"What are you up to?" my cousin, Hunter, asks on the other end of the video call, and something about him seems to be really off. He is a bit red in the face, the colour gradually increasing the longer we're talking.

"Cleaning a shell for Kira."

"Is that code for something weird?" he asks, and I wonder if I am in the habit of speaking in code while meaning weird things because Kira is always asking me the same thing. When I want to say weird things, I just say them. Hunt should know all about that; he is always saying weird things, after all. Seriously, this guy cannot ask other people if they're being weird... that is just... well... weird! It would be like me asking other people if they're trying to be a pest... Actually, he cannot ask that either...

"No." I hold the shell closer to the phone, propped against the sugar bowl on the kitchen table for Hunter to get a look. I made the coffee and started to clean the shell while I'm waiting for Kira when Hunter called. He often calls just to check in and see if we're all still alive and doing well, and if he doesn't call me, I call him. 

Since he finally stopped trying to hide from all of us, as if he has something to feel guilty about (he doesn't), he has become really big on looking out for the family. I can see that the restored relationships mean a lot to my dad too. These last couple of years, our family ties with the Drakes have strengthened until they became solid again. We had a few sketchy years after Aunt Misty died, during which my dad and Uncle Ryan tried to keep the family together, but that is all behind us now.

"Okay," he grunts. "You're really cleaning a shell; that's just sad."

"It's for Aunt Trudy's collection," I chuckle. "The one in the sectioned frame I built that's hanging in their living room."

"Oh! Right!" Hunter groans, and I think he is turning purple; he is beginning to struggle to speak properly. "That's really... cool. It's a... nice... shell."

"What the hell are you doing?" 

"Studying," comes the huffed answer, and I don't mean the kind of huff one makes when you're angry or irritated; it's the kind where you're straining yourself. 

Oh, hell no!

"Please tell me you're not calling me from the toilet again!"

"What?!" Hunter barks, and then he's laughing, his world exploding into chaos. There's a crash and some commotion, during which I lose all visual contact with him, and I find myself looking into pitch black. Just when I'm about to get worried that the dude has finally wiped himself out, the screen of my phone gains light again and shows me Hunter's ceiling, the floor, his bed covered in books and clothes and finally, there is my cousin, his dark hair a mess and his brown eyes laughing at me even more than his mouth is. "No! That was you!"

"Oh! Right..." For the record, when I called him from the bathroom, I was taking a bath. That's all.

"I was standing on my head, trying to get this stuff to get stuck in my brain," he says, showing me a thick-ass textbook. "It's a bit hard to read in that position. I think I should get Missy to come read it to me."

Wow, Hunter always has the best ideas when it comes to doing boring things like studying. He always makes everything fun. Now that he's a second-year university student, his ideas are becoming more and more advanced. I'm impressed... maybe I should rather be worried... or both.

"Does it work?" I ask hopefully.

"No," he scowls, rubbing his head. "It gave me a headache."

"Bummer, I was going to give it a shot." So much for advanced study methods.

"So, you're finally dating Kira now?" Hunter grins, looking really pleased. He knows how badly I wanted this to happen. "How's that going?"

"Yeah." I'm grinning too now, still not quite able to believe that I somehow managed it. "So far, so good."

I told Hunter the whole story last night, and he laughed himself into another dimension, then came back and congratulated me, calling me a genius... and he meant it.

"I hope you're bringing her with you when you come for the holidays."

"For sure! I'm not letting her out of my sight."

We chat for a while about our parents, school, and rugby, making outlandish plans for the holiday we'll never be able to pull off in real life, but don't care, and then Hunter has to hang up because he is under attack from a few toddlers, one of whom has a dirty nappy, and I think there are a couple of animals in the mix too. The guy is always covered in kids and animals!

A couple of years ago, when he was still hiding from everything and everybody, he visited us with his parents but spent most of his time drawing somewhere where nobody could find him. The poor guy was going through hell. He was a lot more relaxed when Delia and I went to visit him in Briar Cove, and hanging out with him and his friends was always fun. I guess he felt more at ease when they were around. Besides, he was carrying a lot of misplaced guilt towards my dad and grandmother; it was them he was hiding from.

One day, I came across him and Kira near the stream in Scarlet Park, and I was just boiling in jealousy because I thought they were having a moment. He was just taking care of her after she did one of those crazy things where she set off after some critter or another, not caring where it was taking her and ended up falling from a tree.

