Page 59 of There's Pumpkin About You
“You’re asking the wrong question.”
“Oh?” she asks, her smile widening with each verbal exchange. I find my lips trying to match hers. “What question should I be asking you then?”
I twist my body until I’m completely facing her and I let myself lean even further, so close that our breaths mix together as we exhale in tandem.
“The question isn’t why I started calling you sweetheart. It’s when did the intonation of sweetheart move from condescending to flirtatious.”
“Okay, well then that’s my question.”
“Well, the answer is that I don’t know. It just… happened.”
* * *
WREN
Silence swirls around us but I can still hear the pounding in my chest.
How did we even get here? Two weeks ago, we’re arguing maliciously, constantly annoyed by each other’s presence. Now, when we argue it’s heated and filled with a tension that makes me weak in the knees.
There are so many things I want to do, but I have no clue where we stand. I have no idea if this tension between us is as far as things go, if we’re forever to remain halted in this moment of both ecstasy and torment.
“Wait here.”
I watch Gus as he saunters towards the front door, leaving me alone in the living room that’s dimly lit by the lamp on the side table.
When he returns, he looks sheepish as he sits down, holding out a couple of wildflowers.
I gasp when I see him beside me, waiting for me to take them. “What’s this?”
He shrugs. “I didn’t buy any, but I always thought the wildflowers that grow outside look quite nice.”
I slowly take them, admiring the yellow and purple flowers.
“For me?”
He nods and sniffles awkwardly. “They’re cool because they grow even in colder months. Giving them to you is step four,” is all he says.
Step four?
“And how many steps are there?”
“Six.”
“So what’s the next one? And does that mean I’ve passed the first three?”
His eyes dip down to my lips for a split second. “The next one I’m not sure I know how to do.”
He lifts my head with two fingers on my chin and the look he gives me when my eyes meet his has my breath halting in its tracks.
“Step five is to make you smile.”
Well he’s now accomplished step five because that’s just goddamn adorable.
“And step six?”
He looks uncomfortable as he answers. “Step six is… a complicated one.”
“Interesting.” I chuckle lightly. “What are these steps leading to? What do they do?”
