The look on her face as he'd viciously told Caroline to seek comfort elsewhere had been agony; ripping through his dead heart and crippling him with regret. However; a white oak stake in the back; was unfortunately slightly more urgent and indescribably more painful. Klaus had thought he hated her after her little display of judgement in the woods last night; but at the very least; she didn't cause him pain like this.
He wheezed; struggling for breath he didn't even need. Trying to breathe through it; even though that made not the slightest bit of difference. Every slight movement of his body jarred against the poison wood jammed in his back and stole what remaining dignity he had left; making him scream like a wounded animal.
He dug his fingers into the earth; crushing stones and fallen branches in his ancient grip. On his hands and knees; unable to move an inch without feeling like his body was being ripped apart; he growled ferociously. He writhed and growled and destroyed as much forest as he could get his hands on. His thoughts were full of death and torture for the beast that called himself Silas but wore Shane's scrawny face. He was the original hybrid! He couldn't be killed! He would destroy Silas if it was the last thing he did.
His only option was to get to safety; to get this vile piece of wood out of his body. If he stayed out here in the forest he would bleed out before sunset; and if that happened he wouldn't heal; and he would start to desiccate. He had chosen this place to bury 12 bodies for a reason; it was far from any hiking trails and tourist spots. If he desiccated here, miles away from anywhere; it was possible that he might never be found.
It had been a while since he had felt this particular feeling and he barely recognised it; it struck him so suddenly that he was blindsided by it. He was afraid. He hadn't felt true fear since the night he'd watched Mikael's body burn. But now; knowing that if he didn't do something; he was going to die here, completely alone; true fear took him.
The torture of the fire spreading through his back; and the poison of the white oak stake spreading through his blood stream like razors in his veins was enough. Now was not the time to think about how no one in his life cared enough to look for him.
His eyes filled with tears. He desperately tried to claw at his back; doing more harm than good as he ravaged the skin with his fingernails. He just couldn't reach it; even if he strained his arms to the point where he felt tendons snap; heal sluggishly back to the bone; and then snap again in his frantic effort.
He clenched his jaw; so hard that he could taste blood on his lips. He exhaled violently; his breath whistling through his fangs. He launched himself up onto his feet and flung himself forward in the direction of where he thought his mansion was. He managed two steps. And with hybrid speed and strength... he may as well have stayed on the floor and dragged himself along with his fingertips.
He fell back to the forest floor; feeling like his spine had been ripped from his body. His face was sweaty and hot against the cool moss of the forest floor. The pain was overwhelming; even for him. He couldn't even bring himself back to his hands and knees.
One thousand years; that's a lot of lifetimes. Even when he'd been a vampire he had never dreamt that he would die by another's hands. Even when Mikael hunted him across the continents; his greatest fear had been that Mikael would take away Rebekah and Elijah, and his two boxed up siblings and leave him alone for eternity. He'd always known that Mikael wouldn't end his life if he knew could punish Niklaus more by leaving him without love. Thank god Mikael had never met Caroline.
Ah Caroline. His pain intensified as he remembered the way her golden hair had fallen across her face as she'd realised she was no better than him. His breath was shallow as he tried to make himself motionless. He could feel his hot blood sliding down his back and pooling under his ribs. He couldn't have much left.
No. No. No. This was not happening. He was death. He was vengeance. He was the strongest; darkest beast on this planet and he would not die; feeble and unmoving; whimpering in agony with his face in the dirt. He was Klaus; his name brought terror to the darkest of hearts; and would continue doing so. White oak stake or no white oak stake he was going to survive this.
Albeit... not in the dignified way he would like. His pride, mixed with his pain; refused to allow him to acknowledge what he was about to do. He focussed on moving his fingers. They were cramping; as his blood revolted against the white oak enemy in his body; it burned as it passed through each vein; everything ached, everything hurt.
The birds chirped in the trees mocking him. The world went on around not caring that he was dying. His fingers grazed the edge of his jean pocket finally; and with trembling fingers that lacked even human strength; he pressed them into his pocket and feebly tugged on his phone.
His pathetic grip couldn't maintain his hold on the phone and it bounced to the forest floor next to him. He growled at it; like it was the phone's fault. With each millimetre he moved feeling like a marathon; he sweated and panted as he forced his body to roll so that he could get his hands to the phone. Thank god for touch screen. He couldn't have handled buttons. Especially now; as his vision blurred.
