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Shortly after Kris turned eleven, his mother sat him down to explain a few things about how their family was, well, different from most.
“What do you mean, anyone I kiss will be forced to fall in love with me?” Kris’s voice cracked which normally would have mortified him but in this case, he felt that maybe just this time it was excusable.
“Not anyone,” his mother clarified, “just men.”
“That’s sexist,” Kris said, crossing his arms disapprovingly.
“It is a bit,” his mother agreed. “But you know how fairytale curses are.”
“But fairytales aren’t supposed to be real!” Kris insisted.
“Most aren’t but a few are - and our family curse is one of them,” his mother gently explained. “So you need to be careful around boys and don’t kiss them.”
“Well, that’s alright then,” Kris relaxed, mollified. “Because I don’t have any interest in kissing anyone but especially not any boys.”
“Of course not, dear,” his mother nodded, a knowing glint in her eye. “I just wanted you to be aware so you can keep your guard up.”
“I guess that makes sense,” Kris nodded. “I’ll be on the look out and not let any boys kiss me.”
“Or be sure they really love you first before you let them,” his mother said, cutting off his protest with, “that’s why I made sure of your father’s feelings before I ever let him kiss me - so I would know that what he felt was real and not just because of the curse.”
“Yeah, but that’s different - you actually wanted a boy to kiss you,” Kris pointed out, wrinkling his nose in disgust.
“That’s true,” his mother agreed, ruffling his hair. “Just - be careful, alright?”
“Yes, mama - I won’t let any boys kiss me,” Kris promised, rolling his eyes.
~~~~~
Kris had successfully avoided being kissed by a boy in the seven years since that conversation when one party caused everything to come crashing down. Keeping in mind the spirit of the curse, Kris had stuck to exclusively dating girls and for the most part, he was content with them. He did find himself occasionally watching boys and wondering what it might be like to kiss one but for the most part, he recognized the risk just wasn’t worth the reward for him.
And then he’d met Bojan Cvjetićanin.
Later, he’d say he should have known what would happen - no one had that strong of feelings for someone they were capable of only disliking, after all - but Kris was oblivious until it was nearly too late. They’d orbited one another in some form or fashion for four years, their relationship evolving from antagonistic to friends to bandmates over the years and by adulthood, he couldn’t imagine his life without the singer in it.
Bojan had insisted Kris deserved a grand party for his eighteenth birthday - which in Bojan terms meant lots of alcohol and pretty girls to flirt with. Kris being currently between relationships had agreed and late that Saturday evening saw him at Bojan and Martin’s apartment being pulled into a circle of mostly girls and a few boys - Bojan included - for a game of spin the bottle. The first several spins saw a few of the girls kissing one another to the cheers of the boys but eventually, one of the girls landed on the first boy of the group - and of course it was Kris. He gave her a light peck to the teasing of the others then took his turn at the bottle. It seemed to spin for ages, Kris’s horror growing when he realized it was slowing to stop on Bojan.
“No,” he insisted immediately, crossing his arms.
“No?” Bojan echoed, sounding incredibly offended. “Who wouldn’t want to kiss me?” he asked, drawing laughter from the group.
“Me,” Kris said.
“Why not?” Bojan demanded.
“Because I don’t kiss boys,” Kris informed him.
“Oh come on, Guštin!” one of the other boys taunted. “Afraid it’ll turn you gay?”
Kris rolled his eyes, refusing to rise to the bait “No - I just don’t think he’ll be any good at it and I don’t want a bad kiss on my birthday.” The rest of the group ooh’d and teased Bojan but didn’t push the point, to Kris’s relief. “I’ll just spin again.”
He’d just started to reach for the bottle when Bojan’s hand shot out and grabbed his wrist. The older boy gave him a tug, pulling Kris into the circle and planting a brief kiss on his mouth. Kris recoiled immediately, a look of horror on his face as he studied him for signs he’d been affected by the curse.
“What?” Bojan demanded, getting more pissed off when Kris didn’t immediately reply. “Oh come on! It wasn’t that bad!”
Kris swore to himself that he would never in a million years admit to the way the kiss had made his lips tingle or his heart rate shoot up - that was just a side effect of the curse taking effect, obviously. Except it didn’t actually seem to be working, at least not on Bojan. He wasn’t throwing himself at Kris or professing his undying love or any of the other reactions Kris had come to expect. Instead, Bojan had an outburst and then with the rest of the group stared expectantly at him, waiting for a response. Kris wasn’t one to disappoint with a lack of drama - he ran.
