By Your Side

Chapter 7: The Kiss

It almost seemed effortless for James, when he crossed the scorching asphalt with the girl on his back. Finally, they got to the vehicle that was once sitting across the parking lot. Clare stared in awe for a moment before turning her head to kiss James on the cheek.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

Now subtly blushing, James crouched back down again to allow Clare to dismount from his back, then once he was free. He unlocked the car doors, and the two of them climbed into either side of the car. Looking over at Clare, James noticed her still checking out the interior and just to impress her a little more, he put the keys in the ignition and brought the vehicle to life.

The car rumbled, and the engine ignited, exciting Clare as he witnessed the widest smile he had ever seen on the girls face. Now feeling a new found confidence within himself, he put the car into drive and pulled out of the parking lot, heading toward their next adventure. 

The road he turned on wasn't very busy but the two of them remained quiet, Clare was lost in her mind as she looked out at the world passing outside the vehicle. James, on the other hand, kept his eyes on the road, still a little tense about hanging out with someone who wasn't one of his outcasted bros. That being said Clare wasn't even close to a bro, she was something more.

"So what was that back there?"

His voice seemed to trigger something in her, causing her to turn to face him while putting her elbow on the edge of the window and running a hand through her still wet ponytail.

"What do you mean?"

"All of that. Like the fact we almost kissed, and the hand holding?"

"Oh...that."

Clare tried to recede back into her mind, but James stopped her. She didn't like keeping secrets from him, but she couldn't tell him, not after the way she saw him look at Hannah. He never looked at her like that, and she knew that she'd probably only remain his best friend for eternity and nothing more, however, she owed it to him to say something.

"Look, don't take this the wrong way but I'm jealous of Hannah and Nathan, and I thought, no. I know you're a good guy, and that's why I have a proposition."

"What would that be?"

"Do you want to maybe be like my fake boyfriend or something when we go to Australia?"

The car fell silent as Clare's glance had now shifted again to the floor, while James leaned to the side thinking about her request and the conflict of interest that it proposed to him. Initially planning to shoot her down he turned to face her but his heart started to beat rapidly, and the potential kiss replayed in his mind. Everything from that moment, the sounds of people, the smell of chlorine, and the love that filled both of there eyes. He lost his courage to turn her down, as a reluctant sigh escaped him.

"Sure, why not."

Immediately Clare raised her head, while a tear started to create a trail down from her left eye. It wasn't a real relationship yet she was happy, and maybe, just maybe she prayed that it would become something more. That's all she could hope for at least, but now she was just taking what she could get.

"Really?"

"Yea, why?"

"No, I'm just surprised."

"Seriously? Why?"

"Because it's me, and I'm nothing like Hannah."

Everything seemed to stop around Clare, did I really just say that?  She thought as she looked at her new fake boyfriend sitting beside her. What would he going to say when he realized what she had just told him, and that's when James opened his mouth.

"So what if you're not like Hannah, you're you and I like you for who you are."

"Thanks," Clare couldn't help but blush before another sad look took over her face. "But Hannah told me about the kiss?"

"What kiss? You mean the one when we were ten? That doesn't count."

Whipping her head to look at him, In her mind, he was full of surprises today which caused her eyes to bulge out of her head. James was oblivious to her as he remained focused on the road and lost in his own head thinking about the event that had transpired all those years ago.

"You mean you don't count it?"

"I mean I count it, but it's not significant."

"Okay but between you and me, and you can't tell anyone this, but that kiss is what Hannah refers to as her reference kiss. You set the bar."

"You're kidding, we were just kids?"

"Yea but you were her first, not even Nathan is close to you."

"Wow for some reason that's oddly satisfying."

His words hit Clare like a speeding truck, she couldn't look at him as her head forced its way back to the window. Once more she was trying to fight back the tears until she finally managed to pull herself together just enough that she could pass herself off as normal.

"So who's your most significant kiss if it's not Hannah?"

The question played with the air for a minute before travelling in one of James' ears and out the other. The problem was that he didn't have the heart to tell Clare that he had never had a girlfriend and tried to divert the question.

"Hold on to that thought, we're here."

James swung the car into the local ice cream shop parking lot causing the conversation to get put on hold, while the car came to a gentle stop before going silent. A moment of silence passed before Clare put her hand on the handle of the door.

"Hey wait a sec Clare," His words stopped her in her tracks, and she was now waiting for whatever he had to say. "Do you maybe want to start our fake relationship right now?"

"Are you serious?"

"Yea, but only if you want to."

She was bouncing between emotions in her head, while her body twitched a little as she looked back at him now with a gleaming smile across her face.

"I'd love that."