She was fortunate that he was around to save her. He'd been sitting on the flat-topped boulder protruding over the stream, where I often go to think, and his art materials ended up in the water when he threw himself from the boulder to break her fall when he heard the branch she was on break near him and saw her falling out of the tree.

Kira felt horrible about him losing his sketches in the creek, but he just shrugged it off with a grin and never mentioned his sketchpad, pencils and lost art again, and I know they were important to him. He simply took what Deli gave him and started all over. Since that day, Kira has worshipped the guy, but he knows she's mine... besides, he has a girlfriend of his own now, and I'm relieved and happy for him.

I'm still chuckling, thinking about him sitting on the floor, trying to hold onto his phone while under munchkin attack, wondering if my cousin is going to survive, when Kira enters the kitchen dressed in an oversized red Stormtrooper t-shirt, solving at least one mystery today.

I've been looking for that shirt!

I lower the old shell-cleaning toothbrush we store under the sink when she joins me at the table. What the hell?! She brought her entire office with her. Laptop, notepads and coloured pens. Kicks is going big, or she's going home! I wonder if there'll be an exam on this later. I like Hunter's idea of reading while standing on my head a lot more than I like what I'm seeing being loaded onto the tabletop.

"Isn't that my T-shirt?"

"Isn't that my bracelet?" Kira echoes my question, pointing at the beads around my wrist, making me regret being so judgmental.

"Kicks, you can have any of my clothes you want," I chuckle, picking up the shell and holding it up to distract her. "It's pretty clean," I grin. "Nothing growing in or on it. I've given it a brush, and I'll cover it in toothpaste and let it rest for a few hours, then soak it. Should be good enough."

I'm really relieved that this one didn't have bits of dead tissue stuck on or inside it because that is just gross, and sometimes when we boil them to get rid of those, they break. Also, it then takes so long before the shell is ready for display because we have to soak it for a couple of days, regularly changing the water, before we can start to brush it. But when it's clean like this one, it's much faster; by tonight, Uncle Joe can rub it with mineral oil or paint it with clear nail polish to bring out its colours and put it in its place. We always leave that part to him.

"Awesome!" she smiles, sitting down at a right angle to me and putting her laptop in place, ready to get to work, and something inside me dies a little bit.

"Are we seriously going to do homework now?" I grumble, really not enjoying the pile of stationery she brought with her. Kicks rolls her eyes with a derisive snort, clearly not going to put up with any BS from me, and I push the shell aside for now.

I need coffee!

While Kira gets ready to torture me with stationery, I fix two steaming mugs of coffee, and after putting them on the table, I fetch the biscuit tin from the cupboard and sit down on my chair again. I'm going to need all the moral support I can get. Biscuits make me happy, especially these with the peanuts and chocolate chips in them.

"It's not going to be that bad," Kira says, nudging a notebook towards me. "You can write your list in the notepad, and I'll type and print mine, and then we can put them up in our rooms." 

I pick up a pen and open the notepad she wants me to use, but I'm confused. What am I supposed to write?

"Are we making to-do lists for each other?"

"I... don't know... maybe..." Kira is biting her lip, tapping her fingertips on the side of her laptop. Clearly, she has no idea, either, which makes me feel a little bit better. "We could start with things we expect from our ideal partner... as a basis... maybe..."

Now, she's talking!

"So, you want me to make a list of things I want you to do as my girlfriend?" I grin. Fantasy list loading! Oh, yeah!

"Yes... I think so." Does she know what she's saying? She watches my smile grow, her expression increasing in suspicion. "Nothing pornographic, perverse or gross," she says, and all my fantasies explode like fireworks and dissipate into the atmosphere. I'm depressed now.

"Well, there goes my list," I sigh, and dropping the pen on the opened notepad, I grab a biscuit from the tin instead. I dunk and eat three biscuits while Kira glares at me, narrowing her eyes.

"Ethan..." she says, but when I just grin at her, happily eating the biscuits she baked with my mom and Deli, she decides to leave me in peace and sip her coffee instead.

Fine, I'll make an effort. I said I was going to do this, and I will... but... ugh... Picking up the pen, I get ready to write on the white page glaring at me from the notepad. I glare back, of course; if it's a staring contest the thing wants, I'll give it one. 

What the hell am I supposed to write?

