“I was just trying to break the—“
”—spell.”
Pressing her lips together, she nodded a few times after swallowing, hard. Yeah. She had been trying to break the spell. Because of course she was.
She expected him to get upset, because obviously it hadn’t worked, and obviously, they were still separated, but instead, a dopey grin spread all over his face. It reminded her of the night she had first kissed him, with all the joy in the world spreading through him. “I knew it.”
“Knew what?”
“Knew you still felt the same for me.”
Was that ever in doubt?
“It didn’t work,” she pointed out, and crossed her arms under her breasts. “I mean, what if I can’t—“
“You will. I believe in you.”
The Violet of fifteen years ago would have believed him and would have bloomed from his praise and appreciation of her. She would have done anything to prove him right, did do anything and everything to try and prove him right. She had fought and struggled for years, struggled with her magic and struggled with her mother. They had kept their distance for years, while he became bigger and stronger and she became weaker.
In the end, she had failed.
The Violet of today knew it was a false hope. She had been unable to break the spell fifteen years earlier. She wasn’t going to be able to do it now.
“You’re alright, though, right?” he asked, looking her over once more. She blinked, remembering what she might not be alright about. Right, the fire up in her apartment. The chemical smell on her skin.
“I’m alright,” she confirmed. “Just a little fire.”
Not just a little fire, but... he didn’t need to know that.
He was still staring at her, quietly, his eyes moving over her as he seemed to take her in. If she didn’t know any better, she would think he was undressing her with his eyes. Then again, she didn’t know any better. She didn’t know him at all. Didn’t know the sort of man he had become. Didn’t know if he knew how to undress a person with his eyes.
“Was there something you needed?”
He took a step back, clearly startled by her question, then looked at the flowers he had dropped on the counter. He picked up the bouquet and offered them to her, not saying any other words. Looking down at the bundle, Violet felt her heart skip a beat. If there was any sort of label she would place on the arrangement, it would be wildflowers. Specifically, they reminded her of the wildflowers that grew around Garoureve.
She would know, given how many flower bundles he had picked for her in their youth.
“Brought you this, along with a cup of tea,” he said awkwardly, and offered her the cup as well. “And uhh... I wanted to ask if it would be alright if I kept comin’ back.”
“Henrik—“
“Just, hear me out, alright?”
She should stop him. She should tell him that, whatever he wanted from her, whatever hope he had, it was misplaced. There was no breaking the spell, and if her mother refused to break it as well, then there would be no change in their future. Touching him, being around him, her magic flared, it hurt him physically, and it was dangerous.
They couldn’t be together. Not in the way she feared he wanted. Not in the way she still dreamed.
But, she would hear him out. She wanted to hear him out. She wanted to have a little hope.
“I would like to keep comin’ around, courtin’ ya, if that’s alright.”
“Henrik—“
“I didn’t say I was done yet. It’s been a long time, Violet, and while I recognize your scent and your heart still beats with mine, I know we don’t know one another like we used to. It’s gonna take you time to figure this all out, and in the meantime, I wanna get to know you. Get to know who you grew up to be.”
“Henrik—“
“Damn I love hearin’ you say my name, but if you give me a reason and it’s a stupid one, I’m gonna ignore it. That includes tellin’ me that you can’t break the spell or I’m gettin’ my hopes up for nothin’. You and me, we’re meant to be together, and nothin’ is gonna come between us. Somethin’ led me back to you. I ain’t sayin’ I wasn’t lookin’ for ya, but I’m bein’ honest when I say, this was just a pause point for me while I kept lookin’. And I been lookin’. Been lookin’ a long time. And now, here you are, so—“