Falling Hard and Fast (M) - (14 Parts) - complete!

[Tess]

Hurray!! I just came back from a mini vacation, and the first thing I did was to check for an update from you

Aaaaand it was incredible!! Loved the Kas-Molly reunion

You are the best

[SomethingClever]

Well... That was fabulous... Kas's caring side is potentially my favorite thing in forever and ever

[meepsy]

Well, here we are. The final chapter. This was such a hard chapter to write: I really tried to get the feeling right, but my mind thinks in cliches. I think it works though...

Thank you all sosososososo much for your incredible support. This story would not exist if it wasn't for your words of encouragement. (sigh, I'm such a sap... )

<<An update on my next story: I think I'm going to put the Kas/Sonja sequel on hold for a while, just so I don't get tired of the characters. I've got lots of plot bunnies running around in my head, and right now i can only promise you three things about my next story: it will be original, it will be cold-centric and will feature male-sneezing. That's all I seem able to write! I'm pretty excited, can't wait to start...>>

Anyway, here you go. It's been quite a lovely ride.

Love and sneezes,

meeps

Part Fourteen

The ride home was quiet for the most part. Kasper had insisted on sitting in the back again, arms wrapped protectively around Molly as she leaned into him and fell asleep. He kept his eyes closed, but Sonja could tell from her secret peeks in the rear-view mirror that he was still too cold to sleep. Violent shudders continued to escape his control, and his brow retained an uncomfortable crease. Every minute or so, he would slowly lift a hand, careful not to disturb Molly, and bring it to rub his nose or stifle a cough – these instances became more and more frequent until finally he gave up and resorted to quiet sniffling.

At last, Sonja pulled into Karina’s driveway. Kasper managed to lift Molly out of the care without waking her, and Sonja unbuckled the also-sleeping Sammy. Together, they entered the apartment and climbed the stairs to the kids’ bedroom, tucking them in without a word. Then, Sonja followed as Kasper walked back down the stairs and watched him collapse onto the couch, all of his energy seemingly depleted.

He curled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his hands round them, shivering and groaning. His face was a deathly shade of gray-white.

Sonja tried hard to keep her cool. She had never had to deal with a victim of hypothermia before (let alone one who also happened to have the world’s most awful cold) but she seemed to recall something about giving said victim a hot beverage to drink...

Pulling the blanket that lay folded across the top of the couch, Sonja tucked it around Kasper as best she could and then quickly left to start Karina’s kettle on the stove, not wanting to leave Kasper alone for more than a minute. She wasn’t sure Kasper even was hypothermic, but it was better to be safe than sorry, right?

Leaving the kettle to steam, Sonja returned to the living room, quietly approaching Kasper as he lay shivering under the blanket. Suddenly, the shivering stopped, but only for a moment as he sneezed miserably into the blanket:

“hg’KXtshu! …heh-‘GNtshu!” Damnit, even his sneezes sounded weak.

“Bless you” Sonja murmured, kneeling down beside him and gently brushed his bangs from his forehead.

“nnnh…Sonja…” Kasper groaned quietly. “…mb c-cold…”He coughed feebly, moaning as she rested her fingers against his clammy brow.

“I know…here, sit up a bit…” Sonja said as she found herself doing the only thing she could think of: Sitting on the couch as Kasper slowly raised himself up into a half-sitting position, Sonja took the blanket and wrapped it around them both -- one hand held the edges of the blanket together, the other worked methodically up and down; rubbing his back and arms to get his blood circulating again.

