Send“5 Times the Love” and I will write a drabble about the fivetimes my muse fell in love with your muse | accepting
theFIRST time, caroline will claim it didn't count. it's a nearlytypical saturday night & they'd decided to bring their badbehavior to the bar. the small hightop they share is littered withcocktail napkins, a stack of shot glasses & a pile of quartersfor the jukebox. he says she drinks too well for a girl – althoughshe knows he's trying to make a point about gender roles, he reallyhas no clue how right he actually is. being a klutz is not her modusoperandi but a decidedly foolish movement to punch his shoulderresults in the toppling of his beer straight into his lap. he'scursing but she's laughing ( she can't help it, irritation looks goodon him ) & in between giggles she's promising to make it up tohim. then like something out of those cheesy romantic comedies hecan't stand, she's trying to mop up the mess with these tiny napkinsthat don't do anything. so a dozen 'i'm sorry's spill out of heruntil he's laughing at her because she's begun to slur the string ofsyllables together. so she goes almost seamlessly from apologizing totelling him to SHUT UP which makes him laugh harder – which ofcourse, makes her seek alternative methods. so she kisses him &his liquored lips & for a second, the whole place goes silent.but she's as clumsy as a schoolgirl for a first kiss & shedoesn't let him take the lead ( or even register that he's kissingback ). she ends up hurting them both with her flat teeth & pullsaway with a blush as red as grenadine. when he tells her she can dobetter than that to make it up to him, she believes him. but she'seither too drunk or not enough to try again. all the same, a warm,fuzzy feeling settles in her stomach that has nothing to do withtequila.
the SECOND time she feels it, it comes as a quickly as abullet from a gun & it was just as loud. her friends are facinganother crisis & naturally it all feels like the end of theworld. she's trying to keep bellamy blind to it but he's pushing herfor answers to questions she has been dreading all along. they'restanding at either end of the living room like they're in separatecorners of a boxing ring. the anger rolling off of him is as accurateas her right hook & she can't help wincing from the blow. he'sshouting at her like he's just figuring out she's kept the deepest,darkest secret from him ( which she has ) and she's yelling back likeshe is trying to bury it ( which she is ). but there's a look in hiseyes that's asking her WHY & she doesn't have an answer for that.because he is the one person she doesn't want to see her other face &turn away. the one person she doesn't want to lose. as much as shewants to be honest, she can't. because he is mortal & fragile &precious to her – he doesn't need this kind of darkness in hislife. so he tells her to go, tossing the metaphorical white flag likea grenade at her feet. she feels like she wants to stay & wraphim up in her arms & tell him all about this torrent of emotions she's feeling & how they're all directed towards him. she admireshis bravery, his conviction – as soon as the argument is over,she's all soft for him again. but it's not the right time. so sheturns & leaves before he can see the way her eyes shine becauseit hurts so much to lie to someone she cares so much for.
the THIRDtime, he's in the right place at the wrong time. she's in his arms –one of her favorite places in the world – but he's shaking. he'snever seen anything like this. he's wide-eyed & terrified becausethere's a giant wound where a shotgun shell just blew right throughher at pointblank range. he thinks she's needs surgery, an ambulance,he thinks she needs help but it's not true. he won't take his handaway from her blood-drenched stomach even though she told him not totouch her. but he's cradling her & the words he's saying tiptoearound something to the effect of 'i don't want to lose you'. her ownwords – three of them to be exact – hang off the tip of hertongue, even as she's telling him to remain calm. the panic is clear& she doesn't know how to turn off this overwhelming feeling ofLOVE for him as he thinks he's about to lose her. it makes her wishthe wound would take a little less time healing. just to make such anhonest moment last a little bit longer. she is so close to tellinghim, telling him everything, telling him how she truly feels &opening up the heart he's already stolen --- but then she feels herskin stitching back together & the moment's lost.
the FOURTH timehappens in a dream. there's no such thing as competitive reading ( orat least, there shouldn't be ) but as much as caroline's literacyknowledge goes, it's nothing compared to bellamy's. while she readslong, complex books just to serve a purpose, he does to serve his ownpleasure. it's exhausting to keep up with him – so naturally,somewhere around the third hour, she gives into the heaviness of hereyelids & dozes off. conveniently, his lap is right there for apillow. her vampire senses sort of dull in his presence – she feelstoo comfortable, too soft around him – so she barely notices thatshe's falling asleep on him. now that he's in on her glorious secret,it would seem that it's a moment like this when she seems the mosthuman. in fact, it's when she feels the most human – and feels allthose tender things associated with real humanity. like the way sheinstinctively edges closer to his stomach, drawn by the heat of hisbody. the way she settles at his light touch, tucking the hair behindher ears. the way she unconsciously curls her fingers into the hem ofhis shirt, clinging to him even as she dreams. she doesn't notice thetome full of vampire lore hit the table – the one he's reading,trying to understand what she is & what it means although she'spromised to tell him everything he wants to know – but she mighthave imagined his voice near her ear. all she's aware of is that he'swith her ( & not running away ). it feels so amazing, to beaccepted as she is. her thought semi-conscious thought is how in theworld she didn't fall for this incredible human the very first timeshe met him ( but maybe she did ).
the FIFTH time, it feels likethey're catching each other. he's too curious for his own good butshe's sworn to herself to do anything within her power to keep himsafe. she will kill anything – anyone – to protect him ( he'sassuring her she doesn't have to ). but her 'abilities' have himcaptivated & he's offering her something no human should everoffer a vampire. she knows that he knows she never feeds directlyfrom the vein, she will never risk precious life like that. she's sofixated on discipline & control, the idea wouldn't have evenoccurred to her if he hadn't suggested it first. but once it'svoiced, she can't help but want it. she can smell the blood pumpingaway from under the skin of the wrist he's holding out to her &it's so tempting. but she doesn't want to hurt him. so she lets himsee it all in slow motion – how the veins fan out from herbloodshot eyes like black vines, the canines elongating into pointedfangs. her lips are gentle against his skin & when she piercesit, he doesn't flinch. he tastes --- she wishes she could describe itaccurately. he tastes like all of her favorite flavors of ben &jerry's. he tastes like christmas morning. he tastes like everyromance novel she's smiled over. he tastes like HEAVEN. then there'shis hand in her curls, encouraging her like she isn't do anythingwrong. this is her nature. he is literally feeding her nature. herheart pounds in her chest, matching the tempo of his own as his bloodrushes to her being & it feels as though they're becoming one (it's better than she could have ever imagined ). when she pulls away,his soulful, brown eyes are focused on her as he wipes at the cornerof her mouth. he's never been more beautiful to her than he is rightnow. this time, when she kisses him, it's with all the grace of theimmortal creature that she is. her vampire features fade under thecaress of his fingertips, her body melts in his embrace & at thesame time, he's imbued her with enough strength to cradle him for achange, not ashamed for once to show her power. she pushes 'i loveyou' into the pressure of her kiss, branding his lips with the very wordsuntil he needs to breathe & she's dizzy enough that they cometumbling out of her mouth ( & they don't stop, not ever ).
