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It wasn’t every year that a friend turned 18 and it wasn’t every year that Giorno was invited to a house party. He spent a good amount of time figuring out what was appropriate attire for such an occasion. Being under-dressed would mean social suicide while being overdressed would cause a lot of the attention to be on him when it wasn’t about him, he knew that much. This was Bruno’s day.
Giorno didn’t know what he expected but it definitely wasn’t a small gathering. Media always described these kinds of things as being wild, where every young person in town was present, but this was just, well, like every other day. Abbacchio answered the door and Giorno was met with a scene that was anything but unfamiliar. His friends filled the living room, there were snacks and a small pile of presents. Any nerves that Giorno had before he got there had fluttered away in an instant. There was no way anything awful or strange could happen if the setting was this normal.
He greeted Bruno with a present and a “happy birthday,” in which Bruno thanked him and offered a drink.
Giorno took his cup and walked over to Fugo and Narancia to ask where Mista was. It wasn’t that he was particularly concerned with where Mista was except that he was. He usually was, if he was going to be honest with himself. And even though they had all grown up together, Giorno still felt out of their league, which meant that even if Giorno had a chance, he was still too young to even think about getting anywhere with that. He wasn’t stupid.
Coincidentally, said boy is what jolted Giorno out of his thoughts. He had burst in, said his congratulations to Bruno and slung an arm around Giorno’s shoulders.
“Heeeey, what’s that in your cup, Giorno?” He took it, sniffing, then gave it back looking unsatisfied. “Where’s the wine, Bruno?” Giorno felt a little embarrassed seeing as he didn’t even think to ask for wine and be one of the big kids, but Mista looked like he was about to remedy that. Bruno walked over with a bottle and, eyeing Giorno, poured Mista a cupful. “Yeaaah, happy birthday to you!” And Mista took a swig.
Narancia, upon noticing then demanded his own cup and Fugo was forced to have a cup of it himself and by the time Giorno had finished his first large glass of wine, the bottle was empty and, as far as he could tell, the party was in full swing.
Two cups in and he found himself laughing out loud.
Three cups and he was being pushed from behind into a closet. It wasn’t until Mista was forced in right after him and the door was closed that his brain caught up to what was actually happening. Giorno had never had this much to drink and it was strange how slightly confused he had been since he started drinking. Did people actually get addicted to this slowness?
“Haha, oh man what do they expect us to do in here? I mean come on!” Mista’s laughter snaped Giorno out of his thoughts. “I can’t see shit…”
Giorno giggled slightly because Mista’s laughter was contagious and wow, how weird is it that they are both in this dark closet for apparently no reason?
Mista tried the doorknob and then banged on the door. “What the hell, guys? Hehe…” He hiccupped and Giorno laughed at that. Like guffawing laughter and Mista turned to him with wide eyes. “Wait…” He banged on the door harder. “Were you guys serious?”
There was laughing from the other side of the door.
“How the hell else do you think seven minutes in heaven is played, Mista? Haha!” Narancia cackled. Giorno stopped laughing then.
Right. The game. The alcohol really must have gotten to him if his attention span was so shortened that he couldn’t even realize why he was pushed into a closet until it was actually being explained to him. And also when it was too late.
“Dude, but…” Giorno could see the outline of Mista’s body and the brim of his hat as he turned back towards the younger boy. “That means kissing, right?” Giorno could even hear him gulp nervously. It was doing nothing for Giorno’s own nerves and there was only so much space for him to back away in.
Narancia sighs dramatically. “Of course it does, dumbass! What else would it mean?”
“Yeah, yeah lucky for Mista he gets to be in there with Pretty Giorno!” Was… Was that Abbacchio? Giorno’s eyebrows lowered at that. It didn’t sound like a compliment coming from him.
“Guys, this isn’t… It’s not funny!” Mista’s voice shook a little and it kind of hurt Giorno’s feelings. But he couldn’t deny it-- it wasn’t funny at all.
“Mista, you were the one that wanted to play this game.” Bruno’s muffled voice chimed in.
“Narancia suggested it!” Mista’s voice cracked.
“The sooner you start mackin’ on ‘im, the sooner you get out!” Narancia butted in and Mista sighed loudly. Giorno about had enough of this back-and-forth.
“Mista.” Mista reluctantly turned towards the blond. Their eyes had adjusted as much as they could in the dim light and Giorno could see how nervous the other looked. It was a lot on the painful side but that was to be expected. They were both guys after all, and no amount of prettiness Giorno seemed to have had would change that.
