The Lost Art of a Soft Romance

Gold

"Here, I-I bought this for you," he stammered. A clumsy greeting for a girl he'd gone his whole life knowing but almost never speaking to. He stuck out both hands, clasping the stem of the flower he was holding not unlike one holds a baseball bat. "I mean, it didn't cost much, I don't want you to think I spent a lot of money to impress you or anything, in fact it was fairly cheap... it was just the one, the flower guy gave it to me for a couple quarters, he accidentally clipped it and it was too short for any of his arrangements. It was my fault, really, I was talking with him and must have..." he trailed off when the tips of her fingers brushed against his. "distracted him..." he finished.
She took the flower and cupped it gently in both hands. She smiled down at it— a singularly giant golden Peony which was only just before blooming. She leaned in ever so slightly to smell its wonderful smell, then opened it up by planting a soft kiss in its center.
She just... just stuck her face right into the flower he gave her.
The light golden petals danced around her smiling closed eyes and lit up her cheeks so she glowed.
That was an odd thing to do, though, wasn't it?? To just faceplant into a flower?
She looked positively tickled pink, quite literally. Her cheeks and the bridge of her nose where her freckles converged were lightly dusted with a charming, glowing blush.
It— but it wasn't exactly normal, right?? Oh who cares... who could care when she looked so pleased with it all?
She looked up at him and swiped the soft petals over his cheek before clasping the stem to her chest and walking away to wherever she had happened to be going when she walked out her door that morning.

His heart absolutely pounded in his chest. He wasn't really sure why...
But he was pretty sure he was in love.