Crystal, Calum and Ashton were standing at the front door waving her parents goodbye with the sweetest smiles on their faces. They were going away for the weekend, and they'd told Crystal she could stay home by herself as long as she had some responsible friends over. Calum got the tick of approval because he was a family friend, and Ashton, well, even Crystal's parents, could tell he was a square.
As soon as they were out of sight, though, Crystal called out to the others, "you can come out now!" and Sierra, Luke and Michael appeared from behind the house. Sierra held a half-full bottle of vodka, and Luke had a carton of beer on his shoulder.
"Alright, we have to start with some shots; I don't make the rules; I just enforce them," Crystal told them, a grin on her face.
The others all rolled their eyes at her but seemed happy enough to get in on the shots; Ashton, on the other hand, was a little apprehensive. Sipping a beer over an hour made him drunk enough, and the one shot he had taken had led him to get very forward with Calum.
Despite that, he followed the others into the kitchen. Luke put the carton of beer down on the counter and tore into it, starting to pack the fridge with beer, as Crystal and Sierra started to measure out shots for everyone in mismatched glasses from her parent's cabinet.
When they passed the shots around to everyone, Ashton gave his a troubled look before craning his neck to see into the glasses around him. His looked much bigger than everyone else's.
"Cal, can we swap? Mine is way bigger than yours; I can't handle this," he said, eyes still fixed on the cup in his hand.
Calum turned to answer, but Crystal interrupted, "No, no, don't try that, that's your shot, and you will take it; I need you nice and loose before we play spin the bottle," Crystal said, placing a hand on Calum's cup and pressing it back toward his chest.
Calum gave him a pitying look, then swallowed his shot quickly so he could follow Sierra and Luke, who were heading for the living room. Crystal raised an eyebrow at Ashton and gestured her eyes between him and the glass in his hand. He begrudgingly swallowed it down, gagging unattractively.
Crystal seemed satisfied and waved him to follow her, "c'mon,"
And he'd started to follow her but somewhere between then and going to the bathroom he'd noticed how quickly the alcohol had gone straight to his head. His complete lack of experience with alcohol didn't seem to occur to the others as he stood there thinking far too much about his legs and the fact that they just didn't feel quite as stable as they had half an hour earlier. And he was standing there a little confused about where he was supposed to go when a large hand made contact with the small of his back and led him the rest of the way through the hall and into the lounge room where the others were already sat on the floor in an unfinished circle.
"Crystal sent me looking for you," Calum's voice said lowly into his ear, "feeling a bit tipsy already?" he asked.
And Ashton tried to pry his mind away from the feeling of hot breath on his neck to respond, managing a nod. Calum seemed satisfied, leading them the rest of the way to the circle.
There was an empty beer bottle in the middle of the circle, and Ashton watched it confused as he clambered down to sit on Crystal's right side. Then Calum sat on his right, who was on Michael's left, who was on Luke's left, who was on Sierra's left, who was on Crystal's left. He was thinking about the word 'left' when Michael spoke.
"Okay, everyone's played before. We're all good to go?" he asked, giving the group a quick glance before recentering the bottle.
"Uh, I-" Ashton began.
"Of course, Ashton doesn't know how to play," Michael groaned, "you spin the bottle, whoever you land on you have to kiss if you don't kiss, you have to tell an embarrassing story," he said quickly, "oh, and you only get one embarrassing story,"
Ashton just nodded, taking a sip from the beer bottle Crystal was pushing into his hand. He knew he didn't need more alcohol, but he was already more than a bit worried about this game. He'd never kissed anyone before. He didn't want to admit that, though, Michael already seemed annoyed enough at him for not knowing the rules. And he supposed it mustn't be too bad, everyone else in the circle was in a relationship, and they were still up to snog other people; it had to be alright, didn't it? Maybe he'd understand when he'd had his first.
So he sat quietly praying to dear god that he wouldn't have to go first, and as Michael spun the bottle, his heart was in his throat, and then it landed on Sierra, and he let out a quiet sigh of relief.
