When Theo was dating Zoe, he wasn’t able to volunteer his services to the infamous celibacy club kissing booth for obvious reasons. Once that relationship ended and Fauna Fabray approached him about donating his lips for a good cause, he had no reason to say no. This was his second and final year doing the kissing booth and if he was being honest, he kind of enjoyed the whole experience. On one hand it was flattering and on the other, money really was being raised for an important organization. It was a win win. Theo had chugged some emergen-c before the start of his shift, just in case someone with a common cold or something stopped by for a smooch, but so far? Things had been going pretty swimmingly. He’d locked lips with a couple of giddy sophomore girls and some senior guys, plus a whole host of people in between. He wasn’t exactly keeping track of time, so when Lemon Lopez-Pierce popped up at his side, he was surprised to see her. “Yooo,” he greeted with a wide smile, chuckling lightly at her question as he brought his hand up to his lips, “definitely getting there. You here to tap me out?” She didn’t need to answer for him to know that she was. He’d seen her name on the list of kissers right under his, so he figured.
Theo quickly flipped the sign on the booth to change it from ‘the kisser is in’ to ‘the kisser is out. be back in a few!’ which elicited several disappointed groans from the people still in line. Just as quickly, he was being tugged away from the booth towards a very nervous Lemon. “It’s not that bad,” he promised her, shrugging as he eyed the line, “most people will just give you like a three second peck.” From the way she was rambling, it was clear his words weren’t all that comforting. He chuckled a little bit at her fear that she’d be a bad kisser. “I’m willing to bet you’re not a bad kisser,” he told her as his gaze trailed down to her lips, “come on. I’ll show you.” Theo cleared his throat and dragged her back to the booth. He flipped the sign again to signal that the kisser was in and then he got in front of the first person in line. “Sorry, man,” he said to the guy, “I get priority. Employee benefit.” He shrugged at the impatient customer like his hands were absolutely tied before turning his attention back to Lemon. He tried to contain his bashful smile as he pulled out his wallet, fished out a five dollar bill, and put it in the donations bucket. “Alright, Lemon,” he said with a sigh as he bowed down to cross his arms over the booth counter and lean forward, “I’ll be your guinea pig. Plant one on me.”
Kissing new people was still a weird territory for Lemon. Prior to her and Trace’s relationship, she had kissed a few guys but being romantic and vulnerable was scary for Lemon, even if she did want to be a real life version of Elizabeth Bennett. But now she was single and working the kissing booth which meant she was destined to kiss at least one person tonight. Lemon began fanning her face lightly as Theo started talking. She actually thought she was going insane. Kissing people wasn’t a scary thing, but it was apparently Lemon’s only fear at the moment. “Three seconds. I can handle that,” she nodded, resting her hands on her hips as she glanced over to look at the line. It wasn’t a super long line and she hoped that’s all the people she’d have to kiss for the night, even if it was for charity. She knew she’d get used to it later in the week, but she was slightly apprehensive for the time being. When Theo offered to be her first kiss, the corners of her lips twitched slightly into a smile. It was slightly comforting that he was offering to be a practice round for her, but once her dragged her back over to the booth and stepped in front of her, her nerves were flying once again. Why was she so goddamn nervous? Oh yeah, probably because quarterback Theo Beiste was offering to give her a kiss for her own nerves and troubles. This would have been easier if Joey was her practice kiss. Her eyes watched as he shoved a five dollar bill into the tip jar and she chuckled lightly. “You know a kiss is only a dollar, right?” She knew he knew that but she was more than willing to tease him for a minute as she mirrored him by leaning against the counter of the booth. She chewed on her lip nervously and took a deep breath. Goddamn, Lemon, calm down. She was never good at making the first move, even if this was just for the sake of getting a buck. Lemon leaned in quickly, hoping the three second peck would go by quickly but it didn’t. Instead, Lemon may have made the mistake of actually kissing Theo. And it was awesome. Like, really awesome. Lemon could have sworn an actual fire ignited in her stomach and ran through her body so that it was completely engulfing her body and she didn’t hate it at all. After what felt like a lifetime, she pulled her lips away staring somewhat bashfully at Theo. “Thanks... I needed that.”
