Fandom: Artemis Fowl

Ship: (don't hate me people) AF/HS

Setting: it was written after TAC and well, it's like 10 weeks after its ending

Declaimer: not mine

A/N: omg I can't believe THIS is the first fanfic I publish here, this is so wrong O.o

And.. it's.. fluff. *shudders*. I LOVE fluff, but I just don't write it XD Or romance in general. Well, this is weird.

Anyway, I don't even Like H/A, but I had this challenge something like 2 years ago, and I found this story on my computer a few hours ago. I decided to translate it to English for my friends so beware. The writing might be a little awkward because it's not the original piece, and in general, English is not my first language, so don't be too hard "^^

And comments on my grammar and phrasing would be welcomed ! :D

Enjoy^^

Holly was cleaning the steam from the already shining glass in an attempt to see better through it. It didn't help her much, though, mainly because she had nothing to see as there was a large curtain blocking her view to the white bed.

She stood tense beside the door to her friend's room in Dr. Aragon's clinic, and started pacing in the hallway after she gave up trying to see something inside the room.

It was the first time she was allowed to meet Artemis since he started his treatment.

Up until now only Mrs. Fowl got permission to visit him because, well, she's his mother and everything. Holly, on the other hand, hasn't seen the boy for ten weeks, and didn't even get an update about his status.

Suddenly, the door opened and Holly ceased her pacing. Dr. Aragon invited her in, and she walked quietly into the room.

Her heart started beating fast, filled with fears, and she felt a funny twitch in her stomach.

The last time they met, Artemis was kind of… Crazy and sick, but beyond that, he was love sick.

As much as the elf got angry from Orion's comments (or so did she claim), she couldn't not find his behavior cute. If you ignore the whole crazy thing.

And of course, one cannot ignore what happened the last time they met when they were both sane. Blush spread over her cheeks as she remembered the actions the time travel made her do, when she was a stupid teenage girl.

At this point, when she was merely a few steps away from the large curtain, Holly noticed Dr. Aragon wasn't escorting her anymore, and she passed the last few feet with hesitating steps by herself.

And then she moved the curtain.

She didn't know what she was expecting to see there; maybe a haggard scrawny boy, bound in madhouse's restrains, or maybe a mass of instruments and tools stuck in different parts of his body, or maybe she even thought he'd be unconscious. But Artemis just sat on the bed, looking up expectantly, and it was obvious he was waiting for her.

A smile took over his lips the second Holly pulled the curtain aside, a smile that wouldn't have found its way there seven years before.

Holly smiled back hesitantly, and he wordlessly invited her to sit next to him on the bed. She sat down beside him, close enough to smell the smell of clean that surrounded him, closed enough to shift uncomfortably due to the embarrassment that took over.

"Uhmm… How are you feeling?" Holly broke the awkward silence between them. Artemis smiled once again this new smile of his, and indeed for Holly it looked weird and misplaced, but it fitted his face as if it were always there.

"I'm fine, I suppose," he said. "Much better now," he added eventually, and a slight blush crept up his cheeks.

They continued to sit in silence. Holly was looking for something to do with herself, and she scanned the room in which she was staying. It was big and full of light, and only one extra bed stood there, but it was uninhabited. Everything around was white and clean, and the LEP officer wondered if it gives her a feeling of space and openness, or of a madhouse. She guessed the latest was closer to reality.

"How did they-"

"Holly, I'm-" They said together.

Artemis took a deep breath, "Holly, I'm sorry. For what happened." He looked directly into her eyes and she had to hold back so she won't look away. Eventually she gave in and lowered her gaze.

"No, I'm sorry-" suddenly she lifted her head, only to find Artemis's much closer than earlier. Or was she the one closer to him?

"Look at us," his breath fluttered over her face.

It seemed he suddenly noticed their proximity, and he flinched back, letting the rest of his sentence fade away.

"What about Orion?" Holly tried to ignore his recoiling and prevent another awkward silence. Not to mention the fact she had practically been chewing on her fingernails for the whole last ten weeks about his condition and she couldn't wait any longer to hear what it was.

Artemis smirked his self-satisfied grin that Holly thought suited him more by far. "According to Dr. Aragon, he's gone. Thanks to the… Arduous treatment I got." A wince of pain went through his body as her remembered the shock therapy he had to endure.

"To be more precise, he isn't gone, but became a part of me." Holly raised an eyebrow and Artemis sighed.

"He was a part of me from the start, only less… extreme, I suppose. Mainly because he constituted only one facet of a much more complicated personality, so as you can see, he's the result." His tone was a little arrogant and self confident, but embarrassment was reflected from his eyes.

"It means that what he… That he's really… That…" Holly stopped talking.

Artemis cleared his throat. "The thing is-" He was interrupted by something that shut him up. And this something happened to be Holly's lips.

She didn't know what she was thinking, but she just leaned forward, her soft lips meeting his. Artemis didn't flinch back, and after a few seconds of surprise, he leaned forward as well, allowing them both a better access.

They separated their lips but stayed close to each other. Artemis looked into a pair of eyes identical to his.

"Yes, what he said was true."

Phew, it's over. What do you think? any mistakes? Please let me know^^