Giorno motioned for Mista to lean in and then grabbed his shoulder when he hesitated.
“Let’s just pretend we did it.”
“Giorno, that’s genius!” Mista let out a breathy laugh and Giorno tried to keep his cool. “But wait… how?”
“Well, we can either sit here quietly until the 7 minutes are up and hopefully they’ll think we did it or we can make some noises for the next 7 minutes and maybe they’ll believe us then.” Giorno paused. “Whichever is more believable, I’m not sure…”
“Wait, you’ve never kissed anyone before have you?” Mista sounded dumbfounded, which didn’t make any sense. Giorno was hardly in high school.
“N-no, I haven’t.” He shouldn’t have felt so much younger than Mista at that moment but he did. Mista was quiet for a moment before letting out a hardy chuckle and clapping a hand onto Giorno’s shoulder.
“Man, you were keeping your cool in here I was sure you had had experience…” Giorno shook his head, maybe Mista was able to see that through the darkness. They were rather close, all hunched over and whispering.
“How does he taste, Giorno? As bad as he smells? Haha!”
Mista’s hand gripped tighter on his shoulder and Giorno put his own hand on Mista’s shoulder.
“Ignore it.”
“I swear to fucking… What if we actually did it? What if we actually made out in here for 7 minutes and then came out and were like, ‘Yeah. We did it and it was great who’s next?’ That would show them.” The anger in his voice did something to Giorno that usually happened when he was this close to him. “Man, I’d love to see their faces…”
“Okay.” Giorno didn’t know what gave him the courage to close the small gap between them but before his brain could catch up with his actions again, his mouth was sloppily against Mista’s and his eyes were squeezed close. Mista’s hand gripped his shoulder even harder and everything went completely silent.
As far as first kisses go, Giorno couldn’t complain. Mista had nice, full lips. They were pretty soft considering his lifestyle. He didn’t push Giorno away or pull him closer, either. The only feeling Giorno got from it was the bridge of his nose tingling from how hard he was blushing. When Mista finally pulled away and breathed a very soft “whoa,” Giorno was able to breathe again, himself.
He glanced up at where he knew Mista’s face was before he lost confidence and his gaze flickered down.
“Guess they’re quiet.” He was finally able to choke out with as steady of a voice he could muster up at the time.
“Wh… What was?” Mista sounded lost and it was Giorno’s fault. He bit his lip to keep from letting out a groan of embarrassment.
“Kissing. It’s, it’s quiet. Now I know.” Giorno moved back and Mista’s hand pulled away from his shoulder.
There was another short silence. Giorno wanted to bust through the door himself. Anything but sit in here with someone who he cared a great deal for and this awkwardness that was probably going to ruin their friendship.
“I mean, you know… if you want to get technical…” Mista started, sounding nonchalant and catching Giorno off guard. “That wasn’t the kind of kissing you’re supposed to do in seven minutes in heaven…” Giorno could see Mista’s profile illuminated by the light coming in from the cracks around the door. He was pouting. Curious.
“That’s the only way I know how to kiss, Mista.” Something was catching inside Giorno and he suddenly felt a pump of adrenalin.
“Well, you know there are more ways, right?” Mista said, gruffly. Giorno smiled very slightly.
“Yes.”
“So?”
“That is the only one I can do.”
“Bullshit, everyone knows how to, like… what’s it? French… Or like an open-mouthed kiss… or…” His voice teetered off and it was very cute to Giorno. He smiled wider.
“I thought you needed to practice.”
“Hell no, I don’t practice and I’m the best at it! Don’t laugh, it’s true!”
“Shh! Sh… Keep your voice down or else they’ll know we’ve been discussing it.” Giorno let out a little giggle and Mista sat up straight.
“But you still don’t believe me.” He said in a serious manner. Giorno shook his head and laughed a little again. He usually didn’t laugh this much but the situation and the alcohol made controlling himself very difficult. “Alright, Einstein…”
Mista’s lips pressed against Giorno’s and he squeaked in surprise. Mista’s vice grip on both of his shoulders kind of hurt but as soon as the younger boy started to relax into the kiss, Mista’s hands slowly softened until they were in a comfortable position of not moving at all.
Giorno pulled away first. “How was that different than what I did?”
“You pulled away before I could start!”
“Shouldn’t you start right when we kiss?” Giorno tilted his head to the side. He was right, wasn’t he? That made the most sense to him, at least. But Mista was the expert so he had to make sure.
“Fine then, let’s try again!”
