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withered petals

"i'll buy you some new ones," a mocking look, mixed with tenderness, appears on trent's face as he looks at maisie's dejected one at her wilted bouquet of pink roses.

despite his words, a pout still settles on the young woman's full lips as she watches a new petal fall and twirl until it reaches the flat surface of the belrose shop counter. with a sigh, she curses the flowers for not being eternal.

maisie did everything she could to keep them as long as possible. after all, being a florist, she knows it all too well. the bouquet ended up in room-temperature water which she changed every two days, having taken care to remove the leaves at the bottom of the stems which could contaminate it and ruin all her work. in short, she had done everything to keep them forever.

but sadly, three weeks later and only ten petals survive the pink roses, which are looking very gloomy, their end of life on the horizon. maisie still can't bring herself to throw them away —she promised to wait for the last petal.

in fact, the girl is not saddened by the death of the bouquet, but rather by the memory it represented. as soon as she looks at it, sitting on the counter, maisie can't help but feel a flurry of butterflies in her stomach and all the chills she felt during that starry night.

"will you?" her gaze finally shifting from the fallen roses to trent, he nods softly, a smirk twisting his mouth and maisie tilts her head to the side, squinting her eyes. "tonight?" she offers.

a small grimace stretches the boy's features and he admits with a pout, "i have a game tonight," and she nods. "i thought that maybe...," trent starts scratching the back of his neck and maisie holds back a laugh; he's having a hard time leaving that poor part of his body alone, "would you like to come and watch me play?"

"let me think," she raises her gaze to the ceiling and trent smiles fondly because he's thinking back to the time she found herself in the same position on their date, pondering whether it was wise to kiss him or not.

"hurry up, it's a limited offer," he bites the inside of his cheeks as he watches maisie's face turn into an amused expression.

"oh yeah?" shyly, she gallops the fingers of her hand from the boy's shoulder to his neck before wrapping both arms around it, "and who would you invite, if not me?"

as if the answer was obvious, trent retorts in a matter of seconds, "well, my three girlfriends. have you already forgotten?"

almost immediately, she lifts her body off his in an offended expression and trent laughs, throwing his head back and catching the girl by the waist, "but i promise you'll have the best seat," he whispers in her ear and maisie feels the ground crumble under her feet as the effect his voice has on her.

soon after, trent has to get out of the boutique so as not to be late for his team's preparations for tonight's game. he places a chaste kiss on her lips before leaving and promises himself to do it again at the end of the 90 minutes.

with a smile on her face, maisie watches as the boy blows kisses through the windows before he draws a heart on the cold mist. hers melts in her chest in a mixture of tenderness and sweetness at the sight.

he has just left, but she's already missing him.

💐

the red wave and the noise it can create impresses maisie and she finds herself caught up in the festive atmosphere after liverpool's victory tonight. even though she can't feel her hands or feet because of the cold, the girl knows that trent will soon be there to warm her up so she doesn't worry too much about it.

trying to find her way back to the car park, maisie waits patiently for the man, leaning against a wall. when she finally sees him in the distance, a radiant smile comes over the girl's face, which he returns almost immediately.

as trent had promised himself earlier, as soon as he reached her, he grabs her cheeks, closes his eyes and places his lips on hers without further ado. the cold that used to freeze her in place fades away in favour of a soft warmth spread in the hollow of her chest. smiling tenderly against his mouth, maisie detaches herself from him to appreciate a little more his precious eyes.

with both of his hands still around her face, he declares with a pout, "your cheeks are all cold, i'll leave my hands to warm them."

a tender smile is painted on maisie's face as she thanks him for his kindness, "well done on the win, even though i didn't understand anything," she finally admits with a laugh that turns the corners of trent's lips.

continuing to stroke her cheeks with his thumbs, he tilts his head thoughtfully to the side, his lower lip caught between his teeth, "i really need to teach you all the rules, so you can be an expert afterwards."

"like you're a plant expert?" maisie arches an eyebrow with a chuckle.

an offended look finds its way onto the boy's face and he replies, "do i need to remind you that i know the meaning of every rose? keep making fun of me and i'll never offer you some again."

his threat has little effect on maisie, who steals him a kiss and replies that he would never do that, and trent is forced to admit that, indeed, he is incapable of doing so.

watching the adorable look on maisie's face, trent lets a radiant smile take over most of his face when he notices the girl's braided hair. with a gasp of wonder, the boy takes his hands off her cheeks —much to maisie's dismay— and directs them to the two braids, which he delicately takes between his fingers.

"you braided them," he says softly and maisie feels herself melting because she loves when he notices the little things on her.

"i thought it would bring you luck tonight," she declares shyly and although she didn't think it was possible, maisie watches as trent's smile widens until his cheeks hurt.

"it definitely did," the footballer assures her before looking away from her hair into the florist's eyes, "you're my lucky charm."

maisie feels herself flinching under his words because, to the girl, she's the lucky one to have him and his amber irises. knowing that he considers her as such then causes an indescribable feeling deep inside her but it's so pleasant that she doesn't want it to ever end. re-sealing their lips together, maisie melts against his chest and trent enjoys the contact as he runs his hand around her waist.

he is slowly falling in love.
































































— notes.
how cute are they :/

la vie en rose, trent alexander-arnold Where stories live. Discover now