The kiss bit does strike me as cliche. Personally, I'd save any kissyface bits for the end. Build up to it, as opposed to having your hero or heroine going "B'AWW WE KISSED NOW I MISS HIM/HER." Use that separation to have the characters begin to pine for each other, maybe even become depressed, guilty, and regretful that they were unable to intervene if the situation is extreme enough. Also, something I like to do for my own characters when it comes to relationships is to consider their turnons and turnoffs, as well as past relationships. I pretend I'm writing a profile for a dating site for each character. Using that, you can begin to plan out how they'd react to current suitors.
As far as your annoying guy goes, use a website called Snopes.com and check around the different sections for little urban legends you can throw in. I believe that some of the food ones may prove most relevant to what you are looking for.
Happy writing!
Sidenote: For future reference, I'd place topics such as this
here. I'll ask a mod to move it for you.