.

Joey went back to waiting tables and Kristina smiled at him. The bartender turned to her and asked what she wanted. "I'll have a virgin strawberry daiquiri, please, with extra ice," she told him, smiling wider. It was the first thing she'd ever shared with Joey. They were rehearsing for a school play at her house, and Carly had made them strawberry daiquiris. From then on they had pretty much shared everything else. That is, up until he decided to propose to Taylor. But, everyone deserved a second chance. If watching her parent's marriage had taught her anything, it had taught her that.

The bartender placed the drink in front of her, and she handed him her credit card. She took a few sips and then Joey sat down next to her and announced that he was finished. "Okay, let me just finish my drink. Want some?" she asked.

"Of course," he said, grabbing a straw from the container behind the bar. "Do remember the first time we had these?"

"Absolutely," Kristina said, flashing back to that night.


flashback

"Carly!" Kristina said, running down the stairs frantically. "The hottest guy in school is coming over, and I have no idea what to do. I'm so nervous. What do I do?"

"Whoa! Honey, calm down. Number one, who is this hot guy, and number two, is like a date thing?" Carly asked confused.

Kristina scowled. "No, it's not a date. He plays Hero, opposite me in "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," you know the play I'm doing in school. We need to rehearse, and he said he'd come over here. And the guy is Joey Jacks."

Carly smiled smugly, and Kristina scowled once again. She obviously didn't know what her father would think of her bringing Jasper Jacks's son home. "Well, what do I do?"

"Take him up into your room, start rehearsing, and then I'll make you guys some drinks. Find out what kind of music he likes and I'm sure one of us will have that on a CD. If not, you can always play the radio. Music's usually a pretty good ice breaker," Carly told her.

"Thanks," Kristina said. She was going upstairs to call Sofia to get the scoop about Joey when she heard Max announce that he was there. She turned around and smiled just as Joey walked into the penthouse.

"Hey Kristina. What's up?" he asked, as if it were the most normal thing in the world to be at her house– well, that's how Kristina saw it.

"Not much. I was just finishing that paper for Mrs. Brown's class. It is so hard," she replied, trying to sound nonchalant.

Joey looked around and nodded, and Kristina saw that he was bored. "Well, we better go practice. Let's go upstairs, it'll be quieter."

Kristina led hi him up the stairs with a huge smile on her face. In her room she told Joey he could sit on the armchair and she reached into her bag to look for her script. They started rehearsing, but right from the beginning, Kristina knew it wasn't going right, and said so. Joey agreed with her and said, "Well, maybe it's because we don't have very much chemistry." Kristina looked at him oddly, so he added, "You know, we don't really know one another well, and that might be why we're having trouble."

She nodded. "Yeah, that's probably it. So.... tell me about yourself."

And tell about himself Joey did, and so did Kristina. After only a half an hour they felt like they knew everything about the other. They were just starting to talk about music when Carly walked into the room. "Who wants some daiquiris?" Carly asked in a high pitched voice.

"Thanks Carly," Kristina said, rolling her eyes at Joey. Carly sat down on her bed, and Kristina looked at her pointedly. When she didn't get the hint Kristina added, "Well, thanks for the drinks. We really better get back to rehearsing."

Carly then got the hint and raised her eyebrow, but didn't say anything out of the ordinary. "Have fun."

Joey laughed as Carly left the room. "Your mom's protective or something?" he asked.

"No, she's just curious. Protectiveness is my father's department," Kristina told him. "Anyway, what were we talking about?"

"Oh, I was telling you about that band. They're called Hootie and the Blowfish. They're old, I guess, but they're really cool. I have their CD with me if you want to hear," Joey said.

Kristina didn't really want to hear it. Her idea of old music was the old chamber music Sam would play when she was drunk sometimes, and it wasn't quite her style, but she agreed to listen to it anyway. She had decided she really liked Joey, and for more than just his looks, and she didn't want to diss him too soon. The music came on, and Kristina had to admit that she really liked it.

