20. Kiss the Girl (Ashley Tisdale)

A/N: Okay, yes, I know Ashley Tisdale was not the first to do this song, but I was listening to her version when I got the idea for this one.

Aaaanyway, for the sake of just this chapter, we're pretending Havoc and Maes lived in the same town as the Hawkeyes. We're also pretending that said town has a festival during the summer solstice.

Hawkeye-sensei was not one to give himself a reprieve, but he knew when his student was too distracted to be taught. So, with much reluctance, he gave Roy the day off to go to the summer solstice festival.

Riza accompanied him for her own much-needed day off. The two had agreed to stick together, with minor exceptions.

One unexpected exception was Maes Hughes, who insisted on hauling Roy off to talk to him, despite the protests of both Riza and Roy.

"Well…?"

"Well what, Maes?"

Maes hit his forehead. "You are so stupid. You can't… Why are you afraid? She's like any other girl!"

"No she's not," Roy retorted. "And that's the problem… What the hell is so funny about that?"

"You sound like me!" Maes choked out. "You have so much to learn. That's how you know! And I thought you were supposed to be good with girls!" Another burst of laughter. "Any girl but the one you want... You've got it bad. Just kiss her already!"

"Yes, because that'll go over so well," Roy drawled.

Maes shrugged. "Better than nothing at all. Well…" He grabbed Roy's arm. "No time like the present."

"So, where's Roy?" Jean asked.

Riza shrugged. "Maes showed up. I would assume they're still on the grounds, but I don't know where." She noticed Havoc's devious smile. "And that was funny… how?"

"Wha…? Oh." Havoc's smile just dropped. "Thinking of something else."

Sighing, Riza muttered, "And this is why you can't keep a girl."

"Can so!" Havoc argued.

Riza's lips curled into a smile. "Name one."

"Caitlin!"

"Two days."

"Meg."

"A week, tops."

"Uh… Denise!"

"You kissed her for about ten seconds before she slapped you! That doesn't count!"

Havoc went for his last resort. "Like you've got more experience than I do!"

"And I'm fine with that," Riza told him.

It was at that moment that Maes and Roy appeared.

"Speaking of," muttered Jean before Riza elbowed him.

"Sorry. Is he bothering you?" Maes asked.

Riza nodded. "More than usual. Find him a girl, please."

Maes nodded and grabbed Havoc, who, at the last second pushed Roy at Riza. He managed to stop himself before knocking her over.

Ahhhh… no! Roy's mind was going into overdrive. His hands were on Riza's shoulders, and they were staring into each other's eyes, but they were frozen.

"Just kiss her already!"

Roy almost winced at the recollection of Maes's words. He opened his mouth to speak, but the sound wouldn't come. Well, not coherently, anyway. Roy supposed he just had to bite the bullet, so to speak. He leaned in and pressed his lips to Riza's, suddenly very aware of her and only her.

Was this her first kiss? Probably, he decided. She seemed a bit taken aback and unsure what to do. Oddly, Roy found himself thankful for that. It meant that Riza stood on her morals, from what he knew.

Why was he thinking about morals at a time like this, anyway? He pulled away, feeling his heart skip a beat when Riza's eyes met his again. Even in the somewhat dimming light, it was easy to tell that she was turning pink very quickly. "What was that all about?" she asked, going for annoyed, but sounding more hopeful than anything.

"I just… you know… I like you." Roy groaned in frustration. Any girl but Riza, and he could sound his age. But around Riza, especially after he'd just kissed her, things were different. "And I didn't want to sound lame or anything, but now that I have to say something, I do, and I… just can't think of anything else when you're near me, Riza. That's pretty much the extent to which words can describe it."

Riza smiled slowly. "I… couldn't've said it better."

Roy sighed and looked to the sky. "Thank you, whoever's watching me." He lowered his gaze to Riza, who was still smiling. "So, how about some dinner?"

Riza took the hand he was holding out to her. "I'd like that."

A/N: I love Roy being all nervous! It's totally cute (at least, to me). When I was talking with some of my friends about the subject of love, we all agreed that there was generally an "ohcrapwhatdoIdonow?" feeling that accompanied it. I tried to capture that here.

Please, leave a review. I wanna know what you guys think of this!