That made her laugh. "Have you seen the standard of boys at our school? Jeez, I'd rather be a lesbian than date any of them." I immediately had thoughts that made her shove me. "Typical guy. I'm not a lesbian, Mark."
"Modern age and all, Amy. I'd accept you no matter what."
She fell silent for a couple of minutes though didn't miss her chewing her bottom lip. "Mark... I want you to be my first kiss. You're my best friend, my cousin, and I love you to bits."
"I love you too, Amy."
"I know," she said softly, "That's why I want you to be my first kiss. Is that weird or..."
"I wouldn't exactly go telling everyone because some people are bound to not understand our relationship."
Putting everything on the table, we turned to face each other, and we immediately started to giggle, not because it was awkward, but because we knew the theory. Putting it into practice is something else. Leaning into each other, the first meeting of lips just felt right. It took a few goes before we figured out certain things, and when I pulled her closer and the kiss increased in passion, I had a feeling she knew it was right at the same time.
That was our first kiss, and it wasn't our last. We kept the fact we were kissing cousins private from our friends though I had a feeling our family had it figured out rather quickly. Whenever we were together, we couldn't help being affectionate, and making out in my bedroom or hers was always fraught with risk.
We were eventually caught by her mother during our last year in high school. We'd arrived back and were in her bedroom, any idea of studying ended when we laid on her bed and started making out. Completely losing track of time, we only stopped when we heard a cleared throat, the pair of us slowly pulling away from each other, looking at the doorway where her mother was smiling at us.
"Come sit in the living room with me," she stated, "You're not in any trouble."
I loved Auntie Caroline to bits. I loved Amy to bits and had always had the hots for my auntie. Hell, Caroline was a slightly younger version of my mother, and I'll freely admit to having dirty thoughts about my auntie. I had a younger sister, but she was five years younger. Still a kid and I treated her like one.
Sitting next to Amy on the couch, I smiled when she took my hand. We couldn't do things like holding hands at school and were always careful when out and about on a weekend as we simply didn't want to be the subject of gossip.
"Kids," she stated, still calling us that despite we were both seventeen and would be eighteen before Christmas, "Mark, I'll start with you. Your mother isn't oblivious to your feelings for each other. I've never been blind to how you are with Mark, Amy. But I'm going to be honest with you right now. While your mother and I accept the fact you have feelings, your being involved with each other is fraught with difficulties. Very few will understand the fact you want to be together..."
"Mum, we're just kissing," Amy stated.
"We're aware of all the dangers. We've already talked about it. We'll eventually find partners, but for the moment, we're happy to just be with each other like this," I stated.
"I know neither of you has dated anyone else though. The fact you two are so close is preventing you from meeting someone else." She took a deep breath. "Look, neither your mother, Mark, nor me is going to stop you from doing anything together because we know if we were to do that, you'd just do it in secret, and it would cause a schism in the family. We don't want that. We do want you to be careful, and we would prefer you to start dating other people if possible. The drama you'll face by wanting to be together..."
"Okay, Mum," Amy stated with a sigh, "Okay, Mark and I will talk about it."
"I'm trying to treat you like the adults you nearly are by not ordering or demanding you do anything. I'm asking you to both think seriously about the consequences of what could possibly happen in the future."
Getting together a couple of days later, we talked seriously about our relationship. Amy was crying within a matter of minutes as we agreed that perhaps it was better that we cooled things between us. What mattered most was the fact we would always be cousins and best friends. She hated the thought of me dating other girls. I certainly didn't like the thought of her being with another guy. But my mother had sat us both down and echoed the thoughts of Aunt Caroline. Though they left the decision to us, and I honestly don't think they would have stepped in, we also understood their concerns and fears.
For the rest of our last year at high school, we spent the same amount of time together though went out of our way to make sure we always had a few other friends. I'm sure that raised suspicions as to why considering we'd gone out of our way to be alone as often as possible before.
Graduating high school led to three years at university. For the first time, we attended different places, taking on board the advice we'd been given. I know we both left high school as virgins, agreeing that we would not discuss our sex lives with each other. To be honest, all that time spent with Amy had helped my self-confidence so hitting it off with girls I'd never met at university wasn't too troublesome.
I would have preferred Amy as my first, but it wasn't going to happen. I lost my virginity two weeks after starting university. I guess it shouldn't be too much of a surprise that the girl I ended up dating for a year shared numerous similarities to my cousin. The two rarely met so Christine, the girl I was dating, never had a reason to be concerned. The only reason we split up was that she met another guy during the summer break. At least she didn't cheat on me, calling me up and admitting she felt that spark.
Spending the two next years playing the field was better. I didn't have one-night stands and would only sleep with a girl if we were in an exclusive arrangement, but I knew none of the relationships would go anything beyond sharing a bed every so often. By the time I'd graduated, including Christine, I'd only been with five girls.
Amy rarely met any of the girls I was involved with, and I never met any guy she might have been with. As agreed, we never talked about our sex lives, and she never really asked about any of my relationships. She'd ask if I was dating anyone. I'd confirm if I was or not. She'd just move the conversation on after that.
All through the last couple of years at high school and then through university, there was a group of eight friends that discussed doing a backpacking trip of Europe. Amy and I were keen to do it, preferring to do something like that when we were young and before we'd started careers and met partners we might see as a lifelong companion. We'd both started working as soon as legally allowed. Mum and Aunt Caroline were aware of our plans, and as they were happy for us to go travelling, they told us to save every dollar we could so we could enjoy ourselves as long as possible.
Of the eight of us, four of them were only interested in going on a backpacking tour for a few months. The other four of us were interested in getting a visa for the United Kingdom that would allow us to work and reside for two years. That would allow us to make some money and travel extensively. Amy and I applied for a visa once we were certain of our plans, and two of our other friends doing the same.
Sitting down one evening with Amy, a map of Europe on the table and both of us with a pad and pen, we were writing down possible destinations and itineraries of travel. Aiming to leave at the age of twenty-two, might exclude the possibility of hiring a car as many companies wanted someone at least twenty-five. If we could hire a car, being so young would usually mean an extra surcharge.
"We'll just get one of those rail passes," Amy suggested, "That and bus travel. Keep it cheap and easy. Hostels?"
"Definitely hostels most of the time," I replied, "If there's eight of us, we could probably get a whole dorm to ourselves. Private rooms probably won't be worth it."
"Rather just get a room at a hotel if we were to get a private room."
"So we've got the major destinations sorted but is there anywhere you'd like to go that's a bit different?" I asked.
"Actually, there is. I really want to go to Bilbao."
"Bilbao? That's in Spain, right?"
The question made her laugh. "I'm glad you paid attention in geography class, Mark. Yes, north-east Bilbao. Basque country. And the reason I want to go there is the Guggenheim Museum. And the city is meant to be fantastic. It's also a good base to do the Way of St. James pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela."
