A/N: Finally got around to writing out this little scenario between our favorite couple. Hope you all enjoy! Please review.

Chapter 3

"John…" Anna said softly as she stared at the view before them. Her voice was like a whisper of a thrill on the wind.

John quirked the corner of his mouth in response at the sound of his name. No one else could ever say his name in that special way.

"...I need to ask you something," she continued.

"Sounds ominous," he joked. John's face turned in her direction to look over at her.

"I wouldn't ask anyone else but you," she clarified.

"Well now you've really got me worried," he teased with a smile.

It was one of those blinding smiles that made her heart speed up. "It's a favor really..." Anna added as she began to fidget with her fingers nervously. There was a small space between them as they sat on the dock, their legs hanging over the edge with their feet hovering just above the water.

The trip to the lake house had been John's idea to celebrate Anna's sixteenth birthday. In part it was because he was trying to make it up to her for scolding her about the cigarettes. She'd been so depressed lately and he thought a day trip away for the day would cheer her up, even if it was too cold outside to go into the lake.

"Name it, kid," John encouraged her.

Anna pushed an errant strand of blonde hair behind her ear. She turned to face him directly, "Would you teach me how to kiss?"

"What?" John said with a look of confusion. Whatever he had planned on her asking that certainly wasn't it. Surely she had kissed someone before this.

"I don't know how other than what I've seen in the movies," she openly admitted. "Most girls my age have already gotten their first kiss and I don't want to ask them how one goes about doing it."

"So you thought I was the next likely candidate?"

"Well you are a boy so you know what they like," she reasoned.

Therein lay the problem. John knew exactly what boys liked. He also knew where kissing could lead and he didn't want to think about Anna doing any of those things with someone else.

"And you've kissed a girl before I assume."

"You assume right," he answered back quickly.

Of course he had kissed other girls. How could she even compete with them? She was probably an insignificant drop in a bucket full of girls he had been with. Anna began mentally creating a checklist of all of her faults and how they'd never measure up: she was gangly, pale, she had finally begun to develop breasts the year before but she wouldn't have considered them much to brag about, and she lacked confidence. She wasn't even sure where she had found the courage to ask him such a favor. But if anyone would have done it for her without laughing in her face it was John. It didn't hurt that she had always sort of had a thing for him. And while she wasn't expecting a relationship to develop from this kiss, she knew it was something she would never forget. "So...um...could you show me?" she shifted uncomfortably on the edge of the dock.

John swallowed hard as he considered her request. It wasn't that he didn't want to. In fact he wanted to very much. The problem was she was asking as a favor to help her become a better kisser. He would be the one she would base all her future kisses off of. Kisses that would never be his to lay claim to. With a heavy heart John drew his legs up and folded them beneath him, criss crossed. He took a deep breath to steady himself, "Okay, um...what do you want to know."

"I just don't want to be bad at it," she said seriously.

John responded with a sideways grin as he bit back a chuckle.

"What do you like?" she asked.

"I...uh. Well, I like when a girl makes eye contact with me," he said in a ragged voice. Suddenly he was losing the ability to speak.

"Like this," Anna replied with a flutter of her eye lids. Her eyes were like staring into an endless blue sea.

"Yeah," John said as he cleared his throat.

"Then what?" she responded excitedly.

Her smile was captivating and he almost didn't hear her question. "I like when a girl touches my hand or my face."

Anna's hand immediately flew up to his cheek as she stroked it gently. His gruff stubble scraping gently against her smooth hand. "How's that?"

"That's perfect," he said in a dream-like state. John's face turned further into her touch and he wished he could have stayed that way forever.

"Now what?" she asked.

"Well, you just lean forward and purse your lips together. And then…"

"Kiss," she filled in.

"Yeah."

Anna removed her hands momentarily as she prepared herself, "Ok let me try. And stop me if I'm doing anything wrong."

"Oh...okay."

"I mean it, John. I want you to be honest."

"I will. I promise."

