AN: So, here it is, the chapter I know many of you have been waiting for - well, I know I've been waiting to write it, anyway. Yep, it's where Chris and Kiara finally get together! Woo! I loved writing this chapter. Again, this was one of those that started out much longer in my head, but became shorter on paper. Yes, this does get a little cheesy and cringy in parts, but these two are teenagers, don't forget, so we can forgive them for that, can't we? Well, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I'll see you next week.

Chapter 26

Chris and I

KIARA

As I dashed down the many corridors and floors to meet Chris, many feelings rushed through me: excitement, nervousness, anxious of what was going to happen. I knew that Chris was going to be happy we won, but I wondered what was going to happen between us. I wanted to be Chris' girlfriend desperately, wanted everyone to know I was dating him, but I couldn't help but wonder if he felt the same way. But then I remembered that almost-kiss we shared a few days ago, which only made me want to see him even more, so I increased my speed and rushed to meet him.

I paused outside of the room where Chris and I first started to dance together, letting my heart rate calm and trying, but failing, to stop my hands from shaking. I knew that once I opened the door that there would be no going back, but despite how nervous I felt, I knew that I wanted to see if Chris and I had a shot together, and the fact that Chris was down here waiting for me said that he felt the same. I then took to trying to fix my hair, ridding the creases from my clothes and checking my breath, but then I shook my head, telling myself that I was being ridiculous, that this was Chris waiting for me in there and that he wouldn't care how I looked, for he had seen me in far worse states before now. So I took a deep breath for courage and opened the door.

The room was lit with many candles and the curtains were drawn over each window, so that only dusty patches of sunlight came through, and all the tables, besides the teacher's desk, had been pushed up against the walls, leaving a wide circle in the centre of the room. Chris was bent over the teacher's desk, his long fingers absent-mindedly stroking the Quidditch Cup's silver handles. Once the door had opened his head popped up and he turned to see me, his gaze softening as he took me in.

"Kiara," he said, in a voice that was meant just for me.

I just smiled at him, stepped into the room and closed the door behind me. I then walked up to the desk and touched the trophy. "So, we really did win, then?"

"Yeah, we did," said Chris. I looked up into his astonishing green eyes, but before I could get lost in them as I so longed to do, I asked him, "So, Chris, why are we truly here?"

Chris blinked a few times, like he was coming out of a trance, coughed and said, "Well, it's because I have some things to tell you, and I don't want anyone else to hear ..."

"Er ... OK," I said, intrigued. There was a pause, then Chris took my hands in his and led me into the centre of the room. I stopped with him, and when he looked at me our eyes never left each other. I looked at him curiously, wondering what he was going to say, for he seemed to be thinking carefully.

"You may not realise this, Kiara," he said at last, "but this room holds great memories for me, because this is the place where you first taught me how to dance. You're quite the teacher, you know, even if you don't know it. But that wasn't the only reason I wanted to dance with you, oh no ... the other reason was because I wanted to know what it felt like to hold you in my arms. You have no idea how wonderful that felt for me, Kiara. And then ... at the Yule Ball ... you have no idea how beautiful you looked to me that night ... you seemed to me like you were an angel of some kind painted in a dream." He laughed, and so did I. "I know it sounds cheesy, but it's true.

"But despite how I felt, how I saw you, I knew that you didn't look at me the same way. I saw you, always looking at Khan ... and whenever he would look at you, you would blush this adorable blush, your face would light up and your eyes would sparkle. I hated it, because I would imagine you looking at me that way, and I wanted, more than anything in the world, for you to look at me that way. But I understood that you did not look at me that way, because you did not feel for me as I felt for you in those days. And then ... when I heard about your first kiss ... it killed me, Kiara; and every time I saw you with him, laughing and joking together, it hurt me even more. I was jealous, I admit it, but I suffered in silence, because your happiness was - and is - the most important thing to me ..."

I remained frozen through all this, staring at Chris as though I was seeing him for the first time, and it was at that moment that I understood the reason behind all the glares that Chris had given Khan - even at the mention of Khan's name! - and all the looks he had given me. The realisation of his jealousy crashed in on me with full force and I immediately felt guilty for causing him so much pain.

"Chris, I - " I started, but he stopped me.

"It's all right, don't apologise," Chris said quickly. "You didn't know how I felt, so how could you have known? I admit that when you and Khan broke up I was so happy, but I didn't dare make a move on you: it was too soon, and I didn't want to push you into a corner, so to speak.

"But still, I knew I wanted to be with you, Kiara, and somehow I knew the only way that you were going to see me - not as a friend or a brother, but really see me - was if I started dating someone. After all, you had been with Khan, so why couldn't I be with someone? I noticed that Dena had been looking at me in CA meetings, and after a while, I started to notice her, and then I started to talk to her, and then we started dating. I put the thought of you and I to the back of my mind in those days, Kiara; there would be time for us later, this I knew, but I just wanted my focus to be on Dena.

