Hello! I'm back. I'd like to thank hahahahahahaha, WatashiGaTsuiteru, Kia, and Roxett- for their reviews. They're highly appreciated! Thanks guys! Well, here you go! Chapter 11!

Chapter 11

I'm in love?

I had never been kissed before. When I saw that Claire and Gray were together, I thought I never would be. I didn't think anybody could like me in that way. So you can imagine the shock I got when Cliff leaned down and put his lips on mine. But it felt really good, and above all, it felt right. It was that point that I finally realised that he was more than just a friend.

When Cliff pulled away, I didn't move. I was in some kind of state of shock, I suppose. Cliff dropped eye contact and began his usual stuttering.

"S-sorry, Mary. I-I…I shouldn't h-have…I… that was silly…s-sorry…."

"Cliff," I said softly. "I like you. A lot. I...I love you."

Now it was Cliff's turn to go into a state of shock. "R-Really?" he asked after a moment. I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. I could feel my cheeks burning.

"I love you too," said Cliff.

It was all beautiful and romantic, until I heard Ann muttering behind me. I spun around, to see a very angry, red-faced Ann glaring at me. Claire noticed too, because I saw her and Gray stop dancing out of the corner of my eye.

Ann stood up and began storming towards me. What am I going to do? What am I going to do? What am I going to do?

All these scenarios were flashing through my head. Ann and I have a physical fight. Ann and Cliff have a physical fight. Ann turns up at midnight and stabs me. Ann turns up at midnight and stabs Cliff. Ann turns up at midnight and stabs me and Cliff.

I was being ridiculous, and I knew that I was being ridiculous, but it all sounds much more believable if you had seen Ann's face and that savage glint in her eye. Thankfully, Claire came to my rescue.

"Ann!" called Claire.

"What?" Ann hissed.

"Ann, I'd like you to meet my brother, Jack." A young man, a few years older than Claire, came over. He had brown hair, with a cowlick, and brown eyes. You could really see the resemblance between him and Claire.

"Hi," he said to Ann. "I'm Jack."

Ann's face returned to its normal colour quickly, except for her cheeks. She was blushing so much. "I'm Ann."

"Would you, um, like to dance?"

"Sure! I'd love to!"

Jack took Ann onto the dance floor as a more upbeat song came on. They started dancing the jive. I didn't know Ann could dance.

Cliff and I sat down. Anyone could look at us and know we weren't the kind of fast dancers. I grabbed a drink, and sat next to him. I'm sure I was still blushing. Neither of us looked at each other. I wondered what was going through his head. There were a lot of things going through mine.

I'm in love with Cliff. How can I be in love with Cliff? How could I have gotten over Gray that easily? Falling in love with Cliff just happened so quickly, and it was kind of accidental. And he just kissed me! I just got my first kiss! From Cliff! I mean, Cliff is the guy who never says anything, but he was really open around me and he said it was easy to talk to me, and now he's in love with me? And I'm in love with him? And Ann was going to kill me until Claire introduced Jack. But I can't expect Ann to fall in love with Jack quickly, so she's still going to kill me anyway. And I'm in love with Cliff!

I stared out at all the couples on the dance floor. There is Claire and Gray. They look so relaxed with each other. And Karen and Rick, they've known each other since they were kids. I didn't think they could dance… Elli and Doctor, they've worked together for ages. Ann and Jack have just met. And then there's me and Cliff. We barely talked at all…and then I got drunk and fainted - how long ago was that? - And then we started talking, he saved my life at the beach, and now we're in love. At least, I think we're in love. I mean, it feels right, being here with him. And love seems to be the only word I can think of to describe how I feel about him. And…Wait a minute, where'd Cliff go?

I glanced around. He wasn't sitting next to me anymore, nor was he on the dance floor. He wasn't at the food table or the punch bowl, either. I looked questioningly at Claire. She cocked her head slightly towards the exit. I had to control myself from racing out the door. Cliff was sitting out there, by himself.

"Cliff?" I asked softly.

"Oh, sorry, I … I wanted to get some air. It's kind of stuffy in there."

"Yeah," I said.

After a moment, Cliff said, "It's weird. We used to never speak, and suddenly we're in love with each other…"

"It is weird," I said. "But it feels right."

He nodded.

"You look really nice, by the way," he added.

"Thanks," I said. "Claire chose the dress."

More silence followed. Was it normal to have awkward moments of silence around someone you really, really, really like?

"You know what's even weirder?" I said. "The fact that we both announced how we feel on Claire's wedding day."

"Maybe there's love in the air."

I laughed quietly. Cliff was nothing like I had thought. You can really learn a lot about someone if you just talked to them.

"Do you want to go back inside?" I asked.

"OK."

***

I stayed back after the party to help Claire and Gray clean up.

"I told you so," she said.

"Huh?"

"You love Cliff and Cliff loves you."

I picked up a wet, soapy sponge and flung it at her, glad we had both changed out of our nice dresses.

"HEY!" she said, and then grinned. "You so love him."

"Give me back the sponge so I can throw it at you again!"

Claire and I had a sponge fight. We ran around throwing sponges at each other. The entire inn was covered in soap. Gray, who had been at the bathroom the entire time, came in and gasped.

Claire and I skidded to a stop. Gray looked like he was about to give a lecture about cleaning up. Then I heard a laugh escape Claire's lips. I turned around, and saw the soapy sponge fly through the air and land on Gray's head, or more precisely, his UMA hat.

"CLAIRE!"

"Aww, what a shame," said Claire, putting on a fake look of sadness. "I suppose you won't be able to wear that UMA cap of yours for a while.

I was then blessed with a chance to watch Gray chase Claire around the inn, trying to get his hat back. I couldn't stop laughing. In the end, Claire through the cap into the air, and it landed on a nail on the wall. Gray had to use a ladder to get it down. I discovered, then, that Gray was afraid of ladders. He was shaking so much while he was up there. Or that might have just been because Claire kept shaking the ladder.

That night, I dreamt of Cliff. We weren't married, we weren't going out, we weren't kissing; we were just with each other. We were just talking. And that alone made me happier than ever.

Now, the thing is I'm not sure if that's the right way to end the story, but I don't exactly know what to put next. I'm thinking of possibly making an epilogue, but I'd like to hear from you, the readers. If you want me to make an epilogue, let me know. If not, let me know. Yeah, basically, just let me know what you think. As always I highly appreciate your reviews.

And thanks for supporting Jealous Heart!