One
The first person Maxwell was kissed by was, unsurprisingly, his mother. She gave him lots of kisses during the day whenever she was walking through the Beaumont manor or when he’d finished a particularly hard problem from his lessons. But it was her goodnight kisses that Maxwell liked the most. There was a sort of ritual to them. She’d make sure he had changed into his pyjamas, brushed his teeth and was settled into bed before she sat down next to him and he’d cuddle close to her side and she’d read whatever book he had picked out for the night, her voice, comforting as she wove the two of them into the strange and mysterious worlds hidden in the pages.
‘Goodnight my little hippo,’ She’d say before kissing him softly on the cheek after she had closed the book, bringing them back home. His little hands wrapped around her warm body pulling her closer as he begged her.
‘One more story please Mama, please?’
‘Darling you should really be getting to sleep,’ she’d whisper back. Maxwell would then push out his lower lip, bring his palms together and look at her with the biggest eyes he could make.
‘Just one more?’ He’d ask, knowing she wouldn’t be able to resist his ‘puss in boots’ face as she called it.
‘Alright little one, she’d say before planting another kiss on his cheek. ‘Just one more.’
Two
Maxwell’s second kiss was also his first kiss.
The first time he’d kissed a girl, the first one he’d shared with someone outside his family. She was a pretty girl, Violet was her name. She has dark brown hair in two pigtails with purple ribbons trailing off her as she ran, befitting her name. She was the daughter of one of his father’s peers and a few years older than he was but to ten year old Maxwell, she was beautiful.
From the moment she’d coming visiting with her parents, blue eyes wide and searching with her hand clutched tightly in her mothers as she took in the splendour of the Beaumont mansion, Maxwell had been spellbound. He didn’t know it at the time but she was content to string him along, using him to get closer to his older brother. She’d always turn down Maxwell’s invitations to play with just him but always say yes when Bertrand was there and now that he thought of it, those were the only times she showed any interest in him. It was after a particularly good outing in the gardens and she was in an excellent mood that Maxwell had plucked up enough courage to confess his feelings for her, his voice shaking as he tried to get the words out.
‘V-V-Violet, I r-really li-like you.’
She stared at him for a moment. ‘Oh’
‘D-do you like me too?’ Maxwell ventured hopefully.
‘I don’t know,’ She’d lied to him then. ‘But my cousin says there’s a way to find out.’
‘Oh yeah?’ He was more confident now, eager to do anything she asked.
‘You’ll have to kiss me,’ she stated as a matter of factly. ‘On the lips.’
Maxwell’s eyes grew wide. ‘O-on the lips?’
Violet eyed him steadily. ‘I thought you said you liked me.’
‘I do.’ He answered fervently.
‘Well thats what people do when they like each other… They kiss.’ she said slowly, drawing out the words as if she was talking to a child.
Not wanting to keep her waiting any longer, Maxwell leaned in for his first kiss.
There were several things wrong with his approach. First off he was significantly shorter than her and the garden bench they were sitting on did little to help his situation. She was also facing forward and did not have enough time to turn before he leaned in. To top it off, Maxwell hadn’t learnt the art of kissing yet (this being his first time) caught her by surprise with his open mouth covering only her lower lip. He knew he’d done something wrong when the bone of her chin brushed against his bottom teeth.
If that hadn’t been a dead giveaway that he’d botched the whole thing, the look of disgust on Violet’s face when she pulled away was enough to wish he could dig himself into the deepest hole imaginable. Their gazes held for a long horrific moment and his eyes flew to the shining patch of his saliva on her chin before she ran away in tears.
Maxwell wasn’t allowed to play with Violet alone after that.
Three
The third kiss was an accident.
Ever since his experience with Violet, Maxwell hadn’t been brave enough to try again and when other girls leaned in, he awkwardly side stepped their advances, which left him on the receiving end of many an exasperated sigh or glare. The traumatic memory seemed to haunt him and he had found himself kiss-less for over a decade until his lips met another persons.
But this was completely unintentional.
100% not his fault
..well maybe a little..
10 years had passed and Maxwell found himself with the rest of his family at Violet’s wedding. Their fathers had been close despite of the accident and Maxwell had come along, hoping they could put the incident behind them once and for all. She was married a young English earl by the name of Fernando, a nod to his mother’s Spanish roots and hot blood.
The Beaumonts gotten to the front of the long line of well wishers and Maxwell had stepped up to congratulate Fernando before turning to Violet. He’d accidentally stepped on her toe when he did and was apologising profusely before she grabbed him by the shoulders in an attempt to calm him down and he looked at his childhood crush properly for the first time in a decade.
‘You look lovely,’ he declared just a tiny bit too loudly attracting the attention of a few people surrounding them and Fernando eyed him suspiciously.
‘Thank you Maxwell,’ she answered in her soft lyrical voice.
