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"Strike the match, strike the match now. We're a perfect match, perfect somehow."

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DAYS SEEM to be weeks during this quest to find this cure, leaving the rest of us who are uninterested in it's whereabouts suffering the stress that's been passed between all of us.

Luckily Theo's magic hasn't been a major problem as he only does things unintentionally like picking up bags of cookies or bottles of milk. He's also been walking around the house more which has led to our search for a nanny. James and I have been searching for a nanny for a few days, offering interviews and searching the internet. We know very well that we could just compel someone to watch Theo, but we've suffered enough of the wrath of compulsion to know how it feels. We want this to be real, and we want someone who wants to be a nanny to watch over Theo.

After interviewing several nannies, James and I find ourselves exhausted. Instead we end up watching several movies, all of which from the Star Wars Trilogy. James insisted that I watch it, saying it was one of the greatest series of all times. Knowing I have missed a lot over 145 years, I agreed to watch the fourth, fifth and sixth movies after James told me that's the order I should watch them in. It makes no sense to me why I wouldn't just watch them from in the right order, but I know better than to argue about it, especially with James who seems to be a total geek when it comes to these sort of films.

By now we've reached the fifth movie, and although I'm shy to admit it, I'm fascinated by the story. As we watch Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader fight, James places his hands on his head in a stressful stance and grips his hair, staring at the screen.

"What's your problem?" I laugh, noticing his actions.

"Just listen! This is the greatest reveal of all time!" he says, pointing to the screen.

I laugh but look back at the screen, my mouth soon open in shock as Luke loses his hand, and Darth Vader reveals that he his in fact Luke's father.

"You can't tell me you didn't see that coming," I say, laughing at him.

He shakes his head but he can't hide his huge grin. "You're not invested enough," James says.

For the rest of the movie we sit together on the couch in the TV room. By the time we finish it, it's five in the afternoon and the house is completely empty. Joel took Theo to the park hours ago saying that he couldn't stand my yelling at the screen every time something horrible happened.

I've been meaning to clear things up with James over the past few days, but I haven't found the time. My encounter with Klaus still clings in the back of my mind, angering me yet feeding my curiosity all at the same time. I know the only way to calm the storm inside my mind is to talk to James.

"James, can I ask you something?" I ask, leaning my head on the back of the couch.

"Of course," he says, turning off the movie.

"How come we never...," I trail off, not knowing how to put my thoughts into words.

"Dated?" he guesses, knowing exactly what's on my mind.

I laugh nervously and nod. "Yeah, like how come we've never taken our friendship any further?" I ask.

James sighs and shifts in his seat, leaning his head on his hand. "I value our friendship, Blair, and I didn't want to push for something that might add more confusion to the chaotic world we live in. There hasn't really been a right time, and frankly I didn't want to ruin our friendship," James explains, making me feel a million times better. "Why do you ask?"

"I just- I want to take our friendship a step further James, I really do. The idea of love scares me to death but I trust you, and after the accident weeks ago I realized that we never know how much time we really have, and I want to explore those parts of me that crave more than a friendship. I just don't know- I don't know how to go about it- I've never dated before. At least I don't think I have," I spit out, turning on the couch to face him.

He has a goofy smile on his face as he jumps up from the couch, pacing the floor. "Alright Blair Salvatore, I think I can help you with that," he says, nodding his head.

He stops pacing for a minute and stands in front of me, holding out his hand. "Blair Salvatore, would you like to go out on a date with me?" he asks, speaking in a serious tone. I laugh, feeling as if I'm part of a theatre play.

"Yes, as a matter of fact I would," I say, taking his hand while smiling childishly.

"Great! Let's go!" he says enthusiastically. He takes my hand and begins to pull me towards the door.

"Wait? Right now?" I ask in surprise.

"Yeah, why not?" he asks, stopping while still holding my hand.

"I'm not really dressed for a date, nor am I really prepared," I say, glancing down at my casual attire which consists of black leggings and an oversized hoodie. Not to mention a first date is quite nerve-racking, and I haven't had time to take it all in.

"Blair, we could go on a date in our pyjamas and I couldn't care less. You're beautiful anyway. Besides, the place we're going doesn't require fancy attire," James says, smiling so that his dimples show.

His words ignite a spark inside my chest, everything about him in this moment making my body swarm with butterflies. I haven't felt this way in a while; this excited, this thrilled, this nervous, this alive. I haven't felt alive like this in a long time.

"Where are we going?" I ask.

"You'll see." He winks.

