Get ready for a longer than normal chapter--
And remember, interludes are past events!
-When we were in love-
Pt. 1
A rose.
Carmen hesitantly took it from my hand, her fingers light and stealthy as they held the stem, careful of thorns. She gazed at it for a moment before looking up to me, searching my face.
"For you."
She simply nodded in understanding.
"I love you."
Carmen nodded again, tears in her eyes.
I stepped forward, taking her face in my hands to kiss her cheek lightly. "I know the world is so strange for you right now," I whispered. "But maybe..."
Carmen swallowed, the rose between us.
"Asking you to be my girlfriend almost feels weird, just because of everything that's been happening recently."
There was silence from her, and she suddenly wrapped her arms around my waist, the rose fluttering safely down to the ground. I stiffened, but quickly relaxed into her, burying my face in the crook of her neck as she hugged me. "Is that a yes?" I muttered with a small laugh.
"Yes it's a yes, you dork," she huffed, her voice warbling as she answered into the hood of my jacket.
"Well then kiss me already!" I exclaimed jokingly, smiling brightly as she finally looked up.
She shook her head in exasperation and went back to hugging me.
I pressed my lips to her head instead, patient and willing to wait.
"And then if you put your thumb here, pointer finger here, and your pinky here, and now play up- yes, good!"
A smile split my face, and I angled my head to peer at Carmen. We sat together at the piano, situated so that our legs were pressed side-by-side, her hands resting over mine. I had only ever touched a piano once before, at VILE Academy. I had never been taught, and it was really just me running my hands over the smooth surface and plunking a few keys, so when Carmen had asked if she could teach me a song, I had been hesitant to comply.
But comply I did, and now, here we were.
"What's this song called again?" I asked, removing my hands from the piano. Carmen immediately brought them back up to keys, rearranging my fingers back onto them. I chuckled lightly at this, and she gave a coy smile.
"It's called Truce. It's by Twenty One Pilots- you've probably at least heard of them."
I perked up at this. "Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun? Those guys? Didn't they play Blurry Face?"
She nodded. "That's them."
I gave a sad smile. "My favorite is their song Cancer. It makes me think of my mum. In a happy way, somehow."
Carmen already knew the story of how my parents died, with my dad drowning in an Australian reef and my mother succumbing to cancer when I was just three. I only remembered my mum- her dimpled smile and bright, kind eyes. And I knew that I missed her. Carmen's face was sad, and she quietly reached up to cup my face, brushing her thumb over my cheek. "I love you," she whispered, pressing a light kiss to my lips.
"And I love you."
We stayed there for a moment, wrapped up in each other, before I leaned away and wiped her eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry."
She sniffed and smiled. "Don't be sorry. It's okay to cry."
I nodded. "You're right. It's completely okay."
Carmen nodded right back. "Now come on. I've got a piano song to teach you."
"Date tonight? Just you and me?"
I looked up from my phone to see Carmen smiling at me, her eyes glimmering with excitement. I set the device down and returned her grin, propping my chin up on my knuckles.
"Why sure, lovely lady. What did you have in mind?"
She mimicked my posture, her head tilting to the side. "You're sure you don't have work?"
I nodded. "I'm all yours."
Carmen winked and stuck her tongue out at me. "Well then, I figured a picnic down at the river gazebo wasn't too far fetched."
My face softened. We both loved that place. "I'm all for it, darling."
She winked again and stood from the table, walking around it to kiss me. "Great. Meet me down there at seven, just bring yourself and your charm, and we're all set. Dress a little nicer if you want to."
I waited for her to leave the room, then hurriedly checked my watch. It was about four right now... I had more than enough time. "Except traffic is pretty sucky right now..." I muttered to myself, pushing back in my chair to stand and grab my car keys. "And If I want to buy flowers, I gotta go now."
I stared at the flower stand, totally and utterly lost. I knew Carmen loved red. That much was obvious. But I also knew she had a favorite, and she had told me what it was before. But now... I couldn't remember what she had said at all.
The stand owner exited from a door nearby and came back to stand behind his flowers, dusting his hands off on his apron. He gave a deep hearty chuckle at my expression, his brown face splitting into a kind smile. His name tag read Curtis. "How can I help you, young man?"
I gave a lopsided smile, running a shy hand through my curls. "Well, I've got a date with my girlfriend tonight, and I've never really gotten her flowers before. I guess unless you count a single rose."
