Best Friends Forever

Since they were babies, John and Lisa were the best of friends. Their parents had moved into the same neighborhood at the same time and hit it off immediately. Instantly, both kids were sharing cribs and playpens with each other while the parents spent time together.

As they grew up, John and Lisa became closer than any two siblings could ever get. They were more like a brother and sister than just friends, only with out all the fights that you see siblings going through. Their parents had come to think of the two as possible future love interests for each other, and even jokingly mentioned that the children, both 12-years-old, were betrothed.

John and Lisa hearing this asked what that meant, and when it was explained, they looked at each other and burst into laughter.

"I can't marry her," John bellowed between laughs. "She's my best friend."

"Yeah," Lisa echoed.

Nearly four years later, both of them were dating, but not each other. They still considered their friendship one of the best things in the world and had agreed long before that they would never stop being friends or let relationships break them apart. Nor would they start dating each other, for fear that it would cause an end to their friendship.

As the years went on, both John and Lisa were in and out of relationships, but never was there a time that they were both single at the same time. Fate didn't seem to have plans for these two to get together, nor did John or Lisa want to get together. That was the case when they both had gotten a couple of good jobs after college, and decided to share an apartment together.

Rules were set and upheld. Dates could be brought over, even spend an occasional night, but no moving a date into the apartment for a permanent basis. All chores were shared with no fights, and they best friends worked well together in keeping the apartment a happy place for themselves and each other. The only problem was the people that they would date.

Everyone seemed to unable to comprehend the friendship between the handsome Josh and beautiful Lisa. It just seemed strange that they shared a two bedroom, one bathroom, apartment without ever sleeping together.

What most didn't know is that the two did sleep together, but not in a sexual way. Sometimes, during a particularly loud thunder storm, John would hear Lisa cry out and go check on her. He would climb on top of the covers, keeping them between himself and her, holding his best friend to comfort her in her moment of fear, calming her nerves so she could go to sleep.

John had nightmares on occasion, and on those late nights that he would scream out, Lisa would come to his room and do the same for John. He wouldn't even know she was there, but the monsters would disappear from his dream at the sound of her voice and embracing arms. He would only know he had a bad nightmare when he woke up facing Lisa the nest morning.

And to break up the closeness, one of them would always crack a joke about the others morning breath being that of a dragon. This always brought a smile to both of them, causing them to giggle and separate. The two had become so used to each others presence, there was no fighting when one would shower and the other would brush their teeth. The only fights that came were when Lisa would playfully flush the toilet, scalding John with hot water.

This was how John and Lisa were, until that one fateful Friday afternoon. It was the day when all of Cupid's arrows of love had broken off in their hearts and just caused nothing but pain.

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"It was a mistake," John nearly yelled into his cell phone as he entered the apartment. "I know I'm not the first person that must have done it before."

He was quiet for a moment, listening to the party on the other end.

"Well, if that's the way you feel about it, then fine. Forget about."

He closed the flip phone shut and threw it in anger at the couch, where it bounced off the back cushion and came to rest on the seat. Mumbling to himself, he walked over and picked it up and headed toward his bedroom. As he set his laptop computer down on his bed, he suddenly noticed a delicious smell on the air. Lisa was cooking, and she was making something good. That meant that there was trouble for her.

Quickly making his way down the hall, he took the turn through the tiny dining room and into the kitchen. Standing at the counter next to the stove top, Lisa was mixing a sauce in a small bowl, staring deep into it, her full concentration on what she was doing.

"Whatcha cookin'?" John asked. His voice broke her concentration, and Lisa looked up at him. Her eyes were puffy and red from the many tears she had shed earlier. She tried to tell John that she was making glazed pheasant for dinner with rice pilaf and sautéed mushrooms with onions along with some mixed steamed vegetables.

Through her quivering lips, and quickly tearing up eyes, she was just barely able to speak the words, "Josh broke up with me."

John rushed to his friend and wrapped her in his arms. She put the bowl down and wailed into his chest, her arms around his waist, crying and hardly noticing as John told her how wonderful his day went.