I sigh in aggravation before letting him pull me to the door and into his truck. I feel completely content at the moment. As soon as I had expressed myself to James the whole mood seemed to change, in an incredibly good way too. It seems this is what both of us need after the hell we've been through, and part of me knows James has been waiting a while. He respects me and he knows that after everything I've been through I might not be ready to take anything further, but tonight I am. Tonight I'm prepared to explore terrain I've never experienced, and I'm excited beyond imaginable to say the least.

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Halfway through the drive as the sun sets, James instructs me to tie a blindfold around my head, blocking my sight of anything around me. After a childish discussion back and forth, I finally agree. With his assistance and steady hand he helps me into an unknown building and places me on a chair.

"What are you doing?" I ask in confusion as I feel James take off my boots and replace them with some other footwear.

"Do you trust me?" he asks.

"Yes," I sigh, blowing a stray piece of hair off my face as he finishes tying both of my shoes. He then sits beside me and from the sound I can tell he's changing his shoes too. None of it makes any sense, yet I find myself liking every minute of it. I love to be in control, and I hate when I don't know what's going on, but at this moment I trust James.

Suddenly my body is lifted off the chair in one quick and effortless movement as James picks me up. I hold in a squeal as the whole thing scares me, but it's not long until James puts me down, holding me in one place so I can't move.

"Why is it so cold in here?" I ask, hiding my hands in the long sleeves of my sweater.

"Because...." James says, untying the blindfold. He lets it drop and my vision becomes clear, my mind overwhelmed and confused as I take in our surroundings. We seem to be in a giant and empty arena where I've seen hockey players play on TV. "We are going skating," James announces, skating onto the ice.

He backs up on his skates with such ease, I feel as though it will all be a piece of cake.

"How- how is it so empty?" I ask, gazing around the empty arena that has a few lights turned on. It's dark, but light enough so that we can see.

"I compelled a few people to open it back up," he shrugs, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Coming?" he asks.

"But, I've never been skating before," I say, placing the tip of the metal from the blade of my skates onto the ice. It doesn't feel stable, and suddenly I feel all the confidence drain from me from moments earlier when I thought this would be a piece of cake.

"I know, that's why I thought this should be our first date. There's so many things you haven't done, and I have the pleasure of showing them all to you," he says, giving me a smile.

"I- I don't know how to skate," I say, crossing my arms stubbornly across my chest.

James does the same gesture, mocking my stance while standing on the ice. "Don't worry, I'll show you. Now are you going to come or not?" he asks, skating towards me. He comes full speed at the entrance of the rink, sliding his skates to the side to stop right in front of me before holding out his hands.

"Give me you hands, and I'll pull you," he suggests, giving me a nod of encouragement.

I bite my lip and swallow the fear down and courageously take his hands, letting him pull me onto the ice. He skates backwards while pulling me forwards, my feet and legs not moving as the skates glide along the cold and hard surface for me. Suddenly James stops, and lets go of me leaving me standing in the middle of the rink by myself.

"JAMES!" I yell, holding my hands out in an attempt to balance myself.

"It's okay, you're fine," he assures me, standing less than a foot away from me. "All you have to do is slide one foot forwards, and push off of it. It's like walking, but you push instead of step," he says, trying to explain.

"What if I fall? I don't want to fall," I say, closing my eyes.

I hear James laugh, but he quickly hides it knowing I'm slightly panicked at the moment. "I'll catch you," he says seriously.

I don't move at his words. I just stand there, my arms wrapped securely around myself as I focus on balancing on the ice.

"Hey, open your eyes," James says, placing his hands on my shoulders.

I purse my lips but force open my eyes that are instantly greeted by James's. "You can do this okay? You've survived worse things than this. Hell, if you can survive 145 years in a tomb, you can do anything. For all we know you could be the next Olympic figure skater," James says, cracking a smile upon my face.

"Don't get ahead of yourself there buddy," I say, blushing slightly. Although deep down, I know he's right. I've been stabbed, had my neck snapped, poisoned, and cursed, yet here I stand on two little blades on a frozen patch of water scared to small. It feels silly, but it's real.

He laughs and stands about five feet back, holding his arms out, and waiting for me to skate to him. "Come on, you can do this. Just pretend you're walking. Just glide."

I take in a deep breath and glance down at my feet, shifting my weight from one foot to another. As I exhale I push off with my right foot, sending me forwards about a foot until I'm forced to push off my left foot. I repeat the same action three times until I feel myself loosing my balance, the tips of my skate dragging across the ice causing me to fall forwards.

My heart jumps out of my chest as I brace myself to hit the cold ground, when suddenly two strong arms hook around my waist, preventing me from falling any further. I look up and see James smiling at me, a mix of amusement and pride in his face as he sets me standing up right. "I told you you could do it," he says, his two hands placed steadily on my shoulders.

