~ Collection of songfics. ~

Disclaimer: I don't own anything even remotely related to Skulduggery Pleasant. I don't own any of the amazing songs that will be mentioned in this fic.

Valkyrie POV.

Something about us – Daft Punk

'It might not be the right time'

I stole a glance at the impeccably dressed skeleton next to me. He was always so sure of himself. He didn't second-guess anything he did. Shoulders back, gloved hands gripping firmly to the steering wheel, same devilish smile on the same skeletal skull. His face was emotionless, giving nothing away to his inner feelings. In other words, the complete opposite to me. My eyes slanted down at the realisation and I felt a notch of desperation gather itself in the depths of my throat. I wanted to impress him so much. I frantically wanted to show him how much I had grown. Obviously he could see what time had done to me physically. I was now a well-built human war machine. Not that it seemed like he cared, or even noticed for that matter. I didn't really mind, I just wanted to show him how independent I've become and that I'd developed emotionally.

I pushed myself back, sinking further into the Bentley's wonderfully plush passenger seat. After so many years sitting in the same position, the chair had basically moulded to me and every time I got into the car I felt at ease. But this morning was different. When I heard the luscious purr of Skulduggery's car engine out the front of my house I felt anxious and panicky, like some part of me knew that after this car ride my relationship with Skulduggery would change completely. I didn't know how to feel about that and I was surprised Mr. Pleasant didn't notice a change in my behaviour. I was acting nervously, when he asked me how I was I stumbled and grumbled with my words. Sitting in the seat now felt uncomfortable, like wearing a new pair of high heels for the first time.

A nagging thought kept pushing itself to the front of my mind. The further I swept it back into the dark corners of my mind, the more it crept back up to the front of my head, staring at me in the eyes. I couldn't do what the pressuring thought told me to do, I wouldn't, I simply shouldn't.

'I might not be the right one'

'You have to though.' A sneaky voice in my mind chided. I sighed inwardly as I knew it was right. I couldn't go on much longer pretending that everything I was fine and dandy with me and Skulduggery being just friends. I knew that it would ruin our friendship forever, there would be no snatching it back after I said three easy-to-say-but-hard-to-comprehend words. Thinking about the subject of me and Skulduggery advancing into an intimate relationship made my head pound so I tried to concentrate on something else. I decided to concentrate on Skulduggery's movements.

I heard a click next to me and I realised Skulduggery had flicked the left indicator and I stared at him as he smoothly pulled the car to turn round a corner. His head flicked to me and tilted at an adorable angle which let me know that he was smiling. I stared in longing at those gleaming white teeth that I had dreamt of kissing more than once. All too soon he turned his head back to the road ahead. I didn't even realise that the car was coming to a stop until we had stopped moving. I looked to Skulduggery in question only to be greeted with his torso turned to me, giving me the feeling that I had his undivided question.

'But there's something about us I want to say'

"Valkyrie." That voice filled my head with sweet serenity. I wanted to arch my back and let his voice spill over me in soft, teasing waves. I wanted to hear him speak my name over and over in that marvellous voice. Of course I would never get that chance to have my silly dreams become reality but I still wanted it all the same. I lifted my head up so my gaze met his eyeless one. My dark curtain of hair parted as soon as my head made movement to face him. It was a mistake looking into his eye-sockets because the action set my stomach aflutter with skeletal butterflies. My moonlight eyes travelled down his slim body, I nodded inwardly in satisfaction. He never let me down in his fashion sense. Lust spilled into my eyes due to the fact that the thought of me stripping him of his suit filled my head.

"Valkyrie!" He called again, snapping me out of my mischievous thoughts. I jumped slightly at his vaguely annoyed tone.

"Mm?" I answered in a distracted tone. He pulled his head back, the way he always did when he was looking at a problem and trying to solve it with his detective skills. The thing was though, I didn't want to be a problem.

"I haven't said anything for quite some time now, but I'm worried about you. You don't talk to me anymore. You've been acting so distant and preoccupied around me. I want to try and help you Val, please talk to me." As he was speaking in a soft tone, he reached his hands and placed them on my shoulders. My eyes widened in surprise. Skulduggery was never one for being "touchy-feely" and being sensitive to others. So I figured that the way I had been acting must have concerned and troubled him a lot more than what he let on. A surge of shame filled me but I quickly discarded the feeling and focused on answering Skulduggery.

