Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of this work of fiction.
A/N: pre-slash, just kissing, set sometime in the early seasons of the show. Inspired by a comment on another fic from a reader on A03.
It starts out innocent enough. Michelle - all dimples and chubby cheeks - demands a kiss, and neither of them have been very good at denying Michelle anything that she wants (within reason, of course). Even if it is a kiss shared between two of the three men in her life.
It's chaste. A there and gone touch of lips, nothing more intimate than a handshake, or stealing a sip of someone's drink, but Michelle's eyes sparkle, and she claps her hands, and she demands: "Kiss! Kiss!"
When Joey and Jesse move in to kiss Michelle, thinking that's what she wants, now that they've 'kissed' - Joey taking the left cheek, Jesse her right - she shakes her head, and pulls back, pushing both of them together with her pudgy hands on the back of their heads, and this time the kiss is not so much chaste as it is awkward, and wet, and, for reasons that Jesse doesn't want to examine, tingly.
With Michelle's hands (surprisingly strong) pushing them together, the kiss lasts a little longer than the first one Michelle had demanded, though, again, it's just lips on lips. And if anyone walked in on them right now, they'd laugh and shrug it off. Make a joke of it, and move on, no questions asked.
Joey's eyes are comically wide. Like he's doing one of his routines, and, who knows, maybe one day (after everything's cooled down, and they've had time to process) this toddler forced kiss will be fodder for a new skit.
Jesse can almost see it, and, in his head, he's got a front row seat in the audience, laughing. In reality though, his lips are still half-glued to Joey's, and there's an uncomfortable stirring in his gut, and he thinks that now would be a good time to pull away and end the kiss.
Michelle moves in for the kill, though, puckers her lips, and leans in, presses her lips to, first Jesse's, and then Joey's cheek, leaving a slobbery mess behind. And, of course, that is when Danny chooses to walk in.
Michelle's got a satisfied smirk on her face as she leans back, and Danny's standing there, gaping at both men, and his daughter, before he shakes himself, and quirking an eyebrow, retrieves Michelle from Jesse's arms. Then he's quickly retreating to the kitchen, and it's one...two...three heartbeats before it registers to Jesse that his lips are still on Joey's. The awkwardness increases at the realization that neither of them has moved an inch from their forced positions, even though the small hands which had held them in place are now gone.
Joey blinks and moves first, licking his lips when they part. Jesse's eyes are locked on Joey's lips, and the tingling sensation increases, even though their lips are no longer touching, and there's some kind of high-pitched buzzing sound that makes him feel disoriented. It reminds him of his first kiss back in seventh grade, and he thinks he might just faint on the spot, because sharing lip space with Joey shouldn't feel like kissing the first girl he'd ever loved.
Reality crashes in on them, making the dizzying realizations disperse, with the slamming of a door, footsteps stomping down the stairs, and voices raised in some kind of heated debate that will no doubt end up with the shedding of tears and a heartfelt lecture. There'll be hugging, and wiping of noses, and he and Joey will be right in the thick of it, even though DJ and Stephanie aren't technically theirs, they're still family.
The girls march past them, still arguing, and disappear into the kitchen. Their ongoing argument is muted by the heavy door, but Jesse can still catch bits and pieces of it.
"So, ah..." Joey wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, eyes darting everywhere, but at Jesse. Neither of them have moved away from each other, aside from unlocking their lips.
Jesse rubs the back of his neck, trying to find words, and coming up empty, because everything had started out so innocent, and now it's not. Now it's a jumbled mess of emotions and whirling thoughts, and Jesse can't shake how good-right-wrong-perfect Joey's lips had felt against his own.
He doesn't register the move - just a step forward, like he's been pushed (the ghost of Michelle's small hands on the back of his head) - until he's got one hand wrapped around the back of Joey's neck, pulling the other man closer, and the other on the man's hip, anchoring the both of them.
Their lips touch, and it's not chaste or awkward, but electrifying, and Jesse can't see if Joey's eyes are opened comically wide again, because he's got his own eyes closed, and there's a fraction of an instant where it feels as though they're giving off sparks, and the air around them is becoming charged with the electricity that they're creating. And then Joey's hand is on the back of Jesse's neck, and another on the small of his back, and there's tongue and teeth, and Joey moans out a sigh that Jesse swallows with his tongue.
Ears ringing, toes curling, heart kicking up a fit, the world crashes back down around them when the sound of the kitchen door being slammed open hits them, and they're push-pulling trying to strike some sort of decent pose. One that won't lead to Danny giving them a rather uncomfortable talk about PDA in the living room.
"Kiss!" Michelle exclaims, clapping, and Jesse, heart in his throat, the taste of Joey (mint and some kind of jelly doughnut) fresh on his tongue, turns, hand still curled around the back of Joey's neck, the other resting on Joey's hip.
"Wowie, and I thought we had problems," Stephanie says, and she exchanges a look with DJ whose eyes seem to be bugging out of her head. Danny's got Michelle balanced on his hip, and the look in his eyes tells Jesse that they'll be talking, but after the girls have been put to bed.
"Girls, I just remembered something that we need to do in the kitchen," Danny says, and he gives a slight nod to Jesse and Joey, and when he's certain that his girls aren't looking, he gives the two men a wink, and then disappears into the kitchen he'd just vacated.
"So," Joey says, and Jesse wonders if he's stuck on repeat, but he says the word too, and notices that neither of their hands have moved, and that Danny's given the two of them some time alone.
"Maybe we should move this to one of our bedrooms," Jesse says, voice husky, the words coming out of his mouth before he can recall them, but the eager look in Joey's eyes, and the way that the man practically bounces on his feet as he starts toward the stairs, makes him happy that his mouth ran away with him.
Gripping Joey's shirt with one hand, Jesse drags him from the living room just in time to avoid another PDA. The voices of Danny and the girls trail behind them as they make their way up the stairs, and into Jesse's room.
