This is all mine. Any similarities to any real people is unintentional. This is somewaht inspired by my own experiences.

Each Other

It was about a year ago that I walked up along those narrow, cramped, damn near choking stairs, heading
to the fouth floor. I didn't know anyone that I passed by, but they all gave me an odd look. Must be
because this is a girl's dorm, and I'm a guy. Then again, what does it matter? I'm just visiting a friend. It's
not like i'm going to end up as manage of this place ar anything. I just wonder why she'd called me up
anyway. It wasn't like her to ask me to come over, if anything, she often came over to my apartment. In
case you're wondering, no, we never do anything like that.

"Hey." she greeted.

I greeted her back, noticing the redness in her eyes. She's been crying. Time to break out the
sledgehammer, someone's going to get a pounding, I thought to myself. I walked inside her room, her
dorm mate was gone for the time being. I wasn't about to ask her why she had me come up here in the first
place, didn't feel right to me at the time. She places her hand on my shoulder, warm and gentle to the
touch, I knew almost instantly that she had major problems. From the look of her bunk, I'd say guy
troubles.

"No. You don't have to do that." she said. "It's not really that bad...."

I would have gone on and got a measure of sweet vnegeance from whoever did this to her. Nobody does
this to one of my friends and gets away unhurt. Still, she didn't want me to do that, so I won't. Call me
overprotective, or whatever the Hell you want to, but it's just the way I am. She sits beside me, her head
on my shoulder. Clarice always did do that when she had problems. You could say she made me her
quinteseential "shoulder to cry on" guy.

You see, I've known Clarice for a long while now. Old high school friends. Some guys used to say we
were a couple, albeit an odd one. Me? I never thought so. For one thing, we're not exactly each other's
type. Okay, sure I fit the physical characteristics she looks for in a guy, but beyond that, I'm completely
different from her ideal guy. We never really bothered to clear that up, let them think what they will. She
didn't seem to mind it, and it didn't really deter her suitors.

Clarice, you see, is a real attractive girl. Not too tall, but not too short, with pitch black hair and a light
shade of brown for her eyes. She was a bit petite, but make no mistake, she can fight. She and I met when
I applied at the same time as she did for training in Jiu-jitsu. Never really learned much, always have been
more of a thinker. She on the other hand, was really good at it. Emotionally however, she needed a lot of
support. I never told her this, or ever plan to, but she's got really bad taste in guys. And when a
relationship crumbles to dust, I end up with the unenviable, but satisfying job of taking her frustrations
out on said guy. Not that fear of me has ever stopped them from hurting her.

I started hearing really irritating music in the silence, my nerves began twitching.

"Damn Britney Spears...." she mused. We both hated her, and all pop artists.

I could see she wanted to cry, but around me, she never could.

"I guess you want to know why I called you up here." she said. Finally, I was going to get an answer.

Like Hell I do!! Still, I just nod so she won't be disturbed any more than she already is.

"It's not a guy that's been giving me trouble. It's someone else."

A girl? That's odd. She hardly has any trouble dealing with girls. If anything, she attracts as much
attention from girls as she does guys.

"No. It's not a girl. It's....it's......." she apparently didn't want to say it, but a gentle hand on her shoulder
managed to fix it. Always does. "It's you."

Me? How in the world?

"It's not like that. You see..." she explained. I must have looked really confused. "I've been thinking lately, about....us."

Us? I've never heard her use that word to refer to our relationship before. It's always been a straight
forward friendship. We were the best of friends. No. We were like brother and sister. We know each
other well enough to be twins. But that was all there was to it. Nothing more. Right? Still, I'm not about
to lie and say I didn't like her. Romantically though, as a couple, I never even considered it. Looks like she
has though. Is that why she'd been crying?

"You've always been there for me.....you even beat up a few guys for me. When this all started, it felt like
you were flirting with me. Over time, I adjusted. It's just the way you are. But......well......over the years, I
think....."

This is getting confusing. I step back a bit, but she leans forward and embraces me. I hate to say this, but
she makes me melt that way. I embrace her too, warming her up. She seemed a little chilly. We do this all
the time, but nobody ever knows about it. We've just always been there for each other. Sometimes
though, I have to confess, I cared for her more than a friend should. Maybe it was love? I didn't know.
I've never been in love. If life and love were only as easy as the stories I write.

"I think I've fallen in love with you.......but, I know you're interested in someone else. I just....." she starts
to break down into tears.

I let her stick closer, her head resting on my shoulders. The stains on my clothes be damned, let her cry all
she wants. What she just said left me with a rather strange feeling. It felt like a great weight had been
lifted from my shoulders, my heart. Was I in love with her? I wasn't sure. I had the deepest feelings for
her, and I tend to compare any girl I like to her. Same goes for her. She compares me to every guy she's
interested in. In any case, even if I didn't, she just confessed her feelings for me. I can't just ignore that.

"It's alright if you don't feel the same way, I just want to hold you like this...."

Clarice was already crying her eyes out at my chest when she said that. I had my arms around her,
wondering how I felt, and trying to console her, since it seemed to be the best course of action. I didn't
notice it until the last split second, but a single tear drop fell from my eye as she wept there. I never cry.
Not before that, not after. Almost as if instantly, every memory, every moment, every word I ever spoke to
her came flashing into my brain. I would have done anything for her, to the extent of selling my soul, if she
asked.

Hearing her cry like this, made me feel like.....

...like.......

.....like my heart was breaking.

"I love you." she said plainly, but with a subtle, hidden sincerity only I could have heard.

She stepped up, until we were face to face. We wrapped our arms around each other, as we did so many
times before, and just stood there. I didn't think about it, and neither did she from what I could tell, but we
kissed. I can't find the words, even up to now, already a year later, to describe how it felt. I don't even
bother anymore, it wasn't possible. It seemed like such an eternity, but when we finally pulled away, we
found ourselves wanting more. We kissed again......

Now, one year and a whole lot of "I knew it!!" comments from frineds later, we're still together. We're both
finishing our college studies, though she's doing better than I am. Not that she minds. She says she finds
the fact that she's academically smarter than I am to be cute. And she knows that I'm more on the practical
side of things. You could say it's an Anime type romance, and maybe it is. I don't know what will happen
from here on end, but I do know one thing for sure.....

We'll always have each other.

End