He kissed her! She kissed him back! She paced back and forth in the spare room trying to calm herself down. All she could do was think of the kiss, both of them, and feel like her heart was going to blow out of her chest. Her mind was a mess so she didn't hear footsteps approaching the room.

"Iris." She jumped at the sound of Dagur's voice. "Is it true you're leaving?" What?

"What are you talking about?" She asked, turning to face him as he stood in the doorway, his face stormy. "I mean, I was but now I'm-"

"Is it because of me?"

"No! Listen I'm not-"

"I'm not sorry. I'd do it all over again."

"Dagur listen-"

"You can't leave! Not now!"

"DAGUR!" He stopped rambling and finally focused on her. "I'm not leaving."

"Then why did Jon?"

"Because I was." Worry crossed his face making her sigh. She walked over and tugged him into the room. "Before you came here, I was going to leave for a few months, to learn things in school, experience life, erm." She decided not to bring up the subject of finding someone to date. "Then you showed up and life turned upside down. In a good way! I can't leave now though. There's so much I want to teach you and learn from you and talk to you about!"

"So you aren't leaving?" She nodded. "You're staying because of me?"

"Sorta but you are a big reason why."

"You're not scared of me?"

"No way! You aren't scary. I could just poke your chest and run away even if you did scare me." She grinned at him which he finally returned. "Besides, there's only one person I'm scared of and that's my mom."

"She is scary when she wants to be." He chuckled slightly before stepping closer. Iris swore she could feel his body heat. "I'm glad you aren't leaving and that I wasn't the reason you wanted to. I thought my chest would cave in at the thought."

"You aren't scary. Maybe a little, um, wild, straight forward, not scary."

"What about when I do this?" His arms went around her waist and pulled her close to him. She blushed as her hands rested on his chest but shook her head. His face was close too hers. "Really?"

"Really." Her voice was a whisper. It felt like her heart was going to burst it was beating so hard.

"Then why do you run away the first chance you get?"

"Because I'm scared of myself." He tilted his head curiously. "I've never done this before. Ever. I don't know if I can trust what I feel."

"Then just do it and damned the consequences." He was right in his own crazy way.

Before she lost her nerve Iris place her hands on either side of his face and pulled him closer so she could plant a firm kiss on him. His arms tightened around her as he returned the kiss. She felt him give a soft growl that vibrated his chest and sent tingles down her spine. Warmth filled her body as he moved one of his hands to cup the back of her neck and deepened the kiss. If this was wrong she didn't want to be right.

She slide her hands from his face back so she could wrap her arms around his neck. Without warning he lifted her up, not breaking thier kiss, and sat her on the only table in the room. Her legs wrapped around his waist on their own. He growled again as he gripped her hips. She could feel his rough fingers brush against her sensitive skin as they slid under her sweater.

"No," she whimpered as she pulled back slightly. He paused, his thumb moving in a circle motion on her skin. "That's too fast."

"We'll take it at your pace." His voice was rough but he moved his hands out from under her sweater. "Now come back here."

"I wouldn't go up there," Vivian drawled as Jon walked to the stairs. "Trust me."

Her husband stared at her in confusion before looking back at the stairs. She continued her knitting, working on a pair of socks. When she didn't offer any additional explanation he sighed and walked back to his chair. He plopped down with a grunt.

"Are you going to tell me why?" he asked.

I'd rather not, she thought to herself. She had seen how the two youngster looked at each other lately. It was obvious to anyone with eyes that they were attracted to each other. Would she have rather it not been a crazy battle hungry man from her childhood story book? Well yes but she couldn't blame her daughter. He had been her favorite as a young girl too.

"Nope," she said with a click of her tongue. "Just trust me on this one."

"Now I want to know," he grumbled.

No he didn't but she didn't say anything. Vivian had come downstairs when she heard Dagur's voice in the spare room. They kept extra things in there like fabric, yarn, jars, clothes, and the like. It was a good place to go to be alone and think. Iris had burst in there and began pacing before Dagur followed later. Something happened between the two and she wanted to stay as ignorant as possible.

"Iris' is going to have to start packing," Jon sighed. She glanced at him. He was staring at the fireplace with a deep frown. "I still don't want her to go. We still don't know how Dagur even got here. Who knows what else could be lurking in the woods?"

"Well then I have some good news," Vivian said as she focused on her knitting. Socks were tricky. "She's decided to not leave." She knew Jon was staring at her.