Anna leaned forward and brushed his loose lock of hair out of his eye line She smiled at him lovingly as their eyes met. He mirrored her facial expression. Anna placed a hand on either side of his cheeks and pursed her lips together before kissing John.

Her touch was like angels wings. A shock of electricity coursed through his body even as they engaged in the most innocent of kisses. He hummed appreciatively when her fingers drifted to the back of his head and played with the hairs at the nape of his neck. After a few seconds they pulled apart. His breath taken away.

"How was that?" she asked.

"It was…" John's fingers flew up to his lips as if trying to remember and hold onto the sensation for as long as he could, "...it was alright." He was lying to himself. It was the best kiss he'd ever shared with someone. John cast off a small laugh so she would think he was just teasing her.

Anna shoved him playfully, "Was it really that bad?"

"No. It was fine," he answered back. She looked upset. "More than fine," he tried to encourage her. "No one is perfect on their first try. You'll get better with practice," he assured.

Anna didn't seem so sure. She would have rather practiced with John, but he had never looked at her as more than a little sister.

A long period of silence settled between them and John could feel her eyes boring into him. "Well, it's your sixteenth birthday. I say we kick this day off with a tradition of trying new things," John said as he stood up eagerly. It was a weak attempt at changing the subject.

Anna smiled up at him, a hand covering her eyes to block out the sun. "We just tried a new thing," she reminded him.

"True…" John was trying to think of something else to take her mind off of the kiss that had just taken place. "But that was something new you wanted to do."

"And what, pray tell, do you want to try?" she asked with a curious glint in her eye.

John rested his hands on his hips as he looked out over the water. "I don't know. Fancy a swim?"

"Are you crazy? We'll freeze to death," she pointed out. Just thinking about how cold that water must be, sent shivers up her spines.

"Maybe. But we'll never know if we don't try," he retorted.

"I don't have to try. I know," she responded.

"Come on, kid. Let's make a memory together," John encouraged.

It was so unlike him to be this spontaneous and optimistic. Normally, she was the wild one and he was the reasonable one. At first she thought he was bluffing, but when he began removed his shirt and undoing his belt buckle Anna could tell he was determined to make this happen.

"Are you coming with or am I going to have to give you a hard time for the rest of your life?"

"Rest of my life? Ha! You're assuming you'll live beyond hypothermia," she argued.

John simply waggled his eyebrows and stood at the edge of the dock in his underpants. His hands protectively covering his manhood.

"Oh alright," she gave in. "But, I want to go on record that this is the worst idea you have ever had." Anna began to remove her top and shimmied out of her jeans.

"I think it's a great idea," John replied with a mischievous smile.

"Wait. Wait. Wait," Anna paused as she inched towards the edge of the dock. She held her hand out for him to hold. "We go together, so neither one of us can chicken out."

"Deal!" They both were shivering with anticipation, their small pile of clothes already awaiting their return. The sun was sparkling off the water and looked smooth as glass. A strong contrast from what was to come.

"I can't believe we're doing this!" she screamed and it echoed off the rock walls.

"Yeah! We're jumping into the lake!" he called out to no one in particular. John looked down to where their fingers intertwined and then met Anna's eyes. A smile spread across his face. "One…" John began the count off.

Anna's fingers clasped tightly against his. "Two…" she continued where he left off.

"Three!" They both shouted together as they jumped off the dock. Their bodies plunged into the water causing every duck and fish for miles to go into hiding. Their hands still held onto one another, but the cold was almost unbearable. It was like a thousand tiny needles pricking at her skin and altogether paralyzing at the same time. It was like their bodies forgot what to do next. Anna came up first, followed by John shortly after. She emerged with a gasp as the cold caused a tightening in her lungs. Fog was visibly coming out of their mouths and noses.

"Holy shit!" she managed to gasp between breaths.

"Fuck that's cold!" John added as he whipped his wet hair back.

The two of them were laughing at one another's reaction. John let go of her hand for a moment and began looking around.

"What are you looking for?" she asked with a hint of concern.

