Theodosia strolled through the garden, playing with her hair. She did that when she was stressed. She was extremely stressed. Stressed about Philip. Stressed about school. Stressed about her father. Mostly her father. It had been two weeks, and instead of their usual short lived conversations every now and then, he had completely ignored her. When they sat down to eat their meals, he would sit on the opposite end of the long dining table and read the paper or a novel. Theodosia didn't dare to open her mouth. He was acting childish and she tried to pretend she didn't care, but she had been brainwashed into constantly trying to win her father's love. Once her mother died, that love was long gone. Millions of thoughts ran through her head as she slumped against a cherry blossom. She hugged her knees to her chest and began to cry. She just couldn't take it.
The girl was so embarrassed she was crying over something so foolish, but by this point, she couldn't stop crying. "Damn it..." she whispered to herself. "Pull yourself together, Theo." But she couldn't. Frances was wrong. Her life wasn't amazing. She may live in a mansion in the greatest city in the world, she may have loving and caring friends, but she didn't have a mother and her father didn't love her. Theodosia was shivering violently, from the wind and from the cold...and from the tears. Suddenly, a warm hand was on her shoulder. She stiffened and looked up to see Philip crouching in front of her, concern in his eyes.
Theodosia expected him to ask her whatever was the matter, which she didn't want to explain in the first place, but instead, he just sat next to her, silent. She tried, yet again, to stop herself from crying. And, yet again, she failed. She didn't even care anymore. Philip wrapped her arm around her and she leaned into his chest, her tears spilling into his shirt. He didn't seem to mind as he pulled her closer. The wind whipped around the tree louder, colder, and faster, causing cherry blossoms to rain down on them. If it was possible, Theodosia shivered even harder. Philip took off his jacket and wrapped it around her, holding her tight. And there, he sat with her. For hours. From morning till evening, he sat with her. Silent, but comforting. Eventually, she ran out of tears to spill. She leaned her head on his shoulder. "Thank you." She whispered. He smiled. "Anything for you."
They locked eyes, Theodosia's filled with love. "Isn't this what friends do?" He asked. She chuckled quietly and looked down. "Right. Friends." Philip ran a hand through his hair, grasping all the fallen cherry blossoms that had landed in it. He grinned mischievously. Theodosia looked at him, confused. "What?" She asked, wondering if there was something on her face. He answered her by bringing his hand to his lips and blowing the cherry blossoms towards her. She squirmed away. "Stop it!" She tried to hold back a smile. She picked up a pile of pink petals and tossed them at him. "Oh, you shouldn't have done that..." He playfully snarled. Theo's eyes widened, scared. "Er..." He tackled her into the piles of petals. She squealed as they rolled around through the piles, laughing hysterically.
But just as quickly as they started, they stopped, for they had heard the door slam shut. They didn't realize the position they were in: Theodosia rested on the ground with Philip above her on all fours. The two turned to see Aaron Burr watching them. They looked back at eachother and quickly moved away, faces red. Aaron chuckled and turned away. "F-father! I-it isn't what it looks like!" Theodosia cried, quickly standing up. She felt the blood rushing to her head and dizzily stepped back. Philip caught her just before she fell. She looked up at him again and mouthed the words 'thank you'. He gave a small smile and nodded. She turned her head back to her father, who was storming back inside. He slammed the door behind him once more. Theodosia released herself from Philip's arms, even though she'd rather stay there for eternity, and began running after her father. Philip grabbed her arm. She looked back at him. "Let him go. It's too late." He whispered. Tears ran down her face. She began to shake again. "No." He said, pity in his voice. He pulled her up so she spun around to face him, her hands on his chest.
Philip brushed a stray hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear. "I'm here." She looked down at her feet. "Hey. Look at me." She shook her head. "Theodosia." He said, quietly but stern. She obliged. "I'm here. He may never be. But...I'm here."
Theodosia wasn't quite sure who had kissed who first, but they were kissing. He broke away, their foreheads pressed together.
"I'll always be here."