"This is really cool. I like it. Do you want to hear what I listen to?" Kristina said after a few songs had played.

"Sure, what kind of music is it?" he asked.

"Well, I guess it's sort of old too, but we always dance to it in my modern class. It's a lot of fun. My favorite is Sergio Mendes. I'll play you one of the songs," she replied. Kristina proceeded to put in her favorite Sergio Mendes album, "Brasileiro," and played the song "Magalenha."

"I like it, but what language is it? I know it's not Spanish," Joey said.

"It's Portuguese. I know the Portuguese words, but not the English translation. I know the English somewhat, but it doesn't make sense. I don't know all the words in English," Kristina explained.

"This is awesome stuff. You like to dance right?" Joey asked. Kristina nodded, wondering where he was taking it, and he added, "Will you dance with me?"

"Of course," Kristina said, stepping closer to him. He took her in his arms and started grinding with her. Kristina couldn't believe it was going this face, but she wasn't complaining.

"Sing it for me, please."

Kristina blushed. It had been a long time since she had sang in front of anyone, and she knew she'd be nervous about singing in front of Joey, but she agreed to anyway. "Vem Magalenha rojão, traz a senha pro fogão.. te te te coração. Hoje é um dia de sol, alegria de xodó, meu dever de verão," she began softly.

"Wow, you have a really beautiful voice. You're a really beautiful girl, you know," Joey told her.

Kristina smiled, but she knew she was blushing a deeper shade of red. "Thank you," she whispered. Joey looked into her eyes, and Kristina wanted his gaze to stay there forever. She loved the beautiful blue of his eyes. He leaned down to kiss her, and Kristina felt as though the whole world had stopped and they were the only people around. Their lips separated and Joey looked at his watch.

"It's getting late. I have to go," Joey said. He walked to the door and added with a smile, "You're pretty cool Kristina Corinthos."

Kristina smiled as he left. She couldn't believe what had just happened. She had just kissed the most coveted boy in all of Port Charles High School. She couldn't wait to get to school the next day, and she ran downstairs to tell Carly and Thalia what had happened.

end flashback


Kristina looked at Joey and remembered how much she had enjoyed that first kiss, and on impulse, kissed him again.

"Whoa, aren't you supposed to be mad at me?" Joey asked shocked.

"Yeah, I still am, I just wanted to kiss you again. I had a lot of fun that first night. I'm sure you remember it too.

"I could never forget it, Krissy. Are you ready to go?" he asked.

"Yeah, let's go," she replied.

They each got into their own cars and Kristina followed Joey on the familiar drive to his apartment. She remembered all the times they had spent there. At first they said it was only to rehearse lines, but after a while they both admitted it was for their own fun. Joey and Kristina had really enjoyed spending time with one another, and it was not long before it grew into more, but that was right when he announced he was going back with Taylor. Kristina hoped to find out why tonight.

Once at Joey's apartment, Kristina felt like it was old times again. She made herself comfortable in her favorite chair, and turned on the stereo as high as it would go, wondering what CD would play. The Goo Goo Dolls's "Iris" came on. It was one of her favorite songs, and she closed her as and just took in the music while she waited for Joey to get changed. When it played over again Joey yelled, "You can change it if you want. This disc just plays 'Iris' like fifteen times."

Kristina got up, but then decided not to change it and sat back down. She didn't mind listening to it more than once.

Joey came out of his room and said, "So, you want to talk about this. What do you want to know?"

"Well, I'd like to know everything, but I'm willing to settle for all you can tell me," Kristina replied.

Joey thought and then began, "Kristina, I don't love Taylor, and nothing could ever make me love her like I love you, as my best friend and the most beautiful woman in the world."

Kristina smiled. She liked hearing him say that, but she was still confused. "Then why is all this happening? Why are you with Taylor?"

