Chapter Text
The first time Ava kissed her, they were both 15. Ava had just transferred to Beatrice’s school a couple of months prior to this and though she quickly became immensely popular with both the girls and boys of their school, she had instantly decided that Beatrice – shy, introvert and bookish Beatrice – was going to be her best friend. Beatrice had been reluctant to let her in, not really sure why Ava wanted to hang out with her of all people, but Ava had been pretty persistent, even staying for Beatrice’s study sessions in the library and helping her organize the school’s science club. And of course Beatrice had not been able to resist her charm for long. Between Ava’s radiant smile, her warm hugs, her cheeky mischief, her restless quest for adventures and her infectious love for life, Beatrice’s heart never really stood a chance. So she let her in and suddenly she had a best friend for the first time in her life. She had friends before – there was Camilla from science club and Yasmine from book club – but she had never had a best friend before. She soon learned that having Ava as her best friend was a wild and unpredictable rollercoaster, but she also realized pretty early on that she wouldn't change any of it.
They had been inseparable ever since and would do nearly everything together.
Stress on nearly.
Because there was no way Beatrice would let Ava reel her into playing Truth and Dare with a couple of the most annoying boys in their year on a Friday night party at JC’s parents’ giant mansion. She hadn’t wanted to go to in the first place, but Ava had begged and pleaded and of course she had given in eventually. Had even lied to her parents about it. But she drew the line at playing stupid teenage games with a bunch of drunk boys.
When JC had suggested they play Truth or Dare, Ava had been thrilled, because of course she had. Give Ava a game, and of course she is in. Give Ava a challenge, and, yep, she is definitely in. Give Ava a game and a challenge? Yeah...
So, Beatrice was not, under any circumstances, participating in this stupid game. No matter how much Ava pleaded with her and looked at her with these beautiful, brown eyes of hers. No! Absolutely not!
“Come ooon!”, Ava tried again and when Beatrice shook her head for the tenth time, she finally sighed, though she did pout a bit. “At least stay for moral support then.”, she pleaded. And as much as Beatrice really did not want to, she was powerless when Ava held her hand and smiled that bright smile of hers.
That’s why Beatrice was now sitting in a circle around some bags of chips and some open beer- and vodka-bottles someone had smuggled in, sandwiched between Ava and a very drunk JC, who kept trying to get Ava’s attention by reaching over Beatrice’s lap to poke Ava’s side. She was already regretting ever agreeing to this, but then Ava would lay her head onto Beatrice’s shoulder, or whisper something into her ears or rest her hand on Beatrice’s knee and suddenly having to listen to JC’s God awful flirting attempts didn’t seem all that bad anymore. Especially since Ava kept slapping his hand away in annoyance. When he hadn’t gotten the hint the fifth time Ava had pushed his hand away, Beatrice had grabbed his wrist mid-poking-attempt and glared at him with such a clear warning, that he had just stared at her in shock and actually swallowed, before withdrawing his hand and grumbling something along the lines of just trying to have some fun. He had left Ava alone after that though and Beatrice was pleased with herself, especially when Ava whispered a thanks into her ear, making Beatrice’s whole body tingle.
When it was eventually Ava's turn, she immediately enthusiastically decided on: “Dare!” Because of course she would.
“Okay, I dare you to… kiss one of us.”, Tim, who was sitting to her right, said without hesitation. Beatrice felt herself stiffen. The game had been pretty tame until now, but Tim always liked to be the one to up every game.
“Kiss one of you?” Ava actually did seem caught off guard by the dare and Beatrice was reminded that Ava, despite her openness to new experiences, could sometimes be painfully innocent and naïve. She had probably hoped for some “fun” dares like pour a bucket of ice cold water over her head, try to do a backflip or eat a teaspoon of hot sauce.
Tim just laughed at her question and looked pretty pleased with himself. “Yes, kiss one of the ones here in this circle.”, he clarified with a smug grin. Beatrice looked around and felt her heartbeat pick up. Beside Ava there were 5 boys playing, all of which were clearly thrilled at the perspective of Ava Silva kissing them - most of all Michael opposite of Ava and JC to Beatrice’s right – both of which had a very public, huge crush on Ava. Not that Beatrice could blame them. She hated it anyways.
Beatrice didn’t know why she was surprised. Of course the guys would try to get Ava to kiss them. That’s why they suggested the game in the first place. But she really, really did not want to see this.
