A/N: I know, I know, it has been much, much too long since I last updated this story for you all...hopefully a longer chapter and fluffy overdose can help make up for it!

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The next morning, I am woken by the inability to breathe due to a heavy weight on my, ahem, chest that is crushing my lungs.

It takes a few blinks of my eyes to fully remember where I am before my heart starts accelerating again. Trying to maneuver with as little movement as possible as to not wake my companion, I manage to free my right arm and wrap it around his back. Subconsciously, he tightens his hold on my torso and nuzzles deeper into my side. The image is just too cute, so I reach for my phone with my other hand and am .5 seconds away from snapping a photo when--

"Too early for pictures, Riyoung," my boyfriend grumbles. Ah, sober Kyungsoo is back. Who knows how long this jerk has been awake? He seems to have a habit of acting like he is asleep when he really isn’t.

"Oh, you're awake?" I ask him.

"Barely," he replies. "It’s still early...let's just go back to sleep, ok? Nini won’t even be awake until much later, so he won’t bother us." He rolls over onto his back, but since his arms are still locked around my waist, he brings me with him. I yelp in surprise.

"Yah! You can't just manhandle me because you are bigger!" I complain.

"Whatever, you like it," he asserts, a smile in his deep morning voice.

"Yeah, whatever," I can't bring myself to deny it. Waking up in Kyungsoo’s arms like this…it just feels right. But it seems too soon, which is freaking me out. How is it that I can be so comfortable with him already, when it took years for me get this close in my previous relationship? Obviously, my last relationship was a total disaster and shouldn’t be my standard for benchmarking at all, but there is something in the back of mind that is saying, Maybe you should step on the brakes.

Kyungsoo tucks my hair behind my ear and cups one side of my face, a faint frown creasing his forehead. “Hey, what’s wrong, Ri?” he asks me. “And don’t tell me nothing, because you look like you have something on your mind.”

“Do you…do you think it was too soon for me to stay over last night?” I whisper, half hoping that he wouldn’t hear me.

His frown lines get deeper and he counters, “What was your first thought when you woke up this morning?”

Thinking back, I blush before replying, “…I can’t breathe?” The answer makes him chuckle deeply before he asks me to try again. “Um…my next thought was that you are cute.”

“I’m flattered, really, but what came after that?” he asks me again. I know exactly what he is getting at, but I continue to play coy. “Riyoung, if you don’t tell me right now that you woke up as blissfully happy as I did, I am going to have to reconsider this—”

I prop myself up on my right elbow so I am elevated over him. “Going to have to reconsider this…?” I interrupt him.

“I, uh…” he fails to answer me, turning beet red in the process. He and I both know he was about to say something mean and offensive.

“I mean, if you are going to reconsider ‘this’,” I motion between the two of us with my finger, “I’ll go reconsider too, back at my—” I start to , but one strong pull with his arms has my elbow collapsing underneath me and I land heavily on top of him, my face centimeters from his. The sudden movement and close proximity shuts me up immediately, “—house…” Time feels like it stands still as we lay there, analyzing each other at close distance. Despite the morning crusties at the corner of his eyes, his long lashes are still beautiful to me. His strong brows perfectly frame the clear, yet still sleepy eyes that are gazing back at me. I trace the slope of his nose, down his philtrum and his plush lips before settling my pointer finger on the tip of his chin. All the while, he continues to watch me, trying to see what I see in the reflection of my eyes. “You didn’t wash your face last night, or brush your teeth,” I comment.

“It’s good that you don’t care, then,” he whispers, determined to not let my observation ruin the intimate moment. “You are beautiful.” The thought startles me and I immediately downcast my eyes, which really wasn’t a good idea because now they are trained on the movement of his lips. “Riyoung, hey, look at me,” he says, as his lips form into a perfect pout. He unwraps one arm from around my torso to tip my chin up, forcing me to look at him.

“Who is this confident person and what have you done with my sweet, shy Kyungsoo?” I mutter.

His lips quirk into a cocky smirk as he repeats, “Your Kyungsoo, huh?” I groan and bring my hands up to cover the (probably) prominent blush on my face. I really do want to know what switch has flipped inside of Kyungsoo because this is a totally new side of him that I have never seen before. Sure, we have cuddled on the couch during movies, held hands and have otherwise been affectionate, but this… whatever it is we have been doing since we got back to his apartment last night is on a totally different level.

