Hi.
I don't even know what I'm doing any more.
I should not be allowed to write romance.
Anyway, here you go.
It was Christmas, but it didn't feel like it.
It was Valkyrie's first Christmas without Skulduggery since she'd met him, and she sincerely hoped it would be the last, but she had no way of knowing, and the thought was enough to sap her of any Christmas cheer she might have had. Usually, Valkyrie loved Christmas, but this year was different.
Christmas Day with her family had been the one day off from skull-hunting she'd allowed herself to take, because she couldn't bear the thought of the soulless reflection being there instead of her, and even then she'd sneaked out the window at seven o'clock to do some more research at China's. Now it was the evening of St. Stephen's Day, and they were back at Ghastly's after spending ten fruitless hours searching for the skull in Russia.
Ghastly had cooked them dinner - it turned out he made delicious steak - and then disappeared into the shop with Tanith to show her the boots he'd been making for her. This left Valkyrie and Fletcher to do the washing up.
"You wash, I'll dry," he said to her.
"No, you wash. I'll dry."
"I prefer drying."
"If you wash, you get to mess with the washing up liquid."
He paused. "True. OK, deal."
She smirked and picked up the tea towel while Fletcher emptied half the bottle of washing-up liquid into the sink.
"Sorry I didn't get you anything," he said after a few minutes of quiet scrubbing.
She frowned. "What, for Christmas?"
"Yeah."
"I wasn't expecting you to. I didn't get you anything either, remember."
He just shrugged and proceeded to squirt washing-up liquid in the shape of a smiley face onto a plate.
"You are so childish," she told him. "It's hard to believe you're eighteen."
He grinned and threw the dishcloth at her. It hit her on the side of the head. She threw it back at him, aiming for his hair. It hit the mark. She laughed at his horrified expression.
"Now who's childish?" he grumbled as he looked at his reflection in the tap and attempted to fix his hair.
"Still you."
He sighed and went back to rinsing spoons."Are you OK?" he suddenly asked after a few minutes.
"You ask that a lot."
"You just seem kind of sad. You shouldn't be sad on Christmas."
She sighed. "Don't worry about me."
"Is there anything I can do to - oh," he said, a grin starting to form on his face as his gaze moved upwards for some reason. "I think there is."
He motioned upwards and she saw the mistletoe over their heads.
Her heart suddenly started beating a thousand times faster. "Erm, are you joking?"
He laughed and went back to the dishes. "It's not a big deal. Just a peck on the lips. Tanith and Ghastly did it."
"Yeah, but everyone knows how much they secretly fancy each other..."
He winked at her. "And you don't secretly fancy me?"
She felt her cheeks heat up and she turned away quickly. "In your dreams," she retorted, scrubbing another plate dry with unnecessary force to cover her embarrassment.
He made smoochy noises, teasing her, and she threw the tea-towel at him. He wasn't discouraged.
"C'mon, Val, it's a Christmas tradition. Anyway, you can't just let your reflection get all the action."
She wished she hadn't told him about Gary Price.
She sighed. "If I do this, will you shut up?"
He grinned. "Yep."
"Okay," she muttered. "Fine."
He stepped closer and butterflies fluttered in her stomach. She stood there, with no idea what to do. Was he just messing with her? Was she dreaming? Should she close her eyes? She thought she probably should. Or should she wait?
He leaned in very slowly, and she stayed still. She could feel his breath on her cheek, could almost count his eyelashes. She suddenly had to fight down an extremely uncharacteristic urge to giggle. And then their lips were almost touching, and she closed her eyes -
- just as the door opened and Ghastly and Tanith walked back in.
They sprang apart. Valkyrie grabbed the tea-towel and started casually drying a handful of knives, while Fletcher picked up the washing-up liquid, then realized there was nothing left to wash, so he put it back down again. It was probably the worst acting Valkyrie had ever seen, which was why she wasn't surprised when Tanith wiggled her eyebrows at them in a knowing manner.
"Did we interrupt something?" she asked innocently.
"No," said Valkyrie, a tiny bit too defensively.
"You're the only one for me, Tanith, you know that," said Fletcher cheerfully.
"Hmmm," said Tanith, seemingly unconvinced. "Anyway, I'd better be going. Thanks for dinner, Ghastly. Shall I see you all back here tomorrow?"
They all nodded, and Tanith picked up her helmet. "Need a lift home, Val?"
"I'll bring her," said Fletcher.
"OK, bye then," said Tanith before heading out into the night.
Fletcher looked at Valkyrie. "Ready to go?"
She picked up her coat and put it on. "Yep. Thanks, Ghastly."
"No problem. Goodbye, you two," he replied.
Fletcher took her hand. "See you," he said, and they teleported.
Valkyrie shivered as the cold night air hit her. They were standing at her front gate.
"Talk about bad timing," he grinned as he let go of her hand. It took her a second to figure out what he meant, then she realized he was talking about the mistletoe incident.
"I'm sure I didn't miss out on much," she said dryly.
"You did. Trust me."
She half-expected him to offer her another kiss, but it seemed the moment had passed. She tried not to look too disappointed.
There was a few minutes of companiable silence, listening to the wind whistling through the trees, neither wanting to leave despite the cold.
"Well, I suppose I'll see you tomorrow then."
"Yep," she said and was about to turn and walk into the house when he said, "Wait," and she turned back to him. She felt his warm lips press against her freezing cheek, making her heart thud and her skin tingle, and then he was gone.
She took a deep breath and went inside.
A/N: They're so OOC it's tearing me apart inside.
If anyone has any suggestions/ideas, please give them to me. Please.
And on that slightly desperate note... thank you for reading! :)