The results of the spin caused Luke to roll his eyes, but he nodded, encouraging them nonetheless; the two leaned across the circle to make their lips meet; Luke and Crystal counted to five before they separated.
"Alright, Luke's turn," Crystal cheered excitedly, seemingly entirely unphased about watching her boyfriend kiss someone else.
He went back to eyeing the circle nervously as if there were a rule he didn't know about that was about to be dropped on him. The rest were casually sipping their beers, and he guessed a little more liquid courage couldn't hurt the experience.
Luke spun the bottle, and the same nervousness rose in him again; his eyes were fixed on the bottle, turning round and round until finally, it stopped right where he feared it most, on himself. Ashton looked up, and Luke gave him a wink, but he could see Crystal and Michael sharing a smirk while they thought he wasn't watching.
"C'mon, lay one on me, I know you wanna," Luke chuckled, swigging his beer quickly and then putting it to the side.
Ashton felt the usual tug in his stomach to do as he was told and nervously sat up on his knees and crawled toward the centre of the circle where Luke met him. He shyly looked up, meeting the taller boy's eyes. Luke gave him a warm grin. He let it fall, though and gave Ashton a smaller, much more private smile, and Ashton could tell Luke knew (maybe no to what extent) that this was a terrifying moment for him.
Luke placed his hand gently on the side of Ashton's face, his fingers only just making their way into his hair. Ashton's breath caught in his throat, Luke leant the rest of the way in, letting his lips gently brush against Ashton's at first, but as soon as Ashton pressed into him, a little, Luke took that as a sign to move his lips against the other boys. Ashton responded with his best guess of how kissing was supposed to go. Then Luke was licking into his mouth, and Ashton just let him because, why not? And then he was using his tongue in unison with Luke's until finally, he realised wow, he needed to stop. He pulled back, and Michael and Crystal were whooping.
"That was kind of hot," Sierra said lowly.
Crystal was starting to say something in agreement when Luke pulled Ashton in again and whispered in his ear, "That was pretty good for a first kiss," before he placed a sloppy kiss on the shorter boy's cheek.
Entirely red-faced, Ashton took his place in the circle, and Calum shifted uncomfortably next to him, he turned to look at the tan boy, but his eyes were fixed on Michael across the circle, who wasn't paying him any attention. So, Ashton looked back to the circle where Sierra was spinning the bottle, the previous kiss only having slightly quelled Ashton's nerves. He let out a grateful sigh when the bottle landed on Crystal; they shared what was honestly a pretty performative kiss for Michael and Luke, while Ashton and Calum tried to not look without looking like they weren't looking.
"Don't think I didn't hear that sigh, Ashton, I'm offended," Sierra chuckled as she took her place back between Luke and Crystal.
"Nothing personal, just ideally don't want to end up kissing all of you," Ashton said with a chuckle and a blush.
Everyone rolled their eyes, and the game kept on; Michael and Crystal made out until they were yelled at to stop. Then it was Ashton's turn; there was something less nerve-wracking about knowing you had to kiss someone no matter what. The bottle finally stopped on Crystal, his stomach sunk, Michael was going to kill him.
"Oh, go on, Ashton, kiss her, it's fine," Michael cheered; Ashton felt the tug forward, which made him realise that there wasn't really any way for Crystal to stop the commands without it seeming weird. He wasn't too worried about kissing all these people; he was glad his first kiss had been with Luke, though; he didn't know how but his intuition had been right again; maybe that was Luke's gift?
Crystal started off gentle, soft lips pressed against his own, seemingly timid and innocent until she stuck her tongue out and started to lick across his cheek, and Ashton dissolved into giggles. Everyone joined in as Ashton tried to push her off, but she was determined, not stopping until she accidentally kneed Ashton in the balls.
He let his eyes coast over Calum as he made his way back to his seat, and he was smiling it, but it was reserved. It made Ashton wonder whether he would be jealous if- well, more like when Calum had to kiss someone else. He guessed he'd have to get used to it if he really was going to end, whatever this was with Calum for good.
