A Star in the Shadows

Chapter 26 - Confessions

They made it to the base of the Storm Spire, and y/n hopped off Cosmos, grabbing her bags. She looked up at the formidable mountain that stood in front of her, she drew in a sharp breath and heard Aaravos chuckled at her reaction. "We take regular breaks when travelling up the Storm Spire." he said reassuringly, but then a smirk grew on his face as he said teasingly "Besides, there is always the option of me carrying you."

Her face flushed as she made her way to the base of a wide staircase running up the side of the mountain. Cosmos disappeared as Aaravos walked to the stairs with her. Aaravos took her bag and held it for y/n as they started to climb the steps, y/n protested, but Aaravos would not return her bag.

Y/n breathed heavily as they made their way up the mountain, they had travelled roughly a fifth up the steep mountain, and her legs were shaking. Aaravos paused as they reached a flatter area with a shallow cave and plenty of room to pitch a tent. "Let's rest here for the night." Aaravos said.

"I can keep going-" Y/n started, trying to slow her breathing.

Aaravos set her bag down and took out the tent. He started setting up the tent in the shallow cave, although it was more of a small divot in the rock. Y/n watched as he quickly assembled the tent, his hands quickly tied the tent to the posts and then the tent was ready.

"Come here." Aaravos said, gesturing to her to come over.

Y/n did as he asked and said, "Thank you for setting up the tent- I'm sorry I had to stop walking so early on."

"It's alright, I would do much more for you than setting up a tent." he said.

Y/n looked down, and carefully crawled into the tent. It was larger than she thought it would be and was very spacious. The sun was beginning to set as she looked out through the opening in the tent. Aaravos sat outside, he seemed hesitant.

"Aaravos? Are you alright?" Y/n asked.

He jumped ever so slightly, and replied "Yes, I am fine. I simply don't want to make you uncomfortable. I thought if I entered the tent with you, you may feel intimidated or fearful."

"Why would I be afraid of you now? Here, come join me." Y/n said, confused, she pat the space next to her.

Aaravos carefully entered the tent and sat next to y/n. He had to put extra care into making sure his horns didn't tear the top of the tent. Y/n giggled as she saw how the tent was small for Aaravos. "You don't need to worry about making me uncomfortable, if I have find any issue with something you have said or done, I will tell you." She said as Aaravos looked at her.

He smiled and watched as the sun began to dip below the horizon. The orange light cascaded over their faces. Aaravos couldn't help but admire the way it highlighted y/n's features. Every detail of her face was outlined, and every shadow cast over her neck and shoulders painted a beautiful picture of her. He turned his face away as a vivid blush covered his face.

"...Aaravos? Are you alright?" Y/n asked, leaning her face closer to him.

Aaravos looked at her and said "Yes- yes, I'm fine. It's just difficult for me not to look at you. Every waking moment my mind is filled with images and thoughts of you, and I find it hard to focus on anything other than you. I'm infatuated with you."

Y/n was shocked by his sudden confession, she blushed, and her eyes moved to his lips. Her heart hammered in her chest, she wasn't sure if it was the sunset or the breeze, but she felt a sudden surge of courage. She reached over and took both sides of Aaravos's cape that were resting by his neck. Aaravos let out a light gasp as y/n pulled him in and closed the gap between them.

They moved in sync, only separating when y/n gasped for air. Y/n and Aaravos looked into each other's eyes and panted slightly. "Aaravos, I can't imagine you not being here to speak with me every day, it's been a long while since my heart did not belong to you." 

Word Count: 785 

Hey y'all! Just wanted to say the typical typo thing, and also~ thank you so much for 1K reads! I honestly never thought this would blow up that much, I thought I would get maybe 25 reads if I was lucky haha. So thank you all so much!

- Dawn