Five Sweet Kisses

Their first kiss was a total accident.

Raj had leant over to feed Stuart a bite of one of his freshly baked cinnamon cupcakes. Stuart had moved his legs at the last second and Raj went toppling into him. He wasn't sure how it happened, but when Stuart leant out to catch him their lips collided.

For a second they sat in silence, each becoming increasingly aware of the others hot breaths and parted lips, before slowly breaking apart.

They told no one.

Their second kiss was less of an accident.

Date night with the other couples, Stuart and Raj got drunk, exceedingly drunk. Wobbling home in each other's arms and stumbling into Raj's apartment, they repetitively lamented on their lack of dating success. Doleful and lonely Raj began to cry, fat drunken tears; the kind of uncontained sobbing that only comes out when you're sloshed. Leaning over to comfort him Stuart caught one of the tears from his eyes and wiped it away, before leaning in to kiss him gently. An uninhibited Raj kissed back as if he was giving birth and Stuart's mouth contained gas and air.

It was sloppy and wet. Neither of them remembered it the next morning.

The third kiss was a dare from Penny.

Three seconds she had stipulated. They had to be jostled and egged into doing it, with Sheldon complaining that such low-grade bodily functions made the game boring and that they should be asked to alphabetically recite the periodic table instead. In the end Penny held them together, begging them to kiss, at the very least to make Sheldon stop talking. It was slow and tentative, a hesitancy overcoming both of them, as Raj's hands reached up to cup Stuarts face before gently entwining in his hair.

It ended up lasting ten seconds.

Their fourth kiss was a little different.

It started with a fight. Stuart had criticized the consistency of Raj's crème brûlée, who in turn gave him the silent treatment for the rest of the evening and was later discovered curled up on his bed with a large carton of Ben and Jerry's watching reruns of 'Gilmore Girls'. When Stuart tried to confront him, this turned into a rather emasculating brawl with the two slapping each other's hands; faces protectively turned away, until they collapsed from exhaustion on the bed.

Raj lay on top of Stuart panting, his face planted in the other man's chest as he recovered. Stuart could feel each rasping breath hot against his chest and without thinking he placed his hand softly on Raj's chin, tracing his fingers over the skin, before slowly tilting it up so that their eyes met. At first there was silence, the air growing increasingly hot and thick, their faces drawing slowly closer until the distance between then became unbearable. Then they jumped at each other.

Burning and desperate, tearing off each other's clothes, frantic for the release.

The next day Raj tried to explain to Howard why he was hobbling.

Their fifth kiss was under the mistletoe.

Raj had been the one to point it out, hesitating only a little before he leant in. The kiss was long and warm, their bodies pressed together with comfort and familiarity.

It was followed by two confessions.

"Stuart…," "I love you."

"Raj…that time with the cupcakes…I tripped you on purpose."

In the end they meant the same thing.