wake up your sleeping heart {closed}

It was absolutely heart-breaking.

As soon as he saw the look on her face, he knew he had made a serious mistake. Of course, he should have seen this coming. He had gotten this sort of terrible reaction from her before, and though the first time it was forced out through the bite of some strange monster, he had tried to be honest both to her and to himself. But no, he should have foreseen this, it was a terrible idea and he wondered what on earth he was thinking. And this time, he hadn't the ability to blame it on something else. It was all him. He misread the mood and now the awkwardness in the air was almost suffocating.

"A-ah, you're welcome..." The young man muttered, adjusting his glaces with his free hand and turning his gaze away, his cheeks turning a bright shade of red - quite like hers. If she wasn't going to be the one to run away, then he certainly felt the need. He shouldn't have bothered her in the first place, he told himself. "Forgive me, that was rude of me. Forget I said anything." Ethan pulled himself up onto his feet, taking his hand out of hers and rushing towards the door. "I-I'll leave you be."

His mind and heart racing, trying to comprehend what had just happened, he found himself completely distracted. It was uncertain if he tripped on something or perhaps his leg just gave out on him, but as soon as he stepped in front of the doorway, Ethan went straight to the ground, losing his glasses and landing on his side. Of course...

Kimply could feel her eyes begin to water without her consent, and she cursed herself even more for being weak. Why did she have to feel anything at all? Damn this stupid boy that had come into her life and given her so many emotions that she didn't even know how to deal with. She was stupidly angry at herself and at him, and that pushed the tears over the edge after he turned away.

She didn't mean to be so awkward. She didn't mean to ruin the moment but she had never had a moment before. He couldn't just walk into her room and confess his love for her and expect everything to be okay. Actually, that's probably what she should have done. Her head spinning with conflicting emotions, she used the back of her hand to wipe away her tears and stood up to follow him, reaching out. "Wait, don't go-"

She watched as he tumbled to the ground, and for a moment didn't know how to react. She stared for a second, but then sighed and grabbed his glasses, walking over and handing the pair to him as she sat down. Kimply grabbed her knees and pulled the close to her chest, as if to defend herself. She didn't look at him as she spoke. "I like you a lot, Ethan. I'm just scared." She murmured into her knee, looking away with watery eyes.

For the most part, the healer had managed to catch himself, all-too used to making these stupid falls. Normally, he would have just accepted it for what it was, not care, get up and move on, however considering the situation and the circumstances... He could feel his cheeks burning and his vision was blurred, but he could make out the shape of Kimply as she handed his glasses back to him. Reluctantly, he took them, slipping them on his face and starting to apologize again.

That was until he saw the look on her face and the tears in her eyes. He had done that to her, he thought, guilt creeping into the pit of his stomach. As she spoke, however, things started making sense.

Perhaps he should have been completely honest with her from the start. "I'm, well... I'm afraid too." He confessed, pulling himself off the floor and sitting up to look straight at her. "I've never very well had a family for a long time, and you're the closest person to me now... I would hate to ruin anything between us." He wasn't sure if what he was saying would help anything. He felt so illprepared.

Kimply was finding it hard to look at him, and with her head rested on her knee, she faced the wall to her left. I should really start decorating... She thought, looking at a blank white wall, which didn't do much to distract her. She'd been here for 3 years and she had yet to leave a mark. On anything, really. She hadn't made a name for herself, she hadn't done anything of interest, and it was already her senior year. This only served to make her more depressed, and then Ethan was talking again. She listened to him speak, not looking up till she processed what he had said.

I'm afraid too. Eyes wide, Kimply looked completely unguarded for a moment. And hopeful. So incredibly hopeful, it was almost sad. It was a childlike innocence you lost the first time someone let you down, but showed up from time to time who you forget for a moment to hate the world. He talked about not having a family, and it seemed to open a door of conversation that the two of them hadn't really ever addressed. Sure, she was fairly certain he didn't have a family. She didn't know what happened to them, but it probably had something to do with his leg.

"I never knew my dad." She blurted out. Okay, in context, that probably had nothing to with what they were talking about. "He left before I could remember. And then I saw what it did to my mom... Well, she fell in love and then he left and it really messed her up and I never wanted that to happen to me. My whole life I've been trying to stay away from... from this," She gestured between them wildly, trying to find the right words. "And I guess I just didn't want to think about it before, but now I'm thinking about it and honestly Ethan, it scares the shit out of me."

Ethan watched as she came out of hidung, her blue eyes shimmering in silent surprise. For a moment he had been frightened he had went and said to much again, but then she was speaking, talking about her mother and her father, about the way she felt and saw the world, and then it was his turn to be surprised. While the poor girl seemed a bit frantic, he had to stop and choose his words carefully, if only by nature.