"Tina just broke up with me, too," he mumbled into Lisa's shoulder. She didn't hear him or pay much attention to it until she felt moisture on shoulder. It was then that she felt John shaking just as she was, as he sobbed with her over the mutual break up. The two stood together like that for several minutes, until the buzz of a timer rang out in the silence.

Both of them broke apart like prize-fighters hearing the bell ring for the start of the first round. Lisa and John wiped away their tears, while looking at the oven timer. It was preheated and ready for whatever was to be placed in there. John noticed the recipes sitting on the counter and back at his best friend.

"Mind if we both cook tonight?" he asked, still sniffling.

"Only if you wash your hands and keep your snot out of the glaze," Lisa said, starting to laugh. The joke was the start of a good evening for them, now that the tears had been allowed to run their course.

As they sat down eating, John let Lisa tell her tale of woe and misery, talking about her evening with her just recently ex-boyfriend. She and Josh were at his apartment the night before, making passionate love. As always, Lisa gave some detail about the loving touches that Josh had gone through to make the night as romantic as possible for the two of them. She loved how he had always done something to make her visit to his place so pleasant.

After a nice dinner out and sitting at his place watching a romantic movie that she could tell Josh wasn't really that much into, they had spent some time cuddling on the couch, kissing and light caresses. As was the usual case, she and Josh had become more intense in their passion toward each other. Before long, they found themselves atop his bed, making love with great excitement.

As John and Lisa sat there, letting the plates sit on the table, looking at each other, sipping on their third glass of wine, Lisa finally explained what it was that caused her and Josh to break up.

"I was just hitting my peak while sitting atop him, when I just yelled out my happiness. Oh god, John...I yelled out someone else name."

Lisa was just about to start crying when John did the unthinkable. He burst out laughing.

"What? What's so funny?" she wailed.

John stood up, downed the last of his wine and began to pick up his dishes, still laughing.

"Help me with these, and I'll tell you," he said.

As they went into the kitchen, and began to work on the dishes together, Lisa listened as John told her his story of passion gone wrong. Apparently, he and Tina had been having a romantic night here in the apartment that night, too. He had ordered a delicious Chinese dinner for the two of them, setting it on the table with candles, preparing a night of romance for his girlfriend.

She had been dressed for a night of passion, and was surprised at all the romantic softness of the apartment that John had set up for her. After dinner, John and Tina had skipped the cuddling at her insistence and went straight to his bedroom. She was quick to take charge at first, but she let John take control and be in command of their passionate moments.

He went into more detail, comfortable telling his best friend in the whole world about how he was making sure to touch Tina in ever way possible that would make her cry out for more. Just as Lisa put the last dish into the cupboard, John started laughing again, but his laughter seemed to have a touch of sadness to it.

"It was when I came that I screamed out another woman's name," he said. His laughter quickly turned to all out crying. Lisa turned around, her own eyes filling with tears as she walked over to John. She remembered her own sadness at her mistake, but she now understood John's laughter earlier when she spoke about it.

They both held each other again, crying once more in a friend's arms over their lost love. When they had control of their emotions, both of them decided that it was a night for nothing more than drinks and idle chatter. Taking the open bottle of wine and their full glasses into the living room, both sat down on opposite ends of the couch talking about all the problems they had with their previous lovers.

Each gave insurmountable reasons why their last lover just wasn't "the one" for them. Then they went back to before that, listing off all their past relationships, and all the faults that they could find with their own past relationships. Neither John nor Lisa gave a bad word about the other's past girlfriend or boyfriend.

Close to midnight, while speaking about his first high school sweetheart, John looked over at Lisa and saw her head leaned back, her mouth partially open and her eyes closed. John admired how her chest slowly rose and fell with the deep breaths of her slumber. Letting her rest, he slowly rose from his seat, feeling a bit woozy himself, and took her glass and his, along with the almost empty bottle of wine back into the kitchen.

