AN: Thank you so much for your reviews and messages. I'm more than happy that you like this one. Also, I'm super sorry for keeping you waiting, but I've been trying to buy myself some time, because I can't seem to continue fics lately. I get new ideas all the time, but I somehow can't continue the ones I've started already. This one is no exception. That's why I usually don't publish unfinished fics (this glare's for you, Madi!) I will try my very best to get the new chap out asap though, hopefully the new epi will keep you occupied for some time! Special thanks to my wonderful beta and friend, jackandsamforever. You're the best!

Also, if you haven't read Touch of Your Fingertips by hestia-Prytaneum, you should do so immediately! Can't believe you've been holding out on us!

Disclaimer: nothing has changed

Oh no, I'm gonna be there always
After the pain has gone away
The feelings are so strong
This can be our song
This can be our song

Oh no, I'll never make you cry again
I'm gonna set things right again
And I won't let 'em go wrong
This can be our song
This can be our song

"Our Song" - Matchbox Twenty

Chp. 4

When Liz got home, she fell on her bed face first and started crying. Her heart hurt from the rejection. She had truly believed he would want to kiss her, would want to date her to see what could happen, but she had been wrong after all. The realization only made new tears well up in her eyes.

A couple of hours later, she heard the front door open. It would be Amy, she was sure of it, since her dad was already out and wouldn't return until late. Only moments later her bedroom door opened, confirming her assumption.

"Honestly I wasn't so sure if I'd find you alone in this bed," her friend joked. When she didn't receive a reply, Amy rounded the bed and saw the tears on Liz's cheeks. "What happened? Did he stand you up?!" Liz shook her head. "What then? Did he hurt you? Oh my god, did he? I'm going to kick his ass!" The brunette couldn't hold in the sob, and Amy didn't hesitate pulling her into a hug.

"I-I… he…" She didn't know where to start.

Amy stroked her fingers over her hair. "It's alright. I'm gonna beat him up for you. Did he hit you? Make you do things you didn't wanna do? You can tell me, I'll make him suffer."

"S'not that," Liz croaked.

"What then?"

She took a calming breath, chiding herself for losing it like that. "I… he had prepared a picnic. And he was being… all cute." She sighed. "I asked about his name and he told me that I could call him whatever I wanted. Then he kissed my cheek. I thought… I turned my head and kissed him." Her friend nodded, but kept quiet. "He pulled back after a moment, said something about not wanting to hurt me…"

"That bastard!" Amy exclaimed. "What do you want to do? I can have the football squad beat him up! That sounds good!"

"What? No!"

"Liz, he hurt you! Payback is needed!"

The brunette pulled away from her friend and rubbed a hand over her face. "No. Just… let's just forget about him."

"So, what do you wanna do?"

Liz only thought for a moment. "Eat chocolate!"

The two girls had stayed up for most of the night, eating chocolate and chatting away. Liz was glad to have her friend with her. Amy was an early bloomer and therefore knew more than enough about heartbreak and the pain that came with when you fell for someone who just didn't like you in that way. She would get over it eventually.

Amy and Liz spent all Sunday playing with Hudson, Liz's dog, in the backyard, occasionally taking a break to tan. The blonde successfully took her friend's mind off the guy that had broken her heart. How dare he hurt her bestie!

The following week, Liz had tried staying off the radar as much as possible, rarely leaving the school building at all. She didn't want to run into Red again, not after the embarrassment she had suffered through. She was sure he would appreciate that as well.

Liz and a few of her friends stood by their hallway chatting while the brunette put some of her text books into her locker when someone leaned against the locker next to hers.

"You've been hiding from me," he said.

There was no mistaking that voice, and goosebumps already spread over her skin, but she would not repeat the same mistake twice. Instead of answering, she closed her locker and turned towards her friends.

"Lizzie, can we talk?"

"What do you want?!" Amy spat, managing to look more than a little mean.

Red gave her a look, but his eyes settled back on the brunette again. "Lizzie."

Amy squeezed in between her friend's back and Red, effectively blocking his view. "She doesn't want to talk to you."

Red worked his jaw. "Look, I know you're trying to take care of your friend, but you don't know anything, so I'd appreciate it if I could talk to her. Alone."

"Amy, we need to go," Liz spoke without turning.

Amy raised her brows at the young man in front of her, challenging him, before following the group of girls. Red noticed how she put a comforting hand on her friend's back. Girls, no matter what age, were crazy to talk to. Especially if they got moody.

In the next few days, Liz just walked by him every time she saw Red in the hallway. He had tried talking to her at first, but Amy had done a good job of diverting him.

It was Saturday, two weeks after the incident, when the brunette walked home from the store. It was her birthday today. Her fifteenth birthday, and she was actually pretty excited. Her girlfriends would be coming over and they would have a pajama party. She enjoyed the simpler things in life, and liked spending as much time as possible with her friends.

When she neared her house, the first thing she noticed was the red convertible parked out front. The next thing was him leaning against the side, watching her watch him. Liz groaned internally. She really didn't want to deal with whatever it was that he wanted now.

"Lizzie," he spoke her name gently, and Liz fought hard against her heart which was telling her to talk to him. She straightened her back and hitched the bag of groceries further up, balancing it on her side while she searched for her keys.

"Where are you?" She mumbled, rummaging through her purse.

She felt his presence before she saw him from the corner of her eye as he reached for her bag of groceries. She didn't loosen her grip while she stoically kept her head down.

"Lizzie, will you stop it and just let me take the bag so you can actually get into the house?" He asked, and she knew full well he was giving her a look. He reached for the bag again and this time she let him, feeling childish for not accepting his help at first.

The girl found her keys and unlocked the front door, pushing it open. "Thanks. I got it from here."

