Abi had been confident that allergies weren’t going to be a problem for her. She grew up in northern Virginia, which had just about every miserable flowering tree the world could offer. She was used to the pollen hell. She’d be fine.
And she was, right up until she met Kellach for dinner.
It was not a date, of course. They went on a lot of not-dates. They got coffee, they went running, they had lunch, they took cooking classes…but of course those weren’t dates. They were just…things they did. Together. As a pair, without their other friends. But definitely not dates. This was just dinner, that was all. It wasn’t even fancy dinner. No one could mistake two people getting pizza for a date.
The trouble was that the more Abi thought about how not-a-date this was, the more her head ached. The more she looked at Kellach and thought about how he was just a friend, the more her nose started to run. She’d seen the conversations on the network, which meant she had some idea of what was coming. She was about to start saying things, and if she started saying what she thought to Kellach...
She looked up from the latest sneezing fit with wide, worried eyes. “I have to get out of here or I’m going to ruin our friendship.”
Kellach thought he had everything under control. He had known from the time the world hopping had started that Abi meant more to him than just a friend. He also knew (or had convinced himself) that nothing was going to happen between them. Abi didn’t think of him that way. He’d been very careful not to make things awkward between them, to say or do anything that would make things weird. He’d done a pretty good job of it too! There had been a couple of times in which his mouth almost got away from him but he always managed to reign it in with a laugh and diversion.
There was nothing doing tonight, though. Kellach had never felt so goddamn miserable in his entire life! His eyes hurt, his whole body was itchy and every time he tried to talk to Abi he was interrupted by a sneezing fit! He’d read the network, he’d seen what other people were going through. What it all meant, Kellach wasn’t sure, he just knew that the harder he tried to keep his cool, the more impossible it was becoming.
To make matters worse, Abi looked as though she was struggling too. That scared Kellach. Maybe he had read everything wrong? Maybe Abi didn’t think of him as her friend after all. Maybe he had made things too weird that day over coffee…Or maybe it had been the day he jumped off the roof like an idiot...
The way she was looking at him now, with such worry – Kellach felt as though his world was about to bottom out. “What? Waddya mean, lass?” He asked.
“I mean—” Oh no, no, she couldn’t say it! Abi burst into a fit of sneezes so powerful she almost hit her head on the table. “I mean—” No, it was about to come out again! Abi’s headache multiplied by ten and she had to use what was probably her three thousandth tissue of the night. “I mean—” Once more she tried to shut herself up, and her itchy, watery eyes overflowed with tears. She couldn’t manage this anymore. The words were coming just like the sneezes did, and much louder than she meant to, Abi just spilled it out.
“I mean I want to kiss your face!” she cried. “And I can’t stop myself from saying it, and—oh god, I just said it, didn’t I?” She slumped, her arms folding and her head dropping to land on them so she wouldn’t have to look at Kellach while he tried to find a nice way to tell her no. Her last words were whimpered into the table. “Please just kill me.”
Did she really just say what Kellach thought she said. No…no, that couldn’t have been right. She wanted to kiss his face. Abi wanted to kiss him!
Kellach sat back in his seat, blinking his watery eyes. The words sank in. A bright smile that was nothing short of pure happiness broke across his face. His aching sinuses, itchy body and the ever present tickle in his nose was forgotten. He couldn’t help the little laugh that escaped him as he leaned over the table to put his hand on her arm. “Abi” he said gently. “Abi, look at me. Please?”
She didn’t really want to, seeing as she was a perfect mix of mortified and crushed at the moment. She couldn’t very well hide her face in her arms forever, though, so Abi grabbed one more tissue, wiped her eyes and then her nose, and looked up at Kellach.
“Sorry,” she said, looking utterly miserable. “I didn’t mean to go all gooey over you. It’s just that you’re so cute, and sweet, and oh my god why can’t I shut up?!”
Kellach was still smiling. This had to be some kind of dream! “D’you mean that?” He asked her hopefully. “You really think I’m sweet? ‘Cause…” he trailed, feeling the color rushing up into his face. The words failed at the back of his throat. Once he said them, there was no going back, no taking them away.
The itch at the back of his throat intensified and his sinuses started to throb. It was funny. Here he was, a Garou, the fighter – He was supposed to be the brave one. He could face down hordes of demons and skeletons, fight his way out of literal hell, and yet still be terrified to say something so simple, yet so meaningful. Abi really was much braver than he was.
A tickle in his nose threatened a sneeze. “…’Cause I care about you,” he finally blurted. “A lot!” Once the damn was breached, there was no going back. “Yer beautiful and talented and brave – You’re good. Whenever we’re together, I never want that time t’ end. I…” His face was beat red, but he was still smiling. “I really want to kiss you too.”
Abi was absolutely stunned. She’d thought maybe, a couple of times, but she’d always talked herself out of any belief that Kellach might like her the way she did him. Finding out that he did bowled her over for a moment.
But then the thought settled. The realization hit. Slow like a sunset, a smile broke on her face. “So it’s…it’s not just me?” she asked, still looking amazed but also thrilled.
Abi’s smile was everything. It did more than just light up her face. It lit up the entire room. It was the type of smile that Kellach felt in his soul. He smiled back at her and shook his head. “It’s not just you, lass,” he said. He gently brushed her hair from her face. They were so close, and she was so beautiful. Kellach had to remember himself before he darted too far ahead in his haste and happiness.
“Can I kiss you, Abi?”
“I was really hoping you would,” Abi said with a delighted little laugh. She was feeling like the luckiest girl in the world at the moment, practically floating to Kellach as she leaned in and pushed up onto her toes to start closing the distance. It wasn’t fair to leave him to do all the work of settling their height difference, after all.