Everything I want to list falls into the forbidden categories, and she already said stupid things about no kissing, so what's left? No, this is not going to work. I drop the pen again, push the notepad out of my way and drag Kira's laptop over to use it instead.

"What are you doing?" she wants to know, sounding alarmed while I boot it up, and once I'm in, I open Excel. 

"Ethan, if you're surfing nasty sites again, I'm beating you up!"

"Are you gonna fudge me up?" I chuckle, and hastily swallowing her sip of coffee, she tries to glare at me, but Kicks has never had a problem with laughing at herself when she realises that something she said or did was funny, and now is no exception.

"I have an idea," I announce, a little insulted when Kira groans in response. "No, seriously, you'll like this idea because I stole it from you."

"I like it already..."

"Remember earlier this year when the guys and I were told to organise the debate night?" 

Dumbest idea ever! 

It was supposed to be our punishment for having a slight... uhm... mishap while we were painting the chalk lines on the rugby field for the upcoming athletics meet. It was really unfair, but Principal Blake and Mr. Samuels have a thing for cruel and unusual punishment. Just the word "debate" gives me diarrhoea. 

So some chalk got scattered around on the rugby field... and there were a couple of easy-to-repair ruts... Come on! It was chalk, not friggin' lead paint!

It wouldn't have happened if Jet didn't goad Lurch into ramming him with his chalk marker by informing him that now that his sister is in 10th grade, he feels it's his duty to introduce her to the joys of being sixteen. I didn't get why that worked; everybody knows that Jet would never touch any of Lurch's six million sisters and cousins; they're decent girls. Jet doesn't often get mixed up with decent girls. This is why I know he really likes Kira because he wasn't just bored and trying to distract himself with some light brawling when he told me he wanted to ask her out.

Lurch should've known better and just laughed it off, but he was bored too, so... he rammed Jet's chalk marker, and then I obviously had to save Lurch from Jet... and Barn then had to save Jet from me, and... 

My point is, whose dumb idea was it to give the four of us chalk-filled metal buckets on wheels and tell us to run around the rugby field with them? In what alternative reality could that possibly have ended well?!

They probably forgot that Burlap was at home with no voice and snot coming from his ears. There was a nasty flu strain going around, and we all had our turn. Everybody knows that Burlap is the only one in our group with common sense! He wasn't there to save us from ourselves as usual... unless what we're doing is really fun and he wants in too. He has a strong streak of idiot himself; he just hides it a lot better than we do.

We obviously never told anybody what really happened; the official story is that one of us got chased by a bee, and then... do the math...

We had chalk everywhere! That dust gets into grooves, and holes way worse than sand does. I swear, I still, months later, fart out chalk clouds every now and then.

We had to clean up the mess, fix the lawn and re-do the lines with Mr. Samuels glaring at us the entire time. That was fair, but then he told us to plan the stage set up, clean the auditorium, arrange refreshments, and do the programs for the debate. We even had to direct people to their seats and help with actually running the event. Yes! We had to attend the whole friggin' debate night. I swear, for a minute, I thought we were going to be forced to take part in it too!

Well, I had a speech ready, and it was going to be a doozy! 

To say that my dad was unhappy is a massive understatement, so I figured it best to just not be at my house for a while. We needed a place where we could concoct some kind of boring plan, and the Crofts' house was the obvious place because that's where Kira was.

She always knows how to make the best snacks if we bring her the right stuff for it, and I knew she would take pity on us and help us... if we irritated her enough. She's a really kind girl. Burlap was too sick to help, and Delia was floating on some cloud somewhere with Simon. They'd just started dating. Besides, Kicks is really good at organizing things that aren't supposed to be fun.

Oh, shit, she probably shouldn't take part in this project, then, because I'm planning for this dating thing to be loads of fun!

"You saved our butts that day," I smile at her, remembering how great it was to hang out with her and my friends. Kira didn't feel intimidated or overwhelmed once she was sitting in front of her laptop with an Excel sheet on her screen. Who knew that a spreadsheet could double as a security blanket?

"You brought your laptop and started one list, and we assigned tasks," I tell her, using a finger to type a cool heading. I pause and give her a look, hoping she realises that I will not let her get away with it today. "You also shot down all our fun ideas... but I won't let you do that this time."

"Ethy, fireworks in the school auditorium is not a fun idea, and neither are live bands and strippers at a high school debate night."

Oh, right! We were trying to be creative, and it took a turn...

