And your heart's against my chest, your lips pressed to my neck
I'm falling for your eyes, but they don't know me yet
And with a feeling I'll forget, I'm in love now
-Kiss Me (Ed Sheeran)

In their new apartment, they kissed three times.

The first time they were drunk and they both didn't know they wanted it.

It started with a 'Spin the Bottle' game in which neither of them participated. It was their housewarming party and even though they tried to keep it small, news travel fast around the campus and the house ended up bustling with tipsy students chatting and dancing and laughing. When someone held up his empty glass bottle and suggested the game, people cheered and proceeded to sit on the floor, probably trying to calculate the chances they had to end up making out with their crush.

Salazar spotted Rowena sitting on the couch, apparently finding the game too silly for her taste. He crept up on her from behind and rested a bottle of wine on her shoulder. "Wanna play 'Drink the Bottle' instead, roommate darling?"

They drank and talked and laughed, louder after every glass, until the pause was too long and one of them stood up and headed to the dance floor and the other followed. They didn't dance together though. They messed around with other people and occasionally caught each other's glance across the room, but it wasn't until around three am that they managed to actually interact, as the house was empty once again.

"This carpet is so purple… why do we own a carpet so purple?" Rowena mumbled as she picked up the two empty glasses of wine from the coffee table in the living and walked towards the kitchen. She didn't notice Salazar didn't reply, because she wasn't really expecting a reply. Honestly, she didn't even look around to see if the boy was still in the room.

If she had, she would have noticed that he was standing next to the stereo, pressing a button here and there, flipping a switch. The moment the glasses touched the sink, the first few notes had already made their way into the apartment.

"You didn't dance with me tonight," she heard the voice from somewhere close to her and turned to see Salazar leaning against the wall next to the fridge.

Rowena made an attempt to talk, but what came out of her mouth was something between a cry and a chuckle. She rubbed her eyes and then ran her hands through her hair, her moves having the nonchalance of a drunk person. "Tenerife Sea?" she asked, as she suddenly recognized the song. "How can I say no to that?"

You look so wonderful in your dress
I love your hair like that
The way it falls on the side of your neck
Down your shoulders and back

She wrapped her arms around his neck and his hands were on his waist as they slowly swayed through the kitchen to the living room, following the rhythm of the song.

And should this be the last thing I see
I want you to know it's enough for me
'Cause all that you are is all that I'll ever need

Three minutes ago they both felt the exhaustion inside them, mixed with the alcohol, but now it had been replaced by that weird sense of electricity. He was a bit taller than her, so his eyes were at the level of her hair and she could have looked up at him, but she chose to stare at the first button of his plaid green and black shirt.

You look so beautiful in this light
Your silhouette over me
The way it brings out the blue in your eyes
Is the Tenerife sea

And then she looked up. And blue eyes met green ones and got locked there, as Godric's first words when he heard about their plans echoed in Salazar's head. Roommates, huh? That apartment better watch out, because it's probably going to blow up because of all the sexual tension. He had smacked his arm back then and discarded his comments as stupid, but as he stared in that Tenerife Sea, as the song said, he started feeling worried about the apartment too.

And all of the voices surrounding us here
They just fade out when you take a breath
Just say the word and I will disappear
Into the wilderness

Rowena took in a sharp breath which broke his train of thought, but her eyes and hands remained where they were. She felt it too, right? That feeling that the two of them, right there, were the only thing that was holding the world together and if they turned their gazes away or broke apart the whole of creation would collapse. "Sal…" she whispered, sounding sober for the first time in hours and he realized she had never called him that before.

And should this be the last thing I see
I want you to know it's enough for me
'Cause all that you are is all that I'll ever need

In the morning he would blame the wine for the lack of further thought, but at that moment he wasn't really capable of thinking of many things. Every conscious part of him was focused on one single objective, as he leaned down and gently brushed his lips against hers.

