"I'm hooked on a feeling. I'm high on believing that you're in love with me."
~ Blue Swede, Hooked on a Feeling
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For the next two days, Cillian and Sophie had to spend their time indoors due to snow, but it didn't bother them much. Sophie spent that time catching him up on some classic Christmas movies such as the Santa Claus series, Elf, Grinch, and many more.
Sophie also used that time to do a lot of thinking. She really liked Cillian. She knew he really liked her. While she was still unsure and fearful of the future, she decided to take things one day at a time- at least for the next few weeks. The closer they got to April, the more they could plan for a way out. Right now, she just wanted to enjoy Cillian. Didn't they both deserve that at least?
On the last day of their honeymoon, the snow cleared just enough to partake in one more activity: ice skating.
"Make sure your laces are nice and tight. My mom taught me it's best to get them as tight as you can, but I can never seem to get them tight enough myself." She chuckled, fumbling with her laces. "If I don't, my ankles give out on me."
Immediately Cillian paused tying his own laces and knelt in front of Sophie. He grabbed her foot, put it safely between his thighs so the blade wouldn't get him, and simply told her, "tell me if they're too tight."
An endearing smile stretched across her lips as she watched him, tying them just tight enough to her liking. This was exactly who Cillian was, going the extra mile for someone- without ever being asked. She never asked him to do this and she wasn't even hinting for his help when she said mentioned it. She merely told him for the sake of conversation and so he would tie his own tight enough.
Yet here he was, on his knees, helping her with her skates.
There was no ulterior motive to his actions. She believed even if they weren't mates, with no mate pull, and no mark- he would do the same thing. At the end of the day, he was far stronger than her. He could easily overpower her if he wanted. He knew all about mate pulls and could manipulate it if he wanted. He could get away with whatever he wanted from her, but he didn't. He wouldn't. He was too good of a person for that.
He's grown so much in the past couple months. When they first met, he reminded her of autumn in a sense. He's beautiful, but cold. Not cold necessarily to her, but to those or things he wasn't familiar with yet. Autumn is beautiful, but people seem to forget that in this season, everything is dying. It's rather morbid when you think of it- everything is the most beautiful right before it dies. He was beautiful on the outside, but dead emotionally. No emotion, no feeling, nothing.
Until winter passed and spring came along and everything started to grow inside him again. Feelings, emotions, his own personality he was never allowed to have... life seemed to blossom inside of him until it finally poured out of him. He blossomed until his inward beauty matched his outside- and then some.
He tied off the first one, tapped her foot, and she gave him the other one.
"Good?" He asked when he was done.
Before he could get up off the ground, she reached for his jaw. He leaned into her touch and looked at her expectantly. She leaned down and placed a soft peck to his lips. "Perfect. Thank you." She whispered, her smile leaving him breathless. "I would offer to tie yours for you, but I'd be no good."
A breathy laugh escaped him and he sat on the bench next to her to finish tying his own skates. "Wouldn't want my ankles to give out on me." He replied in a teasing tone.
She chuckled as she stood to her feet, walking just fine in the skates on the rubber mats on the ground. "Don't make fun of my weak ankles."
He finished tying his skates and attempted to stand to his feet, but quickly plopped back down.
Biting back a laugh, she held out a hand for him. "C'mon, you got it."
He took her hand and tried again, thankfully having an easier time walking on the rubber mats. It was awkward, but doable.
Sophie was the first on the ice, stepping on effortlessly, even adding a little spin before returning to him. "It's not so hard when you get the hang of it."
Famous last words, right?
It's been only five minutes since they started skating and he's already fallen three times. Every time Sophie desperately tried not to laugh, but she couldn't stop herself. It was endearing for such a large man to be fumbling around like Bambi on ice.
Cillian didn't mind her laughter either, happy to make her laugh- even if it was at his expense.
"Let me help you." Sophie tried for the umpteenth time, offering him her gloved hands.
He chuckled as he attempted to regain his balance against the wall. "If I go down while holding onto you, you're coming down with me."
"Then we go down together." She shrugged, her hands still out.
He eyed her before cautiously placing his hands in hers- as if the mere contact would send her skidding across the ice. Her hold on his hands tightened and she started skating backwards, pulling him with her. His eyes screamed panic as the rest of his body remained unmoving, letting her drag him across the ice.
She bit her cheek to hold back a laugh and told him, "I can't be doing all the work. C'mon, practice like I taught you."
"I fear if you don't do all the work, we'll both be falling." He responded.
She affectionately rolled her eyes. "We'll be fine. Just try!"
With a weary glance, he pushed off his left foot, and his right.
"There you go!" She encouraged, doing her best to keep him balanced while he did his best not to drag her down.
No sooner than the words came out of her mouth, he stumbled, nearly face planting. She stabilized him and kept him upright. His head snapped up to meet her gaze and she busted out laughing at the terrified look on his face. As they laughed their heads off, a family with young children passed by them.
"Even five year olds are better then I am!" He exasperated through a smile.
"To be fair, they don't have as far as a fall as you do."
All too soon, their skating came to an end. Out of breath from nearly falling God only knows how many times, Cillian collapsed on a bench, Sophie following. She took off her skates and slipped on her own shoes. As he caught his breath, she decided to return the favor from earlier, and squatted down to untie his laces.
He chuckled and said, "you don't have to do that."
"You didn't have to tie mine either." She told him, tugging his skate off, and then the other. She rose to her feet, spotting something behind him. "There's a hot cocoa machine! Want some?"
"I'd love some." He said with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.
She was gone mere seconds before she was back again. "They only had one cup left." She explained and offered it to him.
He took a sip and handed it right back to her. "We can share." He decided, making her grin.
