The kiss

The lights shone down on the couple.  She looked up at him, her expression a mixture of shyness, apprehension, and excitement.  His face held somewhat less emotion, but there was still a sense of anticipation evident.    Her eyes gleamed in the light as she leaned forward.

He reached up and gently cupped her face in his hands.  Her hands, after a moment's hesitation as she tried to think of a place to rest them, came to sit softly at his waist.  He grinned briefly, slightly tickled by her touch, but tried to compose his expression to a more appropriately serious one.

She smiled back, still looking apprehensive, but less so than she had a moment before.  Briefly, she wondered if she should have brushed her teeth again, but dismissed the thought - it was certainly too late now.  

He leaned towards her, and time seemed to slow down.  He was aware of the softness of her cheeks beneath his thumbs, and she could smell the spiciness of his cologne.  Involuntarily, her eyes closed.  Their lips made contact, softly at first, tentatively, then more firmly.  Finally, both the man and the woman relaxed, letting themselves drift apart.

She opened her eyes and looked up at him, half-expecting some sort of change in his expression, or perhaps a change in the way she saw him.  He was the same, though, if a bit less tense than he had been a few moments earlier.  He let his hands slide down from her face, following the line of her arms until he held her hands in his.  He gave them a slight squeeze, and she smiled again.

As one, they turned towards the audience, enjoying the sound of the growing applause much more than either of them had enjoyed the kiss.