Ithaca, New York

2019

My back hit the wall, and Hale kicked the door closed behind us. He peeled the gloves off his hands, throwing them on the ground before moving to cup my face, his chilled lips crashing down on mine at the same time. I wound my fingers into his soft hair, kissing him back and pushing the stocking cap from his head in the process.

"I've been waiting for years to kiss you. You didn't think I was already done, did you?" Hale breathed in the slight break between our mouths.

"I don't know what to think right now," I whispered.

Hearing my words, Hale leaned back and glanced down at me. His burning eyes flicked across my face, and I resisted the urge to pull him back to me.

"That didn't mean I wanted you to stop," I protested, and Hale's lips curved gently upward.

"Oh, thank god," he said in a rush of air, his hands flying up onto the wall. He framed my head with his arms, pressing his body closer to mine as he returned to teasing my mouth with kisses.

The combination of the heat between us and the warm indoor air temperature around us was almost unbearable. I was beginning to pant. Hale seemed to be thinking similarly, because he pushed off the wall and began to undo the buttons on my peacoat.

I eagerly helped him, the burning sensation in my body unbearable. Our fumbling fingers seemed to take ages to unbutton the unwanted layer, but eventually I was shrugging out of my peacoat and throwing it to the floor. Luckily, Hale's coat was much easier to get off him; he zipped it open in a single swipe.

That wasn't good enough for me, though, because Hale was still wearing his Cornell sweatshirt, and it was a bulky mass between us. I slipped my hand beneath the fabric, running my fingers between his thin t-shirt and the sweater. I could feel his hard chest through the stretchy cotton. Hale froze, watching to see what I would do.

I had only intended to take his sweatshirt off, but I suddenly decided that I wanted to feel more.

Withdrawing my hand from beneath his two layers, I gripped the bottom of his shirt and sweatshirt, pulling them up and over his head. They hit the floor next to our coats. Hale was now standing in front of me, with only his joggers hanging on low on his hips.

But he didn't give me a chance to properly take in the sight, already closing the distance between us again, bringing me flush with his bare skin. His kisses began to trail down my neck, and I leaned my head back to allow for Hale's lips to explore further. When his mouth reached the collar of my shirt, he paused and looked at it, as if confused why it was still there.

And the next minute, it wasn't, joining our growing pile of clothes on the floor.

Hale continued his descent from the moment earlier, nipping at the edge of my bra, his lips brushing against the swell of my breasts. I couldn't help running my fingers through his hair again; it was just so soft, so perfect, and so easy to pull on when I wanted Hale to lift his head back up again to kiss me.

Not needing any more encouragement than that gentle tug, Hale devoured my lips while we walked, entwined, to the living room. The two of us collapsed the pile of blankets I kept next to my couch, never even breaking apart. It was apparently too far for us to make it to the couch, but I didn't care. Besides, the glow of the fire was welcoming.

Soon enough, we were back in the very same position that we had been in out in the snow, except now there were a lot fewer layers between us. Taking full advantage of that, I reached up to wrap my arms around Hale's neck before trailing my fingers lightly down his exposed back.

I felt Hale shiver at my touch, despite the heat of our bodies and the crackling fire next to us. He gently released my lips, resting his head against my forehead. Reaching between us, Hale mimicked the way I was exploring his body, only he was brushing his fingers upward on my stomach. When he reached my bra, he toyed with the frilly lace along the edge before pulling it down.

A gasp released my mouth as Hale's head suddenly ducked down. He covered my breast with his mouth, nipping at the delicate flesh there. My fingers dug into his back, pressing harder into his flexed muscles, and I heard him groan.

"Hale," I moaned, arching my back instinctively.

His head jerked up then, piercing eyes meeting mine. I nearly cried out at the loss of contact. "I'm sorry, Lana. We should...stop. Wait," he said raggedly. "Slow down a little."

I shook my head, feeling the static electricity as it fizzled between my strands of hair and the fibers of the blanket beneath me. "I've been waiting forever."

