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You'd been seeing them for over a month and neither of them had made any kind of move on you. You'd leaned in a few times on different dates, thinking that the moment was just right to have your first kiss but both Marc and Steven seemed oblivious to your intent and turned away, attention caught by a noise or movement nearby. After the first couple of tries you shrugged it off and figured they wanted to take things slow--this was new territory for all of you.
But twice is a coincidence, three times is a pattern, what makes four?
Rejection. At least that's how it felt when you'd reached up to cup Stevens face and finally meet his lips with yours and he leapt from your couch mumbling something about needing to use the restroom.
You slumped your shoulders and crossed your arms, sinking further into the cushions as you heard him turn the water on. You checked your breath by breathing into your hand, pressed your fingertips to your cheeks to make sure there was no stray food somehow left from dinner, and found everything was fine.
So why the HELL wouldn't either of them kiss you?
Keep reading
You stood, hands in fists at your side as you worked up the courage to ask the boys outright what was going on. If they didn't like physical touch they could tell you, you'd be fine with it--and it would make everyone more comfortable than you constantly missing kisses like some Bugs Bunny antagonist.
You moved to the bathroom door, knowing full well that Steven was just hiding in there with the sink on. But before you could knock you heard him speaking in hushed tones.
"We've got to figure this out now!" he hissed. A pause. "They've already tried twice tonight, they're going to think we hate them!"
Another pause.
"No," Steven said, "I will not give you the body; this is my date. They invited me over for a movie night and I-I think that means that I should get to be the one to...to..."
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"Kiss," Marc finished. "To kiss them. If you can't even say it then why are you the one doing it?"
"I can say the word," Steven argued, hands clasped together to ease his anxiety. "I just started thinking about it, and them and..."
Marc sighed in the mirror, hands on his hips. He understood Steven's feelings too well. You were his first serious relationship with anyone that knew about Steven--and you were far too easy-going about it; even when you learned about the mysterious second alter you didn't run for the hills screaming. You just said you'd help him figure it out and that was that. Both he and Steven were hooked.
"I'm just saying I have more experience in the area," Marc argued. He crossed his arms, raising his nose in the air despite only being a reflection at the moment.
Steven frowned and tried not to roll his eyes. "What, you think I'll kiss them and that'll be what sends them off, yeah?"
"No, that's not--"
"They've tried three times with me and only once with you, so--"
"That you know of."
"What?" Steven pressed his hands onto the ceramic sink. "What does that mean?"
"You aren't the best at reading people," Marc admitted softly, but there was a hint of condescension in his tone as he teased Steven. "You don't know how many times they've tried, really."
Steven's frown deepened. "So what do you suggest we do? Because only one of us is going to get the first kiss."
Both men thought about how this would sound to anyone but them. But they were equals in the relationship with you, and somewhere inside themselves they felt like whoever you kissed first you might...like better? Ridiculous, but then it sort of turned into a childish competition. And neither of them wanted to go to you and ask who you wanted to kiss first, it would be unfair to everyone involved.
Marc and Steven stared at each other when you knocked on the door. Steven quickly turned off the sink , unsure of how much time he and Marc had wasted arguing while you were out in the living room ready for a damned kiss.
Steven bit his bottom lip as he remembered the way you stroked a hand down his cheek and lifted yourself towards him on the couch--he'd been about to give in when Marc yelled at him to get his ass up and away from you.
And when he opened the door there you stood, staring at him with your eyebrows arched and lips pouted. The concern on your face was more worrisome than anything.
Right twits we are, he thought to himself.
"Are you...okay?" you questioned.
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Steven watched you for so long without a word you almost thought it was Marc. But when his fingertips tapped together you knew who it was. You quickly stammered, "Sorry, I'll let you guys talk."
Your own ramblings continued as you spun on your heel and started to walk away. If you'd faced them long you would have seen Steven's eyes roll to the back of his head as his neck snapped back, his relaxed shoulders tensing as someone else took over.
His hand wrapped around your wrist and spun you back towards him, his other arm going around your waist and hugging you close. Then the same hand that had grabbed your wrist went behind your neck and pulled your lips against his own. You jumped in surprised, but both arms held you steady as your eyes closed and you kissed him back. You thought it was Steven, since you'd just spoken with him, but the intensity that radiated off the man holding you was too strong for Steven.
