Title: As First Times Go
Rating: G
Spoilers: None
Word Count: 571
Summary: Her first kiss.
Fireflies buzzed around them in the dusk, sending out sparks of light they chased until they were both breathless from laughing and sprawled out on their backs in a clump of soft grass.
The silence between them flowed with the steady hum of crickets chirping and of owls hooting in the distance. That was, until Kate broke it, tugging strands of wet hair away from her face and moving onto her side to prop her head up on her hand.
"We should kiss."
Her request (demand really, because she'd said it like it was a done deal) has her best friend sitting up and wide eyed. And for a second, Tom looks at her like she's grown a second head. When he finds his voice, it comes out in a squeak. "What?"
She calmly explained her rational. After all, it doesn't seem like that big of a deal. "For practice. For when we grow up."
The first words that come to his mind after that is, "Kissin' is gross." He screws his face up in disgust for better effect.
Kate crossed her arms over her chest, tilted her head and glared. Stands so that she towers over him. "Are you saying I'm gross, Thomas?"
He swallows hard and stands with her. He really hates when she's mad at him. "No, I-" Tom looked down and shuffled a foot back and forth in the grass, feeling his face turning red. She was actually the only girl he didn't find gross, but that was only because she knew how to climb trees (she was teaching him) and knew all the best hiding spots for hide and seek. "You're my best friend, Katie." But that didn't mean he wanted to kiss her. Did it?
Her eyes gleamed in the moonlight. "Does that mean you'll do it?"
He sighed loudly, but mumbled, "Okay," because he just couldn't deny her. And maybe, maybe just a tiny, tiny part of him wanted to see what the deal was.
"What?"
"Okay. Okay." He held up his hands in surrender. "But you can't tell nobody."
"Wasn't planning on it."
"So...what...how do we do this?"
She shrugged her shoulders and inched closer to him. "Just press our lips together." And maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all because her palms were beginning to sweat and her heart was beating just a little bit faster. But she couldn't back out now because she's laid down a challenge and she had to follow through.
They close their eyes.
It's a brief hard press of lips. Chapped lips. Their noses bump almost painfully and it's more teeth than anything else. After a few seconds, Tom gets antsy and pulls away first. Kate opens her eyes to find him just staring at her, like she's something new and shiny and he doesn't quite know what to do next.
She's feeling a little bit like that herself.
Tom opens his mouth, closes it and opens it again like a fish out of water. But before he can say anything, she punches him on the shoulder, trying to regain some semblance of control and turns to run.
It only takes him a moment before he chases.