That one kiss, part Three

When Charlie's tears were cried out, and the sobs became silent just like the Christmas night around her and her uncle, she pressed her nose further into his jacket. The cold was reaching deep inside of her, and she shivered. Miles noticed. He pulled her closer, wrapping both arms around her now.

'Charlie, I..' his voice was so very serious, there was no sarcasm this time, 'I am so sorry for this damn mess that is your world now. I wished everything turned out so different kid.'

Charlie untangled herself, as she heard Miles voice break.

She looked him in the eyes and saw tears there. 'I know Miles, I know.'

She led her forehead rest on his chest. They sat in more silence for a while.

'I hope you are not having a too terrible evening with all us morons that stopped by?' Miles asked.

'You are all not so bad, Miles.' Charlie said, a first hesitant smile around her lips.

'You do know I was talking about Bass too, right kid?'

Miles answered her smile with his own.

'He is your brother Miles, he is your family. And I think a very long time ago, he was my family too.'

Miles pulled his hand through his hair and looked before him.

'He cared about you Charlie, I remembered a four year old who had us both wrapped around your little finger with your smile and stubbornness.'

Charlie raised an eyebrow before she shot her uncle a wide grin. Before she could make a smartass comeback Miles continued.

'He still cares for you, Charlie. Please don't tell him I said that, because he is going to kill me if he finds out. And I am getting too old for that shit.'

Charlie fell silent. Miles words made something swirl inside of her stomach in a good way. . . Maybe deep down she had realised that behind the crude remarks and the rough man that Sebastian Monroe could be, he was more than he had showed her. Because his eyes had told her something differently time after time.

She needed time to process what Miles just told her.

'Ready to go back inside?' He asked softly.

Charlie just nodded when they got up from the porch steps and Miles opened the door before her.

When Charlie and Miles joined the group, Charlie saw a free spot on the couch. The thing was, that is was a free spot but it was also right next to Bass. Without giving herself time to think, she walked over to the couch and sat down next to him.

He looked at her for a moment, the evidence of the tears still on her cheek, her eyes a little red. He hated to see her like this.

'You okay?' He asked in a low voice. He was not sure anymore if he should stay around tonight when he had seen her cry. He knew how much his actions had been part in causing that hurt. He was not sure what would happen when Charlie walked in the house. But she was there all of a sudden, so close he could take in the scent of her hair.

'I am.' She answered quietly, 'thank you.' Charlie felt Bass tense up beside her and he just nodded at her, shooting her a look from the corner of his eyes.

His leg ended up close to hers, and he could feel the weight of her leg against his own, but neither of them seemed to mind.

When Miles walked over, he looked at Charlie and Bass. He did not say anything. He knew his niece had always given Bass a chance. He had almost passed out when he had found out that it was Charlie that saved Bass' ass when Texas had some plans to execute his kind of longest and best friend. He had never talked about it with Charlie, but he knew Charlie enough that if she had asked Rachel to spare Bass' life, she had her reasons.

For reasons Miles still tried to figure out, Bass had always kept an eye on Charlie. He had known for sure he would not hurt her and Charlie had never kept her mouth shut when it came to Bass. Most of all, the moron seemed to accept her and Miles did not think Charlie realised what an impact she had made and possibly could make on him.

He knew Bass almost his whole life and he knew enough. Bass cared for the girl. And maybe his niece was too stubborn to admit, but when the war had started she had a choice. But the choice had been fighting along him and Bass. Miles had watched them fight, close to one another, never being far from the other. And when they were not fighting, they sat close in front a fire, sharing their dinner or breakfast in silence.

When Christmas Eve had turned into Christmas night, the energy had changed into an almost familiar one. Charlie observed her uncle and Bass and now she had seen the soft images of the echoes from the past, she realised those little boys and teenagers were still there. She had just never looked at them that way.

The house was quiet and somehow both Miles and Bass had just started a story from their time at the Marines. It involved a girl that Bass dated, a drunken Miles and a police officer. Miles added drily that that were of course the perfect ingredients for a nice Christmas story.

