Two Princes

14. Do You Love Me?

Sunlight flooding the bedroom in the morning disorients Elizabeth as she opens her eyes, yawns, and stretches, and realizes—

It's Wednesday. Oh, my God. We're going to—

"Meliodas, wake up! We're going to be late for school! You promised you'd wake me!" She jostles the sleeping blond next to her, and he groggily opens one eye.

"Shush, 'Liz-beth." He reaches an arm over her body and pulls her close, resting his head against her breast, and she blushes as she realizes their bare legs are tangled together beneath the sheets, she's wearing almost nothing but one of his shirts, and—

Oh. My. God. She bolts up in bed, shocked, as the moonlight hours flood back to her all at once. Meliodas grumbles at this sudden displacement of his head, and he sits up next to her, rubbing one hand across his face.

Oh, but what a glorious good morning...

Mentally, she gives herself a good shake. Why are you gawking, Elizabeth? What the hell is wrong with you!?

But she can't help her eyes traveling up and down his naked torso as she remembers her legs over his lap, his hands in her hair, his tongue slipping in and out of her mouth... Oh. Ab-so-lute-ly nothing.

Then his eyes flick to hers, and she blushes even more to have been caught staring. He smirks and cocks a suggestive eyebrow. "See something you like?"

"Eep!" She fumbles for the sheet to cover herself, to hide behind, but Meliodas quickly tugs it out of her grip. His green eyes slowly travel up and down her body...

"Yeah. You make that shirt look way better than I do." He grins and brushes a kiss against her cheek before hopping out of the bed and heading for the bathroom, leaving her staring after him, stunned.

What...even...happened last night? She reaches for the sheet again and twists it nervously, trying to remember everything, and she pieces together snatches of the evening, the delicious ale, the dance, and then later, the nightmare. Ah...right... That's what happened. That's what led to the...to it.

Elizabeth touches her bottom lip in wonderment. Our first kiss.

Meanwhile, safely locked in the bathroom, Meliodas leans over the sink, gazing at his reflection in the mirror with dark, heavily lidded green eyes. Meliodas, you...

She is...incomparable. The corners of his mouth quirk upward in a sly smile, but quickly, the cockiness fades. Meliodas. Elizabeth is special. Like Liz. Unlike any girl that came before Liz, or any that came between her and Elizabeth.

And this...whatever this is...

He lifts his gaze to his reflection in the mirror, and stares deeply into his own eyes, as if looking into his own soul.

Do you love her?

The question rings clear as day in his thoughts, as if he'd asked aloud, and for a split second he worries that he did and that she heard. But he relaxes his shoulders, while his brow furrows. Do I love her?

And then, he wonders about her, Do you love me?

And when he realizes he has no idea, Do you not love me?

This possibility is the most terrifying of all.

A hot shower does wonders to ease the tension in his body, though little to untangle the nerves inside, and he pushes them aside as he towels off after and brushes his teeth.

"Damn it, Meliodas!" A loud knock on the door startles him into swallowing the toothpaste, and he starts coughing and has to chase it with water. "We're already going to be late for school!"