A Lily Among Thorns

𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝚂𝙴𝚅𝙴𝙽𝚃𝙴𝙴𝙽

✞ C E L A I   L a C R O I X ✞

A laugh escapes Celai. "Fine, fine! I was surprised," she admits.

"I know you were. You looked like a little kid on Christmas Day," Julian replies.

Celai stares at him and can say that she is genuinely happy with how their date is going and that she is starting to like Julian more and more.

It turned out that the Corvette was just a bonus to their date as they went ice skating, ate some food while watching the sun leave the sky, and now, they're ending their date with hot chocolate and talking about everything under the sun as they walk by the remaining Christmas lights. She's actually upset their date is going to end soon.

Julian catches her staring at him and he laughs softly. "Maybe I really should wear my glasses more. You haven't been able to take your eyes off me."

"Because they make you look so..."

"Go ahead and say it," he says with a grin.

"Hmm. Attractive wouldn't be the right word, I need something more," Celai teases, though there is some weight in her words.

"God, I ask that You humble me," Julian says as he presses his hand to his chest and looks up to the sky, which makes both of them laugh.

He looks down at his watch— which became more frequent as time went by— and Celai sees the smile leave his face. "Is it time to head back to the dealership?" she asks him.

He nods. "Yup."

Celai sighs. "So now it's time to start the boring process of car-buying?"

"I thought that's what you wanted to do," he questions with a smirk.

"Yes, but after the day we had. The rest of it is gonna go by so slowly."

"Well, I can make anything interesting, don't worry about that."

Celai rolls her eyes playfully before they walk back to the Corvette and begin driving to the dealership.

After a while of watching the city lights pass through her view, Celai looks at Julian and asks, "How were you able to 'test drive' this car for so long?"

"Myles and I go way back, so we do a lot for each other. I'm not gon lie though, this Corvette was a stretch." He shrugs. "But it was worth it if you have a permanent smile on your face." He glances at her. "It is because you had a good time, right?"

Celai nods. "I had a really good time. I'm down if you want to go out again."

"For sure, I'm already making plans. Our next date will be more traditional, a nice restaurant, but I'll still keep it interesting."

Celai finds herself staring at him again, and she doesn't know why. The more time she spends with him, the more she finds it hard to breathe, but she likes it.

"I'm not gonna lie," Julian says. "I... I've never felt this type of way about someone so strongly or so quickly. Maybe I shouldn't have admitted that, but I had to get it off my chest."

"No, I feel the same way," Celai says.

"Why is that?"