Charlie laughed at their story but had also trouble to focus on the story. She was all of a sudden so aware of Bass. His body, his movements, his body, the way he held his drink in his hands, the lines close to his eyes and the scruff of his beard. She realised with quite a shock, that she liked his nearness. They had spend two years together, on the road, in this town, at war, but she had never experienced this before. She was sitting next to him and felt strangely aware of him and so relaxed at the same time.

She felt her body, warm loose. She did not want sleep to wash over her, she wanted more of whatever was happening tonight. But it was too good not to give in. The voices that faded away more and more, the warmth of the fire, the sight of the snowflakes outside. And when she fell asleep, she felt good. Sheltered.

She noticed how somebody put a plaid over her. She thought it was Miles. He had covered her up many times before on the road before his watch had begun. Miles had always waited until she was asleep to make sure she was warm enough, but the truth was, Charlie had always noticed, she just never told Miles. She liked that one moment of gentleness about her bad ass uncle.

But then she sensed something else. Leather. Boots that were not miles. She was just too tired to really think about it. The rhythm was just a little bit different. She felt the comforting heaviness of a blanket around her. There was a thumb caressing her cheek, the touch light and fast. And then she was asleep again, warm, the scent of whiskey, the fire and snow around her.

Bass looked at Charlie, he knew she had woken up for a moment and he had held his breath without even realising it. But she kept still, and most of all, she had let him touch her. He had felt a shift within her tonight, and it had brought out something new inside of him too. He let her closer, simply because this infuriating woman had let him closer.

He always had a thing for her, maybe it was about damn time to admit that. There was something about Charlie that had grabbed him and never let him the hell go. But since Vegas, since he had to see her with Connor, something had changed.

He had felt utter rage when he had to see with somebody else. Knowing that someone else had touched her, while her naked skin had a glow from the fire next to her when he had walked in on them. He had to see her with another Monroe for fuck sake , it had been his kid while she could have gotten any guy she had wanted. She had chosen Connor.

He had seen her in a complete different light and silent feelings had turned into loud screaming ones.

The only thing he was able to deal with what the hell happened there, was to push her away in every fucking rude way he could think off.

He had been a total asshole to her. He had missed the fragile new bound between them that had been so new until it turned into a whole lot of nothing again. But he had pushed it all away. He had pushed her so far away that when Miles went missing and they went looking for him, he had told Rachel that Charlie would be fine when Rachel had wanted to go back for Charlie.

He had circled back to find Rachel, and not Charlie after they had split up.

Damn it, Charlie was not fine. Tom Neville had pulled the trigger of his gun right in Charlie's face when he had lost all control when the bitch, Rachel, had pushed every one of his buttons.

He had fucked up by bringing up that one night in Philly, years ago to show her that her decisions were not exactly the right ones all the damn time. A drunken mistake, one night that would never be repeated. But then she had the fucking nerve to cause him off raping her. But he was so done at having her walk around like she was mother Theresa herself.

It had been the last pushed he needed to show her exactly how the hell it would feel to be forced. And then, he had kissed her with hate streaming through his body. It was all he could think of, without ripping her apart.

Not soon after that, their camp got attacked with mustard gas. What happened after their attack had given him the final push to step away from Charlie, leaving her behind when he had left with his kid and Scanlon.

Pushing Charlie away had worked until Tom fucking Neville turned his gun towards her. He realised then and there that he was fucked when it came to her.

It was still her. Just her. Only her.

And since that moment, since that moment she had looked, really looked, at him again after he had returned with Davis at that church in the dark, they had started that bound again. They had fought side by side against the patriots. She had chosen to fight with him. They had shared tents, slept close to one another in long dark nights, she had trusted him again to watch her back. He had trusted her with his life. She had started to talk to him more and more, shared more from her life with him.

When they had returned to Willoughby, he had watched his kid date about every young woman in town. Charlie and Connor had found some kind of friendship that reminded him of his friendship with Miles. But hell, every time Connor turned the Monroe Charm on, in front of Charlie, he wanted to punch the kid in the face.

He felt that damn attraction again he had felt so many times before. He could still feel the contours of her body close to his, when he had surprise attacked her with that snowball. She had been a good sport about it, and the wrestling match that had formed afterwards, had been so damn good. He had let her take him down, and he had been able to get enough of the bright light in her eyes when she had straddled him. It was a good thing that Miles had interfered, before Charlie had felt how much his body had not been able to get enough of her too.

