Chapter Text
I slid the pizza into the oven with a loud CLANK. I smiled to myself, thinking of how Hearth would really like it, since we’d had leftovers for the past few days.
I headed into the living room, humming to myself. As I did so, Hearthstone was stepping out of the bathroom, toweling off his hair. He pulled the towel back and I suppressed a laugh at his hair, which was even more spiky than usual. He huffed at me and scrubbed his head again.
I pressed my fist to my mouth, trying not to laugh. He draped the towel around his shoulders, then flipped me off with an eye roll. ‘What's for dinner?’
“Pizza,” I answered. “Found it in the freezer.”
Hearth smiled lightly. ‘Thank the gods.’
“Shut up,” I whined. “You know I hate going to the grocery store for food.”
‘And that’s why our fridge is empty. We’re going to the store tomorrow.’
“Fiiiiineeee,” I grumbled. “Want to pick out a movie to watch?”
‘Sure,’ Hearth answered. He made his way to the couch and I followed after him.
We looked at tons of movies, and none of them looked good. We gave up after a while.
“Why is there nothing good to watch?” I asked the heavens above.
Hearthstone shrugged, and then quickly sat up. ‘What if we watch that movie Magnus has been begging us to watch?’
“The Princess Bride?”
Hearth snapped his fingers. ‘That’s the one.’
“Find it, will you?”
‘Bossy,’ Hearth signed, but did as I asked anyway. He found it pretty quickly and switched it on.
It started off sort of boring – who wants to watch a kid being sick? – but eventually got better.
I froze when it became romantic. Why did all the movies I watched with Hearthstone turn out romantic?
I swear to the gods, Hearth had moved closer. I felt heat blasting into my cheeks. Fuck.
I stood up quickly, nearly tripping. “I should, uh, check on the pizza.” And with that statement, I zoomed out of the room and into the kitchen.
I leaned against the counter, taking deep breaths. Gods, I was pathetic. My crush on him – no, forget crush. I was completely, utterly in love with my best friend.
I’d been head over heels for him since we’d met. Since I’d found him lying half-dead in the streets of Nidavellir. Since he’d first looked at me with those gorgeous gray eyes.
But it wasn’t like I could tell him. No way, no how, not in a million years. I’d already lost my dad; I couldn’t lose my best friend, too.
My plan was to suffer in misery until I fell out of love with him or DIED. Whichever came first.
But, with my luck, I’d go to Folkvanger with him to spend eternity with my wretched mother and friend-that-I-was-hopelessly-in-love-with.
BEEEEEEP. I was transferred from my miserable thoughts into my even more miserable life. The pizza was done. I slipped an oven mitt on and pulled the pizza out. I set it on the counter and reached for plates, which Hearthstone loved to place high up since I was so short. He delighted in my fake torture.
No luck. I couldn’t reach them. I huffed. “You have got to be kidding me.” I looked around. Would I be able to climb on the counter?
Just then, Hearth walked into the kitchen. ‘Do you need some help?’
I huffed and crossed my arms, glaring at him. “I wouldn’t if you’d just put the plates where I can reach.”
Hearth grinned and walked over. He ruffled my hair. ‘I like it when you struggle. It’s cute.’
My brain shut down.
Cute.
I glared at him more, feeling heat rush to my face. “Shut up.”
He nudged me out of the way and reached up for the plates. He didn’t even have to stretch his arms out.
He handed me the two he’d grabbed, and when they were out of his hands, he signed, ‘See? Simple.’
I pointed at him. “Shut up. It’s not my fault I’m vertically challenged.”
Hearth smiled, then turned and left the room.
I sighed and turned to cut the pizza, my mind lingering on one word: cute.
He’d called me cute.
Gods, I was pathetic.
Once I’d finished with the pizza, I carried it out into the living room where Hearth was waiting. I handed him a plate and he accepted, and unpaused the movie.
When the movie was over, we did the dishes together. I washed and Hearth dried. We were finishing up when I began washing off a knife, but Hearth stopped me.
“What?” I asked.
Hearth held his hand out, as though he expected me to hand him the knife.
I shook my head. “I know what you’re thinking, but I won’t cut myself. It’ll be fine.”
But of course the knife slipped and made a slight cut on my thumb. I cursed quietly and dropped the knife back into the sink.
Hearth grabbed my hand – and I can’t deny that my heart sped up slightly – as a few drops of blood spurted out from the cut. Hearthstone pressed the rag he’d been using to dry the dishes to my thumb. He kept his gaze focused on my hand, firmly holding it until he was sure the blood had stopped. He let out a small sigh of relief and ordered me to get a band-aid. I obliged, knowing not to argue.