His hands slid across the phone; bloody from his attempts to save himself. He nudged the screen and dialled the number he hoped would save his life. It didn't.
'Hi you have reached Caroline...' her voicemail sung.
He roared in agony and flopped back to the floor. He would have smashed the phone if only he had the strength. Of course she was ignoring his calls; he'd been awful to her before she left.
He'd just... reached the end of his patience with her. That had been their thing; he'd tried to be nice to her and she had brutally rejected him over and over, and he dusted himself off and tried again, over and over. But last night had been different; last night she had admitted that she'd considered her attraction to him. And then; in the same breath she'd told him that she never would consider him again because he wasn't worth it.
People who do terrible things are just terrible people she'd said. It mocked him now; it was all he could hear. Why don't you find someone less terrible you can relate to?
Well she'd deserved it! Had she not smacked down his hopes every time he had tried to be nice, tried to get to know her, tried to care about her? Of course she had. He had never been the one refusing her! The look on her face when she'd realised that for the first time he wouldn't be there when she needed him... It broke his heart. But at the same time; he knew that she deserved it.
If he wasn't good enough because he did terrible things then what did that make her? A hypocrite that's what. Good people don't commit massacres do they? She could throw the best friend excuse in his face whenever she liked; he'd already told her; whatever she had to tell herself to sleep at night.
Because he knew; all about lying to yourself about your evil deeds. He could have consoled her; better than anyone could have. And maybe she would have finally seen that they weren't so different. She may be pure hearted and she may be beautiful; but she was a monster like him. And she'd known that; he'd seen the realisation in her eyes when she'd looked to him; accepting his offer of comfort. He'd chosen the wrong time to throw her judgement back in her face. And now it looked like he would never know... if she would have ever changed her mind.
The blood had slowed; he could feel his emptying veins pinching and screaming for it. He could barely swallow; it hurt too much.
He felt his phone vibrate underneath his fingers; which he hadn't had the strength to move from it after his one call for help had failed.
Grunting in exhaustion; he grasped his fingers around the slim piece of plastic and saw his salvation. He brought the phone up to his ear and pressed the accept call button.
'Don't you dare think that I've forgiven you-' came her beautiful and furious voice down the line.
'Caroline...' he croaked. Emotion flooded though him; sticking in his throat and making his eyes hot with tears.
'- Stefan has just abandoned me and gone off to find Damon and Elena! And I am not taking on Silas by myself-'
'Caroline.' He whispered; soothed by the sound of her voice as irritable as it was. He could die now he supposed; now that he'd been able to hear her voice one last time.
'What?' she snapped. 'Don't even think about giving me some half baked apology because that will not-'
'I'm dying love.' He could barely get the words out. His blood was drying uselessly on the forest floor; not flowing through his tissues and attempting to heal him like it should have been.
She laughed unsteadily down the phone. He shouldn't be surprised that she didn't care; but then... she always found new ways to hurt him. The phone was getting too heavy in his hand. It slipped from his fingers and dropped onto the soft mossy floor; next to his ear.
'Shut up, you really think that's going to...' she trailed off. As incapacitated as he was his hearing was still perfectly intact. He heard her breath catch in surprise; she believed him.
'Klaus?' There was just a hint of worry in her voice.
'I need you Caroline.' He breathed; the terrible pain surging as his drying veins protested. And then he said something to her that he'd never said to anyone before, not for one thousand years. 'Please help me.'
'Where are you?' she demanded. It was kind of nice; hearing the panic in her voice. It sounded a little bit like it had when she'd been passionately defending Bonnie's right to live the night before.
'Where you left me.'
...
It felt like hours; he knew he was writhing around on the ground; screaming and growling in protest of his agony but he couldn't control his body's weakness. If only he could have closed his eyes and passed out for a little while. The strength of his immortal body was his undoing; had he been a human he would have fainted from the pain long ago. Well, if he were a human he would be dead already; so there was an upside.
Something to remember him by he thought viciously; a snarl erupting from his chest as he remembered Silas' smug words. Klaus wouldn't give Silas something to remember him by; no; he would just rip his heart out of his body. Perhaps he would keep that; to remember Silas by.
'Oh my god, Klaus!'
He closed his eyes in relief. She had come; she had said that she would. She had told him to hold on. But had no reason to believe that she cared if he lived or died...
