A Rose by Any Other Name

Chapter 10

Writer's Note- Wow, Minnie really went off on those whistle notes before Mariah Carey was even born. 
Vote if you can :) and if any of you feel so moved, tell me what you think of the story so far?
--

Slight edits and alternate version of song added  June 25th, 2019

"Is it just me or do you see a lot of lesbians?" I whispered to Mike, "Can I say that? Is that offensive?"

We were walking through the strawberry patches. The sun was high in the sky and there were a few clouds, with a cool breeze blowing. I was happy I wore my windbreaker. But I'd never seen strawberries like these before. There were tall green hedges that separated the spaces into aisles. You could barely see through to the other side, strawberries strung from the top to the bottom of the hedges. It made everything feel very intimate. And the aisles were wide enough to pass through on either side. We'd been given our baskets and started picking. I was reluctantly having a good time, me and Mike joking around. I enjoyed the absent touches Mike would give me when he touched my hair or companionably brushed my shoulder. I liked how every aisle felt like our own personal space.

There were other couples, and other families, too. A couple ankle-biters ran around but it didn't feel too crowded.

Mike laughed, leaning down and speaking quietly, "It's queer weekend."

I raised my brows in surprise.

"Yeah they reserve seventy five percent of the spots every last weekend of the month for lgbtqia plus. It's supposed to be a safe space. And they heighten the hedges for more privacy in some spaces. There are a lot of agricultural witches and warlocks working to maintain the height, thickness of hedges and number of strawberries. And families with two moms or two dads feel better coming here with their kids, and those spots have lower hedges so they can see their kids."

"Interesting," I said, really impressed.

"I know you might still be-" Mike looked shy suddenly, chewing on his lip and watching me intently. "—uncertain about this thing but if we go out on a date I don't want you to worry about stuff that doesn't matter." Mike said, squeezing my shoulder.

I looked at him wondering how someone could be that thoughtful. I continued picking strawberries, not saying anything.

Mike put his hand over mine as I reached to grab another strawberry. That gesture; his hand over mine felt achingly familiar but I just couldn't grasp it.

"Are you listening to me?" Mike teased, not removing his hand.

I nodded, trying to remember why this felt like something I knew. I looked up at him, wanting to taste his mouth.

"Why don't you kiss me anymore?" I said quietly, extricating my hand from under his and looking up at him. The last time he'd really kissed me was a couple weeks ago when he said he wouldn't initiate things anymore.

"I could ask you the same thing." Mike said lightly.

"But that's different. I—"I looked for an excuse. "I'll keep it real with you. If you wait on me to initiate things, Mike, then nothing's going to happen." I bit into a strawberry, fuck, it was sweet. Then, I put the stems at the bottom of my basket.

"Why won't anything happen?" he bit into a strawberry, a bit of the juice bright against the corner of his mouth. I had the indecent desire to lick away the sweetness. I settled on thumbing the corner of his mouth instead, licking my thumb afterwards.

Mike watched me lick my thumb like I was doing something considerably more obscene.

He wet his lips, about to say something when I felt something bump into my legs. I looked down to see a kid with messy hair, and a mouth smeared red with strawberry juice had collided into me.