Flowers ❀ A Hadestown AU

❀ Chapter 6 ❀

He can't stop looking at her face. The way her eyes light up when she smiles, the way he feels when they looks into his. He's mesmerized by her.

The café she chose turns out to have great service and some pretty good food, so they both agree to come back. He makes a note of this in his head; they're planning a second date already, which must be a good sign. He attempts a couple of jokes to break the ice, and she laughs audibly at every one. They're off to a pleasant start.

When they leave, Orpheus notices that the clouds have gotten heavier, and he can almost hear a crash of thunder. Eurydice looks up at the sky with a frown, most likely thinking the same thing. But they keep walking, hand in hand, and his mind is pulled away from the weather.

He's learning a lot about her. Where she grew up, how she got her business started, and some funny customer stories. Working in a bar, he has just as many of those, and it feels like they can talk and share experiences for hours.

They get to the end of the block, close to his apartment building, and that's when it starts raining. It doesn't ease into it drop by drop, instead it feels like a bucket of water being poured down on them from the sky, and it keeps getting worse and worse.

Eurydice takes her hand away to pull the hood of her jacket up, laughing. "Oh, come on! We were almost safe," she complains. "I knew tonight felt too good to be true."

Orpheus ignores the flutter in his chest when she says this, and glances over across the street. "Think we can make it?"

"Actually, let's go in here." She turns and walks to the door of her shop, which has been closed for at least a few hours. He didn't realize until now that they were this close to where she works. She takes out a key and, after a few moments of struggling with the lock, swings the door open. "You coming?" she asks Orpheus.

He's never been in here at night— actually, he's never been in here at all. It's strange that he knows what it looks like from outside the window, but hasn't bothered to walk in or even set foot on that side of the street. It was always Eurydice coming to him.

Walking around, he takes the time to examine what's inside. He's always liked flowers, especially since they started reminding him of her. Something about the admirably arranged bouquets, and the perfume-y scent that surrounds them, makes him feel intoxicated.

"Feel free to have a look around," she's saying as she follows him through the shop. "We've got everything here. Roses, orchids, carnations..."

He reaches out to gently touch the flowers as she's naming them, stopping on a particularly bright red carnation. It's delightfully fragrant, bursting with colour, almost entrancing. It's beautiful. Like her. "Can I?" He looks back at her, waiting for her to nod before taking the single flower from its place and holding it out.

It's in that moment that she remembers the meaning of the carnation. Love.

Slowly, he moves closer and tucks it behind her ear. Her hand comes up to touch his, and she holds his gaze, neither of them pulling away. Orpheus feels his heart beating steadily in his chest. He swears he can hear hers, too, in sync with his own. She moves his hand down so that he's holding her face, lacing her fingers with his.

His next words come out in a breathy, barely discernible whisper. "Can I kiss you now?"

Placing a hand on the back of his neck, she leans in and presses her lips to his. His muscles relax when she does, his hand caressing her cheek, fingertips brushing against her hair. Eurydice steps back and balances herself on the counter, allowing them to break apart for air before leaning back in.

Orpheus has kissed people before, but it's never felt the same as this. He breathes her in, wanting to capture every inch of her in his memory, every second that he's kissing her. His hands go to her waist this time, keeping her steady as he lifts her onto the counter. Her fingers tangle themselves in his hair.

She feels as though she's in heaven, not wanting to be apart from him for even a moment. She could kiss him for hours, all alone in the middle of her shop. It occurs to her, briefly, that they aren't completely hidden from view; anybody passing by could get a good look at them through the window. But she doesn't care.

He settles his face into her neck, planting soft kisses down to her shoulder. She sighs into him and holds him closer. Hoping he never wants to let go.

After a moment, Orpheus straightens up. His eyes remain closed as he catches his breath before giving her another kiss on the lips. "I think we should slow down a bit," he says quietly, pulling away.

Her eyelids flutter open. "Right," she replies. She finds herself almost out of breath, reaching up to smooth down her hair. She touches the flower, still neatly resting behind her ear. "Too much, too soon?"

"I want every moment to be worth it," he says with a smile. Eurydice wants to scream— how can a man be so charming yet so unsure of himself?

He lets his hands fall to her sides, playing with a thread on her discarded coat. His eyes meet hers as she crosses her legs, her ankles meeting behind his back. "I had a really great time with you tonight," she tells him. "Not just the kissing— I mean, that part was amazing, but— everything."

"Really? Me, too." He leans in and touches his forehead to hers, the perspective making them both laugh unexpectedly. Eurydice's hand flies up to cover her mouth, glancing out the window, as if anybody would be in the neighbourhood at this time of night. She unwraps her legs and slides off the counter, the two of them suppressing their giggles.

"Well, should I walk you home?" she asks him, shrugging her jacket back on. She makes sure that the carnation stays in place when she pulls the hood up. "A little rain can't hurt us, can it? I'd argue that it's actually worked out well for us tonight."

Orpheus' grin widens. "Oh, yeah. Definitely."

She takes him across the street and to his apartment, stopping at the door to say goodbye. She watches him go inside and walk up the stairs, until he can't be seen through the window anymore. Then she goes back, double checks that her shop is locked, and sits down to wait for the 11:00 bus.