"I'm taking you to the pictures."
Twenty minutes later, Bonnie was freshly showered and changed into a crisp suit that resembled the ones her father wore. Florence looked him up and down, brow lifting, and Bonnie blushed.
"The pictures?" Florence asked, taking the hand that he offered and standing to her feet. Without realizing what she was doing, she laced their fingers together. "Well, what's playing?"
Bonnie shrugged. "Some American film. Hearts of the World, I think," he said, waving to his father as the two of them exited the gym. "Your father mentioned that you'd been wanting to watch it, so I thought it'd be nice if we went."
Florence, confused but excited, squeezed Bonnie's hand lightly. "Okay."
She knew for a fact that she never spoke to her father about the pictures. With everything that had been going on, she hadn't even gotten the chance to see what was playing. So what on earth had her father been talking about?
As they walked to the pictures, Florence couldn't help but think of last night. Of the kiss she pressed to Bonnie's cheek and the talk she had with her father afterwards. The way Bonnie was holding her hand made her feel like they had some type of shared feelings.
"You look nice."
Florence blushed at the compliment, clinging a little closer to Bonnie. "Thank you," she mumbled, face warm at Bonnie's genuine smile. "I was supposed to be working today, but nobody told me they closed down shop."
Bonnie nodded understandingly. "Ah, so you got all dolled up for nothing."
Florence glanced up into his eyes shyly. "Well, maybe not for nothing."
And the grin he gave her made her heart soar.
"You know," Bonnie began as they neared the pictures. "I've never seen a film before."
Florence lifted her brows in surprise. "Never?"
"Never," he confirmed, amused with her awe. "Never spent enough time in the city to catch one. My sisters are dying to go."
"Well, we should take them," Florence said, waving at the vendor as they neared. "The pictures are my favourite place to go whenever I need to get away from my insane family."
Bonnie stopped at the vendor's booth, reaching into his pocket for cash. Florence took his arm and smiled at the vendor, who gave her a smile in return.
"Miss Shelby," the older man said, addressing her by name. "Which film is it for today?"
"Two for Hearts of the World, please."
"Right, have a nice time, you two."
Bonnie gave Florence a puzzled look as she took his arm and led him inside the dark theatre that was practically empty.
"Don't we have to pay?" He asked, and Florence gave him a grim smile, taking a seat in the back-most isle. "Or are things more different than I thought they were?"
He took a seat beside her, taking her hand automatically, fingers lacing easily. Florence hesitated before answering.
"In Birmingham, nobody is safe from the Shelby family." Bonnie stayed quiet as he heard the bitterness in her tone. "We go where we want, get what we want, and nobody can stop us. We terrify people, and I fucking hate it."
Growing up, Florence never paid for anything. Everything she got was handed to her on a plate. Whatever she wanted was on the house, or the house burnt down. And if she didn't get what she wanted, the Blinder's would take out their caps.
"We can't change who our family is," Bonnie said finally, and Florence looked up at him in wonder. "What they do is how they survive; I know that if you could change it, you would, but you can't."
"Ada tries," Florence whispered, their faces close enough that he could hear her. "She tries to pretend that this isn't her life; she took on a communist's last name, for crying out loud. But wherever she goes, it follows her like a ghost. We'll never be anything more than Shelby women."
Florence held her breath as Bonnie lifted his hand to cup her face, his eyes staring deeply into her own.
"For what it's worth," he said quietly, the opening credits beginning to roll. "I couldn't care less if you were a Shelby or not. I'd like you all the same."
And then he released her, and the movie started to play.
Curling up in her seat, Florence rested her head on Bonnie's shoulder, her face warming as she tried to pay attention to the movie, but failed. Her mind kept replaying the words in her head.
Did Bonnie Gold like her?
By the time the movie was over, neither Bonnie nor Florence had paid attention to a single scene. Their hands were beginning to cramp, but they refused to let go. Both their minds were pondering over the words exchanged before the movie as they walked towards Polly's house.
"That was a good movie," Bonnie finally said, swinging their joint hands. "A fine first example."
"Mhm," Florence said absentmindedly, staring at the ground as they slowed their pace, nearing her aunt's house.
"Are you okay?"
Florence glanced up. "I'm okay," she assured, feet stopping their movement as they arrived at Polly's. "I'm just—just thinking."
"About what?" Bonnie asked, leaning against the brick of Polly's home. "The movie?"
Florence shook her head. "About what you said before," she explained, bottom lip sucking between her teeth nervously. "The part where you said you liked me."
Bonnie flushed red as he ducked his head, the tips of his ears turning bright pink. Florence bet her buttons that she was equally as red, their hands beginning to get clammy as they held on tight.
"You meant it?"
"I did, yeah."
And without hesitation, Florence took a step closer, lifting herself up onto the tips of her toes and pressing her lips to Bonnie's.
The kiss was short and sweet, Florence pulling away before Bonnie could get the chance to kiss her back, her hand falling from his grasp as her face burned red.
Bonnie stared at her, dumbfounded, face splotchy with blush as he tried to find the words to say to Florence. Instead, he remained quiet, the two staring at each other in a tense, awkward silence.
"I'm so sorry," Florence rushed, taking a step back as her face burned. "I didn't mean—"
In the middle of her sentence, Florence was cut off by Bonnie, his rough hands taking her face between his palms and kissing her, lips pushing against hers with an urgency that neither of them were expecting. Florence's hands closed around his wrists and gripped tight as she kissed him back, his lips drawing her up on her tip-toes once again.
Neither of them could hear the door unlocking then swinging open, none other than Polly Gray watching the two teenagers make out on her front porch.
"Are you two finished, or am I just supposed to wait here and watch?"
