Tumblr Prompt: Accidental Kiss

Dory had never had time to think before she acted. Her hyper personality meshed with her inability to remember, well anything really, meant that she had to follow her gut and hope that things worked out. And it did, more often than not. She followed her gut all the way across the country with Marlin, out of several near death experiences, followed it to Nemo, and all the way to California, and now that she stood, smiling over at her family, she knew at last she had followed it home.

So when she saw them, her parents smiling proudly, Nemo and Marlin standing hand in hand, Hank walking next to her patting her on the shoulder fondly, she didn't think, she just felt. And those feelings led her to run up to Marlin, grab him roughly, and kiss him square on the mouth.

In the moments before her mind caught up with her she only knew that she felt happier than she had ever felt in her entire life.

Then she realised exactly what she was doing. Which was holding Marlin by the collar while she kissed the daylights out of him, which was something that she was pretty sure that she shouldn't be doing. After the realization struck her eyes snapped open and she leapt back, practically throwing Marlin to the ground in the process. Her face quickly darkened, the hot red blush spreading through her body.

"Oh no..." she whispered as she watched his face mimic her own, shock and blush coloring his features. Her eyes shot up and she briefly took in her family's expressions, noting their surprised and amused looks. Even Hank seemed happy, his bushy moustache doing nothing to hide his smirk. This was bad, and she knew she had to think of something but both her gut and her mind were less in sync that ever and she could hardly form words as Marlin, still blushing red looked up at her, his expression completely unreadable. The awkward silence soon became unbearable.

"So! I'm hungry, are you guys hungry?" Charlie interjected, stepping between them. Dory sighed, infinitely grateful for her father's quick thinking.

"I am!" Nemo said, his hand shooting up.

"I could eat." Hank shrugged.

"Good! We can go back to our place, it's not far from here." As the group started moving Dory let her gaze drop to the ground, making sure to keep her distance from where Marlin was walking. She kept her pace slow, mulling over the complicated emotions she felt rising in her gut. After a block or so Hank fell back to walk beside her.

"You ok, kid?" He asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

She gave him a weak smile before continuing, "Yeah...I'm alright." He nodded, and she let out a deep sigh, straightening her back and walking forward to join her parents. She didn't need to worry, everything would turn out fine.

'I'll forget it soon enough.' she assured herself, relaxing a bit. 'Yeah, just forget.'

And she did forget...for a while. Once they arrived at her parents apartment she got caught up in the excitement of finally seeing the childhood home that she had forgotten for all those years. Her parents laughed and tried not to tear up as she took in her old room, still set up exactly as it was the day that she was lost. She gasped each time she remembered something, her old stuffed toys, her posters and drawings, even her tiny bed with its adorable whale themed blankets. It was emotional to say the least, and Dory hardly noticed that Marlin was quieter than usual, only supplying a brief comment here and there.

It wasn't until much later, while they all sat around the living room laughing and sharing stories, Nemo adorably passed out on her lap, that she noticed the strange look Marlin was giving her. Deep in thought, his face resting on his hand and his brow furrowed as he started at her intensely. She stared back, her face showing her confusion. Why was he looking at her like that? Was he mad? Did something happen? Something did...what was it...

She blushed furiously and looked away as the memory returned. Right, she had kissed him like an idiot. She sighed and gazed down at Nemo for a moment before gently moving him off of her lap and standing.

"Sorry guys, gotta take a quick bathroom break." She said with a strained smile, before heading out of the room. She made her way down the hall, realising that she wasn't really sure which room was the bathroom, so she headed into her old room, walking quickly to the window and looking out. Fresh air, that sounded like a good idea. She spotted the fire escape, it looked sturdy enough, so opened the window and climbed out onto it. She sighed dejectedly as she got comfortable, staring out at the city below her. It was a warm night, not quite summer but close, and the air was cut through by a gentle breeze. She let herself breathe for a moment, trying to still the troubling emotions swirling within her.