He felt her hands on him; gently pulling him into a sitting position so she was supporting most of his weight; moving his coat to see the damage. He clenched his teeth and tried to swallow the growl of pain. He muffled the sound by pressing his dirty face into her shoulder. Her sweet smell made it ok for a second.
'I'm sorry' she whispered, kneeling in front of him. He could see her properly for the first time since she'd walked away from him that morning. Her face was worn and pale; she clearly hadn't slept since, even though she had changed her clothes. She probably couldn't sleep; not after what she had done; not after what he had said to her. Even tired and suffering she looked beautiful; the sun shone through her golden curls and illuminated the creamy skin of her face. Her raspberry lips had never looked more inviting; even as he lay dying.
'What-?' she tried to ask.
'Silas.' He grunted; trying to mask his pain more now she was there.
'Oh my god.' She whispered. What little colour there had been in her cheeks drained from her face; he heard her breath hitch in her throat. She was scared. Good. She should be. He would always have protected her from anything; but he didn't know if he could make that same offer that now that Silas had taken him down in less than two seconds.
He didn't offer her any comfort. There was not much he could say to reassure her that they would be ok when she knew damn well that he was the strongest of all of them; and he was fallen.
He made his face hard. He had been vulnerable enough already by asking for her help. The fact that he had asked her to come... he wouldn't have even called Rebakah... but he knew that Caroline would never see how much he allowed himself to be open with her; how he trusted her above all others; even though she had let him down time and time again.
'We need to go to the mansion.' He had to push the words out of his teeth; even talking was agony.
'What? No, Klaus let me pull it out here.' She said; looking at him like he was crazy.
'It's too... exposed here.' He forced out; glaring at her for making him explain himself.
She seemed to take that in; he saw her twitch the corner of her mouth; like she always did when she was thinking about something. She suddenly looked him right in the eye; something she usually avoided doing. His gaze was trapped in hers; her lovely blue eyes were his favourite thing to paint.
And then she lunged at him; shoving him and twisting him over until he lay flat on his stomach. She pushed him down; bracing one hand against his shoulder and the other against his back. If he thought he'd screamed in agony before; that had just been a warm up. He had never made such a terrible and vicious sound as he did when she shoved him into the ground. He snarled at her and showed her his teeth; as much as he can while she is sitting across his back.
'Oh boo hoo Klaus; how many people have you hurt just like this?' she snarled; clearly angry with him for displaying his fangs so threateningly. She was probably remembering the time he had sank his fangs into her neck. He couldn't find it in him to feel sorry about that at this moment however.
'Caroline!' he roared, spitting with pain and fury.
He felt her take a deep breath; she was sat on the small of his back after all. Under any other circumstances he would have thoroughly enjoyed this moment.
'I'm pulling it out.' She said, determined. He could see her rolling up her sleeves out of the corner of his eye.
'No,' he strained; trying to get his hands on her to protect himself.
She caught hold of his hands and held them firmly in hers; she ran her fingers over his bloody knuckled softly.
'I know its white oak Klaus; I know you must be feeling... not as strong as usual. And even though it would probably save countless lives...' she sighed, squeezing his fingers and pushing his hands down to rest back by his sides. '...I promise, I'll take the stake out, and I'll give it to you straight away. No funny business.'
The panic that had bubbled in his chest subsided somewhat at her promise; but he still didn't trust her. All she had to do was move the stake up one centimetre and he would die. And Tyler could come back. And all her problems would be solved. He vowed that as long as he lived he would never be this vulnerable again. But for now... he had no choice.
He caught her fingers in his before she had the chance to take them back from his.
'Promise me Caroline?' It was a good job he couldn't see her face; it made it much easier to beg.
He heard her sigh softly; like she was sad that he didn't trust her.
'I promise.' She whispered. There was a moment of charged silence between them as he contemplated her promise and she waited, sat on his back, to see if he would take it. Not that he had much power in this situation but he could tell from the fact that she waited, that she would rather go ahead with his permission.
The pain was indescribable; he had no choice. He clenched his jaw hard enough to crunch bone; and nodded swiftly.
'It's going to hurt Klaus.'
He knew.
He dug his fingers into the dirt and growled.
He felt the moment she decided to move; he felt the moment she plunged her fingers into the skin of his back; and he felt the moment when she ripped the wood from him. Had he been human; he would have thrown up; the agony was sickening. She was breathing heavily; panicked and worried. His body slumped against the forest floor; weak and pathetic. The white oak was gone; but most of the pain remained and most of the damage had already been done.