"Yeah, but debate night is super boring," I remind her because I'm not sure she remembers. "People just talk and talk and talk, and when I fall asleep in my seat, you poke me awake, saying I'm drooling on your shoulder. My dad keeps on telling me to sit still, and my mom eventually runs out of snacks to feed me.

"I only go there to hear Delia, and when she's finally had her turn, the drones guarding the doors won't let me out, even when I say I need to use the bathroom... unless I demonstrate my willingness to pee against the door... That worked pretty well."

That's a fond memory, but the ushers totally spoiled my fun because I just planted myself in front of the closed door and started to undo my belt and whoosh, open went the door. I've never had another chance to try it because these days, they open the door the second I get out of my seat and walk towards it.

No! I won't really... well... who knows?

"So, what's your plan?" Kira asks, giggling at the memory.

"I'm going to make a spreadsheet and assign tasks," I explain. "Some will be for both of us, some for you and some for me."

"Go on." Awesome, I think Kicks is impressed by how organized I am right now. I'm channelling my inner admin clerk, and this time it is not getting distracted by soda spilling over the keyboard. Now, if only I could type. Where is the C hiding?

I hate keyboards; they make no sense. I wonder if I can install a virtual keyboard and plug a gaming controller into the laptop or just use the arrow keys. That makes so much more sense than this stupid typing thing.

"How about I type?" Kira suggests when I growl, looking for the backspace button again, and really happy to hear that, I push the laptop back to her.

"Good plan," I agree, watching her get ready to type. "So, first rule. Don't cheat." 

According to me, that is also the only rule we need. I would die if Kira cheated on me. I seriously don't think I would be able to handle her getting lovey-dovey with another guy ever, but it will be so much worse if that happens while she's dating me. Not that cheating is Kira's style. I shouldn't be so insecure; I don't need rule one. 

Kira will never betray me.

"The first rule was; no kissing," Kira corrects me. "The second was; no cheat-"

"There's not a no-kissing rule!" I freak out hearing horrible words like that coming from her and lose half my biscuit in my mug of coffee. "It was a sub-rule of the cheating one. No kissing other people," I tell her, using a teaspoon to dig cookie bits out of my coffee. Now I have cookie porridge! The texture is gross, but the taste is awesome.

Kira is frowning, staring at the spreadsheet I started as if she cannot make head or tail of it. It's not that complicated; I only gave it a nice concise heading. Dating 101. Very clever! I'm being tutored in the subject of dating, after all.

"I'm lost," she finally sighs. "Are we making a list of rules, tasks or goals?"

"Uhm..." I press my lips together, thinking about it. I think I'll go for goals; I don't like rules. I release my lips, blowing out the air I kept trapped in my lungs and grab a fresh biscuit to dunk in my coffee. Don't murder, rape or steal. Those are the only kind of rules I care about because they protect decent people from savages. 

Don't eat in class. What the hell is that all about? I can concentrate and pay attention so much better if I'm chewing on something yummy and my stomach isn't trying to eat itself. The teachers at school no longer throw stuff like erasers at me when I'm not acting like a statue; they now chuck toffees at me because I've trained them to see that I cannot interrupt them if I'm chewing on a good, sticky toffee.

"Goals," I say with conviction. "Like in my idea of an ideal relationship, there will be complete trust in each other. I guess in yours too, right?"

I knew she would feel the same way but still become warm all over when she nods her head.

"I'm talking about the kind of trust where I can see you walking down the street with some guy, giggling together, and I'll know that you are just trying to con him out of his milk money or something; there's nothing romantic going on between you." 

I hate it in movies when the couple constantly goes on and on about how they love and trust each other, but then their relationship falls apart the first time one of them picks up a fallen pen and hands it to the owner with a smile. Sure, jealousy is always a thing, but what happened to giving each other the benefit of the doubt?

Seriously! Where's the trust?

"Yeah, I do that all the time," Kira says flatly, making me laugh. She is looking at me with rapt attention, though, and I know she is taking this as seriously as I am.

"How do we get trust?" I ask, grinning when I realise that I'm sounding like our Physics teacher. "Don't cheat, don't lie, and have each other's back... always."

"Great! That could work." For a second, I think she's sarcastic, but then I see the sparkle in her eyes and with a gentle smile tugging at her lips, she finally starts typing.

Don't lie... 