"But as time went on, I began to tire of spending time with Dena. Don't get me wrong, she's a nice, sweet girl, but she spent too much of her time with Zara, and in almost every conversation we had, she would always mention Zara, and it seemed to me that Dena would rather be with Zara more than me. I began to resent being with her.

"So I turned my mind back to you, wondering how you saw me when I was with Dena. Whenever I caught a glimpse of you, I always noticed you looking at me, staring at me with a look I always dreamed you'd give me someday, but more often than not I found you looking at my hands, like they were the most fascinating thing in the world to you. And then I would hear you laughing at my jokes, paying close attention to the things I said or did: in short, you essentially picked up on everything that Dena didn't, and this was both before and after Christmas, and as you can imagine, by this point I was starting to get fed up with Dena, so this Christmas just gone - "

"You spoke to my father," I said slowly, the pieces finally coming together, "... to ask him whether he would approve of us."

Chris looked taken aback by my sudden knowledge. "Yes," he said, quickly recovering. "I have to tell you, I honestly don't think I've been that nervous before in my life, and it didn't help that your father kept giving me the stern-eye. So I talked to him - well, stammered really - about the possibility of you and I, Kiara, and in the end he took pity on me, for he smiled, laughed, shook my hand and told me that he could think of no one better for his daughter - he gave us his blessing, actually."

"He did?" I said, shocked yet elated by these words.

"Yes," said Chris, coming towards me. "Even though I hadn't broken up with Dena at the time, that was how much faith your father has in us." He smiled slightly, then continued, "When we come back, I took more notice of you, and there were times doing so where I wanted nothing more than to leave Dena's side, rush over to where you were, brush the hair out of your eyes and kiss you, but somehow I restrained myself. It would have been unfair to Dena if I did that, and I had not broken up with her."

"If you wanted to be with me so badly, then why didn't you?" I said, confused as to why he hadn't broken up with Dena sooner if he truly felt that way about me.

"Because I was a coward, Kiara," Chris said earnestly. "I didn't want to hurt her and I didn't want to see how she would react; but fortunately, months later, she broke up with me." He then smiled a half-smile that made me go weak in the knees. "And now here we stand, in the midst of our Quidditch victory, two people who want nothing more than to be with each other."

At his words I started sniggering. I couldn't help it. Chris frowned. "What is it? Why are you laughing?"

I calmed down and said, "I'm sorry. I couldn't help it. It was so cheesy, those last words you spoke; you sounded like some sort of ... hero out of a Muggle story coming to sweep the fair maiden off her feet." I started laughing again, and after a few moments, Chris did too.

"I suppose I did, didn't I?" he said with a chuckle. Then, with a mischievous glint in his eye, Chris added, "Did I, by any chance, sweep you off your feet?"

I looked at him innocently, cocked my head to the side and said with a shrug, "Perhaps."

Chris chuckled again. Then his expression became more serious, his eyes gazing at me with such fierce intensity that it made me gulp, even as the blood rushed to my cheeks and my heart began to race. Chris looked at me steadily and said the best and most unexpected words I had ever heard him say: "I love you, Kiara."

I stood there, stunned, letting Chris' words wash over me. He loves me! Chris actually told me he loves me! I couldn't believe it. I was too shocked to say anything, so I listened as Chris started talking again.

"I know I shouldn't have said it, and I know that it's too soon for you to hear it, but I can't deny how I feel about you, Kiara. I love you, I really do. It's OK if you don't want to say it to me now, for I'll wait as long as I have to, but I just wanted you to know how I - "

I had gotten over my shock as joy coursed through me, which made me move again, so I stopped his stupid, incessant babbling by pulling him to me and kissing him with all that I had in me. I felt him stiffen for a moment, before he started kissing me back, one hand wrapped around my waist, the other tangled in my hair. I wrapped my hands around his neck, pulling him closer.

Kissing Chris was nothing like kissing Khan. When Khan and I kissed it was nice and safe, and there was a spark there, but it was nothing compared to the all-consuming fire that rushed through my veins; light flashed behind my eyes and I wasn't sure if it was my heart or Chris' that I was hearing, but it was beating a furious rhythm, and the more Chris and I kissed, the more our thoughts came together: we saw each other's memories more clearly than ever before, and the colours were so much more vibrant. It was like we were two pieces of a jigsaw attaching themselves together - a perfect fit - and that, more than anything else, convinced me that Chris and I were meant to be together, that this was right.

