"It looks totally different from what I imagined!" Holly exclaimed. She had just walked into the bedroom of her best friend of two years for the first time. They hadn't hung out in awhile, and she spontaneously suggested they spent the afternoon at his house. The walls were a creamy yellow, and photos from all over the world were scattered around the room. The bed had a quilt that looked like it was home-made, with pillows to match. She shuffled her feet on the shag carpet that covered the room and smiled.

"What do you mean by that? You've been picturing my room, huh? That's a little creepy." Darien chuckled. He met Holly freshman year, and had been friends with her ever since. He watched her as she walked around the room, carefully tracing the lines of the many pictures decorating his walls.

"Well, yeah, I mean, we ARE best friends. And I've never been in here! So, every once in awhile, I would try to imagine what your room would look like."

"What were you expecting, if it's so 'totally different'?" He mimicked her voice and she laughed.

"Well, you know! Dark walls, and no windows! And lots of emo music posters!" She flipped her bangs in front of her face to cover her eyes.

"I resent that." He said.

"You know how you look to other people!" She smiled. He did like his dark, brooding music. Not to mention his "I never want anyone to see my eyes" haircut and his obsession with tight jeans.
After she circled the entire room, she plopped down on the edge of the bed and bounced a couple of times. She stretched as if she just woke up after a ten year coma, and laid down on the bed as if it were her own. To be honest, she never felt more comfortable, right here, with him.

You see, Holly and Darien were extremely complicated; their complexity going way back to when they first met. An endless chain of confused feelings, their relationship had many ups and downs. Holly was always a bright girl, and always more preoccupied with school then working on her love life. She met Darien the first week of high school, and his unique personality immediately brought them together. They had a lot in common, and were friends almost instantaneously. She learned that he was lonely, above all else. Darien found absolute comfort in Holly, and told her everything about himself. He didn't have a lot of friends, and his parents often isolated him. He wanted more than anything to see the world. He was a dreamer; a child at heart that only wanted love and adventure. She loved that about him. And he loved everything about her. To Darien, Holly was the most beautiful girl in the world. She smiled and his heart lifted. She had a sense of humor comparable only to Woody Allen. Her laugh was the only music he ever needed to listen to. She comforted him, and was there for him when no one was. He fell for her, hard. But Holly, being so academically focused, was stupid. She never realized his feelings for her until he confessed at the end of freshman year. She wasn't ready, and she was very unsure about herself and her feelings. She had no other choice but to turn him down. He was broken, there was no denying it, but they both valued each other so much that they vowed to make it work. They had the summer to think, and when school started back up again, they could go back to normal.

But things were different. Darien met someone else somewhere along the summer and told Holly on the first day of sophmore year that he had a girlfriend. She smiled, and congratulated him with an unexpected falseness. When Darien announced his new relationship, it ignited a flame within Holly. Somewhere deep down she knew that she liked him. But she was always too afraid to admit it; to herself, to him, to anyone. And the new year brought with it new feelings and a new Darien. He seemed different. Older. The kind of person she may not have turned down a year before. Confused, she let the feelings settle. She watched him, and talked to him like always. She learned knew things about him, things that made her heart leap. He had grown since that fateful day. Something about him was more mature, and she couldn't explain it. She just knew that she wanted it. She found herself jealous of 'the girlfriend'. He talked about her highly, as if she had replaced Holly in his mind. It made her mad to be so jealous. She hated herself for it, because how could she be so hypocritical? She turned him down. That was that. She knew she had no right to ever be jealous of him. And yet...her feelings never seemed to fade; she couldn't do anything about it. So, she put on her game face every day and pretended that every time he smiled at her it didn't make her stomach flutter. She acted like she didn't hate herself for wanting him. She put on a self confident show, even though behind the scenes there was nothing but confusion, disappointment, and hypocrisy.

As she lay on his bed, taking in his scent, Darien stood awkwardly by the door. He was becoming more and more unsure about the whole thing. He took in a deep breath and walked over to the other side of Holly on the bed. He plopped down next to her, sitting with his back against the headboard.

"Holly, there's something I need to say to yo-"

"Wait. Don't say it. I'm crossing boundaries by being on your bed, aren't I?" She sat up so that her face was parallel with his. Their eyes met and she thought she saw him blush. She ignored the fact that her heart was racing 200 beats per minute and her face was 180 degrees.

"Well, that's not what I was going to-"

"Before you say anything. I want to ask you some questions that have been on my mind for a long time. I need to be upfront with you okay? If you don't want to answer them, or you tell me to leave, that will be answer enough for my questions. Got it?"

"Y-Yeah." He stammered. What was going on? He was nervous about her questions. Hell, he was nervous about the whole situation.

"How do you feel when I'm next to you?" She said. Her face was complete seriousness. She was terrified, really, but she vowed to make this afternoon the day to break boundaries. She couldn't lie to him, her best friend, about her feelings anymore. Heartbreak or not, he needed to know. He paused. He looked into her eyes and saw that she meant the question. He couldn't believe what was happening. Could it be that they both finally got their feelings in order? "When you're next to me, I don't need anything else in the world."

Her eyes widened. "How do you feel when I touch you?" She carefully put her hand on his chest, over his heart.

"My heart races, time stops, and breathing isn't the easiest." He smiled.
She half smiled back. She was afraid of what was happening. She'd never been this open with anyone before, or at least tried being this open with someone. She loved his smile. Something about it was just for her. For a second, she thought of 'the girlfriend'. They had been going out for four months, since school started, and Lord knows how long before that. What was going to happen after this? She thought about her actions, then decided that she wanted to go for it, consequences be damned. She was scared out of her mind, but decided to drop the final bomb.
"What would you do if I told you to kiss me right now?" She asked.

He looked her in the eye. Finally. "I might do something along the lines of this." He ran his fingers through her hair and pulled her close to him. Their eyes closed and their lips met. It was a kiss they both had been waiting for. Something they needed for a long time. It was a soft kiss, but filled with so much bottled up passion it blew them away. Her hands found his face, his neck, his shoulders. He put his own around her waist and pulled them even closer together. They took in each other's smell and it was ecstasy. Holly wanted more, but was the first to pull away.

"W-wait a minute!" She said, breathless. "I can't be doing this! I'm so sorry! God, I'm the most selfish person on earth, I just lead you on after I turned you down way back when, and I start to feel something for you and I know that can't happen because of your girlfriend and everything, you must hate me so mu-" Another kiss stopped her mid-rant. He pulled back to look at her stunned face.

"If you recall, before this whole 20 questions game started, I had something to say to you." He smiled the most satisfied smile she'd ever seen on a person. Her confused and still shocked face were more than enough persuasion for him to continue his story. "I got a call from Jessica last night. She thinks we need to see other people or whatever. She told me that she didn't want to go out with a guy who still had feelings for 'some loser who turned him down a year ago'. I guess us losers gotta stick together then, huh?" He laughed. Holly thought about what he said. She laughed too. It was all too surreal.

"So, you invited me over here today to-"

"To tell you the news, yes. I was hoping to give asking you out a second chance, but I guess you kinda took charge of that one for me didn't you?" They laughed together harder than they ever had. She playfully punched him in the shoulder.

"So, I'm a loser huh? Must suck for you, to be stuck with this." She pointed at herself.

"Well, it'll be hard, but I think I'll learn to accept you, despite how big of a loser you are."

"You jerk!" She laughed and went for another kiss. They were finally together, after all of the confusion, heartbreak, and frustration. After all of the self-doubt and denial. In the end, love finds a way. It always does.