NICHOLAS (old version)

chapter fifteen: flowers

After a long night alone in the bedroom, I woke up to the sunshine on my face and the smell of bacon surrounding me. I sat up, realizing rather quickly that the smell came from the tray on the bed beside me, and I took great care not to move too quickly out of fear of disturbing the glass of orange juice on the corner. It carried Nick's scent, strong and fresh, and I realized I must have just missed him.

It was sweet, to think that he'd brought me breakfast himself. However, I didn't bother to dwell on the romantics of it; I found myself shoveling spoonfuls of eggs and pieces of bacon and sausage into my mouth, reminding myself to drop a hint to him that I preferred my bacon well done.

As soon as the tray was empty, I tore the blankets off of my legs and caught sight of the little sticky-note on my nightstand. Written in curly cursive,

Today I learned that roses are red,
Violet's are more purple than blue,
And I can't write poems.

Get dressed, come find me.
- Nicholas

I scrabbled to my feet and rushed into the bathroom, all but jumping into the shower. I wanted to see him, and for once, it wasn't because it was instinct or curiosity. After last night, I wanted to see what he was going to do, what he wanted happily-ever-after to be. And more importantly, I'd found myself in love with his insistence of making me fall. I wanted him to know how much I appreciated him staying reasonable when I... wasn't.

As soon as I was dried off, I ran to the dresser and pulled out a dress, eyeing it up. It was simple, white and covered in red flowers, and it was then that I realized Minnie hadn't given me shoes, save for the heels from the trial. I was half-tempted to go hunt her down and beg to borrow a pair of something, but I decided not to. It wasn't like Nick was about to let me outside, and even if he did, I didn't necessarily need them.

I hardly had the clothes on when I swung the door open, stepping into the hallway, and the scent hit me. Outside and warmth and sunshine and pollination-

Flowers.

I stared at the little tables between each door, the vases of fake flowers gone, replaced by real flowers. They were roses; a bit cliche, but still romantic. I was a sunflower fan; however, any flowers in the middle of November were hard to come by. Greenhouse grown or imported, really the only options.

I stood there, staring at them for a moment, before Nick's scent filled my nose. It was like the scent of a steak to a starving man; I couldn't help but follow it, down the hallway and through the house. I still hadn't entirely figured out how to navigate it yet, but I could follow a scent. I could follow his scent through anything.

Down the stairs, down more hallways. I realized that we were somewhere near the room that I'd been cut in, and by instinct, the wounds burned. They'd scabbed over, and I'd gotten rid of the bandages, but they still hurt to the touch, to even think about. 

The smell of outside came from inside. It was mingled with Nick's scent, and I slowed s I neared the end of a hallway, eyeing a set of massive oak double doors. The scent came from behind them, and I knew what it was before I even opened the doors, but I did so anyway.

It was probably a sun room, before. A glass ceiling, glass walls, save for a wooden frame and pillars, much like the rest of the house. It was large, but not massive. And it was full of flowers.

They were in pots, of course, but they were still there. Big pots, little pots. Hanging pots, pots drilled into the wall, pots on the ground. There had to be a few hundred different pots, all full of flowers. Roses, forget-me-nots, daisys- and, in the back corner, I spotted a pot of sunflowers.