UPDATE: (02-24-08)

“Lauren says This story is captivating because it focuses on just one aspect of the love story - the first kiss. Other events and details were written in such a way as to emphasize the magic of that moment. ” - from here

Thank you! From the bottom of my lovestruck heart ^_^

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The decision to kiss for the first time is the most crucial in any love story. It changes the relationship of two people much more strongly than even the final surrender; because this kiss already has within it that surrender.

- Emil Ludwig

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He ran his fingers through my hair as I laid my head on his chest. The manly scent of his perfume wafted through the air in the little space that surrounded our bodies laid side by side. I could hear his heart pounding through his chest. He kissed me on the forehead, as if reassuring me that he won’t be anywhere but here beside me. I smiled and closed my eyes as I let happiness pour in and bathe my overjoyed heart. It was the seventh of January. Just seven days after we ushered in a brand new year. On this day, I ended a year and nine-month long wait for the right one. I never thought it would be him.

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“Did you just kiss me?” I snapped as if I was awakened from a trance. We were lying side by side on the bed.

He looked at me with a huge grin plastered on his face.

“Oh dear.” I whimpered and tried to pull away from him but his hand gripped mine tightly and I ended up being pulled back to him instead.

“Where are you going? Just stay here.” He said. He held me in a tight embrace.

What the heck just happened?

We were drinking a few bottles of beer downstairs with my housemates. I remember having had more than enough. I remember hearing myself blabbering and sobbing in between tears as I had another emotional breakdown because of the almost dying condition that my beloved grandfather was in. I didn’t want to cry. He has never seen me cry. But I couldn’t help it and the emotions were just overwhelming. I remember how he ushered me upstairs, guiding my unstable steps as I climbed up. I remember how he opened the door, let ourselves in and how he tried to tuck me into bed; how he tried to leave me and how I pleaded not to. The next few scenes that followed, however, passed like a blur.

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It all started with a tease. It was October. It’s been more than two years since we met online on that fateful day. I was never a gamer but fate made me one that day for reasons that soon would be revealed. I barely remember when or how we met or how we transcended from being two virtual characters running after monsters, to being friends long after I’ve decided gaming isn’t really my thing. We’ve always teased each other to meet but distance proved to be of hindrance to us. He was from up north; I lived in down south. So for two long years, we settled with online chats and friendly text messages. We were each other’s “pare” and shared an endless teasing and bantering like two old friends. He was my emotional trashbin: tirelessly listening to my woes about love, life and everything else in between. It felt like we’ve been real-life friends. Never mind if it was just technology that brought us together. And so it was settled for October 24. What we started as a playful tease for a long overdue eyeball has now become a reality.

I woke up before my alarm. Had a quick breakfast, enjoyed a long bath and slipped on the outfit I carefully picked for the date that took two long years to come true. I was there before him: comfortably settled in the couch inside the coffee shop where we agreed to meet. A good ten minutes later, I caught the familiar face of a man from afar. My heart skipped a beat. I wasn’t the type to go for eyeballs like this but something was telling me I should take this chance to meet up with him. He was more good-looking than what his pictures have told me. When he started for the only door of the coffee shop, I knew there was no turning back. I pretended not to have seen him, looked the other way and took a sip of my warm green tea. Minutes later, there he stood before me in simple collared shirt, jeans and a pair of black-rimmed glasses: my pare in the flesh.

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The next thing I know, there I was, lying on top of him having just pulled back from a long, sweet kiss.

“Bee.” I tried to pull away from him for the second time that night but he just held on to me. I felt the soft kiss he planted on my forehead. And then things became clearer as the clouds that the alcohol has put on my memory were lifted.

“What do you want from me Bee? You like me, don’t you?” I teased. He didn’t leave me by myself in that dark room. We were there lying on the bed, a good two feet away from each other, talking like the two alcohol-smitten kids that we were.

He laughed at me. “I had a crush on you from the start. It’s just not so obvious.” He said, reaching for my hand and playing with my fingers when he caught them with his.

I pulled one of my pillows and threw it at him. “Idiot! You’re obvious! I knew you liked me! The signs were there! And besides, you were so funny when we were at the movies this afternoon. You were trying to hold hands with me!”

He gave me that smile of his that could make hearts stop… including mine. “Come on. Don’t tell me you didn’t like me back? You were flirting back at me.”

“No I wasn’t!”

“Yes you were. That’s why I didn’t bother to stop flirting with you ‘coz I knew I had you already.” And he gave me another huge grin.

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We instantly clicked and I realized how similar the two of us were. That day, I went home from date number one with a silly smile plastered on my face. A lot of things has changed since Day 1: chat and text messages have been more constant and it felt like we’ve known each other a lot more than the whole two years-worth of friendship combined. It was the start of an even stronger friendship. Yes. I wanted to believe that there was nothing but friendship between us, until one day when he took my hand and a wave of electricity traveled up my arm. From that point on, I knew that there was no more denying of the feelings kept well-hidden in the last two years.

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“I hate you!” I threw another pillow at him, this time, he caught them with his two hands. He pulled the pillow from my grip and set it to support his back as he propped himself up on the bed.

“Do you?” He asked. His eyes bore holes into mine. My heart was pounding like crazy.

“I don’t.” I replied softly, breaking the long silence that followed. He pulled me close to him and leaned on for a kiss.

“Bee, you didn’t answer my question. What do you want from me?” I stopped midway, my face a few inches away from his.

He looked at me intently and I felt the warmth of his gaze.

“You know what I want.”

“I don’t.” I replied. “But if you ask the right questions, then probably, you’ll get the answer that you want.” A long deafening silence existed between us.

I could hear the soft blowing of the wind against the windows outside. An orange beam of light from the lamp post seeped through the spaces of the window curtains in my room. He was still looking at me. His eyes were telling me something. Something that stirred butterflies in my stomach and sent shivers down my spine. He took my hand, placed it over his lips and planted a sweet kiss.

“I want you. I want to be with you.” He whispered, not taking his eyes off me as he leaned over, pulled my head towards his and kissed me… long, soft and sweet.

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I looked at him, at the guy whose arms were wrapped around me as he now slept peacefully by my side. I ran a finger down the bridge of his nose and landed it on the soft, kissable lips which, just a few moments ago, were locked with mine. I smiled at the irony of things. On this exact same day a year ago, two things were revealed about us: 1) how I wouldn’t want to date someone younger than I am and 2) how he’d remain single until he was 27. Geez. Our past selves would have had a good laugh seeing the two of us now.

The open windows ushered in the breeze. It was a cold night but his tight embrace kept me warm. The events of the tiring day is finally dawning upon me: the trip to the mall, the movie at IMAX, the simple dinner, the few cold bottles of beer that we shared, the Pandora’s box of revelations and the kiss that capped it all. It was date number — I’ve stopped counting since I realized how much he meant more to me than a friend. He has always been more than one all along. But I had been like a soldier in battle, not wanting to give up, afraid of losing in the battle called unrequited love. Tonight, however, we decided what we wanted and how we wanted it to change.

I closed my eyes and felt his arms tighten around me. I heard the soft blowing of the wind now ushering me to sleep. I smiled. I knew how I would wake up to a different life tomorrow - to a life with him.

On the night of the seventh of January, we shared our very first kiss. Within that kiss is that kind of surrender and a promise of how we wanted to love and be loved in return.

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This is an entry for the Love Struck writing contest by Ms. Noemi.