When Aki returned home, she made a beeline for her room, not even bothering looking for her parents to give their usual greetings. She shut her door as quietly as possible so as not to draw attention, and flung herself on her bed, pulling a pillow over her head. Once she was covered, she touched her fingertips to her trembling lips. She still wasn't really sure if all of that had happened. That had been her first kiss! And then that gorgeous boy had really asked her out? Her, Aki, the girl who'd never had a use for a boyfriend before, being asked out by a complete hottie? She squealed into the pillow and kicked her legs against the mattress.

Suddenly, she sat up. She had to tell her friends, especially Sabina. She hesitated for a moment, trying to decide if she should send it in group chat, or individual. She decided on the latter, grabbing her phone and sending a quick message:

"I have a boyfriend now!'

Her phone pinged quickly with Sabina's response:

'Eee congrats! Did things go well with Hedeon then?'

'Yeah, he even kissed me!'

'Ooo, kissing in a movie theater is so romantic!'

'Well, he kissed me outside of the theater, in the hallway.'

The reply was delayed for a moment before she received a new message:

'Oh. That's a little weird, but if you're happy, then it's all good!'

Truthfully, the fact that he had kissed her against a wall in front of all those people hadn't really sat well with Aki, but she supposed it wasn't really that big of a deal. It wasn't like he had pressured her to make out in the hallway or anything, it had just been a short kiss. Part of her wished that her first kiss could have been a little more romantic, but she supposed that it was the end result of dating someone she liked that mattered. Shaking off the unease, she texted Sabina back, and the two girls spent most of the night in a flurry of excited messages.

The next day at school, Aki broke the news to her other friends, and they all squealed over her, demanding pictures and stories about her new boyfriend. Aki got lost in the glow of this new aspect of her life, and felt like she floated through the rest of the week.

As for Hedeon, she kept regular contact with him on WhatsApp, but he didn't offer any other contact, and she was scared to ask. She wanted to talk with him on the phone, but wasn't sure how to broach the subject.

Finally, on Friday, he broke the ice first. Aki got a message during the last class of the day, but waited until school was out to read it.

'Do you want to get together this weekend?'

Her heart skipped several beats, and she felt an idiotic smile spread across her face as she typed a response:

'Sure! Where at?'

'My house is available.'

She gasped a little. The idea of going to her boyfriend's house, and maybe seeing his room, was so enticing that she found herself agreeing readily, texting him back to ask for details. Humming happily, she made her way to her motorcycle to meet Sabina for their daily ride home.

She spent the rest of the night in a ball of nerves, anticipating seeing Hedeon the next day. She was so happy that she was barely even bothered by her brother and Aliya as they hung out in the living room together.

When the time finally arrived to see her boyfriend on Saturday, she casually told her parents that she was going to a friend's house, trying her best to leave the apartment with some dignity intact. She put Hedeon's address into her GPS and wove her bike through the streets of St. Petersburg, allowing the crisp wind to calm her down until she pulled up in front of his building. Parking her motorcycle, she took off her helmet and did her best to smooth down her hair as she sent Hedeon a message to let him know she had arrived.

A minute later, he emerged from the front door, a slight smile playing on his lips at the sight of her. As usual, his smile wreaked havoc on her emotions, and when he beckoned her inside, she obeyed wordlessly, following him through the building until they entered his apartment.

As he shut the door behind her, she took her shoes off and asked, "Are your parents around?"

He shook his head. "They'll be at work for a while yet."

She hesitated. "Your sister?"

Again, his head shook. "I thought she was going to be around today so I could introduce you to her, but right before you came over she went to a friend's house. Sorry about that. Can I get you something to drink?"

Blown away by the longest speech she had ever heard him give, Aki simply nodded her head. She then realized that he needed more than just agreement, and hastened to say, "Water would be fine. Thanks."

He turned around at her words and went through a door. She hesitated, unsure if he wanted her to follow him or not, but decided that she was probably meant to wait for him. She looked around as she did, deciding that the crisp, clean lines of the apartment were quite impressive. The room was mostly done in black and white, with a few deeply-colored accents here and there. The style was a bit antiquated, but still managed to look dignified.

