New Ground

Rhys sat in the common area of the exchange student housing, staring into the fire within the grate. He couldn't sleep, so he just gazed thoughtfully into the flames, instead. A single scene kept replaying in his head as it had for the last couple days. That moment in a tower classroom, soft lips brushing against his...

The boy shook his head, trying to dislodge the memory, pleasant though it was. He knew why he had kissed her, but why had she kissed him? Was it possible that - that maybe...

Rhys buried his face against his knees with a groan. Thinking about it was going to drive him mad!

For the past couple of weeks, Lena had done everything possible to keep her mind occupied with even doing the simplest of tasks. It was almost unnatural, of course, for her to try and distract herself from anything, because every time she does so, the exact opposite effect takes place.

She arrived in the Housing, her hair in a messy bun from accidentally sleeping in the library. She had only woken up when someone had told her evening was approaching and she needed to get ready quick or she'll get ready late.

But when Lena went into the Common Room, she realized it was a ruse. Instead of being too early for dinner, she was the opposite. She was much too late; no one was there, and the only thing that could help her see were flames that lit up the pitch black room.

She decided to sit close to the flames, and she turned her head to the side only to come face to face with Rhys. Her cheeks flushed, and a slight laugh was released from her lips, "Uh... you okay, Rhysie?"

Rhys had turned his head as someone took a seat on the rug beside him. Then froze. His own cheeks flushed as he straightened, a hand coming up to scratch his head.

"H-hey, Lena," he returned softly, a fond smile tugging at his lips. "I'm fine - just fine... H-how're you?"

Lena raised an eyebrow. "You sure?" she echoed, thinking of the position he was in before, "you looked like you were suffering from PMS or something." A smile formed slowly on her lips to show that she was joking, of course.

"I'm juuuuuuust dandy!" she exclaimed, deciding to take off her hairband from her hair, "someone woke me up in the middle of my sleep. While I was in the library. At midnight." She groaned, "Sodding idiot. No one messes with Lena Eh-Vorstenbach in her sleep."

Rhys snorted. "Yeah. Just relaxing," he said. "Can't sleep, so I'm just... thinking." The boy shrugged a shoulder. He watched as she removed her hairband. His first reaction was to echo the way she had started to say her name, but before the sounds could even depart his lips, he was certain he knew what that 'Eh-' was meant to be followed by.

His gaze shifted to the rug, where his fingers traced a pattern in the pile. Within his chest, his heart beat furiously.

"We should talk..." Rhys said after a moment, blue eyes rising to seek out hers. "... about Divination class... about how we kissed."

Lena's raised eyebrow only arched even higher. "Are you sure you're not suffering from PMS?" she asked, trying her best not to laugh, "'cause if you are, I can help you, you know. For example, eat a banana. That helps." She then furrowed her eyebrows, "Well... it does for me." She shrugged her shoulders, still trying to maintain a straight face.

Her gaze followed his to the rug, but it went back up to his eyes as soon as he started talking. Her cheeks continued to redden, and she swore that if they were to compare her cheeks and his hair, her cheeks were definitely redder.

"Uuuuuuuhhh..." she began, trying to suppress a smile, "sure, why not?" She tried to adjust herself so she looked more confident, even if she was not. "What about it?"

Rhys studied her a long moment, watching as she used her posture to try to mask her lack of surety. There was no one Rhys Edmunds knew better, however. He'd spent his entire school career to that point studying the girl, learning everything about her that he could.

His had grew still, mostly to resist the urge to reach out and touch her.

"I just... was wondering," Rhys said slowly, "if it... meant anything... to you." He paused a rather long moment. "Like it did to me. Or was it just... something happen in the spur of the moment?"

Never in Lena's life had she ever thought that she would be asked that question.

The answer was seemingly obvious in Lena's distracted mind; of course it meant something. She had run through most of her life doing rebellious, crazy, often unexplainable things with a just cause that was more like not not at all that justified (therefore making her a casuist), and people who knew her well, knew that much.

However, this was a kiss. A kiss was not like most other things in life. It displayed affection, protectiveness, and in this case, love. Kisses weren't handed out freely, or they weren't with most people. And this time, Lena was in this category for most people.

