A/N: I don't own Valkyrie, Skulduggery, Tanith, Ghastly, Anton, Saracen or Dexter.

Shopping with Anton was fun. He turned out to have a lot of interests I had no idea about other than fighting, one being to renovate the Midnight Hotel into something a little cozier and closer to a bed and breakfast. Soon enough we were back at the Midnight Hotel, and I helped him carry our groceries in. As we finished and I turned to go out to the beach he laid a tentative hand on my shoulder. My heart sped up and I thought he was going to kiss me, but he took his hand away and smiled faintly. "Tell Abby I'll be out soon." He said and I nodded.

I felt giddy walking down the path and as I sat down between mom and dad under an umbrella mom smiled at me. "Did he kiss you yet?" She teased.

"Mom!" I said, blushing furiously. Abby, playing in the sand in front of us, giggled. I was happy to see her enjoying herself.

She looked up from arranging seashells and grinned excitedly. "Your boyfriend's cute." She said. I turned, trying not to be too obvious and saw Anton walking slowly down the beach towards us, the other Dead Men stopping games of Frisbee or walking away from the grill to speak to him. Cute wasn't the word for how he looked. There were no words.

He smiled as he approached, then knelt down to listen to Abby tell him about the sand castle she wanted to build. He wasn't just being nice, I realized as they drew out plans in the sand, he really liked being with her. That's a point in his favour. I thought, then turned as Saracen shouted for me to come help at the grill.

I rolled my eyes. Saracen wanted my help because I'd gotten down to my swimsuit once I'd reached the beach and he wanted to show me off to Anton. I got up, concentrating on not doing anything stupid like tripping and went over to Saracen. He grinned hugely at me. "Guess who watched you walk over?" He sniggered and I gave him a light whack in the arm.

"Are you two or three?" I growled good-naturedly. It turned out he did need help with the grilled corn as Dexter had abandoned him to help the other men in setting up a roped off swimming area for Abby.

"You're all being really sweet to Abby, and I appreciate it." I said and Saracen smiled happily.

"Not a problem. You want an iced tea? They're in the cooler, I'll get us both one." He said and at my nod he took off. I looked down the beach, keeping tabs on everyone. Abby was doing a good job on their castle with Anton, Ghastly and Tanith had joined mom and dad with another umbrella, and my brothers were goofing off, the swim area completed.

Saracen returned with my bottle of iced tea and looked at me. "You're serious about him right? He saw you look when he came out on the beach, Val." He teased and I wanted to die of embarrassment right then and there. He grinned as he uncapped his and took a swig. "He's a good guy, Val. Give him a chance, OK?"

I nodded. "I will. I thought he was going to kiss me before, to be honest." I said, and Dexter, joining us with more freshly cut veggies, grinned.

"He will. He's just afraid he'll scare you off if he moves too fast. Trust me, Val, he's serious. He went to five stores before he found Abby's gift and the only reason you didn't get anything is he thought he'd look too forward." I sighed fondly and looked back over at Anton and Abby. They waved and I waved back, hoping Anton would relax and realize he wasn't about to scare me off anytime soon.

Our brothers managed to make sure he sat next to me at lunch, and Anton pulled kapers with me after. As we cleaned up he smiled at me. "I promised Abby we'd take her swimming after you and I finish. First though, I could use some help setting up the dining room for dinner if you don't mind." He said and I nodded. Dining room? Since when does the hotel have a dining room? I wondered.

It turned out there was one for his guests, and once we had napkins, silverware and plates out he seemed satisfied. Anton looked at me, seeming to want to say something, then ran his hand through his long black hair nervously. He smiled faintly, then led the way back outside. I felt sorry for him then, but what if we were all wrong? What if he didn't like me and thought I liked him and was just being nice about it?

Abby enjoyed her swim, then hung out with me in our room, making her plush Midnight run up and down her bed. "Are you and Anton boyfriend and girlfriend yet?" She asked and I shrugged helplessly.

"I'm not sure, Abby. Maybe he knows everyone thinks he likes me and he's just playing along so I don't feel bad." I said thoughtfully. "But no matter what happens, he and I will always be friends, at least." I said and she nodded. "He isn't acting like a boyfriend yet, if that's what you're asking. Maybe he's just trying to be a nice friend." I said and she nodded happily.

There was a knock on our door and I answered it, surprised to see Anton. "I don't suppose you'd like to help with dinner?" He asked and I nodded, knowing how brave it was of him to ask. Anton seemed terrified around women and I had no idea why. We were prepping dinner when he looked at me. "Val I-"

He stopped, looking away shyly, flushing with shame. My heart melted. If I didn't help him, he was never going to say anything. "I like you too, Anton." I said and the smile he rewarded me with was worth it.

After that he relaxed, talking to me easily. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to tell you, Valkyrie. I just never imagined you feeling the same way." He admitted.

"I know." I said gently. "But in your defense I used to go for hot and shallow." I said and he laughed.

"So which one am I not?" He teased.

"Anton!" I scolded and he just laughed again. Abby, ever the detective joined us. She looked at us innocently.

"I just wanted to thank Anton for spending time with me today." She said way too innocently and I tried hard not to smile.

"My pleasure, Abby. Would you like to help?" Anton offered and soon all three of us were working together. Abby winked at me when she thought Anton wasn't looking and I smiled at her. She was doing all she could to help us be together.

When she at last went back towards the rooms I looked at Anton. "World's youngest detective?" I asked and he nodded.

"She cares about you. She asked me if I'm going to marry you and move you into your own castle some day." He said fondly.

"I'm so sorry, Anton. I-" I began, but he held up a hand.

"No, need to apologize, Valkyrie. We have a lot of people who care about us and that is always a good thing." He came closer, looking into my eyes. He smiled softly, then cupped my face gently. "Valkyrie-" He whispered. Then he was leaning forward and I closed my eyes as his lips met mine.

They were incredibly soft, and Anton was being extremely careful to be tender as he wrapped his arms around me. He sighed into the kiss, pulled back slightly to look at me, then closed the gap again. There was an excited squeal from the doorway and we parted to find Tanith watching us. She took off, no doubt to spread the news.

I blushed and looked down, still in Anton's arms. "I hope you wanted everyone to know." I said with a nervous giggle. Anton laughed softly and titled my head up to look at me.

"What do you think?" He asked with a gentle smile and I knew he had.