Its hard to talk when she's taking your breath away.

Ethan sat out in the courtyard, a book in his hands as he skimmed the words. It was the same piece of work that he had been working on with Vera, and he had just been finishing the last of the pages. Although it was still pretty hot outside, at least compared to the snowy, rainy, chilly weather that usually hung over Beata; he found it rather comfortable. He liked the heat. Ironic for a winter, right? The young man yawned, finishing the novel and closing the cover. He let out a stretch. As far as he knew he was the only one out here, but that wasn't the case.
The young man felt a sharp breeze and a sting in his neck. "Ow." Ethan hissed under his breath, grabbing at the nick made and glancing around uncertainly. The creature, once again, hid and waited.

Kimply sat with her back against the roots of a tree, a notebook in her lap. Her eyes were narrowed, and she gnawed on her bottom lip as she quickly sketched down what she saw. Lines, sometimes crossing, others going straight across the page. Dropping her pencil, she examined her work, twirling and straightening her strawberry blonde hair as she thought. She had seen the map in a vision, and quickly put it on paper. Of course, this hadn't been her first time to do this- lately she had been receiving visions of places. Kimply didn't know where they came from- or where they were, for that matter. Every time she tried to think of a city name, the whole place would just vanish from her memory, with nothing but a page in her notebook to prove she had ever imagined it at all. It drove her crazy, being so close to something and yet not reaching it. Maybe she was going insane, and her mind was randomly making up places for her to draw, just for the hell of it. Which, all things considered, was likely.
Sighing, she shut the notebook and looked around, quickly spotting a familiar face. A grin growing on her lips, the young woman stood up and walking over to him. She studied him for a moment, catching his confused expression as she stopped in front of him. "Hey, Doc. You look lost." Kimply observed jokingly as she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

Ethan frowned and rubbed the back of his neck, shaking his head. He felt rather dizzy all of a sudden, so it would be easy assume that he did look a little lost or out of it. At the sound of a familiar voice, he froze, an uneasy smile growing as his grey eyes flicked up at her. "Oh, Kimply. I was just thinking about seeing how you w- were- ..." The winter boy's voice trailed off suddenly. He looked at her and he was simply awestruck. He had thought she was pretty before, but now it was as if he had never seen someone so beautiful. "Woah..." Ethan whispered, rubbing one eye, as if to wake up - if this were some dream.
"I am lost. I mean - erm -" He cleared his throat, unable to tear his gaze away. His heart was throbbing. How did his palms get sweaty so fast? "Now I am... Lost in your eyes..." That's how it went, right? Ethan grinned, though he wasn't sure why. Just being near her made him want too.

Kimply raised an eyebrow at his stunned and awestruck expression. She glanced behind, as if looking for the source of his bizarre behavior. "See something interesting?" She asked out of curiosity, simply wondering what had gotten into her friend. Maybe he was taking drugs. Then again, why would he if he was one himself? 
She almost - almost blushed at his cheesy pick up line. Now she seriously wasn't crossing of drugs completely; from what little she knew of this boy, this didn't exactly seem Ethan Riley-ish at all. She figured he wasn't a total flirt- or, at least he'd be a bit smoother. "Flattered." She retorted in amusement. I thought doctors weren't suppose to flirt with their patients." The girl replied a bit flatly, crossing her arms across her chest.

There was, still, some part of him that strongly resisted against this behavior. It was so blind, and silly, and almost just ... stupid. For someone so mind-set on logistics, this seemed about as far from rational as possible. And yet, he's catch one look into her eyes and all that disappeared, only thinking about this girl - how amazing she was - and how oh, so very dearly that he wanted her.
This pain-killer wanted - no, needed to be closer to her. He took a few steps forward, not watching where he was going and tripping on his bad leg. Luckily, he still had the sense to put his hands forward and break his little tumble. "I guess I'm falling hard for you too?" He joked under his breathe, glancing back up at her with an unaccustomed shade of pink across his face. Ethan quickly straightened himself out and got properly close to her, wearing a smirk and reaching his hand out, as if he wanted to grab hers. "Well, I think its alright to break the rules now and then, don't you?" he mused.

