Keith was abashed but Joss was right. He had been bottling things up again when he said he would work with her. 

She was a marriage and family therapist for crying out loud! Of course she would see all the bad things about relationships and how they could fall apart. Of course she would want him to do the things her professional training dictated to have healthy relationships. 

He was still trying to think of a response when she added, “You’re not the only one at fault here. I didn’t want to rock the boat either. We both need to be better about telling each other things. I should start by telling you that I love you. 

“I’ve never been in any sort of relationship before and I don’t know what I’m doing but I truly do love you with all my heart. I didn’t think such a thing was possible for me but here I am. I want to be with you, for you to have better self-esteem, and for you to kiss me more often. Your turn.”

Keith was stunned. She was in love with him?! And how could she say she wanted him to kiss her more often with such a straight face?

That was such a Joss thing to do. She really knew how to pack a punch with her words. He couldn’t help it and burst out laughing. He tried to get a hold of himself because he was worried about offending her but when he glanced over she was eyeing him curiously but not with annoyance. He should have known. 

She wasn’t the type to get angry about that sort of thing. She was curious about people’s reactions to things rather than taking them personally. 

“Did I say something strange?” Joss asked. 

Keith grinned at her before hugging her tightly. “Not at all. Your straightforwardness is cute, that’s all. For the record, I love you too. So much. I can most definitely kiss you more often.”

“And tell me what you want?”

What he wanted was more complicated than what she did. Telling her about his far-off dreams seemed like it would be rushing things considering he wasn’t exactly her boyfriend. He could hold onto those until they got closer. It wasn’t like he would be able to afford to move for quite some time anyway. He would need to start working as a firefighter first. 

He could tell her what he wanted on a shorter term basis for now and get to that later. “I want to be your boyfriend and have all the privileges that entails. I’d also like to see you every day on an indefinite basis but I know that’s not exactly realistic with our schedules once we’re done with the snow cone shack.”

Joss’s painting classes were on hold until the fall since the first session ended and she was waiting to sign up for the next one because they conflicted with the snow cone shack hours. They had been seeing each other every day for the time being but he knew that wouldn’t last much longer. Especially once he passed his firefighter exams and most likely had graveyard shifts as a newbie. 

Would he ever see her that way? He honestly wasn’t sure and didn’t like the sound of that at all. 

She smiled at him so warmly that his heart flipped in his chest. “I’m sure we can figure something out. I prefer seeing you every day too.” 

“So…am I your boyfriend or not?” Keith asked sheepishly. 

“Yes, Keith, you’re my boyfriend.”

Joss briefly kissed him before entwining his fingers in hers and pulling him toward the subway station. He was confused why she wanted to get there so fast at first until he realized that she got two tickets toward Manhattan. 

Something in his chest tightened. Oh. She was bringing him back to her place this late. He had said he wanted all the privileges being her boyfriend entailed but hadn’t expected her to do anything about it so soon! They had been officially dating for less than ten minutes!

She acted like everything was normal and chatted about nothing of real importance all the way back to her apartment. When they got there she took off her brace and rubbed her knee before looking up at him with a smile. 

“Go ahead and make yourself at home. I figured it would be easier for you to stay here tonight and we can go get you some new clothes on the way to the park in the morning. I have an extra toothbrush somewhere,” she said as if this was the sort of thing that happened all the time. 

Joss did have a full-sized bed so technically there was room for him, unlike at his apartment since he only had a twin. It would be a bit of a squeeze but he didn’t mind in the slightest. 

The problem here was that he had no idea what he was doing either and didn’t want to disappoint her. She was an understanding person. He shouldn’t be worrying about this. She knew he had never had a girlfriend and that this was new territory for both of them. Everything should be fine!

Keith stood there somewhat awkwardly after taking his shoes off because he didn’t know what he was supposed to do now. Should he make the first move? Did he need to ask first? She had said she wanted him to kiss her more. 

“Keith, breathe. I’m not going to eat you,” Joss said when she realized he was internally panicking. 

“I can’t imagine you eating anyone.”

“You know what I meant.” 

He cracked a smile. “Yeah, I do. Sorry. I’ve just never done this before.” 

“You kiss me all the time.” 

Keith furrowed his brow at her. “…I honestly can’t tell if you’re teasing me or if you’re the most innocent person on the planet. Which is it, Joss?” 

He got his answer when she snorted and grinned at him. “I’m definitely teasing you. You can’t make it twenty-eight years in this world without knowing what it means to invite a guy over to stay the night.”

“You’re terrible.”

“So you can dish it but you can’t take it?”

Keith didn’t have an argument for that. He teased her all the time though never quite like this. He was surprised she was reciprocating more than usual but that was probably a good thing overall, wasn’t it? It meant she was comfortable with him and starting to figure out more about her personality. Though he did wonder if he had been a bad influence on her somehow. 

“Apparently so. Just get over here and kiss me,” he sighed. 

Joss’s eyes sparkled and she laughed as she crossed the room and wrapped her arms around his neck. She had certainly never done that before! Where did she even learn that? She had only ever pecked him on the lips. 

Keith supposed it was as she said. There were certain things you couldn’t live in the world without knowing no matter how inexperienced you were. And she had been watching a lot of TV while recovering. She might have gotten it from there. 

Hang on, was she seriously two and a half years older than him?! No wonder she seemed so much more mature!

He would have to file that away for later because a few kisses in his brain was focused on nothing but the way her lips felt and the fact that this was so, so much better than what they had been doing before. They really should have done this sooner. 

Unfortunately, Keith wasn’t used to being up in a loft and ended up whacking his head on the ceiling, which kind of killed the mood. Joss was horrified and apologetic but all he could do was crack up because of how ridiculous the situation was. She joined in once she realized he was okay. 

“I’m sorry I live in a shoebox,” Joss sighed as she kissed the top of his head to make it feel better. 

Her arms were around him and his face was pressed into her shoulder. He didn’t mind one bit. As long as he was careful about not hitting his head again he could get used to having to be so close together when they were up here. 

“Don’t be. It’s not your fault I hit my head,” Keith said reasonably. 

“Would your place work better next time?”

“Are you kidding me? I have five roommates and share a room with one. You may live in a shoebox but at least it’s YOUR shoebox.”

“I suppose that’s true. Still, I’m sorry,” Joss said apologetically. “Is your head feeling any better?”

“My head is fine. I’ve taken much worse hits, believe me.”

“Oh, I do. One of the many hazards of being a hero. That’s one part of it I certainly don’t miss. I do prefer being retired most of the time now that I have you but Mercury was right.. Sometimes you feel like you’re supposed to be out there helping people who need you and feel guilty. Do you ever feel like that?”