Chris and I lost track of time when we were kissing, so for all we knew several sunlit days could have gone by when we finally broke apart, the two of us breathing heavily, gasping for air, but we didn't care, as bright colours of red, blue, green, gold and purple surrounded us then vanished. The only thing that mattered to Chris and I was each other at that moment. We put our foreheads together, relishing in being with each other.

"Wow," I breathed out at last, after my breathing had returned to normal.

"Yeah ... wow," said Chris. I then felt the hand that held my waist hold me more securely, as his other hand untangled itself from my hair and took my right hand in his left. I looked up at him, confused at what was going on; Chris just grinned and said, "I hope you're not afraid of me testing out my dancing skills on you again, are you?" I grinned back at him, shook my head and allowed Chris to lead me around the room, my head falling on to his chest, listening to his heart beating and breathing in his scent of sandalwood, pine and berries and something else, something that was all him, closing my eyes and smiling contentedly.

After a while, Chris spoke again. "Kiara?" he said, his tone quite nervous now.

"Hmm?"

"When all this mess is over ... and we've finally got rid of Zira ... how would you feel about the possibility of ... of marrying me someday?"

I looked up at him, shocked. I didn't even realise that we had stopped dancing. I honestly didn't know what to say. I mean, I knew that I was falling for Chris, and that I wanted to date him, but marriage? I was sixteen, for crying out loud! There would be a time for marriage later. But as I looked at Chris, and saw how nervously yet earnestly he was looking at me, I knew that he meant every word. And then, gazing into his eyes, I saw it: I saw us growing old together, what our children would be like, surrounded by our friends and family, and that filled my heart with joy, so I smiled at Chris and said, "Well, let's see how things go between us first and then we'll see."

Chris' eyes lit up and his eyes became even wider at my words. He picked me up and spun me around; I couldn't help but laugh with pure joy, and he laughed with me. When Chris had put me back down again, he started to move his head close to mine. I raised my head to meet his, but before our lips could touch, the door banged open, revealing Sian and Chrissie.

Chris and I moved apart, but we still held each other, staring at Sian and Chrissie, who stared back at us. Chris was glaring at his sisters, and I smiled nervously at them, as I felt the blood rushing to my cheeks, hoping that they were OK with the idea of Chris and I as an item. For a moment or two, there was silence. Then Sian gave an uncharacteristic scream of delight, ran towards us and hugged us both; Chrissie was still standing shocked in the doorway.

"Finally," Sian sighed as she let us go, her eyes shining with joy and her lips pressed together in a wide smile. "I thought this day would never come ..."

"Wait," I said, surprised by this, "you wanted this to happen, Sian?"

"Of course I did!" she said, shocked at my words. "And not just because of the Soul Bond you two share, oh no, the reason I wanted you to be with my brother, Kiara, is because I can picture no one else better for him, and I want him to be happy. And it's about darn pickin' time you two got together; Chrissie and I were starting to think it would never happen - "

"You knew that Chris and I would end up together?"

"Please. Chrissie and I saw it well before you both did," said Sian. "In fact, we came in here after you had gone after your first dancing lesson, and we found Chris in here banging his head against a wall. That's how we knew he had strong feelings for you." I looked at her, one of my eyebrows raised. "Oh, all right, that's how I knew, but as soon as I said it, Chrissie knew, too."

"Yeah, and you haven't stopped annoying me about it ever since," Chris muttered. I laughed. Sian just frowned playfully at him.

I then looked at Chrissie, who was still stood in the doorway, and asked her, "And are you OK with this, Chrissie?"

Chrissie started, looked at us for a few moments, then said, "You could both do much worse, trust me." She then smiled at me and I smiled back at her, relieved that she had accepted it.

My attention was then drawn back to Sian, who said, "Well, let's not hang around here any longer, Chrissie. Just wait until our family hears about this!"

"That's not really necessary, is it, Sian?" said Chris, voicing my question for me.

Sian, who had been walking back to the door, stopped and turned to face Chris again. "Look Chris, I know that you and Kiara both want to hide your newfound relationship from everyone's eyes, but this sort of thing will get out. It always does, you know." Shen then smiled sadly at us and walked towards the door again. Once she had gone, Chrissie came in and picked the Quidditch Cup off the desk and left the room with it without saying a word to myself or Chris, closing the door behind her.

As soon as the door had closed, I rested my head on Chris' chest, closed my eyes and said, "Great. Another reason for people to stare at me. Just what I need!"

"People will talk anyway, Kiara," Chris said gently, cupping my face gently and raising it so that I could look at him. "They always do. But you and I are the only ones that matter here, Kiara, not the rest of the world. This is our relationship, not theirs. Remember that."

His words did make me feel better, and to show him my gratitude I pulled him to me and we shared another amazing, heart-stopping, mind-blowing kiss, where we remained for quite some time.