For this chapter I'm going to do something a little different. It's going to start with Moyra and switch to Kellach. Also, I have the first part of this chapter typed out already.

CHAPTER 14

Kellach sighed heavily and turned away from Moyra, settling himself deeper into his corner of the couch. Moyra stared at him, concerned.

"Kellach?" Moyra asked cautiously. Kellach didn't reply, but simply closed his eyes. "Kellach?" Moyra asked again, a bit more urgently.

"I can't do this, Moyra," Kellach muttered, "That beast has taken everything out of me. It almost killed me today, and I can't forget the feeling of its cold touch."

"What are you talking about?" Moyra wondered, growing more concerned. Why did he suddenly change topics like that? Was he suddenly going to ignore that fact that she just confessed her love for him?

"It's going to kill us and drag us to the void with it," Kellach continued as if Moyra hadn't spoken, "Its power is too strong. I don't think I can stop it. Not anymore. Now it's too late for us. I couldn't do anything to fight back while it had me pinned down. You saw what it was like."

"Kellach, what's wrong with you?" Moyra asked him, "What are you talking about?" She gently put a hand on his shoulder and leaned over him.

She was surprised when he suddenly opened his eyes and stared straight ahead. "You lied to me," he said cryptically.

"What?" Moyra was even more puzzled than before. What in the world was going on?

"When we had our first kiss," Kellach clarified, "You lied to me. You didn't want to kiss me 'just to get it over with' and 'just as friends.' You wanted to kiss me because you were in love with me."

Moyra could only stare, having no idea how to reply. What did this have to do with the beast of shadows?

"Kellach, seriously, what are you talking about?" she asked, "I know I lied, but what does it matter? It's not important. Would you have done anything differently if I had told you it was because I was in love with you? I just wasn't ready to tell you yet."

"You tricked me," Kellach said, a hint of bitterness in his voice, "And what of the other times? Every time you pressed too close against me, or made me feel uncomfortable? And then you even made me feel bad for feeling uncomfortable! You said it meant nothing! But that was a lie too!"

"Kellach," Moyra said quietly, fear growing in her heart, "I didn't mean to lie to you. I didn't mean to hurt you. I just didn't want to hurt our friendship. I had to get you to relax; I didn't want you to feel uncomfortable around me. I just want to stay friends with you."

Kellach closed his eyes and said nothing. Moyra grew a little anxious. "Kellach?" she urged carefully, "Did you hear what I said? I just want to stay friends."

His eyes snapped open, and Kellach glared wildly up at Moyra. "Oh, I heard what you said!" he snarled, "But that's a lie too, isn't it? You don't want me to just be your friend, do you? You want me to love you back, don't you?" He suddenly sat up, pushing Moyra away from him, and glaring coldly at her. "Couldn't you see how uncomfortable I was? Didn't you care at all? Or were you too concerned with satisfying your own desires to notice or care?"

"Of course I care!" Moyra pleaded, feeling tears coming to her eyes, "I love you, Kellach! I would never do anything to hurt you!"

Kellach scoffed and turned away from her. Trying to ignore the pain in her heart, Moyra gently pressed closer to him. She was thankful that he didn't try to push her away. Feeling brave, she pressed a little closer, moving her body to slightly cover his, and she gently pressed her face into him, covering her tear stained eyes with his neck. Kellach didn't move or say anything. She sighed sadly.

"I'm sorry I lied to you," she said quietly, "I'm sorry I tricked you, and made you feel uncomfortable. I'm sorry I kissed you so forcefully and ignored how you felt. It's just… I love you so much, and I was afraid of what you would think of me if I told you. I was afraid you wouldn't want to be friends anymore." She sighed. "I guess I could've told you I love you before I tried to kiss you. Then I wouldn't have frightened you as much."

There was a pause, and Kellach let out a deep sigh. "You could've told me, you know," he said quietly, "Five years ago, you could've told me you love me. I would've understood. Yes, we were only eight and nine, but that's not really a problem. I don't know if I would've felt the same about you at the time, but at the very least it would've given me time to sort out my feelings. Perhaps I could've been in love with you now."

Moyra felt her heart race and she sat up to look at Kellach. He stared back at her with his blue gaze that she loved so much. She swallowed nervously.

"How do you feel about me now?" she asked cautiously.

Kellach paused, then sighed. "I don't know," he replied quietly, "I don't even know how we can still remain just friends with you being in love with me. I know you've hidden it all these years, and acted like we're just friends, but I can't do that. I can't pretend that you're not in love with me. I can't forget that you're in love with me." He sighed and leaned back into the couch. Moyra gently leaned on him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"What are we going to do?" Moyra asked softly, "You're breaking my heart."

"I don't know," Kellach repeated, "I just… don't know how to feel about you anymore."

Moyra felt her heart shatter. She pressed her face into his neck and sobbed quietly. She flinched slightly when she felt Kellach put a hand on her arm. Then she heard him sigh softly.

"Please don't cry, Moyra," Kellach told her gently, "I can't stand to see you so unhappy."

It took Moyra several moments to muster up enough breath to be able to speak through her tears. "Please don't stop being friends with me," she pleaded, "I can't bear to be without you. I don't care if you break my heart, I still love you. Please, Kellach, tell me what to do so we can still be friends!"

"I just need time to sort out my feelings," Kellach replied quietly, "You need to give me some space. With all that's going on right now, I'm more confused than ever."

"I can give you time and space," Moyra promised, "I don't even have to share your bed with you anymore! I can sleep with Driskoll instead. He already knows I'm in love with you."

Kellach looked at her, surprised. "He does?" he asked, "How?"