He bit your bottom lip and you opened your mouth, more than willing to deepen the kiss and allow him entry. The arm around your waist tightened, your own hands going from holding onto the front of his shirt to wrapping around his neck. You pressed yourself further against him until you both needed to breathe and finally disconnected. You stayed in each others arms, staring into his deep brown eyes.
You smiled. "Took you long enough, Marc."
The smirk you were met with was not Marc, however, and it was far from the gentle smiles Steven gave you. Your brow furrowed. "Not Marc."
He shook his head.
"And not...Steven," you added slowly.
Your heart skipped a beat, thinking of the way Marc had described his second alter. Dangerous, deadly, and...unknown. A wildcard. You blinked at those brown eyes, seeing the danger in them but also seeing the same emotions that Marc and Steven carried. Caring. Gentleness. Devotion.
Devotion to you.
In a whisper against your lips he said, "They were wasting their time when they could have been doing this."
You tried not to smile at that after listening to half a conversation through the door. Probably not the most ethical thing, but you'd been hoping to gain some insight as to why they'd refused to kiss you for so long.
"I will see you soon, ojos de angel," he said, voice struck with more gravel than you'd ever heard it.
Then his head whipped back, his grip on you tightened even more for a fraction of a second, and when he faced you again it was Steven. He blinked at you, brow furrowing as his bottom lip turned out with confusion.
"Love?" he asked. His eyes scanned your face as if you weren't really you, and then lowered to the complete lack of space between your bodies. His fingers poked into your side and made you laugh, and with that sound he let go and leapt back. "I'm so sorry, I don't--I'm not sure what..."
Steven's eyes went to the picture frame on the nearby wall as he held his hands out as if to ask, "What the hell, Marc?"
You licked your lips, pressing your hands to your burning cheeks. "It wasn't Marc."
"What do you mean?" Steven looked back to you. He glanced at the reflection, where you figured Marc was confirming your statement. Then his eyes widened with a sharp inhale. "Do you--"
You nodded, not letting him finish the question. In the blink of an eye his back straightened and he was holding onto one of your arms and tilting your chin to look up at him.
"What did he do?" Marc asked. His lips were somewhere between a grimace like Steven's and a scowl.
"Nothing," you said. "I mean...he...we kissed. But that was it! He wasn't like, hurting me. He was very polite."
He'd even given you a pet name that you were going to Google the second you made it back to your phone.
Maybe it was the way you were avoiding meeting his eyes, or the fact that you knew he could feel the burn in your cheeks, but Marc's scowl deepened. "Did he say anything?"
"He said you and Steven were wasting your time," you explained. You finally met his gaze. "Which I absolutely agree with."
Marc tilted his head, raising and lowing his eyebrows with no way to argue with you. You were right--they had been wasting their time.
"I guess that means we have some time to make up for, right?" he said. And just like that his scowl turned into a grin, already pulling your face towards him for a kiss.
Just as your lips were about to touch his head fell back and Steven fronted. "What do you think you're doing?"
They began to argue, switching back and forth between Marc and Steven fronting when you interrupted. You groaned and slapped your hands on their cheeks, holding them to look at you. They'd swapped places so many times you weren't too sure who you were holding, but it didn't matter as you squished their cheeks. "I don't know where you got this idea that the first kiss is the most important. Usually first kisses suck anyway until you figure out what the other person likes! And besides, if I kiss Marc first, or Steven, it's just my first kiss with them, not...all of you. I'll have a first kiss with Marc, and I'll have a first kiss with Steven, okay?"
You shook their head back and forth to push the point home. You groaned again and shook harder until he finally grabbed your hands and held them away from his face. He pressed his forehead to yours, looking up at you through thick lashes
"Okay," Steven breathed, "okay, love. You're right. When we have our first kiss it'll just be ours, yeah?"
"Yeah." You smiled. "Promise you guys won't fight about this anymore?"
"Promise," Steven said.
Marc fronted, placing his hands on your neck and taking a deep inhale. "Promise."