Sorry it took so long; the internet wasn't working at my house.
Disclaimer: Ya, whatever.
I forced myself to give him a smile. "Hi, how are you doing today?" I asked him, concerned about both myself and him.
"I'm good, stop worrying so much." He said easily, shooting me a dazzling smile.
"I'm glad," I said brightly, and the smile came to my lips easier this time, automatically. He did seem okay. For now.
He seemed to sense the release in tension, and in response, his own smile widened. He grabbed my hand and nudged me forward, so that we could continue in the line for our food.
We walked down the aisle, him holding my right hand, for our food. He, as usual, got my food as well as his, though this time it was a little difficult, seeing as he had to carry Lissa's food as well, and he had to adjust so that we now linked our arms together, instead of us holding hands. I just continued to beam at him, practically glowing at the fact that he seemed perfectly fine at the moment, not willing to waste what little happy moments we had.
With him drawing anger, hostility, despair, and… well, craziness, from his bond with Danial, and me absorbing the same from Lissa, one, or both, of us always seemed to be in a bad mood. And it's only gotten worse now that they're both medication-free, and using their magic on a daily basis, in their little group training sessions with Adrian.
I pushed all thoughts of bonds and magic training aside as an idea came into my mind, and a mischievous smile danced on my lips.
When we reached our table, and he had set the food down, I moved my right hand to rest it on his shoulder, though our arms were still locked tightly together, then slid it slowly and seductively down his arm, running my nails lightly against his skin, until my hand reached his and I interlocked our fingers tightly. When he looked down at me, I still had that mischievous smile on my face, and I could tell he knew exactly what I was doing, and why. He always did.
I just smiled blindingly at him and started walking away slowly, with him trailing behind me, a smile just as big as my own on his face.
~-~-~-~
When we were a little ways into the forest, I stopped and spun around, my cheeks now hurting from smiling so long, and moved my mouth about an inch away from his.
"I wonder why it's so warm out, isn't it still winter?" I asked him, my smile more seductive now.
His laugh was breathless, and it made him sound as if he had just run a marathon. "It's freezing cold out here." Then he let the kindness, and love show through his smile, and he said,"you should smile like that more often. You'll never get cold again. And you look so much more beautiful when you're smiling."
Then he closed the distance between us and we kissed, connecting every part of my body with his as we pressed against each other, his back against a tree. It still amazed me that we fit together so perfectly, as if we were made for each other, and I smiled against his kiss.
We wanted to kiss forever, but we both knew that this calmness wouldn't last long, and we wanted to make it last, so we pulled away with a sigh, and we each leaned against opposite trees, facing each other. We loved moments like these, where we got to see each other smile so widely that our cheeks would be numb for hours, our hands stretched across the space between us. Sometimes we would speak; sometimes we would just sit for hours in a comfortable silence.
This time we chose to speak, talking and laughing about anything that had happened, though avoiding talk of our bonds. Halfway through our talk, I heard a rustling of leaves a little while away, but his voice pulled me back to our conversation almost instantly.
"You know I love you, right?" he asked when we finished talking about how much we couldn't wait until graduation.
My smile turned kind and loving, until I got an idea, and once again my mischievous smile was back in place. "You do?" I asked in a mock weary voice.
He knew what I was up to instantly, but he still let it get to him. Crap! I thought, maybe I didn't think that one through.
But then I saw the playful glint return to his eyes as he played along with our banter. "Well…" he started, in a fake hesitant tone. "Do you want me to tell you the truth, or say what you want to hear?"
"It might be hard to hear, but I need to know the truth," I said in a mock serious voice.
"Then…" As he said this, he was leaning towards me, "I love you more than anything," He said the last clearly, without a seconds hesitation, and as he finished, he had gotten me on the ground, with him laying on top of me, hands on either side of my head, that love showing in his every feature. "And you love me." He finished with infinite certainty in his voice.
"Well……" I said, still continuing on with our little game. Then, childishly, he started tickling me. I couldn't help laughing as I squirmed under his touch, wanting it to stop while at the same time never wanting it to end. Eventually, after a lot of "persuasion", I couldn't take it anymore. "Okay, okay," I laughed out, "you win!" He looked at me with a pleasure in his eyes that I knew was both because, he got me to relent, and because of what I was going to say. I looked into his eyes, and with so much surety that I knew no one would even think to doubt, "I love you more than anything in the world, Alexander Wallis."
His smile was so beautiful as I said that, that I couldn't help smiling too as I stared at him. Then he grabbed my left hand and slipped something onto my finger, and I looked down, confused.