Chapter 4: Learning to Kiss

                                    

                                          
Originally Published: September 5, 2021
It had been a few weeks since starting school, and things were going fairly well, except for that mean girl bothering me almost every day. I had discovered her name was Lisa, and she was the most popular girl in our grade. That's why I was surprised when I got an invitation to her party, Leo getting the same.
"Why would she send me this," I wondered.
"Maybe she just invited everybody," Leo shrugged.
"Gee, thanks," I sarcastically said, putting my book on my shelf in our locker.
"Are you going?"
"Why? Do you want to," I guessed, him wearing a guilty expression as I sighed softly. "Who's the girl?"
"She's this really pretty brunette, and she said the first party we had I could meet her there. Plus, this party is a make out party..."
"Where does it say that," I squeaked, re-reading my card again. "Oh. Well, I don't think I can go then."
"Why not?"
"It's just not my scene," I waved off, starting to leave but he stopped me. I froze when I felt his fingers curling around my arm, his ocean eyes dancing between mine.  
"Have you ever been kissed, Dodie," he asked softly, being gentle about the question.
I bit my lower lip as I shook my head in shame, lowering it as I felt him pull me into a hug.  
"It's okay. I love how you're sweet and innocent."
"And you're not?" I faintly smirked as he chuckled lowly, the vibrations against my cheek.
"You know I'm not," he emphasized, a light chuckle escaping his lips as he pulled back. "Ever since my first kiss at like 13, I've been a mess."
"Still better than how I'm doing. At this rate, I'll literally be 16 and never been kissed."
"No, you won't be."
"What do you mean?" I was intrigued by his confidence, watching as he retrieved his book before slamming our locker shut.
"Meet me in your treehouse after school."
"Um, okay." I shot him an uneasy smile before we fell into synchronized steps, my mind whirring with what he had in mind.
In less than half an hour we were sitting on the floor of my treehouse, our backpacks discarded in a far corner. We were on the side that was wider, completely hidden from the view of my house. My parents wouldn't be home for another hour and a half though, since they had work.
"Okay, so why did you want to meet here," I questioned, eyeing him warily as he ran his fingers through his hair.
"I really want to go to that party, so I thought I could help you get ready for it."
My eyes widened as my mouth went dry. "You don't mean... Leo, we're just friends, that would be weird, probably even wrong."
"We're not cousins or anything," he quietly chuckled.
"I-i know, but best friends shouldn't kiss each other, at least not like that..."
"I promise I'll make it as painless as possible, and if you hate it, then you have permission to hit me."
"You know I would never hit you."
"Okay, then make me do something for you like carry your backpack."
"You don't want to start getting teased for carrying a Rugrats backpack too..."
"Dodie, you're stalling." He knew me too well just how I knew him.
"Okay, maybe I am, but I've never done anything like this before, and it's with you, so that makes it really awkward."
"Just relax and take a deep breath. I promise if things get too weird or you're uncomfortable, then we can stop." I barely nodded as I felt faint as though I was in some kind of an unreal dream. I wasn't even sure if I could move. "Okay, so the first thing is where to put your hands. Usually guys will do this a few different ways. Here on your waist." I giggled since it tickled when his fingers inched to rest on my waist on either side. He was biting his lower lip to hide a smile of his own before continuing. "Or completely around you." I actually blushed when he wrapped his arms completely around me, being pulled until our chests were touching. "This is my favorite though." He released me from his grip to caress my cheek, his opposite hand on my neck, his thumb on my ear as he swiped it across.
"Hm, that is kind of nice," I confessed, feeling more heat rise to my cheeks.
"But for you..." I felt disappointed when he let go, taking my hands to guide me. "Girls usually put their arms around the guy's neck. Sometimes if they're feeling bold they grab our faces and kiss us that way, but um, I almost forgot they also feel our arms sometimes." I was almost shaking as my hands brushed down his arms, not noticing how muscular they were before. I even felt them tensing beneath my touch, my breathing speeding up when I reached his hands, the veins popping out of the back a bit, and also on his forearm. When did he grow up so much? I never remembered him being this attractive before, and now his ocean eyes were locked on mine, me not having enough time to process things. "Okay, so there are different kinds of kisses. The most simple is just a peck, where your lips just press against one another, no opening of your mouth. And a more proper kiss is when your lips overlap, and um, my favorite is the last one, the French kiss. I've only had it happen once, since I just turned 15 last year. But that's when you kiss with your tongues. Um, it's kind of hard to explain." Now he was blushing a bit as he touched the back of his head. "I have a feeling if we're going to a make out party though any guy you pick will expect that eventually, but don't you dare let him take advantage of you. If he tries anything, I'll be there to make sure he doesn't kiss for a long time."
I barely nodded as I felt Leo place his hands in their favorite position on my face again. "You ready?" His voice was almost a whisper but low and crisp.  
"I think so," I breathed.
"I'm only going to do the simple kiss first, okay?"
"Okay..." I couldn't breathe anymore as I felt his closed lips press against mine, forgetting I even had hands as they stayed limply at my sides. I blushed deeply when I accidentally made a loud smacking noise when we parted. "Oh goodness..."
"It's okay, Dodie," Leo instantly reassured me, his hand resting on my thigh. "Your first kiss isn't going to be perfect. Let's try that again." I giggled with my lips still together as we pecked for awhile, finally getting the hang of it. "Okay, now for the next type of kiss..." This was the part I was more anxious about, him being the one to overlap his lips with mine as he guided me through it. My hands were still not doing a single thing though, but he didn't correct me on that.
I felt dizzy and lightheaded when that was over, but also exhilarated and breathless in the best way.  
"Are you sure you're okay with the last one?"
I managed to nod as I felt a desire building inside of me, a craving I never knew I had. My breathing was shaky and scared as he licked my lower lip, my hands instantly gripped the back of his shirt as our tongues wrestling as I moved as close to him as possible. It was like I had just discovered water after being stuck in the middle of a desert, Leo being the one to pull away first.
"Like that," I got out in between my messed up breathing.
"Yeah." He swallowed hard before panting softly, since he was lacking oxygen more than me. "Exactly like that."

A/N: Hey guys, so I did not plan for this chapter to happen that way at all, but I'm not going to lie, that I love it. (X Anyways, please remember to comment, vote, and follow. Thank you so much! <3