After quickly washing them and setting the glasses in the strainer, he poured out the last of the wine and threw the bottle away. Going back into the living room, he saw that Lisa was still asleep, but her position didn't look all that comfortable to him. He reached her edge of the couch and was leaning down to lift her up and carry her to bed when his own dizziness struck him.

Instead, he touched her shoulder softly and gently shook her.

"Lisa. Lisa, wake up. Let's get you to bed."

Lisa's eyes fluttered open and she looked up at John with happiness in her eyes at seeing her best friend. She reached up to him. When he took one hand, she pulled on it, pulling him into a hug. John slid his arms around her sides, and used the opportunity to pull her up as he stood up himself.

"Come on. Try to walk with me to your room."

Lisa let go of John's neck and did her best to stumble to her room while holding onto his slightly wobbling body. They walked down the hallway, using the walls for stability, and into Lisa's room. After entering the room, Lisa quickly kicked off her pumps and began to take off her blouse. John was fixing to leave when she spoke to him.

"I don't want to be alone tonight, John. Will you stay with me?"

Not even thinking twice, he nodded and walked out. He returned to her room, wearing a pair of shorts and t-shirt, just as he saw a flash of Lisa's bare back being covered by the night shirt she was putting on. Lisa turned around, nothing showing but long bare legs, the soft swell of her breasts under the cotton shirt that reached her upper thighs and a smile just for John.

"Thank you," she said, coming over to him. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and climbed slowly under the blanket and sheet. John waited until she was all the way in then lifted just the blanket up. "Now, no hanky-panky," Lisa joked, feeling John's weight cause the mattress to sink a little.

"None planned with you, ugly duckling," he joked back, lying down behind her back. He draped an arm over upper abdomen. He felt the curve of her body in his arms and pushed the thought out of his mind as he just lay there holding her. In the next ten minutes, both of them were breathing deeply, sleep taking them into dreams of their past relationships.

John woke up on his back, Lisa up against his side, pressed tightly to him. He tried to think what the noise was that had woken him up, when he notices it's coming from Lisa. She's moaning against the side of his chest, while her arm over his chest is gripping the blanket just on the other side.

Thinking that she's having a nightmare, he raises the forearm that's underneath her and brings it to hold her. When his fingers touch her bare arm and caress up to her shoulder, pushing the sleeve up with it, he feels her body react to the gentle caress. Her moan grows a bit louder, no longer sounding like distress, but desire.

Lisa's leg slides the sheet that's covering it up over his thighs. When it reaches his groin, he feels her hips slide forward and press into his hip. As he lies there, thinking of his situation, John feels her leg slide further up and over his crotch. Even with his boxers and training shorts on, the pressing thigh and its slow stroke over him causes John's member to grow against his will.

For the first time, John feels a desire for his best friend. He always knew she was attractive, beautiful even; but she was always and forever his best friend. She had never made advances toward him before, especially not like this.

Lisa's moans were becoming more insistent as she started to grind her crotch into John's hip. He felt his own hunger for her growing with each movement of her body by his side. His own hand on her arm was now caressing it more softly, reaching past it and stroking though her hair and caressing her neck. He leaned his head toward hers and was about to put a kiss to her forehead when she tiled her head back. Her mouth was slightly open, waiting for the deep kiss of her lover.

John's lust was taking over, as he leaned his head further toward her lips, about to kiss Lisa and forever change their friendship into that of lovers. Then she stopped him, without even knowing that she was doing so.

"Ohh...Josh," she moaned, as her hip ground especially hard on John's hip. John was quickly back in control again. He was ashamed of himself. He was about to take advantage of his best friend, when she was having a dream. It was the worst thought in the world that crossed his mind. He was just about to destroy the best friendship that anyone in the world would give up a limb for, all in the name of lust.

Untangling his fingers from her hair and bringing it back to Lisa's arm, John made sure the sleeve was down so that he wasn't touching her bare skin. He pulled her close to him, feeling her head come to rest on the side of his chest.