Later on, I decided to go to bed. “You coming?” I asked Hearth.
He shook his head. ‘Going to read for a bit. Then sleep in tanning bed.’
I nodded. “See you in the morning.”
Hearthstone smiled and then turned his attention back to his book, “Runes With the All-Father.”
When I got to my room, though, I did not, in fact, go to sleep. I sat down at my desk and flipped through my sketchbook.
Lots of outfit ideas and sketches lived in there, along with – obviously – lots of sketches of Hearthstone.
I decided to color one of them.
Hours later, I was finished. I’d worked on the skin color for forever. His hair was hard as well, but nothing was as difficult as his eyes. They had to be a nice, pale gray, but with a beautiful silver center, and flecks of darker gray throughout.
It honestly…
Looked really good.
I wasn’t going to deny that I was a good artist. I wasn’t, like, Picasso or Michelangelo, but I was decent.
Somehow… I’d captured my love for him in the sketch.
Yep. Enough hopeless pining for one day.
Then I decided to tuck in for the night. I slipped into pajamas, turned off the lights, and climbed into bed.
I drifted off.
I awoke to someone climbing into bed. I shot up and immediately turned my lamp on to see a beautiful elf sitting next to me.
“Hearth?” I asked, confused. “Whats up? I thought you were sleeping in the tanning bed?”
Hearth stared at me with sad eyes. ‘Nightmare.’
“Oh,” I said. “Oh, oh buddy…”
He bit his lip, looking ashamed. ‘I’m sorry. I’ll just leave.’
“No! No that’s not it!” I cried, anxious to get him to understand. “I was just surprised, that’s all… it’s been a while since you’ve done this…”
‘I’m sorry.’
“Please don’t be,” I begged. “It’s okay, I swear. Do you want to talk about it?”
He shook his head.
“Do you want a hug?”
His eyes widened and tears spilled over, and suddenly he crashed into me, burying his face into my shoulder and sobbing. I was surprised. He’d never hugged me like… this before. Here was my elf, Hearthstone, hugging me and crying like a newborn baby on my shoulder, as I sat there, stunned.
Fuck it.
I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him into my lap. He cried harder, squishing his face into my shoulder.
Damn. He’d never cried this hard. His nightmare must’ve been terrible.
“Hearth, buddy…” I squeezed him tighter, pushing a hand into his hair and running my fingers through it softly. “It's okay. I’ve got you.”
I didn’t care about the risk of Hearth finding out that I loved him way more than I should’ve. At that moment, he needed me. So I held him until he stopped crying. Until he finally pulled back, still hiccuping.
‘I’m sorry,’ he signed again.
I grabbed his hands and said, fiercely, “don’t you dare be sorry. It is fine.”
He blinked at me, then glanced down, as if suddenly realizing he was in my lap. His eyebrows scrunched together, confused. ‘When did this happen?’
I bit my lip. “Just a little bit ago. I thought it would be helpful.”
‘It is.’
Don’t read into it, Blitz, I thought. Don’t you dare.
“Do you want to sleep in here for the rest of the night?”
Hearth nodded. ‘Yes, please.’
I rubbed his back gently. “Okay.”
He drew away from me, but stopped.
‘Thank you,’ he signed.
I smiled softly. “Of course.”
He hesitated for a moment, as though he wanted to add on, but he just climbed under the covers. I turned the lamp off and snuggled under as well.
I stared at his face, or where his face would be for a long while. I could tell he wasn’t asleep because he wasn’t snoring like usual.
Suddenly, I felt his hand slip into mine. How he found my hand in the dark is beyond me, but he managed.
And then he started to snore.
I laughed softly and eventually fell asleep.
I woke the next morning to a wonderful sight of Hearthstone still sound asleep. He was snoring, and a bit of drool was traveling from his mouth and down his chin.
Yep. Adorable.
I slipped out of bed, trying not to wake him, and quickly changed into a button up pink shirt and blue jeans. Normal clothes. Normal day.
Right?
I went into the kitchen to make some coffee.
I drummed my fingers on the counter as I waited for the machine to work its magic. Not literal magic, obviously. That was reserved for Hearthstone and Hearthstone only.
When the coffee was finished, I poured it into a mug, along with some creamer and sugar and turned to go sit in the living room, but immediately stopped when I saw Hearthstone rubbing his eyes groggily. He looked sleepier than usual. His hair was a mess, sticking out in every direction.
“Oh,” I said, then turned back around to pour out more coffee for my elf. I didn’t add anything extra; he liked it nice and bitter for reasons unknown. Plus, it woke him up really easily.