Before he can stop me, I turn myself around so that my back is to him, although I am not able to escape his hold. My effort was all for naught, though, when he just turns onto his side and reels me in closer, pulling me flush against his chest. He nuzzles into my neck, mouth placed right below my right ear. “I’m incredibly happy right now, you know that, right? I’m nervous as hell and have no idea what I am doing, but I’m happy. Can you feel it?” He didn’t need to ask, because I could already feel just how quickly his heart is beating against my back. Then after a short pause, “Tell me that you are happy, too.” There’s that hint of uncertainty that I need to stamp out.

“I’m happy too…” I reply, barely audible. I can feel the increase in his heart rate, so I know he heard me, but he isn’t satisfied.

“What was that? I don’t think I heard you,” he jokes, lifting his head in an attempt to bring his ear closer to my mouth.

“I’m not saying it again,” I deny him, well aware of what he is playing at. He prods me again but I resolutely refuse to repeat it. He asks again and again at increasing volumes, as he also starts to assault my sides with pokes and tickles. My tolerance for enduring the torture is unfortunately low, and I squirm around violently as soon as he starts. It’s all fun and games until I accidentally horse kick him in the shin.

“Ahhhhhhhh,” he moans, letting go of me to grasp his injured leg with both hands. “Holy crap your kick is strong.”

“You shouldn’t have poked me,” I mutter, although I am feeling a tad regretful.

“Are you saying you aren’t sorry at all??” he asks incredulously, bringing his one leg out from under the covers to assess the damage. “It huuuuuuuuuuurts” he whines pitifully. To sooth his ailments, I sit up and gently rub up and down his shin with one hand while apologizing profusely.

“I’m so sorry, Soo, I didn’t mean to kick you! It just happened…I don’t have very good control over my reflexes…Do I need to kiss it to make it feel better?” I ask him, leaning closer to inspect the red shin myself.

“Ah-wha- no no you don’t need to do that, Riyoung, i-it’s fine!” he stutters, finally being the flustered one this morning. "First place on my body that you want to kiss is my shin, seriously?" He mumbles under his breath, more to himself than to anybody, but I heard it.

I can't help but to take the golden opportunity to give him a little hell. "Sorry to break it to you, but I already planted one on you last night...were you too drunk to remember?" I frown, pouting for good measure.

Kyungsoo's eyes become comically large and he gulps, "You- w-we did?" He scrambles to sit up with his back resting against the headboard. I don't provide him a response, but that is apparently enough for his mind to run rampant. "Where did you...kiss me?" he asks, clearly mortified that he has no recollection of what I am saying.

"Hmmmm...somewhere on your head," I answer vaguely.

He points to the crown of his head first and guesses, "Was it here?" I continue to stare at him stoically. "No? Here?" He guesses again, pointing to his forehead. When he still doesn't receive any response, he starts pointing around to various parts of his face, waiting to see if I show any kind of reaction to tip him off: eyes, nose, cheeks, chin. When he gets nothing from me, he gasps loudly and says, "No way. Was it really here?!" He taps a finger on his heart-shaped lips. I can't stop the slight quirk at the corner of my mouth.

Kyungsoo blanches and runs his hands up and down his face in horror, groaning, "Oh my God, we shared our first kiss last night and I don't even remember...I have to be the worst boyfriend ever!"

Still mindlessly massaging his shin, I comment, "Boyfriend, huh? Can you really call yourself that after...?" Although we have never really had an official official conversation to decide that yes, we are really dating and yes, we can call each other boyfriend/girlfriend, I think our actions have made it pretty clear where we stand. Even so, I don't think I have ever heard him outright call me his girlfriend or call himself my boyfriend.

If his reaction is any indication, he doesn't think he has ever outright said it either. "Uhhhhh...oh, God, I said that out loud. I'm an idiot, I haven't even officially asked you to be my girlfriend yet, but I've been referring to you as my girlfriend in conversations for weeks now..."

"You've been talking about me behind my back? Rude," I pretend to be offended, and if Kyungsoo would just stop looking at his hands, he would know that I find this whole situation highly amusing.

