Slowly, he leans forward to press his lips against mine, and fireworks explode inside of me. He puts his hands on my back, and I grab the back of his neck, feeling longing I’ve never felt before. He holds me as though he never wants to let go, kisses me as though the world is about to end.

Whenever I imagined my first kiss, it was always a big musical moment: the swell of an orchestra in the background and the soft glow of the stage lights. It was powerful, dramatic—stage-worthy. But this is nothing like that. This moment feels intimate, like the curtain has been drawn, and Adam and I are the only two people left on the stage, the only two people left in the world. All that really, truly matters is the feeling of his lips on mine, and the pulse in my veins, and the sparks of the fireworks that are still booming in my chest, filling every corner of my body with light.

When we finally separate, the fireworks die out instantly. I swallow hard, remembering where we are, how we got here, what’s happening outside of the walls of this dressing room.

“How are you feeling?” he asks me. He must’ve sensed the way my body went still.

“I’m great,” I say. “It’s just that… there’s so much going on with my parents, and my sister, and—”

“Matt,” Adam says. “It’s okay.”

“No, it isn’t. Everything is just up in the air, and I don’t know if now’s the right time to—”

“You don’t have to do it alone,” he says, looking into my eyes. “We can take things as slow as you want, but I wanna be there for you.”

I forget what I was going to say. Suddenly, I can’t think of any good reasons why we shouldn’t give this a try. As quickly as they appeared, all of my doubts go away.

“Come on,” he says to me, slipping his hand into mine. “They’re probably waiting for us to cut the cake.”

“But I thought you wanted to change out of your costume.”

“Ah, it’s okay.”

He tightens his grip on my hand and leads the way out of the dressing room. As we walk back toward the voices, toward the action, fireworks start exploding inside of me again.

We step out onto the stage, and people start cheering as soon as they see Adam. While flash lights go off and loud voices fill my ears, I have to remind myself that this is real. I’m here, and so is he. We really kissed. He’s really holding my hand. And even though everyone’s eyes are on us, he doesn’t let go of me, not even for a second.

Among all the noise, I hear Kimmie calling my name somewhere nearby. “Matt! Adam!”