Curtis laughed again, folding his arms over his chest. "Little lover man here, I see. I remember when I first got flowers for my husband. He was allergic like nothin' else, it was a nightmare. But," he said, raising a thick eyebrow at my sheepishness, "that's probably not the kind of story you want to hear right now, is it, my boy?" He grabbed a damp tower from over a bouquet and threw it over his shoulder. "What colors does she like?"
"Red," I answered immediately, and Curtis's eyes lit up.
He whistled. "Lucky for you, I just got a whole import of fresh red flowers, all different kinds. Why don't you come on back, look at them with me."
I followed him behind his stand and through the door he had exited from earlier, then paused, concerned. "Don't you worry about your flowers out here when you leave for a little bit?"
He waved me off with a kind laugh. "I know these people, and I know these streets. They'll be fine."
"If you're sure..." I trailed off as I followed him into a small room, my eyes landing on a bundle of roses. "I got her a rose earlier, but these are absolutely gorgeous." My fingers traced gently over the thick petals.
"Hmmm... let's see then. She like roses?"
I frowned. "Now that I think about it, she probably loves roses. She smells like them all the time."
Curtis nodded, moving a few crates to reveal another stand that held water-filled vases. One was full of a rainbow bouquet of roses, and I couldn't help but gasp. He paused, noticed where I was looking, and then smiled. "You like those ones? The rainbow? Aren't they just beautiful? I just got a bunch of them in for Pride Month."
"Carmen's bi, I think," I found myself saying, remembering the pink, purple, and blue flag patch she had sewn into the inside of her coat.
Curtis smiled. "Well, then these would be perfect, don't you think?"
I nodded, still entrapped by the colorful pedals.
The florist gently grabbed the bouquet from the vase and used the towel on his shoulder to dry off the dripping wrapper, then turned to make his way back to the door. I jumped, realizing I was blocking the way to the door, and quickly scooted my way back out.
Curtis stopped me when I tried to pay him, then handed the flowers to me. "It's on me. For the bi darling." His smile was warm, and I returned it gratefully.
"I'll let her know, she might stop by to say thank you."
Curtis waggled an eyebrow. "Don't you mean she might stop bi?"
I blinked, then burst into laughter, though his pun physically pained me. "Ok," I said between gasps, "ok, yeah, I'm going now, thank you, Curtis."
He waved. "Good luck on your date, young man. Sweep her off her feet."
Carmen POV
I sucked in a deep breath, smoothing down the red fabric of my blouse. It was the kind that slipped off my shoulders a bit, and I had fit my black binder (it was something I'd been trying out recently) over my chest to match my regular color scheme. Paired with my typical black cuffed jeans and a pair of rose embroidered Dr. Martens, I felt rather nice. The shirt was fancier than I typically wore, but still a little casual, so I prayed that Gray wouldn't show in a tuxedo. Not that I minded him in a tux, of course. He was always rather dashing in a suit, and it was his tendency to roll up his sleeves that really got to me.
I ran a hand through my hair, grimacing a little when my fingers tugged at a curl. I'd been wanting to cut it recently, right back to the length that I'd had at VILE. Having it down to my waist was a hassle sometimes. I laughed at that thought. It was ridiculous, really, how long it was. I had used hair extensions at first, when I first left the academy, but once it had actually reached that length, I'd ditched them.
"Maybe it's time for a change," I muttered to myself.
I took another deep breath and glanced around at my surroundings, feeling proud of my work. Zack had been helping me string lights around the inside roof of the gazebo, and soft music played from my speaker. A blanket occupied half of the wooden floor, with a meal I had compiled together set neatly by it, ready to be eaten.
I took a moment to just admire everything, bathed in the warm glow of the fairy lights. It was so... peaceful. A smile pulled at my mouth, and I sighed happily. Life had been calming down for a little bit in the past month or so. VILE seemed to be taking a small break, though that did cause worry. I tried to not think too hard about it. After all, I had Gray with me. How long had it been now? Six months? A year?
I couldn't remember, strangely enough. It felt like I had been with him my whole life.
Ivy would know. She kept track of stuff like this rather well.
A warm breeze blew through the gazebo, and I breathed it in with a smile. I loved the summer months here. So wonderful. Flowers and sunshine and green grass- oh, I absolutely adored it. "And walks in the evening, with the sunset..." I muttered to myself, stretching lightly and leaning against the railing.
"Walks are rather lovely, aren't they, my love?"
I hummed as Gray's arms wrapped around my waist from behind, twisting a bit to kiss his jaw. He hummed back, a smile on his lips, and I turned in his embrace to kiss those, too.