He finally drops his hands from his face and looks at me earnestly, "I just couldn't help myself, I'm sorry! I only said the best things, I promise. The guys just keep teasing me about you and I...well, I didn't have any reason to keep denying it, given how I feel..."

My face has to be positively glowing right now, I feel like my smile is about to be over take my entire face and become its own organism. "And how do you feel, Soo?" He has to know that I am clearly egging him on at this point, but he lets himself fall for my tricks anyway.

"I feel like I would die if you ever looked at another guy with that smile on your face," he admits. "So...can I officially call you my girlfriend?"

I abandon my post at his legs and sit shoulder to shoulder with him at the head of the bed, laughing as I slyly comment, "Are you really asking me that right now after we literally slept together last night?"

I can't help but to laugh out loud at how thoroughly flustered he becomes. He sinks down into the mattress and pulls the comforter up to cover his face. "Don't say it like that!" he whines at the implication.

Tufts of his hair are still sticking out from beneath the blanket, so I busy myself with playing with the strands, occasionally digging a little deeper to scratch at his scalp. "What's wrong with what I said?" I feign innocence. "That's what happened, isn't it?"

"I mean, we slept next to each other, but we didn't sleep with each other, you know what I mean—not in the sense that, say, my friends would take it, anyway..." he grumbles, voice muffled by the layers of cloth over his mouth.

"I don't know if your description of 'next to' is quite accurate, boyfriend," I counter him, "I woke up with your face literally on top of my chest. So do we need a refresher on the difference between the prepositions 'next to' and 'on top of'?" I feel Kyungsoo flail around beneath the sheets, throwing some kind of a mini tantrum. I decide to mess with him a bit more, since his reactions are just too good. "For example," I slide my lower leg so that it is flush against his thigh, "right now, my leg is next to your leg. But if I move it..." I barely lift my leg one centimeter off the bed before Kyungsoo bolts upright and scoots himself back to his prior position against the headboard.

"Ok, ok! I get it!" he surrenders. "We slept together last night, are you happy now?!"

I can only laugh and reach over to pinch his cheek. "You are so stinkin' cute," I tell him. "I like that."

He tucks his chin and bows his head, blushing again before asking, "Did I really forget our first kiss?" Seeing how embarrassed he is about it makes me feel a little bad that I've been teasing him to this extent.

"Hey, Soo," I call him, reaching down to grasp his hand. He doesn't budge. "Kyungsoo," I try again, but still nothing. "Do Kyungsoo, listen to noona when she is talking to you," I demand a little more sternly, and his eyes at least shift warily towards me, even if he doesn't move his head. "I'm sorry I teased you...do you really want to know what you forgot about last night?" He nods his head once almost imperceptibly. "I kissed you here," I tell him before leaning in to gently press my lips against his temple, same as the night before. "So you don't have to feel bad about not remembering it, ok? You were very tired."

He releases a loud sigh of relief, but he still seems to be holding on to some regret. "Soo, what's the matter? I told you not to worry about it," I assure him, trying to smooth the wrinkle from his forehead with my thumb.

He mumbles something incoherent, and when I ask him to repeat it, he admits, "But I want to keep every memory of our time together, no matter how small." His statement literally melts my heart into a puddle of sap and I can't overcome the impulse to wrap him up in my arms and to make sure that he gets over this.

still planted on the bed, I swing my legs across his hips, bent at the knees, and gently pull his head towards me. "We'll have so many more memories in the future that you won't have enough room in this beautiful mind to store them all," I tell him quietly, my voice barely piercing the morning air. "And if you are really worried about it, I'll just have to give you so many more kisses to remember that you'll totally forget that you forgot the first one." To prove my point, I start swiftly pressing sweet, innocent kisses to all of the parts of his face that he had guessed before: the crown of his head, forehead, eyelids, cheeks, nose, chin. He wraps his arms around my waist but otherwise sits still and accepts my gifts one by one. Once I am finished, he turns his head towards me, eyes boring into me when our noses brush. I can tell without a doubt what his intention is, he is so close. My eyelids flutter shut and I can feel he is just a breath away, when--

"Give me XOXO L-O-V. E. You're my XOXO L-O-V--"

In a flash, Kyungsoo picks his phone up off the night stand and snarls, "Hyung. It is so early, why are you—" before a very familiar voice cuts him off.

