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Gavin returning home to a hunter green truck in his driveway that he didn't own was normal. Somehow, he knew that license plate by heart when sometimes he had to look up his own. He didn’t even pull out his house key, opening the door without effort. “Hey, Vitae,” he called as he toed out of his shoes - a habit she had built in him as she made herself a regular placement in his house. “Did you cook?” He closed the cool dark outside.
“For me and the cat,” she called from his living room.
Gavin rolled his eyes, going straight to the microwave. “Love you, too.” He punched in buttons without checking, smirking at the covered plate rotating inside.
“You remember we’re stargazing tonight, right?”
Gavin blinked. “Huh?”
“You have an amazing sky view here!" Vitae gushed again as she stood on her knees in the couch to look at him. "No trees blocking, the streetlights aren’t too close. You said you would watch with me…”
Gavin held up his hands, a placating look on his face. “I can hear the pout in your voice, sugar. I’m gonna stare at the sky with you tonight. Promise.”
“Yay!” Vitae nuzzled Gavin’s cat in excitement, earning a “meow!” of protest even as the furball curled into her chest.
As soon as dark fell, Vitae was toting things outside to the back of her truck, unbothered by the looks from the owner of said things. Blankets, “They need to wash anyway!” Pillows, “You don’t even use these ones, hush!” and snacks, along with insect repellent.
Gavin came out to find Vitae cozied up on the bed of her truck. “Huh, look at you. I could sleep comfy out here.” She'd turned the space into a little campsite almost. She sat on layers of blankets with pillows piled to the back edge of the truck bed, the snacks easy to reach right smack in the middle. The space she'd left for him was obvious.
“Please don’t fall asleep right away,” Vitae begged as she watched him climb over the side.
Gavin settled into his assigned corner, laying out and putting his head in her lap with a grin. “I make no promises. You’re a really good pillow.”
Vitae shoved at him playfully. “Then get off and look up! The longer you look, the more stars become visible as your eyes get used to the darkness.”
“It’s easier for me to look up like this,” Gavin insisted, exaggerating his wiggles to get even more comfortable and pointing upwards. “I don’t gotta crick my neck.”
“You don’t have to lay flat on me though. That's what the pillows are for.”
“True. But I want to.” He grinned up at her. “I can see the stars and your face. It’s perfect.”
There were those lips again. Vitae folded hers and looked up at the sky. She had been noticing them more and more recently. It was weird. She wanted to… do something about it. But that would be awkward, right? She couldn’t just… kiss him? They weren’t like that. They'd never discussed it. At best it was unspoken between them. A point of teasing from those around them.
She scanned his whole face, the dark eyes, the stubble, had his nose always looked that cute?
He raised an eyebrow at her, sticking out his tongue. “Sup?”
She booped him on the nose, looking back out at the sky beyond the driveway. “The stars. Which is what we should be looking at.” They were supposed to be stargazing. This was her idea.
“Pardon me if I get distracted from being stared at.”
“I wasn’t staring-”
“Right. You were observing, I’m sorry. Oh look, a shooting star!”
She looked up, knowing she would miss it but grateful from the change of topic.
Vitae found her gaze drawn to the lower section of Gavin’s face repeatedly as the night wore on. Eventually, he had gotten off of her and repositioned himself across from her in a corner. She hoped the darkness was enough to keep her from being too obvious. She turned to him, observing as he laid with his back to the truck window, eyes closed and arms folded over his chest.
“Hey… Gavin?” She broached tentatively, voice low. Part of her hoped he didn’t hear her-
He made a gravelly sound of acknowledgement in his throat.
“Can I, uh, sorry if this is weird but I’ve been thinking about it a lot recently and um…” She worried her lip, looking down. Best to just spit it out. “Can I kiss you?” It was a quick squeak of a question she couldn’t believe she had actually voiced.
“Hn?” He sat up and turned to her, eyes open now.
“Only if you don’t mind!” she rushed out. “I kinda, I mean, it wouldn’t be my first kiss but it’s the first time I’ve wanted to initiate?”
