Characters/Pairings: Jake/Rose
Chapter content warnings:
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~TLL~
To my husband,
I can't believe that this will be my very last letter of the year that I will write to you and that it's been ten years of writing you letters. It's been making me a little nostalgic, to tell you the truth. We were just kids but even back then, I had all these silly daydreams about us growing up and getting married.
Everything seemed so much more heightened back then. Do you feel that too when you think back to being teenagers? Of course, for us, it was life or death in the beginning. It was the whole thrill of forbidden love. But now I'm sitting here by the window, listening to you try to serenade our daughter with Jingle Bells. Funny how fast it all changes, isn't it?
Except, not all things change. I'm still thrilled by you. It's snowing, just like it was that first Christmas we had together. Maybe when you get Cece to sleep we can go outside and kiss in the snow like we're teenagers again. Well, maybe with a little less shyness this time. I still feel all those butterflies I felt that day and I can still see the way you looked at me and all the Christmas lights around us and then the way the snowflakes stuck in your dark hair. Do you remember all of that?
If you don't, I'll remind you tonight.
Merry Christmas. You are the love of my life and every year I get more and more grateful for you.
Love,
Your adoring wife.
(-.-)
Jake snuck out of his house at a quarter past midnight. Knowing that he was doing something so incredibly stupid that Gramps would kill him just for thinking about it. But, none of that mattered, because Jake was thinking about Rose.
Jake transformed into a dragon and took to the dark sky. It was a nuisance that it was snowing because it made it harder for him to see but, alternatively, it was a blessing because it would obscure him on any security cameras. Jake would need as much help as he could get as he approached the Huntsclan building. Jake slithered up the wall and up to Rose's room, praying that she was awake and alone. And happy to see him. Preferably, she would be happy to see him. Jake peeked through the window and there she was, sitting at her desk, writing something long hand.
Jake took a moment to appreciate her, the butterflies battering against his ribs as he took in her face. It had been days since school had let out for the winter holidays and it felt like an eternity to go without seeing her. He knew why they couldn't see each other like they were regular kids going on regular dates and school was the saving grace for that. Jake looked over her, as if things could have possibly have changed that much in the four days that they had spent apart. Rose still had the same long blonde hair swinging loose over her shoulder, her nose scrunched in the way that it always did when she was trying to concentrate on something, and she had little blue ink stains all over her fingers. She was perfect and Jake could have stared at her forever, except he knew that every moment he spent looking at her was another chance for someone to see him on the cameras.
Jake knocked once on the window.
Rose dropped her pen and tipped her chair over in her rush to stand, reaching to her side for the Huntsclan weapon that was leaning against her desk. Her expression changed completely when she recognized him and she dropped the staff and rushed to the window. She pulled it open and leant forward so that her nose was almost touching his dragon snout.
"What are you doing here?" she whispered furiously.
"I had to see you for Christmas!"
Rose's face softened. "Jake, that's so sweet, but we're going to me in so much trouble if we get caught!"
"Then, let's not get caught," Jake said, trying to keep his voice light and breezy. "Come with me. An hour? Together? Just us? I know you want it, Rose."
Rose looked over her shoulder but her door remained shut and no noise came from the hallway, and then she looked back at him. "Okay. Should I meet you outside?"
"No, just come with me."
"Okay." Rose put one leg out of the window and Jake backed up, reaching out his arms to be able to catch her. "Oh! Wait, one sec!"
Rose ran back to her desk. She pulled on the dark sweater on over her head and then took something off her desk. She folded the paper neatly, wrote something on the front, and then put it in her pants pocket. Then, she rushed back to the window and threw herself out of it. Jake caught her easily, cradling her to his chest. Rose shut the window again and then burst into giggles as Jake's wings beat against the night and carried them far away from the Huntsclan building.
"We're really doing this!" Rose whooped and her voice echoed to the stars. "Where are we going?"
"I found a spot," Jake assured her. "Trust me."
"I do," Rose said, her hand on his chest near his racing heart. "Of course, I do. I just jumped out of a window for you."
"This is why you're the best," Jake told her. "Because I would jump out of a window for you."
Rose was blushing and Jake was glad that he was currently a dragon because he would probably be doing the same thing. They swept over New York City, Rose oohing and aahing because she had never seen the city from this vantage point. Jake took the long way around some buildings just so that he could hear her squeals of joy. Then, he set on a path toward his final destination.
Jake set down on a rooftop that he had carefully equipped with blankets and chairs earlier in the day in case she wanted to sit. Rose stepped out of his arms and Jake transformed back into a human. He fit his hands into hers with confidence, still feeling electric zaps of delight when she squeezed his hand. She walked around the small area but eventually leant over the side, looking out over the street below and the Christmas lights that wound their way up the side of the building and around the billboard above their head that was advertising toothpaste.