"But Kyungie!!! It is almost 10am on a Saturday morning and I know for a fact that you are always awake by at least 8:30 every morning, even on the weekends," Baekhyun singsongs. "Are you really not awake yet?" Baek's comment piques my interest. I know we have been awake for a while, but surely it hasn't been an hour and a half. If Kyungsoo is generally an early riser, did he really choose to lounge around with me in bed instead of getting up to follow his normal routine? The thought makes me smile and I rub my hand soothingly up and down his right upper arm. He gives me an apologetic smile and mouths, "Sorry," but I shake off his apology and mouth back that its fine.

“I just decided to sleep in a little today, is that really so weird?” Kyungsoo replies to his friend’s question.

Baekhyun laughs and affirms, “It really is weird. But anyway, I was just calling to remind you to wake up the Nini bear pretty soon so he can get ready for game night, you know, since it is Saturday and all.”

Kyungsoo just scoffs and reminds Baekhyun that he has remembered to wake up his roommate all other Saturdays for their hang outs, without any reminders needed. “So what is this call really about?” he asks his friend point blank. “It’s not like you to beat around the bush.”

Chanyeol’s low chuckle can be heard from the other end of the line. “He’s got you there, Baek,” the giant comments from the sidelines.

“Say, Kyungie, am I on speaker?” Baekhyun dodges my boyfriend’s question with one of his own.

Kyungsoo frowns and replies, “No, but your voice is so darn loud that you might as well be. Why?”

“Oh, nothing really…” Baekhyun trails off, and I can just hear the smirk in his voice. “I just wanted to give my regards to Riyoung noona. Hi noona!”

This time, it is my turn to pull the covers up over my head, as though this will hide me from Baekhyun’s prying questions. Clearly understanding my display of discomfort, Kyungsoo immediately shuts down his friend, denying that I am with him. “What the heck are you talking about, hyung? Riyoung isn’t here.” He manages to keep the waver out of his voice for the blatant lie.

“Are you sure about that?” Baekhyun asks. “Because last I heard and saw, she was getting into a cab with you and Jongin to go back to your place.”

“That doesn’t mean that she stayed here, Sherlock,” Kyungsoo replies hotly. The defensive response doesn’t shake Baekhyun in the slightest; if anything, it further fuels his suspicions.

“Touchy, touchy,” Baekhyun comments. “If I didn’t know any better, I would say that you are trying to hide something. And based on your reaction, it seems that I am very close to hitting the nail on the head!”

“Can we end this ridiculous conversation so I can go wake up Nini?” Kyungsoo changes the subject, annoyance evident in his voice.

“You don’t have to be embarrassed that you spent the night with your girlfriend, Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun says with a softer tone than before. “I know we give you a lot of crap about her being your first girlfriend and all, but we are all mature adults here and we just want for you to be happy.”

The exchange is just too sweet to ignore, so I poke my head out from beneath the sheets and motion for Kyungsoo to hand me the phone. ‘Are you sure?’ he mouths to me and I give a resigned nod.

“…Hey, Baekhyun,” I greet him. I brace myself for the impact of whatever reaction he is about to have, but nothing could have possibly prepared me for what happens next.

“ASSA!!!” Baekhyun screams. “Yeol! Chanyeol! Get your over here, you owe me $50!!” A loud clank makes it sound like Baekhyun has dropped his phone on the floor and has run off somewhere, because we can barely make out the sound of loud seal clapping and distant shouts of I told you she would cave and stay with him!, No way!, Prove it!, and raucous laughter. Finally, Baekhyun returns to pick up his abandoned device and insincerely apologizes, “I’m sorry, noona, Kyungie, but I had to do it. I honestly didn’t know whether Riyoung noona was over there or not, I just went for it and hoped you would fall for my trap.” He laughs before continuing, “I wasn’t lying about us wanting Kyungie to be happy, though! And you really do seem to make him as happy as we’ve ever seen him, noona.”

“Thanks, Baek,” I reply lamely, because how else do you respond to your boyfriend’s prankster friend actually being serious for once?

“Alright, lovers, I’m going to go get ready and I’ll see you at 11 for board games! Both of you,” Baekhyun says before hanging up with a laugh.

