Number Eight // Five Hargreeves

XVI

Five's POV

I wake up shuddering as a gust of wind blows through the window.  My arm is still securely around Tessa.  I watch as her shoulders rise and fall to the steady rhythm of the dreamless sleep she's in.

She looks so peaceful.  I want nothing more than to lay here forever with her in my arms, not a care in the world.  But sadly the world still needs saving.  

"Tessa darling, wake up,"  I whisper in her ear as I stroke her hair longingly.  She stirs a bit, mumbles something incoherent and then presses a pillow over her head as she rolls back over to sleep.  I can't help but let a small laugh escape my lips.  

"Come on Tess!  Where's the motivation to go stop the world from ending?"  I say jokingly as I gently pull the pillow off of her face.  She looks at me and pouts.

"We still have a little bit of time!  The end of the world doesn't start for another 8 hours!"  She says casually enough to make it seem like we were talking about going out for brunch instead of saving the human race.  I smile and shake my head as I start to get up, but she grabs the pillow from me and rolls back over once more.

"Tessa I promise you, you will not win this fight,"  I threaten sarcastically about our pillow war.  She makes no move to get up so I reach over and grab the pillow again just as she leaps up to take it back from me.  We wrestle for a few seconds, laughing and smiling, for once just feeling like two normal teenagers having fun.

"I need my beauty sleep!" She shouts while smiling as I put the pillow out of her reach.  She climbs over me to try and grab it and ends up straddling my hips.  Too distracted by the change in positioning, she gets ahold of the pillow and laughs victoriously.

"If I would've known this was all I had to do to get my way, I would have done this a long time ago,"  she teases, her voice dropping significantly, almost to a whisper.  She leans in so close as she speaks the last part I can feel her breath on my ear.  Something about her tone made a fire ignite within me, passionately burning and dancing with flames.  That something makes me mirror her bold tone, something that I didn't know I was even capable of doing.  I didn't even think I had it in me until the words came out.  

"Oh yeah?  And what happens if you don't get your way?"  I ask, watching a smirk form on her face at my response.

"Well, I guess I'll just have to try something else,"  she says innocently and nonchantly.  She begins to move so she is no longer sitting on my hips, but before she can get up, I put one hand on her waist and the other on the side of her face and pull her towards me.  Our lips meet fiercely and I pull away just for a moment to look at her biting her lip.

"My turn,"  I whisper into her ear.  I feel her smile against me as I manage to change positions and climb on top of her.  I feel her lips against mine as we are once again moving in sync with each other.  I feel her hands snake up the back of my neck and through my hair as I let my hand wander down the side of her body from her waist to her thigh.  The previous fire burning inside me has now turned into a spark between us, growing more and more intense with every kiss, every touch.

I never thought I'd ever experience a feeling like this.  After everything that has happened, and everything that was supposed to happen, I never though I'd feel...love.  And not just feel it but fall so deeply and hopelessly.  But being here now with her, I can feel it every single time our skin touches.  All I feel is love.

"Hey Tessa dear I love the flowers but maybe not on the floor where I can trip on them- holy shit!"  Tessa and I immediately pull apart and get off each other in a desperate attempt to make it seem like we weren't just making out, but ultimately failing.

"Wow look at you guys all grown up!  I would leave you two to continue in these fiesty fesitivites but we do have a doomsday to stop so your precious little hormones will have to wait for now,"  Klaus says will a smirk causing both of us to turn red.

"Also Tessa the plants?  Really?  I would have thought your fire ability would have flamed up from what just happened instead seeing as how you guys were just-"  

"Thank you Klaus!"  She shouts, trying to get him to shut up and save her some embarrassment.  She blushes even more, directing her gaze down to the ground knowing that I think it's the cutest thing.

"Alrighty get ready you two.  But take your time, don't let me interrupt,"  he says raising his eyebrows in a flirtatious way as he walks out and closes the door behind him.

Immediately Tessa and I burst out laughing.  Of course Klaus is the one who walked in, we both silently thanked the universe that it wasn't Luther instead.

"So flowers?"  I ask teasingly while holding my side.  She rolls her eyes and playfully punches my shoulder.

"Shut up!  I honestly didn't even know I was doing it until Klaus said something.  Guess it just happened based on what I was feeling,"  she says, the blush in her cheeks starting to fade, but not all the way.

"And what were you feeling?"  I ask, pushing to see how much I can get her to let out before the subject changes.

"Extremely...happy.  I mean, if you couldn't already tell by the vibrant plants trailing from our bed to the hallway," she says as she giggles.  This causes me to smile even more.  I feel that warm feeling seep back, not the firey one from before, but instead a comforting warmth and glow within me that formed from that statement. 

"Good, all I want is for you to be happy,"  I say, meaning every word.  She looks up at me in shock.  It's silent for a moment before she speaks out.

"No one's ever cared about me like that,"  she whispers, not in self pity, but more to herself in a realization of how dark and isolated her past truly was.  I drop everything in my hands and walk over to her, gently wrapping my arms around her. She immediately sinks into my arms, her head resting against my chest as I plant a kiss on her forehead.

"I know you think the only way for the apocalypse to stop today is to follow that tape exactly like we saw it, but we have an advantage now,"  I say soothingly, referring back to our previous conversation about the outcome of her actions on the tape as I rest my chin on top of her head.  She pulls apart to look at me but not completely breaking our embrace.

"Ben."  She says, catching on to what I was implying.  I nod my head and see the gears spinning in her head.

"I need to go talk to him,"  she says hurridedly.  I stop her for just a moment.  I need to tell her.  If I don't say it now... I might not ever get to say it.

"Hey wait, Tessa just know, that whatever happens out there today, we will make it out of this.  Both of us."  I reassure her sternly but gently.  She stops and smiles, placing a hand right above my jawline.  She leans in and kisses me softly.

"I love you Five."  She whispers against my lips, beating me to it.  My heart starts beating faster.  No matter how many times I hear it, my heart will always skip a beat when I'm with her.

"I love you too Tess."  I give her one last kiss on the forehead before she bounces out of the room.  I hear a small crash as I look down the hallway and see her on the floor, her feet tangled up in her own flowery vines.

"Son of a bitch!"  She yells at herself.  I laugh to myself as she gets up and kicks the vines, watching her be her amazing, humor filled self.  I get myself ready while thinking the entire time about how I'm going to keep her safe today while not interferring with timeline because there's no way in hell that this morning is the last moment we are going to share togther.  I want to be able to wake up every day next to her, and I want to share our inside jokes and secret messages to each other.  I'm going to do everything in my power today to make sure that happens, because if it doesn't, I don't know how I could live without her.