I'm so in love, so in love
So in love, love, love, love,
So in love

The kiss was slow and careful, the smell of alcohol burning their nostrils as they space between them got eliminated. Rowena's hand somehow ended up on his neck and then in his hair, pulling herself up to match his height. They were too intoxicated to think of the consequences of what they were doing, because at the moment it only felt right.

But then the last notes of the song lazily floated inside the room and faded away and as the silence embraced them, they broke apart. With a last intense stare, they headed to their bedrooms, not uttering another word. In the morning, they would both claim they remembered nothing of the party after some point, but every time their shoulders brushed as they crossed the hallway or they opened a door to almost bump onto each other, their eyes could speak and reveal the thought that was burning inside their brains. They remembered.


The second time was awkward, because they both knew they did want it.

Salazar had just gotten into the apartment with a cup of coffee in his hand, when his phone rang. Dropping his keys on the shelf next to the door, he took it out of his pocket to read Helga's shining name on the screen.

"Sal, I need a favour," she said the moment he picked up.

"Good morning to you too, dear," he replied with a small smile playing on his lips, even though the girl couldn't actually see it. Christmas had just passed, but the spirit of the holiday still hadn't left him, making him friendlier and nicer in general. Well, some would say that his attitude change was due to a certain blue-eyed girl, but he pretended he couldn't hear them. "How may I help you this fine day?"

"…It's snowing. Anyway, Godric and I are stuck in traffic and I still haven't finished my errands, so there is no way I can make it to the airport in time. Can you please go pick up Rowena?" As usual, when Helga was nervous, she spoke too quickly and took fewer breaths than needed.

"Calm down, I'll be there. We don't want her missing New Year's, do we?"

Half an hour later, he was playing some stupid mobile game to keep his mind distracted as he waited outside a huge gate with 'Arrivals' written on top of it. He was actually doing pretty great, but he looked up just for a moment to see the doors opening, resulting in his ninja getting killed by the forces of evil. Not that he cared.

Apparently, a lot of people from Scotland came to London for New Year's. The horde of people that exited the gate was quite scary, like an army ready to take over the place. Slowly, groups of people started breaking apart from the crowd as they spotted the person who was there to pick them up and approached them with a smile. Children, no matter their age, ran into their parents' arms, some girls right next to him squealed and hugged, making Salazar dramatically roll his eyes and a few meters away, a couple somehow managed to actually ran into a kiss, to which he turned his head away. Just when he started to get worried, a familiar face appeared.

He would never speak the words out loud, but Rowena had certainly gotten prettier. He knew it had been just a week, but despite the fatigue she seemed happier, satisfied, more radiant. She curiously looked around for a few seconds before she saw him waiting for her with his hands in his pockets. The obvious exhaustion on her face got replaced by a grin, as she waved and formed 'hi!' with her lips, before quickly walking towards where he was standing.

Salazar wasn't really sure about how to react, but she didn't leave him much of a choice when she let go of her heavy suitcase and pulled him into a tight hug. An action taken on impulse, but fortunately he couldn't see the blush on Rowena's cheeks once she realized what she had done and all she could feel was his hands on her waist and not the frantic beating of his heart.

"I missed you," she said as soon as she pulled away. "All of you," she made sure to quickly add, hoping he didn't notice.

"Us too. It's been a torment to be the only smartass around," he joked, before offering to help her with a suitcase. As they walked to the car, as well as on the ride home, Rowena couldn't stop talking about the time she spent back home and how it was great to see her parents again but she had actually gotten used to the London lifestyle and sometimes found herself wishing she was back there with them. Salazar could have politely stopped her, since she would have to repeat all that to the other too and also Helga's family, but of course he didn't. He stared at the road in front of him, occasionally nodded and took a mental note to remember the girl's enthusiastic rambling as one of the cutest things he had ever witnessed.

"...10, 9, 8,..." the crowd at Trafalgar Square chanted, counting down to yet another New Year. The four friends stood in the apartment's living room, watching the whole thing on TV, as they had decided they should spend their first New Year's together in a more cozy and family-like environment. The seconds turned into smaller and smaller numbers when the sudden realization hit both Salazar and Rowena, as soon as they saw Godric lovingly placing his arm around Helga's waist.

