Seize the Day

He was kissing me. Why was he kissing me? I didn't want this.
He'd never shown any interest in me, he'd always been into Val, and she's gonna flip when she finds out. But is she gonna believe me or him? I don't even know how he's gonna explain this. I know how I will. "He kissed me." That's it. That's all there is to it. I just wanted him to stop.
I just laid there, on the stairs, underneath him, letting him kiss me. I didn't kiss back or close my eyes, I just laid there. If I pushed on his chest, I don't think he'd move. I just really hoped someone came out to check that neither of us murdered the other, and I really hoped that someone wasn't Zack.
"What the fuck?!" Matt pulled away and looked at me shocked, like I was the one that had kissed him. "What the hell are you doing?!" Berry shoved Matt up against the wall and stared at him, waiting for him to say something. "What is wrong with you?! That's my cousin! And your best friend's girlfriend, who you pissed off just to get her to realize that she wanted to be with him!" He slammed Matt into the wall again, trying to get some kind of response out of him.
He looked down at me, still shocked. I just sat up and watched, not sure if I should try and stop Berry or if I should go get someone from the family room. I looked down at the floor and decided Jimmy would be the best choice. Before I could move though, the tall nut job walked in and stopped in his tracks.
"What the hell happened??" He looked at me for an explanation, but Berry beat me to it. "This fuck face decided to fucking kiss her!" Berry slammed Matt into the wall again.
Jimmy looked at me again. "What?"
"We fought, and he tried to get me to calm down because he didn't want to fight anymore. I tried to back away, but I fell on the steps and he tried to catch me, but he fell on top of me. He told me he wanted me to get with Zack because he thought he'd be so much better for me than Brian… He started to explain another reason why, but instead he kissed me. And I, laid there…" I swallowed when I finished, afraid of the reactions that would follow.
Berry's reaction was him throwing Matt onto the floor in front of the door. Jimmy just watched in awe and looked at me again. "Zack and Val…" His mouth remained open and he shook his head. I swallowed again and got up.
I grabbed Berry's curled up hand and pulled him into the family room with me. "I'm gonna kill him." I shook my head. "Don't." We walked through the door to the family room, ending our short conversation.
"What happened?" Jason looked at us confused. Berry opened his mouth, but I cut him off. "Matt uh… Matt-"
"Matt kissed her." Jimmy walked in from behind us and watched everyone's reaction.
"What???" Was Zack and Brian's response. Jason got up from the couch and was gonna try to push past me to get to Matt.
"No, Jason. Don't." I stepped in front of him and grabbed his shoulders.
"He gave you all this shit about getting with Zack and then this?! No!" He shook his head and tried to shove me out of the way. I stepped back in front of him and shoved him away from me.
"Where is he?" Brian walked over and pulled Jason back a bit.
"He's sitting on the stairs." I looked at Jimmy, then at Brian again. He nodded and walked out of the room. Jason went to follow, but Jimmy stopped him. I looked over at Zack and he looked so… betrayed. I took a deep breath and walked over to him. He was sitting on the edge of the couch, on the verge of falling off it looked like. I sat next to him and hesitated before talking.
"Are… are you okay?" He took a deep breath and looked at me, pissed.
"Did you kiss him?" My eyes got wide and I shook my head. "No. No, Zack, I didn't."
"Really? 'Cause I kind of find it hard to believe that Matt kissed you since he's been in love with Val since sixth grade."
"Zack, I wouldn't do that!" I wasn't yelling, but I was getting worked up. He shook his head and looked away from me. "Zack, I don't like him that way!"
"Just stop. I know you're just going to lie." I stared at him in shock. "Just like when we were up stairs…" My mouth hung open and I didn't know what to do. I felt my eyes burn just before tears spilled down my face.
"Zack…" The tears kept falling and I couldn't think of anything to say to convince him I'm not lying. "Zacky please…" I went to grab his hand, but he pulled his hand away. I knew what Matt felt like earlier now, when he wanted us to stop fighting. I felt a pair of arms lift me up and carry me out of the family room. I buried my face into their chest and let the tears fall.
They set me on a bed after carrying me up the stairs. "He doesn't…. He won't…." They wiped the tears away and shushed me. I could tell just by their shush that it was Jimmy who carried me up. I just wanted him to hold me, I just wanted him to hold me and let me cry. And he did.
He pulled me into his arms and held me close. I just wanted this to go away. I finally realize that I'd be okay with giving Zack a chance and this happens. I pulled Jimmy closer to me and buried my face into his chest more. He shushed me again stroked my hair. He held me as close as he could and held me tighter. "Jimmy…"
He shushed me again. "It's okay, you'll be okay. It'll be okay." I tried taking a few deep breaths so I could calm down and talk to Jimmy. "It's okay." He kept rubbing my back and kept his head pressed against mine.
"Jimmy, why can't he… why won't he believe me?" I kept my face buried in his chest and cried a little still.
"I don't know… I really don't know Paige…" I curled up into him more and continued to silently cry.

