My sister's ex (Candira and Raven)

Just floating there in the water was relaxing, even if the sun was beating down on his chest. He listened as she swam her laps the sounds of her arms and legs kicking through the cool liquid. Then the sounds dulled. Being he had his ears underwater it somewhat heighten his ability to tell via motion where she was headed. Right for him, and then she had him pulling him under the water. His body turned under the water as her arms drug him under and his hands went for her lower back. Unfortunately he misjudged and his hands planted themselves firmly on her rump. It only took a second to realize it and he let go swimming back to the surface using the cold water to hide the heated blush.

She laughed underwater as he turned to her, trying to grab her and keep her under with him. As soon as his hands landed on her ass she felt a jolt. She hadn't been expecting that, and judging by the way he let go and shot off to the surface, neither had he. She surfaced soon after, panting and laughing a little, though she had the tiniest of blushes when she returned her gaze to him.

"Gotcha," she said, hoping to break the tension.

Jake was about ready to apologize for the grab when her words came to his ears. So that's the way she wanted to play was it? His mind went into a competitive mode and he moved quickly in the water behind her. Granted it would be easy for her to turn around and face him, but that's what he wanted. As she turned he swam closer and closer, hoping for the normal reaction of her back pedaling to stay out of his reach. All was well but the slight grin on his face was a clear indication of something mischievous.It wasn't too long before she would be able to walk on the bottom of the shallow end of the pool and then backed up against the edge of it.

There it was he kept getting closer then snagged her wrists so she couldn't turn and escape from the pool. There was something odd going on right now he wasn't sure what but last night had been perfect, and today was perfect as well. He was halfway expecting her to turn into Salina again, but she didn't. Rae remained Rae and his heart rate picked up. He wasn't even looking at her body he was looking in her eyes he couldn't tell what exactly it was. Maybe it was a bit of fear that lay dormant, he wasn't sure. He neared more his grin of mischievous play still on his face, then it faded she was too beautiful. He couldn't resist he leaned in and his lips met hers.

He wasn't sure why he did it he just had the urge to do so. He didn't kiss her because he was thinking of Salina that much was evident to him. No it was clearly Rae he seen when he had move to kiss her, but why? His hands moved to rest on her hips beneath the water. His mind and body both seemed to agree this was right, as if his common sense had been thrown from a twelve story building to be splattered on the concrete below. He slowly pulled away from the kiss but remained closer to her. his senses were blurred from the moment but his mind and lips worked on their own to tell her something with hidden subtext even to his own thoughts. "Got ya." Jake replied with a small smile.

Rae wasn't much for sticking around for punishment, so when he got that gleam in his eye again, she started swimming away, laughing. It was all in good fun. They'd splashed around a little, and she'd dunked him. Now he was obviously coming for revenge. She wasn't quite fast enough to get away from him, however, and soon he had her cornered in the shallow end again, her back against the wall. Her heart raced, however, the instant he had her wrists in his hands--partly from the anticipation of getting dunked, and partly from him touching her like this. She'd had little fantasies where he'd take her by the wrists and hold them as he had his way with her.

But that wasn't happening. He still wanted to take her down...or so she thought. That smirk of his was fading as he got closer to her. Still a bit wary, she leaned back against the wall, sure he'd pull her under any second. She wasn't prepared for him to kiss her. Her eyes were wide open in shock as his lips met hers. Then, rather than fighting him off, she kissed him back, her hands resting at the back of his head and neck as his came to her hips.

Nothing else existed for a very long moment. The water did nothing to cool her off as he pulled away, leaving her stunned, but primed for more. At his little tease, she smiled back, nodding. "So it would seem." Rather than, ruin the moment with more talking, she eased back into him, pulling him into another kiss, wondering what had brought this change in dynamic. Whatever it was, she was more than willing to give thanks.

What the fuck had come over him? He didn't know but for some reason he didn't catch the gravity of the situation. It didn't click that he was making out with his ex's sister, nor did it click that his hands were sliding up over her sides. The feeling of having a woman in his arms again felt amazing, and for some reason unknown to him it was better than his ex. He slowly began to pull away from the kiss once again. His heart rate had kicked into high gear from the heated kiss, eyes remained closed and her name not her sisters slipped through his lips as they moved over her neck.

