Summary: Amity was many things—ambitious, accomplished, enviably single-minded, to name a few—but impulsive was not one of them. So why did she think kissing a complete but very attractive stranger was a good idea? (Or, the 5 times Luz and Amity kiss by circumstance and the one time they don't.)

Author's Notes:Post something light for your birthday, I said. Just a few thousand words, I said. Make it about kissing so it won't get too plot-heavy, I said. So you can see how well this turned out (or I suppose, you will in about another five chapters).

Oh well. It's been a minute since I've written anything I've wanted to publish, so happy birthday, me!

And as for my last note, what's the opposite of a slow burn? A fast boil? Because I feel like that's what this is.

Kissed Connection

Chapter 1: Fakeout Makeout

Amity was many things—ambitious, accomplished, enviably single-minded, to name a few—but impulsive was not one of them.

So why did she think kissing a complete but very attractive stranger was a good idea?

It had happened like this.

After the pep rally where she'd been nominated one of the senior Homecoming Princesses and waved at everyone who was everyone at Hexside, she'd jumped off the float and fled the gym. She didn't even know why at the time, just that she desperately needed to get out.

That was impulsive thing number one.

Which led her to impulsive thing number two: running towards the empty football field, tromping up the stairs of the equally empty bleachers to… well, honestly, just to sit down and think.

It had been way too much back there in the gym, she hadn't gotten enough sleep last night, and Boscha had been in fine form today—for Titanssake, Boscha was so unbearable during rugby season, how could anyone stand it—remarking on how worn down Amity had looked and thanking her for not trying too hard to win Homecoming Queen just moments before they were presented on stage. That, and the glare of the lights making her overheat, the tiara digging into her temples, and everyone looking at her, expecting it to be an honor...

Out here, the September breeze was crisp and perfect, cool on her flushed face, causing the full skirt of her formal gown to flutter around her. She closed her eyes and enjoyed five blissful minutes of cold and quiet before the smartwatch her mother had given to her for her last birthday pinged, letting her know she had to get to the next appointment on her schedule.

Amity sucked in a deep breath to steel herself—she'd have to rush it if she was going to change out of the formal clothes and make the afternoon work for her. She had to be sharp for her weekly session with her SAT tutor, stay awake through the excruciatingly boring after-school tech internship her father had secured for her, fancy herself up for the second time that day to attend a Blight business dinner as Odalia's dutiful daughter then finish all her homework so that her mind would let her sleep so she could do it all again tomorrow.

Just another Amity Blight day to cap off an Amity Blight week to lay the foundation for an Amity Blight lifetime.

Blowing out the breath she'd taken, she started down the bleachers stairs, the rhythmic click of her shoes grounding her, and heard a loud crackling like a firecracker in the parking lot near the gym, followed by the bright flare of an actual firecracker, followed by several whoops and people running.

Now that was curious.

But it also sounded like trouble, and she wanted nothing to do with that.

She hurried to hop off the last step and rounded the corner... when someone collided full-force and full-body right into her!

On any normal day, she prided herself on her ability to take a hit—she was the rugby team captain after all—but even she had to admit it was hard to stay up in heels with zero traction. And it was harder yet because the other someone—a girl who seemed to be all flailing energy, long legs, and handsy, so handsy—couldn't seem to untangle herself from Amity.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" said the girl in a rush, punctuating each apology with an attempt to stand up but continuously tripping on Amity's skirts starting the fumbling all over again. Finally, at last, Amity threw her arms around the girl's neck, they both stilled, and Amity was able to observe three things about her accidental assailant all at once.

One, that she was criminally unfashionable in a torn green army jacket and faded striped tee, her hair mostly tucked under a garishly red beanie save for two strands of dark hair framing her face.

Two, that the aforementioned crimes of fashion seemed less remarkable when Amity's gaze honed in on the curve of the other girl's lips as they parted slightly from surprise, swept over the rest of her very attractive face, and settled on her warm, brown eyes.

And three, that she'd managed to save Amity from hitting the pavement by wrapping one strong arm around her waist and dipping her as if they were living out some sort of hot ballroom dancing fantasy… which Amity had obviously never entertained before and had absolutely no lingering thoughts about at all.

"Oh thank Titan you're okay… I mean… are you okay?" Beanie Girl asked, all genuine concern, eye widening as she gave Amity the once-over.

"I'm fine. That was… quite the first impression," Amity said coldly. Or at least that's what she'd been aiming for. She got the distinct feeling her attempt at 'unamused ice queen' was probably coming across as 'breathless disaster.'

"Yeah, sorry," the girl said again, "but, uh, well… it's hard keeping hold of both you and the trophy."

"'Trophy?'" Amity asked and came to her fourth realization.

There was something hard digging into her back, and by craning her head ever so slightly, she could tell it was the Hexside rugby championship trophy from freshman year when Boscha was captain before Amity had wrested the honor away from her.

The one that was supposed to be in the school's trophy case.

The one whose disappearance was going to send Boscha into conniptions if she ever found out it was missing from said case.

Several things came together in her head: the firecracker, the group yelling, the running. In addition to badly themed dress-up days, the most spirited pep rallies all year, and a flurry of float-making, Homecoming week also meant Homecoming pranks.

Especially between rival schools.

"You're… you're a Glandus thief!" Amity accused, and Beanie Girl snorted.

