Chapter 2: That Time Already

I know this is quite a jump forward in the term; I just had to. Before I forgot the amazing idea I had.

HERSHEL STAYED BEHIND in class that day to tell the professor - who he'd had a chat with a few weeks ago about the break - that he would, indeed, be staying at school for the Christmas holidays. He had had an argument with his father the other day, and since his father - regrettably - tended to be a heavy drinker, he decided to stay. He was cleaning up the classroom when Claire walked in. "Oh! Good evening, Hershel." He looked at her, smiled shyly, and continued working, his cheeks glowing faintly, although she hadn't done anything to provoke him so. She stepped behind him. "It's very nice of you to stay behind like that. I can't believe it would take so long, though." Hershel shrugged. "Well, it's really not much work; I'm just taking a while longer than I need to so the hallways won't be so crowded." Claire nodded in agreement. Hershel had just finished dusting off the shelf, and turned to face her. Once again, for the umpteenth time that year, he was greeted with a pair of dazzling green eyes, and a soft, sweet smile. He blushed a bit more noticeably. He looked up to redirect his thoughts, and then ended up shooting his gaze back to the floor. "What is it, Hershel?" Claire asked. He raised his eyebrows momentarily, signaling her gaze to trail to the ceiling, then back to him. "Oh, how original." She laughed. What a beautiful sound... He thought, looking back up, then back down.

There was a small, green and white bundle hanging from the ceiling, conveniently where the two were standing.

Mistletoe... Hershel thought.

He'd been waiting for this moment since his first day running into her. He considered that it would've been a sheer miracle, were it to happen. But standing here now, it felt like a dream. He had rehearsed this in his mind time and time again, but he still didn't know what to do. "Well, it couldn't hurt to... Just this once... Right?" He stammered? Claire smiled, looking at the ground. Is she... Blushing? Hershel thought. All he had to do was wait. At some point, he would be expecting her to sigh, because she always did in a moment of silence. And she always closed her eyes when she did. All he had to do was get her to close her eyes, and then he could just...

-o-

"H-Hershel..." Claire stammered, blushing. Hershel was red in the face, too, and the tips of his ears were glowing pink as well. But he had finally done it. The one thing he'd been waiting for all year.

He had kissed her. Right there under the mistletoe. Just like a dream. He chuckled nervously. "S-Sorry..." He mumbled apologetically. But he wasn't. He sure as heck wasn't. He'd wanted to. And she knew he wasn't sorry. He shouldn't be, she thought. It's not like he hit me... She smiled, which formed slowly into a giggle, and before they knew it, the two of them were laughing. Hershel looked into her eyes, and for the first time, didn't crumble under their beauty. He said, without wavering, without stammering, what he'd wanted to say for a long while now.

"Do you want to go on a date with me?"

Again, I had to do this before I forgot my idea, so 'm sorry for skipping so far into the term. I hope you liked it! I got a request for another chapter, and that's just what I did! Thanks to "The Mocking J" for being so kind as to writing a review. It means a lot, thank you!