Work Text
Tess was fifteen, almost sixteen, and she was in love. Bobby was seventeen and owned his own car. Tess liked going to the drive-in movies with him. She especially liked the ones with aliens and giant insects. She was staring at the black and white screen when Bobby put an arm around her and she found herself squashed against him and his mouth over hers.Her first kiss wasn't all what she imagined. There weren't any fireworks like she would read about, nor the surge of passionate music in her ears like when Bogart sweeps Bacall in his arms. For one thing, their angle was awkward and uncomfortable. The kiss itself was too wet and roaming. It wasn't romantic, it was gross.Tess shoved away and grabbed the napkins that came with the popcorn to wipe at her face."What's the matter?" Bobby sounded confused and a bit crossed."Nothing, you just surprised me.""Well, it is our third date."That's right. Her older sister explained it to her. "Don't kiss a boy on the first date, he'll think you're easy. Not the second date either. On the third date, if you're serious about the boy and relationship then you better let him kiss you."And she was serious about Bobby. He was really cute and he had a car! She glanced over at the car next to them. Through steamed windows she could sort of see two of her classmates apparently devouring each others' faces."Tess..." Bobby was growing impatient. She shifted in her seat and tried to come to terms that her first kiss was destined to devolve quickly into her first necking session.The first time Tess kissed Kevin was when they were still at the psychiatric hospital. They were playing cat's cradle, the string webbed between Tess' hands. Kevin was hunched close, staring at the configuration as intently as Tess was staring at him. He was just starting to pick at the string when Tess moved forward and gave him a quick peck right on the mouth.Kevin jerked back in surprise, messing up the game. Tess smiled, but Kevin just blushed, ducking his head. When he looked at her again, the question in his eyes was clear: why?Tess giggled. "Because you're my favorite person in the whole world." She tossed away the string game and twined their fingers together instead.Tess sat motionless on her bed, unseeing, unthinking. The future didn't want her, Kevin was leaving. What was the point to anything?When she came back to herself, her fingers brushed along her left cheek, chasing a phantom sensation.The day she was discharged, Kevin was waiting. She couldn't help herself and threw herself at him with an almost toppling force. Kevin laughed and spun her, compensating for the momentum."I've missed you," she said in to his neck."I saw you a couple days ago.""Too long." She held on tighter. Kevin made a small sound of discomfort and she pulled back. "What is it?""Nothing," he reassured her with an almost convincing smile. He leaned forward and gave her a kiss on the forehead.She frowned in disappointment at the rather avuncular gesture.But in a way, she understood. They could be together now in a way that hadn't been possible in the past year they'd known each other. In so many ways this was new. They were new."This is our third date," Tess announced."Is it?" Kevin asked absently, picking a piece of baby corn out of his carton of Chinese with his fingers.They sat together on his sofa, papers spread out on the coffee table, under their dinner. "Yup, first we went out out for coffee after we left the hospital. Then, I met you for lunch at the university, now this."Kevin looked around his cluttered apartment, down at his take-out and back up at Tess. "This counts?" He asked, crunching on a water chestnut.Tess nodded. "Totally." It was actually the first time either of them put a word on what they were, what they were doing. Tess was relieved that Kevin took it in his stride. At the same time, he didn't seem to grasp the importance of the occasion. "We need to kiss by the third date if we're taking this relationship seriously."Kevin's brows shot up. "What makes you think that?""That's what my sister told me. You know, back then..." She blushed a little. She knew things were different nowadays; that her concept of dating and relationships was considered arcane. But if that show one of her roommates at the half-way house loved to watch was to be believed, she ought to have been juggling three boyfriends by now having slept with each one within hours of having met. If that was how twenty-first century relationships worked, she didn't care for it at all."Don't you want to kiss me?"Kevin set his Chinese down and took her hand. "Oh, Tess. Of course I do, it's just... It's been a very long time since I've-""Courted?" Tess provided with a smirk.That got Kevin to smile, too, if briefly. "Yes, and I was never that good at it.""But, you were married.""Yes, and that turned out fantastically," he said with a roll of his eyes."That wasn't your fault. You were just wrong for each other. We are right.""And it's that simple?""Of course."Kevin stroked the back of her hand with his thumb. The way he looked at her, so much kindness and love, it made her chest hurt. She closed her eyes and felt the first tentative press of his lips against hers. Still no fireworks behind her eyes, but rather a deep, consuming warmth suffused through her whole body.She pressed closer, tilted her head a little. She slightly parted her lips breathing in the taste of his skin and the curried chicken he had been eating. She hummed happily and pulled back. Kevin still had his eyes closed. She cupped his face in both her hands and said, "Kevin, look at me." He opened his eyes. A hint of worry started clouding the tenderness she found there. "That was very very nice."Kevin let out a shaky laugh of relief, Tess having cleared away his anxiety. She turned back to her dinner. "Now, I'm going to teach you how to use chopsticks."