"...7, 6, 5,..." Oh God. What were they supposed to do? They had -or had chosen to- completely forget that custom. It weird be awkward if they did it and it would be awkward if they didn't. They weren't too close but not too far either and neither could see the look of complete terror on the other's face, with the inevitable moment getting closer and memories and feelings from a night they weren't supposed to remember flooding their minds.

"...4, 3, 2, 1, HAPPY NEW YEAR!" Hundreds of colorful fireworks ignited the sky, turning the night into day and it was time. Helga and Godric smiled and looked at each other with that look of two people completely in love that would trigger a sting of jealousy in anyone heart, before sharing a slow and gentle kiss. Rowena and Salazar turned to each other at the same time, as they both had made the same quick decision.

Is this okay? was written across both their faces. After some reassuring nods, they apparently both thought it would be for the best to get this over with as fast as possible, so the moment Rowena placed her palms on his shoulders, Salazar had his hand on her back. They chose to ignore the fireworks behind their closed eyes that were even brighter than those outside, glows that went off the second their lips touched. They also pretended not to notice their friends' smirks as soon as they broke apart, even though no comment was made. They turned to the bottle of champagne as if their lives depended on it and drunk a bit more than needed, hoping that alcohol would give a solution to the huge ball of unresolved feelings mixed with denial that was growing inside them.


The third time, it was time to put an end to their denial.

She was dating. Salazar was never into that sort of things. He had had a series of girlfriends in the past years, but the times he got into the dating process were very few. He was used to being the guy that girls stared at and giggled in the cafeteria, gorgeous and unapproachable, but when he was into a girl, he kept things casual, with no romantic dinners and formal clothes. Now that he thought about it again, that was probably the reason his relationship duration average was about two weeks.

Rowena had gone on so many dates since New Year's and he would never admit it, but it caused him a weird kind of burning in his chest that he had never felt before. Godric would shoot him meaningful looks every time he caught him staring at her talking to some guy whose name wasn't important in the cafeteria and Helga would try to talk to him whenever he told her Rowena couldn't come to the phone because she was getting ready to go out, but he didn't let either of them continue. Something had to be done about that feeling and he had to do it. What could that 'something' be, though? That question was left unanswered.

Rowena had already left the apartment when he woke up and he didn't see her all day at campus. He didn't get worried or anything, since he was used to her disappearing in the library or spending her hours in an old bookshop he didn't even know it existed. When he walked home, he was prepared to find the place empty, maybe with a quickly-written note on the fridge. The last thing he expected when he opened the door was to find two people chatting on the couch. One of them was his roommate, the other was a man he had never seen before.

"Oh, hey Sal. This is Garrett," she said, a huge grin on her face. "Sorry I didn't let you know he was coming earlier, but I didn't expect his visit either. Not that I'm complaining of course," she chuckled. She was apparently too delighted to notice the look on Salazar's face, which was far from happy. "Garrett, this is Salazar, my roommate and friend." The last words only made him feel worse.

Garrett stood up, but as he started to approach him to offer his hand with a smile, Sal hastily walked to his bedroom. "Yeah, yeah, nice to meet you, sorry, I'm way too busy," he mumbled on his way there, blunt and aggressive.

Sitting on the edge of his bed, he buried his face in his palms. Two different parts of his mind were fighting, causing him a headache so bad it felt like his brain was burning. The one part was scolding him for what he had just done. He had grown up in a noble environment, he had learned to be polite and smile and offer his hand to people. What had happened to that upbringing? However, the other part was furious. What does she think she's doing? The unanswerable question echoed throughout his head, making him dizzy. But there was no reason she shouldn't been doing whatever that thing was. She was free to do what she wanted in her life and the knot in his stomach should for no reason affect her.

