Till the end

Chapter 12

I woke up to warmth. I snuggled further into the bed as my groggy mind began to wake up. I could feel the sun on my face so it must have been mid to late morning, I had slept in for the first time in a while. I felt an arm snake around my waist and then a pair of lips brushed against my cheek. With a rush my memories from the night before flashed back and my eyes flew open. Lying in front of me, his arm draped over my waist and his other one propping his head up as he looked over at me was Akashi. He looked just as perfect as ever despite his bed hair, maybe in spite of it. I felt my cheeks heat up as I remembered what we had done and the words exchanged.

"You stayed. I thought it was a dream."

His pulled my closer so my face was pressed into the crook of his neck and his lips brushed my ear.

"You aren't that creative."

Now that I had fully woke up I could see that it was later then I had originally thought.

"It's just past midday. I didn't want to wake you, a lot of things happened last night."

"Where are the others?"

"Milling out and about."

He hesitated and I titled my chin to look up at him.

"They know about us. I forgot to close the door."

I felt my heart flutter at the word us but then his words sunk in and I groaned, burying my face into his chest and gripping his shirt.

"I'm sorry, did you want to keep it a secret?"

I could hear the hurt in his voice, as if he thought I was ashamed of him. I looked up again and wrapped my arms around his neck.

"Of course not. I want to scream it to the stars. It's just that Momoi is going to want to know or the details and she will have a told-you-so face."

His hands brushed back my unruly bed hair, hands lingering on the side of my face.

"Told you so?"

"I. once I knew you didn't remember me I decided to give up on you. I saw you were happy and I didn't want to make you unhappy. Remember the days you had at the village. They were the happiest for me but for you they must have been painful."

"Silly. I want to remember. To know how much I loved you back then. I would love to remember what a young Kuroko looked like. I bet you were so cute."

My cheeks reddened even further and he brushed his fingertips along them sending shocks running through me.

"You don't know how much I love this look."

His hand continued to trace my face, his finger leaving a trail of fire in their wake. When they reached my lips my stomach gave an embarrassing grumble and he laughed, taking his hand away.

"I guess we should get you fed. Don't want you feeding on any of the villagers."

He said it in a joking tone but I could see his eyes were carful as he studied me to see if it was okay. I rolled on top of him, straddling him and smiling showing off all my teeth.

"Are you offering to be my meal?"

He reached up and all joking was gone from his face as he cupped my cheeks in his hands.

"Always."

I gulped at the level of love I saw in his eyes and bent down to press my lips hesitantly to his. I wasn't prepared as he rolled us over and gripped my hair tightly as he deepened the kiss. When he pulled away I was breathless. Smiling he rubbed his lips along my collar bone and I could barely think.