Gavin shrugged. “Ok.”
“Ok? I- I mean on the lips, you know?”
He nodded with a half smirk tugging at his lips. “Yeah, I know. I’m cool with it.” Inside, he couldn’t be further away from merely ‘cool’ with it. They had been practically dating without the label in his eyes but he’d never wanted to make her uncomfortable. She never directly acknowledged their friends' teasing, though he'd voice his approval multiple times.
“Uh…ok,” Vitae sat back. "Now it feels awkward.”
He huffed with a little smile. “You’re overthinking it. This isn’t some big scene in one of your movies. Just do whatever you’re comfortable with. A peck, no tongue.”
“Tongue?!” She recoiled sharply, banging her elbow on the side of the truck. “Ow…”
He laughed, reaching out to rub her smarting joint. “You’re hopeless. Just know, you have my expressed consent to lay one on me whenever you feel like it. No biggie.”
“No biggie?” It had always seemed like such a huge deal, something deep and intimate between people who were super comfortable with each other, and he was being so nonchalant about it.
“It’s only an issue if you make it one.” He looked back at the sky, gaze trailing what was probably a satellite, if he remembered Vitae’s explanation correctly. “It doesn’t have to be this special, romantic thing. You like me, you wanna, I like you, I don’t mind.”
“Huh.” She sat back gently this time and leaned over against his shoulder, looking back up at the stars again. Even more were visible to her now, white dots speckling the dark blue like God flicking a thousand paintbrushes. She pushed her glasses up her nose. “Thanks for that.”
It felt weird to be thanked for what he considered common knowledge but nonetheless, “You’re welcome.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, rubbing her arm. “You really need to practice easing up on yourself.”
When Gavin looked down at Vitae again, she went for it. Popped up, pressed her lips against his for half a second then sat down. It happened so fast she would’ve questioned if she actually did it but for Gavin’s chuckle.
“You are so cute,” he said, eyes alight.” “Did that sate your curiosity?”
“No,” she admitted. “I wanna do it again.”
He pulled her up to sit on his lap, a familiar position for them but a new angle. “Try again. Take your time. I’m not gonna explode.” At her look he tacked on, "and neither will you.”
That got a smile out of her. “Ok, geez. I’m new at this.”
“You’re thinking again,” he chided her, pressing a kiss to her fluffy hair. “Just do it.”
She did, holding it a little longer. She yanked back in surprise when she felt his lips move.
“Sorry, sorry,” he grinned. “It came naturally. My bad.”
“I… didn’t mind,” she said slowly, equal parts assuring him and realizing herself, “I was surprised. But... I liked it. It felt… nice. I’d like to do it more often.”
“Glad to know I don’t turn you off.”
“Gavin!”
“I’m just saying. It would kinda suck to have you kiss me and then be repulsed at me kissing back.”
“Well,... I’m glad I’m not, either.” She looked up at the sky again. Thin gray clouds were drifting by now, making a quick trek across their little piece of the galaxy. “Is there such a thing as too much kissing? For you, I mean.”
Gavin raised an eyebrow. She liked it that much? Lucky him. “From you? I highly doubt it. If there is, you’ll probably take a while to even brush it with these tiny hands.” He laced their fingers and brought them to his lips.
Vitae grins. “Just as long as you don’t get annoyed at me doing my darndest to get there.” She kissed the corner of his mouth.
He smiled, pursing his lips in chase as she pulled away again. “Am I allowed to kiss you, too, or is this a one-way street?”
“Well, that wouldn’t be fair…”
“Is consent implied or should I ask every time?”
She made a face at him, which he returned. She sighed. “Dubious as this may be, I trust your judgement.”
“I am both flattered and insulted.”
“You’re welcome.”
They looked back up at the stars, quiet, her head on his shoulder, his hand in her hair. They would probably need to have that talk sooner rather than later, but for now, with only the stars to witness, this was ok.