A/N: So I really needed to get this out of my head because THEY FREAKING KILLED ME TONIGHT WITH THEIR ALMOST KISS. Although, I approve of the no-kiss because I want Hayley to have her baby first before they pursue anything, I just needed to write this down. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, just the storyline.

"It is the passion that is in a kiss that gives to it its sweetness; it is the affection in a kiss that sanctifies it."

A Kiss After The Storm

"If I feel something I act. If I want something, I take it."

They stood there, inches apart. His hand had a tight hold of her wrist, firm but not painful. She couldn't breathe; it felt like some unyielding force constricted her lungs.

Two seconds passed before anything happened. Two seconds. She refused to blink. She refused to breathe. She refused to move. Because any of those things would break the moment and she had said far too much to let things amicably.

She looked into those brown eyes, trying to discern every flashing emotion known to man that moved in them. She knew what she had to do. She knew she had to make the first move, for he was far too much of a gentleman to do it. No, she had to act first, or they would be stuck in this continuous push and pull cycle they have been in for months.

Hayley wasn't sure when her hand had moved from the arm that gripped hers. It acted on its own accord, grabbing a fistful of his coat as she pulled him closer to her. A thousand year old Original vampire forcibly moved by a twenty-two year old werewolf carrying a hybrid baby.

She had seen the movies where two people would kiss hard and fast, one not expecting the other to move. It had always look romantic and swoon worthy. They never mentioned how much it hurt when their heads collided.

She felt his forehead hit hers, but all other thoughts and sounds of pain were immediately extinguished by the sweet and utter bliss of his soft and cool lips on hers. For one split second neither moved. They were frozen, both taken aback by the sheer passion that built between them. But that one split second passed quickly, and suddenly she felt his hands in her hair and around her waist, pulling her as close to him as possible. She held on for dear life, never experiencing such a kiss before. She didn't dare pull back to take a breath, knowing that she may never have another chance like this.

But as soon as the glorious kiss began, it came to an end. Taking a step back, Elijah is visibly shaken, his eyes peering into her own as to ask why she did what she did. She stared back at him, a finger upon her swollen lips, touching them as if his lips were still upon hers.

He didn't say anything. She smiled. She had rendered him speechless. And she smiled at his appearance. Never, in all the months she's known him, did he look this disheveled. His hair was tousled, his shirt and jacket wrinkled. But his eyes said everything. He was still in shock.

She didn't know what to say. That she had been waiting a long time to do that? That sometimes she'd wake up with the feeling of his lips on hers, only to remember it was just a blissful dream? That even though she carries his brother's child, she does not feel guilty?

She straightens up, determined not to let him retreat and for them not to fall back into the same pattern.

"I meant what I said, Elijah. Now it's your turn."

Hayley walks away, knowing that he needed to time to process what just happened. And she knew they couldn't pursue anything quite yet. But knowing where he stood on his feelings for her would be a good start.

She knew what she wanted. But…did he?