Just a little ficlet about Henry and Grace and their first school dance.
He's always had a thing for her, but he's never been quite sure how to handle it.
After all, what do you say to the daughter of the Mad Hatter?
Henry shuffles his feet and glances around the cafeteria. It's their first school dance, something he's nervous about despite the confidence with which he walked in before. All the tables have been removed and the lights turned off. Pretty paper lanterns hung along the walls and from the ceiling, casting a gentle glow across the student body.
Not that there was many of them in the first place. It was a small school.
"Henry, what are you doing?" He turns to see Nicholas Zimmer – Hansel – walking over to him, a smile on his face.
"Uh, nothing. Just hanging out actually."
Hansel nods, as if this was the most natural thing in the world to be doing while the rest of the kids were huddled en masse in front of the speakers, bouncing up and down to some pop song Henry never heard before. (He doesn't really listen to music much unless it's what his mom puts on in the car, and that's mostly southern rock.)
"So where's your sister?"
Hansel points to the crowd and smiles. "Somewhere in the middle of that. I'm not sure how she's going to get out to be honest," he finishes with a laugh and Henry smiles back at him.
It's at that point that he sees Grace walk into the cafeteria. She's so pretty in her periwinkle blue dress and white sandals and Henry can feel his heart stutter for a moment as he watches her. He feels an elbow poke his side and looks to Hansel's grinning face.
"You like Grace, huh?"
He can feel the color rising on his cheeks and he's sure his ears have turned red by now. (His Grandma likes to tease him about that whenever he's embarrassed which, thankfully, isn't often.)
"Uh-yeah."
"Go ask her to dance. I know there's a slow song at the end of this thing. I'm pretty sure at least." He looked confused for a moment before nodding to himself and giving Henry a light push in the girl's direction. She's standing a little off to the side talking to another girl with blonde ringlets that fall almost to her shoulders. (He likes Grace's chestnut waves so much more.)
He walks over slowly, casting a glance or two over his shoulder at Hansel. The other boy just gives him a thumb's up, nearly bursting with excitement. (It's probably the first time in a while that he's been able to just be a normal kid. Henry knows the feeling.) The girl Grace is talking to is walking away and Henry sees his chance, moving faster across the floor and dodging a few people along the way. He sees her look up at him, smiling bright and he could swear she's going to blind him if she keeps doing that.
"Hi Henry. What's up?"
He stops in front of her, shoving his hands in his jean pockets and shrugging, suddenly at a loss for words. She gives him a curious look, but otherwise doesn't comment.
"So Grace, I was – uh – I was wondering if you'd like to… um…"
"Yeah?" She prompts him. She's stepped forward a bit and there's one a foot of space between them. (Maybe she likes him too maybe – but no she's probably coming closer to hear him better. The music is pretty loud.)
"Iwaswonderingifyouwanttodancethelastsongwithme," he gets out in a rush, turning bright red in his embarrassment as she looks at him for a moment, mouth open in surprise.
When he looks up, he sees her cheeks are pink and rosy, and she's avoiding eye contact with him. It makes her freckles stick out more and he can't stop staring, even if he knows it's probably not the best way to make her feel comfortable around him.
"Um…" She starts, nervously pushing her hair back behind her ear. "I – uh – I'd like that. Henry."
She smiles at him, barely able to meet his gaze and suddenly he's grinning from ear to ear because he did it. He can't wait to tell Killian when he gets home.
"That's- that's awesome. Cool. So I'll come find you at the next slow song?"
It seems her courage is returning to her and she stands up a little straighter, smoothing out her dress again.
"Yeah. I'll be here."
"Okay."
"Okay."
He's still not sure how to talk to her, but he's getting there.
For those who don't know the flower meaning for Viscaria is 'will you dance with me.' Review?