Excerpt from The Book Thief;

It was with both relief and disappointment that she watched him trip and fall onto the disgraced mannequin.

On the floor, Rudy laughed.

Then he closed his eyes, clenching them hard.

Liesel rushed over.

She crouched above him.

Kiss him, Liesel, kiss him.

"Are you alright, Rudy? Rudy?"

Rudy's laugher faded as his upward gaze focused on Liesel's face, her pink lips calling his name. The boy knew what he wanted. Although, he had tried to achieve this goal many times before and failed, he felt as though he now had a chance.

But this wasn't about chances.

This was about getting what he wanted, what he needed.

He threw his caution to the wind, letting a plead escape his lips that the only true love in his tarnish life could fulfill.

"Kiss me, Liesel."

"What?"

"You heard what I said, Saumensch, kiss me."

Liesel remained seemingly frozen, crouched overtop of Rudy. There had been times when she wanted to kiss him, wanted to know what his lips felt like to be pressed against hers. She remembered, however, the times that he had begged her for a kiss and she had refused.

But the moment, the scenery, the scent of his breath, oh, his breath, it smelt horrifyingly beautiful.

Liesel stayed crouched overtop of him with nothing lingering in the air between them but the sound of their heaved breaths. Locking gazes with Rudy, Liesel's arm's that held her upper body up, went weak and limp, and she had to re-posture herself from her face landing on his.

However, their lips did inch closer.

"What did you say?" Liesel whispered, her words shaking with emotion and her breath faltering.

"Kiss. Me."

They were two different sentences and were pronounced slowly and unevenly. But together, they formed something beautiful.

There was hope in Rudy's eyes, desire that all he'd wanted since he'd met this chocolate eyed girl, still had a possibility of gracing itself upon his lips.

Liesel crouched, a debate ruling out in her mind. However, there was little room for consideration, the moment was passing by quickly and Rudy was growing in patient.

"Well, Saumensch? Are you going to kiss me or not?" he teased, peering up at her. Gently, Liesel dropped her elevated knees and lowered her face overtop of Rudy's, her caramel hair falling onto his cheeks.

"What do you want, Rudy?" she asked of him one more time, their lips inching closer and closer by the light of the lantern in his father's tailor shop.

"I want you to kiss me," he whispered softly. The end of his sentence was muffled as Liesel placed her lips over top of Rudy's and they pressed together. To Rudy, Liesel tasted divine and pure. To Liesel, Rudy tasted sweet but also tasted like that of victory.

The kiss was a soft brush against each others lips until Liesel felt the need to pull away.

However, Rudy's hand, slowly reaching out, trembling as he held the back of her neck and held it in place, was a desperate plead for her to stay.

****Something that Liesel did not know****

Rudy Steiner

was a hopeless romantic.

Their lips failed to part for several intense, love filled minutes. Finally, Rudy's grasp on Liesel's neck loosened and she was able to bring her head up to stare into his sapphire blue eyes.

"How was that, Sakerl?" she sneered at him, running her fingers along the hair line of his lemon tinted hair. Rudy smirked back at her with his lips tasting of Liesel.

"It tasted like a thief."