"Oh my god, that was- I almost fell," I gasp in shock, still amazed that I managed to walk on ice quite literally. It's a new thrill and I'm absolutely ecstatic.

"But you didn't fall. I told you I wouldn't let you fall, and when do I ever break my promises, Blair Eleanor Salvatore?" He smiles.

"Ew," I say, scrunching my nose up. "I hate my middle name. It's an old lady name."

James raises a brow and crosses his arms across his chest. "You don't think your age of 162 years is old?" he teases.

I scoff, and mimic his gesture by crossing my arms across my chest. "Really? You want to go there? Please, tell me more about how it felt to wear a metal Viking hat all day long."

Apparently my facts on Vikings are a little stereotypical and completely off as James begins laughing hysterically. "You don't know a single thing about Vikings, do you?" he laughs.

I try to stay serious with a stern expression, but I can't hold it any longer as I let out a laugh. "No. Did you entertain yourself by drawing on rock walls with chalk?" I ask.

"That is true," he says. "As for the metal hats with horns, I did not wear one," he explains, skating idly around in a circle.

"Oh I see. Is there anything else I should know about your Viking inner self?" I ask.

He pauses and dramatically brings his hand to his chin in a thinking pose. "Well, I use to have long shoulder length hair," he shrugs nonchalantly, but for me this is like breaking news.

I try and picture him with long hair, but my mind just can't visualize it. Instead I end up laughing uncontrollably while trying to picture James Branson in Viking form.

"Laugh all you want, but rest assured I wasn't the only one," he smiles.

"Joel too?" I question incredulously.

James nods. "Yup, and Elijah," he says, and we both begin to laugh at a history only one of us has experienced. However, when I'm with James I feel as if I was right there with him all those years ago. I feel as if I've known him my whole life.

As we both stand there laughing, I go to take a step forwards but completely forget that I'm standing on ice and lean to fall backwards, my head aimed to hit directly on the ground. In all the panic I don't realize I've stopped falling when James grabs my hand and yanks me back upright, his hand moving to cup the side of my cheek. Before I know it he presses his lips to mine, sending an explosion of warmth and electricity flowing through my body, making me forget all about the fear of falling. I forget about the cure, about Theodore's parents, and all about Klaus.

Our eyes are closed giving away our sense of sight, but that doesn't matter at the moment. All that matters is what we're feeling. His hand slides under my hoodie while still staying firmly on my waist, his hands slightly cold from the cool arena. Our eyes don't need to lock into place to know what we're feeling as our bodies do that for us. My arms wrap around his neck as he slowly tips me down more, diving deeper into the kiss.

After seconds that feel like minutes, we break apart to catch our breath and open our eyes, meeting each other's while staying frozen in place, frozen in time. I realize now that I have said I love you to James before, but only in moments of desperation. I spit out those words when I thought Klaus was going to kill us. I spit out those words before I flipped the switch, fearing I may come out different on the other end. I said those words subconsciously, my heart already knowing what my mind did not.

This kiss is different because we didn't do it out of fear we may never see each other again. We didn't do it just in case things didn't work out. We did it because what we're feeling is real.

Our faces are inches apart, our eyes glued to each other's as we fail to find the words. We both fear that words will ruin the moment, so instead we lean close again, ready to dive back into the perfect moment, only to have our phones go off.

We freeze just as our lips brush off one another, frozen in place as the exasperating sound of ring tones fill the silence. I roll my eyes while James closes his, both of us about to kill the people who are calling us.

We stand up straight, still filled with so many emotions and feelings, all I want to do is feel his touch again, but we both know if we don't answer our phones, they won't stop ringing.

To much of my surprise and luck, it's Damon calling me. "Damon, you better have a good ass reason to be calling me, or I will cut your fingers off in your sleep," I scowl.

"As much as I would like to see you try, this is very important and urgent. Your date night is going to have to be postponed." Damon says.

"How did you know w-"

"Not important. Listen, Elena and Jeremy have Kol Mikaelson in their house and Stefan and I can't go at the moment because we're distracting Klaus," Damon spits out.

"Fine," I spit. "We're on our way," I say before hanging up.

James hangs up at the same time, turning to me with a questioning look. "Stefan called me- did he tell you about Kol?" he asks.

"Yup," I say in aggravation.

"Let's just get this over with and then we'll continue this glorious night, I promise," he assures me, taking my hand.

I smile. "Okay," I agree, letting him pull me along, bit it's no use. I'm too flimsy with my skates on, so James laughs and picks me up bridal style, skating the both of us off the ice so we can save Elena once again.

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[completed & edited: 09/03/2021]