Need a drink? - [Male OC X Ford Pines] - Complete

2: First Kiss

I held the bag of frozen peas to my right eye in an effort to keep it from swelling as I tried not to cry.

"Hey!" Stan's voice yelled from the street level.

"I don't feel like hanging out today, Stan," I called back.

"Are you sure?" Ford's voice called back.

I looked down the fire escape to see the twins and sighed. While Stan was easier to ignore, Ford was my best friend. "I'll be down in a minute!" I climbed back through my bedroom window and went through the apartment, abandoning the peas on the counter. "I'm going to hangout with the Pines!" I yelled to my mom before rushing through the door.

"Woof," Stan said when he saw me. "What happened to you?"

"Some bullies beat me up," I admitted. "But you should see them," I laughed.

"Why'd they do that?" Ford asked. "You're, like, the coolest guy in the ninth grade?"

"I brought cookies for the teachers today and they didn't think a boy should be able to cook," I said. "So I showed 'em that just 'cause I can cook don't mean I can't fight. So I'm suspended until Tuesday but mom doesn't really care. She says everyone should be able to do both so she's putting me in boxing with you guys."

"Well one day you'll be the best cook in New Jersey," Stan said.

"Probably," I said with a chuckle. "Let's go to the beach and work on the Stan O' War for a while, huh?"

"Yes!" Stan pumped his fist in the air. "Last one there is a dead squirrel!" He ran ahead towards the beach. While normally I was more than happy to run along with my friends, I didn't run because of my bruises. I was sore from the beating I took.

Ford hung back with me, ringing his hands like he was nervous. "You didn't win that fight, did you?"

I hung my head. "No. I just didn't want Stan getting all worked up since he just got off in school suspension for fighting." I pulled an old, rough-around-the-edges rainbow colored picture of a restaurant from my pocket and looked at the big letters reading "James' Place". I sighed as I looked at it. "I give up. I'll learn a trade or something instead." I crumpled the paper.

"What? No!" Ford said. "You can't do that! You've got a whole plan!"

"What's the point?" I asked dropping the paper on the side walk. "All I ever get is beat up for it. I'll be a mechanic like .y dad or ride on the Stan O' War with you guys..."

Ford grabbed the paper. "Don't throw away your dreams, James!"

"I'm nothing better than a short order cook and I was a fool for believing I could ever own my own bar and restaurant."

"No you're not!" Ford yelled at me, snapping my attention back to him. He smoothed the paper and pulled a pen from his pocket. He wrote something on the paper.

"What are you-"

"There," he interrupted. "Now you can't give up. Now if you give up on this, you give up on my dream too." He forced the paper back in my hand.

I looked to see in black ink it now read "and Ford's". I smiled and felt my cheeks blush. I knew I wasn't supposed to feel like that about Ford but he gave me butterflies sometimes. "You're right. Thanks for knocking some sense into me, Ford. I needed it."

I spotted Ford's cheeks go pink too as he looked away from me. "Don't mention it to Stan. He'll call me a girl or something."

"I won't," I said, folding the paper and putting it back in my pocket. We turned the corner towards the beach and I could see Stan silhouetted on top of the twins' run down boat.

Ford pulled me closer to the building by my wrist. I looked around figuring I hadn't heard a car coming or something but found the street deserted.

"Don't mention this either," Ford said before pressing his lips to mine.

In surprise, I pulled away. "Ford..." I touched my lips where I could still feel his and looked around. The street and surrounding fire escapes were still empty. I sighed. "You can't just do that, Sixer."

"I'm sorry," Ford said as red as a tomato. "I'm so stupid. Of course you don't feel like that about me. You're a boy and it's wrong. I'm sor-"

I cut him off by pressing my lips to his again. I pulled away slowly. "We could be in big trouble if someone saw us. I do like you that way, Stanford, but it's not legal to do that kind of stuff."

"I know," Ford said, rubbing his neck. "That's why I waited until no one was around."

"We can talk about it more later, Sixer," I said. "Right now, Stan is waiting on us."

Ford nodded quietly. "Really, really don't mention that to Stan."

"Hey," I smiled. "I really liked the kiss. Just don't surprise me next time."

Ford smiled sheepishly as red finally left his face. "There's gonna be a next time?"

I chuckled awkwardly. "Yeah. If... if you want there to be and nobody else is around."

"Yes," Ford said quietly.

We quickly caught up with Stan. "You're both dead squirrels."