Withdrawals? Perhaps it had been because he was used to having relations over the past four years to suddenly be cut off for the past three months and some odd weeks. It was true that after a long sex filled relationship urges are stronger than a casual normal relationship. Her smooth skin beneath his lips sent shivers down his spine which was weird as it hadn't before in his life. Impulse took over even more as he started sucking lightly on the flesh of her neck. Why couldn't he think properly, better yet why couldn't he control his body properly? His ears heard something but he didn't catch what it was saying he was too involved at the moment. Then came a light pounding, again not important enough to stir him from what he was doing. "Hello!" and more pounding, this caused him to pull away from Rae's neck; not realizing he had left something behind on it.

Jake was about to ask if she had said it but it came again. "Hello! Anyone home? I'm here to deliver a bed!" Jake was mid turn with his right arm still around her when he seen the delivery truck over the fence. He moved from the water to the side gate and opened it up to see whoever had interrupted something of what felt like great importance to him. Jake still hadn't fully grasped the full understanding, but he realized he had been kissing Rae like they were dating. "Ah there you are! I hope I'm not disturbing you but I had a rush delivery for this bed."

'As a matter of fact you are genius.' Jake's thoughts were of course only thoughts to himself, the guy was only doing his job. 'You're interrupting my time with my girlfriend.' Then it clicked, he had put Rae into the place of his girlfriend and kissed her. No he hadn't thought of Salina once while he had been doing it but he thought of Rae as his girlfriend. 'How fucking stupid could I be!' He yelled at himself, he was seriously going to have to apologize for this and pray she forgave him. "Rae it's your bed Babe." The words left his mouth without thought as if it had been natural. Again he beat himself mentally and then turned his head back from the gate to the man with the clipboard. "She'll have to deal with this give her a minute." Jake went back into the back and then grabbed the towel from the pool chairs. He managed to get a good look at Rae while he walked by, she did to appear to be somewhat upset. "Definitely need to apologize." He wrapped the towel around him walking through their college home and unlocking the front door for the agency that had just interrupted something perfect, even if he didn't realize that Rae had enjoyed it just as much as he had.

Rae's heart was pounding in her chest as Jake's lips seared hers with a kiss. Her eyes opened as he pulled away, her name floating to her ears like magic. He wanted her! And he wanted her with the kind of passion she'd only dreamed of. Her whole body tingled as his lips moved to her neck, kissing and sucking there, drawing soft sounds of pleasure from her throat. If this kept up, she was sure they'd be doing more than just making out in the pool.

She'd liked Jake ever since she'd met him, and she'd come to enjoy his company even more in the time that she'd known him. Rae had always wanted to be more, however. More than just his girlfriend's sister. More than just a friend he could count on. She'd wanted his loyalty and longing and this passion. And now that she was experiencing it first hand, she could hardly be blamed for such a thing. His hands were just taking a delightful little trip up her sides when they both heard the noise. She panted softly as he pulled away from her neck.

Who the hell was here? Disappointed and upset that this perfect moment had been utterly destroyed by the delivery of her bed, the redhead practically growled as Jake left her to go to the gate. She lifted herself out of the pool and wrung out her hair, unaware of the mark he'd left on her neck. Just perfect. Now things between them would be awkward again because they'd been interrupted. She was just reaching for her towel when he called her babe. Maybe things wouldn't be so bad after all...still, she was not pleased about being interrupted, and she was a little hurt that he seemed to be so unfazed by the situation.

So she dried herself off quickly, toweled her hair a bit and then wrapped the terry cloth around herself. Directing the men to her room, she showed them where to put it and they were nice enough to put the whole thing together for her before they left. Once they did, her hair was practically dry, and she didn't much feel like swimming anymore. In fact, she felt a little tired. So she saw them out and just leaned against the house for a moment, closing her eyes and sighing.

Jake had retreated to his room unsure if he could face his friend. The conversation growing in his mind would be difficult to explain to a normal person. Everyone had this at one point in their life; no not a mental break down, a conversation between their conscious and subconscious. Who knows maybe others describe it as the devil and the angel on their shoulders, whatever you wanted to call it Jake was there and he was pacing the floor in his bedroom. 'What the fuck is wrong with you dude!? That's your ex's sister What you think it's be okay for you to feel her up, make out with her. What are you doing trying to get back at Salina?' His consciousness had of course taken the side of insulting him, it must have been because his uncles had always tried to put him down when they visited him.

'It seemed fine to me she didn't fight back, in fact didn't she kiss you back?' Inner peace and understanding fighting to help the young man's mind become eased and think properly, this of course was going to be difficult.

