Cresswell One Shots (The Lunar Chronicles - Cress x Thorne)

Warmth

"Come on!" Cress exclaimed, a puff of smoke materialising in front of her. Her gloved hand intertwined with Thorne's and tugged. "We can't be late."

Thorne used his free hand to tighten the scarf around his neck in an attempt to fight the cold air pricking his skin, "They aren't starting for another 10 minutes, we have plenty of time."

"But we need to get good spots!" Cress exclaimed, eyes wide, suddenly her voice turned fearful, "What if I can't see them?"

Thorne let out a huff of laughter. "You'll be able to see just fine. Just wait, they go up so high you can't miss them." Cress still looked doubtful and a smirk played on Thorne's lips as he said: "And besides, if you really can't see I'll carry you on my shoulders."

Cress' face broke out into a smile and she squeezed Thorne's hand.

They continued walking along the streets that contained couples walking hand in hand, friends giggling together and families walking in packs.

The roads were deserted this late at night and as the pair turned onto a busier road they saw that many people had decided to walk along the roads rather than the bustling pavements.

Lamps dotted the edge of the road providing poor lighting, many people opting to turn on their phones as a source of light. The spots of brightness that stretched across the road looked like fallen stars, stretching out in an endless sea.

The steady, calming sound of dozens of conversations filled the street, house to house, like a rhythmic heartbeat. The sound fell over every person as if it was a lullaby intended to put you to sleep.

As the couple continued on, the gaps between groups filled with more groups as the crowd filled out and took form; a reliable mass movement modifying into its own living organism, every single person becoming each individual cell all with the same thought, the same ambition, the same destination.

The excited buzz in the air increased the further along their journey they went, until Cress and Thorne could feel the excitement invading their very souls causing their grip on each other to tighten, their smiles to widen and their feet to pick up the pace.

As the crowd rounded the corner, a collective breath was let out as the tight, restricted shape of the mass was freed; groups increasing space between strangers and individuals escaping into the open field that now opened up to them.

Cress tightened her gloved fingers around Thorne's, "Come on!" She exclaimed, rushing forward, dragging Thorne behind her.

Thorne laughed loudly, his joy materialising in front of him with the cold puff of air. Despite apologising to the people Cress hurried through, his lips naturally curled upwards at seeing her happiness radiating off her being.

When Cress suddenly stopped, Thorne almost tripped over his feet ensuring than they both didn't fall.

"Is this a good spot?" Cress glanced over her shoulder; worry clouding her eyes.

"Here is perfect." Thorne replied as he wrapped his arms around her from behind and rested his chin on the top of her head.

Indeed it was a perfect spot, they were placed a little way up the side of the gently sloping hill, just enough to easily be able to see over the top of the crowds below them. In front of them, albeit slightly to their left, stood the shadows of the castle ruins. Its outline was difficult to determine against the black night with only a few stars shining above.

Cress let out a deep sigh from underneath him, leaning back into his warmth. "Happy?" He questioned her.

She moved slightly, so that his chin was no longer propped up on her head, "Yes, very," she said certainly, no doubt in her voice or shown in her eyes which were shining brightly enough to rival the few stars above them.

As if to seal the happiness, she leaned up on her toes, her hands finding Thorne's shoulders for balance, as she gently pressed her lips to his cheek. As Cress pulled away, the pair were both grinning.

They easily fell into a common position; Thorne stepping forward as Cress wrapped her arm around his waist, his arm draped across her shoulders as her head rested on his chest.

A ripple overtook the crowd; groups breaking out into murmurs between them before everyone fell silent.

And then, all of a sudden-

A high pitch, almost screaming noise went flying above their heads and then-

Colour.

Burst of colour.

It shone in their eyes as the rainbow danced in the night sky before them.

Over and over.

Different shapes and heights and more and more colour.

An explosion of colour in the centre followed by streams of ribbons circling finalising with a few sparks holding onto the last few glimpses of the light.

Before a new one took its place.

And a new one.

And a new one.

The display continued for what felt like an eternity. A whole new dimension formed just of this moment. An entire existence based off colour shooting into the sky. Paint against a black canvas. Forever erasing, and redoing, over and over.

Until it wasn't.

After the echoes of the last bang fizzled out, a slight ringing in everyone's ears, Thorne tore his eyes away from what was now returning to a blank sky and over to Cress. Cress. Whose eyes shone as if they were replaying the fireworks again and again. The colour reflecting the each spark inside her brain.

Her lips were slightly parted as she finally turned towards him, "Wow," the word fell softly off her tongue as if in worship.

Thorne's sudden grin rivalled the stars themselves. "Did you enjoy?"

Her vigorous nodding was answer enough, "Yes. Yes, yes, yes."

Around them, the crowds began to dissolve, as the cold settled within them and they realised they no longer had any reason to be here. Yet Thorne and Cress remained.

No less vulnerable to the negative temperatures, mind you.

"We should... probably go," Cress stated, reluctance weighing her words down, "it's freezing."

"Mhmm." Thorne replied making no move to begin to leave, instead he wrapped both his arms around her waist, leaning towards her ever so slightly, forever caught in her centre of gravity pulling him in.

Cress smiled, "We need to. It's so cold I can practically feel my lips going blue!" She exclaimed.

"Oh, is that so?" Thorne raised a devious eyebrow, "I guess I'll have to find a way to warm you up then."

That was all the warning he gave her before swooping down and closing the gap between their lips.

Thorne pulled away, still sharing breath, "Any better?"

Cress' eyes glimmered as she met his eyes, "Hm, I don't know, you'd better try that again."

Thorne quickly sobered his grin in order to continue.

As the pair stood there in the emptying field, under a blank sky, and needed no other bursts of colour except for what they had found in each other.

~~~
In my head, this is like a bonfire night kinda fic but yeah I'm late so now it can be whatever you want it to be!