He made shushing noises to her, making soothing sounds, slowly pulling his leg and hip away from between her gripping thighs. He would not destroy this friendship just for sex. It was these thoughts of how close he came to making love to Lisa that he took with him into his dreams.

Lisa woke a couple of hours later, lying on her side. John was behind her, snuggled up real close, his one arm lying over her side and his hand down at her flat stomach, his touch separated from her skin by her night shirt and the bed sheet. She lay there, comfortable with John's closeness, but wondering what it was that had awaken her from her slumber. Then she felt it.

John was pressed tight to her back, the both of them separated by only the sheet and the clothes they wore to bed; but that didn't keep her from feeling his erection pressed into her backside. She had talked with his girlfriends before, and as with all girls, they all were shocked that she had never seen, let alone feel his erection before. Now that she felt it pressing into her, she couldn't help but consider it a monster.

It felt to her that John must be at least eight inches long, and of a nice thickness, too. She considered his hardness and its size, and unconsciously moved. Her slight movement caused John's arm around her to tighten, his hand spreading open on her stomach. He pulled her back tight against his front, his own hips making a small thrust.

Lisa felt the urge rising in her, wanting to wake John up in a most sensual way. She felt her own pulse beginning to rise, as well as her breath, while John's hand slid up her stomach, toward her breast. He was taking short breaths, releasing it just behind her neck. She felt the heat of it caressing her skin after it made its way through her hair. The tiny hairs there stood up with her desire, just as his hand reached the underside of her breast, still covered by the sheet and her night shirt.

Lisa pushed herself back against John and the slow, sensual thrusts of his groin. She reached her hand up to his, ready to guide it under the sheets and up her shirt when she was returned to her surroundings.

"Ohh...Tina."

Lisa's hand had just come to rest atop John's when he moaned his ex-girlfriends name in her ear. She couldn't believe it. Here was John, her best friend in the world, holding her close and intimately, but he's dreaming of that bitch. Taking John's hand with her own, she slid it back down to her stomach as she scooted her body forward a little bit.

When John whimpered and tried to pull her back against him, she couldn't help but feel bad for her reaction. He had just broken up with Tina. She had broken his heart. Of course he's going to dream about her right now. Wasn't one of her dreams earlier of her and Josh just starting to have sex when he left her.

Holding his hand tightly in hers, but keeping her rear-end away from his groin, Lisa leaned her back against John's chest. She shushed and hummed a soft lullaby, all the while feeling John's body relax with her soothing presence. Just like with his nightmares. Not long after his breathing had become deep and slow, Lisa fell into her own sleep as well.

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Lisa and John both woke up at the same time, facing each other, eyes' shinning with delight at finding the other was there. They both felt different for the other after the events through the night. Both of them worried that to even mention them would either make the other angry, or ruin their friendship forever.

John just stared at Lisa, his heart pounding in his chest. He could feel it for the first time with Lisa. Now he knew why he had never found "the one" for him before. It was because she was the one. He'd had her with him for as long as he could remember, but never knew it, until now. And now was the time to speak up, if he truly wanted to risk their friendship. If she didn't feel the same way, then it would forever push away his best friend.

Lisa knew from the moment her eyelids fluttered open and she saw John by her side that this was right. They were supposed to be together after all. They were the perfect couple and no one would ever make her feel as happy as he did. True, if John didn't feel this way too, and she even mentioned it, it would forever doom the best friendship that has ever existed. If she didn't speak now, then she would lose the moment to do so, and there was no telling when she would feel close like this again.

John opened his mouth to say something, but Lisa beat him to the first words of their day.

"Whoa! Dragon breath! Go brush your teeth, Rottentooth!"

John closed his mouth in a smile, but it didn't look to her like it touched his eyes. He rose off Lisa's bed and muttered an "okay" and stood up. She just barely caught a glimpse of the tent his morning erection was causing before he left her room. She rolled over to where he had been lying, her face pressing into the pillow he had been using and smelled John while feeling his warmth.