My words hang around in my head, pulling faces at me, and I flip them a finger. I'm not lying to Kira. I really want to be a better version of myself and the best boyfriend ever. Her best boyfriend ever... the car is just... uhm... Yeah. Grandpa wouldn't give it to me if I weren't a decent upstanding citizen, so... Ugh! Shut up!

We easily agree on the tasks to build trust. It's a no-brainer; besides, Kicks and I already trust each other pretty well. She trusts me to turn the kitchen table into a disaster zone when I get up and find things in the refrigerator and try to make a sandwich, and I trust her to take over and create a magical sandwich that has me groaning happily while she types away on her keyboard.

"Okay, I think that's about it for trust," she says, smiling at me where I'm enjoying the sandwich she made me. "Can you think of anything else to add?"

"Nope," I swallow the last bite of the bread, take a sip of my mug of coffee and return her smile. "Natural closenes."

"What?" she exclaims, looking startled.

"Our next goal."

"I don't think so!"

"Seriously! We're dating Kira!" I cannot believe that I need to remind her of that. "I'm talking about stuff like holding hands while we're walking, doing fun things together, giving each other hello, goodbye and good luck kisses."

"No way! That's too weird!"

"It's not weird, Kicks!" Now I'm the one panicking here. I don't want my girlfriend to think being close to me is weird. "It's natural for couples to do those things."

"We're not a natural couple." Why doesn't she just stab me with the knife she used to butter my bread? "I'm fine with holding hands. It's weird, but I can handle it. What do you even mean by fun things?!"

"We had fun at the waterfall, we're having fun now, and we'll have fun having a photoshoot with mud tomorrow." Kira is frowning at me; which of these things is not fun, according to her?

"We're not covering each other with mud and taking pictures."

"We'll see..." I laugh, shrugging, and picking up my mug, I drink the last of the coffee in it. I'm going to have to switch to lemonade soon.

"No, we won't."

I chuckle and give her a wink. I'm not going to make promises I couldn't possibly keep; besides, this is Kira; she's the one who is going to start the mud covering. She's always plastering me with dirt; she cannot help herself. I wonder if she even realises it.

"I'll hold your hand," she finally sighs. "And I'll do fun things within reason, but I'm seriously not going to do any kissing. I mean it!"

"Kicks..."

"No, Ethan, that's too strange."

I know when not to push her, and seeing the panic on her face is not feeling that great. Sighing, I get to my feet, open the cupboard under the sink and grab the toothpaste we keep there for the shell cleaning. I'm really disappointed, but I'm sure we'll eventually get past this miserable hurdle. Isn't kissing one of the best and fastest ways for a couple to really bond and fall in love? 

It's alright. Baby steps. I'm really happy that she agreed to hold hands and have fun with me. Kira doesn't have to kiss me if she doesn't want to. If Deli, Burlap and my mom are right, and she does actually have romantic feelings for me, the kissing will happen naturally at some point. I have patience.

I carefully plaster the shell with toothpaste, and it takes me a while to realise that Kira is not typing anymore; she is just quietly gazing at me, looking slightly anxious. Surely, she doesn't think that I won't take no for an answer when it comes to these things?! She knows me better than that!

"Kicks," I smile, setting the shell aside to rest until Kira soaks it later. "I'll never try to force stuff on you you're really not cool with. The holding hands thing is already pushing it, I know."

I see her face relax, a tentative smile touching her sweet lips, and this must be the six millionth wave of undiluted love that hits me today, threatening to drown me in its depth.

"How about hugs?" I ask hoarsely, trying to look casual, but my heart has skipped enough beats to stall my blood flow and cause gangrene of the head.

"I'm an awesome hug-giver," I remind her. "You've hugged me before. You didn't hate it. Hugs are comforting and safe, remember?"

"I'll think about it..." Her face is softening even more, and I know she's thinking about all the times I've held her when she was terrified of an electrical storm or crying because she missed her mother, who died due to one of those storms.

She doesn't have to agree to the whole hugging thing, either. I know that hugs will come naturally to us; it has in the past and will do so even more now that she's my girlfriend. Besides, my reasons for dating Kira are not purely physical. I want her heart. She already has mine.

We drink loads of coffee and many glasses of lemonade while I kindly clear the leftovers from the Crofts' refrigerator into my stomach. When I'm finally so full, I might not even have enough space for the snacks I'm going to buy on my way to Burlap, Kicks and I have an impressive spreadsheet with goals and ways to achieve them.