He leaned into her touch at once, letting his head rest against her shoulder, muscles slowly beginning to ease. A soft groan-sigh escaped his control, and he sniffled into her shoulder like a little boy. Sonja never would’ve imagined he’d let himself appear so unreservedly vulnerable, but then again, it had taken a hell of a lot shit-going-down to get to this point – she suspected that she might be the only one to have ever had ever seen him like this…the intimacy of that thought was rather overwhelming…

The more he began to relax, the harder it was to repress her own body’s urge to shake uncontrollably. She could feel his hot breath on her neck; the weight and warmth of his body as it pressed greedily against hers…

“…it’s nothing…this means nothing…”

Her thoughts drifted back to the night before: that moment when, fever-addled, he had taken her hand and guided it down…

“…he was delirious…he could be still…this is ridiculous…you need to stop…”

Suddenly, Kasper grew rigid, and he pulled away. At first Sonja thought it was because he needed to sneeze again, but then she saw the furious blush that was spreading across his face.

“Sonja…” he sniffed, looking down at his knees. “aboudt lastd nidght…” So he did remember. Sonja felt her own face flush with embarrassment.

“I-…I dodn’t kndow whadt I was th-thinkging…” The shivers, which had dissipated for the most part, came back as the blanket slid off his shoulders. His nose was running too, and he rubbed it with the back of his hand before continuing. “…I’mb sorry if I…offended you…or anythingg…”

Sonja watched the blush creep further down his neck and she felt an intense need to say something, anything, in order to save him from this startling level of self-exposure he had put upon himself.

“Don’t worry about it…” she said hastily. “…I mean, I couldn’t have been too offended if I ended up in bed with you-” she slapped her hand over her mouth, slapstick style. Oh my GOD, did she really just say that??!?

She could feel Kasper’s eyes on her, and begrudgingly, she raised her own eyes up to meet his stare. Her ridiculous slip-up had restored in his tired eyes a bit of the playful cockiness she had come to know so well, but it was different: less power-hungry and more…inquisitive…

“I guess you have poindt there…” he murmured, eyebrows raised, his stare searching, digging, and Sonja knew that if she didn’t do something right then and there, she would end up confessing the secret she had tried so hard to keep hidden, the one that would end this little game for good.

The words were right at the tip of her tongue… “Kasper, I…”

Just then, the kettle went off, and Sonja and Kasper were both startled into breaking eye contact. Sonja breathed a sigh relief – that had been waaay too close for comfort! – and left to tend to the kettle as Kasper wrapped the blanket around himself once more.

Still trembling a bit, Sonja searched Karina’s cabinets for an alternative to tea-- hot chocolate maybe- but Kasper had been right: tea really was really all that Karina had. Sighing, Sonja plucked two chamomile packets from the tea tin, fixed the tea to her liking (a pinch of sugar and a splash of milk) and brought the mugs back into the living room, hoping that Kasper wouldn’t complain too much.

She returned to find him in the midst of throat-scraping coughing fit – one that shook through him in waves and seemed never-ending. When finally the fit recessed, Kasper was left completely done in. He sunk wearily back into the couch, holding a hand to his throat, massaging it and swallowing gingerly.

“nngh…” he groaned to himself, sniffling, keeping his eyes closed out of sheer exhaustion. Sonja sat down beside him and held out a mug.

“Here, drink this” she said. Kasper looked down into the mug and wrinkled his nose just like he had when he was sitting at her kitchen table. God, why did that felt like such a long time ago?

“I t-told you I d-dodn’t likge tea” he grumbled, but the persistent chills that shook his voice betrayed the drink’s necessity.

“Just try it” Sonja insisted, and grudgingly he took a careful sip.

“Well?” Sonja asked, taking a sip from her own mug as a good example.

Kasper supplied her with a mischievous smirk. “Likge I said-- awful.” he replied, but he took another, longer sip and settled back into to couch cushions, looking more satiated already.

Sonja sat back into the couch as well, and the moment of silence they shared was warm and comfortable, the kind she could share with only a few of the closest people in her life – certainly not something she’d ever have expected to share with a man like Kasper. It was eerie, almost, but she liked it.

“Sonja…”

Sonja jumped a bit as Kasper broke the silence, his voice soft and distant-sounding, as though he were talking to himself rather than her. She looked over at him questioningly, but he was staring pensively into his cup. His bangs hung down in front of his face, obscuring his expression.

