Kiley sighed as the afternoon dragged on, the world outside her window also moving slowly, the dull and depressing weather matching her feelings. Music played quietly in the background, in attempt to lift her out of her mood.

A car pulled up in the drive way, Kiley knowing straight away who it was. Moving from her curled up position on the couch she stood up, feeling slightly happier that she was going to see Brian in a few seconds.

Hearing the door open, she turned and smiled, walking to him and wrapping her arms round him in a warm embrace. No words were exchanged, she stood and held him tightly, his presence calming her.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Brian asked, caressing her cheek and touching her silky hair.

“Nothing, just hold me” she replied, Brian tightening his arms around her as she rested her head on his chest, her eyes closing as she relieved some of her tension.

“How was your day?” she asked quietly.

“Oh, it was okay. What about yours?”

“A complete disaster” she replied, her voice barely above a whisper.

“How come?” he asked, once again running his fingers through her hair, amazed by how much like silk it felt, tilting his head down to look at her.

“One of those days where everything goes wrong, deadlines to meet, boss trouble, you name it, it happened”

Just as Brian was about to speak the phone rang. Kiley moved to pick it up, Brian following her, wrapping his arms round her waist from behind.

“Hello?... Oh, hi mom”

At the same time as Kiley greeted her mother, Brian moved backwards towards the couch, sitting down, and pulling Kiley down so she was sitting on his knee. “Brian!!” she mouthed, glaring at him, even though a laugh escaping her lips.

Brian grinned, glad he had made her smile. “No, mom, I’m still here” she explained, glancing at Brian, both of them sharing a smile.

“No, I’m fine, what about you?”

“Well, Kiley, you see, that’s what I wanted to talk about...”Kiley heard her mother say on the other end of the phone.

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“Well, I wanted to tell you this before you heard it from anyone else...” Kiley sat and listened to her mother, Brian’s arms wrapped around her, her head resting once again in the crook of his neck.

“Your father and I....we’ve been having trouble for a while, so.... this is hard for me to say Kiley”

“Just tell me” Kiley snapped, knowing what was coming.

“We’re getting a divorce.”

The words hit Kiley like a bullet from a gun, stunning her, even though she had guessed what her mother was going to say. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

“Kiley?”

“I’m sorry....” Brian, telling from the look on Kiley’s face, knew something was wrong, and knew she was upset. Tightening his grip on her, he rested his head on top of hers, waiting for her to complete the call.

Kiley pressed the end call button and lowered the phone to her knee.

“May I ask what’s wrong?” Brian asked gently, tucking her hair behind her ear so he could see her properly.

“Well...” she started, inhaling deeply to compose herself. “I told you that my parents hadn’t been getting along... that they’d had a trial separation?” Brian nodded, guessing what was coming next. “My mom rang me to tell me they’re getting a divorce. Mr and Mrs Jackson are no more”

Brian didn’t say anything, he pulled her closer to him, placing her head in the crook of his neck, dropping a kiss on her forehead. Finally he spoke up.

“I’m sorry Kiley...” Slowly his expression brightened “Can I cheer you up?”

Kiley looked at him quizzically. “Cheer me up?”

“Yeah, make you smile”

“Um, okay, but how?” she asked, intrigued.

“Last time we were in a similar situation, I kissed you, so I was thinking of that, then food of your choice, then maybe ending the evening by another kiss, considering last time, if I remember rightly, that made you smile.”

As he talked, a smile slowly spread across her face. “Yeah, I’d like that” she said softly, as Brian lowered his head towards hers, kissing her tenderly, sending millions of warm feelings through her body. Deepening the kiss, all of their emotions came through, both of them surprised by the intensity of their kiss.

When they parted, Kiley smiled again. “Well, that worked.” she chuckled.

Brian smiled back. “What food do you want?”

“Ooooh... I think I’ll have... a Chinese” she announced, after a lot of consideration.

“Righty-ho.” Brian said, kissing her quickly, easing her off his knee, going to find the correct number for him to order their food.

* * * * * * Brian looked down at Kiley as she dozed quietly in his arms. Now she looked at ease, completely different to when he had seen her a few hours before. He smiled to himself, pleased his idea of cheering her up had worked. Remembering his plan that the evening would end with a kiss, he leaned down and lightly pressed his lips onto hers. He could taste the sweetness from the Coke she had drank earlier, pulling away, she stirred slightly, but did not wake. Tightening his arms round her, he sank back down into the couch, he himself dozing off, with Kiley safe in his arms.

Lyrics from ‘Dragons’ by Jimmy Nail.