HEROES & SIDEKICKS ▹ W. PEACE [✔]

eight.

That night, Warren showed up at Astrid's doorstep. He had on his usual "bad boy" outfit, and the only greeting he offered was a tentative smile. He took his arm from behind and showed her the bouquet he had brought.

"Is this a joke?" Astrid frowned at the flowers.

Warren looked from the flowers to her and then back to the flowers until he came to the realization of what that could imply.

"I keep messing up, don't I?" He huffed at himself and passed a hand through his hair, lowering the flowers. "The shop attendant said that these are Purple Hyacinth. They symbolize sorrow and forgiveness. I thought it'd be a nice way to say that I'm sorry. I never gave you flowers before."

"You're not the type," Astrid observed, softening her eyes as she saw he had good intentions by doing that. He hadn't thought about that maliciously. "I'm not much of a Flower Girl either," she joked lightly, using the nickname she used on Layla before knowing her name was Layla.

The pyro chuckled, glad she was in a good mood. "Yeah, you're not much of a high-maintenance girlfriend, so it was hard for me to think about something to give you."

"A bribe?" She rose an eyebrow.

"I know these things don't work on you. I don't want to buy your forgiveness. But I want you to know how sorry I am for undervaluing what we have. It was a completely, totally, utterly dumb decision. I never meant to hurt you or to put a strain on our relationship, so I told Layla about us."

"Yeah, she told me," Astrid nodded.

"She did?" He blinked in surprise.

"This morning at school, she apologized for putting you in this situation and breaking us apart."

"It's not her fault. That was all me for agreeing."

"That's what I told her. Not that she should've waited all this time to do something about her feelings for Stronghold, but it wasn't entirely her fault. It was just pathetic of her." Grey and brown eyes silently stared at each other for a moment, full of regret, hurt, and forgiveness.

"I'm sorry for making you cry," Warren whispered, regret evident in his eyes. Astrid's breath hitched. How did he know that? "My mom told me," he explained, noticing the question on her face.

"My uncle heard me," she exhaled slowly. "Of course he did."

He nodded. "I've been a shitty boyfriend for the last months, but if you give me another chance to make things right again... Please..." he pleaded.

Up until then, Astrid had never cried, and Warren had never begged. Oh, the things they did for one another. They really were meant to be, weren't they? A couple of fools.

"Come on, give me that." She extended her arm for the flowers, and Warren promptly complied. She turned and got inside her house, leaving him standing there helplessly by himself. She stopped by the door and looked over her shoulder. "Aren't you coming?"

"Are you sure?" He hesitated.

"I think we both have suffered enough. Have you eaten already? We ordered Chinese tonight. I suppose there are still some left." She offered him a smile.

"I'd love that," he smiled back, striding up, grabbing her by the waist, and kissing her fiercely, giving into the pent-up desire. "God, I missed you so much." He brushed his nose against hers.

"I missed you too."

That night, it was the first time that a power cut hadn't happened when Astrid and Warren made love, so they took it as a sign that things would get even better than they used to be.