And now, they were both here, two people who spend Christmas Eve together, against all odds. There was something in the air tonight.

He and Miles had just said goodbye to Stay puft, who left slightly drunk. He actually enjoyed being around Stay Puft. Pittman. Whatever. Connor was fast asleep on one of the comfortable chairs in the corner of the room and Miles and himself had decided that since they were already quite drunk, a little whiskey would not make the difference anymore.

Miles had already started to scavenger hunt in the kitchen for more whiskey and he was almost out of the living room when Charlie shivered in her sleep. He had turned around, watching the hair flow over her face, her eyelashes on her cheeks. And then, he had grabbed a blanket from another chair and had softly covered her with it. When he had reached her shoulders his hand had moved with a will on his own, and he had softly brushed her cheek with his thumb. She had let out a deep relaxed sigh.

When he had heard Miles in the kitchen behind him, he had quickly taken a step back.

Both Miles and him grabbed a chair, and found themselves in a conversation like no time had passed. The memories came easy, the stories too. It felt like they were back in Jasper, or in the early years of their young Republic in Philly. Both men sat across from each other.

'Here's to them, Bass.' Miles raised his glass towards Bass.

Bass looked at his brother and had to swallow away a lump in his throat. Fuck, they had not done this in a long time. It was their thing, a toast to his family, and to Miles' parents. Bass was surprised Miles remembered at all.

He stretched out his arm, and let his own glass touch Miles'.

'Here's to them, brother.'

It was far after midnight when Miles put his empty glass in front of him and announced he would get some shut eye for the night. Before Miles disappeared upstairs, he patted Bass on his shoulder. Bass grabbed the bottle and sat back in the kitchen chair when he was alone with better memories from years long ago.

Charlie was dreaming, or maybe she wasn't because the images around her were so very sharp. She was warm, the blanket was still wrapped around her body. Against the outside of the windows, she could see snow in the corners against the glass, and there were ice flowers against the glass. A couple of snowflakes got picked up by the wind.

It was still dark in the room, but there appeared a small light in the corner, that changed the room into another one. The curtains were now a deep green, the windows high and large. There was a pale daylight streaming in, and snow was falling outside. The floor had a warm tone, the wood inviting and the living room cosy. It felt, familiar, but she did not know why. And then, she heard footsteps again. Soft footsteps and laughter.

A small child stepped into the room. She wore a white woollen dress, and took an unstable step, and then another one. There was pride and determination in her eyes when she stepped into the room. First, Charlie thought she was looking at herself. The little girl was blond, had deep blue eyes and her cheekbones.

But then, he was there. The little girl stretched out her little hand, and his hand was there for her to hold onto. Little fingers inside a large hand. He smile. But he was a completely different man at the same time. A warm smile on his face, love and pride in his eyes, when he did not let the little girl out of his sight. Charlie was not able to look away.

And then, she saw herself. She was a little bit older, but it was still like looking into a mirror. For the first time the soft pictures had appeared before her, she realised she was watching the at the future. She watched how she walked in, and both Bass and the little girl turned her way. She pulled the little girl close while Bass whispered something in her ears and pressed a kiss on her temple. Her eyes were filled with light and deep love when she looked at him.

The little girl turned her head, away from her mother and father in the soft picture in front of her and now she was looking directly at Charlie, piercing through the soft images and reaching her through it.

Charlie's eyes connected with the little girl and they shared a smile.

With a shock, Charlie woke up. The room was dark again, her heart was beating hast. She noticed a passed out Connor in the corner of the room. There was silence around her until she heard somebody in the kitchen.

She stepped out of the blanket around her, while her feet touched the floor before her. She knew she had seen the future.

And then, she remembered a story that Aaron had told her once. It was called A Christmas Carol and in the story, a man had seen his past, present and future, when ghosts had visited him during the night. Her night had turned out a little bit different, but she had seen a glimpse of her future.

In her dream, maybe it was not a dream, Bass had been there. A child had been there. His child. Her Child. Their Child. There was love and family and future. Hope. It felt complete.