Five, or ten, or thirty minutes later, Salazar couldn't really tell since he was too busy with his internal discord, his roommate came in with a serious look on her face. She closed the door behind her and leaned her back on it with her arms crossed on her chest. She didn't say a word, which made the whole situation way more terrifying. She just stared at him, her blue orbs piercing through him, as if they could look straight at his soul and he stared at his shoes, until he decide to speak. The furious part of himself took over.

"Is your boyfriend gone?" he asked, still looking down like the shoelaces of his old Chuck Taylors were the most important thing in the universe.

"My what? Garrett is my cousin, my favorite cousin! You've been acting so weird for the past few weeks, why the hell are you doing this?" Frustrated, she took a few steps forward so that she was standing right in front of him. Rowena was generally one of those people who couldn't stand fights between friends and thought that anything could be solved through extensive talking, so Salazar was certain that she would not leave the room until she had made sure that things between them were fine.

She was standing so close to him that he could see her own dark blue Chucks, worn out, filled with drawings and torn at a few spots, pointing at his black ones. His eyes stayed fixed there as he ran his hands through his hair one last time before he heard her speak again. "Will you at least look at me?" And so he did.

Even though his eyes were green, at that moment they possessed a strange sort of glow that made them look like they was a undying flame inside. It was actually a great representation of what he felt inside, which was an entirely unfamiliar sensation; the best description that Salazar could give was that his soul was on fire, no matter how little sense that made. But suddenly, after finally catching Rowena's powerful gaze, everything came into place. In the fraction of a second, he understood what he was feeling and what he had to do about it and every single doubt he had vanished. Of course, the answer had been there for quite a while, but a man who has lived he whole life in rain and blizzard takes a while to recognise the heat of the sun hitting his face.

"Because I'm in love with you!" His voice was more like a loud and exasparated sigh, as he stood up, now on the same level as her. For the first time since he met her, she was speechless. "I'm in love with you, dammit, and I wish you could just open your eyes and see it! You know, for a person of your wits, Rowena, you are really bad at taking hints!" While talking he approached her even more without noticing, so she had ended up with her back against the wardrobe, with Salazar a couple of inches away from her, his arms still stretched in an expressive gesture.

His first declaration certainly caught her by surprise, but as soon as the following words came out of his mouth, they triggered a look as furious as his to appear on her face too. "Look who's talking!" she shouted. Her voice so loud was another thing Salazar experienced for the first time. "You have no right to talk about blindness, Salazar, because I swear, you are the most oblivious person I have ever met!" It was his turn to get startled. "I have dated four different guys in three months. Let me tell you, when a girl does that she is either really indecisive or trying to cause a reaction. Your reaction, you idiot!"

They were now so close that they could feel each other's unsteady breaths on their face. "I've been head over heels for you since that housewarming party," Rowena continued, her voice a whisper, a strong contrast to the boisterous argument that had preceded, "probably even before, but I was too scared to admit it." It was a relief to finally get it out of her system, a confession that she thought she would never have the courage to make. Not even Helga knew about this, even though bring back into mind all of her and Godric's action during the past few months, the two fo them had probably noticed it way before them.

"So, you remember what happened at that party after all?" Salazar chuckled with his casual smirk back on his lips, but this time his whole face had a different glow, a glow of... happiness, maybe?

"Of course I do, come on, I wasn't that drunk," Rowena replied. She didn't wonder how they could hold a humorous conversation with their faces an inch away from each other.

"You were pretty drunk though."

Which was entirely your fault, she would have said, if she wasn't too busy kissing him. She didn't know if she was the one who pulled him in or if he couldn't stand it any longer. Both their minds were screaming, as their hearts threatened to jump out of their chests, and a single thought could be heard above everything else: Finally.

Neither actually wanted to pull back, but a small issue called oxygen got in the way. Nothing could wipe the smiled off their lips, as they stood there with almost no space left between them. "That was way better than the party," Salazar commented. Rowena didn't answer; she just pulled him into an even more passionate kiss.