Note: This chapter is a bit intense. There are gonna be some words and events that can be a bit "inappropriate", if you know what I mean. hehe. But I didn't write them in detail so...yeah. That's it. please R&R )

Limited Passion

I kept my eyes focused on the collage. It was unbelievable and strange to see a whole page dedicated to me. It was a typical teenybopper crush collage. There were pictures glued on every spot, some of them with hearts drawn around and my name was written in different forms.

"I made that when I was fourteen" Kuki sighed, "This is so embarrassing…"

I continued to scan the page while she moved restlessly by my side. I was still shocked to find out that such a thing existed.

"Let's put that away" She took the album from me. "It's just a silly thing from the past" I watched her put the album back on the shelf and sit back down beside me. Once again, there was an awkward silence between us.

"Does Chad know about your…old feelings for me…?" I broke the silence.

"No. I tried to tell him loads of times but…no…"

"How come you weren't able to tell him?"

"It's not that easy"

Her last few words didn't seem right for me. "How can it be difficult for you…?" I asked her, "It's from the past…isn't it? It's not supposed to be that important to you…"

There was a brief silence as we stared at each other. The only sound we heard was the strong autumn breeze outside. Other than that, there was nothing but cold silence.

"You still love me don't you…?" I asked her.

She stared back at me with no signs of intimidation or anxiety. Suddenly, I saw it in her eyes. I saw all her emotions…and I knew that she still had feelings for me… Next thing I knew, I kissed her. It only lasted for a second because I pulled away immediately. I knew that my kiss would be a shock to her and she wouldn't accept it. I kept my face inches from hers and stared into her eyes. She wasn't angry nor was she shocked. To my surprise, she allowed me to kiss her again, and the second kiss was no longer a short one. As long as she accepted it, I kept kissing her…and that kiss was more passionate than anything else that I have ever felt. That single kiss from Kuki was more powerful than all the kisses from Mushi. Kuki placed her arms around my neck and lay back on the couch, pulling me down along with her. I continued to kiss her and I wanted it to be that way forever. That moment was the first time that I felt real happiness in months. She was all that I wanted this whole time…

"Wait…" Kuki whispered and she gently pushed me away.

I didn't get off her. "What is it…?" I tried to kiss her again.

"Wally…no…" She stopped me. "We can't do this…"

"Oh come on!" I said abruptly.

She pushed me away to get me off her and she stood up. I watched her as she paced the room worriedly. "This is wrong…" I heard her whisper. I stood up and approached her. I couldn't believe that she would refuse to let a moment like this go on.

"Kuki…" I held her on the shoulders, "Don't think of anything else. Just think of us for now…"

"I can't…" She said sadly and released herself from my grip.

I massaged my forehead to avoid a headache. "Why are you making things so complicated…?"

"That's not what I'm doing, Wally. I'm trying to avoid things from becoming complicated…"

"How are you making things less complicated by depriving yourself from what you want!"

"By stopping myself from cheating on my boyfriend with a guy who's dating my sister!"

"You're not cheating, Kuki!" I screamed at her, "You're just denying the fact that you still love me!"

She stared back at me, her eyes filled with intense anger. I knew that she was feeling pressured by all this but I didn't want her to turn away from her emotions.

"Why won't you let us be together?" I asked gently.

She continued to look at me with wide-eyed fury. "How could you?" She said in a shaky voice, "You're dating my sister and you're willing to cheat on her with me!"

I wasn't surprised that she was angry, nor was I affected by her words. "I'd leave her if I have to…" I told her, "I still love you, Kuki…"

As if my words were bullets that shot her, Kuki stumbled back. She was able to stay on her feet despite the overwhelming emotions she felt. "I thought you said you'd get over me…?"

"I told you that I'd deal with you being with Chad. I never said I'd get rid of my emotions. I tried to but I couldn't" I slowly stepped towards her and took her hands into mine, "Kuki, you and I both want to be with each other. You know that. Just let it happen, I'm begging you…"

"…I can't…" She said, "I love Chad…I can't break his heart just to be with you…"

Her words were like blades ripping through my heart. "What about me!" I said angrily, "You're gonna break my heart for him!"

