butterflies ઇଓ matt sturniolo imagines

𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘰𝘱 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦

ॱ⋅.˳˳.⋅˙ॱᐧ.˳˳.⋅ઇଓ

     the day was sunny, but not very warm. it was that early-spring kind of warm, where you might get a chill without a jacket, but the sun felt too good on your skin for you to care; the sky was as crystal as a blue raspberry ring pop, and all the trees and flowers rustled with an eager wind on the playground.

matt sat beside you on the grass, helping you pick petals off a plethora of dandelions. neither of you knew they were weeds, and if you had then you'd probably say they didn't count because they weren't real flowers, but since you didn't know, it did no harm. the sentiment would've been the same either way.
you were growing sadder with every flower, because they all seemed to tell you just what you didn't want to hear. matt watched you count what each one meant, and saw the darkness pooling in your eyes, and he didn't know how to explain what he felt but he knew he didn't like it.

"he loves me," you paused, plucking yet another petal, "he loves me not. he loves me," you frowned, fingers hovering over the last petal left, "oh."

matt didn't expect you to start crying, so when you did, he scrambled to solve the problem. the little boy plucked the flower from your hands and pulled the last petal up, and then he tore it in half like a piece of paper. then, he placed everything back into your gentle palms with a soft smile and a few counts of his own.

     "he loves you not," he took back half a petal, "he loves you!" and the other half.

     "but that's cheating!" you giggled.

     "no it's not!"

     "how do you know, matty?"

      "because i love you!" he blushed.

      you were too little to know he truly meant it, and so was he. but you knew when your father told your mother he loved her, she always kissed his cheek, just like she did for you at bedtime. so you leaned across the grass and planted a little kiss on the boy's cheek, and the tips of his ears burnt red. you watched him shuffle nervously, ransacking his pockets for something. his hand resurfaced after a moment with a metallic pouch as big as your palm, which is where he put it. you ripped the familiar package open and found a blue raspberry ring pop. it took no effort to slide it onto your thumb, and you scrunched up your face when you tasted its sourness.

      "will you stay with me forever?" he asked, his tiny heart beating so hard he thought it might stop.

     "of course, matty!"

     "i promise one day i will marry you, okay? but i have to go home for dinner in a little while. mom gets mad if i'm late."

     "i promise, too."

     you and matt intertwined pinkies in a precious little pledge, and he began to harvest more petals for you to pluck at. and as you watched his dirty blonde head bustle around in pursuit of more dandelions, you thought, he loves me!

ઇଓ

     neither you or matt ever brought up the ring pop promise. it was so long ago that it felt like it didn't count- well, that's what you told yourself. you assumed he forgot all about it, and that you were holding onto a memory that he'd never recall. he felt the same. the only difference between you and him now was that you didn't plan to act on it, and he did.