Puffer Fish Lips
"Oh Faaang!" Max cried, sitting up in The Tree.
The Tree was a big oak tree that had been growing in between the two's houses, even before they lived there. It was also the tree that could connect Max and Fang's bedroom windows, through the tree house built up in the branches.
Currently, six-year-old Max was awaiting Fang's arrival, from coming back from the aquarium with many stories to tell. Her own brother, Ari, had taught her something, and she wanted to try it out on Fang.
Waving her arms around wildly, Max soon brought Fang to her attention, and his young, six-year-old face brightened with a smile. "Hi Max!" he said excitedly. He, too, had news to share with Max.
The way they were acting could have meant they both had important information, but it was not. To a six-year-old, it was similar to a life-or-death situation.
"Ari taught me something!" Max exclaimed, trying to not laugh as Fang ascended The Tree.
He looked at her curiously. "What?"
Max dragged the anticipation more. "He said it's something the big kids do to their best friends. Only best friends. I want to share it with you, since you're my best friend," she said proudly.
Fang watched her patiently, the idea of being like a big kid growing in the bottom of his toes, all the way up to the top of his head. "What is it?"
She smirked at him — as best as a six-year-old could smirk — and beckoned him to come closer. By now, he was sitting in the tree house with her. He obliged, waiting.
"So you take your hand and you cup it around your chin, like this," Max showed him, "so you're able to squeeze the part of your chin inside your hand." Fang did so, his hand now cupping his chin. "Okay, now, squeeze it as hard as you can until you say so!" Max blurted, smiling widely.
Again, Fang compelled, squeezing it as hard as his little fist could handle. Minutes passed, Fang still cupping his chin, until Max shouted, "OKAY! YOU CAN LET GO NOW!" He did, relieved of the tension taken away from both his hand and jaw.
"Now what?" he asked.
Max eyed him, amused. "Oh, nothing. It was just something to make sure your best friend will trust you and listen…" she trailed off, failing to tell Fang about the vital part of the 'assignment'.
Fang now had a purple ring around his jaw, where he had been clenching it. Of course, he was oblivious to it, and would continue to lack that knowledge until he was in his house, far enough away from Max.
He shrugged, not necessarily caring for the reason why Max made him do that, and decided to tell Max about his "adventures at the aquarium".
"Okay. Well, I saw a shark at the aquarium! There was this moving walkway, and we stood on it while it moved us through this glass room, under the tank where the shark was, so if you looked up, you'd see the shark swimming above you!" he recalled vividly.
Max listened with great interest; she had always had a small fetish for sharks, every since she found that shark tooth at the beach and gave it to Fang. That was, actually, how he got the name 'Fang'.
"And then we went to the hands-on place, where I touched sea-urchins, starfish, hermit crabs, and other little aquatic creatures!" Fang was also interested in marine biology — since his family loved to go to the beach — and so this trip to the aquarium was worthwhile for him. "After that, we went to the fish tank, and there was a puffer-fish in there! Someone tapped on the glass really loudly, and it puffed up!"
Fang childishly showed how the fish 'puffed up', by filling his mouth with air. Max laughed and replicated him, filling her mouth up, as well.
He immediately dropped the puffer-fish act and faked pouted. "Why does your puffer-fish look better?" Fang acted, whining. Max smiled and played along.
"Because I'm just so much prettier!"
Shrugging, Fang replied, "Maybe you are," to Max's satisfaction. "Or… Maybe you've just got chubbier cheeks."
(Fang jumped down out of the tree after that comment.)
Ten Years Later-
He held her close to him, not wanting to let her go. Finally, just finally she was his for the taking. He could claim her as his own. And that's exactly what he was doing right now.
Pulling her by her waist, he resolved to rest his arms there. Her arms wrapped them over his neck, tangling them delicately in his long, black hair, effectively smashing his mouth closer to hers.
The two pulled away from each other for a breath, only to kiss with an even higher intensity. They were in The Tree; one of the places where their childhood memories were still kept.
Finally, they pulled away from each other, and looked into each other's eyes.
"I've wanted to do that for ages," the boy admitted breathily.
The girl looked at him with a mischievous twinkle in her chocolate brown eyes. "Since when?" she wondered curiously, a sly smile playing on her swollen lips.
He looked down for a moment, a sheepish act, before he regained eye contact with her. "Probably since I saw you do the puffer-fish act. I didn't realize it then, but when I did, I knew I wanted to kiss those puffer-fish lips of yours."
She smirked knowingly, and blew her cheeks out, just for him. They quickly deflated when she realized something. "You called me fat back then!" she accused, glaring good-naturedly, seeing they didn't have it's usual steely edge.
Leaning in to kiss her again, he planted his lips on hers to silence her. Minutes later, when he pulled back, he grinned. "Well let's call it even then. I had a gigantic ring around my chin for hours because of you."