Hershey Kisses

Twentieth Kiss

Staying at the passenger seat... right next to Damien.... I tried to keep myself from not hyperventing. But how can I calm down!? I'm alone in a car with someone who's nine years older than me!!! Can it get any awkward. Oh yeah... he's also Rick's brother and he's known to be the real Hershey Prince. Oh whoop-dee-doo.

"Everything alright?" Damien breaks the silence.

"Gah... everything is fine.... D-Damien." I jumped and gave an awkward quirky smile. He suddenly grinned and chuckled softly.

"I promise I won't do any harm to you." He reminded me.

"You better not!! You promised Rick!!!" I pouted crossing my arms.

"That's a first..." Damien rubbed his chin, "This is the first time Rick's ever requested me to protect another girl besides Juliet."

"How's that strange..." I frowned.

"I'm overthinking it." Damien lets the topic slide, "Mind if we go to a diner?"

"I don't mind." I answered hearing my stomach growl louder as a lion's roar. We stopped at a small Filipino diner and headed inside.

"I didn't know you like Filipino dishes." I stared at Damien.

"Juliet took me here one time." he explained as he walked ahead to the front and looked at the food.

"Dine in or to go?" The lady behind the counter asks as she takes out a plate.

"Dine in." Damien responds, "I'll be getting dinuguan (pork blood stew) and ampalaya."

"Alrighty sir." The lady smiles as she scoops up a big serving for him along with a cup of white rice. "And what would you like, ma'am?"

I analyzed what they have out already cooked. Seeing all the food I loved reminded me of home.... Right I have no home. "Pork Menudo and Tinola please."

"You got it." The lady says.

"Can we also order two Halo-Halo afterwards?" Damien interrupts. "I haven't had those in a long time."

"My my, young sir. You know our culture very well, huh?" She starts flirting with him.

"Of course." He grins, "My wife loves cooking these kinds of dishes."

"O-oh I see." she says disappointed. "We'll have your food ready. Please have a seat and we'll bring the food to you."

"Thank you, ma'am." Damien says as we find an empty table to sit.

"Your wife...." I rephrased what he said earlier.

"It isn't like she knows of my existence." Damien says as he brings back two cups of water. "Juliet not only loves baking but she also loves cooking." He hesitated a bit then sighs deeply. "How much do you know about her?"

"More than enough."

Our food was set in front of us and we dig into our delicious food.

"Did you also figured about her real family?" he continues interrogating me.

"All I've got from my research are her parents getting killed for some jewel that's worth killing." I replied dissatisfied with my results.

"I see..." he continues chewing on his food. "When I first heard about this dish, Juliet called this 'chocolate meat' only to find out it wasn't really chocolate. She'd usually makes this when I'm stuck creating another piece of chocolate for the bakery."

"It's what we called it for kids back then." I explained. "Even to this day I still call it chocolate meat because it's hard for me to pronounce the actual name. Ironic huh?"

"Not really." Damien observed. "It just means you lived in America far too long. It's too bad Juliet and I can't travel until we capture the group that kidnapped and killed her parents."

"You guys love to travel?" I asked out of curiousity.

"Of course." Damien said. "And Rick was our tour guide since he's the one asking to travel around. We visited Europe, parts of Asia, even Africa. If it weren't for Rick's curiosity, then we wouldn't have creative ideas for our next chocolate flavors."

"And yet your family still blames Rick for giving ideas to Juliet to run away." I recalled him.

"Right....." he remembered as he finishes his food. "It was never his fault. He never intended to. But he did something that made Juliet's life in danger."

"What... did he do?" I asked. I want to know everything. Even though I'm not part of the family, he's my friend. Or... was my friend.

"Best not to say it here." Damien mumbled as he eyed the others around us. I tried not to turn around but I can feel my body tense up knowing someone's watching us. "Waiter can we get our Halo Halo now?"

"Sure thing, sir!!" the lady brought at dessert at a right timing. She places two tall cups filled with fruits and beans and rice krispies and shaved ice coated with milk and ube (purple yam) and a scoop of ice cream.

"And to top it off... my favorite dessert of all." I sing joyfully. "Leche Flan!!" I scooped the flan and ate it right away before mixing the dessert. "So good." I started digging to the bottom of the glass and mixed all the sweet fruits and beans until they were all pulled up to the top of the glass.

"You really do act so much of her..." Damien interrupted me enjoying my dessert. "Your appearance, your personality, your excitement of food. Are you sure you two aren't sisters?"

"I only have one sibling." I mumbled with my mouth full of shaved ice and fruits. "But I'm the eldest. It's probably just a coincidence we look alike but just born in different timeline and place."

"Maybe you're his 'Juliet.'" he spoke softly.

"Huh...?"

"I'll go and pay for our meal." Damien says as he gets up and heads to the cashier. I finished up eating the rest of the dessert and leaned back on my seat.

"Getting comfy so far." A familiar voice asks behind my back. I turned my head slowly. "Don't look. Keep looking ahead." No doubt about it. It's Julia. "Why didn't you tell him you found me?"

"To protect you." I responded. "I don't understand your actions for having Bryan join your problem, but I won't be left out of it. If my best friend is pulled into this mess, then it's my mess as well. So until you're ready to come back, I will pretend to be you longer than you expected."

"It's not me who I'm worried most." She cuts off my explaination. "It's Rick I'm worried most." Again with Rick. Why is she worried about him?

"What is Rick to you...?" I have to ask. I have to know. What are their feelings for each other?

"Rick is... a little brother I've always wanted." she answered softly. "Even when I know he loves me more than that, he's always going to be a brother to me." Ouch.... sorry Rick. "But what about you. What is Rick to you?"

The one question I didn't want to hear nor answer. I bit my bottom lip trying to avoid to answer.

"It's okay." she sighed. "I know already. Even if you can't see it yourself." She stands up and stops next to me. "If you see Rick again, ask him if he kept my diary safe.... along with the necklace." She walks away and exits out of the diner. How does she know Rick has her diary? How does she also know about the necklace?

"Alright time to go home, Hayate." Damien comes back putting the receipt in his wallet. "Everything alright?"

"Y-yeah..." I snapped out of mind. "I got a brainfreeze."

"Haha you really are a kid as much as you try to act mature." he teased me.

"I am not!!" I said as I try to punch him but he dodged it.

"Come on, let's go home." Damien grabs my hand as we exit the diner and to the car. I looked back to see if Julia stayed behind but she nowhere in sight.

One side relationship. I feel bad for Rick if he ever finds out. But I can tell she cares for him... as a brother. How am I supposed to meet Rick again though when he strictly asks Damien to keep me away from him? There's got to be a way to go back to Rick's house. Frustrated in thought, I stayed quiet until we head to the Rice manor.