"What about my sister?" She screamed back, "You're gonna break her heart if you leave her for me!"

"MUSHI DOESN'T LOVE ME!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, "DON'T YOU SEE! YOU'RE TRAPPED, KUKI! WHETHER YOU STAY WITH CHAD OR NOT, YOU'D JUST END UP BREAKING SOMEONE'S HEART!"

Tears started to come out of her eyes. The sight of them weakened me.

"You have to choose…" I held her shoulders, "You have to choose between me and him…"

"Don't make me do this…" She begged tearfully.

As I looked into her eyes, I saw the difficulty that she was going through. She couldn't do it. She couldn't leave Chad… I weakly let her go and walked towards the couch. I dropped myself onto it and buried my face into my hands. It was all too much for me to take. When I lifted my head a bit, I looked into my hands. And I saw my tears on them…

I sat on the couch for what must've been hours and Kuki didn't move either. She just sat quietly on the floor and leaned back on the wall. Although she had stopped crying, I could tell that she still felt dreadful. Neither of us wanted to speak. There was nothing left to talk about. We had no choice but to sit back and suffer through it all. I closed my eyes and breathed heavily. I wanted all the emotions inside me to disappear. While struggling with the pain, I allowed myself to listen to every single sound around me. I listened to the ticking of the clock, the howling of the winds outside and my own breath. All of a sudden, I heard something different. I heard the sound of a teaspoon clanking against a mug. When I opened my eyes, I saw Kuki cleaning up the unfinished cups of hot chocolate on the coffee table. I silently watched her bring them to the kitchen and come back to sit on the other side of the couch. There she was, two feet away from me, still not wanting to talk. I was about to speak when suddenly the front door's locks clicked and Mushi came in. When she saw us, she looked puzzled.

"Wally?" She said.

"…Hi" I tried to sound as typical as I could. I stood up and greeted her with a kiss, a short one.

"What are you doing here?"

"I just came to see you"

"Aw…that's sweet! How long have you been waiting?"

"A few hours"

"Wow"

"Anyway…I have to go…"

"What? But I thought you came to see me?"

"Yeah but…I didn't know that you'd arrive at this time. I'm supposed to be at home" I lied to her.

"Oh, okay. Are you sure you don't wanna stay?"

I took one short glance at Kuki. She was looking away from us. "I'm sure" And I left their house.

I opened the door to my house dreadfully and walked in.

"Wally!" My mom greeted, "Where have you been?"

"Just to a friend's house…"

"Well, get dressed son!" My father said, "We're goin' out to eat!"

I sighed miserably. "I'm not really in the mood to go out…"

"What's wrong?" Mom started to feel my forehead, "Are you sick?"

"No…I'm just…really not in the mood…You guys can go without me"

"Well that's too bad" Dad said, "Joey was really looking forward to going out with the whole family"

All of a sudden, Joey came hopping into the room and he ran to me. "Wally! We're going out to eat!" He jumped excitedly.

"I know…" I lifted him up and sat on the couch, "But I'm not going"

"Why not?"

"I don't feel too good"

"What's wrong?"

"I can't tell you"

"Is it a flu?"

"No"

"What's wrong?"

"Joey…"

"Aw come on, Wally! It won't be much fun without you!"

I had nothing else to say to him so I just smiled and put him down.

"We'll just bring you some food when we get home" Mom said, "We'll be back later"

Two minutes later, I was left alone in the house.

An hour had passed and I barely moved from my spot on the couch. I sat there with a can of Coke, scanning through every dull channel on TV. I started to think that staying home wasn't such a good idea. If I had gone with my family, I would've had something to do. I would have had something to distract myself from my fight with Kuki earlier. I shut the TV off and lay back on the couch. I massaged my forehead in frustration, desperate to get the anger out. All of a sudden the doorbell rang and I just stared at the door.

"Damn door to door salesmen…" I grunted. I stood up and opened the door and I was shocked to see that it wasn't a salesman. It was Kuki.

"Hi…" She said weakly.

I stared back at her, not knowing what to do.