Hale was poised above me, his face flickering with the reflection of the flames. He didn't move, just looked at me, his eyes roving over my face. My heartbeat began to slow, adjusting its erratic tempo. Time suspended between the two of us. We had traveled through centuries today, and yet this moment seemed to last eons.

"I need to hear you say it, Lana," Hale said softly, though his breathing was heavy. He dropped slowly onto his side so that he was lying next to me. I twisted to face him, getting tangled in the blankets in the process.

I wasn't sure why I was afraid to admit it, to say the words that he wanted to hear even though he had already spoken his truths. I had buried that part of me that loved Hale for so long that I didn't know how to make the words come out of my mouth. I had forbidden them from ever being spoken.

I wasn't anything like the girls that Hale had dated in the past. I wasn't anything like him. How could he want me?

"Lana, please," he breathed, his eyes searching my face. "Please say something."

Despite all my doubts and all the things I had told myself throughout the years, I couldn't refuse him.

"I love you, Hale," I choked out, watching how relief flooded his face at the words. "Always have," I whispered.

Words seemed to escape him at first, so I continued by saying, "I love you because you're my best friend, and you always will be. But I also love you because I want you to be so much more than that."

He shook his head with a smile. "You don't know how many times I've wanted to tell you."

I nodded, agreeing, before resting my head on my hands. "I was afraid that you wouldn't feel the same."

Hale rolled his eyes a little. "And I just didn't want it to ruin our friendship. But I couldn't keep it in any longer." He sighed, sounding a little resigned. "Especially after I began getting frustrated with Nora and Felix's letters, and I realized that I was even worse. At least Felix was putting his heart on the line."

He paused, reaching up to tuck a piece of my hair behind my ear. His finger trailed down my cheek. "And then you looked so beautiful in the snow. I just couldn't help it, Lana. I wanted to believe." Hale's voice was a whisper now.

We spent a few minutes just lying there. Hale's eyes didn't leave my face, and he was stirring something within me with just a flick of his gaze. The fire was spitting and crackling, the embers burning lower and lower. There was a Christmas song playing in the background, but I didn't care to listen close enough to figure out what it was.

"Is this...happening, Hale?" There was a part of me that worried this was all a dream, all a figment of my imagination.

A sliver of a smile made its way onto Hale's face. He bent down, hovering his lips just above mine. "It's happening, Lana."

I knew what he was doing. He wanted me to kiss him this time, and I was all too happy to oblige. Our lips collided, and in that same moment, our mouths slid open so our tongues could tangle in a hot dance. Hale moaned, kissing me deeper. And then he pulled back, swearing.

"What?" I breathed, wanting to pull him down to me again.

He dragged a hand through his messy brown hair. "I'm really trying not to fuck this up by going too fast."

"It's just a...kiss." Even as I said the words, my voice drifted away. Because Hale's gaze darkened and flicked between my eyes and my mouth, and I knew that we both wanted so much more than a kiss. And that knowledge was electrifying. Hale wanted me. All of me.

And I wanted him, too. I wanted to know what it would feel like to have his arms around me, to have his body over me, to have his lips everywhere. God, I wanted that.

"So, about that last letter..." Hale finally prompted, clearing his throat.

"I knew you actually cared," I teased him, trying to lighten things between us again.

He gave me a sheepish smile, so I pushed myself up to go grab the final note. I didn't get very far, though, because then Hale grabbed me around the waist and pulled me back to him.

"Where do you think you're going?" His breath was hot and husky in my ear.

"To get the letter!" I laughed. "I thought that's what you wanted."

"Okay, fine," he grumbled. "But I'm going to count how long it takes for you to get back here."

"You are ridiculous." I swatted his chest as he released me. Secretly, my heart was soaring.

Dragging a blanket with me, I scurried across the living room to grab the little pieces of the past before snuggling back in with Hale. I momentarily admired his shirtless state, and then blushed when he seemed to notice, before covering us both up with a blanket.

Handing the letter over to him, I murmured, "Read it to me."

And with a single breath, Hale began reading the final letter quietly in my ear.