When the coffee was poured, I handed the mug to him. “Good morning.”
He gave me a small nod and started downing the warm drink. I winced. Just watching him was making my throat burn from the heat of the coffee.
I shrugged and took a sip of my own. “Want to sit on the couch?”
He nodded and we went to the living room. We sat in silence and didn’t talk. Hearth’s eyes were drooping shut, which made no sense. He should’ve been awake.
“Hey,” I said gently. “You okay?”
He nodded.
I bit my lip worriedly. “Okay… I’m just going to get ready.”
He nodded again and closed his eyes. I stood there for a moment, unease settling into me. Hearth never acted like this.
I stood up and walked back to my bedroom, thoughts racing through my head. Maybe he was sick. Probably just a cold.
I stared at my closet for a bit, trying to decide on what tie I should wear, which I did as an attempt to calm myself down.. Dark purple or navy? Or possibly charcoal? I tapped my chin, deep in thought. The dark purple could be slightly overpowering with the pink, since it would be so much color. The navy could work, since it was darker… hmm.
I finally decided on the charcoal, since it would pop against all the color, which I enjoyed thoroughly.
When I went back into the living room, Hearth was passed out on the couch. My eyes widened and I ran over to him. “Fuck, what happened?!”
There was a faint sheen of sweat on his forehead. I brushed his hair away, which was static-y, and pressed my hand against it. Shit. He was burning up.
I wrung my hands. “What do I do, what do I do, what do I do?!” I began to hyperventilate. I looked around frantically, and my eyes landed on the tanning bed. I quickly grabbed Hearth and hefted him over my shoulder, adjusting him once so his head didn’t hit the floor – fuck, he was tall – and, stumbling, got him into the tanning bed. I switched the light on and immediately began praying to every god I could think of.
“Please,” I whispered. “Don’t you dare die. Not you too.”
Ten minutes later, with lots of worry and possibly a few tears, Hearthstone’s eyes fluttered open. Relief crashed into me. I gasped and threw myself onto him. He groaned weakly in protest, but I didn’t care. I didn’t care that I could’ve been petrified. I just cared that he was awake.
That was all that mattered.
When I finally pulled back, he signed weakly, ‘you’re crying.’
I let out a wobbly laugh. “Well duh. I didn’t think you’d wake up.”
He stared at me and slumped forward, nuzzling his face into my shoulder. His warm breath tickled my neck.
I rubbed circles on his back, letting myself hold him. He needs this, I thought, yes, but you know you do, too.
When he pulled back, he signed, ‘What… happened?’
“I don’t really know,” I answered. “I went to put my tie on,” I gestured to said tie, “and when I came back, you were passed out.”
He scrunched his eyebrows together. ‘I just… remember being… tired.’ His eyes started to shut again.
“Hey! No! Don’t pass out!” I yelped, and slapped his face without thinking.
He reared back. ‘What the fuck was that for?’
“You were starting to pass out again!”
‘I was blinking!’
“Oh.” My face flushed. “Sorry.”
Hearth waved his hand dismissively, but there was a very, very small spark of annoyance in his eyes.
Gods, I’d never been so happy to see him slightly pissed off.
“I think I should get you some IBuprofen.”
‘I think you need to calm down.’
“Yeah, well, I cut my finger last night and you lost your mind, so this is payback.”
Hearth rolled his eyes. I smiled and went into the kitchen and searched the cabinets for the medicine, but I couldn’t find any.
“Shit,” I murmured. “I need to buy some.”
That just wasn’t going to work. I couldn’t bring Hearthstone with me, and I couldn’t leave him here alone, either.
I muttered a few more curses under my breath before going back into the living room. Hearthstone looked at me expectantly.
I let out a heavy sigh. “We don’t have any.”
‘Oh,’ Hearth signed, scrunching his eyebrows together. ‘That’s not good.’
I let out a hysterical laugh. “Yeah.”
We stared at each other for a few moments, both unsure of what to do.
“Should I leave you here?” I asked quietly.
Hearth shrugged. ‘I think I’ll be fine.’
“But what if you pass out again?”
Hearth thought for a moment, then spotted something behind me. He scrambled off the tanning bed, and walked uneasily to the kitchen counter. His movements obviously took a lot of effort.
He picked up my phone.
“What?” I asked.
He handed the phone to me and signed, ‘If I feel like I’ll pass out, I’ll F-A-C-E-T-I-M-E Alex.’
I rubbed my arm uneasily. “I dunno…”
Hearth gave me a look and put his hands on his hips.
I sighed. It was the best plan we had. “Okay. Fine. But you’re gonna stay on the tanning bed with all of the lights on and if you get off I will find out.”