Our goals are complete trust, natural closeness and mutual respect. I think Kira came up with number three to ensure that number two doesn't get out of hand. We also have on the list: making out as often as possible, getting married when we finish university, giving our parents an entire tribe of grandchildren, and growing old and retiring together with our great-grandkids playing at our feet... 

Okay, fine... the last four are only known to me... for now...

I'm happy and even better, Kira looks happy, and this wasn't torture at all... except in the way that seeing her eyes shine and hearing her giggle messes with my heart, my gut and a few other organs.

I start cleaning up the kitchen while Kira goes to the study to print out our lists. She's going to paste hers inside her closet door the way she always does when she has important tasks to take care of and wants a regular reminder without seeing it all the time and growing too used to it to keep on seeing it.

I'll put mine in my old treasure chest filled with Kira memories. It really looks like a treasure chest, and it's pretty old. Deli found it for me during one of her jumble sale expeditions. There are so many valuable memories in there. The scrunchy I took from Kira's hair yesterday. The empty box of the Smarties Kicks threw at me when I was making fun of her for getting less than me in a test on the subject that is her domain, biology (I ate the Smarties, obviously). Our tests are in there too. 

The broken skateboard truck from when I was 11. I jumped off my board, letting it crash into some rocks in my hurry to get to Kira, when I saw her fall with her bicycle. When I got to her and pulled her into my arms, she held onto me, said, "ouch," and started giggling, gazing up into my eyes with tears streaming down her cheeks. My heart nearly exploded. The cool Star Wars socks she gave me for my tenth birthday are in there as well. The list goes on and on.

When it's raining, or I'm feeling melancholic, I unpack that chest or one of my general memory ones and take out the items, lying on my bed while I look at them, thinking about the incidents and events they represent. I swear, it's better than watching a movie.

"Thanks, Ethy; I feel a lot better about this now that I have a clear strategy," Kira says, entering the kitchen and handing me my copy of the sheet. She is the only person in the world who calls me Ethy, and I love it. It reminds me of when she was small and struggled with a lisp because her front teeth were missing. Even when the new ones finally came in, she still struggled to say an S for quite some time. I know "Ethy" doesn't have an S in it, but Kira doesn't lisp anymore; it's the closest I can get to that cute stage of hers.

"Sure," I smile, folding the sheet into a small square and shoving it into the pocket of my dry swimming trunks. Kira wipes the table while I pack the picnic containers and the last of our dirty dishes into the dishwasher. I have to unpack a few things first because Kira or her dad just dumped things in there again. I have a system that ensures the optimal flow of the water to get every single dish and spoon completely clean. When they pack it, many things have to go back inside for a second wash or into the sink to be cleaned.

"Okay, see you later," I say when I've turned on the washer and am getting ready to leave for my play date with Burlap. I head for the door since hugging and kissing are out, and I really don't know what to do now except leave, get my bike, buy snacks, and go to Burlap. My hand stills on the knob of the kitchen door when I pull it open and hear Kira speak behind me.

"Three seconds," she says, and I have no idea what she means. I turn to frown at her. Does she want me to wait three seconds? For? I watch her walk to me, her cheeks flushing with colour. Why is she suddenly looking so nervous now? She stops when she reaches me and looks up into my eyes, her eyelashes fluttering lightly as she smiles a heart-stopping shy smile. "Three seconds and no tongue or weird stuff. Just-."

Understanding bursts into my brain the second I hear the word tongue, and I hurry to obey, afraid that she will change her mind in the middle of her sentence. Three seconds? How am I supposed to count or register time when every nerve ending in my entire body is vibrating loudly, and bliss is spreading from my lips outwards, drowning my thoughts in a swirl of sensation and emotions I've never felt before?

How many years have I wanted to kiss Kira Croft? How often have I dreamt about this very moment? I think I'm keeping to her instructions; I'm not sure because I've forgotten what they were. All I'm able to do is move my lips in tentative, gentle caresses, tugging at that lower lip that has been driving me insane with its teasing pouts. I am dying here! Kira's lips are so soft... so sweet...

I'm kissing Kira! I'm really doing it! And it is even better than I thought it would be.

"Was that three seconds?" I gasp when I run out of oxygen and come up for air to find Kira's eyes large and dark, looking into mine. Her lips are trembling ever so slightly, and she seems to be as overwhelmed as I'm feeling. Is that a good sign?

"I have no idea..." she breathes.

♂♀