A/N: So this idea has been bouncing around in my head for a few months and I've finally decided to sit down and write it. I really like the idea of Kristina and Ethan being together sometime in the near future so this is my interpretation of what they could be like. Happy reading! And please review!

I've longed to discover
Something as true as this is
So with a thousand sweet kisses
I'll cover you…

"I'll Cover You" – Rent

… with a thousand sweet kisses

He's all wrong for her.

She knows it and he knows it.

She was a princess in an ivory tower. Refined and poised, despite everything that life had thrown at her. She spoke French, could translate Latin poetry, played tennis and the violin, and rode horses. She was so far beyond him that he would probably strain his neck just to get a glimpse of her because contrary to fairy tales and romantic comedies, the princess never ends up with the pauper.

"You shouldn't be here, Kristina."

His voice was low and unconvincing and the nineteen year old beauty that was at his door could probably see right through him. She had a knack for it now. She was still in her purple formal dress but her chestnut hair that had been pinned up in tight curls hours before, now hung loosely at her shoulders in soft waves. She had looked beautiful when he saw her put together before but now she looked absolutely perfect.

"I wanted to see if you were ok. You ran off so quickly after the fight."

He winced as her fingers reached out and traced the bruise that was angrily swelling up below his left eye. It stung at first but then he just found himself reveling in the softness of her skin against his. He couldn't pinpoint the exact moment when she had ceased to be a little girl and became this beautiful woman who held his heart in the palm of her hand but somehow, she had become just that.

"I'm fine… you can go now."

"Ethan—"

"Please go."

He put his hand on the doorknob, fully intending to close the door but she was faster than him and kept the door open with her own hands. Tears filled her eyes, shining and hanging onto her lids for dear life, and he cursed under his breath. He hated to see her cry but it's all that he seems to be good at nowadays.

"No, you don't get to do this to me, Ethan. You don't get to say that you love me and then push me away!"

He felt his hands drop to his sides. Yeah, he did say that. When it spilled out, it was a shock to her but it had been something that he had been grappling with for months until he just couldn't keep it bottled up any longer. Seeing her struggle against that towering and completely smashed twenty year old formal date of hers just brought back memories. Horrible memories of holding her in his arms.

Battered, bruised and broken.

He shook his head, willing those ancient memories of her on the night of Keifer's attack to leave, and he looked back up at her. She was standing too close. So close that he could see the tiny freckles on her nose that he knew that she hated but he thought were adorable. He shouldn't want her like he does. He shouldn't crave her or feel this incessant need to be at her side or to rescue her or to hold her even. He shouldn't be in love with her.

"I'm no good for you, Kristina…"

"When did I become incapable of making decisions for myself?"

"It's just easier this way…"

"Easier for who, Ethan? For you? If being apart was easy for you, then you wouldn't have punched Bryce tonight!"

He turned away from her and walked over to his couch, burying his face in his hands. He didn't even want to look at her because she was right. She tended to be right about a lot of things. He heard the door click shut and the sound her heels on the wooden floor coming towards him. Her hands, soft and gentle, enclosed around his wrists. She knew that he was losing this battle within himself. He never considered himself to be a noble person but when it came to Kristina, he couldn't bring himself to be anything but noble.

"Kristina, I'm just—I'm so tired…"

"Of me?"

"No! I'm not tired of you. I could never—I mean—god, I'm not explaining this right…"

His hands were on her shoulders now and he was staring right into her eyes. This was it. He was about to cross a line and if he did, there would be no turning back. He'd also have some serious growing up to do. No more schemes, no more cons, no more drifting. He'd have to start thinking about the future because that's what a girl like Kristina Corinthos-Davis did to a man. He would become a man.

"Just tell me, Ethan."

"I am… so in love with you, Kristina. I love you so much that it consumes me… and that scares the hell out of me."

She gasped, her eyes turning wide, at his admission. He knew this would be a shock for her to hear, not because of the fact that it was the first time that he had told her outright but because he knew her fear of not being enough for anybody. And then she kissed him. They had kissed before but they had all been stolen, none lasting more than a few seconds before he would abruptly pull away and hide behind the laundry list of reasons why they couldn't or shouldn't be together. But this time, she kissed him so fiercely that he swore that he heard waves crashing and thunder rumbling in his ears, because she had never meant that much to anyone in her entire life. Although he didn't want to, he found himself breaking the kiss first but she held onto the lapels of his jacket tightly.