'This is bad you stupid twit how can you even think it isn't as bad as it is?! Do you know what she'd do to him if she finds out the poor sap made an accident in kissing her. You don't play on a woman's feelings like that. Jake would be no better than that bitch of an Ex that used him, Preying on poor Rae like that because he thought Rae was a girlfriend.

'You're Stupid! He didn't prey on her at all, seriously you're sitting here berating Jake and you don't even have the slightest clue as to what's really going on do you?

Jake hated when this happened not only did it fuck with his mind confusing the shit out of him, it seemed like he became an emotionless wretch the only thing he could do was sit and hold his head as his subconscious continued to fight for the sake of logic, and his conscious fought against it. Jake's head kept shaking back and forth as if multiple people had been yelling with megaphones in a sealed auditorium. It seemed as though his soul would rip in two while his mind was driven insane.

'Seriously didn't your see her she was clearly pissed!'

'And what makes you think she was pissed at him?'

'Did she talk to him? No she didn't ergo she's pissed at him!

A growl came from Jake but the reverberations in his head kept assaulting him, if one had to make a visual of it it would have to be something like two lawyers bickering over semantics of the case with the judge becoming annoyed. This wasn't going well the more they fought the more depressed Jake felt, five more minutes and it didn't look like it was going to end. God it didn't help that the sounds reminded him of his cousins when ever they came to visit, always bickering complaining, fighting like a pack of dogs over the last bone. "Shut up!" Okay not the best move for someone to randomly yell that but it gave him control again. Sanity had returned and he pushed all of the bickering aside including the incident. One thing he knew; he had to apologize, the next course of action figuring out how to do just that.

Rae had just come back in when she heard Jake yell for someone to shut up. Or at least that's what it sounded like. After her heart started beating again, wondered if he was alright...but then if he was yelling, he must have needed his space. Rather than going with her first instinct and rushing in to check on him, she decided to put the sheets and blankets on her bed and take a shower. It was pretty clear that he wanted to be alone--maybe she should take the time to herself too.

As she stripped out of her wet suit, she started wondering if he'd intended to kiss her at all. What if he'd just gotten caught up in the moment? Or worse--what if he'd transferred old feelings he had for her sister onto her?! Discouraged and slightly grossed out, she wrapped herself in her wet beach towel and headed into their bathroom, locking the door behind her. As she looked at herself in the mirror she decided that she might have been getting a little ahead of herself. She should talk to him and, Oh my God that was a hickey.

A bright pink mark sat on her neck plain as day where his lips had been not an hour before. Sighing, she put her head in her hands, blushing and wishing she knew what the hell was going on. Before she could dwell on it too much she dropped her towel, threw her suit on top of it and started the water, getting it nice and hot. Maybe the steam could help clear her confusion.

Thinking wasn't working too well everything he had thought up seemed to out there and half felt it would have been perceived as nothing but bullshit. Wait, why did he even have to apologize? He kissed Rae, knowing it was Rae he distinctly heard himself say her name, not Salina's. No that wouldn't work he had to apologize. His stomach growled violently, this caused his attention to go to the clock in the room reading that it was now one in the afternoon. Time had gone by quickly and his body craved sustenance. "Time to find something to.....eat."

No it couldn't be that simple could it? They had bonded so well over dinner the night before, maybe it was possible to fix this whole mess if he made her lunch. He stood to his feet an left his room. She wasn't in the main room and from the sounds of it not in her room either. Well no matter where she was she'd come out at some point, at least he hoped so. He made his way to the kitchen and looked around for what had recently been placed in there. Wait was this such a good idea she had bought this after all.....Fuck it if she got made he'd replace it and he'd more than likely wouldn't have to worry about apologizing. He pulled out the chicken breasts from the bag. Well at least she had some common sense, her sister always wanted the other ones cause they were 'bigger' in the package.

Now there wasn't anything wrong with the butcher's cuts of the chicken, it's just that when feeding a few people the bags were better. You could only freeze chicken once and that was it, the bags on the other hand you could reach in pull out as many as you wanted and put it right back in the freezer before it ever defrosted. He set the pieces on a small plate for them to defrost, at least these were the precooked ones. He then looked in the cupboards then found a bag of penne. Of course that was quick and easy! "Well isn't that convenient?" He mused softly looking in another cupboard for a pan, which he ended up finding, right where he had left it the day before. He filled the pan with water and turned the heat on but left the pasta out for now.

