~2~

Title: Heart on My Sleeve
Rating: G
Warnings: does teeth-rotting fluff count? No real timeline, probably slightly AU.
Characters/Pairings: Theresa/Fox, small mention of Theresa/Ethan, mentions of Little Ethan and Jane, original characters.
Summary: prompt: heart. It's silly really, when she thinks about it, the circumstances leading up to hers and Fox's first kiss.

It's silly really, when she thinks about it, the circumstances leading up to hers and Fox's first kiss.

(Candy hearts—it all started with candy hearts).

They're in the kitchen (it's quiet; the servants have all gone…home?), Little Ethan's box of valentines on the granite counter between them. They're laughing and smiling at the trials and tribulations of puppy love recorded on each card (beneath all the red and pink and silver glitter, somewhere lost among the hearts, the cartoon characters, and childish loops of newly learned cursive), sharing brightly-foiled chocolate kisses.

Little Ethan has long since left them (somewhere above them, down the hall from his baby sister, he sleeps) when Fox finds the small, rectangular box, lifts it up so that Theresa might get a better look at it.

Theresa reads the name, her dark eyes narrowed in thought, "Kelsey." She doesn't recall a Kelsey being in Little Ethan's class; Emily, Madison, Hannah, yes, but no Kelsey, and it bothers her that this is the first time she's hearing of her (well, finding out about her). She frowns at the knowing smirk on Fox's handsome face. "What?"

"Nothing," Fox replies, slipping the tiny box (back) open and withdrawing a pale yellow heart for himself. (Be Mine, it says). "I didn't even know they still made these."

Theresa holds out her palm, and Fox shakes out a handful of pastel candies to her. She pops a white one into her mouth (Sugar Pie, really?), and she scrunches up her nose at the taste. They're just as terrible as she remembers. "They taste like chalk," she grimaces. "You like these?"

Fox laughs and lifts his shoulder in a shrug. "They helped me score my first kiss."

A smile tugs at Theresa's lips, and she leans forward in interest, placing her stash of little heart candies on the kitchen counter and arranging them into a neat little row (Puppy Love, Sweet Talk, Be My Hero). "Really?" she giggles, "How did they do that?"

Fox tips the box over and more candies scatter across the counter. He smirks, mulls over his words, then finally answers her. "I just let the little hearts speak for me."

Theresa giggles again, hiding her wide smile behind her fist. Her brown eyes sparkle, large and bright in the muted yellow glow of the kitchen lights. "You used candy hearts to pick up little girls? Suave."

"Charming has a much more pleasant connotation," Fox grins at her.

Theresa shakes her head, not bothering to hide her smile this time. "Show me."

Fox raises a brow at her, seems to consider her request for a moment, then agrees. He picks one of his candies out, and instructs her to hold out her hand. "Here you go, Sunshine."

Theresa rolls her eyes at him but takes the tiny heart (and it does say Sunshine). Lining it up with the rest of her candies, she challenges him to do better. "Is that all you've got?"

Fox pretends to be offended, but the twinkle in his brown eyes undermines his efforts. "How do you know I'm not saving the best for last? You think you can do better, you give it a try."

Sliding the Sweet Talk candy across the counter to him, Theresa winks at him, "You really need to work on this."

"You're looking at the master of sweet talk," Fox boasts in response. "Besides, it's best to ease into these things, give you a deeper appreciation of my skills." When Theresa can't hold in her laughter, he chooses another candy from his small pile and slides it over to her. "My brother doesn't appreciate this like he should. You should give it to someone that does."

Theresa's laughter fades away when she reads the message on the candy. Heart of Gold. "Fox…" She swallows hard at the new intensity in his eyes, and the current of electricity flowing subtly between them. She licks her lips nervously. "Maybe I didn't give you enough credit." Her hand shakes (she hopes he can't see it) lightly when she exchanges another candy with him.

"Puppy love," Fox reads.

"That's all it is," Theresa insists. "I'm not the person you think I am."

"I know this is what you want," Fox presents her with a pink heart that reads Ever After. "I know I'm the wrong brother, but I can give that to you if you'd let me."

Theresa softens, drops her eyes from his again, and admits, "You don't really want me to say yes. I think half of my heart will always belong to Ethan. I've already asked so much of you." Her fingertips tingle where he touches her, taking the last candy heart she has to offer. "I can't ask you to be okay with that, even if, deep down, I want to."

Be My Hero stares up at Fox, and he knows she's being as honest with him as she can afford to be, trying to let him down gently; she loves his brother, maybe she always will, but she cares for him, she does, and he knows he can work with that, if she's willing to let him safeguard the other half of her heart in the meantime. "I know what I want," he tells her simply, staring into glimmering dark eyes that have found his own again. "You haven't asked for anything that I haven't been willing to give."

"Fox," Theresa makes one last protest as he stands up, leaving his stool to find her side. When he is standing before her, his dark eyes searching hers earnestly, his nearness making her tremble within (she thinks, maybe, she could count his eyelashes, but that's a silly thought, and the way he's staring at her is making her breath catch, and oh…), she has no more words, and her fingers curl around the candy he places into her palm then uncurl, and she's frozen until his hand lifts to tuck a heavy strand of dark hair behind her ear (he's trembling too).

"Theresa," Fox whispers her name, waits.

The candy heart falls to the floor, and she's in his arms, and he tastes like chocolate and promise and (renewed) dreams, and she feels a smile building from deep within at the wild beat of his heart beneath her fingertips (charming really does have a much better connotation to it, candy hearts aren't so bad, and she really needs to have a heart-to-heart with Little Ethan about this Kelsey).

The next morning when Carlotta lightly fusses at Little Ethan about candy hearts and forgotten valentines over breakfast, Fox's eyes meet Theresa's across the table while Ethan (and Gwen) puzzles over the secretive smile they share.

Theresa cups the little heart in her palm and slides it into her pocket, lifting Jane to her hip and steering Little Ethan toward the door, his backpack dangling from one arm as she teases a blush out of him with her reminders to say hello to Kelsey.

Fox finds her later, and he grins when the candy heart warms his palm. Kiss Me it begs, and he is only too happy to oblige.

Theresa pulls back and wraps her arms around his neck, and softly she tells him, with a beaming smile, "I'm beginning to understand why you like these."

Thank you so much, Shaun, for your wonderful feedback on the last chapter.

:D

I was thrilled to find out you actually enjoyed the fic, especially since it was all dialogue, and I haven't really done one of those.

Hope you enjoyed this installment and that it didn't give you too bad of a toothache. I did warn about the fluffiness of this fic at the beginning of the chapter.

LOL!

Who should be the next couple? I'd like to do a different couple for each installment. I don't know if that's possible, but I think it'd be fun to try. So get your votes in.

Feedback is loved and adored.

Thanks so much for reading!