Hide It All

"And I'm sorry about your mother," he replied quietly in kind. Before they met he had struggled to move on past his father's death even with the support of his mother and sister, but Vanille had given him that thing he was missing to in his life to pull himself out of this seemingly endless hole he had slipped into. He didn't want to make himself dependent on her any more than he wanted her to be dependent on him, but he had needed someone else to focus on besides himself to make himself see past all the previous loss and guilt. She gave him a reason to get up when he didn't have any other reason to do so until it became second nature. It was like he had to relearn how to live his daily life and she had been the catalyst. He nodded with understanding as she mentioned how hard everything had been on her own. He knew that in comparison he had it easy with his family around him, but he had pushed them away to a point where he might as well been entirely alone. He hadn't let them help him until it was too late and now he was having to rebuild the relationships he had squandered.

His thoughts wandered over his life, his family, and his relationship with Vanille while he enjoyed having her in his arms, feeling her paws moving over the thick fur of his mane, gazing down at her with a small smile on his lips. He had never been as comfortable with anyone as he did with Vanille and the way his heart skipped around her and the warmth that built in his belly when they were laying like this... It was frightening how he cared about her, but he couldn't imagine his life without her now. It felt so far beyond just a friendship, but he hadn't allowed himself to really put his feelings into words. In the end Vanille did it for him as she looked up, her light pink gaze finding the sapphire of his. Her declaration caught him off guard, making his eyes widen with surprise for a moment, but that surprise quickly faded into a happy grin. As soon as she mentioned her love for him he had no doubt that he felt the same. It put a name to what he had been feeling and validated that he wasn’t the only one feeling like this. It was almost like all he needed was the permission to fully accept how he was feeling for her.

After a stunned and heart skipping moment of silence, his large paw came up to her cheek, cradling her delicate features before pulling her into a tender kiss. His lips pressed to hers without any of the reservation or carefulness he usually held as he kept himself back out of fear of pushing too far too fast. He just kept hearing her words playing back again and again in his head as he kissed her passionately, his free foreleg tightening around her lower back as he held her close and celebrated this step in their relationship in the only way he really knew how. After a few long, savoring moments he did finally pull back again, blinking his eyes open and giving her a loving grin. “I love you too, Vanille,” he said quietly in return, caressing over her cheek and grinning like a fool.

"Arc & Vanille"