Which he supposed he was going to have to learn quickly, as Calum took the bottle in hand and that heart in his throat feeling resurfaced. The bottle landed on Luke, and the pair leaned across the circle and kissed; it was a much... kissier kiss than Crystal, and his own and Ashton felt something stir between his legs.
"Hot, right?" Crystal whispered in his ear; Ashton couldn't come up with anything to say, so he just gave a nod, not letting his eyes leave the two in the centre of the circle.
Ashton watched Calum take his seat back beside him with focused eyes; he could hear the sniggers from the group, even Sierra, who he'd thought would be better than the others.
Then it was Michael's turn again, he had to kiss Calum, which did not inspire the same enthusiasm in Ashton, and then Luke had to kiss Crystal. Sierra had to kiss Michael; Crystal got Calum. Naturally, she told an embarrassing story about vomiting in a subway, and then it was Ashton's turn again, and he got Michael, which was honestly probably his worst-case scenario.
"Just kiss him; I need wet dream material," Crystal giggled, swigging from her beer.
The same tug as always pulled him across the circle, and Michael confidently grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him straight up to his lips. He, just like Crystal, couldn't stay serious for long, though and moved his lips up, mouthing stupidly at his nose and across his cheeks, giggling, and Ashton started laughing too "stop it, Michael," laughing as he pushed Michael off of him.
Crystal sighed, "That was not satisfying enough; I liked Luke and Ashton's kiss more! Even Calum and Luke's was better; seriously, you just didn't bring it, babe."
Calum spun and got Luke again, which Ashton's virgin self-found just as arousing the second time around.
Then before Michael took his turn, he announced that this was going to be the last round. He got Luke; Luke got Sierra, Sierra got Ashton, where she only gave him a little peck on the lips, and Luke complained it wasn't a real kiss. Finally, Crystal got Luke, and it was Ashton's turn again. His final turn and his gut twisted.
It was like he'd known what was coming.
The bottle landed on Calum. Which he supposed he should want? But he didn't; he didn't want it like this, with eyes on them gauging their reactions. It was what everyone else wanted; he'd figured that out somewhere in the second round. Based on everyone's reactions, he could tell the game was to try and get reactions out of him and Calum at watching the other kiss someone else, and best-case scenario, they had to kiss. Obviously, Calum had told them that in all the close proximity the group had forced on them, leaving them alone- well, more like forcing them to be alone they'd never managed first base.
"Kiss him," Crystal said, the excitement clear in her voice; Ashton's heart nearly broke. She knew he'd have to do exactly what he was told, and he wanted to ask her why she didn't think he'd earned the choice?
"No," Ashton said, and the feeling in his stomach was gone, "I'll tell the embarrassing story," there was a hush around the room, not like when Crystal had told her story. The quiet wasn't for better listening but from shock. They listened uncomfortably as he told them, "when I was nine, a kid told me to steal puppets from our teacher's room, and I'd almost gotten away with it, but when I got caught, I had to act out an apology with the puppets, and it was fucking awful. Obviously, stuff that's happened this year was way more embarrassing, but you already know those stories," he said, laughing good-naturedly.
"You were a weird kid Ash," Luke chuckled, "alright Cal, your turn, then we can put on a movie or something," as everyone's attention turned to the other boy, Luke gave him a small reassuring smile then diverted his own eyes in Calum's direction.
Calum took the bottle and spun it one last time; the tension in the room was higher than it had been all evening. Or maybe it just felt that way to Ashton. But everyone knew that if Calum's bottle landed on Ashton, the entire moment before would have been for nothing. And Ashton was wondering would be able to just say no again? How the fuck had he managed that? He hadn't been on the brink of death or overwhelmed with emotion. He'd just been so sure, and it had come out like it was nothing. What the fuck did that mean.