Mista leaned in slower this time. The anticipation was almost choking but when he finally made contact, Giorno decided to try moving his lips to see where that went. If he messed up, they could just try again until they got it right, right?
“Ngh!” Mista made a choking noise but didn’t pull away which meant, to Giorno at least, that he was just more surprised that his temporary pupil was taking initiative. Giorno opened his mouth a little and turned his head at an angle that he had seen other people do when they open-mouth kissed. Mista soon followed, tilting his head in the opposite direction and their teeth clicked. Giorno pulled away instantly to apologize.
“No, it’s fine… That… That happens sometimes. It didn’t hurt.”
“Yeah, me neither.”
Another long silence.
“S-so I guess you get it, now. You were, uh… pretty good.” Giorno inhaled sharply at that. “For a beginner.” Mista added with a tinge of superiority to his voice.
“Well, Practicing…” It was the only thing he could think of to say in response. His mind was too preoccupied in frantically remembering what Mista’s lips felt like against his.
“Yeah… Wait, did that make a sound to you?”
“Hm? The kissing? I don’t know, I wasn’t paying attention.” How could he when there were more important things at hand?
“Shit, that was the reason we started this, Giorno. Augh… Now we’re gonna have to…”
“Whatever gets us out of this closet. It’s starting to get stuffy.” Because maybe if Giorno acted like it wasn’t the biggest deal of his life, he might get to do it with Mista again.
“Alright, once more. But pay attention this time.”
When they kissed this time, Giorno’s head was already at the best angle and his lips were parted and it took Mista by surprise because he was actually learning and, wow, getting a lot better each time. Their lips melded together and when they pulled back a little, there was a small smacking sound that Giorno made sure to note. Immediately, their lips return to each other and this repeated until Mista broke away to take a breath but his face stayed close to Giorno’s.
“It’s probably good to remember to breathe…” His forehead rested against Giorno's, and Giorno nodded slightly, taking note of that, too. “I think you get the idea how kissing really goes… Good, uh… Good job. We’ve probably been in here for at least 7 minutes by now… they gotta let us out.”
They fell into another silent spell and Giorno was sure Mista could hear his heart pounding in his chest.
“Fuck!” Mista broke the silence ceremoniously. “How many times did kiss?” Mista grabbed Giorno’s shoulders again and shook him slightly.
“My memory is a little hazy but I believe it was four times.” Giorno didn’t need to see the expression on his friend’s face to know that he looked mortified and that meant changing the number of kisses to be anything but 4.
Giorno suggested kissing again to make it 5 times and Mista thanked him and leaned in. This time, Giorno decided that breathing and awkwardness are not going to stop them. He made sure to breathe through his nose, his hands started at Mista’s shoulders. He moved them down Mista’s chest and felt the muscles tighten and relax. He figured if Mista didn’t like this-- if it was too intimate-- he would stop Giorno. But he didn’t and as soon as Giorno’s hands smoothed around Mista’s sides to rest on his hips, Mista grunted and pushed Giorno against the wall. Something like a broomstick fell and hit the adjacent wall in the process but Mista’s hands were all over Giorno, like a dam had finally ruptured and the water was engulfing them. Mista’s tongue had jut out and touched Giorno’s but he only recoiled for a second before he licked back. Mista let out another low moan and Giorno’s back involuntarily arched in response.
Mista’s mouth pulled away for a moment so he could kiss Giorno’s cheek, then his jaw, then his neck and this was more than Giorno could ask for. His head rolled back and he let out a breath which made Mista hug him close, breathing into his shoulder.
“Shit, sorry… I don’t…”
“It’s okay.”
“No, like that was fucked up of me getting all…” Mista groaned, probably more angry at himself for getting out of control than angry at the fact he was kissing a boy and not a cute girl.
“It’s fine.”
“Sorry.”
Truth be told, Giorno was internally freaking out. Not only was that everything he could have hoped for, and more, his pants were getting tight and he didn’t need Mista seeing that and commenting on it. Though with the way bodies worked, Giorno would not be surprised if Mista was feeling the same way.
There was no way this would be something they brushed under the rug and never talked about again.
Giorno tilted his head to the side to try to get a better look at Mista’s face in the dark. His arms were still tightly around the other’s and his breathing was labored. Giorno let himself smile and placed his lips to the other’s ear, Mista’s cap pushed up his head a little.
“I promise you, it’s okay.” Giorno pulled back a little, then changed his mind and added, “Guido.”
It was at that moment that the door flung open and a bright flash filled the small closet as Narancia snapped a picture.
Giorno will never forget the look on Mista’s face, or that specific shade of red.