Kyungsoo checks the time and tosses his phone towards the foot of the bed, running a hand through his hair a couple times before shaking his vigorously to make it lie down flat across his forehead. He looks like a cute little puppy shaking out his fur after a bath. It is at that moment that we both realize just how closely we are sitting together (read: my legs are still thrown across his body and I might as well be sitting in his lap). “You should probably go wake up Jongin, huh? And what is with that ringtone for Baekhyun?” I ask, trying to detract attention from the awkward tension that is now in the air.

“He set it himself and I’m too lazy to change it. And I’d much rather stay right here, I think,” he says confidently, although his actions of hiding his face in the crook of my neck clearly shows he is embarrassed that he said that out loud.

I wrap him up in a hug once more and try to reason with him, “Your friends will probably make you break up with me if you ditch game night with them. We’ve only been officially in a relationship for about 15 minutes, and I really don’t want this to be the record for world’s shortest relationship.” Kyungsoo grumbles at my persistence. “Come on, Soo,” I coax him with another quick kiss on the head, “Go wake up Jongin and take a quick shower so you can take me back to my place before 11. I don’t think I should show up to yet another game night wearing your Mathlete shirt.”

He mutters something that sounds suspiciously like, “I don’t see what’s wrong with that,” but he gets out of bed nonetheless. He is still wearing his outfit from yesterday when he strolls out to the hallway, closing the door behind him. Once I am left to my own thoughts, I smother myself with a pillow and start squealing. I don’t know how long I lay there with a pillow over my face, but it is apparently long enough that I hear the door click open. My squealing ceases immediately and I freeze.

“Uh…Riyoung?” Kyungsoo asks me. “Are you ok?” I stick my arm out from under the blanket and give him a thumbs up before shooing him away to shower. I hear him chuckle while he presumably retrieves clean clothes from his drawers. “I’m going to the bathroom now. Please feel free to continue as you were,” he announces before leaving the room once more. Great…I groan to myself. He probably thinks I am the biggest dweeb ever, now, as if he didn’t already think so before. I barely have enough time to lament over how lame I am before he is back and urging me to get out of bed so we can stop by my apartment without being late. Slowly, he pulls on the end of the blanket that is tucked around my feet and exposes me inch by inch.

“It’s cold!” I complain, trying to pull the covers back over me, but he isn’t having any of that.

“It’s winter, Riyoung, it’s going to be cold,” he says, tugging on the blanket once more. “Here are your clothes from yesterday—won’t you put them back on so we can get going?” I’m not happy about it, but I lethargically roll out of bed and grab the stack of clothes from Kyungsoo’s hand before heading to the bathroom myself. He rewards me with a peck on the forehead, and just like that, getting out of bed today seems worth it. Especially when he turns bright red immediately afterwards.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

“What are you doing today after board games?” I ask Kyungsoo on the drive back to my apartment.

“Um…I haven’t really thought about it; why?” he replies.

I shouldn’t be this nervous asking my boyfriend to hang out with me, but my body just won’t listen to the calming thoughts I am trying to tell it. “Well, Steph is out of town this weekend, so I thought we could go out, have dinner, watch a movie, you know…be seen in public together…” my voice trails off at the lack of response from Kyungsoo. Looking over at him, I see a bashful smile crossing his lips.

“Are you asking me out right now?” he asks me, repeating back to me the same words that I said to him when he first asked me out on our movie date. I cross my arms and huff, telling him to forget about it. My response makes him laugh out loud, and as he drives, he blindly reaches over for my hands brings it to his lips for a swift kiss of my knuckles.

“Yah,” I protest, “Just because I kissed you once doesn’t mean you can just plant one on me whenever you feel like it now!”

He cracks a smile again and doesn’t let go of my hand. “You know,” he teases me, “For as much as you work with numbers you are not very good at counting. Do I need to remind you just how many times you kissed this money maker this morning?”

“I’m regretting every one of those right now,” I grumble as we pull up to my building.

Although I try to leave him behind in the dust, he catches up to me quickly and grabs a hold of my hand, intertwining our fingers. “Aw, don’t be like that, Riyoung,” he pleads, batting his eyelashes for good measure. He acts like this all the way up to my front door, when I kindly ask him to let go of my hand so I can punch in the passcode. He obliges, but koalas himself to my back instead. The skinship is really excessive right now, and it is flustering me to the point of not being able to focus on completing my task successfully.