Without meaning to everyone leaned in close as the bottle slowed, waiting with bated breath to see who it would land on. When the bottle stopped, everyone sort of paused for a moment, not sure what to do. It had started to lose momentum at Crystal and slowed even more in front of Ashton but had landed on Calum.
"Seriously? Spin again," Sierra declared quickly, breaking the informal silence they'd created.
So, Calum did as he was told, and the tension mounted all over again, the bottle landing this time on Sierra, who smiled and gave Calum a quick peck on the lips. And that was it the game was over.
"Alright... Movie time now!" Michael declared, and everyone awkwardly got up and dispersed.
Crystal was coming toward him, eyebrows raised, "did that really just happen? How upset were you about kissing him that that worked?" she said, her tone low. Still, her centre of gravity was off-kilter, and her shoulder bumped into him hard, and then they were giggling, fuck, how was it you got drunker when you stood up?
"I literally didn't even have to think about it, I knew I didn't want to kiss him in front of all of you, and then I just said no," he said, and as he finished the sentence, he realised they were very close, both leaning one another for support.
His eyes wandered as Crystal started to talk, and he followed Calum with them, watching as he slid the backdoor open and walked just out of sight, "I gotta go," he told her quickly, not bothering saying more as he followed Calum out the door.
As soon as he stepped outside, he noticed the rain; when had that started? And he looked around, hoping Calum hadn't walked out in it. He wasn't, he was sitting on the top of an air conditioner unit that was screwed to the cement verandah, and he looked up at the sound of Ashton approaching.
"wasn't sure if you'd care if I left,"
Ashton rolled his eyes, "don't be so dramatic, out here in the rain brooding," Ashton chuckled, moving so he was standing in front of Calum, little bits of rain being swept in under the awning and speckling his back, cold and fresh.
They felt good, everything felt good actually, and he wasn't sure whether it was the alcohol or the giddy high from being able to be disobedient.
"I'm not in the rain," Calum said simply, gesturing to the awning they were under, "and- I'm not being dramatic, I thought we had something, I thought after the ice rink you wouldn't hold me at arm's length. Then tonight you kissed everyone but me, how am I supposed to feel?" he asked sighing.
"I do- I mean we have something, it's just, that well when I kissed Luke that was my first kiss, ever and, well it was in front of everyone, and that's fine, I'm glad, but I wanted our first kiss to just be us," he told him honestly because that was how he'd always imagined. Maybe not on an air conditioner unit in Crystal's backyard. More like the night on the beach when they'd been high and talking shit, and Calum had turned to face him, and Ashton had called him cute. That's when he'd imagined their first kiss.
Calum was taken aback by the admission, "oh, oh Luke? Did he know?"
"Yeah, I don't know how he just knew," Ashton chuckled.
"You could have said no," Calum said, and there wasn't a bit in his tone, but there was something under it all, and Ashton wanted to smile, but he didn't.
He just shook his head and laughed more to himself that Calum, "I didn't want to say no; he's one of my best friends I don't think I'll regret it," he shrugged before continuing, "I also have a bit of practice now if you wanted to try that private, just the two of us first kiss I wanted,"
There was silence, and Ashton was avoiding the brown-skinned boy's eyes because he knew he sounded like an idiot, but then he heard a chuckle rumble through the other boy, "yeah, yeah, okay, you weirdo,"
Calum's fingers circled around his wrist, pulling him to stand in between his legs, the other hand coming up to cup the side of Ashton's face, guiding his head down as Calum leant up. And he gave Ashton this warm, sparkly-eyed smile, eyes crinkled and genuine looking before he let their lips meet. At first, Ashton was smiling into the kiss, the butterflies in his stomach fluttering up a storm, and then the younger man slipped his tongue into his mouth. Ashton let out an embarrassingly little moan as Calum started to massage his tongue against his, and then Calum was pulling back, and Ashton was trying to follow him, wanting to reattach their lips just a moment longer.
Calum chuckled, "don't worry," he said quietly, "if I have it my way, that's the first of many," and Ashton's eyes flicked open, and the smirk he'd heard in his voice was all over his face.