Kris slammed the door behind him when he got home, his mother appearing almost immediately to see what the commotion was about. Her look of irritation turned to worry at the state of her child and she rushed over, enveloping him in a hug as he broke down in tears. “I’m sorry,” he eventually managed. “I messed up. I really messed up.”
“Shh,” she soothed, petting his hair. “There’s nothing you could have done that we can’t handle, I promise. Will you come with me to sit and talk through whatever it is?” He nodded his head and let her steer him to the sofa. Once he’d caught his breath a bit more, she gently prodded, “Now, can you tell me what’s going on? Because you look like your world is falling apart and you don’t seem to have even noticed your phone hasn’t stopped ringing since you got here.”
Kris pulled out his phone, immediately hitting the button to deny the call when he saw Bojan Cvjetićanin lighting up his screen. It immediately started ringing again so he switched it off, not realizing how badly his hands were shaking until he mother covered them, gently removing his phone from his grip.
“Did you two have a fight?” She asked, rubbing his back. He shook his head. “Did something else happen?” He nodded. “Can you tell me about it?”
Kris hesitated, embarrassed to admit what had occurred but he knew that if there was anyone on the planet who could help him in this situation, it was his mother. “We… we were playing a game. For my birthday. Spin the bottle,” he admitted, turning red from embarrassment. “It was my turn to spin and it- it landed-“ he swallowed hard. “It landed on Bojan. I didn’t want to kiss him,” he insisted desperately. “I tried to respin but he just - he grabbed me and then… and then he kissed me!”
“Did that boy force himself on you?” his mother demanded, jaw clenched and gaze steely. “If he did I will-“
“No!” Kris exclaimed, clutching her arm. “It’s not - I didn’t - the kiss was… fine…” his blush deepened. “That’s, um, that’s not the problem…”
“Then what is?” she asked, brushing a strand of his hair back out of his eyes.
“It’s - he kissed me and now he’s going to fall in love with me because of the stupid curse and it’s going to ruin everything!” he broke down in tears again and his mother gathered him close.
“Oh, honey,” she soothed. “I don’t think you need to worry about that.”
“Why not?” he demanded, pulling away. “You said we’re cursed - was that just… just some lie to keep me from kissing boys?”
“Oh, sweetheart, no - the curse is very real,” she assured him. “But do you remember when I told you it doesn’t work on people who already love you?”
“So what - I can kiss my friends because we love each other?” he asked, confused. “That doesn’t seem like it’d be a loophole.”
“It’s not,” his mother told him gently. “It only fails if the person is already in love with you.” She let that sink in for a few minutes, suggesting at his continued confusion, “I think you need to go talk to Bojan.”
“I can’t talk to him right now!” Kris insisted, nearly hysterical. “What am I supposed to tell him, that-“ he was interrupted by a loud knock on their door. “Please don’t answer that,” he begged, immediately knowing who was outside.
“This is for your own good,” his mother insisted, pulling her hand away from him and going to the door.
“Kris!” Kris huddled down into the sofa at the sound of Bojan’s voice. “I- I’m sorry, Mrs Guštin,” the older boy apologized, audibly pulling himself together. “I was looking for Kris - is he by chance here and available to talk?”
“Hi, Bojan. He is - he’s just inside on the sofa. I think you two have a lot to talk about,” his mother said, stepping aside.
“I - um, thank you,” Bojan stuttered, coming inside. He made a point of hanging up his jacket and toeing off his shoes before asking her, “C-can we have some privacy?”
“Of course, sweetheart,” she smiled and patted his cheek. “The others are out at a movie and won’t be home for at least an hour. I’ll be upstairs sorting laundry - just let me know if either of you need anything.”
“Uh, sure - thanks,” Bojan nodded, waiting until she’d disappeared to turn towards the living room. “Oh, Kris,” he breathed, hurrying over at the sight of him. He stopped just before throwing himself at the taller boy and Kris found he missed their normal level of contact. “I’m so, so sorry,” he started. “You said you didn’t want to kiss me and then I forced you to and I’ll understand if you hate me and never want to see me again.” Tears welled up in his eyes as he spoke. “It was wrong of me to push my feelings on you like that and I’m sorry for taking advantage of the situation. I just -“
“You didn’t,” Kris said softly.