"Can I come in…?"

I didn't want to let her in, yet I found myself unable to refuse. So I stood out of her way and allowed her to walk by. I gently closed the door behind me and stared at her. By the way she avoided eye contact with me, I figured there was nothing to look forward to.

"I'm sorry about earlier" She said in the same weak voice.

I leaned back on the door and looked down. Sorry isn't enough…

She ignored my silence and continued, "Wally, I know that this is hard for you. It's hard for me too but I can't leave Chad. I really can't… He doesn't deserve to have his heart broken just like that…"

Right…I'm always the evil bastard who must be punished…

"Wally, please say something"

I kept my eyes straight down as she waited for my answer. There was nothing that I could say to her except, "I hope you know how stupid you are…"

Kuki slowly stepped towards me until she was so close that her nose was inches from mine. And gently, she took my face into her hands and lifted my head up. I ended up looking into her eyes and I saw all the pain in them. After that I didn't see anything anymore for I had my eyes closed…because she kissed me.

The strong rain that poured mercilessly outside caused a gloomy shade within my house. Despite the icy weather, my room stayed hot moistening the glass window and mirror. Kuki lay quietly on my bed, staring deeply into my eyes. I leaned a bit closer once again, making our foreheads and the tip of our noses touch. I could feel the heat of her breath along with mine as the sweat from my hair dripped onto the pillows. I kissed her on the lips, then on the neck and she responded by giving out a deep breath and squeezing the cushions with her hand. All of sudden, she rose up and caused the two of us to roll underneath the covers. As she lay on top of me and kissed me, I ran my hands all over her sweaty body and felt every inch of her marble-smooth skin. Again and again we rolled around my bed, pulling the blankets along with us and our bodies passionately touching. I've never felt anything like it. Our burning emotions were expressed through our physical contact with each other. Before I knew it, it was over. Kuki rolled over to my side, covering herself with the blanket and catching up with her breath. As she stared at the ceiling I lay by her side and stared at her. I observed the moisture of sweat on her skin and knew that she was feeling hot. So I got off the bed and lifted the window seal about an inch high to let some air in. When I went back to the bed I stared at her again, watching her damp skin as it slowly dried. I gently moved towards her and wrapped my arms around her while I kissed her on the neck then on the cheek. By the way she ignored me, I could tell that she was still struggling with the pain inside her. I lay there quietly and tried to appreciate the moment as much as I could because I knew that it was our only chance to be in love.

I was awoken early the next morning when I heard the ruffling of clothes. When I opened my eyes, I saw Kuki getting dressed. "You're leaving, already…?" I asked her.

She looked at me anxiously and stuttered, "Uh…yeah…I've been gone all night. My family will worry about me"

I quietly watched her get dressed. "…Are you gonna see Chad today…?"

She froze for a second before moving on. "Yeah…" She said uneasily, "Um, Wally…please don't tell anyone about last night…"

I sat up and took my boxers from the floor and put them on. I sat dolefully on the side of my bed and buried my face into my hands. I couldn't believe that she was still going to leave me after last night. "Why are you doing this…?" I asked her weakly, "Wasn't last night enough proof for you?"

"Last night was a mistake"

"If it was a mistake, you wouldn't have done it…!"

She tried to ignore me and continued to put her pants on. But I stopped her by embracing her from behind. "Please don't leave me…" I begged her quietly.

She trembled a bit at what I said. But her answer wasn't what I hoped for. "I have to" She whispered back. With that she walked out the door and left me. I angrily listened to her leave, from her footsteps down the stairs all the way to the front door closing. The moment that I knew that she was walking through the front yard's pathway, all the anger within me took over and I ran to the window and opened it.

"FUCK YOU!" I screamed down at her furiously. She stopped in between her steps for a minute. She clearly heard what I said yet she didn't turn around. She just went on. Her ignorance only angered me more and I shut the window down and kicked the side of my bed furiously. And I sat down on it and I buried my face into my hands again. I hated her so much for hurting me that I cried. As I breathed heavily to let the anger out, I kept on whispering over and over again, "Stupid bitch…!"