✧The Earthe of the Elves✧

40

Knox is just standing there, looking frustratingly gorgeous, listening to me with a conflicted look on his face.

"I got hurt today," I continue, "and I've been hurt before, what is so different? Why are you suddenly so worried about me now, out of all times? I-"

"Because I love you," Knox blurts out in beautiful elvish. My words die on my tongue.

Knox loves me. And he said it in elvish. Elves feel emotions deeper than humans, every gesture means more. The elvish way of saying 'I love you' doesn't strictly translate to 'I love you' in English. It's much more intricate in a way I can't put into words. That one elvish phrase encompasses their love for you, their caring, appreciation, trust, everything in one. They only say it when they mean it. The words reach deep down, lighting me up with a feeling similar to when we first kissed, but much, much more. My whole body swells with emotion, and for a second I feel like I'm about to start crying.

I get it now. It's not that he doesn't trust me, he just doesn't want me to get hurt. Because that's who Knox is. He puts everyone above himself, he protects everyone. And after his dad being taken, he probably feels like he could have stopped it somehow. That's why he acts like he has to protect me. Because he loves me, and he can't lose another person he loves.

I know the feeling.

"I do trust you," Knox says quietly, "I just don't know what I would do if something happened to you. I can't let anything happen to you."

Now I feel bad, stupid for arguing. But the argument is already fading from importance.

"I love you too," I say in Elvish, meaning every word.

For a second I wonder if this is really what love feels like, but I'm sure it is. Love feels different for everyone.

Knox was the first elf I saw. He helped me and kept me sane when I was forced out of my home. He trained me and talked to me, became my friend when I was unsure of literally everything. He was always nice to me, always wanted to protect me. Of course, he's beyond attractive, but it's so, so much more than that. I can tell when we're together, when he looks at me, that he really cares for me.

I let the realization of what we both just admitted sink into my bones, my heart, my whole body. This feels right. In the span of a second everything we just argued about, the unknown future, the past, everything falls away like a raindrop in the ocean.

All that I can feel is the energy between us, and the feeling of Knox as he wraps his arms around me and kisses me.

This kiss feels different from the other ones. I still feel the adrenaline rush into my body, the electricity running through us, but then there is this new gratitude, or maybe it's hope. Or love. Whatever it is, it lights up every nerve ending inside me. It must do the same to Knox, because we both press harder against each other, and all I can think is that I want more. I need him.

I wrap my arms around Knox's neck as his hands slide from my face to my waist. I run my hands through his soft hair as a boom of thunder rumbles far away. I barely hear it.

I didn't even realize we were moving until my back touches the wall. And, let me just say, who knew Knox knew how to kiss so well? Maybe it's just me, but yeah. His lips are soft, like always, but firm against mine, before leaving to press a few kisses to my jawline and neck. I had just caught my breath, and now I'm breathless all over again.

I'm not experienced in this department- I've never had a boyfriend before, but somehow it's working. Don't ask me how, I can barely think. Especially as I feel Knox's fingers brush my bare skin under the hem of my t-shirt, grazing my side. My breath hitches, but a second later I relax a bit more, remembering I put a bra on after my shower. 

As my lips connect with Knox's again, I realize that I don't feel nervous. I just feel the adrenaline, I just feel him. So, without any reservations at all, I pull my shirt over my head and let it drop to the ground. My heartbeat speeds up considerably as Knox's hands run over my bare skin.

Knox, being the respectful, thoughtful elf he is, takes in my new appearance for the shortest time. And it's not weird, it's not like some creep looking at you on the beach. It's like he's admiring me, which makes me blush in the dim light.

Suddenly Knox spins us around and then I'm falling. I let out a little squeal, squeezing my eyes shut, but my back bounces off of the bed under me, cushioning my body instead of falling to the floor. We both laugh, and when Knox joins me, hovering a few inches above me, arms on either side of me, my stomach twists all over because god damn, who gave Earthe permission to create someone so beautiful.

"I don't know if I ever told you this," Knox mutters in elvish, pushing a stray piece of hair out of my face, "but you really are gorgeous."

A soft smile splits my face as I feel my cheeks heat up. Ugh. I love this boy.

"I could say the exact same thing," I say, unaware of what I was doing until I feel my fingers catch at the hem of his shirt. I look at him, almost surprised at my confidence, but Knox just smirks in a way he used to do when I first met him. One that barely had affect on me before, but has every affect on me now.

In one smooth motion Knox pulls his shirt over his head, then connects my lips with his once again. That same feeling that has been dominating me for the past few minutes grows as my hands travel along his perfectly smooth and soft skin, the hard planes of his abs, up and over to his strong, toned back. I also don't miss how he's deliberately avoiding my leg that's still injured. Even now, with emotions raging rampant inside us, he still remembers little things like that, things that barely matter to me now.

We both pull away for a second to catch our breath, foreheads touching. I close my eyes and breathe in his fresh, woodsy smell, one that makes me feel safe and more at home than I have in over a month. I lie my head down and look up at him. The lantern light sets a warm glow across his skin, casting his face half in shadow and making his hair gleam. I can't believe I managed to get someone like Knox.

My hand slides around his neck as I look into his blazing amber eyes.

"I love you," I whisper, in English this time. It feels odd to say to someone who's not my family, but at the same time it feels exactly right. He smiles and leans down, his warm, minty breath fanning across my face as he repeats in English:

"I love you too."

I pull him down to me again, and time falls away.

-

It's 11 pm, and I'm in my own bed, Knox in his. But I can't sleep. Darkness surrounds me, the only light being the night light in the bathroom. Its light is barely visible from my bed, the darkness in my closed eyelids basically the same as when I open them. I hone in my ears and hear Knox's slow, steady breathing. I smile into the darkness, the events from earlier inevitably floating into my consciousness.

I finally nod off to the sound of Knox's sleeping breaths.

A noise fills my head, quiet and blurry at first. My eyes are open to the dark as the sound solidifies as a knocking. There shouldn't be anyone knocking in the middle of the night. That means one thing.

I silently swing my legs off the bed, walking slowly to the door. When I reach the door I turn to wake Knox, but he's already getting up, slipping on his shirt and grabbing his knives. He tosses mine to me and I catch them perfectly.

The knocking stops.

Everything is silent except the beating of my heart, the sound pounding in my ears.

I let out a breath, trying to keep it as quiet as possible. After a nod to Knox, I rise on my toes and put one eye to the peep hole. My vision is warped from the hole, looking at a wide, stretched version of the hall outside. It's empty, glowing from the hallway lights that are on all night.

Suddenly a dark figure steps into my view, followed by four others. I want to jump back, but I'm held in place by fear, my throat clogged with it. The elf in the front steps up to the peep hole, smiles, and looks right at me.

"Hello Mia," he says.

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