Moving back into his room he found his jar of spaghetti sauce his family had made a few nights before he left. Again he moved to the kitchen and put another pot on the stove but didn't turn it on that would be for warming the sauce later after the chicken neared completion. Next Jake pulled out a stove top griddle another gift from his parents before he left. Many people didn't like what a griddle did, Jake was not one of them he loved these things. It made many meals so much simpler, and often gave them a diner type feel to his meals. He grabbed the can of pam moving about the kitchen as though he'd been cooking in this very room for years. He sprayed the griddle and then put the chicken down on it with a low flame as to not cook it too quickly. Something was missing from this equation. He washed his hands after dealing with the frozen chicken then dried them.

Jake was in a much better mood as his trouble from before seemed to be vanishing as he cooked. A small hum came from his lips as he moved over to his game console he turned on the regular xbox he had brought with him, it may not have been one of his favorite systems but he loved one very important feature. He went into the music section of the hard drive, ten selected Poison from the artist list and played his albums of that artist. His CD's had become ruined over the year but he had stored the tracks in this system. First song he picked from his list always made him feel better. Jake went back to the kitchen as the intro was playing and got to the stove about the proper time for the music to actually start as the words came from his lips. "You know I never, I never seen you look so good. You never act the way you should, but I like it. And I know you like it to the way that I want you. I gotta have you oh yes, I do."

After awhile, Rae stepped out of the shower. Her ears strained to hear over the exhaust fan and she turned it off, only to hear Poison filling the air. Blinking, she toweled her hair so it was damp instead of dripping. She smiled as she recognized the lyrics as one of her favorite songs. So she hurried up with her after-shower routine, slipped into a pair of short shorts, a tank top and put her hair in a braid as she walked into the kitchen, just in time to catch the last verse. She smiled, shaking her head as she watched Jake cooking, singing along to "Talk Dirty to Me."

Whatever he was making smelled delicious, and he didn't have a bad voice. When the song ended, she spoke, rather than getting in the way of the song. "Hey. So what's for lunch?"

The water to the pasta had been reached the boiling point right as the song neared it's end and Jake poured in the penne. Figuring this would take at least ten minutes he moved to opening the jar of sauce he had brought from home. He then poured the sauce into the other pan again putting that on a low fire to warm it up slowly without burning it. Then chicken began to whiten and give tell tale signs of it beginning to cook so he turned the fire slightly higher. The song came to an end and then he heard Rae talking. 'Well that was a bit sooner than I had expected.'

Jake turned his head with a slight smile trying to forget the event ever happened. 'At least she's still talking to me.' He turned his attention to the chicken checking the side that was down against the hot surface, it looked like it needed at least another two minutes. Bagged chicken was often thinner but it cooked faster for the hurried individuals in life. "Chicken Parmesan." 'She doesn't sound too mad about it, but she hasn't really brought it up now has she stupid?' The next rack of the album began to play, ironically titled 'Nothin' but a good time.'

"Smells good," she said, moving to the fridge for a soda. "Want any help?" she asked, unsure of what else to say to him. The elephant in the room was, of course, the hot exchange in the pool. But how to bring it up? She sighed and pulled the tab on the can, waiting for him to answer. He seemed to have it all in hand, however. As the next song started up she chuckled. "On a Poison kick? I like their stuff too." She smiled and wondered if he knew her taste in music or it had just been a lucky guess.

She stepped out of his way as he heated sauce, boiled noodles and cooked chicken. How the hell did she bring it up? They couldn't just let it go. They had to figure out what it meant, didn't they?

"If you want to help that'd be great the pasta will be done in a few more minutes, and the chicken is almost done." The sound of the can popping open was a nice sound indeed perhaps he'd indulge in one later. "Not really just wanted to hear a few songs but I have my xbox set up by artist not by album so have have multiple per artist. Poison just happened to catch my attention this time around. Would you prefer something else?" This question was actually used often when he was with Salina as she hated his style of music, maybe it was one of the reasons she chose to cheat on him.

Jake lifted a spoon to stir the penne ensuring that none of them stuck together. Then he checked on the chicken, it didn't look entirely done but everything was nearing it's finished state. "Would you mind stirring the sauce and draining the pasta? I need to hurry this chicken up if we want everything to be hot when we eat." Jake found a knife in the drawer and cleaned it up then afterwards he took the chicken and cut it into strips. "As I thought." He mused out loud then finished cutting the chicken up putting them fresh cuts down to sear the little bit of pink that was in the middle. Doing this would still cook the chicken evenly through but it would cook faster in smaller pieces. This would finish them off right as the sauce was finished which meant everything could be plated at virtually the exact same time.

