Bloom

Lewis

"You dropped your paint brush." A male voice, one she knew so well, revived her from the memory.

"Lewis," Adeline whispered his name, as if speaking it any louder would unleash a curse. She turned away from him, once again picking up a brush as she colored the thin bristles with paint.

"Do not behave this way, Addie." He walked towards her, the gazebo's wooden floor groaning in protest. Adeline's heart accelerated when he said her nickname, a name he had called her so many times that now sliced her soul in half. She breathed in a ragged breath as her paint brush met the canvas.

"You cannot keep ignoring me, Miss Adeline Johnson." She pushed down on the brush so hard that the bristles fanned out in a tiny circle, all the paint squeezed out of it.

"I may do as I please, Mr. Williams." Adeline replied curtly, replacing her brush with a thicker one as she chose a different color of paint.

"At last, she speaks! But still, the elusive Addie will not look at me. She will not grace me with having her eyes meet mine. As I would get the pleasure of seeing her crystal raindrop eyes," she felt the floorboards move as Lewis took a step closer. Why must he make everything so difficult?

She closed her eyes, letting the breeze ruffle her hair as Adeline remembered the first time he had called her eyes crystal raindrops.

"Staring contest!" Her twelve year old self had challenged him as they sat at the foot of the gazebo steps, naming all the colors they could find in the changing leaves.

"Fine, but you are going to lose." He smirked, taking his eyes off the leaves to stare into hers.

"Ready."

"Set."

"Go!" They both glared at each other, making funny faces as they tried to get the other to laugh which would make them close their eyes.

"Wow..." Lewis reached out unexpectedly and pulled her face closer to his, examining her eyes. Adeline felt very self conscious as his dark eyes inspected hers. She had always been fascinated by his eyes. They were so dark that one could barely see the pupil, making his eyes seem as though they never ended.

"What?" Adeline asked cautiously, pulling slightly away from him.

"I just never noticed how pretty your eyes are, Addie." She had blushed, pulling away from him as she pulled her hair behind her ear, a nervous habit she would never break.

"How are they pretty?"

"They look like someone took crystals, like the jewels from your mother's bracelets and necklaces," she nodded in agreement at understanding his description but Adeline still did not know how her mother's crystals were the same as her eyes, "it looks as though someone took the crystals and made them raindrops. Then they dropped the raindrop crystals into your eyes."

"Goodness! Is that a good thing?" He smiled at her question, his hand reaching for hers.

"Yes it is," was his shy reply as they continued to hold hands for the rest of the afternoon, the staring contest forgotten as they resumed their game of What Color Is The Leaf.

She dug her nails into her palms at the thought of the joyous memory.

"My dear, you are crying." Lewis brushed a stray tear off her cheek, his touch making her eyes fly open in surprise. Adeline jerked away from his lingering finger on her cheek as she once again attempted to paint. She brushed her ungloved hands over her face, feeling her hands hit more tears as Adeline tried to rid her mind of him.

"I have missed you," Lewis whispered in her ear. She shivered as she tried to ignore him, picking up a paint brush as Adeline made long blue strokes with the thick bristle tip of the brush.

"I know you have missed me, too." She almost turned and slapped him for his arrogance but Adeline barely controlled her feelings as she dipped her brush again, this time splattering the canvas with a bright red.

"There is no reason to be angry. Why are you so upset?" His hand brushed her face, cupping her chin so Adeline was forced to look up at him. The sight of Lewis pained her more than anything she had ever known, even the monthly curse.

His brown hair and dark, chestnut eyes still sent her heart racing as Adeline silently counted all the freckles on the bridge of his nose, twenty-four. Twice as many last time, though that was a year and a half ago. Lewis ran a hand down her face, his thumb massaging her damp cheek. Adeline closed her eyes, leaning into his hand as her nerves began to unwind and calm themselves once more.

"I am so sorry," he murmured as he leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek.

Without even thinking, Adeline turned at just the last instant so that their lips met. She immediately opened her eyes in surprise, nearly pulling away. But Lewis put a firm hand behind her back, making sure she could not pull away.

He kissed her with a passion she had never known had existed. If only he had shown me this compassion when we were engaged. Her heart overflowed and burst into a thousand pieces as she now finally knew that he loved her, something Adeline had always questioned. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling Lewis closer to her as he let his arms dangle at her waist.

"Oh Lewis," she murmured into his ear when they had finally parted.

"Adeline, I am so sorry. I never should have done such a thing because-" Lewis pulled away from her abruptly just as Adeline heard the gazebo stairs exclaim in protest.

"Addie, why are you conversing with my fiancé all alone?" Camilla asked, her green eyes burning with anger and jealousy as she glared at both of them.