She took a deep breath, coughed, blinked her eyes and stared at the love of her life. "Well..." she began, pausing, "do you know how much you still mean to me? That kiss... it spoke nothing of what I wanted to... uh, you know, say for the last year. Words can't describe how... how much... I love you." She shut her eyes. "There. I said it."

Rhys gazed at her for a long moment, expression doing nothing to reveal whatever thoughts were running through his mind. Finally, he turned his gaze to the fire.

"I've always thought you were perfect," he said, instead of answering directly. "Even when I saw you kissing Prentiss and I b-broke up with you, it wasn't because I thought you had done anything wrong. You were still perfect to me... always perfect. I just thought... if you weren't with me, you'd be free to be with someone who deserved you.

"You're beautiful and smart and flawless, and I'm just... the school klutz that everyone worries will fall down the stairs and break his neck." Rhys gave a self-deprecating laugh. "Ana* thinks I have a poor self-image."

Rhys turned back to face her, his heart in his eyes. "I never stopped loving you, Lena. Not even for a second," he told her. "It's just... it never made sense that you would love me back."


(*Referring to Rhys' elder cousin, Anastasia Zlobin)

"W-What?" Lena gasped, inhaling nothing and exhaling nothing. In her mind, where it sounded absolutely preposterous, she was desperately wondering why. Why had he thought this of her? If only he knew what she really thought of him the entire time they've known each other.

Then again, as soon as she nearly began to yell at him, she understood. Perhaps it was the fact that she had grown up and had to learn to be more empathic, or maybe it was plainly because she knew her ginger love too well. (Probably the latter; maturing for Lena was as alien to her as cheese was to others.) To Lena, Rhys - despite his physical and characteristical imperfections - was perfect. His imperfections were the ones that made him perfect.

"Do..." she began, but she found no will to go on until a few seconds later, "well... do you know how right she is?" She shook her head fiercely, knowing that one way or another, she probably sounded wrong. "I mean... not that you have a low self-image, because you don't. You're perfect, in my stupid excuse of a pair of eyes."

The Uchitel took both of his hands in one of her own, and clasped her right hand over it. "Look at me," she whispered, her tone firm, "you have deserved me the moment you looked at me in the library when we were silly eleven-year-olds, and that was precisely the moment when I fell in love with you." She breathed, "I suppose I had to grow up enough to not be afraid of telling you what I felt."

Rhys shrugged a shoulder. "Sometimes I do," he said. "Other times... well, she's my cousin, isn't she? She's supposed to say good things about me, even if that means saying I don't see myself well."

His gaze went to their hands, before rising to meet hers. A wry smile tugged at his lips.

"You have vision problems, you know," he said, half-teasingly. Using their joined hands, he pulled her closer, leaning across the distance separating them to press his lips against hers, lightly at first, then more insistently. His free hand rose to thread through her hair, a single thought expressed through his body language:

"You're lucky to have a cousin like Ana, you know that?" Lena nodded, biting her lip for a moment as she thought of more things to say. Except... there wasn't anything to say. Everything that needed to be said was said.

"I do not!" the blonde half-complained, half-retorted, yet she was laughing, "if I did, I would be wearing glasses."

For a moment, Lena didn't really know what was happening to her. Time seemed to run all at once. Her heart skipped a beat as adrenaline flowed through her veins in the speed of light. It was a little late when she received his lips. The contours of his lips matched hers, just like she remembered it.

Some things never do change.

She grabbed his hand even tighter, pulling it towards her. Because she had pulled too hard, she had lead them into a fall onto the couch, which was probably going to end with him on top of her. The level of promiscuity then was high - and the scandal if someone catches them - but to hell with that.

Lena wriggled one of her hands out of the right clasp Rhys had on it, and immediately she tried to pull his neck closer to her, her fingers creeping up to run through his fiery ginger hair.

Rhys somehow managed to control their fall, then chuckled against her lips. "You've caught my balance," he joked. She was now pinned half under him, but he made no move to remedy this, instead using the change in position to kiss her more thoroughly. His hand trailed caressingly down her side, coming to rest warmly atop her hip.

"I missed you," Rhys murmured, punctuating the statement with another brief kiss to her lips before dotting a line of kisses across her jaw and down her neck. "I love you."

