The Last Daffodil

8

8

The next day was Saturday and we caught the 10:25 ferry back home. Travis stayed in the car and read through the book the entire way back.

I didn't want to go back home when we docked so I suggested we drive to the boardwalk and get lunch there. We could even call Quincy and tell her what we found.

Travis seemed distant. I understood. If I had learned that my mother was the greatest witch of her time, I would want to think about it too.

The tourists clogged the boardwalk. It was kind of unexpected because of the earliness of the year. The summer-like heat beat down on me and the inside of my sweater became almost unbearably hot. But I didn't take it off. I never took it off.

We had already passed countless souvenir shops and even an ice cream shop and we still hadn't decided on a place to eat. I was about to call it and say we should just go get Mcdonalds when I saw them.

Dalton and Silvia Cravel.

How were they here? Travis and Quince had left nearly ten months earlier and no one had even heard from those two since. How did they know that Travis and his family were back in town? How could they possibly guess that they could have ever come back here?

I recoiled and tried not to gasp out loud. I didn't want to pull Travis from whatever thoughts were on his mind.

"What is it?" He asked. Of course he had noticed.

"Oh," I said, looking up at him. "Nothing. Just... uh... a spider." Travis nodded and went back to his brooding silence. Dalton and Silvia were coming towards us now. I had to do something. If Travis learned that they were here, he would tell the others and they would leave again. They would leave me behind again. I reached out and desperately grabbed the sleeve of Travis's shirt.

"What?" he asked, stumbling to a halt. He didn't sound annoyed, just legitimately curious. And worried.

"Travis." I searched for something to say. If I sounded anxious then he would know that something was wrong, and if he knew that something was wrong then he would take his family and go. Suddenly something came to my mind that I really didn't want.

"Public signs of affection make people uncomfortable." Natasha Romanoff had explained to Steve Rogers before kissing him on an escalator to avoid attention from the Hydra agents. I tried for an awkward amount of time to think of a better plan, but my relentless, stubborn brain would not change course. I took a deep breath and hoped that this wouldn't ruin our entire friendship. Then I stood on my tiptoes and pressed my lips to his.

I kept my eyes open, watching the Cravels with so much concentration that I barely even registered the kiss. I slid my eyes nearly closed as they caught sight of us, and watched as they both turned their backs in disgust. Almost everyone around us was avoiding us in some awkward way.

I pulled back and stared at Travis, once again worried about the consequences that action would have.

"Daf..." his eyebrows were furrowed in... confusion? Disgust? Disappointment? "I didn't know you... um... felt that way about me."

I gave up. The look in his eyes told me that I had to tell him what had just happened. That the kiss was only a ruse to scare away he villians. I would tell him, and he would leave again. But when I opened my mouth to speak, what came out was: "Honestly? Neither did I. Not until yesterday when I saw your dedication with finding your mom, and with that book. And I kind of found out that I've been feeling that way since I saw your face for the first time in the woods." As soon as I closed my mouth I realized that every word was true.