wellownedbkup

free topic: rosebud

she's pressed to a pillar on the other side of a silver painted tree, his face thrown in light and shadow from the string of led christmas lights strung therein. she's sure that she should be at least a little upset with her position, close enough to him to feel his heat dispel the lasting chill of the outdoors. there are people out there who would be scandalized by the way his arm is proprietorially caging her in and how she's enjoying every second of being pressed against the wall by him.

if she were any kind of brave, she'd rest a hand on his side, just to hold him that much tighter to herself.

as it is, she's hardly even looking at his face, though she can see his lips curving into a smug smile from where she's staring at that notch in his collarbone that's been teasing her from his open collar all night. she doesn't stop herself from reaching up to rub a fingertip in the hollow of his throat, unsurprised to see him flush and stand back a moment. there's going from a handshake to a hug in the course of a night, but any more would be something altogether different.

he holds out a single white rosebud, stem cut short like it had been his boutonniere before he'd shrugged out of his jacket to get down to work. she doesn't take it straight away, running her fingertips along the tip of an opening petal.

"i'm not very brave, chad," she says softly, a non-sequitur if anything.

"it doesn't have to mean any more than it does, sophie." he turns her palm up and places the flower gently in her hand. "you looked pretty tonight."

when he steps away, she's colder than she's been since the beginning of the night.