Bold Love

Chapter 33 - Cooking and Gardening

Y/N's POV

Today I'm back at her place, roaming around the kitchen while Lizzie sits at the table with her open cookbook.

My last exam was written today and I feel exhausted, my body wishing to sleep forever, but seeing Lizzie again makes the situation a lot better.

I open her fridge, barely finding anything inside it. There are a few vegetables, some spreads and a used avocado and a bit of other things I can't place right away. Furrowing my brows I turn around, eying her with confusion written all over my face. 

"Where's your food?" I ask.

Lizzie seems lost in thought, nipping on her bottom lip. "Mhm?"

"Your fridge is nearly empty, Liz. Where do you keep your food?"

"Outside." She simply states, not looking up while scrolling through the recipes. 

I shake my head at the answer, leaving me more confused than before. Trying to get her attention, I walk up to her. "I know that you're not eating everything that comes from animals and I respect that, but I will not eat grass. My affection for you doesn't go that far yet."

"I'm not a cow, y/n." She looks at me with playful seriousness, biting down on her bottom lip. "Most of my food is outside because I like to do gardening."

I furrow my brows. "You what?"

"You heard me."

"So...You have your own little grocery store in your garden?"

"Yes. I had a landscape architect come over to help me with it last year." She smiles, standing up and reaching for my hand. "Come with me, I'll show you."

Lizzie leads me through the garden, whistling softly on the way, never letting the grasp on my hand go even when we arrive at our destination.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Lizzie's smile seems to widen even more, her eyes shimmering adorably as she crunches her nose. "When I'm not working I spend most of my time here, it helps me relax a lot."

I grin, seeing her cute reaction, rubbing my thumb over her skin in comfort. "And what do you do with them? I always thought you just plant them and give them water occasionally."

She gasps. "No, you need to do so much more. For example, I need to trim them at the right time or cut away any dead things." Lizzie explains, opening one cage to show me some plants.

"See, this one looks very dry." She points to a leaf that already hangs lifeless to the ground. "So we can be sure it doesn't produce any shelling peas."

She cuts the leaf off, continuing to explain to me the importance of caring for the plants, excitement wavering in her voice as she shows me her thriving strawberries.

I smile hearing her rambling over her plants, never before giving the whole gardening thing a second thought, but seeing her expression becoming happier with each second makes me rethink it.

"So we need a few tomatoes, a paprika and a carrot." Lizzie counts, closing the cage and walks a few steps to the other side, opening the another one.

Lizzie turns around, looking at me with a raised eyebrow. "Darling, I can't do everything for you when I'm going to cook."

"Already on my way." I chuckle, reaching inside, pulling out a few vegetables. "Is that enough?"

"Yes, that will do." She nods, grabbing a paprika out of my hands. When she touches my fingers, she sighs, "Now let's get inside, you're freezing."

Back inside the warmth of her house, I place the vegetables on the counter, turning around to face her. She looks at me for a moment, eyes trailing over my hair and back up to my face.