She slowly walked towards the dark kitchen and she found him there, leaning against the kitchen counter, his back towards her. He was looking outside. She joined him, and stood close to him, when both of them watched outside, the snow floating from the night sky.

'Stay Puft made you some good snow, Charlie.' He said, a smile around his eyes.

'He did, right? It is beautiful.'

Bass turned to Charlie, and she could feel his eyes on her.

'Beautiful indeed,' He said softly. Charlie felt him swallow next to her, nothing but silence around them.

Her heart started to beat faster. Maybe between all her sorrow and despair, nightmares and feeling restless, Aaron had given her more than just snow tonight. He had given her compassion, empathy, moments with the people she lost close again.

And he had given her not only what felt like a look into the future, but a new hope that maybe she could think about the future again.

Maybe it was time to admit that she cared about Bass too. But she had always pushed that deep down. Buried it with everything she could think off. It had been so hard to show that piece of her heart. But tonight she had seen more of him in pastel memories through the snow. And she had seen a part of him that she could open up to.

When she had truly started to look at him, she had seen him. But he had always been there. Bass had always been there. She just now allowed herself to see. To feel.

Until tonight.

Maybe it was time to take a chance again, maybe it was time to allow herself to feel more than pain and sorrow and despair.

She tilted her head and looked at Bass, and his eyes were gentle and dark blue. She felt his arm against her side and she leaned a little bit closer.

Bass heart was pounding in his chest. It was just Charlie and him in the small kitchen. She was standing so close, so damn close. And when she looked up at him, he almost completely froze. Her lips were lush and full and she had slightly opened them.

Charlie was unsure for a moment. But then Bass moved his hand and pulled back some hair from her face. His fingers brushing the soft skin of her face. She let out a small sigh without even noticing it.

It felt so good. He moved his hand over her skin with such gentleness that she got lost in his touch and eyes. She moved towards him. He moved towards hers.

They stood so close, that it was like that abandoned path of sand, when he had found her again with that bounty hunter. Only this time everything had changed.

She felt his breath on his face, and Bass eyes were wide. He waited. And then Charlie moved the last distance between them. Her lips touched his, slowly. Explorative. She pulled back gently.

And then Bass stepped closer, his body touching hers, and he pulled her close with one hand on the small of her back. The other one cupped her face and this time, he closed the small distance between her lips and his mouth covered hers for a deep and long kiss, slow but with so much need for her. Charlie felt his kiss and his energy and she let her tongue move around his. The kiss got deeper and filled up with so much more.

She wrapped one arm around his strong back , while the other touched the scruff of his beard.

They kissed, long, warm, deep and with all the time in the world. The world around them was white and silent and they were both standing in front of a small window in a kitchen in a small town in Texas. Charlie let Bass wrap her up in his arms, while he tasted like whiskey and felt so incredibly good under her hands.

Charlie pulled back for a moment, and Bass looked at her with a question in his eyes. Charlie tilted her head back, while she had his strong body under her hands. Bass arms were still so close around her body.

She looked up and there, above them, floating in the air was a little bit of Mistletoe.

Charlie started to laugh softly.

'Oh come on man, Stay Puft is just showing of,' Bass growled, a grin on his face.

'Do you have a problem with that, Bass?'

'Hell no,' he said, before her turned back at her and kissed her again. He moved his lips towards her ears, his voice now low and teasing, 'you do know you just called me Bass, right?'

Charlie rolled her eyes at the smugness in his voice.

'Shut up and kiss me Bass.'

And that was exactly what Bass did. Bass started to explore the soft curves of her body and his hand touched the skin just under her breast. There would be more, more to touch, to kiss, to taste. But for now, it was just them.

Charlie Matheson and Bass Monroe, lost in that one kiss.

Epiloque

After the kiss that lasted a very long time, Bass had carried her towards the couch and had pulled her close. They had both fallen asleep on the couch under that blanket that Bass had used to cover her up. The fire was smaller now, casting soft light over them.

When it was Christmas Morning and they had woken up they had looked directly in the face of Connor.

'Well folks, that was about time.' he grinned at them. 'Want some breakfast?'