"WHAT?" She heard him stand up with a thud. "When was this decided?"

"Recently." There was no way she was telling him she decided weeks ago. "She probably doesn't know how to tell you. Your parents will be disappointed. I think that thought scares her."

"IRIS!"

"Leave her be."

"No. IRIS! GET DOWN HERE!"

They had built the house to be solid. It helped keep the air inside warm in the winter and cool in the summer. However it muffled most sounds especially upstairs. Which was a good thing most of the time. Right now they couldn't hear any footsteps, which Vivian was willing to bet were frantic.

"Yeah Dad?" Iris asked as she came down the stairs. Her face was pink and her eyes were bright but thankfully Jon didn't notice.

"Your mom just told me you changed your mind about college?" Vivian set her knitting aside to watch the two. "When did you decide this?"

"Recently," she said slowly. "I don't want you and Mom to be stressed taking care of Dagur and I can go next year. Mimi and Grandpa will be upset but we could visit maybe? Sometime later?"

"I can't believe this," he grumbled. "For months you have been begging your mom and I to let you go to college and now you changed your mind?"

"Oh come on Dad! He showed up thanks to magic! You really think I'm going to miss out on this? Who knows how he was brought here! There could be more magic we don't even know about! Maybe dragons and unicorns and all that ARE real!"

While the two argued Dagur came down the stairs carrying some shirts. Vivian nodded internally at the move. Her daughter wasn't stupid and getting Dagur more shirts was a good cover story. He noticed her looking at him and gave a slight grin at her slow wink.

"If he doesn't want her leaving why is he mad?" Dagur asked Vivian in Norse.

"Because he was the last to know," she answered. "He doesn't like not knowing things."

"So does he?" She interrupted him.

"No and you two keep it that way. Let me warn you, make my daughter cry and you'll be the last of your line. Understand me?" He nodded quickly. "Good. You might not be so deranged but at least you have a brain."

"You're okay with it? I would have imagined you would be the most against her and I."

"If she's anything like me, my disapproval won't stop it from happening. However I don't fully approve of you two. You're what, nineteen almost twenty? Been considered an adult for three four years? She's eighteen, still a child by our standards. Only now would she be moving into her own home let alone be, ahem, courted."

"I would rather pull out my own eye than hurt her." He sounded completely sincere and based on what she knew she didn't doubt him. "Ever since I first saw her, there's been something. I don't what but I'll figure it out."

"Good. Now sit down and enjoy the show of watching Iris battle it out verbally with her father. They're both stubborn."

"Well I'm not going," Iris was saying. "And you can't make me!"

"Oh yes I can," Jon argued. "But I won't!"

"When why are you mad at me?"

"Because you were so adamant before about leaving! Some guy falls out of the sky and you change your mind?"

"Well duh! Who wouldn't?"

"Any normal person."

"WE AREN'T NORMAL! That's probably why I like him!" Oh?

Jon stared at Iris, his mouth opening and shutting but no noise coming out. He pointed a finger at her for a few seconds before turning to point it at Dagur. A strange keening noise came from him that Vivian had never heard before. Did Iris break her father? Dagur looked extremely pleased at Iris' words.

"You," was all Jon said before throwing his hands in the air and storming out of the living room. A few seconds later and the sound of the kitchen door slamming made the air shake. Vivian cleared her throat to get Iris' attention. She wanted to laugh as her daughter's face turned a bright red when she realized that Dagur was there too.

"You've successfully broke your father," she chuckled. "I've only seen him speechless a few times. One being when you were born. Congratulations."

"I didn't mean to say it outloud," Iris muttered. She rubbed the back of her neck, one of her nervous ticks. "How long do you think he's going to be mad?"

"A few days. I recommend you stay out of his sight and avoid being with him alone." She stared pointedly at Dagur.

"What? I didn't do it," he said.

"You're part of it. Don't argue." The door slammed again and Jon stormed into the living room, axe in hand. "JON! Don't you dare!"

"We need firewood," he snapped. "Go put on a coat. Time for you to start physical training boy."

"Aye aye," Dagur said. He set the shirts he had down on an end table and stepped into the kitchen.

"You scared me," Vivian snapped. She had thought her husband was coming back to kill Dagur.

"I wouldn't insult your work by killing him," he grumbled. "You." He pointed at Iris. "You can start carrying the cut wood to the house. Both of you have too much energy."