"Excuse you, I'm a charming prankster," she said. "And we weren't going to steal the trophies. We're… borrowing them. To return eventually. Looking just a liiiitle different."

"Boscha's going to kill you if she finds you."

Amity could see it now: Boscha's nose scrunching up, her mouth twisting, her shout of rage nearly a high-pitched shriek—

"WHERE IS IT?! SOMEONE TOOK IT AND SO HELP ME TITAN, I WILL RIP THE EYES OUT OF THE THIEF WHO DID AND FEED THEM TO OUR MASCOT!"

Like that.

Both girls turned their heads toward Boscha's voice, which was now loudly barking orders naming several people from Amity's circle of acquaintances with commands to start a search. Amity looked up at the girl who seemed more impressed than intimidated by Boscha's threat.

"Hope your plan didn't involve getting caught," Amity said. "There's no exit this way, and they're going to search over here in about thirty seconds."

"I was working on my get-away," Beanie Girl said, blowing her bangs out of her face, "but then I ran into you. Sidenote, what's the Hexside mascot again?"

"Griffins, but since those are mythical, we kind of use pigeons?"

"Mm, yeah, don't want my eyes fed to those. Any ideas for escaping? I'm open to anything."

"Why should I help you?"

"Oh, I dunno... don't I get any points at all for sweeping you off your feet?" And Amity's pulse leaped at the girl's quicksilver smirk.

Oh right. They were still in the same position they'd landed in a minute earlier, and an idea crossed Amity's mind, a thought so ludicrous, she wasn't sure it was even hers. But there was no more time to think, so Amity just acted.

Since they were still holding each other, it was easy for Amity to turn them so that the hand holding the trophy was hidden between her skirt and the bleachers behind them.

"Do me a favor once you get out of here," Amity said, using the arm she still had looped around the girl's neck to pull her close, "and don't actually damage the trophy before you return it?"

"I would never…" the girl said, offended, as if somehow that crossed the line more than stealing the physical trophy itself. She shivered as Amity's nose brushed hers. "...though what exactly is the plan here?"

"We're going to make out if that's alright with you," Amity said into her ear, making this officially impulsive thing number three.

The girl only had enough time to nod three times in rapid succession before Amity tossed her common sense out the window, used one hand to tear that crime of a beanie off the other girl's head, and kissed her.

For all that she'd questioned the method, the other girl got onboard astonishingly quickly with the madness, even when Amity rushed in too fast, their lips crashing together, which... wasn't ideal. They were going to have to sell this if the plan was going to work, but no sooner had that thought processed when the girl tilted her head, mouth softening and opening under Amity's and—

Oh.

That was nice.

That felt great, even.

Amazing.

Spectacular.

Her mind churned out several more descriptors like an overeager thesaurus before promptly shutting down as lightning danced between them, sparks bursting at all the points they touched. Amity had meant to kiss the other girl obviously, had meant it to be only enough of a kiss to make it look like they were plausibly occupied, but she hadn't expected to have it turn on her, to change into something heated and electric and marvelous. Amity had kissed people before—on an awkward first date before she concluded she only liked girls, during truth-or-dare at a sleepover, a fun but forgettable makeout at the Winter Formal afterparty—and all those paled to this feeling, like her heart was going triple time, like she couldn't process everything fast enough to enjoy it, like she really just couldn't get enough.

So it was hardly an inconvenience to push the kiss further, not with how hot the girl's mouth was on hers or how her non-trophy hand skimmed down Amity's back to clutch tightly at the fabric at Amity's waist. Amity's hand tangled into the soft waves of the girl's hair as she pressed close into her lean frame, and then—

"I'll check the bleachers!" someone—Cat, Amity recognized the voice—yelled just a handful of steps away from them, nearly jolting Amity out of the moment before she recovered enough to continue the ruse of the kiss.

For an instant, she felt panic: as far as plans went, this one wasn't up to her meticulous standards, and yet…

Cat barely spared a glance at them—clearly the couple making out under the bleachers were very busy not being trophy thieves—and stormed past to rejoin Boscha on the warpath.

"Wow," the girl said a little dazed when Amity pulled back a few seconds later. Her eyes were round and dark, mouth slightly pink where Amity had maybe nipped her, Amity couldn't remember exactly, her heart was thundering in her chest and her head was spinning. The other girl still held Amity tight and close. "You were… That was… I want… Can we..."

But whatever the other girl was going to ask was broken off by the obnoxious noise of a revving car pulling up near the bleachers.

"Hey, loser, come on!" someone yelled from the car's open passenger window, startling them apart.

The girl winced. "Well, that's my ride."

Amity blinked, her head clearing, then nodded. "Better go before Boscha circles around again."

"Yeah, uh, yeah," the girl said, shaking her head. "Thanks, princess."

Amity scowled. "I am not a princess."

Beanie Girl raised an eyebrow, amused, and tapped her finger to her own forehead, and Amity realized she was still wearing the stupid Homecoming tiara. She frowned, but before she could snark something back, the car honked twice, insistent.

The girl glanced from the car back to Amity, and several emotions flitted across her face, unreadable to Amity for all that they'd been so intimately acquainted just a few seconds earlier, but all she ended up saying was, "Thanks again for uh… everything."

Then, unexpectedly, she darted forward, gave Amity a parting kiss on the cheek, and ran off to climb into the car.

Amity watched her go, only realizing a second later that she still clutched the girl's beanie in her hand.