The last few days she had been so excited to finally remember things, her family, her old home and friends. It was odd to feel the opposite as she desperately wished she could forget the embarrassing moment. She brought her head down and rested it lightly on the bar in front of her.

"Forget...come on, forget. Just...forget..." She whispered to herself. She groaned, no luck. She couldn't help but go over the memory again. For a moment it had been perfect. The thrill and joy and wonderful completeness. She knew she wouldn't have felt that if she didn't care for him that way. If she was honest with herself she had felt that there was something there for a while, she'd just never taken the time to sort it out and label it. She hadn't lied when she said that Marlin was home to her. He was the anchor to her memory, keeping her grounded and helping her remember that she wasn't alone anymore.

And now...her home was bigger. She had a family, parents, friends. They were her home too, but Marlin was still special. She sighed. Not that it mattered, his reaction showed that he didn't feel the same. It wouldn't work between them. He was a good five years her senior and had Nemo to worry about, he wouldn't have time for her, and that was ok. It would be fine, she just had to forget again. Then it would all go back to normal. Just like always.

"Dory?" She jumped at the sudden voice, turning to look back at the window behind her. Marlin stood there, staring at her with that odd look again.

"Yeah? What's up?"

"We were just starting to wonder if you were ok. You've been gone for a while."

"Yeah I'm...uh, just taking a breather!"

"Right." He gestured to the window, "Do you mind?" She shook her head and scooted to the side as climbed through and sat next to her.

"Dory, we need to talk." he said after a moment.

"I know..." She looked over at him and suddenly she felt the panic rising and the words came tumbling out, her brain running a mile a minute. "Look, I'm sorry, ok? I was excited and I wasn't thinking and I just...I didn't mean to. I care about you and you're my friend and I don't want this to, you know, ruin things between us so don't worry about it." She turned and looked him in the eyes, desperation clear on her face, "I'll forget. I will, I always do. Then you can too and we'll both just forget and things will be normal again."

She sighed, looking away and trying to ignore the burning in her eyes. The silence stretched on for awhile, heavy around them, before Marlin shifted and spoke, his voice surprisingly light.

"Maybe I don't want to forget."

Her gaze snapped back to him, her eyes wide. "What?" She asked, disbelief obvious in her voice. He smiled at her and laughed.

"Just come here." He reached a hand up carefully and brushed her messy bangs behind her ear, before pulling her down into a kiss. This one was slower, filled with comfort and elation, and as she relaxed into she felt all of her worry and stress melt away, leaving nothing but that same wonderful completeness. When they eventually pulled apart she was blushing again, her pupils blown wide and her voice breathless.

"Wow."

"Wow what?" He asked, suddenly looking unsure.

"Just...wow." She smiled, "You're pretty good at this whole kissing thing."

"That's good." He replied with a smirk. "One of us ought to be."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, if you didn't know, you don't generally kiss someone by choking them out and then throwing them on the ground."

"Really? WeIl I'll try to remember that." She bumped his arm playfully, "Can't make any promises though." And then they were both laughing and smiling, the nervous tension breaking and leaving a blissful sense of relief in its wake.

They ended up holding hands and leaning against each other, staring out over the city in content silence.

Dory felt everything around her slowly click into place. She had found her family, she finally had her past all worked out and now, with Marlin's arm wrapped around her, she knew that she had done it. This was everything she had ever wanted, and she knew that she would never have to worry about forgetting again, because her family would always be there to help her remember.

"Hey!" The pair turned to see a window a few down from them slide open, and Hank pop his head out, "Would you two quit makin' out and get back in here? You need to get this kid to bed and I wanna go home."

Dory and Marlin blushed, flusteredly tripping over their words.

"Oh no we weren't-"

"Dory was just...see we were talking-"

"Yeah, talking! We were talking and-"

"Oh yeah, alright, 'talking'. Is that what they're calling it now?" Hank asked sarcastically as he slid the window closed. They both jumped to their feet, awkwardly climbing back into her room. Dory smiled to herself, yeah, this was home.