A little surprised that he was so at-home in the kitchen, she let him take charge. She set her can down on the counter, away from their work space and found a colander to drain the pasta with. She took a noodle with the spoon and tested it, deciding that it was ready. "No, I love 80's rock. Poison has a few of my favorite songs," she said with a smile. With that, she drained the pasta, setting the pan on a pot holder. "Hey, did you want the noodles in with the sauce? Or do you want them rinsed?"

Once she knew what he wanted, she did it without delay. She stirred the sauce, finding the aroma tantalizing. "Want me to get the cheese out?" she asked, figuring it wouldn't hurt to be prepared. She had grated Parmesan and a blend of shredded Italian cheeses. He could tell her whichever he wanted.

So she liked his music, was she certain that she was related to Salina? Everything was so different about Rae it wasn't even funny. "No to both questions. You never rinse pasta it loses it's starch as well as the ability to have anything stick to it. You lose flavor along with the both types of carbs. The sauce goes on top, though some like to mix it in with sauce. Today however I feel like doing it properly." He had explained the reasoning as to why he was doing it this way and at the end of the added explanation his voice lowered. "It wouldn't be much of an apology if it was half assed."

"You should pick the cheese after all you're eating too aren't you?" It was almost like the pol scene didn't even happen, but it did and they both knew it. Neither it seemed wanted to broach the subject, Jake was still trying to figure a way to bring it up to her. He seriously needed to apologize for his lack of control. Once their lunch was finished he gathered two plates and began to serve them. First the pasta went down, then sauce and finally the chicken. The finishing touch would be there once Rae put the cheese on both of them.

"I know, but some people still do it." She shrugged and found a serving bowl for the pasta to rest in for the time being. Once she was finished with that, she grabbed her soda and leaned against the counter, occasionally stirring, watching him while he worked. Once the chicken was done, she grabbed the shredded cheese and sprinkled it on both plates liberally. "Well, thanks for the food. Want a soda with it? Maybe a fork?" she teased, realizing they'd both forgotten about that. She got everything together and then looked around. "Where do you wanna eat?" she asked, figuring this was a pretty safe conversation.

'She said fork stupid get it out of your head you still have to apologize to her!'

'Calm down genius it was a joke and it stayed within his thoughts'

'Go fork yourself Mr. goodie goodie.'

'Both of you shut the fuck up!' Jake set his plate down and grabbed two forks from the drawer. "A soda sounds good to me." He picked his plate back up and smiled softly. Jake moved over towards the couch and the coffee table. Again he set the plate down setting both forks down, he kinda wanted to play a game so he turned on his playstation2 and went to reach for a game. Something caught his eye and he decided a movie would be better. Truth was he needed a good laugh something to get his mind off the incident so he grabbed one titled 'The Ugly Truth'. He moved to plug the movie in and then sat back down on the couch. Her question was pretty much answered when he put the plate down on the coffee table, so he didn't think he needed to verbally reply. "Want to watch?"

She tilted her head, a little concerned about the expression on his face as he thought about...well something. He almost seemed annoyed for a minute there. Oh well, if he wasn't going to say anything, she couldn't do anything about it. So she accepted her fork, got a fresh soda for her self and one for him as she grabbed her plate and headed to the sofa to join him. "Sure. Nothing wrong with a movie with lunch." She smiled and sank down next to him, handing his drink over. "Have you seen this one before?" she asked, opening up her can and taking a sip.

"Only once but that was a couple years ago. I do however remember it being funny." Funny indeed, various scenes play which caused laughs to come from his lips. That was until the elevator scene, the two main people of the story made out after having a great time and then things got awkward. Granted they were watching fiction but it didn't help him forget in fact it forced him to think about what happened two hours before. Fuck how was he going to explain how he felt about that matter, it was confusing causing mixed feelings. He needed to apologize and now was apparently that time, but how to say what he meant?