“…this mighdt well be the fever talking, budt…” he played with the spoon in his cup, spinning it round and round the perimeter of the rim. His voice was a bit less congested—the steam from the tea seemed to be helping.

“…I think I mbay be falling in love with you…” and then, he looked up, right into her eyes.

Those words. The words she had been battling against so desperately. Had those words really come out of his mouth?? Was this real??

Before Sonja had time to make sense of anything, Kasper leaned in close to her and pressed his beautiful, chapped, electric lips against her own. The world slipped away, and she was conscious only of the soft warmth of those lips- cracked and split in places, but still so. very. perfect.

This kiss grew deeper as he grew more confident, and Sonja urged herself to press back- but it was like she was watching herself from above: everything felt so unreal…

Suddenly, Kasper tensed turned away quickly:

“h’GTCHUuh!! …ht’TCHuh!!” he sneezed forcefully into his shoulder, the sneezes coming too fast for him to cover them properly. Sonja felt a bit of the spray hit her neck, and her skin tingled at the pleasing wetness.

“Sorry,” he mumbled and began to pull away, but Sonja grabbed his shirt and pulled him close.

“Don’t be” she said, and kissed him fervently. “Bless you” she whispered against his lips, and felt him shiver against her. It felt so natural: her lips conforming to his as they both let their inhibitions go-clumsily putting their mugs down on the coffee table…Sonja felt his arms wrap around her, their strength surprising and comforting…she felt his hand holding the back of her head, his fingers getting lost in her hair…she her own arms slip around his shoulders, and falling back into to the couch as the kiss grew long and passionate (Kasper having to stop every few seconds to come up for air), Sonja couldn’t help but be thankful for Kasper’s cold, without which this moment which she had pined for so intensely, this moment of pure and total bliss, could have happened only in her dreams…

---

brrrring! brrrrring! brrrring!

Sonja awoke to find a wonderfully warm, pressing weight against her chest. Opening her eyes, she realized the weight was Kasper’s body, heavy with sleep, lying partially on top of her with his head nestled in the dip of shoulder and his arm swung limply across her belly.

They had fallen asleep…together. Could she still be dreaming?

For one unbelieving moment, all she was conscious of was the quiet snores that blew softly at the strands of hair on her neck and the incredible feel of his body so close –then, the sound that that actually caused her to wake up permeated Sonja’s subconscious once more:

brrrring! brrrring! brrrring!

Karina’s telephone, ringing on the far corner of the coffee table.

Sonja tried to reach for it without disturbing Kasper, who was somehow still sleeping soundly. She finally managed to get hold of the pesky device and answer it.

“Hello?” she said as quietly as possible.

“Hello? Who is this?” Sonja winced as Karina’s confused voice met her ear. Oh, wonderful…

“This is Sonja…from next door?”

“What?! Where’s Kas?” Karina demanded impatiently. Sonja shifted under Kasper’s weight and wracked her brain for cover stories. This is completely ridiculous…

“uh, Kasper’s…out…shopping…he asked me to watch the kids for a bit…”

“Shopping? Kas?”

“Yeah, er…”

“Why are you whispering?”

“…the uh…kids are sleeping.” God, she was a horrible liar.

“Oh,” Fortunately Karina seemed distracted enough not to catch on. “Well, when he comes back can you tell him that I am coming home tomorrow after all? He was right, Paul is a complete jerk.”

“Uh..sure…I’ll do that” Sonja felt Kasper groan and stretch against her, and such a strong shiver ran through her that she almost dropped the phone.

“Okay, thanks! Oh, and Sonja-”

“Oh! Got to go! Sammy’s starting to cry!” Sonja said as Kasper began to cough loudly by her side.

“I don’t hear anythi-”

“Bye!” Sonja said and hung up the phone hurriedly. That’s going to be fun to explain later. Her focus shifted over to Kasper, who sat up a bit in order to ease the coughing, but not enough to lose body contact.