"This is why I hesitated to tell you. Before I started my relationship with you, I had been going out with Taylor. It was nothing special, just sort of a fun thing, but she saw it as more. The fact that she hates you also had a lot to do with it. When she found out how close we were getting, she didn't like it, so she went to her father, who came to me. He let me know that even though he was done with the mob, he still had plenty of connections, and if I upset his daughter, that I'd pay. I figured your father would be able to do something about it. He knew that we had something going, and I knew he'd do anything to make you happy, but he said that I shouldn't have gotten involved with any of the Alcazars to begin with, and to stay away from you," he explained.

"You're joking," Kristina replied in disbelief, but she knew Joey wasn't lying. Both of the actions he had described were typical of both her father and Alcazar. "Why didn't you just tell me?" she asked.

Joey shook his head. "I don't know. I was ashamed I guess. I felt like I couldn't stand up for myself."

"Against my father and Lorenzo Alcazar? My uncle Jason can't even stand up to them sometimes," she lied in attempt to make him feel better. He shook his head again and Kristina added, "Whatever, it doesn't even matter. Do you like Taylor?"

"No, I like you– I love you. But I don't think I'm going to find a way out of this."

Kristina frowned. "I'll talk to my father, but for now, let's just make the best of this. We probably won't be able to alone again for a while." She had forgiven him, and she knew she had never truly gotten over him. Kristina had loved him all along, and she was ready to give everything to him, even if it could only be for that one night. She kissed him, and she knew the love they'd always had was there.

And I'd give up forever to touch you. 'Cause I know that you feel me somehow. You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be, and I don't want to go home right now.

Kristina unbuttoned his shirt and he kissed her neck. She lifted her shirt off and Joey stopped. "Are you sure you want this?" he asked.

"I've never been so sure in my life."

And I don't want the world to see me, 'cause I don't think that they'd understand. When everything's made to be broken. I just want you to know who I am.

Joey led Kristina to his bedroom as she fumbled with the zipper to his jeans. He lay her on the bed and took her pants off. He kissed her up and down her body. Kristina quivered. She had never felt pleasure like this before, yet a voice in her had told her it was wrong, but she still didn't stop. The moment was perfect. She had never felt so much love and so much passion all at once.

Joey looked down at her. He loved her so much. She was so beautiful. She was perfect. He hated that after this he would have to go back home to someone else.

And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming, or the moments of truth in your lies. When everything feels like the movies, yeah you bleed just to know you're alive.

He wanted to tell her how he felt, but he couldn't bring himself to say the words. He wouldn't be able to bare having to say the same things to someone else later, and not have it be Kristina.

And I don't want the world to see me, 'cause I don't think that they'd understand. When everything's made to be broken, I just want you to know who I am.

And I don't want the world to see me, 'cause I don't think that they'd understand. When everything's made to be broken, I just want you to know who I am.

And I don't want the world to see me, 'cause I don't think that they'd understand. When everything's made to be broken, I just want you to know who I am.

I just want you to know who I am, I just want you to know who I am, I just want you to know who I am.

Kristina's back arched as Joey went inside her. She was in ecstasy for a moment, and then she felt a sharp pain. Her body stiffened underneath him. Joey didn't know what was wrong, and then he realized what had happened. He pulled out of her gently and said, "I love you Kristina."

He got up to take a shower. Once in the bathroom he turned the water as hot as it would go. He punched the wall as hard as he could. He hated himself. She'd given his virginity to him, and he wasn't even going to be there for her when morning came. He loved her so much. He never should have done it. How could he tell her that? He wanted her more than anything, but he already knew he could never have her.

Credit goes to Sergio Mendes for his song "Magalenha" and the Goo Goo Dolls for their song "Iris."

Well, next chapter to come soon. Sorry if the sex scene was corny or whatever. I'm fifteen and still a virgin, so I wouldn't know how that all goes down. Please read and review.