Bill walked his bike home, soaking wet from a pit stop at the quarry with his friends.
"I'm in deep shit." He thought.
It was more like he knew, it was already 9:47pm, as it said on his watch, and he was supposed to be home at 9pm. Bills parents always got mad if he was even 5 minutes late.
"Bill!" He heard someone whisper.
He turned his head to the familiar voice as he was about to walk into his driveway.
"Stan?" He said trying to hide a smile.
Stan sometimes came to Bills bedroom window at this time of night when he needed to get out of his own head.
"Bill, I know you have to get inside, but I don't really have to be home til later. Do you, um, mind if I come up for a while?" Stan asked hopefully.
"I guess so. But be quiet upstairs while I get yelled at, okay?" Bill replied.
Stan laughed a bit, nodded and headed for the fence he was oh-so familiar with climbing to reach Bills window. Bill braced himself for the storm coming as he walked through the door. What he was surprised to see was his mom sleeping on the couch. He headed upstairs as quiet as possible and walked past his snoring dad's room. He heard a thud and walked faster to his room.
"Nice working, ninja." Bill grinned.
"You got up fast," Stan wondered. "Weren't your parents mad?"
The two sat on Bills bed. Bill admired Stans beauty for a moment. He loved how his curls flowed over his forehead, the way his brown eyes still sparkled in the darkly lit room, and most of all, his beautiful smile that only Bill seemed to find absolutely mesmerizing.
"Bill? Biiiiiiiiill?" Stan shook his friend out of his trance. "Are you okay?"
Bill also admired how much Stan cared about his friends.
"I'm okay, yeah. Uh, my parents were actually sleeping and they didn't hear me. Don't worry, I'm home free." Bill smiled brightly.
"Wow." Stan whispered to himself, also admiring Bill.
"Hmm?" Bill inquired.
"It's nothing. I just..." Stan trailed off, but suddenly felt a wave of confidence. "Your smile is pretty." Stan blurted out, but softly.
He immediately regretted it, though, and covered his mouth with his hand.
You see, these two boys have been friends since they were about eight and now, Bill is 15 and Stan is 14. The first time Stan regarded Bill, he liked him. It took Bill few more years than Stan to develop those kinds of feelings. Now, both were scared that the other didn't like them back, so no one had ever said anything of the topic. Neither one wanted to ruin a friendship.
"What?" Bill had heard what Stan said.
He was surprised, but definitely not disappointed. He scooted closer to Stan, hoping to give him an indicator that what he said didn't make Bill uncomfortable.
"I-" Stan hesitated. "I said your smile is absolutely gorgeous. But... I'm gonna keep talking now because honestly there's no going back after this so and you're kind and caring and I love it and your eyes, smile and just everything is so pretty. I don't know if you feel the same way and I'm terrified that you're going to shut me down but right now I really don't care because holy shit I really really like you and I have been keeping that for I don't know how many years so, if you please, let me down easy, okay?" Stan finally took a deep breath.
After Bill didn't reply for a good 30 seconds and the two were staring at each other waiting for the other to say something. Stan gave up and sadly headed for the window. Bills knee was bouncing crazily before he breathed out and stood up. As Stan was about to open the window he heard footsteps coming up behind him and turned around. His heart sped up. It felt like it would burst or completely fall out of his chest. Stan's eyes widened with the intense anticipation, having a very good idea of what the other boy in the room was about to do. Both were shocked as their lips connected.
For both of them, it was their first kiss. Neither of them knew what to do but no one cared what the other did. It was a short kiss. They pulled away after a few seconds and examined each others faces, looking for signs of happiness, fear, delightedness, something. Anything.
"As you might be able to tell, I like you too." Bill said and smiled at Stan.
Stan was still shook.
"I'm- uh, I'm sorry, was that wrong to do? Sorry, I just thought that-"
Stan gently pulled him in for another kiss.
"Do we tell anyone?" Stan asked after the second kiss. Bill thought for a moment then said,
"Maybe our friends? Not our parents. Unless you really want to, but uh, I don't. I know they wouldn't like me if I told them."
"Oh shit," Stan realized something. "What are my parents going to think? If they ever find out, they'll- they'll hate me!" Stan looked very distressed.
"I can't... promise you that they'll accept this. But I mean, I don't hate you..." Bill awkwardly smiled. "So I guess all I can really do is hope that that's good enough." Bill tried comforting.
"You are enough for me and are more that what I deserve." Stan returned the grin.
Before Stan realized he had to leave, they ended their moment with a final embrace. That night, both boys laid in bed smiling and replaying that one first kiss in their brains. Over and over and over...
