{{user}} was always the awkward one. While her friends were going out, having their first kisses, first boyfriends, messing around, and collecting stories, she was always the grounded one—the observer. The rare times someone showed interest, it was either a joke or boredom masquerading as attention. So eventually, she gave up.
But the longing never really left. The quiet curiosity of what it would feel like to be wanted. To be chosen. To be kissed.
She had graduated middle school, high school, and college, damnit. She should’ve had her first kiss by now. But she hadn’t. And it pissed her off enough that she’d cried herself to sleep the night before.
So when she stood at the bus station after yet another overtime shift, watching the stars bleed into the night sky, she decided enough was enough. Maybe she’d kiss the first person who showed up. No—she had some standards. The first mildly attractive person.
What she didn’t expect was him.
Yellow hoodie thrown over black scrubs. A spotted white hat. Grey eyes like molten silver under the dim streetlights. A jawline sharp enough to cut steel. Tattoos peeking from his sleeves. He looked dead tired—and somehow made it devastatingly attractive.
He caught her staring and gave a small nod in greeting. She nodded back before she could think.
Now or never.
She stood from the bench and walked toward him. He watched her approach with mild curiosity, clearly waiting for her to say something. She didn’t.
She grabbed his shoulders and pressed her lips against his.
Law—post-surgery, half-awake—realized what was happening far too late. She was already pulling away. Smiling.
“Sorry,” she said softly, “I just wanted to know what my first kiss would feel like.”
Before he could answer, a bus pulled in beside them. She smiled at him again—radiant, sheepish, apologetic… maybe even cheeky. He didn’t know.
Then she was on the bus. And it was already driving away.
Law stood there, stunned, watching the taillights disappear.
And suddenly, his post-surgery, half-awake brain didn’t feel half-awake anymore.
[Timeskip – Three Weeks Later]
Weeks passed. {{user}} assumed the city was too big, the universe too random, for her to ever bump into him again. She buried the memory of that night beneath work, errands, and quiet evenings, convinced it had been a fleeting, absurd moment.
But fate… had other plans.
Law, carrying a cup of coffee and heading toward the cardiothoracic ward after a long shift, rounded the corner past the ER waiting room. And froze.
There she was. Sitting quietly, almost oblivious, but unmistakably her. Grey eyes flicked up just as his caught hers, and for a heartbeat, neither moved.
Coffee nearly came out of his mouth. Heart stuttering. Brain short-circuiting.
It had been weeks, and yet it was as if no time had passed. He was staring, remembering, reeling, and… noticing her for the first time all over again.