“Do Kyungsoo, stop distracting me!” I complain, wriggling out of his embrace. “Are you trying to make us late to game night or something?” He doesn’t try to back-hug me again, but instead he just stands right behind me, hovering his face over my shoulder, watching me work. I pause and exhale a heavy sigh. “Kyungsoo. This is not any better. Back. Up!”

Without even looking, I can just feel the smile that must be adorning his face when he chuckles and protests, “But I’m not even touching you!”

I give up on trying to get into my apartment and instead turn to face my boyfriend, arms crossed. “Look, if you are trying to inconspicuously steal my apartment passcode so you can break & enter later, you aren’t doing a very good job of being subtle. I’m onto you.”

Kyungsoo puts his hands up in surrender and takes a step back. “Ok, you got me. I am guilty of attempted breaking & entering into my girlfriend’s apartment. What’s the punishment, officer? It’s my first offense, I swear, so please be lenient with me.”

His lame attempt at trying to flirt and be y makes me snort as I finally push my front door open. “Sorry, babe, but I’m not buying it—you seem like a repeat offender.” It isn’t until the door slams shut that I realize Kyungsoo didn’t follow me into my apartment. I open it back up and arch an eyebrow at him. “You aren’t a vampire, are you? Do you have to be invited in before you can cross the threshold?”

His eyes are glued to his shoes and he’s doing that thing again where he links his hands behind his back and rocks back and forth on his heels. “…Soo…?” I call out to him. “Is everything ok?”

Ever so slowly he brings his gaze up to meet mine, and I can see that his cheeks are tinted a bright shade of pink. “You…” he draws out his explanation, “you called me babe.”

My eyes widen in horror and I turn a shade that matches Kyungsoo. “Oh…I, uh…” And so for a while, we both just stand there, on opposite sides of the doorway, staring at each other. As a nervous habit, I start biting the inside of my bottom lip. I can see Kyungsoo’s eyes flicker down for a split second before we make eye contact again. “…I take it back?” I ask uncertainly, anxious to get past the awkwardness.

But Kyungsoo shakes his head almost unperceptively and he whispers, “Please don’t.” A smile blooms on my face and I grab his arm, dragging him inside. I hold him hostage in the entryway with a soul-binding, bone-crushing hug around the waist. As expected, he stands there frozen, caught off guard.

“Uh, Riyoung…?” he asks.

I turn my head so my nose nuzzles against the underside of his chin and tell him, “I’m going to call you babe from now on.”

“Wha-why-but—” he stutters.

“You said you like it,” I shrug.

He finally wraps his arms around my shoulders, but not without protesting, “I never said that!”

Although he can’t see it, I smile broadly and , “Maybe not explicitly, but I said I would take it back and you told me not to. That’s as good as saying, ‘I love it when you call me baby—‘” I don’t get to finish what I was going to say because clearly he has heard enough. If it is any indication, he is frantically trying to push me away to run away and hide under a blanket on the couch. But I’m not having any of that. I lock my grip behind his back and step onto the tops of his feet so that wherever he goes, I am sure to follow.

“Don’t be embarrassed, Soo!” I yell between bouts of laughter. “I’ll let you call me babe too!” He starts laughing loudly at that before he trips and loses his balance. Luckily for us, this happens right in front of the couch, and we both go crashing down onto it. The fun and games die down abruptly as we are quick to realize the position we are in now. Kyungsoo has me pinned to the cushions with his entire body weight on me. After a quiet apology, he shifts his weight onto his elbows, his face hovering over mine. The feeling in the air gives me déjà vu of less than an hour prior, right before Baekhyun’s call interrupted us. I watch patiently as his eyes scan my face, spending a few extra seconds on my lips; or, at least I assume that he does, because I, myself, am fixated on the plush, pillow-y looking pout in front of me.

“Riyoung,” his voice brings me out of my trance, and my eyes snap back up to his. Still leaning on his elbows, he moves one hand to brush some hair off my face. “Can I…Would it be alright if I kissed you right now?” He looks like he half expects to be rejected, despite the words we’ve exchanged, the actions of affection we’ve shared.

Instead of giving him a response, I unwrap one arm from around his waist and snake it up to rest a hand on the nape of his neck. Ever so gently, I pull him down and just as ours nose start to brush I tell him, “I’ll even let you kiss me later, too.”