"What do you think? Good spot?" Jake asked, trying not to let his nervousness leak into his voice. This was Rose. This was his girl. There was nothing to be nervous about, except that he needed this night to be perfect.
"It's beautiful!" Rose was spinning around and she took him spinning with him. Jake put an arm around her waist and had them moving in a slow dance around the roof. "You did all of this for me?"
"Yep, set up the whole city, just for you."
Rose giggled again and Jake would live in that sound if he could. When they both got dizzy, they ended up sitting on the edge of the rooftop, shoulder to shoulder. The wind picked up slightly and Rose was cuddling into Jake, the snowflakes clinging to her hair and jacket. The red and green and blue and yellow Christmas lights were dancing around her. Jake couldn't take his eyes from her, even as she gazed out over the city.
"I think this is the most romantic thing you could have done," Rose admitted. "It's so beautiful."
"I know it's, like, cringey to say but I would do anything for you, Rose. I'm so glad we're not apart, wishing we could spend Christmas together."
Rose sucked in her breath and then she turned to look at him. "Really?"
Jake put his arm firmly around her shoulders, bringing her into his body. Rose tangled one of her legs over his, even though they were sitting precariously. Both of them knew that he would catch her if she fell.
"Rose, you're the only person I thought about this Christmas."
Rose turned her face to look at him. Jake felt like her blue eyes were asking him questions that he wasn't quite sure how to answer, but he knew that he wanted to. He watched her back, leaning in a little, and then pulling back. Jake had kissed Rose before but he wasn't really sure how to kiss Rose now. Kissing Rose now would mean that it was all real. The dragon and the Huntsclan, the boy and the girl, and the fact that they were falling in love. Jake felt like Rose would feel all of his feelings if he kissed her now and it was a dangerous move to make. How was he supposed to know if she was falling in love with him back? What if she wasn't?
Rose was leaning in.
Jake leant in back.
Jake could feel her breath across his cheek, smelling of peppermint, and he thought of the fact that she had been about to go to bed when he had interrupted her night, and what it might be like to go to bed next to her – just to be able to innocently lay there next to her all night, keeping each other warm as December happened on the other side of the window.
"Jake," Rose whispered, "Aren't you going to kiss me?"
Jake took his free hand to her waist, turning her into him. Rose chin tilted up, his nose tilted down, and then his lips found hers. Jake discovered he was right: Rose could feel what he was feeling through this kiss, but, in the same regard, he could feel everything about her. Jake didn't know how this could possibly go, how they could have a happy ending, but he seized onto it as his eyes shut and she kissed him back. Maybe it was just falling in love for the first time, but Jake had trouble believing in all of his teenaged wisdom, that this wasn't going to be real, true love, when all was said and done. His heart was Rose's, and he could tell from the way that her fingers ran through his hair, that Rose's heart was his.
It was torture to return her to her dorm room, then, holding her as she slid the window open and climbed back inside. Jake stayed hovering outside of the window, not ready to let her shut it, not ready to let the night end.
"Jake?" Rose stuck her head back outside the window.
"I'm here."
Rose held out her hand, the pile of papers that she had put in her pocket at the beginning of the night in it. "This is for you."
"You said no gifts," Jake protested. "I would have –"
"I know but, for you. Just, look at it while you're alone and don't tell anyone about it. It's embarrassing."
"Embarrassing?"
"Goodnight, Jake," Rose said, not in the mood to entertain him today.
"Rose?"
Jake lingered near the window. "I think I love you."
Rose let out a little gasp and then her cheeks went bright pink. She kissed Jake's dragon forehead. "Um … I think me too."
Then she giggled and shut the window and the curtains, leaving Jake to fly home alone. As soon as he got home into his own bed, he pulled out Rose's papers and started reading.
(-.-)
Dear boyfriend,
BOYFRIEND! I'm writing this to you and for you but I don't know if you're ever actually going to read it because I have so many feelings for you but I don't know how to say them out loud. Boyfriend! You're my boyfriend and I'm your girlfriend and, gosh, do you know how many butterflies I have? Do boys get butterflies? Do you get butterflies when you see me?
I hope you do. I hope you feel the same way about me. I think I have little cartoon hearts above my head whenever we're together. I think you feel it too. I think I can tell from the way you squeeze my hand. I think about kissing you again all the time and having a picnic in Central Park when the weather is nice but maybe we can just have study dates at the library during the winter, because I know how hard it is going to be for us to be together, but I think it's all worth it when we're together.
When I look at your face, it's all worth it.
Was that too honest? This is so embarrassing but it's also true and so maybe it's all worth it to say. I hope you say it all back.
I think I love you and I hope you love me too!
Merry Christmas! I am always thinking of you!
XOXO,
Your girlfriend
