Justin's Kiss

Sherelle Copyright ©August 2001


They sat in the car for 15 minutes before anyone spoke. 'I can't believe he's here,' Kiara thought, 'What does he want?' She glanced at Justin sitting in the driver's seat, hands absently caressing the steering wheel. He was just as sexy and handsome, maybe more so, than he was six months ago. Kiara looked back out the window, confused and saddened by the sight of him. 'What the hell am I doing here? What is he doing here?'

"She was cheating on me," Justin stated without emotion. Whoa! Could he have come from any farther left field? Kiara blinked in surprise by the bluntness of the statement.

"Well there's a shock," she said, the anger and sarcasm startling even her.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means we aren't 16 anymore, where you can run to me to have your ego stroked whenever some girl broke your heart. You left me-for her. I'm not gonna make it all better for you, so don't bother to ask."

Justin sat quietly, thinking about what he was going to say next. 'I really screwed this up. How am I gonna fix it if she won't even listen to me?' "I wasn't telling you so you could make it better or feel sorry for me. I thought you should know and that...that I'm sorry."

"Sorry? Are you serious? This isn't like you bleached an expensive suit or dropped a glass dammit, you left me. I thought we were happy and then poof!-you were gone. No word, not one blond curl until today. Was I supposed to be okay with your leaving? Do you honestly think a little drive and a sorry is gonna fix this?" Kiara started crying, tears streaming down her face. She said she wasn't going to cry again and here she was doing it in front of him, for heaven's sake. "Why did you drive me here anyway? I haven't been here since before you left."

"Really, you haven't?" Justin turned toward Kiara, who was now looking out the window, trying to regain her composure. He saw the tears on her cheeks and felt even worse. "Baby, please don't cry, I hate when you cry." He reached over and brushed the tears away with his thumb. 'Damn, not good. He's touching me. All right body let's get it together. We are not freaking out because Justin is near.' Justin started to rub her neck and most of Kiara's brain stopped functioning. 'This is just great, my body has decided to switch teams and forget the last six months didn't happen. I'm pathetic.'

"Kiara, I wanna fix this...fix us. I honestly don't know how, but I wanna explain why I left." Justin continued to slowly rub Kiara's neck, watching as dark lashes fluttered closed over leaf green eyes. He really should've remembered that was the cue to brace for impact.

"Explain?! Explain how? What would you say--Hey Kiara, sorry I was such a dumb ass. I got caught up by a super bright smile and really big breasts? But I really love you, so please take me back?" Her anger was almost a physical presence, eyes hard as emeralds and spitting fire.

"Umm...how about I explain why you haven't heard from me instead?

"Cause your a jerk-explanation over. Can you take me home now?"

"No, let me explain first." Justin sat back and looked at Kiara. She very rarely got angry, it wasn't in her nature. When she did, he always found it a complete turn on. 'God I'm a pig. She's mad at me and all I want to do is strip her.' "Lisa and I broke up 3 months ago," Justin began. "When I found out she was cheating, it was the last straw. She had zero interests outside of fashion. One more conversation about scrunchies and strappy sandals and I was gonna hang myself. Lisa just didn't have your passion for life. She'd cringe whenever I raised my voice, and stared blankly at me when I asked her opinion on anything. I wanted to see you earlier, but I didn't know how to come back. I didn't think you were ready."

"Didn't think I was... Kiara blinked owlishly, jaw hanging open in disbelief. Without another word, she snapped her jaw shut and jumped out of the car. She headed toward the observatory, which lead back to the main road. She decided to walk home before she slapped Justin the Idiot.

"Kiara? Where are you going?" 'What'd I say? It's the truth-she wasn't ready. OK, I wasn't ready. I left the best girl I ever had and I might have ruined a really great friendship.' Justin got out of the car and ran after Kiara. "K, wait. Where are you going? It's dark and not safe out here. Come back to the car."

"I'm going home Justin," Kiara snapped. "You are an ass and I've been advised by medical experts to avoid asses or suffer severe allergic reactions." Justin tried not to laugh at that statement. 'Damn I missed her. I have got to get her back, no one else is ever gonna come close.' He caught up to Kiara and grabbed her shoulder. She stopped, but only because she knew there was no point in fighting. Justin was going to say what he had to say, whether she wanted to hear it or not.

'OK you stopped her, now what? You better come up with something good, or she's gonna leave and you won't ever get her back. Oh great, now I'm talking to myself and expecting replies. Get a grip J, you're losing it.' "OK, no more excuses. I'm not gonna charm my way out of this, cause you're obviously too pissed to appreciate it anyway. Don't look at me like that K, you know I can be very charming." Kiara rolled her eyes, silently praying that God understood why she must kill one of His creatures. "I was a complete ass. You were right-I got caught up by her looks. Don't know how that happened, sometimes I think you're too pretty to be real. You don't have to believe me, but you are. Anyway, I brought you to the observatory to try and stir some sympathy, get you to cave. Instead I sat in the car and remembered all the fun we had here. Like when we did our science report on constellations and we came out here every night for a week, freezing our asses off, drinking hot chocolate and tracking stars. I thought about all those picnics we had, our first date, the first time you kissed me. I missed all that. You said earlier that you hadn't been here since I left. Neither have I. I guess I didn't want to admit what a mistake it was to leave you." As he spoke, Justin took Kiara's hand and walked back to the car. When they reached it, he leaned against it and continued. "I know I can't change what happened K, but I at least want to redeem myself and maybe be the kind of man you deserve. I can't do that until you forgive me. Please?"

Kiara stared at Justin for a full minute, processing what he said in her mind. 'Why shouldn't I take him back? she thought. It would be so easy to just say yes. But how would I know it won't happen again? He's sincere now, but what about in another six months? Could I really go through this again?' She decided she had to know those answers before she did or didn't forgive him. "I really missed you Tin. It was a very hard time for me, but it wouldn't have been if you just told me you were unhappy. We've been friends for too long for you to not at least do that. You made me doubt myself, the one person who always motivated me. So if I do forgive you and we get back together, how do I know you won't just leave again?"

Justin sighed. 'Well I've told her this much, I might as well tell her everything,' he thought. "You have no idea how much power you have over me do you?" he asked. Kiara looked confused and a bit suspicious of the question but let Justin continue. "You don't believe me, but you do. You're the first thing I think of when I wake up. My chest aches when I don't hear from you. I want to call you when I smell anything close to your scent. I would watch you sleep and think I couldn't get any luckier. I completely freaked out. I felt like I was losing myself and, let's face it, no guy likes that feeling, even if he's known the girl since he could walk. You scare me K, but these last six months have been pure hell. I'd rather be with you than without you."

Kiara walked over and stood an inch from Justin. She smoothed his eyebrow and caressed his cheek. Kiara then looked Justin in the eye and said, "You're still an ass. The way you randomly talk to yourself drives me nuts. You are walking evil before 9 AM. And I swear if you ever pull something like this again, I will kick your ass." Kiara then laughed and wrapped her arms around Justin as he swooped her up in a huge bear hug.

"It's a deal," he said. As he leaned in for a kiss, Justin asked, "So what did you miss most about me? My incredible charm or my stunning good looks?"

Kiara rolled her eyes. "Justin...shut up."