"I never knew my father either," He confessed quietly. The difference being between them, he supposed, was that his father had meant nothing to him over the years. He was gone, irrelevant, but clearly for Kimply it was a different story entirely. "My mother used to be sad, I remember, but she never appeared at a loss for love... She always seemed happy up until the moment she died." It was difficult to remember after so many years, he could only recall darkness, dull pain, and the distant sounds of sirens. Ethan put on an uneasy smile, "I can't claim to truly understand how you feel, but I know how I feel about you." Here he was starting to get nervous again, but the Winter stayed determined. "Kimberly, you are the most important person in this world to me. I- I would never hurt you..."

The way he talked about his life made her feel a bit bad for being so affected by her's. She still had a mother, and that was something. She still loved her mother, even though there were days she resented her for not letting Kimply be a child. And she technically still had a father, even though she knew now that she could never have the kind of fatherly figure she wanted. If what qualified as fortunate was having both parents alive, she was fortunate.

She barely knew anything about him, she realized. And something inside her made Kimply want to know everything she could about his life. Maybe someday, but now they had more pressing matters.

A part of her wanted to run and hide. To curl up in her bed and stay there until he left, and probably never leave the spot ever again. But she forced herself to finally face her feelings. Her heart was beating hard and she dug her nails into her palms as he spoke. "You've never let me down, Ethan. I- you're so important to me, and when you say you wouldn't hurt me, I really want to believe you." Without thinking, she brought her hand to his cheek, as if to make sure he was really there. "I'm going to try to believe you." Her voice was soft, as if not to break the tranquility of the moment.

His heart was racing, his vision still seemed a tad clouded yet, and he felt rather light-headed - abnormally so. It only got worse as she went on, gently placing her hand to his cheek. He couldn't help it. Ethan had to let out a small grin. As pained as her words were, they made him the happiest he'd ever been in a long, long time. Although there was still many words between them that needed sharing, and there was so much to learn and know, this was an incredible start.

"Don't worry," He murmured, letting his fingers graze across her delicate skin, brushing away the bangs out of her eyes and wrapping his hand around her neck. "I'm your painkiller, remember?" His smile turned a bit goofy, pulling himself together despite the adrenaline rampaging through his heart. He leaned in closer, moving slowly, ready to pull back at any moment if it were too much for Kimberly until finally he brushed his lips softly against hers.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion. When his hand gently touched the back of her neck, she held her breathe without realizing it. She let it out with a quick laugh at his joke, not stopping herself from rolling her eyes. "You're terrible." She murmured, watching him slowly advance towards her. Laughing helped to make this moment slightly less intense, but she could still feel something buzz between them as she focused on his lips. Old Kimply would have ditched in a panic, old Kimply would have made a joke or done whatever she could to ruin the moment, because she didn't know how to deal with it.

But Kimply wasn't doing that now. Despite the quickening beat of her heart, either from fear or apprehension, she leaned forward to meet him in the middle, their lips gently brushing for the first time.

There wasn't fireworks or anything spectacular like that. But she was fairly certain her heart was going to beat out of her chest at any moment, and the soft pressure of the kiss had her closing her eyes and sighing. This was her first kiss with emotion, with feelings behind it, and although she knew it was just a kiss, it seemed like it held so much more behind it.

It was just a kiss, sure, but it was also a promise.

Ethan had barely managed to hold back a laugh of his own, quickly losing himself in the heat of the moment, a wave of different emotions rushing through him all at once. He'd always thought himself collected and composed of nature, but then as their lips met, it was if his mind had went a tad blank. He could only think of how sweet the small kiss was, how soft her hair was, and - once he managed a somewhat coherent thought - he'd truly realized how long he'd been waiting for a moment like this. He'd never felt anything like it before, with Kimberly of all people, he found himself yearning for it all the more.

... but he had to stay civil, and her friend above all else, didn't he? The Winter let out a breathless chuckle as the two of them pulled away, his glasses a little crooked. "Wow, hah..." He pushed his glasses up in a slick move, flustered as ever. "Can... Could we perhaps do that again...?"

God, look at them.

Two lovestruck kids, sitting on the floor of her dorm room, acting like idiots. She was just intoxicated with the bliss of kissing him as he was, and whenever they pulled away, she didn't think she'd ever seen Ethan so undone. His glasses sat crooked on his nose, his cheeks were flushed and he looked completely flustered. Kimply figured she looked about the same, with messy hair and bright eyes. Never having seen Ethan like this before made it all the more cute, and she was overwhelmed with feelings she finally allowed herself to feel. He asked for another- come on, he asked to kiss her again, that had to be the cutest thing. She smiled and leaned forward, moving even closer to him and grabbing the sides of his face, pulling him in and kissing him again, this time a bit harder than before.