She took a drink and settled beside him again, noticing he was a tad quieter than usual. "Everything okay?" At his unconvincing nod, she urged, "you can tell me anything, you know."
His head lolled to the side to face her, allowing her to place the cup in his hands again. "I do know..."
"Yet you keep things to yourself." She sighed through her gentle grin.
His eyes met hers and he admitted, "you have enough to worry about."
Cradling his jaw, her thumb grazed his lips. "There are secrets in here." She said. "I want them out."
He tried to bite her finger.
She stole it back.
His eyes searched hers and he told her, "you deserve more than what I can give you, Sophie. With you, I feel like I gained the whole world."
"I didn't ask you to give me anything other than time. And I don't need the whole world." She shook her head, running a hand through his hair. "You're plenty."
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"When you hold me, in your arms so tight, you let me know everything's all right." Sophie sang along under her breath to Blue Swede's song, Hooked on a Feeling before she sucked in a deep breath and sang at the top of her lungs, "I'm hooked on a feeling! I'm high on believing that you're in love with meeeeee!"
Cillian just laughed, not knowing the song yet, but loving how carefree she was in the moment.
It was the following day and an uneventful drive back home. Sophie created a whole playlist to introduce Cillian to, ranging from all sorts of genres and decades. So far, this might have been his favorite.
As the drive was nearly coming to an end, only two minutes away from home, so was the song.
"So, what do you think?" She asked, turning the music down.
"Of your performance or the song?" He teased.
She matched his smile and opened her mouth to reply, when a shocking force slammed into her side of the truck, sending the vehicle rolling over and over across the road and into a field. The sudden impact winded her, crushing all the air out of her lungs as her head made impact with the airbag.
The car came to a sudden stop, tilted against a tree, stuck upside down. There was no noise, no screaming, no anything. Nothing could be heard over the loud ringing in her ears.
"Sophie?" Cillian's voice sounded pained and muffled. "Sophie, stay awake."
She has to stay awake. She knew she had to, but as the ringing in her ears worsened and her vision darkened, she just wanted to close her eyes and sleep. With the little energy she had left, she picked up her head and saw Cillian ripping off his belt, landing with a thud to the roof below.
Still upside down, he grabbed her face, talking fast, but she couldn't hear the words that came out of his mouth. He released her, blood on his hands that wasn't there before. Was she bleeding?
Holding her as close as he could to himself, he clawed her seatbelt and caught her as she fell from the seat. Just the jolt of that seemed to jar her mind just enough to be able to hear a little bit again. "Sophie, can you hear me?" He asked, pulling away to cup her face, moving her hair behind her shoulders.
She groaned in pain, her head throbbing. "I... I can hear." She murmured, slowly.
He exhaled, his posture visibly relaxing at her response. "Where are you hurt?" He asked as he carefully made their way out of the truck.
Her head lolled against his shoulder. "Is it acceptable to say everywhere?" She tried to joke.
When she got no response, she frowned and peeked upwards. Instead of his gaze being on her, he scanned the area around them, his lips pulled into a thin line.
"Are you okay?" She wondered.
He hesitated, continuing to scan. "I am, but something... something isn't right."
Her heart quickened and he immediately felt bad for worrying her. His gaze dropped to meet hers and he asked, "do you trust me?"
Her head perked up, concerned. "What? Why?"
"The car is gone." He explained, backing towards the woods. "There's no trace of the car that hit us... do you trust me?"
She looked up and realized he was right. While most could assume this was a hit and run, they feared they were dealing with far stronger forces than that. Her eyes locked with his. "I do."
With Sophie in his arms, he darted into the woods and didn't look back. As Cillian ran, he didn't waver, he didn't pant, he didn't even break a sweat. He kept a steady pace, yet at an inhuman speed. They must have traveled at least a couple miles at this point when he decided to come to a stop.
He gently set her down on a log, his hands cradling her face as he searched her for injuries. Despite her quiet, "I'm okay," he continued to search. She had quite the scratch on her forehead, blood dripping from it and down her face. She was obviously sore overall, but the extent of her injuries might have only been the scratch and a concussion.
Without a word, he effortlessly ripped a piece of his shirt off and wiped the blood from her face. When he got to the cut itself, he mumbled, "this is going to hurt." He was right. He heard her breath hitch in her throat, but she stayed still and allowed him to apply pressure to the wound.
"Sorry," he whispered, his free hand still affectionately cupping her face, his thumb gliding against her cheek. "Are you dizzy?"
"A little." She voiced, tiredly.
He took the fabric away and sighed in relief. "The bleeding stopped, but I don't want you to move. You have a concussion."
She nodded, and even just that made her world spin. "Do-" He quietly cut her off by shushing her, making her furrow her brows. "What-"
Again, he shushed her, this time with a heavy hand on her shoulder. Through her blurred vision, she peeked up to see his face well concentrated, thoroughly scanning the area around them.
It wasn't until then she noticed all the critters of the forest suddenly stopped their chatter and chirping, going deathly quiet. She remembered reading an article once to fear sudden silence in the middle of the woods, for it always meant the animals picked up on the fact danger was near.
Probably just like the squirrels and birds in the trees, Sophie grew rigid, a sudden feeling of dread and fear overtaking her senses, making the hair on the back of her neck stand. She moved only her eyes, the rest of her body frozen to search for any signs of danger.
Something in her told her to turn around, and thank God she did. With a snarl, the danger snapped its jaws, drool dripping from its jowls. Everything about the creature screamed it was out for blood.
Sophie's blood.
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Question: would you be interested in another werewolf book but it's grumpy character x sunshine character kind of book? I've written some preeeeetty cute stuff
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