Once and for All- Part Three Of The Conclusion To The United Series

Chapter Thirteen

Jason's POV:

I can't even describe it.

His lips when he kisses my head or cheek are warm and really nice, but on my lips it's ice and fire at the same time. It's absolutely perfect.

I can tell that he's shocked. He's utterly shocked. I feel his lips slightly shift and I'm not sure if he's going to pull away or kiss me back. I honestly don't want to know, so I pull away from him and let go of his shirt collar. His coal black eyes are wide and he looks shocked. I can see a dark, rose-red blush on his pale cheeks. He stammers for any words and I realize how stupid I was being. He doesn't like me. How could he possibly like me?

"I-I'm sorry. I-I shouldn't have done that." I ramble, climbing off the bed and rushing towards the bedroom door. I want to get as far away from Ivan as possible. I can even feel tears stinging in the back of my eyes and quickly blink them away.

Ivan's frozen for a few seconds before he leaps off the bed and runs towards me. He grabs my wrist and turns me around to face him just before I can rip the door open and run out.

"Jason..." He trails off, staring me straight in the eye. "You...You...?"

"I kissed you? Yeah, I did." My voice isn't nearly as bitter as it is in the movies or anything. It's shy and quiet, it even has a bit of regret in it.

But I don't regret kissing Ivan. I loved it. If I wasn't so embarrassed right now I swear I'd kiss him again. It was the best thing I've ever felt, even if he didn't kiss me back.

Ivan's silent for a few moments.

"Why? Why would you...?" He takes a deep breath and looks down at me again and his eyes have a sudden flash of realization.

"Jason, do you...do you...like me?" He guesses and I immediately look down at the floor. I do. I really do like him, and if this keeps going on, I'm afraid that I'll even start to love him.

I nod my head yes. Ivan's eyes slightly widen again, and he takes another deep breath.

"Oh...And you still have feelings for me?"

If he asks one more of these questions I'm going to slap him.

With my lips.

Gods dam it.

I nod my head yes.

"Oh." He seems...relived? "Well, in that case..."

He grabs the collar of my purple Camp Jupiter t-shirt and pulls me closer to him until we're once again close enough. He crashes his ice-hot lips into mine and he's actually kissing me. He's a dam good kisser.

I feel my cheeks heat up the moment his lips touch mine and I'm more shocked than I have been in my entire life. Ivan is kissing me. Ivan. Is. Kissing. Me. He's freaking kissing me.

I shake off my utter shock and wrap my arms around his neck, almost immediately kissing him back. He smiles against my lips and places one of his hands on my waist and the other on my back. He pulls me even closer and makes our kiss deeper.

It feels like minutes- it could've been more- until we finally pull away from each other. It seems like neither of us even want to pull away, but, ya know. Oxygen's a necessity.

Ivan stares deeply into my sky blue eyes, his smile brighter than the sun. I can barely comprehend what's happening.

"I was kind of hoping to tell you that night. When I told you I had a crush on a guy?" Ivan tells me and it hits me. I'm his crush. I was wrong before. He does actually like me, and I like him, too.

But what does this mean for us? Our friendship isn't ruined. In fact, it's probably going to be better. We both like each other, and Ivan is single, but I'm still in a relationship with Piper. Which means I have to make a choice; Piper or Ivan.

But I can't worry about that right now. I won't be the one to make the decision. I'm just going to go with the flow and see how things work out.

But for now, I just want to stay with Ivan. I want exactly this right now.

Just this.

Max's POV:

Finn and I break from our hug and he's still smiling warmly down at me.

"Thank you, Max."

"Of course." I reply and think back to how cold Finn was towards Remo, and I'm not one hundred percent sure why. The only thing I can think of is that he's mad at Remo for what he did to me in the West Virginia base, and if that's the case, I'll definitely have to change his mind. He shouldn't be mad at his older brother just because of me.

"Finn, why are you so mad at Remo? What do you hate him for?" I ask him and he takes a deep breath.

"Well, I know his true nature. I know how cold and ruthless he can be and I hate that. Then there's what he did to you..."

Oh gods.

"...and what he did to that other Mog."

Wait, what?

"Other Mog? What...What did he do?" I ask and Finn takes a deep breath.

"I don't remember who it was, but Remo fell in love with a Mogadorian. He tricked him, made him fall for him, too. They had a relationship for awhile before the second Mog had to leave to another base." Finn explains and my anger slowly rises again. I'm not the only one Remo tricked. He tricked another Mogadorian into falling in love with him because he loved him.

"Who was the Mog?" I question. Finn shakes his head.

"I don't know. I want to find out, though." He replies.

"I do, too."

And I will.