"I don't know how to properly say this so I'll try my best. When we kissed, I thought of you as my girlfriend. Perhaps I'm still used to being in a relationship I can't say for sure, but that was wrong. I can'r apologize for the kiss itself because I enjoyed it. I think I know what you're thinking, and the answer is no. Salina wasn't in my mind, for some reason I wish I had met you first." He sighed as he was somewhat through trying to explain his mind. He sat forward elbows on his knees and head in his hands he was trying to grasp the proper words an pluck them from his mind and get them from his mouth with sound. "Why couldn't it have been you in the school hallway. Good I swear she was the most beautiful person I had met back then. But why am I wishing it was you instead of her?"

She enjoyed the movie and her delicious chicken parmesan. Rae was actually feeling pretty good about their situation when the elevator scene came up. Et tu, Irony? Setting down her soda, she turned to look at Jake as he started to apologize. She opened her mouth to say something, but he seemed intent on getting everything off his chest. When he dropped the bomb about wishing he'd met her in the hallway instead of Salina, her heart skipped a bit and surprise registered.

After a long moment of silence she held up a hand. "Okay, first of all, none of what happened between us, including your thinking of me as a girlfriend, offended me in any way. You'll notice I wasn't resisting you at all. I was enjoying myself quite a bit. And I'd honestly rather you think of me as your girlfriend than just a friend if you're going to be kissing me like that because, wow." She held up two fingers now to illustrate her second point and stop him from opening his mouth again.

"Secondly, while I'm glad Salina wasn't in your head while we were kissing, I didn't even go there. But thanks for planting that idea in my head," she said with a little frown. She sighed and held up both of her hands, shaking her head to dismiss that issue.

"And finally, you did meet me first. I was the one in the hallway. Salina had no idea who you were when you came to her later that day. But who would pass up a date with a cute boy? Especially if she's Salina?" Here she put her face in her hands and sighed. "And all this time I thought you just didn't like me." She shook her head and took her plate over to the sink, deciding it was best to keep herself busy in this situation.

He wasn't sure why she had such a surprised look on her face. But he listened to her words. 'So I didn't have anything to worry about to begin with...' He thought with a mental sigh of relief, which of course proved that his subconscious was actually right which it seemed to gloat to his self doubt. What was even better was the fact that she openly admitted to not only like his kissing but it sounded like she was eager to go another round. 'Nice to finally have an idea as to how well I can please a woman.' Then his eyes caught her hand as she changed it from open palm to having two fingers up indicating her advancement to a new bullet on the power point.

She had his full attention, attention she had grasped when first speaking. She was grateful about him thinking about her but he clearly ruined that part of his explanation by involving her sister in it. She hadn't even come to the conclusion that it had anything to do with her twin and it was dully noted by the heavy sigh, the frown and he quick rough shaking of her head. 'I should have guessed that part wouldn't go over well.'

As she explained that she was the one that he had met in the hallway he looked dumbfounded. A questioning eye brow raise hinting at him not fully grasping at those words. It took him a few minutes to process everything in her last few sentences, in fact she was already at the sink when it all clicked. "Wait so you're telling me that the girl I bumped into was you? Okay, so later that day I thought your sister was you and asked her out. She didn't know me, when I thought she did; and she said yes because she thought I was cute. Wait that means when she claimed to remember it a few months later she lied to me?"

'Okay Moron I know I'm supposed to beat you up and make you feel bad but now isn't the time quit being stupid and catch the rest of it.'

'Agreed stop being stupid figure it all out and do something about it.'

With advice from both parts of his consciousness teaming against him he thought harder for a minute more after he had asked the question. Of course now it appeared as the question had been rhetorical as he understood fully that Salina had lied to him. That meant.... "That means....Oh my God."

'There we go.'

'You've got it.'

"That means you're the one I meant to ask out, and you've had to sit by and watch me with someone else." He wanted to say something else, but not where he was. Now he truly had to apologize, over a mistake. Something that as a child he had overlooked, amends had to be made. Jake piked himself up from the couch and walked into the kitchen set his plate down in the sink and stopped her from what she was doing. There was no other way to apologize for a mess like this, he made sure he had her attention looking directly into her eyes. His eyes were soft apologetic, his hand soft on her cheeks like a parent comforting a child. He wanted to smile but he couldn't not yet he had to apologize. He leaned in and kissed her softly, loving kind yet at the same time sad. He couldn't dare claim to know what she went through those four years sitting idle,he knew it hurt now realizing that she was the one he truly wanted. He slowly pulled away from her soft lips, but he didn't step away. "I'm so sorry Rae."