'Are you ok?' she asked quietly. She no longer touched him; she'd shuffled back, like she'd been afraid of what he was going to do now.
'Do I look ok?' he spat. His muscles protested as he pushed himself up into a sitting position; his throat burned with the need for fresh blood to replace that which he had lost.
He saw her face fall at his snappish response; but he didn't feel guilty. Was she not unkind to him at every availably opportunity? Besides; when was the last time she spent half a day with a chunk of wood between her shoulder blades? He had every right to be pissed.
She rolled her eyes and stood up; dusting herself off. 'You're welcome Caroline. Thank you for coming to rescue me when no one else in the world would have bothered.' She muttered childishly; her voice dripping with menacing sarcasm.
She just kept sticking the knife in. Did she think that he didn't know that no one else cared enough to come looking for him; that she only came because she didn't want to be the only one left in Mystic Falls when Silas finally made his move? He hated that he loved her sometimes. It was more grief than it was worth.
He grabbed the bloody stump of white oak and shoved it into his coat pocket. He pushed himself to his feet angrily; angry with her. He was angrier still when his legs refused to cooperate and buckled underneath him. He growled; furious with everyone and everything on the planet.
She rolled her eyes and stalked over; grabbing him under the arm with baby vampire strength; that for the first time ever, out-matched his strength, and pulled him up, leaning his weight against hers.
His nose grazed her cheek as she pulled his arm over her shoulder so that she could walk with him; the sweet smell of her made him want to cry. He had never yearned for anything before; there had never been anything he couldn't have. Wanting this temperamental baby vampire would be the end of him.
He tried to take most of his weight and walk for himself; but every step sent jarring pain up through his spine. He felt her hand press into his back; and he hissed in pain.
'It's not healing.' She sounded worried; she looked at him; her eyes wide, so close to his own.
Oh how he wanted to kiss her. But he wouldn't. It was too important for him that it be her; who came to him. He would accept her if she'd killed 1200 witches last night, never mind 12, but she would have to accept him for everything he was and everything he had done, before they could ever see what was between them. And with each day that passed; it seemed less likely that she would ever be able to forgive the things that he'd done.
'There's white oak left inside,' he huffed, the pain, less now, was still awful. Silas had known the exact place to break the stake off in his back; that would cause maximum pain and maximum damage.
'Oh... I suppose you want me to help you get that out?' she asked, pulling him along in the direction of the mansion.
'I don't want to put you out love; why don't you just get on your merry way?' He snapped, instantly annoyed that she couldn't just be nice to him for five seconds while he bled to death.
Her cheeks flushed with anger.
'I didn't mean that! Why do you have to be so defensive?' she snipped back; equally annoyed.
'Because you-' he swallowed his retort and huffed; looking the other way. He didn't think that yelling 'Because you piss me off!' at her would win him any brownie points. 'Just help me home; I will ask someone else to help me get the rest of the stake out.' He bit out through clenched teeth. It was hard to be cold towards her when her face was only centimetres from hers.
'Rebekah?' she asked, not sounding scornful for once as she said his sisters name.
'Perhaps,' He replied, deliberately vague.
She moved him over to the left slightly to avoid a fallen tree stump. The pressure of her body against his was both pleasurable and painful.
'She's ran off with Elena. They've gone after Katherine.' She told him. 'And the cure.'
Of course that's where his sister was. Well there was no way she was going to give up her chance at humanity to come back and pick bits of broken wood out of his back. Brother and sister they were; but even he thought that was too much to expect from a sibling. Caroline would stay and do it. He hoped.
'That bloody cure,' he muttered, irked that this tiny little thing was swiftly becoming the bane of his existence. He was going to shove the bastarding thing down Silas' throat.
She nodded in agreement.
They moved through the trees and onto his property. He had never been more relieved to see his home. Although he needed to find somewhere more secure; Silas didn't need an invite to get inside the mansion.
She dragged him through the doors and deposited him into one of his armchairs next to the fire. He frowned; thinking of the blood stains that now marred his 13th century Russian chintz. She disappeared off into the kitchen and came back with a look of disappointment on her face.
'You don't have any blood bags left.' She said.
He frowned again; he wished she wouldn't assume he was better than he was. He could handle it when she told him he was a bad guy; it was to be expected now. But when he had to tell her that he was a bad guy; that was so much worse.
