my moonflower. - damie.

eight.

dani woke up to the suble, quiet snoring from jamie. she blinked her eyes open, glancing around the dimly lit room as the rising sun shone through the sheer curtains. she sighed heavily, directing her attention to the sleeping woman wrapped around her. a tiny smile made it's way onto dani's face as she examined the gardener's delicate features. 

trying not to wake jamie, dani carefully slid her way out of their bed. stopping infront of her vanity, she reached up to adjust her hair into a way that looked even mildly presentable. after a second, it wasn't dani's reflection looking back at her in that mirror. instead, a faceless woman with long, curly black hair. dani wasn't startled, she'd grown to accept that fact that she wasn't alone in her own body, but she couldn't help but to stare back, it was almost as if she was in a trance. 

and as jamie opened her eyes from her sleep, that's how she saw dani. staring into her own reflection in the mirror, her eyes wide. 

"everything alright, poppins?" jamie said, her voice still raspy. dani jolted, gasping and turning to face jamie. 

"i'm sorry, i didn't know you were awake yet." dani said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. 

"it's okay, don't worry." jamie yawned, opening her mouth wide and sitting up in bed. "come here." she motioned to the empty spot beside her on the bed. dani listened, standing up and sitting next to the gardener. 

"i love you, you know that right?" jamie asked, placing her hand on her leg, rubbing her thumb in a circle. "i know, i love you too." dani sighed, leaning in and kissing her. not a long kiss, just a few seconds long, but to the two of them it felt like a millennium. jamie pulled away, reaching her hand up to grab dani's face. "i don't know what you're doing to me, poppins." 

dani smiled, kissing her once more before standing up and looking back at jamie. "i'm still glad you came back last night," dani said, her attention focused on the gardener sitting upright against her pillow. 

"yeah, me too." jamie said, smiling. "you look great, y'know. it's like you don't even have to try to look good."

dani chuckled, her cheeks flushing a soft shade of pink. "you don't really mean that."

"of course i do, i mean hell, we've just woken up and you already are as gorgeous as ever."

dani smiled, "i love you." she opened her drawer full of clothes, grabbing a few needed clothing items. "i'll be back." she slid out the room, closing the door behind her. 

jamie stood up, walking to the vanity to grab a necklace that was hanging  and wrapping it around her neck. glancing at her reflection, she'd study her own features. her curly dark hair and her blue eyes, she let out a small sigh. throwing on a t-shirt and an old leather jacket that was hanging up in the corner, she made her way out into the hallway and knocked on the door to the bathroom, where dani was.

"come in," dani's voice rang out from behind the door, jamie creaked it open and peered inside. "just wanted to tell you i was going to be in the greenhouse, thought you'd like to join me for a cup of coffee there?" 

dani nodded, "i'll be there in a minute." jamie smiled, closing the door to the bathroom back and beginning to make her way down the broad staircase. turning left into the kitchen, it was empty. it was too early for owen to be here, and hannah was either still asleep or somewhere upon the grounds. so, jamie made two cups of coffee, tossing in a few sugars and a dash of cream. 

dani met the gardener by the doorway, "you made it just in time." jamie said, gripping the two cups of coffee. dani opened the door, letting jamie go infront of her as they made their way to the building full of plants. the walk there was silent, but not in a bad way. they'd reached the point to where silence was comfortable, not awkward or apprehensive. 

jamie was the first to enter the greenhouse, placing her cup of hot coffee down and making her way to some potted plants sitting on the counter. as dani watched her fidget with the plants, she had no clue what she was doing with the plants, but she thought it was cute nonetheless. looking around the greenhouse, studying the different varieties of plants and flowers around the building, dani's eyes settled upon one plant in particular. walking over to the small white blossom in a small pot, she didn't dare touch it, but she just looked at it. 

"is this a moonflower?" dani asked, motioning to the small plant beside her.

"yeah, it is. that's the only one that didn't bloom, so i kept it. lord knows if it'll ever bloom, it may just stay closed up." jamie said, walking over and dousing the small plant with a bit of water. "i'll keep it alive just in case, you never know." 

"you definitely are a plant person, you put so much care and thought into them, it's admirable. people are a lot harder to deal with then plants." dani said, looking at the gardener as she wiped the small pot the plant was in with a cloth.

"plants a majority of the time are easier then people, that's true. never been much of a people-person. i've only put effort into a few people, and you're one of 'em." jamie said, placing the small pot on a higher shelf. 

dani took a sip of her coffee. "well, i'm glad you decided to put some effort into me, if you couldn't already tell, i like you a lot."

jamie chuckled, "no shit, really? i thought you hated my guts." 

"oh, i could never hate you." dani retorted, "how could i?"

"that's for you to figure out, poppins." jamie responded, turning to face her. "listen, you should probably go wake the kids up and get breakfast. you know where to find me." jamie leaned in to plant a small kiss on the au pair's lips.

dani sighed, "ugh, do i have to? i enjoy your presence a lot better than theirs, no offense to flora and miles, but.." her voice trailed off. "fine." she frowned, furrowing her brows. 

"you'll see me later, i promise." jamie brushed her thumb over dani's soft cheek.

dani turned away from the gardener, walking towards the exit of the greenhouse. "you owe me!" 

jamie laughed, watching the blonde-headed girl walk out of the building. four words rang through both dani and jamie's minds at a volume which was almost deafening:

shit, i'm in love.