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As Katie moves away, Jason again feels slight relief, the pull on his emotions lessening. But as he stands, he watches Katie as she walks away, and his heart stirs, pulling him in two directions.

As she turns back around and comes toward him, he straightens just a little. He knew that look in her eye. He’d seen it before…he knew her intentions…he knew the language of her eyes.

Feeling Katie’s lips meet his, he can’t help a small amount of surprise though. He’d known what she wanted, but for her to have actually acted on it… He sees her smile and his eyes close as she returns for more, receiving her inaudible words.

Her lips press against his in a passionate motion, making Jason’s heart race. Feeling her warmth… her hands around him. He feels himself start to slip as her fingers rake through his hair.

A torrent of emotions wash over him, causing him for a moment to feel only a dark blanket of void feelings. Then he feels them all, a million and one thoughts speeding through his mind. His pulse pounds within him as the emotions torment his mind.

Jason had wanted Katie back for so very long…he’d wanted this so badly it had almost driven him crazy. To have her here now…in this position…it was a conflict of bliss and war. His hands wrap around her, feeling her in his arms once again.

Katie’s touch…this kiss… As a spark ignites a flame, so too does a simple kiss open the floodgates of emotions, the bond only intensifying, strengthened by the giving and taking of feelings no one else could see or decipher.

But a shadow loomed in the corner…fear’s talons dug into Jason’s conscience…flashbacks screamed in his ear, revealing a past of pain to himself and Katie. Logic hissed warnings of future disaster and heartache.

Slowly…slowly Jason pulls away, having given emotions, but nothing more. He did not want to display rejection by his lack of returning a kiss, but he had to stop. This wasn’t the time…

Drawing Katie into a strong embrace instead, Jason shuts his eyes tight, his boiling emotions bringing a loathed tear to the surface that ran silently down his face. Buried love seeps out through the cracks, while an inner strength spurred on by logic clings to it to draw it back down. A strange new sorrow is emitted to envelop all his emotions in a soft blanket. I’m sorry, Katie…I can’t. Please…. be my friend… just… be my friend. I can’t handle more.