'I don't keep-' he reluctantly tried to explain.
'Right.' She said, cutting him off. Clearly not wanting to have that conversation. 'I found these.' She brandished a huge set of pliers at him.
He grimaced; but stood up slowly and ripped off what remained of his coat, and his t-shirt. He pulled the white oak out of his pocket and with hatred on his face he flung it into the fire.
She came to stand next to him; and they watched it burn together. The strands of silver from Alaric's ring melting and dripping onto the coal embers.
He didn't miss her eyes wondering up and down his now naked torso; but he didn't draw attention to it. He wanted her to look; to like what she saw. He thought that she looked much longer than she needed to; the thought would make him smug on any other day; but he was still in pain and the cursed wood was still taking root in his back.
Without saying a word he stepped forward and braced himself against the fireplace; his back to her, his hands on the mantel piece.
'Have at it love.' He whispered.
He felt her lay her hand tentatively against his shoulder. Her touch set his skin on fire in a completely different way to that which he'd experienced all day. He wasn't sure if she noticed or not; the goosebumps that formed under her fingertips. He took a deep breath. He hoped that she would think he was bracing himself for the pain; and not assume that he was struggling with being half naked and so close to her. Which would be the correct assumption.
The first few pieces came out painfully but uneventfully. He even managed not to growl at her this time.
'I think, that this is the last piece,' she muttered, concentrating. He could see her face in the mirror that hung above the fireplace; her nose was wrinkled delicately as she peered into the hole in his back to find more wood. There was blood on her cheek where she'd brushed her hair out of her face, forgetting about her bloody fingers.
'It's starting to heal; on the inside I can feel it. That must be the last bit.' He flexed his shoulders; flattening his back to make it easier for her to get the pliers in.
Suddenly his feet went out from underneath him and he fell to the floor on his hands and knees in front of the fire.
'Klaus?' he heard her shout from behind him, panic in her voice.
'What have you done?' he roared at her. His hands were turning grey. He was dying. He whipped around to look at her; his eyes full of tears. She'd betrayed him; she'd shoved the last piece into his heart. He should have known. 'You promised me Caroline!'
He fell further; flat on the floor; unable to move his dead hands and feet. He was enraged; panicking. Glaring at her beautiful face.
'No, no.' She screamed, coming towards him to take hold of him; her hands on his face, his shoulders. 'No, it was an accident!'
He glared at her, feeling his body dying. She was crying; sobbing.
'Don't look at me like that! I would never do this to you! Klaus!' she sobbed.
She shoved him onto his stomach much like she had earlier that afternoon. He felt her plunge her hand into his back; frantically trying to get at the tiny piece of death that had implanted itself into his heart. It didn't hurt anymore; he was nearly dead.
It was poetic really; that she should be the one to kill him. He had never loved before; in a millennium on this earth. He had done terrible things; like she had said, and he had enjoyed doing them. But he had never felt anything that had made him genuinely happy; meeting Caroline, loving her, that had made him happy. Maybe after everything; he deserved for the one thing he had ever loved to stab him in the back and kill him.
She wrenched her bloody hand out of him; holding the shard of white oak in her fingers. She sat there; sobbing softly, puffing out the breath she'd been holding as the world slowly came back to him.
His eyes stung with tears as he sat up next to her. He could barely look at her. Through the blur of his tears he could see her shaking as she cried. The fire crackled behind them; the only other sound was their breathing.
'I can't believe you thought I was trying to kill you!' she burst out, breaking the silence. Tears were streaming down her face.
He felt the skin of his back finally knit back together for the first time that day. He reached forward and snatched the piece of white oak from her fingers and flung it into the fire. He was furious and confused and frightened and angry with himself for shouting at her. She just couldn't understand; he had lived a life full of betrayal.
'It's not like you haven't given me several reasons to think you might want me dead sweetheart.' He murmured, sounding slightly harsher than he meant to.
'I'm sorry.' She sobbed. 'I'm sorry; I shouldn't have... but you make it so hard for me to think that you could... Oh just forget it. I'm glad you're healed!' She flung at him before she stood up and stomped out of the living room.
She was an utter mystery. She was a nightmare. He hated her.
He didn't.
He flashed over to the door; using his hybrid speed to beat her there; thankful that his strength had finally returned.