The fit ended faster than she anticipated. Perhaps Kasper was finally on the road to recovery.

“Hey, how’r you feeling?” she asked, placing her hand on his forehead and relishing the small smile it brought forth.

“Better” he said, and he sounded like it. His head was still slightly warm, but things definitely seemed to be improving.

“Good. Do you want some soup or anything?” Sonja realized that none of them had eaten in quite a while.

Kasper flopped back down onto the couch, closing his eyes. “Let’s just stay likge this a little while longer” he sighed sleepily, and Sonja’s stomach did a somersault.

“Alright…” She settled back down into her former position, and shivered as Kasper let out a deep sigh on contentment beside her. Before he drifted back to sleep, Sonja felt she needed to tell him about Karina.

“Your sister called. She’s coming back tomorrow. Apparently Paul’s a jerk again.” Kasper snorted amusedly into her neck, making her skin prickle.

“Molly’l be glad to hear thadt…” he said, trailing off thoughtfully.

“So…does that mean you’re, um…leaving?” Sonja asked quietly, sadness already betraying itself in her voice.

Kasper raised his head and looked at her, and once more she felt herself get lost in that ice-blue stare. Only this time, it was okay.

“I do have to get ready for mby next trip…” Kasper began apologetically. “But…I thinkg I mighdt need a couple more days of recovery…” he said, his face taking that look of cloudy anticipation…“These past few days…have sordt of upended…mbe…h’gttshuh!!!” He sneezed into his shoulder, and Sonja was pleased to hear that the sneeze sounded much less congested.

“I dodn’t know if Kari ’l ledt mbe stay here though…” he said, sniffling. “…mbight need to find sombewhere else…” he yawned and stretched himself out next her next tugging the blanket up over their shoulders.

“Bless you,” Sonja said, and curled herself close to his body, drinking in his soothing warmth. “I think we can arrange something…” she murmured, watching through half-closed eyes as that smile from before resurfaced: relaxed and content. Real. And all for her.

Sonja had one last thought before she drifted back to sleep:

Maybe falling in love wasn’t so bad after all.

<3 (Will probably put up a short epilogue to tie into the <eventual> sequel. Thank you so much for reading my little story! )

[Weirdo Girl]

Wow. This was so awesome!

Thank you for posting this and I'm looking forward to the (eventual) sequal.

[Ciuty80]

awwww wonderful story

please do a sequel

[glowstick03]

Awwwwww! That was such a sweet ending :] Great job!!! Can't wait to see what you post next!

[everest]

Dude. This was like the best thing ever to come home too. Seriously, I loved it.

I'm sad that it's over, but the ending was so sweet! The ride was a great one, you're a fantastic writer.

I'm looking forward to whatever you decide to write next!

[strawberrylemonade23]

ahhh this was SO good! one of my all-time favorites! you're a great writer; i'll be eagerly looking out for your next story!

<3

[TheCakeIsAlive]

*re-reads* *melts again* awww... that ending was so unbearably cute and sweet and lovely and in character and awwwww

I loved the moment where she wakes up and for half a moment I thought she had dreamed it and then she didn't and... I'm rambling.

Truly awesome story!

[obsessed]

TOO. DAMN. CUTE. <3

I can literally write an essay about every single freaking thing I love about this story.

You are an incredible writer, I would love to see more about these two. Or anything, really. I LOVE your writing! ahhhh.

I like the ambiguous ending too.

... well, I love everything else too...

<3<3<3

[bless]

wowwww... what a wonderfull story! you'r such a brilliant writher. go on!!! I'll look forward to your next story

Merged posts ~ obsessed

Mod Note: Trimmed quote ~Mute

[starpollen]

One of the BEST. STORIES. EVER. Thank you!!!

[Me4ever]

Just found this. I read it all and it was really cute thanks for writting it!