"Can we talk?" She didn't answer, didn't even look at him as she made a grab for her bag. He turned slightly, holding it out of her reach. "Look, whatever you think happened two weeks ago, I'm sure you're wrong. I really liked spending time with you and would like to do so again." At that her eyes shot to his. "What, you think I was rejecting you?" He asked incredulously, and then realization dawned on him. "You think I was rejecting you."

Liz bit her lip and averted her eyes. "Look, can we not do this?"

"Do this here? I agree. Let's go inside," he said and ushered her into the house.

"What? Red!"

He closed the door behind them and wandered off with her groceries. "Nice place. This way to the kitchen?" He asked but didn't wait for her to answer.

She rolled her eyes and followed him. Was this guy serious? "Thanks for the help. I'll take it from here."

"I wasn't," he said.

"You weren't… weren't what?"

Red leaned his hip against the counter next to where she was starting to unpack the bag. "Rejecting you." Liz paused her actions, not sure what to do with that piece of information. "I promise you, sweetheart, I wasn't. I was merely trying to slow things down. My intention was not to hurt you, but that somehow backfired."

She turned her head towards him, looking at his hands instead of his face though. "What are you saying?"

He smiled and tucked some hair behind her ear, letting his fingers caress over her cheek and then down her face and to her arm. "That I enjoyed spending time with you and would like to do it again. If that's what you want."

Liz was baffled. "Why would you want that?"

"Well, because I like you. And you're very beautiful, of course." She blushed at his words. "You don't need to say anything right now. It's okay. That being said." He handed over a big wrapped box that she hadn't even noticed before. "Happy Birthday, sweetheart," he said and placed a kiss on her cheek.

"How did you – I…"

"Open it," he encouraged softly.

Liz took the box from his hands and carefully started unpacking. Once she saw what was inside the box, she gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. It was the most beautiful red dress she had ever seen. "Oh my god."

"I take it you like it?" He asked with a smile and a twinkle in his eyes.

She did, she loved it. But – "This is too much. I can't –"

"Lizzie," he interrupted. "Please, take it. I'm sure you'll look breathtaking in it."

Her fingers ghosted over the silk. It really was beautiful and she wanted to keep it, to wear it. "Red…"

"Lizzie, the school ball is next week. And I wanted to ask you…"

"Yes," she said before he could finish.

"Yes?" He smiled at her.

"Yes!" Liz put the box down and hugged him tightly. "Thank you. So much."

She felt him sigh as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her deeper into his chest. "You're welcome, sweetheart," he whispered and placed a soft kiss into her hair. "I have something else for you."

"Red!" She started to argue, but he shushed her with a move of his hand. He pulled out a much smaller box from the inside of his jacket and opened the lid before handing it to her. Her eyes widened at the contents. Silver stud earrings that held red stones, as well as a beautiful slim necklace with a small red heart-shaped stone sat inside. Her eyes welled up with tears. She didn't even know what to say, so she just leaned close and kissed his cheek. "Thank you," she whispered.

He grinned widely at her, using his thumbs to wipe away the wetness that her tears had left on her cheeks. "Want me to help you put it on?"

"Please."

Red carefully lifted the necklace from the box and turned her around so her back was to him. He fastened the necklace around her and placed a feather light kiss to her exposed skin. "Beautiful," he mumbled.

She turned around and gave him a dazzling smile. "Thank you, Ray."

"You're more than welcome, sweetheart." They shared a moment just looking at each other. "Do you need some help?" He suddenly asked.

"Help?"

"Preparations for your party?"

"How do you even know this stuff?" She asked perplexed, but he just grinned and started unpacking her groceries.

They took care of all the party preparations, and Red chided her for insisting on calling for pizza later that night instead of cooking. After admitting that she had no clue how to cook, he had promised that he would teach her the basics soon.

After putting the finishing touches on their work, they sat on the couch in the living room. "I should probably get going," he said.

"You don't have to!" Liz hurried to say.

Red gave her a grin. "Well, even though I very much enjoy the company of a group full of beautiful women, I think I'd pretty much be the fifth wheel. And I'd be more than preoccupied with shamelessly ogling the only beautiful woman I'm interested in," he added, making Liz blush. He then stood and pulled her up with him. "I hope you'll have a great time with your friends." Red pressed a kiss to her forehead and started walking towards the front door.

"What, I don't even get a birthday kiss?" Liz peeped up, stopping him in his tracks.

He slowly turned around, raising a brow at her in a challenging way. "Would you like a birthday kiss?"

'God, yes!' Her mind screamed at her, or maybe it was her heart. She raised her own brow at him. "If you're up to it."

Red chuckled at her taunting words as he slowly made his way back to her. "Think you can handle that?"

She huffed a laugh. "Yeah, right. As if I–" She didn't get to finish her comeback as his lips covered hers.

His lips were soft as he gently moved them over hers, his one hand finding its way into her hair as his free one settled against her waist. She wound her arms around his neck and kissed him back, concentrating hard on not screwing this up.

Red pulled away a little and his nose brushed hers. "You think too much, just feel."

"I'm trying," she whispered back.

His thumb caressed over her cheekbone. "Have you ever been kissed like that before?"

"No."

He leaned in a gently touched his lips to hers in a series of little pecks. "Just feel. Don't think." After a moment Liz forgot what she had been worrying about, forgot about where they were and what they were doing. The tip of his tongue traced her bottom lip, before gently coaxing her mouth open. Liz couldn't stop the moan from escaping her throat when their tongues touched. He felt so good, tasted so good, she didn't ever want to stop. Her fingers ran through the hair at the back of his head, gently scratching over his scalp, which made him moan in return. He made her forget her own name. But one thing she did know:

Raymond 'Red' Reddington was one hell of a kisser.