"You...- You really mean that, don't you?" I answered. Unsure.

"Sadly, I believe I do." he replied woefully.

I smiled sheepishly. I leaned down to press my lips against his, Larten's eyes closed slowly and I hoped he knew what I meant.

"I hope you know the difference between love and lust...red cloaked prince." I joked lightheartedly.

Larten huffed slightly, "Despite the abundance of the latter... Yes.", his eyes staring up at me with fondness. He sighed, his head falling back against the pillow, resting his forearm over his eyes.

"What am I going to do..." he groaned inwardly, "...you are so- beautiful and infuriating all at the same time." Larten's hand clutched at his face, "How am I going to be able to let you go?"

I shook my head, spreading my palms across his chest, "Who says you have to?"

"Hunter, do not play with me like this. You know as much as I do why we cannot-"

"I don't see any reason why. You're here. Right now. And there is nothing forcing you to go." I stated, full of determination.

Larten flinched, as if my words had literally stung, "Do not act so naive..."

"I'm naive!?" I huffed, jumping off of him I strode across the room, arguing as I went to throw on a fresh set of clothes, "...You're the one telling me you love me! And now you want me to just roll over and say goodbye?"

Larten reached out to try and catch my arm, eventually standing to follow behind.

"I know, I am sorry, perhaps I should not have said that..." Larten stared at my bare back as I angrily threw on an old shirt, "...But I will not lie to you either, I cannot stay here. I cannot keep seeing you!"

I turned around in a flurry, my eyes fiery as they turned to land of Larten's face, "Just say it. Spell it out for me."

"Because...I...will live long enough to see you die. And you will live long enough to realize that there is nothing I can give you." Larten stalked up to face me, his naked torso making it difficult to keep an angry scowl on, "...It would be best, for both of us, if I left you alone."

I shook my head slowly, muttering to myself as Larten hastily recovered and buttoned up his shirt, "You're being selfish-"

"And as if that is not enough." Larten continued, "...It is dangerous! You know too much and getting any closer than I already am to you is a danger to all of us. Vampires, and humans."

"But don't you trust me?"

"Yes of course I do..." Larten replied quickly, stepping forward and gripping my arms, "...I trust you with my life but that is not the point. I am the one I do not trust."

"What are you talking about?"

"My dear, you are making this harder on me than is necessary and you know it..."

I didn't reply. Instead keeping still and staring defiantly into Larten's face. He eventually surrendered, sighing deeply and running his fingers over his stressed forehead.

"If I stay...If we continue. My fondness for you will only grow. And, inevitably, I will refuse to lose you. Time will pass, I will age slowly and eventually I- I will become afraid." He pressed his palms onto the table on either side of me, trapping me between his arms, his face inches from mine, "And out if that fear, I will turn you, for my own sake. And I cannot allow that to happen."

Larten hung his head, pained at having to explain word for word why we could never be. Saying out loud all the doubts and fear which he had held in. But that's what this moment was, that's what last night was, it was letting go of those doubts, those fears.

I did feel guilty for putting us both through this. But I've never been one to pull punches or ask for the easy way out. If he didn't want this heartache...he never should have come back.

"You live a good life here..." He went on, "...You could start a family one day. Grow old with someone and have all the things I could never give you."

"If I could..." he breathed, pressing tighter against me until my rear was resting against the edge of the table, "...I would do anything you wanted..." His lips pressed gently against my neck, "...And I would make you mine, forever."

Larten sighed, his lips feathering my skin before reluctantly pulling away, "But there is so much that I would be taking from you. And that frightens me so much more."

Larten's eyes were tinged with a slight redness as he looked up at me, "It is as you say, I am selfish...and yet- I refuse to be the reason for the greatest mistake of your life."

"You're not a mistake to me. I can't say goodbye yet." I stated, my hands cupping his face.

"Please..." He begged, leaning into my touch, "...I will not be able to stand it. Can you not see that we are both already suffering? Humans and vampires never get involved with each other precisely because of this right here. It hurts them both."

"I told you already...I don't care if it hurts."

"My dear...you cannot ask this of me..."

"But I am. I don't want you to leave. There's so much more I want to do with you. I want to learn as much as I can about you... Don't leave. Just- spend the winter with me. Keep me warm." I whispered, pulling him close and peppering his neck with soft kisses.

"My dear...I- I will stay. But this will only make things more difficult. And painful. You understand this, yes?" Larten questioned, peering into my eyes, searching- hoping for the faintest hint of doubt.