Lena closed her eyes as Rhys kissed her, and she was left essentially breathless. She stroked his hair, leaning into his ear. "I love you too," she whispered, "always had, always will. Now..." She tried to sit back up, but she was too tired to do so, so she practically just looked up at him.

Her mind wandered off to something rather vital, or at least, the Uchitel thought it was. A smirk played across her lips, and she asked, "What date is it today? I seem to have... forgotten."

Rhys smiled softly down at her, hand coming up to gently comb through her hair.

"The date?" he echoed, frowning in thought. He was always rather crap at keeping track of the date. It was probably a manifestation of his general distractibility. Rhys gazed at her for a long moment, eyes widening minutely as the answer slowly dawned.

A smile tugged at his lips. "Isn't today..?"

For a brief moment, Lena thought that Rhys had actually forgotten her birthday. Out of all days, he'd forgotten one of the ones that mattered the most. Not to mention that this was her thirtieth half-birthday.

Merlin did she feel old.

Mentally breathing a sigh of relief, Lena nodded, "It is." A huge smile was displayed across her face, and trailed a few soft kisses across his neck.

(Yeah... our Muses weren't meeting up on that one. )


Rhys gave a small laugh. "Did you really think I'd forget your birthday?" He pressed a kiss against her lips. "What I forgot was what day of the week it was. I'd never forget your birthday. I'd never forget anything about you." The boy gently stroked her hair.

"That does remind me, though."

And then, he was up and leaving the room, only to return a moment later with a small, brightly-wrapped package.

"I got you something," Rhys said. "Okay, I actually got it for you for Christmas, but... Sorry its late." He handed it to her, a smile on his face as he waited for her to open it.


(And you totally get to decide what it is, cos I'm out of ideas o.O)

(ooc: lol. i didn't know what you meant, so i just guessed. but i do hope it's okay with you.)

"I... well... actually, yes, yes you would," Lena smiled, receiving his kiss without much objection, "and if you really must know, it's Tuesday." She bit her lip so she wouldn't go on a horrendously long soliloquy on what she knew of him, which would start with his whole name and when his birthday was, which was June thirtieth.

Sitting up, Lena patiently waited for Rhys's return, and she almost burst into tears when she saw he had brought her a present. It wasn't the fact that it was a birthday present and he had gotten a present, but it was the fact that he got her something - even if it was for something months earlier - and she hadn't done the same in return made her feel as if she owed someone.

"Wow," she whispered, "I didn't get you anything. I'm one crappy girlfriend, am I?" She looked up at him. "Wait, does this mean we're back together now, or..." She opened the present instead of waiting for an answer and got a pair of tickets to see the Harpies. "Right. You're watching the game with me." She pressed her lips tenderly on Rhys's cheek.

(... you didn't know what I meant? I didn't know what you meant!)


"It's alright. I don't need anything," Rhys replied. He watched as she opened the gift, not yet answering since she hadn't waited for a response. "Alright," he agreed, a pleased smile tugging at his own lips as Lena kissed him on the cheek.

The redhead took her hand in his own. "And I would really like for us to be together again," he said, gaze resting on her own. "Lena, my life is never happier than the moments I spend with you. Would you... would you be my girlfriend, again?"

(ooc: ...we should have talked about this, shouldn't we? and sorry for this shortness. i have no idea what else to write.)

At Rhys's proposal - at being his girlfriend again, that is; it's not like they were getting married or anything of the sort - Lena's eyes nearly brimmed with tears. Staring at their connected hands, the Uchitel nodded, and burst into joyous tears as she flung her free arm around him.

"Oh my God," she gasped, "yes. Yes for the rest of eternity. Oh my God, yes. Yes."

"Hey..." Rhys murmured, holding her tight. "You're not supposed to cry. Hmm? I've never meant to make you cry. I'm sorry for any time I've made you cry..." He turned his head to press a kiss against her hair.

Yes for the rest of eternity...

A small smile pulled at Rhys' lips. He felt the same.

"Oh my God, Rhys!" Lena squealed, "I'm crying because I'm happy! And I forgive you for... for everything!" She clutched him tighter towards her, hoping that she wasn't making him choke or anything of the like.

Eventually, of course, she decided to let go. "I'm yours, okay?" she whispered, pressing her nose on his, "I'm yours for the rest of my godforsaken life."