Defrosting the Ice Queen

Summary: I got the title from a blog on tumblr. Naturally, the cogs of my Charles/Dawn muse started turning in my head, and this happened. Enjoy! Chawn, obviously. There may be spoilers for those who haven't seen Darkness, but no drastic ones.

Defrosting the Ice Queen

When Dawn opened her front door that evening, the last thing she expected to find was Charles Meade standing on her terrace. "We need to talk about earlier." The tone of his voice told her she didn't have a choice in the matter. With a sigh, she moved out of the way to let him in and closed the door behind him. Then she turned around.

"What do we need to talk about Charles?" she asked, though she thought she already knew what they need to talk about.

"Dinner." He said, and she nodded. She knew that they needed to talk about it. He stepped towards her, and she stayed in place. "Why did you kiss me like that?"

She shrugged. "I don't know." She tried to veer off the subject, but Charles wouldn't have it.

"That's not a good enough answer, Dawn." He pinned her to the door, one hand against it on either side of her head. "Why did you kiss me? Is it just because you wanted to piss my mother off?" He was staring so intently her blue eyes with his brown ones, that she felt slightly daunted. "Or is it for another reason?" Her throat had suddenly become very dry, and she began to feel a little hot under the collar. What was wrong with her? H must have noticed this because a light smile graced his face. "Am I making you uncomfortable, Dawn?"

She shook her head, wishing she could look more confident. "No, it's not that. I just..." she trailed off, unsure of what to say.

"Did you feel anything when you kissed me? Anything at all?" He continued to pester her with questions. She had to stop and think about this. Yes, she'd definitely felt something. But she didn't know how to explain it, or if she should even tell him.

She figured that her best bet to keeping her Ice Queen facade was to lie. so that was just what she did. "No, I didn't feel anything for you." The lie nearly caught in her throat. "I haven't felt anything for anyone in a long time, Charles. You of all people should know that better than anyone."

"Well," he licked his lips to moisten them. "I think I need to fix that." He leaned in, his mouth inches from her ear. "Tell me, does this make you feel anything?" he whispered before peppering a few feather light kisses on her neck. She felt her heart speed up instantly. Her breathing became slightly laboured. He heard this and pulled away, looking her in the eyes. "I think you're lying to me about not feeling anything. Because, judging from the state you're in now," he was referring to her erratic breathing "I think you definitely felt that. Now, how does this make you feel?" He caught her lips in a gentle yet passionate kiss, and she reacted immediately, wrapping her arms around his neck. His came off the door to encircle her waist. He broke off, his breathing hard too. "So the infamous Ice Queen can feel after all." He teased.

"Satisfied?" she whispered, a light smile on her face. Her cheeks were slightly flushed.

"Very." He replied. Then he kissed her again.

"I think we need to take this upstairs." she whispered.

He smiled against her lips. "If that's what you want, than we can." He felt triumphant that he'd been the one to break down Dawn's thick emotional barrier. And, he mused she fits so perfectly in my arms. I wouldn't mind holding her like that all day, every day. And for the moment, their power struggle no longer existed. It was just the two of them, sharing in something neither had experienced for a very long time, except for their kids: Love.

AN: So sorry if they were out of character. This is sort of a remake of Kiss and Tell, which was even cheesier than this one. But after their kiss in episode 10, I just HAD to write this. So, voila! Tel me what you thought, but please don't be too harsh.