*****

Jimmy's POV
Three hours later and we were all gathered around the Berry table to eat dinner. Paige sat slumped in her chair, staring at her hands, possibly just staring at the air. She still let a few tears slip and I'd wipe them away whenever I could. I held her hand all throughout dinner, trying to give her some sense of comfort. She didn't really eat either. I know she's not a big fan of pork, but she hardly ate ANYTHING.
When Mrs. Berry was clearing our plates away I looked up at Matt. He looked like he was on the verge of tears from watching Paige throughout the whole dinner. Brian looked really concerned. Jason and Berry still looked pissed. And Zack looked just as pissed, but it was mostly betrayal and hurt that was written on his face.
"Paige sweetie, you didn't really eat anything?" Mrs. Berry looked at Paige questioning when she went to grab her plate. She just sniffled and leaned against my arm. I held her hand a little tighter and looked up at Mrs. Berry. She looked at me, wondering if she should call Nikki. I shook my head and she nodded, not too certain about it.
The phone in the kitchen started ringing and Jason got up to answer it. I kissed Paige's head a few times, trying to comfort her some. She sniffled and buried her face into my shoulder. Zack scoffed and rolled his eyes. We all either stared, or glared at him. He just ignored us and stared at the door that lead to the family room.
"Matt." Both Matt's looked up. Jason was the only one who didn't call his brother Berry. "Heath called, he wants to know if were up for paintball." Berry looked over at me and Paige.
"Go." I looked down at Paige, I wasn't really expecting her to talk in front of everyone. I looked up at Berry and he was considering it. He turned to Matt and Brian once he had his mind made up. "You guys wanna come along?" Matt looked up at him, surprised he offered. He shook his head and Brian did the same. "Ya, I guess. Tell them we'll be there in a bit." Jason nodded and walked back into the kitchen.
"I made chocolate pie." Mrs. Berry smiled, trying to cheer Paige up some. She just sat up so I could eat without her being a dead weight on me. Paige faked a really small smile and shook her head. "No thanks… I'm gonna go sit in the family room…" Mrs. Berry slowly nodded and Paige slowly let go of my hand to get up. "You gonna be okay by yourself?"
She looked down and nodded a little. "Ya, I guess so…" I went to get up and she stopped me. "It's okay…" I frowned and let her go out into the family room by herself.

Paige's POV
I laid on the couch and just stared. I'd never felt like this before, I'd never had my best friend NOT believe me. And it killed me. I buried my face into a pillow and I started to cry again. This only happened about three hours ago and I missed him already.

Matt's POV
"Can I be excused?" I stared at my almost full slice of pie, I had only taken a few bites of it.
Mrs. Berry frowned and nodded. I got up and walked into the family room. Paige was lying on the couch with her face buried in one of the pillows, crying, I could see her body shaking from the silent sobs. I walked over to her and sat on the edge of the couch before I placed a hand on her back.
She took a few deep breaths before she pulled her face out of the pillow. She turned over and sat up when she saw it was me. "What do you want?" She didn't say it in a harsh tone, but it still hurt a little.
"I wanted to check on you…" She sniffled and curled up on her side, holding the pillow in both her arms. I scooted closer and tucked her hair behind her ear. She took in a shaky breath and a tear slipped down her cheek. I pulled my hand away from her ear and brushed the tear away before I just stroked the skin with my thumb. She took in another shaky breath and fought back the tears that wanted to follow the one I had gotten rid of already.
I never really thought that I'd actually kiss her. I thought I might have liked her, but I just figured it was because she was a chick and I'm always hanging out with her. When we were by the stairs though, I don't even know why I did it; I really wish I hadn't. I hated seeing her in this much pain., and it was all my fault.
"I'm sorry Paige…" She took in another shaky breath and a stream of tears fell. I looked away from her. I couldn't take seeing her like this. "I shouldn't have done it… I… don't know why I did…"
She took in a shaky breath before talking. "Do you like me Mattie…" I looked at her, a little surprised at the random question. "I might…" She hid her face in her pillow a little. "I don't really know…" She let more tears fall down her face.
I stood up from the couch and hesitated to leave her. I turned around and looked at her. I put everything that just happened aside and did what I would have normally done in this kind of situation. I leant over her and kissed her temple. She let out a little whimper and pulled away from me. I stood up with hurt on my face and walked back into the kitchen.
"Couldn't wait to make out with her?" Zack threw his napkin on the table.
I bit back the smartass remark I wanted to give him and gave him a different answer instead.
"You really hurt her." He looked up at me with slightly wide eyes. He wasn't expecting that kind of response.
Brian got up and motioned for me to go back into the family room. I did as told and Jimmy followed.
Paige hadn't moved from the position I left her in. I looked away from her and waited to see what Brian wanted. He walked over to her and sat in the spot I was in just a few seconds ago. He tucked her hair behind her ear and kissed her temple. He stroked her hair while he did this and looked at her when he pulled away. She cried a little more and he kissed her cheek, soaking up some of the fallen tears.
Jimmy looked at me before kneeling in front of Paige. He cradled her cheek and gave her a soft smile as his thumb stroked her skin. She just watched him, not wanting to move. He leant and kissed her forehead. She closed her eyes and grabbed his wrist, wanting him to stay with her.
She looked like some kind of wounded animal with all the attention they were giving her…