But I had none.

"Yes. I just want to hold on to you. As long as I can."

And I meant that, whether it meant being turned into a vampire, or ultimately saying goodbye whether I liked it or not. But for now, Larten was here, and I wasn't planning on letting him go anywhere.

It was dark out now, and I wasn't completely sure as to what time it was. The nights were growing longer and the days shorter. It would have given Larten enough time to say goodbye, but it also gave him an incentive to stay. The sun wouldn't be rising for a while, and we'd have all the time in the world. Part of him wonders if this wasn't his intention all along. To show up at my doorstep, somehow knowing we'd end up like this, knowing that I'd ask him to stay. And knowing that he would.

Why else would he have taken the risk?

"I thought...that I would be able to face you without falling into you like this..." he started, "...After spending time away from you I had convinced myself of what needed to be done. To say goodbye. But instead, when you wrapped your arms around me. And you...kissed me so sweetly...the taste of your lips had ruined any plan I had come here with."

I smiled bitterly, "Sounds like I'm cursed. Plans don't seem to ever last very long around me, something always has to go wrong."

He crossed his arms, his muscles bunching and straining against his soft shirt, "And now I am planning on how I am going to be able to forget you once winter is over. How I am going to keep from bringing you with me."

"Don't think about it. You already know what's going to happen. Just put it out of your mind for now, for me."

Larten shook his head softly, "I will try."

"And make love to me as many times as you possibly can in the span of a few weeks."

Larten made a noise like he had been punched in the gut, his cheeks instantly flushed red, "Oh good grief. You are going to be the death of me." he groaned, an embarrassed smile forcing it's way onto his lips.

"If you're going to abandon me in a few days I want to make sure I have plenty of memories to hold me over for the rest of my life." I mused, tugging at his crossed arms in order to situate myself against his chest.

Larten held tightly, despite feeling embarrassed, "Oh, how I wish I could make you hate me."

"I already do." I huffed.

"No wonder I cannot help but want to be around you, there is no emotion more exciting and ensnaring than hate. That must be what I feel as well. Seeing as how I do not want you to live for decades and I do not want see you die, you might get tired of me as years go by, or I might refuse to go on without you once you die."

"It's too bad none of that is under your control. Must be hard for you to accept, being the control freak that you are..." I hinted, remember the night before.

I felt Larten shudder against me. A deep, barely audible rumble in his chest as he growled, surely remembering that night as well. With a playful shove I fell back against the table, and Larten followed suit, quickly falling back into the warmth of eachothers arms.

...

Snow was going to begin to melt soon, the sun would rise and so too would the questions that were long avoided.

"So what is it that you want, do you even know...?" he asks once more, "...clearly there is no way for me to get out of this unscathed. Whatever choice I make...I cannot see myself living with it."

I stared into the hot mug of coffee before me, tracing the rim with my finger, "All I know is...I want you here. I don't want to say goodbye."

I looked up, across from me sat Larten. He rested his arms on the table, his chin resting on his interlaced fingers. He sighed, staring at the anxious expression on my face. Did it matter what I wanted? At this point we had spent an entire winter together. There were many nights where he woke up next to me. He would go out and hunt and ultimately return to me. He had me all to himself during that time, will he himself be able to give that up? The mysterious hunter recluse, the woman who technically saved his life the first moment they met. And what an introduction that was...he remembers the first moment he truly laid eyes on me. I was standing over him with my boot on his chest, for some reason he tends to smile inwardly at that memory.

Larten eventually speaks up, a tone of finality in his voice, "Then we will not. And I will try to make peace with it. No matter the pain it brings me."

My eyes widen at his response, does this mean...

Larten rises from his chair, he grabs his coat as if he is about to head out but before he does he turns to me with an outstretched hand, "Come. I have much I wish to show you, Hunter..."

"Where are we going?" I ask tentatively as I rise to follow.

"There are things I need to explain to you, and when the time comes I do not want you to be afraid. The pain will not last."

I threw on my own coat, stepping closer to Larten I stared deep into his golden eyes. I placed my hand in his, taking a firm grip, "'I won't be."

End.

[Author's Notes: The final chapter. I sincerely hope this is an adequate ending. If not, well, I still learned a lot from taking on a large project like this one. I am not used to writing something as big as this but I think the next time I take on writing something with several chapters it will much better, better organized and better realized. Anyway, this was quite the journey for me, thanks to anyone who came along with me! Infer what you like from the ending, I like to think that the ending here, is just the beginning for our two main characters.]