When the Hydrangea Flowers Bloom

Chapter Sixteen: The Night

I rode back home in the car with the other girls. They talked for the whole trip back, but I didn't listen to a word they said. I kept replaying the fight in my head, expecting to feel sad and lonely, but I didn't. I felt relieved.

When we got back home, everyone was exhausted from a full day of nonstop walking, so we all went to their bedrooms. I slowly stumbled my way up the stairs, my feet killing me. When I got to my room, Pietro greeted me quietly and curled up on the end of my bed as I opened the French doors, undressed, and took a hot bath.

As I washed the dirty London streets off of me and closed my eyes, I felt refreshed. Like I had a clean slate and was able to start over. After my nice long bath, I decided to put on a rare pair of pants. I had heard of Elizabeth Smith Miller, a woman from America who would wear them. I had always admired her and the way it looked, so I would very occasionally partake in the fad.

I walked downstairs, shoeless holding my journal, a pen, and a lantern. I walked outside and to the flower garden gazebo, my favorite place to write. As I described the past few days, I remembered that Professor Fawcett was Richard's dad and mentioned, but didn't put any details into my relationship with Richard. I described only the city and what it was like being there for the first time in so long. After a page or two, my hand hurt too much to continue writing, so I put my pen down.

I looked up at the manor and saw one light on. I looked closer and saw that it was one of the guest bedrooms, Eugene's in fact. As I wondered what he was doing up, he walked out onto the balcony and looked out over the yard. When he noticed my light, he stopped and I waved. He gave a slow and confused waved back. I held up one finger to imply 'one moment' and walked along the path that went by our bedrooms.

Once I was in earshot, he said, "Hortense? What are you doing?"

"Writing in my journal." I held up my notebook to show him. " You?"

"Thinking. It's late."

"I know."

"Did you have a good time today?" he asked.

"Well- wait one sec." I walked up the path and back into the house where I knocked on his door. It opened. I realized I had never been inside his room before. It was identical to mine, just mirrored and with fewer decorations. I sat down on his bed. "It's a long story."

"I got time," he took a seat next to me.

And so I told him all about my day. The fun, in the beginning, the fight, the breakup. He was such a good listener, I probably could have talked for hours more.

"Wow. You really broke up? How do you feel?"

"Really good, actually. I didn't notice until it was over, but our relationship was just a big weight over my head." He nodded. "So, how was your day?"

He sighed. "Good. I guess I'm just not one for cities. I like more quiet towns. Like ours."

"I know. And things are good with Flora?"

"Yeah. I know you want us to go 'public' or whatever, but I just don't think we're ready."

"Why?" I asked, trying my best not to pry.

"I don't know. What do you think?"

"What do you mean, 'what do I think?' It's not about what I think."

"Come on, you always have an opinion. And it's usually right."

"I do? It is?"

"Yes, always. It can get really annoying sometimes." I lightly punched him on the arm. "Hey! It's true! Remember when Chris Anderson got kicked out of class when we were ten and everyone felt bad for him because he said it was because his dad was sick, but you didn't believe him and you were right?"

I thought back. "Oh yeah! His dad wasn't sick, he was off on a business trip! Wow, I can't believe you remember that."

"How could I not? You rubbed that in our faces for a year."

I scoffed. "Anyways, you want my opinion?"

"Please."

"I think there are two reasons you would want to keep it secret. One, because you really like her and you think going public will put pressure on your relationship, which is stupid by the way. And two, you don't actually like her that much and once you start officially dating, it'll be a lot harder to break up with her. So you just need to figure out which one of the two it is." I looked over at Eugene, who looked deep in thought.

"How do you know which one of the two it is?" he asked.

"If you even have to ask, it's the second one."

"Dammit."

"What?"

"You're right again!" I laughed, and the defeated look on his face turned into a small chuckle. "It's not funny!"

"'It's pretty funny...'" I quoted him from earlier. "So what are you going to do?"

"I guess I have to break it off with her."

I nodded. "What went wrong with you two? You seemed so happy in the beginning."

"I don't know. I guess the spark just fizzled out."

"I can understand that." I waited a couple of seconds then asked, "Do you think we'll ever find love?"

He looked at me. "Of course we will! There's no doubt in my mind."

I smiled, then laughed embarrassedly and put my head in my hands. "I'm so sorry. I still can't believe I sat on you!"

I looked back up and over to Eugene. I just now realized how close our faces were. I expected him to laugh too, but he just looked at me, his soft brown eyes piercing.

"What?" I asked.

He shook his head softly, closing his eyes. "Nothing, it's just..." Before finishing his sentence, he looked back up at me and kissed me. His hands ran through my hair, his soft lips on mine. Taken aback at first, I didn't know what to do. I sat there, eyes open wide in shock for a few seconds, but without realizing it, I melted into the kiss, closing my eyes and going with it.

Just as I was settling into the kiss, he pulled away, starling me again.

"Sorry." He waited for me to say something, but I couldn't. "Okay, if you don't kiss me back in the next three seconds, I'll leave and forget this ever happened, ok?"

I looked at him, my head spinning with a thousand thoughts.

"1... 2..." he looked at me, anxiously. "3..." another silent pause. His face fell before looking back up at me and tightening his face in decisiveness. "4..."

I giggled and wrapped my arms around his neck, kissing him again. He put his arms around me, too, and we kissed.