A/N: this has been on my mind for a little while now and I decided to finally get it down for you guys. Gwen's POV

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Those Tiny Lanterns

My room was pitch black as midnight got the sliver of the moon rising high in the sky. It seemed to smile down on the world like the Cheshire Cat. It was cold in my room, the window slightly ajar as the swift, chilled breeze floated in. The wind brought goosebumps to the surface of my too pale skin and I gave a tiny shiver.

The only light in my room was the moonlight washing over my bluish colored carpet in a square pattern, just like the window's frame, and the softly glowing lanterns that hung from the ends of the curtain rods across the top of my windows. The little flickering flame in them gave off the smallest bit of light that just made the top of the room glimmer as the carpet shone from the moonlight.

I was only awake because of one thing and one thing alone. Thoughts of Kevin.

Today we had kissed. Our first kiss in a long time. Our victory kiss seemed so distant now. I wanted to be able to love him so much. I wanted to be able to kiss him every minute of our existence, but I hadn't seen him for a little while since we got back from a little mission with the rookies. I just wanted him just to be with him, just to have him next to me, just to have his arm around my waist and his touch on my skin.

My eyes were still open as I thought of Kevin. I couldn't stop thinking of him. I blinked, staring at those tiny lanterns hanging from the rods of my curtains. They were now the only glow in the room as the moonlight's beam across my carpet had suddenly vanished and been replaced by a shadow of darkness cutting across the blue.

The mirror across from my bed reflected the soft flame's light so that the entire top half of my room was alight with a faint orange tinted glow.

The shadow across my window moved and I heard a soft sound of feet on shingles outside the pane of glass. I could hear fingers working at the lock and the sound of a soft voice struggling to open it far enough to let a body through the small opening.

I didn't move. I just took a deep breath and I suddenly smelled the musky scent that I knew all too well. I still didn't budge a single inch as the soft sound of his combat boots on my carpet resonated quietly through the room. The lanterns' flames flickered as a tad more wind blustered in through the now wider opening.

His eyes bore down on me and I knew he was just watching me with those dark, obsidian tinted eyes. I loved his eyes. They were like the dark portals to his soul that showed nothing and everything at the same time.

"Hey," I breathed, turning my head to look at him with a soft smile playing across my lips. I blinked my eyes open a bit so that the faint light defined and outlined his squared jaw and his raven-colored hair.

"Didn't know you were awake," he said softly, his voice slow and gentle. Kevin leaned over me, his knuckles on the edge of my bed so he braced himself with a careful touch and a silent movement. His smile was reserved, but playful in its own way. I knew his expression and he was just being himself. And that was one thing I hated about him. Just being himself was so much more than it probably should've been.

I closed my eyes so that the orange still filtered into my darkened vision. "Well I am," I said almost knowingly. And he probably decided to break through my window because he knew I'd be awake. Because it's just me. He knows me well enough now to know that I'm constantly thinking about him after we kiss and after we're together and that's just the way I am. It's stupid, but I can't help myself from loving him more and more every single day.

I thought I heard a short snicker escape him. More weight was pressed on my bed. "Good."

Without thinking, I moved over a little bit on my bed and patted the side closest to him, inviting him to join me instead of standing like that. He clearly wasn't very comfortable. Especially since he was just putting more and more of his weight on the bed to try and keep from standing.

He just sat on the side of my bed, his head turned over one shoulder so that he looked at me with those beautiful onyx eyes. "Come on, Gwen. I know you don't want me to be lying in bed next to you. I'm like the elephant in the room. Except for the fact that I'm not an elephant and all. Just and ex-con and, to be brutally honest, I'm totally shocked that you're not even freakin' out that I'm in here. In the middle of the night and all."

That smile crept a little wider across my lips. "Kevin, I trust you with my life every day."

Kevin just rolled his eyes and turned a little bit more so that he was staring into my eyes. I reached out and gently pulled his hand from beneath him so that he fell slightly, partially laying on my bed and partially falling off. With grace, of course. I never expected anything less from Kevin. Him and that "natural grace" of his…

"Gwen…"

I just stared up at him innocently, like a little white lamb with bright wide eyes. "Kevin…"

A sigh escaped him and he laid down, one hand propping up his head as he stared at me. "So what's up, Gwendolyn?"

How often did he use my full name? I didn't even know he knew my full name. That was a little crazy for me to hear it coming from his mouth in his voice. "The sky," I laughed quietly, knowing my parents were just on the other side of the wall. Kevin knew his limits and I was glad he knew my limits. And my parents' rules. He kept close tabs on them. He even wrote them on his hands when he met my parents for a date one night…

One of his hands reached out to twirl a long strand of my scarlet hair around his finger. "I'm pretty sure the sky is up for everyone," he mumbled, leaning closer to me, his touch softer than silk.

"Not all the time." I was subconsciously moving closer to him, wanting his lips on mine again. "Especially not for us."

"Always out in another ship or something, wandering between the stars to find another planet to kick some butt on." His arm wove its way over my waist and he gave me that signature quirky grin. "And even though we never say it, we love it." His voice was noticeably lighter now, as if he was relaxed beyond belief.

I just smiled. I was pretty quiet for a long time.

There was silence that passed between us and before I could do anything, Kevin leaned in, one arm propping him up as he kissed me.

He kissed me. My heart was sent into a frenzy of beating at light speed, pounding so hard that I could've sworn it would've burst out of my chest. My eyes were alive with the fire of joy as I closed them slightly, feeling that rush of adrenaline surging through my veins.

My arms found their way around his neck and he leaned into me a little more. Kevin's touch was gentle in the small of my back and his musky garage and oil scent was floating around me like the spray of the ocean's waves down by the pier. I let my fingers weave themselves into his long, silky black hair as his lips crashed down on mine, moving hard and fast like there was no time to waste and like he could lose this chance any second.

Our bodies intertwined like two spirits bound to each other, my legs wrapped around his and his chest pressed against mine. My hands stayed laced together behind his neck and his arms never moved from around my slender waist.

He was my perfect other half, nothing less of that. He was everything I wanted, although I didn't realize that until I actually had him in my grasp. He was the one. He was mine. He was my soul mate.

After a long moment, we broke apart, my eyes still closed and the taste of his lips on mine still lingering softly. We were perfect. I couldn't help it. He was everything.

When I opened my eyes only seconds later, he was gone. Darkness was the only other occupant of my bedroom.

And the faint glow of those tiny lanterns was all I could ever see in the blackness of night after Kevin had left through the window.

A/N: I kinda ended it abruptly, but I'm not one for detail on those scenes like KandiLips and ParamoreXO are. They're the experts on it, not me. Haha.

Hope you enjoyed, leave that review with the tiny button down there and don't forget!

~Sky