“I didn’t what?” Bojan asked, faltering at the interruption.
“You didn’t push your feelings on me - because they’re not really your feelings, Bojan,” he hurried to explain when the other started to look hopeful. “I - my family- this sounds so silly but you deserve to know.”
“Know what?” Bojan reached out and took his hand, giving it a firm squeeze when Kris tried to pull away. “You can tell me anything, Krisko - you’re one of my best friends.”
“My family is cursed,” he blurted out, looking down so he didn’t have to meet his eyes.
“Can you explain to me a little more what you mean by that?” Bojan coaxed, rubbing his thumb across the back of his hand.
“That!” Kris exclaimed, jerking his hand back. Bojan let him this time, frowning at his reaction. “You wanting to touch me and-“
“Kris, I always want to touch you,” Bojan said bluntly. “I always have wanted to touch you which is why I do whenever I can. Why… why is it a problem suddenly?”
“Because now you don’t really want to - you only do because you think you’re in love with me!” Kris exclaimed.
They both fell silent, the only noise in the room Kris’s rapid breathing. Eventually Bojan pulled his hand back, looking absolutely devastated as he murmured, “so you knew. Was that - was that you trying to be kind and let me down? Playing it off as you thought it’d be a bad kiss, not because you just never wanted to kiss me?”
“You were never the problem,” Kris desperately insisted. “It’s me, I-“
“It’s not you, it’s me - is that what you’re going to say? Because if so, spare me.” Bojan started to stand but this time it was Kris who reached out to grab him.
“Please,” the younger begged. “Please let me finish.” Bojan sat back down with a nod, glancing down at their hands but not trying to remove his again. “Thank you,” Kris said, taking a deep breath before continuing. “This is going to sound absolutely crazy but I promise you it’s all true. You can go ask my mom if you don’t believe me - she has the same condition.”
“Condition?” Bojan interrupted, suddenly worried. “Are you sick?”
“Not sick, just - cursed. Like in a fairytale.” Bojan rolled his eyes but turned serious again at the other’s expression. “Some fairytales are real and some families really are cursed. Mine is one of them.”
Kris paused, expecting to be laughed at. Instead, Bojan just asked, “and what’s your curse then?”
“We - I make people fall in love with me,” Kris looked up to meet his eyes at Bojan’s gasp. “Not just whenever I feel like it or something. It’s very specific - any guy who kisses me will fall in love with me.”
“Any guy? But not girl?” Bojan asked. At Kris’s nod, he grumbled, “that seems pretty sexist.”
Kris burst into laughter to Bojan’s bemusement. When he’d calmed enough to speak again, he told him, “that’s exactly what I said when my mom told me about the curse.”
“Okay, so you can make guys fall in love with you and - what, you think you made me fall in love with you because I kissed you and that’s why I’m here?” Bojan asked.
“I mean, isn’t it?” Kris asked.
“Does it only work after the guy has kissed you?” Bojan asked. Kris nodded and the singer relaxed. “Well, there you have it then!”
“I know,” Kris said miserably. “I’m so sorry I-“
“Kris, you’re an idiot,” Bojan told him, laughing at the offended look the other shot him. “I didn’t come here because I’m in love with you. Well,” he clarified. “I didn’t come here because kissing you made me fall in love with you. Don’t these things usually have some kind of loophole, anyway?”
“Yeah,” Kris nodded. “It doesn’t work if the person is already in lo-“ he froze, eyes darting up to meet Bojan’s open and affectionate smile as it finally clicked what he and his mother had been trying to tell him all along.
“Do you see now why you didn’t have to worry about some silly curse making me-“ It was Kris’s turn to interrupt the other with action as he threw himself at the older boy, their mouths meeting in a clash of teeth and apologies.
“I’m sorry, I-“
“Don’t ever apologize for kissing me,” Bojan said, cutting him off with a peck.
“Alright but that’s two bad kisses in a row,” Kris mused. Bojan started to protest that the first kiss had not in actuality been bad but Kris continued on. “I guess we’ll just have to keep practicing until we’re better at it.”
“As you wish,” Bojan grinned and leaned in to capture his lips again.