Succumb (A Severus Snape Fanfiction)

|chapter two|

A/N: Aside from some rewording, not much changed this chapter. It's been loosely proofread, so I apologize for any errors.

I woke up long before Severus the next morning, but I didn't dare move. The only sound in the room was our breathing, my senses filled with nothing but him. He was sprawled out with one arm resting above his head while the other was placed around me. My head rested against his chest, eyes closed as I listened to the steady beat of his heart. Part of me wished I could freeze time, so that I could preserve this moment forever.

All too soon, though, Severus began to shift beneath me as he stirred awake. I froze, unsure of how he would react to find himself only half dressed and curled up in bed with me of all people. He had been pretty hammered the night before, and I doubted he remembered much. I could feel his body stiffen, and I held a breath of anticipation. Would he say something? Would he try to slip away without a word?

He surprised me, though, as he brushed his lips across the top of my head and said, "I know you aren't asleep." I remained silent, fighting the urge to smile. "Because if you were asleep, you would be snoring right now. Quite loudly," he added. 

I smacked at his chest lightly and looked up at him. "I do not snore!"

"You could wake a coma patient, my dear," he sighed, his voice still gruff with sleep and his eyes squeezed shut in attempt to block out the dim sunlight streaming into the room. The small, carefree smile on his lips suddenly faltered, though. Looking rather green, he was up immediately, rushing straight for the bedroom door.

"The door to your left," I called out to him. Within seconds, the sounds of him retching filled the apartment. I climbed off the bed, not bothering with my robe as I trudged out of the bedroom. Severus had seen me naked countless times, so the fact that I was braless seemed fairly irrelevant in the face of that. I padded into the kitchen, immediately starting a kettle of tea before moving on to fix something to help Severus nurse his hang over.

The problem was that I had next to nothing in the cabinets, and I was now realizing I didn't have shit to cook. I spotted a box of crackers on the top corner shelf, though, which was just out of reach. As a woman of average height, I was fairly certain whoever built this apartment was half giant. Warmth suddenly enveloped the backside of my body as a black sleeved arm easily plucked the box off the shelf.

"Feeling better?" I asked Severus, my voice a few octaves above normal. He lingered there for a moment, long enough to send my heart into a frenzy, before stepping back and clearing his throat.

"Somewhat," he replied. "I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of opening a new toothbrush I found in a drawer."

"Of course not," I said, turning to face him. "Would you like some tea? I'm afraid I don't really have anything to eat here, but there's a cafe down the street that's quite nice."

"I'll pass for now. Thank you for... last night," he said awkwardly. "I don't remember everything clearly, but I do remember being quite forward with you and I apologize."

"There's nothing to be sorry for," I said softly. He watched me carefully for a moment before stepping forward and closing the gap between our bodies, leaving only centimeters between us. My breath caught in my throat at the action, and my brain seemed to simply shut down. I could only stare up at him and wait.

"I would very much like to kiss you," he spoke so softly, his voice so velvety and deep that I could barely even think of anything else.

"I don't think that would be a good idea," I said reluctantly.

"I don't understand why you're fighting this so hard, Kathryn. I love you, and I know you love me. So what's the problem? Why are you so determined to deny yourself happiness?" Severus asked. All I had to do was lean just a fraction, and our lips would be touching. It had been three months since I had felt his lips against mine, three excruciating months in which I had made absolutely no progress in getting over him in the slightest. Now here he was about to kiss me right there in the kitchen of my shitty little flat, and I was quickly beginning to lose any sense of reason I possessed.