Wanting to end the awkward encounter, He leaned forward for the customary kiss on the cheek when someone called her name causing her to turn her head at the last second. Maxwell was unable to halt his progress, already off balance and his lips brushed hers messily. Gasps rang out from the people in the nearby vicinity and Bertrand had pulled him away before a glowering Fernando could lay a hand on him. And the last he saw of Violet was her fiancé leading her away from their guests, his arm wrapped possessively around her waist.
It took Maxwell quite a while to live that one down.
Four
Maxwell had just about given up all hope his chances of kissing another girl when Thea Larkin waltzed into his life.
He’d thought she was beautiful from the moment he laid eyes on her, not hesitating to make the thought known as soon as it came to him and was almost immediately reprimanded by Drake. Bringing her back to Cordonia with him was the best impulse decision he’d ever made, he’d stand by that decision even if he had to face Bertrand’s worst admonishments (which he did). It wasn’t until she had been driven out of the Coronation ball that he realised how much he missed her. He’d come to cherish their little moments together, the thought of being the first person she saw every day was enough to propel him out of bed each morning to wake and prepare her for the days events.
However it was in the few weeks before Liam’s engagement tour that he really started falling for her. They spent most of their days together, eating, dancing, drinking fancy wine together. Thea laughed at all his jokes and antics, a real genuine hearty laugh so vibrant it would cause her to break stance half way through the quickstep or whatever dance Bertrand was schooling her in. In the brief breaks his older brother had granted them, Maxwell taken her on tours of his childhood home, showing her his favourite hidden holes and secret spots. At the end of a long day he’d walk her back to her room and bid her good night not before they shared a few good laughs – he’d never laughed so much before he met her.
When the time came for Thea to make her grand return to court, Maxwell found himself reluctant for her to go. He’d gotten to know her so much better in the last few weeks and he wasn’t sure he was ready to share her with the rest of the court just yet. However all it took was a stern reminder from Bertrand of what was at stake for him to push his feelings away, put on his signature Maxwell grin and bear it. It hurt him even more to see how excited she was to be with Liam and even more how he found himself helping facilitating their little moments in between all while craving to be the one she sought out. He had to give himself the credit however because he hid his feelings well, used to rejection, unsure how to take the next step when the competition, his best friend was offering her the world. He’d hid those feelings down so deep inside of him that he could almost forget they existed when she wasn’t around but on the night of the United Nations party they just refused to go away.
Standing next to Thea on the roof, the cool air caressing both their faces as they looked up into the clear starry sky, it almost made him feel like anything was possible. And when she fixed her bright hazel eyes on him, nothing could be more true.
‘It was for Liam but you’re the one that brought me here,’ she was saying, taking a step closer to him.
The crushing weight of the last few weeks suddenly weighed upon him and he mused aloud, his tone bittersweet, if bringing her here was the right thing to do. Thea wouldn’t hear anything of it, shutting down his every rebuttal until he had no choice but to feel better – that was just one of the many things he’d loved about her.
It wasn’t until she was standing barely an arms distance away from him that he had an inkling that just maybe she would want this too?
Their mutual desire oscillated between them as she bravely ventured forward.
‘You’re more than a friend to me.’ Her lips formed beautifully around the words and Maxwell found himself unable to move his eyes from them.
He heard himself agree, his confession spilling from him involuntarily but somehow it just felt right. He couldn’t bring himself to actually believe all the things she was saying, all the things they were both saying, until Thea finally closed the distance between them, her lips pressing sweetly on his and he realised how much he’s desired this, desired her. The inbuilt instincts he’d lacked for the last decade or so finally kicked in, his arms moving up to hold her by themselves, his lips moving against hers of their own accord as everything he had been trying to push back finally broke through to the surface.
When she pulled away for breath, his brain was still reeling from what his lips had finally experienced and before words tumbled out before he could stop them. She looked shocked for a second and he panicked as his past experiences blared like sirens in his head.
But Thea shook her head, chuckling to herself, the very sound immediately calming his nerves and he joined in, the sense of frenzy immediately evaporating. That night Maxwell lay in his hotel bed dreaming of a reality where they could do that forever.
Five
Maxwell’s fifth kiss and probably the most memorable one was at another wedding.
His own wedding to be exact.
And it wasn’t his fifth kiss – He’s had lots of practice at it, thanks to Thea.
As soon as the doors opened and her lithe figure in a white dress was visible, he wanted nothing more than to run down the aisle and kiss her till she was breathless.
In fact he had taken an involuntary half step forward before Bertrand pointedly cleared his throat and he corrected his stance waiting politely until she reached the altar beside him. The urge to kiss her welled up again as he lifted the veil over her head and from the twinkle in her eye he could tell that she wanted to as well.
As the celebrant droned on behind him, Maxwell stared into Thea’s eyes, never breaking eye contact as they each recited their vows. Before the appropriate words could be spoken, Maxwell was already leaning forward, catching his in his arms before lowering his mouth to hers. He barely heard the amused twitters of the crowd at his enthusiasm, as he felt her smiling into the kiss.
In that moment, Maxwell agreed that of all the kisses he’d ever received, Thea was, by far, the person he’d want to kiss for the rest of his life.