Chapter Text
I stumbled out of bed, bleary eyed. I hadn’t slept at all. I missed Hearth. I missed him so fucking much.
And I didn’t know if he was coming back.
I barely ate yesterday. I plan to do the same today, but I’m starving. So I grab a granola bar and begin to unwrap it when the door opens.
It’s Hearthstone.
I drop the damnable granola bar as I scream his name. I wonder if a hug is in order and I decide that, yes, it very much is.
I run to him and envelop him in a hug.
I breathe in his scent of pine trees and cinnamon. I missed his smell. I missed HIM. He’s my everything, and not because I’m in love with him.
Because he’s my best friend.
He rubs my back, and when I pull back, I realize how many twigs are tangled in his hair, and that there are dirt smudges on his beautiful face, and his white shirt is dirty and wrinkled.
“Where were you?” I whisper hoarsely.
‘The park,’ he answers sheepishly. ‘I had nowhere else to go.’
“Hearth,” I say gently, taking his hands, “You could’ve come home.”
He takes his hands away. ‘I thought you hated me.’
“I thought YOU hated ME.”
‘Never,’ he swears. ‘Blitz, if I can promise you anything, it’s this: I will never, ever hate you. I swear it on my fucking life.’
I beam so brightly I should’ve been petrified. “Same here.”
He wraps me in another hug. I bury my face into his chest. I don’t care if Ragnarok begins right here and now. I am hugging my elf, and nothing else matters.
His arms tighten their hold around me, and I realize he’s crying.
Hearthstone… is crying.
I pull back and reach up, up, up to brush his tears away from his face. “Buddy, please don’t cry,” I say gently. “I hate it when you cry. It makes me feel like my world is ending.”
‘Why—‘ he hiccups. ‘Why’s that?’
My breath hitches in my throat.
This is it.
I know it deep in my heart.
I have to tell him now.
But HOW.
Who knew this could be so damn hard?
Then I decide.
I raise my hand, and press my middle and ring fingers into my palm, leaving my pointer, pinkie, and thumb sticking out. A mix of the signs for ‘I,’ ‘L,’ and ‘Y.’
‘I love you.’
And a moment passes.
A moment that feels like an eternity.
And then he signs it back.
‘I love you.’
And then we’re kissing.
Actually, really kissing.
His lips are pressed to mine, and I can feel a few tears still clinging onto his lashes.
My hands are clinging to his jacket, and I’m leaning into the kiss fully because I want to experience everything.
I can’t focus on anything but him. This is perfect. I want to have this happen every day for the rest of my life.
His mouth is soft and warm, and I want to stay here forever. My heart is melting, and it’s melting even more when his tongue FINALLY brushes against mine. His arms tighten around me.
Hearthstone loves me.
I love him.
And we’re kissing.
This is just the beginning.