Rae had been scrubbing a clean plate by the time he came over to her. When he took her arms, she stopped, taking a deep breath. She shut off the water and looked up at him, more upset now than she had been when their little session earlier had been interrupted. Salina had lied to Jake on more than one occasion, but Jake had made the mistake himself. There wasn't much she could do about it now--or him. But when he kissed her that way...she melted a little, the pain from speaking his own realization aloud slowly fading. Of course, that didn't stop her from being riddled with guilt about her own deception. His kiss carried all of his feelings, and she knew immediately that he regretted what had happened--that he was sorry--that he was sad for a number of reasons.

So her hands rested on his shoulders as he broke the kiss and stared down at her. She gazed back with glassy, tear-filled eyes. And then came an apology that she was happy to accept. It was probably small of her to feel a little bit of relief at his statement, but she couldn't help it. "I'm sorry, too." She smiled, a little sadness tugging at the corners of her mouth. "You didn't know who I was. Much less that I had a twin. It wasn't really your fault..." It was mine. The unspoken truth lingered in her mind, as did the lie she was holding onto. That was also her fault.

"It's a shame, though. I really liked you. I still do." And it was a shame that she couldn't bring herself to share that little secret with him. That deadly little secret of hers...it would ruin their relationship--she was almost sure of it...She couldn't bring herself to lose him--not now. Especially since he was still hung up on how Salina had lied to him.

She apologized in return though for what he didn't know. Maybe it was the sadness of him realizing his now ex wasn't the girl of his dreams after all, and that he had in fact cheated on the one he had fallen for to begin with. He thought back to that day and played the scene out in his head. He had turned left trying to find his third class in a rush not wanting to be late on the first day. The next thing he knew he had run into something as he looked down it turned out the something was a someone. This someone, who he know knew was Rae; had fiery red locks which caught his attention first. Then her eyes those gorgeous blue eyes they had him at hello, which ironically came out before he said he was sorry. That chance meeting is what made him believe at love at first sight, and being in highschool he knew somebody was going to get to her if he didn't.

No he could't have that he wanted her, he wasn't sure how he wanted her but that run in had him in the palm of her hand like it belonged there. So by the end of the day he had it he had how he was going to ask her out, and he did that day at the end of school in the very hallway they met in.

"I don't know if this is appropriate or not, but thinking about it this was actually for you. Again I'm sorry that is was already used but it was meant solely for you." God he felt so stupid now for using this on someone other than her. It wasn't jut a typical line most say but it was honestly how he felt being a naive young child. He had to tell her how he had felt about her all those years ago though, it was important. "When we met in the hallway my heart stopped. I thought I had actually died from something, I seen red of love, and then a sea of blue. After those few seconds of being so close I wanted to be with you. You're the most beautiful girl I have ever met. Would you?" Again his voice saddened towards the end of the sentence realizing that he had wasted nearly four years of his life with the wrong woman, but it was now or never to correct his mistake. He went to turn his head, no sadness turned to determination to fix this. "Would you be my girl?"

The memories of that day flashed through her head again, and she found herself wondering if this wasn't doomed to failure--again. But as Jake recited those same words to her--the ones Salina had bragged about so long ago, tears welled up in her eyes as it all clicked into place. He'd meant her all along. He'd really wanted her. And now, as he stared her down, he was so serious. Would she be his girl? Was he kidding?

She smiled, and sniffled a little, letting out a laugh. "You still want me to be your girl?" Here she bit her lip and tried to get herself together before she put her arms around him, her face in his chest. "Please let me," she said, dangerously close to sobbing. She stopped talking, holding back the tears of all that pent up frustration and sadness and all that had built up over the past four years.

Her laugh almost threw him of guard, but he realized with her next words she wasn't mocking him at all. The next thing he knew her head was against his bare chest and she was near tears. Through everything that happened up to this point in the day he hadn't changed from his swim shorts. Jake thought he could feel her body trembling slightly, maybe from her being upset, but the choked sobs clearly got his attention. "I know it doesn't help any but had I known I would have fixed this a long time ago."

Something was bothering him now. If Salina had known he wanted Rae why didn't she just tell him so to begin with? His arms wrapped around Rae softly securely holding onto her to silently know she was safe. What if Salina hadn't known and then seen this as an attempt to get back at her when she found out? Fuck that wouldn't be such a good thing either. Still at this moment none of it really mattered to voice, he had the woman he wanted in his arms now the rightful woman.