Hearth smiled weakly and nodded, then sat back down on the tanning bed. I hesitated for a moment, wondering if a quick hug was in order, and then decided, yes, it very much was, and leaned over to squeeze him gently, then went into the kitchen, grabbed my wallet, and left for the nearest store.
I lugged all the groceries up the stairs. How much stuff did I buy? Balder’s bling, my arms were sore.
When I finally reached the top of the stairs and opened the door, I dropped the groceries as fast as I could and ran to the living room to find Hearth lying on the tanning bed, eyes trained on the ceiling.
I let out a breath. He was awake.
I went over to him and sat beside him, making sure to have turned off the light of the tanning bed so I didn’t petrify.
He sat up and looked at me expectantly.
“Oh, yeah, right!” I said. “The IBuprofen.” I quickly hurried back to the kitchen and sifted through the bags – of course the IBuprofen was in the last bag I looked in – , got out two pills, filled a glass with water, and handed both to Hearth. He took the pills quickly and downed the water with it.
He handed the glass to me and signed, ‘Thank you.’
I nodded and set the glass aside. “I think you should take a nap.”
Hearth nodded. ‘Probably, yeah.’ He laid back down and I sighed, then went to sit on the couch.
I’d been sitting on the couch for around an hour, reading the latest romance novel I’d picked up – Red, White, & Royal Blue – when I was suddenly yanked out of the world of Alex throwing a New Year’s party by small, quiet whimpers.
I tore my gaze away from the book to Hearth. He was shaking, clearly having a bad dream. I set my book aside and hurried over to him.
Believe it or not, this tended to happen a lot. Hearth taking a nap and having a nightmare, I mean. I was used to having to curl up next to him and hold him close until he woke up or calmed down.
So that’s exactly what I did.
I switched off the light of the bed and crawled in next to him, pulling him into me so his face was buried in my chest. I rubbed circles on his back, gently cupping his vertebrae.
I could tell he’d woken up, but he stayed where he was, sniffling.
When he eventually pulled back, tear streaks were shining on his cheeks. His hair bloomed up on one side, which was quite adorable. He moved his hands up and weakly signed, ‘Sorry.’
I sighed and shook my head. “Don’t be.”
He stared up at me, and he was clearly trying to decide on something. He tilted his head up a bit, and my heart hammered in my chest. I felt my face flame as he moved his face closer to mine. I could feel his breath on my mouth.
He’s going to kiss me he’s going to kiss me he’s goingtokissme hesgoingtokissme –
Someone knocked on the door.
I sat up quickly. Hearth stared at me, eyes wide with shock.
“Someone knocked,” I murmured, then got out of the bed and to the door, heart still pounding, face still nuclear.
(A/N: The next part was added because my friend begged me. Also because I tease him about having an Asian old husband :D (he doesn’t haha))
When I opened the door, an Asian man who had to be at least eighty stood there.
“Oh, hello!” He said happily. “Please, come with me!”
“Um, may I ask why?”
“No, no, just follow me!” said the man as he ran down the stairs.
“Ooooooo-kay.”
I clambered down after him, just to find him presenting me with a McDonalds Happy Meal.
I blinked at him. “What’s this?”
The man scoffed. “Your Happy Meal, of course! You did order this, correct?”
“Um… no.” I thought for a moment, then added, “I didn’t know McDonalds does delivery.”
“We don’t,” the man answered. “But you just didn’t pick it up, so I figured you’d want it to come to you! … Did you say you didn’t order this?”
I nodded.
The man’s shoulders slumped. “Ah. I’ll just… go then.” He sulked off, and I watched him cross the street and begin talking in a rapid-fire way to a tall kid with flaming orange hair.
(A/N: End of part)
“That was… weird…” I said to myself, then turned to go back upstairs but stopped in my tracks. “Oh,” I said softly. Hearthstone. Yeah.
My face heated up just thinking about it. He’d been about to kiss me, I was sure of it… or maybe he was just going to hug me again but I didn’t see his arms.
Whatever he’d been doing, it was making my heart go insane and frying my brain trying to figure it out.
I trudged up the stairs, trying to calm my heart down.
There was no point in getting excited over something that only lived in my wildest fantasies.
Don’t be ridiculous, Blitz.
When I finally entered the living space again, Hearth was sitting up on the tanning bed, staring at the ground firmly.
I took a deep breath.
Then I changed direction and went to sit in the living room like the coward I was.
I watched the weather channel and discovered that a giant snowstorm was coming to Boston and we were most likely going to get snowed in.
Snowed in.
With hearth.
After the… incident.
Terrific.