Seasons of love - Freenbecky ☆𝆬

Chapter 9: In Becky's arms

Freen doesn't know what to expect, but it certainly isn't what Becky blurts out as soon as the door swings shut behind them.

"He's not my boyfriend."

Oh. Shit. Becky probably sees all the emotions playing across her face –shock, shame, sorrow– and Freen throws her head back with a groan.

"He's not my boyfriend," Becky repeats, softly this time.

Freen squeezes her eyes shut and exhales heavily. She feels Becky take her hands and hold them comfortingly. She doesn't know what to say.

"I didn't mean to..."

"Act like a jealous girlfriend?" Becky offers, and Freen's eyes shoot open.

"Is that what we are?" she asks, her tone somewhere between hopeful and hesitant.

Becky smiles shyly and then shrugs. "Well, we have been eating lunch together every day for the past few months."

"Oh. I didn't realise..."

"That that's what we might be?" Becky finishes. "Neither did I, to be honest. Not until you started blowing off our lunch dates."

Freen looks away sheepishly. "Sorry. I just- I couldn't... I didn't want to find out that you were already with someone else. I guess I tried to quit while I was ahead, you know?"

Becky tugs Freen closer until they are practically breathing the same air. Freen heartbeat, once thumping near her stomach, is now pounding in her ears.

"Do you still want to quit while you're ahead?" Becky asks softly, the words playing teasingly over Freen's lips.

Freen shakes her head the tiniest amount, causing their noses to brush.

"No?" Becky questions. Her eyes flicker down towards Freen's mouth.

"No," Freen repeats, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "I don't want to quit anymore. I want to risk it all."

The kiss is chaste but rife with meaning, and Freen's heartbeat finally settles somewhere low in her chest.

_____

"Why art?" Becky asks when they have relocated to the loveseat in her office.

"The important thing about art isn't the quality of the work, or how much it costs, or how good people say it looks. It's about how it makes you feel," Freen says, playing with Becky's fingers absentmindedly. "Why flowers?"

"I like helping others express how they feel," Becky answers simply. "And sometimes they help me express how I feel."

"How do you feel?"

Becky pulls her hand from Freen's and tells her to stay put. She disappears into the storefront for a few painful seconds, and returns with a bouquet in hand. She offers it to Freen.

"I put in a last minute order for a couple of these, that's what Non was delivering when you saw us through the window," Becky explains once Freen takes the flowers. She then answers the unasked question, "Irin told me that you asked who he was. You don't need to worry about him though, he might make me laugh, but he doesn't make me feel the way that you do."

"And how exactly is that?" Freen prods, her eyebrow raised curiously. "How do I make you feel?"

Beckybgestures for Freen to hold up the bouquet. She points to two similar flowers, one white and the other pink.

"These are camellias. The white camellia says 'I think you're adorable', while the pink camellia expresses the feeling of longing."

Freen smiles bashfully, and lets Becky explain the third flower, a thicket of tiny purple blooms.

"Syringa vulgaris, or the common lilac," Becky says tenderly. "It symbolises first love."

Freen just stares at Becky with wide, unblinking eyes.

"Do you really mean that?" Freen asks, wonder lacing her tone.

Becky gives her a soft smile, the apples of her cheeks tinged pink, and that is answer enough. Freen gently puts the bouquet aside and tugs Becky closer, pressing her lips against her temple.

"I've never been more grateful to have been called out for staring at a cute girl on the street."

They share a laugh and another kiss, and Freen marvels at how much everything has changed in the space of a year.

_____

It takes four seasons –summer, autumn, winter and spring– for Freen to realise that she's been dating Becky all along.

Maybe she was kind of completely oblivious... and maybe she missed all of the signs. But she still ends up exactly where she belongs in Becky's arms, and that's all that really matters.