"My balls," he joked.

Anna snorted she laughed so hard.

"I think they crept up back inside of me," he added.

"They did not," she replied with a slap of water towards his face.

"Honest, you were the last woman to see me for the man I truly am...er...was," he said playfully.

They both began to laugh. The two of them slowly began to move towards one another, John almost couldn't register the cold anymore as his body went numb.

"John, this is the best birthday I've ever had. One of the best days really in a while. I don't know how you do it," she said sincerely.

"It was nothing, kid. Couldn't let this day go by without celebrating it properly," he replied. John ran a hand through his wet hair to smooth it back and froze when he felt her hand brush against his side beneath the water. He quickly pulled away when he noticed how Anna's lips were beginning to turn blue and her teeth were audibly chattering against one another. "Oh god, Anna. I'm sorry," he began to apologize profusely. "Come on. Let's get you out of here to warm you up. I have a blanket and some towels in the truck," John offered. He swam towards the dock as fast as his arms would carry him and hefted himself out of the water to retrieve the towels from the truck.

A few moments later…

"God. Are you alright?" John asked as he rubbed his hands up and down against her Anna's in an attempt to warm her. She was wrapped in a towel still shivering on the dock and John had wrapped the blanket around the outside to keep her body temperature from dropping too much. He hadn't even given her a chance to respond. "That was a stupid idea. I shouldn't have made you do it."

Anna's teeth stopped chattering long enough for her to say, "It's ok. You didn't make me do anything I didn't already want to do." John stood before her still dripping wet and in his under pants. His sole concern was her well being. "It was a brilliant idea. I'll never forget it."

"Hey, kid," John said as he placed a hand on her shoulder and pulled Anna from her memories. "Sorry, I'm late," he added before kissing her cheek.

Anna smiled and hoped she hadn't blushed too much.

"Study group ran a little longer than I thought it would," he added.

"It's fine. I just got here a moment ago," Anna said as she began to go through the menu.

"Why am I not surprised," John said. "Notoriously late, as per usual." He shrugged off his jacket and took a seat across from her.

"I am not," Anna responded with a playful swat.

"All right what was it?" John inquired.

"What was what?"

"You looked like you were a million miles away and you were smiling when I walked in the door. What has you so happy?"

"I was just thinking."

"About?"

"My sixteenth birthday. Do you remember that?"

How could he forget it? It was the first time they had ever kissed. John swallowed hard as he tried to think of a quick response. "Remember? It's a little hard to forget such a memorable moment," John said as he looked over his own menu.

Anna's eyes lit up, perhaps it had meant just as much to him as it did to her.

"Kind of hard to forget freezing your balls off. Still haven't recovered from that one," he chided her. "But I'm glad it brought you such happiness."

Anna looked slightly disappointed but focused on her menu as she tried to keep her emotions in check. "It did. More than you'll know."

They held each other's gaze for a little while longer, but neither knew what to say next.

"How did your exams go the other day?" she asked.

"It wasn't bad. I could have done without the paint down the back of my neck," John quipped.

"Sorry," she replied.

Neither of them spoke any further on the matter of him sleeping over or the words that were exchanged before they had fallen asleep.

"How's the packing going?" John asked. He instantly winced at the sound of his words. Why did he have to bring up the idea of her leaving?

"Not bad. Mum wants to throw a small going away dinner before I leave. You'll have to take a break from being Mr. Bookworm to join us," Anna suggested.

"Wild horses couldn't stop me. Are you still going to be able to attend my cousin's wedding with me before you go?" John wanted to double check. He wouldn't have blamed her if she declined. There was still so much to do before her departure.

"Of course," she said eagerly. "John...I hope there isn't any weirdness between us after the other night."

"Why would there be weirdness? We didn't do anything."

"We didn't?"

"No," he kept his eyes on the menu. "I certainly hope it would be a little more memorable than that."

Anna bit back a smile. She was about to say something more when the waitress interrupted them. "What can I get you two lovebirds?"