"I'm sorry Skulduggery, I have no idea what you're talking abo-"

"Don't say that Valkyrie! Don't sit there and say something's not wrong when I know something is. I'm a detective for a reason. So I'm going to ask again what's wrong and you can't use Darquesse as an excuse either!" The sharp tones in his voice made me want to crawl up into a ball and shy away from him. There was no way I was going to sit there and confess my love for him. Oh God that sounded so foolish.

"But what if Darquesse is the reason? My concern about her grows more and more each day Skulduggery."

"I understand that Valkyrie and you of all people know that I do. You always talk to me about your concerns and questions concerning Darquesse, so she can't be the reason."

"It is her! Skuld-"

"Val you can't blame everything on Darquesse. You don't see me blaming everything on Lord Vile do you?"

Dammit. He had me there. I couldn't run anymore. This was it.

'Cause there's something between us anyway'

I couldn't even comprehend what I was about to do. I had no idea how to even begin to explain why I was acting so strangely for a while. I swallowed once. Then about four times after that.

Nervous tension had filled the air and I was the cause of it. I mentally shuddered at the pressure of Skulduggery's gaze. Lord please help me and give me the courage to speak what I've needed to say for years now.

'I might not be the right one'

Thinking about me and Skulduggery now, seemed ridiculous! I mean, all my fantasising had all been in vain because at the end of the magical day, he was a skeleton and I was a human. He was over 400 years old and I was 20 years young. His alter ego was Lord Vile, a being that was supposed to be the bringer of death and my alter ego was Darquesse, the supposed destroyer of the world. Staring at the facts, 'IMPOSSIBLE' was written all over even the thought of Pleasant and I being together.

'It might not be the right time'

I ran through where we were and what time it was. If I ever had to confess my love to Skulduggery I had hoped it would be a slightly more romantic time and place. But given the current circumstances, it was either tell him now or never.

'But there's something about us I've got to do'

"Val-"

"Just give me a second Skulduggery, please. What I'm about to say is hard for the both of us."

He seemed to pick up on my tone because he removed his hands from my shoulders to give me space.

'Some kind of secret I will share with you'

Heart thumping, head pumping, courage fumbling, I didn't think I could do this.

"Skulduggery Pleasant, my hero, best friend and mentor. You've always been there for me and I guess I sometimes come off as ungrateful but I'm telling you right now that I'm not and I never will be. I'm grateful for the small things even. I'm grateful that you even came into my life. I lean on you when I need help standing, physically and emotionally," He gave a small nod and a chuckle at that, "but what I have to tell you now is something I have to say when standing on my own. I couldn't have asked for a better person/skeleton in my life."

"Skulduggery,"

"I need you more than anything in my life,"

"I want you more than anything in my life,"

Skulduggery froze. I didn't think he liked where this was going. Oh well, he wanted to know what was wrong.

"I'll miss you more than anyone in my life,"

"I love you more than anyone in my life."

Skulduggery didn't say anything once I had finished. He just stared, not at me, but through me. Too many thoughts were running through my head until they all compressed into one, which was now screaming at me.

'WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?' I wanted to block the voice out. I tried reminding myself I had made the right decision, for my own sake. If Skulduggery hadn't tilted his head at me at that moment, I probably would have bolted out the very nice Bentley and just legged it somewhere where a black hole could come and eat me up.

"Um, Skulduggery? Are y-" I was cut off by a very nice set of dead teeth upon my lips. Leather hands were pressed and gripping my hips, pulling me closer to my lip captor. For the first time in my life, that little voice had gone quiet. I had proved it wrong. I was the victor! I had a lovely skeleton in my arms and I was going to be damned if I did something to stop it. Kissing Skulduggery was different but I could do different. I inhaled his scent as he tangled a hand in my hair. He smelt of vintage jasmine and sandalwood. His aura filled my head with sweet thoughts and just as I thought I would drown in his scent he pulled away, leaving me breathless.

"Don't scold me for asking a stupid question, but what does this mean Skulduggery?" I gestured to the space between him and I and I listened for his reply.

"It means that I, Skulduggery Pleasant, also love you more than anything in my life."

~END~