Never Been Kissed

Don't Forget About Me, Babe!

"I'll seeya later, babe," he whispered in the doorway, as if I couldn't hear them.

"Okay, call me tonight at seven," she requested, placing her hand on his chest. "And, don't forget."

"I won't," he answered, kissing her as she walked away and closing the door promptly.

"Don't forget about me, babe!" I joked, throwing my head back and placing a hand on my forehead as I mocked her from the couch.

He laughed, walking over and throwing a pillow at my head. "Ha ha, hilarious."

"Well, you laughed so-"

"Okay, yea, it was actually funny," he interrupted, turning down the volume on the stand-up radio before sitting down on the other side of the couch. "What've you been up to?"

"I was drawing until you got home, but nothing all that exciting happens around here when Mom's at work like she has been all day today," I explained.

"When's she get back?"

"Probably not until after midnight," I said. "But don't worry, you can use our phone to call your beloved at seven."

He snickered and playfully pushed my shoulder. "Jokester today, huh?"

"What can I say? You're giving me a hell of a lot of opportunities," I smiled, putting my sketchbook, pencils and erasers on the coffee table sot hat I might sit more comfortably on the couch. "Other than that phone call at seven, what're your plans for today?" I wondered, getting up to turn the radio off entirely this go around.

"I've got nothing," he shrugged. "Thought I'd spend it with you, though."

I blushed and immediately wished I hadn't. "How'd Dolores take to that notion?"

"Meh, I guess she wasn't too keen on it, but a promise is a promise," he told me. "She'll get over it."

"Well, based on how much of a good time she seems to be having with y-"

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?" he chuckled.

"She just sounds like she's having a lot of fun when you're in - I mean with - her," I made a face.

His mouth dropped and he shoved me. "What? We can't have fun?" he laughed.

"I'm just messing with you, you know."

"I know, I know," he looked down. "But, now that I think about it, I don't ever recall any dames having fun with you anytime recently."

"More like anytime, ever," I mumbled to myself.

"Huh?"

I waited and sat there and looked at him and said nothing. I couldn't think of what I wanted to say, nevermind actually tell my brain to say it and have the words come out correctly.

"I- uh... I gotta tell someone eventually, I guess," I blurted out. "Might as well be you."

"Tell someone what?"

"If I tell you, you can never tell anyone," I detailed. "Swear?"

"On my heart," he promised with his right hand up, immediately extending it towards me afterwards so we'd shake on it, which, we did.

"I'm really embarrassed about this, too," I started. "So, don't make fun of me... I, uh... I've never actually had my first kiss."

He said nothing.

"Ugh, god, I knew it was bad," I covered my face in my hands and wished it all to go away.

"No, Steve," he moved my hands away with his and, when we touched, I felt something... strange.

I looked up at him with a bit of a shocked expression at that feeling. "What?"

"I, uh," he stuttered, pulling his hand away like the devil, obviously having felt it, too. "No, look, Steve... it's okay."

"It's not," I came back. "That damned dance is right before Christmas and that's only a few weeks away. We've been waiting for months to go and, well, you've got Dolores. I don't have anyone."

"But you'll find someone there," he went on. "That's always been the plan."

"And you keep saying that, but who wants to dance with the short, scrawny, sickly kid? Especially when he's never been kissed and has zero idea what he's doing?"

He waited and thought about it. "That's a good point, Steve, I'll admit it... but there's a real simple solution."

"Don't you dare tell me to just kiss anyone, it's easy, okay?"

"No, no, I was gonna say I'll help you," he offered.

I felt my face inexplicably flush red again. "You what?"

He chuckled. "I mean, just because you've never kissed any dames before doesn't mean you can't still know what you're doing."

"Well, I don't see how that's possible unle-"

"And that's what I'm here for," he pointed at himself proudly. "I'll just verbally guide you. Explain to you the ins and outs of it all so you're less stressed out about it and a lot less nervous in the moment."'

"You'd do that?"

"Of course," he smiled. "You know I've got your back, right?"

I nodded. "Thanks, Buck."

"No problem," he replied. "Shouldn't be too bad anyway, you'll see."

"So," I began. "When do we start?"

"How's tomorrow?"