chapter twenty-three ; queries and quantum mechanics

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Sunflowers were Dahlia Anelace's favorite flower. You might think that she'd be one of those people who learned to love the flower that was their namesake, but you'd be wrong. She hated being predictable, so she stood strong with sunflowers.

When Pietro Maximoff had found this cute, albeit slightly strange, fact, he had made it his mission to make it so she never went a single day in her life without seeing one.

So, when they bought their adorable little cottage on the outskirts of New York, Pietro's first act to 'christen' the house, as he called it, was to plant sunflowers in every stretch of their yard, so she could never look through the window without getting a glimpse of them.

With a huge supply of them at his disposal, he would leave the flowers for her in different ways every day, tucked behind her ear when she woke up, replacing her bookmark in her favorite novels, in an envelope with a sweet note, his creativity was endless.

That was why, even today, on June 7th, Pietro's 29th birthday, he put her first, with a dozen sunflowers laid out on the kitchen table.

A soft song sounded through the cottage hallway, leading up to the kitchen, where Dahlia and Pietro were slow dancing to a familiar song, one they had twirled around to all those years ago, before the world had fallen apart.

I know I'm just a fool who's willing
To sit around and wait for you
But baby, can't you see there's nothing else for me to do?
I'm hopelessly devoted to you

But now there's nowhere to hide
Since you pushed my love aside
I'm out of my head
Hopelessly devoted to you

"You've gotten considerably better at this, Speedy." Dahlia laughed in surprise as her boyfriend dropped her into a dip, playfully hitting him on the shoulder.

Pietro smirked and raised an eyebrow. "You think so?"

"Well, seeing as you've yet to drop me, I'd say so."

The silence was peaceful, and they swayed to the music with smiles.

Dahlia hesitantly brought up the topic they both wanted to ignore. "How are you? About today?"

He tensed up a bit, hesitating to answer. "I'm... I don't know how to say it. I've had five birthdays without her now, and it never seems to get any easier."

She pursed her lips, not sure how to comfort him. "Darling, it's never going to be easy. You and I both know that. Wanda was your closest friend, there was a time when you only had each other, it makes sense."

Dahlia placed her hand on his cheek, running her thumb across his jawline.

"I love you, you know that, right?" Pietro looked at her like he would move the moon and stars for her, because he would, if she only asked, even if it broke his back in the process.

"Oh really? It's not like you say it to me five gazillion times a day," Dahlia grinned and kissed him on the nose. "I love you too."

"Stupid." He grinned and leaned closer.

"Loser." She retaliated with a smile, their noses brushing.

"Jackass." Pietro's lips brushed hers, strands of her hair tangling with his fingers.

Dahlia pulled away after about three minutes. "Idiot."

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