Author's Note: Hello, there! Lindsey here with a new story! Now, some of you may have read whitecrossgirl's story Truth or Dare. Well, Marie and I were intrigued when all of them revealed how old they were when each had his or her first kiss. It got us to thinking, and then…SIMULTANEOUS PLOT BUNNIES! We pm'd her, and she gave us permission to write this series of one-shots about their first kisses. This first chapter details the first romance of Camelot's most roguish knight, Sir Gwaine.

Gwaine

Gwaine panted as he struggled up the hill with his heavy load. No matter how many times he gathered water from the creek, the large pitcher was always nearly too heavy for his small nine-year-old body to bear. However, he just gritted his teeth and pressed on. He may be poor, but he was proud, and refused all offers of help…not that he got many of those, anyway.

"Hey, give that back!" a shrill voice cried. Gwaine looked up to see a very large boy push a tiny girl to the ground, cackling as he held a book above his head.

"Why should I do that?" the boy sneered.

The girl looked up at him from her cowering position, sniffling. "Because it's mine!"

"Not anymore!" the boy jeered. Gwaine glowered and carefully hid his pitcher of water behind a bush before advancing toward the boy, who was now ripping the pages out of the book, laughing at the girl's feeble efforts to make him stop.

"Stop it!" Gwaine yelled. Both of the other children turned to look at him. "She didn't do anything to you, so leave her alone, Meric!"

Meric glared at Gwaine. He dropped the book and rushed at him. Gwaine, who had been expecting that, moved to the side and brought his fist down on the middle of Meric's back. Meric cried out and fell down, groaning. Gwaine kicked him once for good measure, then went over to the girl.

"Carmen, are you all right?" he asked gently. Carmen turned her brown tearful eyes up at him. Her dark brown hair was tangled and dirty, and her tan skin was filthy and splotched with small bruises. "Carmen, did Meric do this to you?" Gwaine said, appalled.

She sniffled and nodded. "H-he always b-bullies me. Just b-because I like t-to read!" The nine-year-old girl dissolved into miserable sobs. Gwaine, a little unsure about what to do, awkwardly wrapped his arms around her and pulled her clothes, heedless of Carmen's tears staining his tunic.

"He's a prat, and he doesn't know what he's talking about," Gwaine said.

Carmen looked up at him, a tearful smile spreading across her face. "Thanks for helping me, Gwaine. That was really nice of you."

Gwaine smiled a crooked half-smile. "It was nothing, really." Carmen smiled back, then turned a sad look at her ruined book.

"That one was my favorite," she lamented softly. Gwaine picked up the book and the pages that had been torn out.

"My mother is good at sewing. Maybe she could fix your book," he said hopefully.

"Really? Thank you Gwaine, thank you!" Carmen threw her arms around his neck, snuggling into his thin shoulder. When she pulled back, a strange impulse seized him as he stared at her face, so close to his. Without warning, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers in a gentle kiss. It was short and sweet, and when he pulled back, Carmen was staring at him. Her mouth was forming an 'o' shape, and a blush was slowly spreading across her cheeks.

"Thank you," she whispered.

Gwaine blushed and mumbled a "your welcome" before scurrying off to retrieve his pitcher of water, quickly stuffing the book and its pages inside his shirt. As he gathered up the pitcher, he noticed it wasn't quite as heavy before, and despite his burden, there was a new spring in his step. Gwaine couldn't stop smiling the whole way home. He, Gwaine, had kissed a girl for the first time…and he liked it!

A/N: In the next chapter, our favorite strong man gets a kiss from the most unlikely source...