Kellach would have crossed a world of height differences if it meant he could kiss Abi. It may not have been the sexiest moment for either of them with their eyes watery and the bout of sneezes leaving their noses raw and itchy. But the moment Kellach’s lips met Abi’s none of that mattered. He was the happiest man alive and nothing could ruin it.
For one glorious moment, the world was perfect. Abi kissed Kellach with all the joy in her heart before things to worry about popped into her head. When they did, of course she would have preferred to keep them to herself at least for a day or two, but the allergies were having none of that. Abi broke the kiss so she could fly into a sneezing fit. She let out four in a row before she gave up and blurted out, “I’m a virgin!”
Kellach had his own worries as well that he was trying very very hard to ignore, such as what Abi could possibly see in a drunk ex-convict. Or how he was the walking example of the monsters from her world. Or how expendable he really was or how—
All of that, along with the stabbing pain in his sinuses, went immediately out the window when Abi blurted out she was a virgin. The confession surprised Kellach and it was evident on his face as he stared back at her, blinking once. His brows furrowed together. “I’m glad you told me that, lass.” he said. “I’m not entirely sure what the appropriate way to react is. Uh…do you want to change that at some point?”
“At some point, yes,” Abi said before she could think anything of it. The truth was just tumbling out now, which thankfully eased the headache that had been building behind her eyes. “And it’s not like I’ve never done anything, I just thought you might expect, like, immediately going home right now and doing it, and I would honestly be way too nervous for that, and please don’t think I’m ridiculous.”
“I wasn’t expectin’ on going right home for a romp in the sheets,” he Kellach said with a light chuckle. “I wasn’t even expectin’ to get a kiss tonight!” He smiled at her warmly, putting his arms around her. Just to hold her now was enough to make him incredibly happy. “You tell me when yer ready,” he said. Then the color rushed into his face. “That is, if you want to be ready with me.” Just because Abi had said she wanted to kiss him didn’t mean she wanted to sleep with him, or even want to date him! All his other worries seemed presumptuous now.
Abi didn’t even hesitate in her answer, the pollen making her much bolder than normal. “I really, really do. With all those things I sort-of remember, I know it’ll be good. I just need a little time to be ready for it. Time when—”
Afraid she was about to start moving too fast, Abi tried to stop herself from saying any more. The headache got worse, and her nose got stuffier. She reached down to the table for a tissue and blew her nose, but she could already feel everything getting worse. Maybe she should just spit it out after all. One last sniffle, and then she looked hopefully up at Kellach again.
“Do you want to be my boyfriend?”
Kellach was very happy that Abi trusted him enough to want him to be her first when she was ready. He was from another time, a time in which openly talking about these things was deeply frowned upon, but he still understood the importance of that trust. He also couldn’t deny that it was more than a little flattering. He chuckled faintly. “I hope I can live up to the hype,” he joked.
He really wanted to be with her as well. The fleeting memories of them being together in that other world had made him realize that. And he had no doubt that when they were, when Abi was ready, that it would be fantastic! But those memories were ones of pure lust and nothing more. This version of Kellach wanted something different. This version of Kellach cared about Abi more than just someone to have incredible sex with. He wanted to tell her that. He wanted to tell her how special she was. But he feared he was moving too fast. The last thing he wanted to do was scare her!
His nose got clogged up again, making it so he could only breathe through his mouth, which was oh, so attractive! The tickle had returned to the back of his throat, making him turn his head to cough as she reached for the napkin on the table to blow her nose with. The sight of the two of them was not lost on Kellach. It was funny in some ways, but also oddly encouraging. He was about to blurt out to her how special she was when Abi interrupted him and asked if he wanted to be her boyfriend.
She couldn’t have made him happier in that moment! “Yes,” he said joyfully. “I’ve wanted that for a while now,” he admitted. “I didn’t think you wanted to be me girlfriend.”
He had to be the cutest thing she’d ever seen in her life, Abi thought. Even with all the snot and the watery eyes, she thought he was the ideal mess for her.
“Why would anyone not want to be your girlfriend?” Abi asked, utterly perplexed. “You’re amazing.” She looked up at him with a smile, and poked him right at the center of his chest. “We need to work on your confidence, mister. Because I’m not letting anybody talk crap about my boyfriend, even you.”
Kellach didn’t think he was that amazing. He could list all the reasons why someone wouldn’t want to be with him and his head ached with the number of them. But it was hard to argue with Abi, especially when she looked at him with that bright smile that made him feel as though he could move mountains. He let out a playful “oof” when she poked him in the chest. “It’s enough that you believe in me, lass,” he said. He kissed her forehead lovingly.
He sniffled again and looked down at the table, then back at Abi, then down at the table again. A slow smirk formed over his face. “Lass,” he said. “Would this be our first date, then?”
“I think yes,” Abi replied, then laughed. “Either that or we’ve been dating for months and just didn’t realize it.”
They’d been going out for ice cream and coffee and dinner for ages. And then there was the art gallery opening, and the times she’d just go to chat while he was working at the meadery…one could say that they’d been on dozens of dates.
“But I think I like calling this one our first. It’s very…us. Pizza and being total disasters.”
Kellach nodded. “I like it,” he said. “Makes it vera memorable, don’t it? Somethin’ we can look back on fondly, aye?” He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this happy. He could have easily stood with Abi in his arms the rest of the night. And he may have done just that except the waiter had returned with their orders.
She looked at the pair that was very clearly having a moment. “Is everything alright?” she asked with a cheeky grin.
Abi grinned right back at her. “Everything’s absolutely perfect.”