Blah, blah, blah. Property of Joss and Fox. Blah, blah, blah...

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Kaylee sat on her bed, gently sobbing to herself. Her eyes were puffed up and tearstains lined her cheeks. She couldn’t remember a time she had felt more horrible and the only thing she could think to do was to cry and hold her pillow. But even though she was feeling worse than she had in her entire life, she couldn’t help occasionally thinking back to the kiss that had started this whole mess. Kaylee was, of course, sad and upset at all the damage it had caused but she couldn’t bring herself to be mad at River for it. Nor could she bring herself to think of it as an unpleasant experience. After the brief moment of surprise, Kaylee could remember feeling pure comfort and warmth. There was intensity and a gentle passion in the kiss from River and Kaylee found she subconsciously wishing she could feel River’s lips against hers again.

And for the first time since yesterday, Kaylee felt herself smile.

Just then there was a knock at the door to her bunk and Kaylee’s brief moment of happiness evaporated instantly. Why couldn’t they just leave her alone for once? Kaylee was about to raise her voice in protest to anyone checking on her but then the hatch opened and a small voice came from above.

“Kaylee?”

Without even having time to think about it, Kaylee had sprung off of her bed and dashed over to the ladder. She looked up the hatch to see River standing there, gazing down at her with a troubled look on her face. In her arms, Kaylee could see River clutching a small box. Kaylee sniffled a bit and beckoned for River to come down. River climbed down the ladder and found herself face-to-face with Kaylee for the first time since their fateful kiss.

“Hi,” River said nervously, fumbling with her small purse. “Um, Cap’n gave me your cut of the money and asked me to give it to you, so here you go.”

“Oh, well, thank you sweetie.”

Kaylee took the money from River’s hand and set it down on her nightstand. The two women t