He slammed his hand into the door before she had the chance to open it more than a centimetre. The door screamed on its hinges; but stayed put; he was half-starved of blood after all.
She spun round in alarm; flattening her back against the door as though she was afraid he was going to hurt her. She had nowhere to escape to however; he was just inches away from her; she was trapped between him and the door.
He felt his face soften; the way it always did when she looked at him with her big blue eyes.
'Caroline,' he whispered. He didn't know what to say to her to make it better; not after the day that they had had.
She shook her head; tears spilling over her lashes and dropping onto her cheeks. Without thinking he reached forward and gently wiped the tears from her face; tracing his fingers across her cheek.
'Why are you crying sweetheart?' he asked softly; genuinely concerned. 'I'm sorry I shouted at you. I was... concerned that I might be dying at the time.' He attempted a wry smile.
She didn't match his smile; more tears fell from her eyes. He was worried.
'Is it Silas? I will die before he gets anywhere near you sweetheart... I...' he trailed off.
She sobbed; her hands came up and she put them on his chest. He thought she was going to shove him away. But she didn't; she placed her fingers softly along his collar bone; her palms pressed into the skin of his chest; as though they belonged there; as thought they always touched each other like this.
'I thought that you were going to die.' She burst out; tears streaming down her cheeks.
If he hadn't been leaning on the door; he might have stumbled backwards in surprise.
'That's why you're crying?' he asked, incredulous, feeling the corners of his mouth tug into a smile. So she did care whether or not he lived or died.
She did shove him then; but not viciously. She rolled her eyes even as more tears fell from her eyes.
'I don't want to be upset about it. I don't want to care about... you dying. But I do. That's why I'm crying' she sniffled.
His smile fell from his face. So she cared; but she didn't want to. Bloody fantastic.
'Right.' He said, pushing away from the door and turning his back on her.
'No,' she said softly, lunging forward to take his hand.
He turned to her; not knowing what to think.
'That's not what I meant.' She flustered. 'It's hard for me, Klaus; to talk to you like this.'
If anyone else had said that to him he would have sneered; but it was Caroline, and he loved her, and he wanted her to talk to him like this.
He reached forward; putting both his hands on her shoulders. She brought her hands up to his face. His blood was still all over her fingers.
'Just talk to me love.' He implored; his eyes locked on hers.
'I don't... know how I feel about you,' she admitted slowly. 'And that is terrifying because I so desperately wanted to be sure that I didn't feel for you at all.'
He nodded; he knew this much already. He'd been living with her case of severe denial for the last year.
'But when I thought that you might die,' she continued, her hands resting gently on the back of his neck. 'I was even more terrified of losing you than I was of how I feel. Does that make sense?'
'More than you will ever know.' He said, giving her one of his best dimply smiles.
He knew; the night he had bitten her he'd been terrified too. Terrified of the way she made him feel; of how she could make him do anything, of how people could hurt her to get to him; that's why in a fit of absolute fear mixed with his grief, he'd thought the solution was to get rid of her. And then he'd known the terror of looking forward into a life where she was gone. He knew exactly how she felt.
He ran his thumb along her cheek and wiped away her last few tears.
'I'm not going anywhere.' He whispered, trying to reassure her that what she'd seen today would never happen again. Now he knew what Silas was capable of; he would know how to deal with him. He had out-smarted Michael for a millennia; he could handle Silas.
She took a deep breath. She pulled him closer to her; tentatively. He could see on her face that she was afraid; but if he loved Caroline for anything, it was for her absolute bravery in the face of her fear.
'Then I'm not going anywhere either.' She whispered.
That was all he needed to hear. He rest his head against her forehead; relieved and elated that she had finally let him in.
'I'm not ready for-' she began, her forehead crinkling softly as she worried.
'I know sweetheart,' he murmured, his hands still softly caressing her face. 'This is enough.' He closed his eyes; feeling her breath on his cheek.
'No, this is enough.' She whispered.
And he felt her press her lips softly to his. It was a soft, lingering kiss; full of promise and potential. She was right; this was enough for now, at least.
He held her close still as she took her mouth away from his; he kept his grip gentle so as to not ruin the moment by grabbing her and kissing her all over like he so desperately wanted.
Her cheeks were flushed prettily; and she looked happier than he'd seen her in weeks. She smiled up at him hopefully. He smirked softly.
'You've always got to have the last word love.'
She smirked back, arching her eyebrows cheekily.
God, he loved her.