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“Y’know,” William says, staring up at the ceiling, watching the fan spin around and around, “I’ve never kissed anyone.”
“ Never ?”
“Never.” William rolls onto his side to face the other boy. “Have you ever kissed anyone, Dakota?”
Silence stretches between them for a few moments before Dakota says, confidently, “Once!”
“Once.” William rolls that knowledge around in his mind, stares at it like he’s scrutinizing a new lead. It fits, somehow; he can imagine Dakota making a move and kissing someone with reckless abandon, without a thought about how it would affect them after the fact. He’s proven right seconds later when Dakota speaks again;
“Did you want to?”
William feels hot under the collar. “Want to what?”
“Learn to kiss. Or, like, practice, I guess?” Dakota pauses. “I’m practically an expert at it.”
“Dakota, you’ve kissed one person.”
“So? I know what I’m doing. Do you want to, William?”
The fan clicks and whirrs above them as silence falls like a fresh blanket of snow. William’s mouth feels dry, and he passes his tongue briefly over his lips, feverishly so. Dakota’s just lying there, looking at him like that , with no hint of anything in his expression that would betray malicious intent. William wants to bury his face in his pillow and scream.
He can’t bring himself to move away. It’s stupid and dangerous and setting himself up to get hurt in all the worst ways, but he inclines his head, a tiny, almost imperceptible nod. Dakota lifts a hand to cup William’s cheek, warmth flooding from the point of contact, and that alone is almost more than he can bear, but it’s Dakota. If William knows one thing, it’s that Dakota doesn’t do things by halves.
It’s not like the tender, gentle first kiss William had envisioned when he was younger. There’s no hesitation in the way Dakota kisses him, catching William’s lips with his own and pressing in with a hint of teeth. Dakota’s thumb traces his cheekbone and William can’t even think or try to breathe.
“You know you’re meant to like…” Dakota pulls away slightly, but they’re still breathing the same air, still sharing the same space, and William feels dizzy with it. “ Also kiss the person, right?”
“Right,” William mumbles, dazed, and then Dakota’s mouth is on his again. It feels like William is fumbling his way through it, trying to match the fervour and ferocity of the way Dakota kisses. All fire and rough around the edges. It is, scarily, the exact way William would expect him to; not that he’s thought about kissing Dakota before, at all, ever.
William’s pretty sure he’s failing kissing classes. Or at least failing what Dakota asked of him. Still, Dakota isn’t pulling away. William’s hand drifts up to the crook of Dakota’s neck, resting there gingerly. It somehow feels more intimate than anything else about the moment. The warmth in William’s chest seems to flood outwards, through every inch of him, to the tips of his limbs. He feels so much more alive , with Dakota’s lips on his.
“Hey, that wasn’t so bad,” Dakota says as he pulls back. “You’re getting the hang of this.”
William should probably say nothing, or mumble some kind of agreement. Instead, he blurts, “I liked it.”
“What, kissing?” Dakota grins. “Told you I’m an expert.”
“No, I mean,” William says, imbibing some of Dakota’s courage, “I liked kissing you .”
Dakota stares at him for a moment. Then, the corners of his eyes crinkle with the force of his smile. “Well, I liked it too. Kissing you.”
“So we can do it again?” William’s voice is quiet, barely above a whisper. As an answer, Dakota leans in, and kisses him.