There was that gorgeous smile of hers, he thought light-headedly, gently stroking away at her hair with his thumb. He thought what he had said was rather idiodic, and he'd cursed himself for it not a moment later, yet there she was, holding back a laugh and reaching in for another kiss. He graciously accepted, eagerly pushing his lips back against hers, enjoying the warm feeling that rushed over him from his fingers to his toes. He hadn't been exactly sure when, but at some point his hand had twisted up into her pink hair and his hand wrapped around her waist, tugging away lightly against her shirt until he felt her bare skin brush against him. "Ah, sorry..." He did hastily inbetween breaths.

Whenever Ethan walked in early, Kimply hadn't really anticipated this. They'd known each other, what, three years? Something, a long time regardless, and if you asked her at any point up until now if she saw herself making out with her best friend on the floor of her room in the future, she'd have laughed. Then again, maybe this was the year of her making out with her best friends. But she probably shouldn't mention to Ethan that she had kissed Evelyn first, that was probably a bit of a romantic mood ruiner. Kimply wouldn't know, she'd never had a romantic mood to ruin before.

The feeling of Ethan's hand wrapped up in her hair and his hand on her skin brought her back to reality. She pulled back to catch her breath, resting her forehead against Ethan's, closing her eyes. She wasn't quite sure how far she wanted this to go. While kissing him felt amazing, and it was like nothing she'd experienced before, she didn't want to move too hastily. Whatever they were, whatever this was, she wanted to do it right. And while she was completely lost on what that meant, she was going to try her best to make what was growing between them beautiful and pure, lest it fall apart. 

She pulled back, looking him in the eyes and smiling again, completely relaxed and content. She looked a mess, with her tangled hair and bright cheeks and swollen lips. He looked the same, though, and the messiness of the moment had it's own beauty to it. "Thank you." She wasn't exactly sure what she was thanking him for. Maybe the kiss, or giving her the chance at love. Oh God, she was a sappy mess already. She wanted to be upset, but she found she didn't mind too much.

Ethan let out a slow, shaky breathe, becoming all too aware of how still the room truly was as she rested her forehead against his. He was afraid to move then, like her, afraid to do anything that might mess this perfect moment up. He hadn't been this close to anyone in a lifetime, it had seemed to him. Of course, there were a few girls that came and went that had caught his attention, that was only natural - but no one else had made him feel the way that he did now. His heart felt light it might beat out of his chest and all he wanted to do was grin, and hold her, and kiss her again.

And then she thanked him. For what reason, he couldn't think of one out of context that didn't sound silly, but in that moment he understood that they were just right. "No, thank you." He muttered back, pulling away with a softened smile. Despite the sentimentality, there was no telling how long it would be until he knew love again without her... And he did love her. He was certain of that, even if she might not have been ready to hear it then. The young man was willing to wait.

In this strange, light-headed state he was in, it was a wonder he knew what he was doing at all. He loosened his grip on her further, getting up onto his two own feet once again, albeit somewhat shakily. He wasn't sure if it was because he was nervous or ecstatic that his body seemed to tremble. "I don't think it's best I get on one knee again, for something like this in any case..." Ethan murmured, helping her up as well and taking in another deep breath.

Why did he feel cold again all of a sudden? Why was he so nervous, despite his confidence? "Kimberly," he started, guessing his way through his own words. "Won't you be my girlfriend?"

There wasn't any time to answer, if she even had an answer. No one would know. The door flung open with a BANG under Evelyn's kick. She threw her head back, downing the rest of the whiskey in her hand, and looked them both over with a grin. Evelyn whipped off her sunglasses and waltzed up, her breath reeking of alcohol and cigar smoke. "Sorry, p-pegleg," she said, "she's taken."

She smashed the bottle over his head and turned to Kimply, not even stopping to watch him fall. In one fluid motion, Evelyn swept her off her feet and pressed her lips to Kimply's in a rough, sloppy kiss. "C'mon, babe." They needed to finish what they started in that closet. Evelyn ran with her in her arms, leaping through the window.

and then kimply ran away with evelyn and lived happily ever after the end

Contrary to the last time they were in this position, Kimply felt no urge to go run and hide. No urge to cry, or to hide away from the world. Instead, she just smiled, a giddy feeling enveloping her as he spoke. It was strange, the rollercoaster of emotions they'd experienced in just the last few minutes having led up to this moment. More so, the rollercoaster of emotions they'd experienced in the last 3 years having led up to this soft, pure moment. Kimberly. Ever since she'd been here, Kimply was the name she preferred. The name she pushed and insisted upon, and she loved it, it was who she was. But at the same time, it had all been because of her father. That's what she remembered him calling her, and so she clung on to it for as long as she could remember. Whenever she met him, and realized he wasn't what she wanted him to be, it brought a sour taste to her mouth for weeks every time she was called Kimply. It was dumb, but Ethan calling her by her real name only helped solidify the fresh start that this was to her.

Still, Kimply was Kimply, and that meant she was awkward and downright terrible in romantic situations. "Sure. I mean- yes, I'd love to. That would be great, actually." She stumbled through her words, her cheeks flushing pink, but despite her shaky answer, she couldn't stop the smile on her face from growing.