Moyra felt herself blush. "I told him," she answered, awkwardly, "I told him after he freed us from that icy room. I had to tell him," she said quickly before Kellach could ask, "It was driving me crazy, and I couldn't bring myself to tell you yet. Besides," she paused, "I didn't want him to feel left out, not knowing what's going on with us."

"I guess I understand," Kellach replied, sighing, "If you hadn't, I probably would've told him myself anyway." He closed his eyes, and Moyra suddenly noticed how exhausted he looked. She gently shook him.

"We should probably be getting back to bed," she told him, "Sorry for waking you in the middle of the night for all of this."

"It's all right," Kellach mumbled, his eyes still closed, "You can sleep with me for the rest of the night and until Driskoll gets better. I don't want to bother him."

He opened his eyes and was about to get up, when Moyra suddenly grabbed his arm. "Please," she said, "Before I leave you alone, may I… kiss you one more time? I… I kind of wanted to take my shirt off when I do. And I promise I won't bug you anymore after this." She looked up at him with her bright green eyes.

Kellach sat back down, sighing. He leaned back deep into the couch, very gently wrapping his arms around himself, and staring down at the floor, before meeting Moyra's gaze. He didn't say anything, but Moyra knew what his answer was. She smiled slightly, and drew her shirt up over her head, taking it off. Then she leaned over Kellach, pressing her body lightly against him.

"I love you," she told him. Then she leaned in and kissed him deeply.

…

Kellach didn't fall back asleep that night, despite how tired he was. In the darkness, he could feel Moyra pressing against him, and hear her soft breathing as she slept. He could feel her heart beating against his own chest, and her lips softly pressed against his neck. His mind was completely blank, but still sleep would not come. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself, to make himself relax. When he finally did fall asleep, the sky was already starting to light up.

What he thought was a moment later, Kellach opened his eyes. The sun was high in the sky, and Moyra had already left. Driskoll was still asleep in the next bed. Kellach blinked, wondering how long he had slept for. He was still a little tired, but he couldn't sleep the day away, and so he forced himself out of bed.

When he got to the kitchen, he couldn't tell if he was surprised or not when he saw Alexandra sitting at the table waiting for him.

"You took your time getting up," she noted.

Kellach silently groaned and sat down next to her. "I didn't get a lot of sleep last night," he told her, "Moyra kept me up with… something." He looked over at her. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to tell you how my assessment with Zendric went," Alexandra said.

"Oh, right, that was this morning," Kellach remembered, "I'm sorry, I completely forgot. How did it go?"

A smile spread onto the girl's face. "He said I'm doing much better than before," she replied, "He said I'm like an entirely new student. And it's all because of you!"

Kellach smiled warmly at her. "That's wonderful, Alex," he said, "I'm so glad for you."

Alexandra blushed and smiled. She suddenly started to lean towards him, and Kellach quickly leaned back, panicked.

"What are you doing?" he asked, startled. Alex quickly pulled back, a little surprised.

"Sorry!" she exclaimed, blushing red, "I don't know! It was nothing!"

After a moment's pause, Kellach let out the breath he had been holding and stood up. He walked over to the sink, pouring himself a glass of water. He heard Alexandra shift in her seat behind him.

"Kellach, I want to tell you something I think you should know," she said.

"All right," Kellach replied. He turned around and was startled by Alex suddenly standing behind him. She was standing so close to him, he had to take a few steps back. The girl smiled slightly at him.

"Ever since I met you, you've been very kind to me," she said, stepping towards him, "I can tell your brother and friend don't like me very much, but you've been quite patient with me while teaching me magic. You're like no one I've ever met before."

Kellach felt a strange feeling rising inside him, a panic that he had felt all too recently. Alex very lightly pressed herself against him and gently pressed him against the wall. She leaned in and murmured into his ear.

"Kellach," she whispered, "I've fallen deeply in love with you."

Before Kellach could reply, Alexandra gently kissed him. Kellach took a sharp breath, feeling Alex's lips lightly touching his own. Her kiss was gentle, but deep, and he could feel her gripping his arms, holding him still. She breathed softly into him, and he felt himself choke. She kissed him several times, tasting him, and teasing him. It was several moments before she pulled away from him.

Kellach stared in shock at her as Alex smiled sweetly at him. She leaned in for another kiss, but Kellach stopped her.

"Listen, Alex," he said as nicely as he could, "I'm humbled and flattered that you would be in love with me, even if I don't understand why," He paused to take a breath, "But with everything that's happening right now, I don't really want to be in a relationship right now. I'm sorry."

Alexandra's smile didn't change at all. "I understand," she replied, "You have a lot going on. I just really wanted to tell you how I feel."

"Thank you," Kellach said quietly. At least that was one thing he didn't have to worry about. Alex smiled warmly.

"But Kellach," she continued, "Would it be all right if you continued to tutor me? I feel much more confident with you. And don't worry, I won't randomly try to make out with you or anything." There was a twinkle of humor in her eyes.

Kellach felt a strange sort of dread rising inside him, but he shook it off. "Of course," he replied, "I wouldn't mind."

Alexandra pressed against him gently. "Thank you," she said softly. She stood like that for a moment more before pulling away. "Well, I'd better get home. I have some important work to do." She leaned in, giving Kellach a quick and gentle kiss on the lips before heading out. "See you later, my love." She said.

Kellach stared after her, wondering if he had just made a horrible mistake.

Wow, that was fast. Like I said, I already had half of this written up, and I knew what the other half was going to be about. I hope you didn't hate Kellach too much in this chapter for what he said to Moyra! I like having heavy emotional conflict, and if Kellach just loved Moyra right away, I felt like it would be too boring. Anyway, next chapter we go back to Driskoll's perspective, and he's finally going to be feeling better. If anyone is actually reading this, please leave a review!