Hot & Heavy (Eren x Reader)

Chapter 43 - Still Feel It All

Before you took the flowers from Colt's hand, you wrapped an arm around his neck, bringing him close for a kiss. He bent down in surprise before softening his body to somehow hug you even deeper. The way Colt kissed you reminded you of snowflakes falling on eyelashes and cheeks only to be melted away instantly, like ephemera that was meant to be protected.

You finally dropped from your tippy toes and stepped back. He handed you the flowers that were a wide array of seasonal selections and colours. "Thank you, Colt, these are beautiful." As you dug around for a flower vase under the kitchen cabinets, you told him. "Daisies are my favourite...by the way."

Colt blushed and you smirked at his blundering. "Oh! I didn't know...I'll make sure to get those for you next time." He seemed almost apologetic. It only made you love and appreciate the arrangement all the more.

"It's okay! It's okay!" you laughed. You placed the flowers in the middle of the coffee table in the living room, right where the sunbeams landed all morning. Walking back to him you asked, "What are your favourite flowers?"

It was strange to ask trivial questions such as these. Sharing small details about each other that always seemed like common knowledge. What's your favourite dessert? What kind of music do you like? How do you take your coffee in the morning? You found even those small answers were changing, making everything you shared with Colt all the more meaningful. He was getting to know a version of yourself that no one else knew.

"Daisies. Those are my favourites too."

Your eyes widened at his answer, and he seemed to be avoiding your gaze. "What?! You're just saying that because I said it."

"I dunno! I've never thought about what kind of flowers I like." He held his hands up and shrugged his shoulders defensively. "What do you like about them?"

You paused, thinking back to seeing fresh daisies everywhere. They reminded you of the innocence of childhood, of when your mother would take you to the local farmers market on Saturday mornings to pick up a new bundle. You thought of new beginnings in your new house, and when she would put those freshly picked flowers on the sticky kitchen table. It even made you think of happiness and celebration, of when the thorns of roses were replaced with a fresh new scent.

They reminded you of the parts of home you wouldn't mind holding onto.

After a second of contemplation, you glanced at the photo of you and your mother at your high school graduation. In the portrait, you had a fistful of fresh daisies. You were missing your graduation cap, knowing that you had placed it on the head of the person who gave you those flowers on the other side of the camera.

"I guess they make me think of my mom and how she was able to be so strong for the both of us. Makes me think that I can be like that one day." You looked at Colt who was listening with large ears, soaking up everything you told him. "Thank you for helping me this past year. For making me feel strong again, for getting me back to who I am."

You saw that Colt nearly dropped the bottle of wine as you spoke. Any tension that was stored in his body was slowly being released as he soaked up your words. Breathlessly, wordlessly, confidently, he stepped towards you in the living room.

Colt was intelligent, loyal, and strong. He never used his words much to express his deeper feelings, using most of his mental capacity to analyze and deduce factual conclusions. But you could understand his silent inner monologue in the precious way he touched you.

As he spread your fingertips so that he could slot his own between them, and as his free hand pressed against your jaw, you felt every air molecule give way to give your skin every bit of contact. He didn't say anything, but every gland in his skin was screaming, 'I love you.'