“I’ll be right back.”, she mumbled to Ava and tried to get up, but was surprised when Ava’s hand pulled her back down next to her. She looked at Ava in confusion and wanted to ask her what was up, when suddenly a pair of warm, soft lips were pressed against her cheek and she froze instantly, her brain short-circuiting. It was just a quick kiss on the cheek, barely a second, but Beatrice could feel the skin Ava’s lips had touched tingle and burn.
“What was that?”, she heard Tim joke.
“A kiss.”, Ava said nonchalantly and shrugged, like it was not it big deal. And for her it probably wasn’t, but Beatrice’s heart was still beating like a drum from the brush of Ava’s lips on her cheek.
“That doesn’t count. That wasn’t a real kiss.”, Tim complained.
“You just said a kiss.”, Ava argued. “That was a kiss.” Yes, definitely a kiss, Beatrice would confirm, if her mouth wasn’t still so dry that she couldn’t get out a single word.
“He clearly meant a kiss on the mouth, Ava.”, JC came to Tim’s defense. Beatrice could barely keep up with their bickering, her brain going more and more into overdrive with every time they stressed the words real kiss or kiss on the mouth. “To complete the dare, you have to kiss her on the mouth.”
What?! Beatrice didn’t move, didn’t dare to, just sat still as a statue, her heart beating out of her chest just thinking about Ava kissing her. Ava turned to her and looked at her and she seemed to want to know what Beatrice was thinking about the whole kissing on the mouth thing, but Beatrice could just stare back, her brain still not able to form a single coherent thought. She watched Ava bite her lip nervously, which surprised Beatrice. Because Ava didn’t do nervous.
“You can still kiss one of us.”, JC interrupted their silent conversation. “I mean, if Beatrice doesn’t want to, I volunteer.” Beatrice was about to protest and tell him to just stop, but she didn’t need to.
“Shut up, JC”, she heard Ava groan in annoyance. JC was answering something along the lines of her having to kiss someone and the other boys were adding their own thoughts, discussing whether Beatrice even counted as a viable option seeing as she wasn’t part of the game. There was drunk arguing and a growing chant of “kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss”.
But Beatrice barely registered any of this, because Ava’s eyes were back on her, clearly waiting for her to sort out her chaotic thoughts. Ava shrugged with an apologetic smile and then tilted her head in silent question. It was sweet, how Ava was trying so hard to make sure that she was comfortable. How, even though she loved to push everyone’s buttons and boundaries, she had decided that this situation was too delicate for her usual playfulness. How she clearly wanted to make sure that Beatrice didn’t do anything she really didn’t want to.
Beatrice swallowed nervously, but then nodded. Because she might very well pass out when Ava kissed her, but she would definitely die if she had to watch her kiss someone else.
Ava smiled a crooked smile, that Beatrice didn’t even manage to mirror, because Ava was already leaning in and a second later Ava’s lips were on hers, soft and warm. Beatrice was completely unprepared and utterly overwhelmed by the rush of emotions electrifying her whole body. Her heart skipped a beat, before it started pounding loudly and almost painfully in her chest again. Ava’s lips lingered on hers for a sweet, breathless moment - longer than strictly necessary.
When she broke the kiss again, everything around them had gone quiet. Beatrice could feel several pairs of eyes on them, but she could just sit and stare at Ava with wide eyes, her heart racing and with a lump in her throat that made it hard to breathe. And Ava stared right back, her warm eyes carefully searching for Beatrice’s like she wanted to make sure that the other girl was alright.
But of course JC had to ruin the moment by slapping Beatrice on the shoulder, whistling and shouting “Damn, girl!”, paired with his drunk laughter. Beatrice nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt his hand hitting her shoulder and quickly turned around to remove his hand from her shoulder. When she turned back, she saw Ava sending her a small, shy smile, before turning back to choose a dare for JC.
The game went on like nothing had happened and Ava laughed and joked and kissed some of the boys on the cheek or the hand - never on the lips though, because she insisted you could not choose the same dare twice in a game - and everything seemed to have gone back to normal, like Beatrice's world hadn't just been shook to the core not more than 5 minutes ago. Because sure, she had known that she liked girls and yes, she had known that she probably had a bit of a crush on Ava. It had been fine, just a silly crush. But now Ava had kissed her and though it probably didn't mean anything to her, it had just been a dare, it had had thrown Beatrice's whole world upside down. She couldn't stop thinking about it for weeks after.