"But if you love me like you say you do, why are you pushing me away?"

"That's just it… I'm tired of trying to push you away."

"Then don't."

Her fingers were in his hair, pulling him as close to her as their bodies would allow, and he kissed her again. His arms, which had long craved to hold the weight of her body, were now filled with purple taffeta and her olive skin. She broke the kiss and he groaned at the loss of the sweet contact with her lips, only to have her deftly begin unbuttoning his shirt.

"Wait, we shouldn't do this now…"

"You wouldn't be my first, Ethan…"

"I know… but I don't want to make you do anything that you're not ready for."

She smiled and put her hand on his cheek, raking the smooth pads of her fingertips over his rough stubble. He was hard and she was soft. He protected her and shielded her from the world and she melted his heart. They were a perfect match.

"I want this… and I want you, Ethan… I love you."

He kissed her softly after those sweet words fell from her lips and he drank them in. She had told him this so many times but it was the first time that he truly allowed the words to permeate. She loved him, despite himself and all of his flaws. She took him by the hand and drew him in the direction of his bedroom. He let her set the pace and he was careful. She wasn't like all of the other women that he had before. She deserved sweetness and tenderness.

And that's what he would give her.

His sense of self-control surprised him, although he did have to resort to gripping the edge of his bed as he watched her slowly unzip and then step out of her formal dress. He knew that his mouth was agape at the sight of her standing before him and she quickly folded her arms as her cheeks flushed red with embarrassment.

"No… don't do that…"

He took her by the hand and pulled her to him. It was adorable to see how she had no idea how beautiful she really was to him. The contrast of the black lace that she wore against her bronzed skin was almost enough to take his breath away. She bit down on her bottom lip and shivered as his fingers deftly ran down the curve of her back. He wanted to savor this moment. He wanted to savor the way her fingers felt as she undressed him and the way her lips trailed behind them, leaving soft kisses that burned his skin, branding him as hers. And then there was nothing left between them. No clothes, no fears, no preconceived notions of nobility: just two people who were standing on the edge of a cliff, ready to jump together.

And so they did.

She held onto him when he entered her, only letting a small gasp pass over her lips, and he held her there for a moment, reveling in this union that he had craved for far too long. His eyes fell to hers, taking her in. Her russet curls were splayed across his pillow, lips slightly swollen from his kisses, and eyes that said more than words could ever express. They fell into a slow but dizzying rhythm that started to etch away at his control.

"Say it again…"

Her breath was ragged on his face and her voice was no louder than a whisper but sultry enough to make him slightly tighten his grip on her thigh. She held his face in her hands, staring straight into his eyes. Maybe she could see into his soul, the bottomless pit that it was. But if she could, she would find a reflection of herself.

For she had already staked her claim there a long time ago.

"I love you, Kristina… you're mine… now and always."

And then she gasped again, her warmth tightening around him, and he held onto her as he too fell over the edge. She curled up against him, head on his shoulder and arms wrapped around his torso. She was still warm and now she smelled like him. She belonged to him now. The thought of that, of feeling like that, used to scare him but as he stroked her soft curls and watched her fight sleep, he wanted to laugh at his naïveté. Because she was all that he could ever want.

"Was that—I mean—was I—"

"You were amazing… perfect, as always."

She smiled as he leaned in for another kiss, sweet and lingering. It was that same serene but confident smile that she had at her father's wedding, after telling him that she was going to marry him someday. He had brushed it aside with a small chuckle but he couldn't deny that twinkle in her eye that told him that she knew what she was saying was inevitable. She closed her eyes and he gently pressed a kiss to each eyelid.

"I love you, Ethan."

Her voice was soft as she drifted between the euphoria that they had just shared and slumber. Her lips were slightly puckered, as if they were waiting for him to kiss her again, and he smiled. So the princess did end up with the pauper this time. People would surely tell him that he didn't deserve Kristina and perhaps they were right. But he would do everything in his power to be the man that she deserved.

"And I love you too… sleep, love… I'm not going anywhere."