They had breakfast, and everything was so new and at the same time, like it always was. Miles joined them not much later, and Connor had only grinned at Charlie and his dad. Giving them a break and let Miles it out all on his own at his own time what had changed between Charlie and his dad.

They all had breakfast on that Christmas Morning, warm eggs and bread on the table.

Charlie had asked Aaron a couple of days after that one kiss about his present. He had told her about the snow, but when Charlie asked if he did some more he had looked at her with confusion in his eyes. The only thing he had done, Aaron said to Charlie, was tune the Nano into the thing she wished for most for Christmas. And that was snow right? Apparently the Nano had not only found that one wish to fulfil deep inside of Charlie. Charlie decided to not tell anyone about what she had experienced, but she got the feeling that whatever caused the snow, had given her just a little bit more.

Two years would pass. Aaron Pittman had been right about those stirrings on the other side of the border from Texas. The Nano had taken a whole city captive to experiment with humans, in a way neither of them could have ever foreseen. It took this little group to the edge and back and it would take every strength and determination they all had to restrain the Nano. Because in the end, that was what they did. But that too, is a story for another fire, for another day.

Charlie would find her way back to Willoughby again, the small town that she had returned too many times now. This time, the fourth time, Bass would be by her side again. But this time not because he had given her no choice, this time not to fight another war.

This time they came back, together, because they both had figured out, that after that one kiss under that Mistletoe, they both did not only wanted to fight side by side, they wanted to live their lives side by side.

A first kiss turned into a first passionate encounter. It turned into more passion and that passion would turn into more trust and time with each other.

Charlie Matheson and Bass Monroe would be able to tell each other they loved on another.

And now, it is a cold morning not too long before another Christmas Eve.

Bass had taken Charlie with him to see a house, not far from town. It was small but he was pretty sure Charlie would love it. There was a small garden, light in the house and it felt comfortable with a huge fire place in the living room.

They had decided, since they were already spending each and every night with the other, they might as well to that under a roof they both picked out.

If one needed a break from the other, because they could still fight as professionals, Bass always had the option to sleep on the couch. Because Charlie made him do just that, even in his own home already, when she was really pissed at him.

Bass pressed another kiss in her neck before they walked inside the small but well kept home. Charlie liked it immediately. She walked into the home and looked around. And then she felt a small shock going through her system.

She had been here before. The warm wooden floor, the high windows that let in so much sun, and the deep green curtains in front of the windows. That one dream, or maybe it wasn't a dream, had showed her this place already. And she knew, she felt it was right. And then, she also remembered something else, that little blue eyed girl that she had carried in her mind with her through the years.

'So, Charlie, what do you think?' Bass was crouched down to inspect the living room floor before he turned to Charlie.

Charlie had to fight a tear from falling over her cheek when she remembered the little girls hand in Bass' hand in this very room. She swallowed it away stubbornly before she turned towards Bass.

'I think, we are home Bass.'

And then she let out a small cry, when Bass walked over her with a teasing grin on his face and he picked her up with his strong arms and he kissed her. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck.

Welcome home, baby,' he said, his warm breath in her neck.

He kissed her with raw hunger all of a sudden. Bass pressed her against the wall across from them.

Charlie felt how much he wanted her, and she matched his eagerness with her own need for him.

When Bass buried himself inside of her warm core, and his arms were around her, her moans made him whisper her name.

' Charlie, you feel so fucking good baby.'

'More Bass, more.' She panted in his ear, while Bass pressed her against the wall.

When she finally came around him and he was deep inside of her when she let go, she would moan his name.

Bass.

When bass trusted inside of her, one last time before he would let go, he groaned hers.

Charlie.

9 months later they would meet that little girl Charlie had seen in her dream. They would greet her with love and when she would take her first step in the living room of the house Bass and Charlie call home, Bass would be there to hold her little hand in his. And Charlie would be right beside him.

The End.

So, here we are, Part Three! I hoped you like it... for me this was a story about what still can happen after a long and dark road. The future is there, but sometimes you have to be brave and take a step towards it yourself, even when you think there will be no more future to live for.

Thank you Threemagpies for the inspiration. Her stories are very lovely and she had been inspiring me very much for this story. Thank you again!

I wish you all, wherever you are, all around the world, a Merry Christmas.

Love from Love