"I was just thinking we could go on one tonight, perhaps after whatever you have planned."
I lightly tapped his nose at this, giving a coy grin as I looked him up and down. Light blue dress pants, dark gray polo shirt, and white Dr. Martens that almost matched my own, with blue flowers sewn into them. "I suppose we'll see, handsome."
His expression seemed to falter, and Gray's face softened. "You're beautiful," he muttered, sighing softly. He hugged me to him, swaying a bit. "I love you."
I buried my face in his neck, hugging him back. "And I love you."
We stayed there for a moment, until Gray suddenly perked up, untangling his arms from around me to turn and grab something that he had placed on the railing behind him. I gasped as he held a bouquet of rainbow roses out to me, his brown eyes bright. My finger trailed over a thick petal hesitantly, awe in my gut. "They're gorgeous," I breathed, looking up to meet his gaze.
His smile was adorably shy. "The florist suggested these ones specifically, for Pride Month."
I blinked back sudden tears. "You- I never told you, did I?"
He chuckled softly. "You've got a flag sewn into your coat, babe."
I smiled, suddenly feeling shy. "And you don't mind?"
Gray laughed a bit louder. "We grew up with one of the gayest classes at VILE- it's not like I couldn't already tell, you know."
"That's true... El Topo and Le Chèvre were dating, weren't they?"
"Still are, as far as I'm concerned."
"Ah. I ship it. Too bad they're kinda the bad guys."
Gray shrugged, his eyes going back down to the flowers. His voice was soft. "But, yeah. I think I remember you saying you like roses?"
I returned his quiet smile. "I love them."
His sigh of relief brushed over my chin. I giggled.
Our meal complete, stomachs comfortably full, Gray and I sat against the gazebo railing, snuggled up together after dancing to the music for a bit. The fairy lights danced peacefully, and I found myself crying a little, just at the utter tranquility of the whole scene.
"Carmen?" Gray took notice of my tears and sat up slightly, his hand cupping my face. "Whats wrong?"
"Nothing," I whispered softly, my throat tight.
His brow furrowed, and I knew he was about to say something along the lines of "it's never nothing," so I spoke up again.
"Really, Gray. Nothing, really. Or- nothing bad. I'm just... really happy. Here. With you."
Gray's face shifted, his dimpled smile that I loved so dearly returning. "Aw," he cooed, his own eyes a little wet, "you're goin' soft on me, Carm." He snuggled a little closer, pressing a sweet kiss to my cheek.
I gave a wobbly laugh and leaned slightly away in mock offense. "Hey, no I'm not! I'm Carmen Sandiego, you wisecrack." We both laughed for a moment as he struggled to get me to cuddle with him again, and when I finally gave into my own urges and started tickling him, Gray shrieked joyously, surprising me at how shrill it was.
He slapped a hand over his mouth, face red, quite obviously completely embarrassed.
I, on the other hand, was roaring with laughter.
Gray took this as his cue and began to tickle me right back, and I gave my own childish shriek, scrambling to my feet. He did the same and followed after me as I darted to the dock, giggling like a madman.
Screw being well into my twenties, tonight I was young and in love. And I hoped to have eternity with this young man.
Gray fell for my ploy, his feet landing on the dock as he kept after me. I had slowed, my now bare heels at the edge. I fully planned on pulling him into the water, but I would need to get him to take off his shoes, too. We were having fun, sure, but Dr. Martens didn't do too well dunked in water.
"Shoes, babe," I said, and he didn't even pause to think about why I wanted him to take them off as he untied them and tossed them to land. I clicked my tongue and made finger guns at him. "I'm gonna tell Zack and Ivy how high of a note that was, and won't they be just absolutely delighted at the idea of finding ways to make you do it again, they love a good prank after all..."
"Oh, no, you don't!" he yelled comically, his footsteps loud on the wobbly wooden planks as he neared.
I smiled devilishly, bracing my stance and readying myself, eyes narrowed.
His own gaze widened as he reached the point of no return, realizing my plan all too late.
His hand snagged my wrist, and I was pulled into the river right along with him.
My heart sighed at our antics. What a boyfriend.
We both surfaced in the light current, gasping and sputtering at the sudden cold as we helped each other to the riverbank. Our surprise turned to absolutely joy in just moments, and we both sat on the rocks, laughing.
"Just for the record," I said, once I'd managed to calm down, "I went soft on you a long time ago. Also, I don't think we're going to get to that walk."
Part two of this interlude will hopefully be out before the weekend but no promises :3