Sorry to anyone who read the first draft which was horrible, I've revised it and hopefully it's better.
Vanez had said it was a juvenile game. Seba asked them whether they needed anything better to do. All the other half vampires Gavner had talked to had scoffed when asked if they wanted to play. But Larten, Gavner, Kurda, and (to everyone's surprise) Arra, liked hide and seek. The four close friends played it in their freetime in a less populated area of the mountain.
Gavner was it as he often was, since it was hard to miss his heavy breathing, and Larten heard him boom "Ready or not, here I come!"
He heard his footsteps getting closer. Arra had hid in a storage closet, and that looked like his only option. He knocked, asking, "Can I hide in there too?"
He heard her sigh. "Don't give us away Crepsley."
Once he was standing next to her in the cramped, dark space, he realized he might have made a mistake. Being so close to her was making his heart pound. He'd been her friend for a few years, but a little over six months ago he'd started to develop further feelings towards her. He was very good at hiding them, but he was worried he might slip up now. He clenched his fist, telling himself to just be quiet. Don't say anything and you can't screw up.
Gavner's footsteps pounded straight past the storage closet, and began fading away. Arra let out a soft laugh, elbowing Larten. "He never checks the storage closets," she whispered, "Never."
His eyes had adjusted to the dark by now, and he saw her smiling. She looked so pretty when she smiled. His heart did a flip. That was it.
"I love you," the words tumbled out of his mouth. Now he had no choice but to go on. "I have, for a while, and it feels so good to finally tell you." Before he could stop himself, his hands were on her waist, pulling her a little closer. He felt her stiffen, heart pounding harder, hand groping for the doorknob. Her eyes hadn't adjusted yet. It made sense, she was younger and spent more time training on the bars than anything else. Grasping her wrist to still her hand, he whispered, "I'm not going to hurt you." Arra could feel him getting closer still.
She stepped backwards, and he let go of her. "I- I'm sorry," he stuttered, face growing warm.
"I've heard that before," she whispered, barely audible, "and it's never been true. How do I know you aren't lying?"
"I guess you have no way of knowing, but I know I couldn't be lying. I love you." Stepping forward again, surprising even himself with his bravery, he gently pushed her up against the wall, placing one hand against the stone wall, next to her head, and the other was still holding her wrist. He'd left an obvious escape route and his grip on her wasn't tight. "May I?" he asked, hesitant.
"Do what?" She wasn't panicked yet, just a little cautious. In the back of his mind, he was surprised at the vulnerability she was showing.
"Uh... kiss you? M- may I?" He felt himself getting redder and thanked the Vampire gods that they were in the dark.
She swallowed, not knowing what to answer with. Stories were flashing through her mind in rapid succession, stories she'd heard about women getting murdered and worse for refusing a man something like this. Of course she knew Larten wouldn't do something like that, he was her friend after all and had been for years. He could control his temper if she said no. She could trust him.
Or can you? her doubt asked her.
"It's okay if you don't-" he never finished his sentence because she'd tilted her head up and kissed him. Quickly recovering from the surprise, he kissed her back with all the love he'd been holding back for what felt like centuries. She froze, unable to think anymore. Why did she do that? She didn't even know how to kiss anyone, she hadn't ever before. A multitude of emotions exploded in her chest. There was panic, fear, amazment, confusion, and the peculiar feeling that silenced the alarm bells and told her this felt... nice.
He pulled away far too soon. He opened his mouth, to stutter another apolagy she assumed, but then her hands were on the sides of his face and she was pulling him back down for another kiss. This one was twice as passionate as the last, breathless and sloppy, filled with wanting. He pulled her towards him until they couldn't possibly get any closer. Her fingers were tangled in his orange hair; she was half afraid he would pull away, but he showed no sign of doing that any time soon. His tongue was in her mouth, carressing her teeth and the inside of her cheek. Hands were on her back, her waist, her hips, the back of her neck, her jaw. It felt absolutely wonderful. His affection for her came through with every gentle touch. She felt dizzy, still shocked, exhilerated, and more of the feeling she couldn't quite grasp. Forgetting that they were supposed to stay quiet and hidden, she let out a low moan of pleasure. Just as she was beginning to get the hang of this, the door swung open and light flooded in.
The couple sprang apart. Kurda let out a shriek and covered his eyes. Gavner started to laugh. Larten was red in the face and getting redder. "Were we interrupting something?" Gavner teased as Larten removed his hands from Arra's hips. She fidgeted and stared at the floor, unable to put what had just happened out of her mind.
"You guys, I propose a new rule," Kurda said, "you two can't hide together anymore."
"I second that," Gavner finally made an effort to stifle his laughter.
"C'mon, Larten can count. Next round!" Kurda began to run down the hall. Gavner followed him.
"Well..." Larten cleared his throat awkwardly. "That was..."
"Nice," Arra finished, blushing.
He laughed, and her smile faltered. What did the laughter mean? Then he leaned down and planted a quick kiss on her lips. Her worry evaporated. "Later tonight?" he whispered, lips grazing her ear, making her shiver.
"Deal," she smirked, deciding that yes, Larten Crepsley could be trusted. And yes, she supposed she liked him back quite a lot.
"Come on already," Gavner yelled.
"I know you guys can't wait to get your hands on each other again," Kurda broke off into giggles.
"But you have to play for at least three more rounds." Gavner finished for him.
"Better go hide," Larten told Arra.
"Hope you find me first," she teased, shyly pressing one last kiss into his jaw.
He watched her leave, smiling.
"One, two, three, four..."