Kimply was extremely confused by Ethan's behavior, although there was a part of her that found this all very interesting. And deep down inside, there was another feeling stirring in the pit of her stomach, something she couldn't name. 
To keep him from falling flat on his face or on her, Kimply reached out her hand and grabbed Ethan's arm gently. "Or maybe," She offered. "Your balance is just crap." A ghost of a smile flickered on her lips for a moment. Noting the flush of his cheeks and the way he moved closer to her, leaving almost no space in between them, Kimply tried to keep her heart at a steady pace and her voice level as she asked, "What's gotten into you, Ethan?" She ignored his question, voicing her own and using his name for a rare occasion. Looking down at his hand as it reached for her's, she was to shocked to move away, but no her heart was racing, and she wasn't sure if it was fear or excitement that pumped through her veins.

Ethan let out a quiet laugh, "Yeah, that's plausible too, I suppose." The young man cleared his throat again and shook his head, her gray eyes clouded with confusion. He hadn't been this close to her since she was in the infirmary, but that was just business. This, ... this was completely different, and he couldn't say that he didn't like it. "I- I don't know." He admitted, running a few fingers through his hair. "I mean, I had been thinking about you before, a lot..." A flush of red covered his cheeks at the confession, but he tried to smooth it over and quickly move on with his point. "But then, I saw you just now and I..." With a soft smile, he took her hand in both of up, bringing it up and holding it close to his heart. "I think I'm in love."

Whenever he first uttered the words, Kimply's lips twitched into a grin. He had to be joking. Sure, people had taken there liking to Kimply before, but no one had ever had dramatically confessed their love to her. So this practical, calm, laid back doctor type couldn't seriously be in love with her. After all, she was her for Pete's sake. The slacker type, who would randomly take her notebook out and not talk to anyone for hours. The smart but infinitely lazy strawberry blonde who couldn't keep her mouth shut to save her life, who eats way too much candy and snores just a little bit. The blue eyed girl whose father left when she was just a child, whose mother was brokenhearted and went a bit insane, who doesn't believe in love and will do anything to keep her heart from getting hurt. No. She couldn't see anyone loving her.
But now Ethan was telling her he was in love, and she could feel the quick, strong beat of his heart and the warm touch of his hands wrapped around hers. Her heartbeat was equally unsteady, which she pinned on mere surprise and anything but joy, because that couldn't be true, right? She didn't know exactly what she was feeling, but that couldn't be it.
She took a step back, shaking her head softly. "No, you're not. I don't know what's gotten into you, but you don't love me, Ethan." Did she sound... sad? Why would she be sad about him not loving her? God, Kimply needed to get her emotions in check- they were going haywire. The indigo eyed girl avoided his gaze, looking down at her feet and trying not to tear up or something equally as insane. What was happening to her?

The grin was starting to slowly disappear of the boy's face, as if he couldn't believe what she just said. Ethan shook his head, trying to clear it and think of something to say, but nothing came to mind as she took a step back. The winter frowned, holding unto her hand tighter. "I think I know what I'm feeling, Kimply." He said quietly, his voice near breaking. The smile was slowly finding its way back. "I've always liked you. I mean, when we first met, admittedly it was strange - but I'd see you in the strangest places or in class, looking so concentrated sketching those maps into whatever you could get your hands on. Those are maps, right?" He laughed lightly. The young man had memorized the map of the school and town nearby for kicks when he was bored and recognized it at once when she drew it. "Its so admirable. You're just so smart and beautiful and..." A distanced look appeared on the winter's face. A part of him looked like he knew what he was saying, but on the other hand - he looked completely out of it.
Ethan took in a deep breath, holding her hand still and getting down on bended knee. "I've never done this before so I'm not exactly sure how it goes..." He chuckled a bit under his breath, a crooked smile on his face as his gray eyes gazed up at her. "I guess... You'll be my girlfriend, won't you?" At least he wasn't asking for marriage, which I wouldn't put past him right now - that would be slightly illogical, though; and he was mentally clinging onto whatever logic still remained.