Always, Tulip

▫️ Twenty-three

Grey's pov

I'm not gonna lie.

I had been looking forward to this day all week. My heart hadn't stayed calm neither had every other part of my body as I racked my brains on what exactly to do.

I might have sounded casual when asking her out but I had spent most of the entire week thinking. Thinking of what she would like, what would get close to being worth of her.

I wanted tonight to be perfect, just like she was. I was slightly nervous, this being a first, but despite it being just a simple dinner, I wanted it to be memorable, to her, to us.

I scanned my appearance one last time through the rear view mirror as I pushed my hair back and adjusted the black turtleneck I was wearing. I wanted to look good, I wanted to look good for her.

I left my car and went up the steps that led to her apartment. A warm feeling went through my chest as I stared at her door. I loved this feeling that I got everytime I saw her, texted her, thought of her and of seeing her again.

I rang the doorbell then stood back to straighten myself for the last time. I took in a deep breath putting my hands in my pant-pockets then removed them once again.

The door then opened after about thirty seconds, I wasn't counting. I watched as her smile widened when she saw me, her hair wrapped up messily. She wasn't done getting ready, perhaps I was early.

"Hi Grey," I gulped at how my name left her lips. It was so soft and sweet that I zoned out for a second and didn't realize she had moved closer to hug me. She let her arm hang on air before she began to slowly retract.

In one stride I closed the distance between us as my hand went round her waist and the other at the back of her head. She relaxed into my arms as her face rested on my chest.

My eyes closed a fraction as contentment surged through me. I loved having her in my arms, I loved being this close to her. She mumbled something under her breath as her arms finally wrapped around my waist.

I missed her.

I had been so busy with work all week that I didn't get a chance to meet her again after Dalton's birthday party. We still texted and called each other over the phone but it wasn't comparable to this.

"You look beautiful, sweetheart." I stared at her face once we had pulled away though I didn't remove my arm from her waist. She blinked up at me and then playfully slapped my chest while avoiding my eyes.

I smiled as she led me in and made sure that I was comfortable on a chair by the living room. She then brought me a glass of water, which I was grateful for.

"You're the handsome one," she looked my way whilst biting her lower lip as she left to finish getting ready. I stared after her back till she disappeared into another room.

I chugged down the glass of water in a single gulp then stretched my legs before me. My eyes went to the books before me but before I could check out one, my gaze was distracted by something on the wall.

I slowly walked over to the pictures on the wall. They were pictures of her family and some of her friends. She was younger there, probably three years ago. Her smile was radiant even then as her parents appeared to be tickling her in the photo.

I smiled too as I went through all her other photos. She seemed to have the people around her in a spell, which I had also fallen into. She easily made everyone happy, my sweetheart was indeed beautiful.

The door she had earlier gone into suddenly creaked and I jumped back to my seat. I pretended to fumble with my phone that was in my jacket but looked up when I heard her slowly approach.