As she was scrutinizing her surroundings, Hedeon came back into the living room, offering her a glass of ice water. She took it and held it awkwardly, taking a sip so as not to seem ungrateful. Hedeon jerked his head towards another door. "My room is this way. We'll be more comfortable there." Not waiting for her response, he turned and left, propping the door open behind him with one hand for her to follow. Although her stomach flipped over, she trailed off in his wake, clutching tightly onto her water glass.

He led her to a room with a plain-looking full bed, decorated in dull, dark colors. She glanced around this new room, taking it in. She certainly wouldn't call this room inviting, but it wasn't exactly off-putting, either. Aki hadn't seen many other teen boys' rooms, but she supposed most of them probably looked like this; without much ornament or personal decoration, although she did note that it was much cleaner than she had expected.

Hedeon gestured her towards a chair that was resting in front of a desk to one side of the bed. She pulled the chair out and placed her glass down with a clink of ice as he seated himself next to her, on top of the bed. She looked at him and smiled nervously.

Luckily, Hedeon spoke first. "You really seemed to like that movie we went to see, so I thought you might like to watch one of the earlier ones in that series." He gestured towards a TV on the opposite wall.

Aki jumped on this. "Oh, yes, that would be fun! I really do like that series. I think the third movie is my favorite, if you have that one."

Her boyfriend nodded and stood up, crossing the room to the TV. Grabbing the remote, he turned it on and opened the first streaming service on the list, managing to locate the movie she had requested fairly quickly. As he was looking for it, Aki turned her chair around to face the TV more fully. She struggled a little bit with how close to place it to the bed, not wanting to seem too pushy, but also not wanting to distance herself too much from where Hedeon would be sitting. Finally, she settled on a distance of about 15 centimeters and situated herself in as her boyfriend returned and sat on the bed next to her once more, leaning his back against the pillows at the head.

She tried her best to keep her attention on the movie, but found it very hard at first. She had never been alone with a boy in his room before. The few times she had been to a guy friend's house, it had been with other friends, and she certainly hadn't been interested in any of them. This was entirely new territory for her, and she felt alight with nerves. But eventually the familiar story sucked her in, and she started to get into the movie, reacting with each rise and fall of the action. She didn't bother keeping her voice down this time, since they weren't in a theater, and interjected lots of commentary.

It was only when the final credits were rolling that she noticed she had scooted her chair flush against the bed, and was leaning her shoulder onto Hedeon's. She looked up at him, and for one breathless moment, they stared at each other. Then Hedeon lowered his head, pressing his mouth lightly to hers.

This kiss was much more along the lines of what Aki had imagined. Soft and tender, Hedeon's lips caressed hers, teasing her to follow him as he moved his head. Tantalized, she obeyed, chasing his mouth down.

The second she moved towards him, however, he dove back onto her, and the kiss became harsher, more demanding. She felt his tongue probe for entrance, and opened her lips to gasp. As she did, she felt the invasion of her boyfriend's tongue, prodding around, seeking entrance into every corner of her mouth. She pulled back a little, confused by the sensations assaulting her, but Hedeon chased her, cupping the back of her head with one hand, placing his other palm on the flat of her abdomen.

This touch was too much for her. With a gasp, she jumped back out of her seat, face flushed red. "Ah, well, this was really fun, but I think I should probably be going home now, my otousan said to be back in time for dinner." In reality, he had said no such thing, but Aki just blurted out the first thing that came into her mind.

Hedeon stood calmly. "Ok. I'll walk you to the door."

She flushed even redder, turning around and hurrying out of his room, not even stopping to see if he was behind her. She darted to the living room, tapping her shoes on and turning around to offer some sort of farewell to her host. As she faced Hedeon again, he looked down at her with his inscrutable eyes and kissed her lightly once more before opening the front door. "Be safe on the way home," he said in a low voice.

Aki suddenly found that she couldn't meet his eyes, and scurried out of the door as fast as she could.