THIS IS A CONTINUATION OF CHAPTER NINE.

Well, chapter nine was supposed to stand alone. But I am trying (read: failing) to continue… I am sorry for the imminent suckyness.

Dedicated to ARTYSgirl98fowlstar, who's wish is granted - make up kissing is included. ;) And lots of it, as per usual.

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There was an awkward silence.

The awkward silence continued.

The awkward silence continued to continue.

The awkward silence continued to continue to continue.

The awkward silence persisted with continuing to continue to continue for about an eternity.

Then another.

Artemis facepalmed. "My apologies," he said weakly. "That was probably not the best way to put it."

His communicator dinged. Holly was requesting video.

Does she think my being able to see her will make this any better? he wondered, hitting "Accept."

Holly's eyes were wide and red-rimmed, her short hair was a mess, and her shoulders were trembling rather spastically. "Say that again."

"What?" he responded, fairly sure that what he had just now said wasn't worth repeating.

"What you said before what you just said. Say it again," she whispered.

Oh. That.

"Holly, I shouldn't have sprung that on you when you're in this state. I'm sorry…" fancy that, apologizing for the apology. This plan definitely backfired.

"Say it again!" she practically snarled, her voice cracking on the third syllable. Slim hands reached for the screen as though she wanted to reach through the connection and shake the answer out of him.

There were no other options. "I love you."

The silence was not at all awkward this time. Having put his feelings far out in the open, Artemis had nothing left to hide. He stared into Holly's eyes, capturing her gaze through the screen. He watched as her breaths became quicker and deeper, her delicate ribcage expanding and contracting frantically. The hands that had reached for him a moment ago now gripped the edge of the table at which she sat.

They looked at each other for a few seconds, Holly becoming more and more discombobulated as Artemis's stare intensified. His eyes were dragging the response out of her. "I…"

"Yes?"

Dear gods, his voice is so deep… I need to do something.

"I'll be there in an hour!" she improvised, cutting the link. Ramming her head against the desk a few times to clear her mind, she ran her fingers through her hair. Foaly. Forget Trouble, I can explain to him later. I need Foaly.

She ran.

She ran so fast that later, multiple people asked her if there had been a fire.

Swinging around the doorway and crashing into the wall, she grabbed the startled centaur by the lab coat. "I need to go topside," she begged, her nose bumping his.

Rather used to emotional outbursts from his best friend, and comfortable in the knowledge that they were always explained later, Foaly checked flare schedules. "There's one to Tara in ten if you hurry."

Just like that, she was gone.

He was tempted to call Artemis and ask… but realized that he might not want to know.

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Pacing.

The great Artemis Fowl the Second had been reduced to pacing.

All because of a girl.

Shameful.

And yet, he wasn't ashamed in the least.

More pacing.

More pacing.

Holly.

Holly Holly Holly.

Paaaaaaaaacing.

Dammit.

He really needed to stop pacing.

He paced some more.

All because of Holly. That tiny, little, redheaded, quirky, sweet, adorable, amazing girl.

Maybe she wasn't angry at all. Maybe she was wonderfully happy at the fact that he loved her and would throw her arms around his neck and kiss the crap out of him.

Then again…

Maybe she was angry with him. Maybe she was royally pissed at the fact that he loved her and would jam her fist into his solar plexus and beat the crap out of him.

Either scenario involved the crap being evicted from his body. Silver lining.

He shook his head, revolted at the juvenility of his thoughts. Really, one would expect more from a Fowl.

He paced a bit more.

Has it been an hour? he lifted his eyes from the path he had treaded in the carpet and glanced around for his clock -

And jumped a foot in the air. Holly was sitting cross-legged on his desk, watching him amusedly.

"I've been here quite a while," she said softly. "Someone's distracted."

"Yes, well, can you deny that I have reason to be?"

Blushing, she shook her head.

Again, they just looked at each other, suddenly shy.

"Arty-" she started, ducking her head.

He stepped forward, laying a finger to her lips to quiet her. "Holly. If you were going to spurn my advances, you would have done so well before now, and I would likely be in a hospital. However, you have not, and so I am going to assume that I have been accepted. Am I wrong?"

She turned an attractive shade of scarlet. Then, almost imperceptibly, she shook her head.

He gazed at her. The love of his life, sprawled lazily on his desk, tousled hair falling over mismatched eyes, long limbs tangled and intricately balanced. She was beautiful. And she was his.

The mark on her face from his hand was still discernible, likely due to some masochism of hers. Each finger was cleanly defined in angry red against the brown of her skin. Leaning forward, he pressed his lips to the center of the palm (she gasped), then spread kisses to the very outlines, showering the passing anger with permanent love.

"I certainly hope," he said between caresses, "that my elf-kissing days are not over."

"Artemis," she murmured as he worked his way down, gasping and wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck as he sucked gently at the pulse point just under her jaw. "No, they're - oh, gods, don't stop -" she pulled harder at him with her knees, jerking their hips together.

At her oh-so-kind request, he didn't stop licking at her earlobe, except to say, "What do you want me to do?"

"Artyyyyyyyy…"

"Mmm?"

"Kiss me?"

"What was that?"

"Kiss me!"

"You forgot the magic word."

"Please," she begged. She wanted him to kiss her, not the other way around. She wanted a physical representation of what his words had already conveyed to her; she wanted to know that she was what he wanted; that she was all he would ever want.

He pressed his forehead to hers, closing his eyes. This moment… this moment would change everything. Not the first kiss; but he first where they were both alive and whole and completely (or mostly, anyway) hormonally unaffected. This was just love. Burning, inflaming, passionate love.

As the sun shined through the open window, softly alighting on the pair, Artemis Fowl kissed Holly Short.

Predictably enough, it did not remain chaste for long. Arms threaded about one another; tongues flicked, then plunged, making them both groan; hands roamed. And roamed.

Remembering her earlier reaction, Artemis reached up and tweaked at her ears.

Holly cried out into his mouth; she jumped at him, tumbling them both onto the floor. She managed to get on top and began frantically fumbling at his buttons, almost ripping them away in her haste.

In a rare display of strength, Artemis stood up, arms wound around her waist, and threw her onto his bed, pulling his shirt off as he crawled over her. Pressing his lips against her neck, he murmured, "I love you."

And this time, there was no apology.

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I need to stop writing these. They are definitely getting progressively worse.