Dear God - I'm disgusting. Why would he, how, could he possibly come near someone like... me?

Merida looked at her naked body in the steamed-up bathroom mirror, horrified and upset by what she saw. Her hair was frankly a joke, her chest was small and insignificant and her thighs; there was no need to continue.

She'd been uncomfortable with herself since high school, covering her body up with long sleeves, deliberately baggy jumpers and jeans in an attempt to hide herself away. When a guy with a weird name from her English class had seen past all that and taken a fancy to her though, all her efforts had been for nothing. Besides, she did like him too. She had for a while.

They'd got together over the space of a few months and she ended up trusting him more and more as time went on. He'd never gone too far with her, he was always so gentle and never got frustrated with her. After a while, about a year maybe, she was forced to admit that yes - she had fallen in love with him, exactly what she'd promised herself she wouldn't do with anyone.

When they'd finished school and begun university, he had offered for them to stay in the same flat; they'd both be able to pay the rent and they felt comfortable with each other. She'd agreed.

Now a few months into the new term, she'd done well in her classes but her anxiety was stacking up. Her nerves were getting the better of her and her old fears about her body had come back in full swing, but it had never been this bad.

She stared at herself critically, analysing everything that was wrong with her before looking into her own eyes, wondering how could he love this? How could anyone?

She didn't notice the tears spilling from her eyes as she hid her head in her hands, crying hard. She didn't hear the door to the bathroom open or see the brunette boy walk in and sit down beside her.

"Oh my Gods, Mer - are you okay?" When he didn't get a reply, only desperate sobs, he reached out to her, whispering, "look, come here, tell me everything..." He opened his arms to her but she held back, her arms still crossed over herself tightly. When she looked up at him her eyes were bloodshot and full of tears.

"How could you love, this?" She barely whispered it and it made him break to see how she thought that he couldn't love her for all that she was. "I don't understand how it's possible for you, for anyone..."

His heart broke a little at that. How she couldn't see how beautiful she was was a total mystery to him; he wrapped his arms around her, pressing her against his chest and she clung to his shirt, weeping. He whispered into her hair.

"Merida - you're stunning. You're beautiful and gorgeous and you're everything I have. I love you. I love you to the end of the Earth and back again." When she still lay stiff and tense in his arms, he drew away a little so he could kiss her lips gently, then again, over and over. He lifted her off the bathroom floor, into his arms and into his bedroom, sitting her down on his bed, in all her natural beauty.

She tensed against him but when he kissed her collarbone she let out an involuntary sigh.

He whispered that she was beautiful, trailing kisses down her neck, the top of her bare breasts, her stomach, and when he reached her womanhood she started to believe that maybe he was telling the truth, maybe she truly was beautiful, if only in his eyes.

Her hand found his and she clasped it tight as he worshipped her, murmuring that she was the most beautiful, the prettiest, the most stunning, the most gorgeous woman he'd ever had the fortune to meet. Merida could only whimper in reply, gasping for air that never came quick enough.

His heart was racing - they'd never come this far, either due to his own nerves or Merida's uncertainty about herself, yet when he felt her fumbling at his extremely uncomfortable trousers he helped her out and unbuttoned his shirt faster than he'd done it in his life. He kicked his jeans off and kissed her again, desperately, his hands trailing to her chest.

This time she shivered and he kissed her one more time, whispering again that he loved her. She nodded and closed her eyes as she let her head fall back against the pillows, her mouth open in a constant "oh..."

When he slipped inside of her his eyes were open to see the expression of pure love dance across her face. It didn't take long for either of them, Merida sobbing into his shoulder out of pure pleasure and total bliss, letting his warmth spill deep inside of her as he cried out her name, over and over. When it was over they both gulped air like they were drowning men.

He lay down beside her and pressed kisses on her cheeks and her nose and lips as she giggled quietly, holding his hand tight.

They fell asleep together, holding each other for what would not be the last time.