A/N: Inspired when I heard the All Time Low song for the Alice In Wonderland Soundtrack (it's called "Painting Flowers," incase you didn't know).
Standard disclaimers apply.
062: Spring
It's been two days since her fight with him; she didn't mean for it to start, really. They planned to hang out at her house, and they were watching Say Anything…, which he had never seen (and that needed to be changed), and once the famous boombox scene came on, it all fell to shit.
She didn't mean to let the anger get the best of her, but she was thinking about how he never does anything for her. For years she's heard her friends gush about grand and small gestures of love their boyfriends do for them. And Kaoru could never offer anything. Sometimes she forgets why she and Kenshin are even dating in the first place, besides the hooking up.
She knows that he's not open with his emotions, but she hoped that maybe he'll be able to open up his emotions to her; she doesn't care about the rest of the world.
So she called him out on it.
And after some yelling, he walked out of her house without turning back.
She sighs, lying in bed, unable to fall asleep. Looking up to the ceiling, she sees a sketch Kenshin did the first week they started dating. It's the weeping willow tree in her backyard, flowers just beginning to bloom; when he was done he handed the picture to her without saying a word.
Ugh. Damn him.
She flips over so her face is smothered in her pillow, but she forgot that this is the pillow that Kenshin slept on a few weeks ago; she hasn't washed the pillow cover since.
They were in her room, doing coupley things, and then they started talking. It was the closest she had gotten him to really open up about his family, or what was left of it. He drew lazy designs on her skin, and when she asked what he was drawing, he absentmindedly said, "flowers."
She lifts her head up so she can toss the pillow off her bed, so can bury her face in her comforter instead.
She hates how that intimacy is so rare, and the occurrences are far and few between. Is it so wrong to expect a little more? After all, they're dating, and they have been dating for a few months. In fact, it'll be a year soon enough, as soon as spring comes along.
That is, if the fight didn't destroy their relationship.
Hours later she manages to drift off to sleep.
She wakes up at seven, her body clock so adjusted to waking up for school. She tries hard to back to sleep, but only manages to rest for a half hour.
Eventually she gets out of bed to make herself breakfast. Her dad is sitting at the kitchen table already, the newspaper in his face and a large mug of coffee smoking on the table.
"Morning, Dad," she says, patting his shoulder as she goes over to the counter to check the coffee. "Did you just make this?"
"Yeah."
Hm. There's barely enough for half a cup…is her father upping his caffeine intake? Internally shrugging, she grabs her own mug finishes the pot.
"Did you got outside today?" her father inquires, not tearing his eyes away from the paper.
"No, I just got up, why?"
"Oh, it just looks like spring, that's all."
Kaoru furrows her brow. "What? Did all the trees suddenly turn green or something?"
"Go look."
Sighing, she leaves her coffee behind and walks to the door, grabbing her sweatshirt that's draped over a nearby chair. Opening the door, she doesn't see anything unusual: the trees are still bare, save for a few buds, and the grass is still that dull shade of green after a long winter.
The only strange thing is that her car is now parked on the street, as opposed to the driveway. Otherwise, it doesn't feel or look like spring at all; it's still chilly and bleak, like March always is.
She's about to crane her head back and ask her dad what the hell he meant, and why her car isn't in the driveway, but then she catches a white flower on right corner of the stoop. It's painted on, delicately done.
Leaning forward, she checks the set of steps to her right that lead down to her driveway, and she's surprised to see more painted flowers. She shuts the door behind her and begins descending the steps.
As she goes down, there are more flowers, more colorful than the next. And just when she thought there couldn't be anymore, she stops before the pavement of her driveway begins because she's in shock of what her driveway has now become.
It used to be the typical driveway: grayish black. But now it's splashed with color, covered with large painted flowers; it's like looking directly into a bouquet.
And right where the pavement and grass meet is Kenshin, still adding finishing strokes on a blue flower. Her bright turquoise thermos is by his feet, which explains the lack of coffee in the kitchen.
He did all this?
He glances up and sees her gaping, so he stands up fully to meet her scrutinizing.
His crazy hair is in disarray, barely held back in a low ponytail; his amber eyes are red from lack of sleep, and the bags under his eyes insinuate that he hasn't been sleeping for a few days; his shirt and pants are splattered with paint, and his jeans by his knees are so worn down from kneeling on the pavement, dragging his weight, that they're about to become holes.
He looks like a complete wreck, but he's strangely more beautiful than ever.
"Hey," he says casually.
She stares at him blankly before repeating, "Hey." She looks away from him and back to his art. "This is beautiful, Kenshin," she adds softly.
"Flowers always remind me of you."
She sighs, but she's secretly thrilled at his comment.
This is how she gets roped in, forgetting to be angry when he delivers his sparse, yet meaningful comments.
"Why did you do this?" she practically demands.
"Weren't you the one saying that I don't show you enough how I care about you?" he retorts before gesturing to his masterpiece.
"You care?"
Kenshin sighs angrily, running his fingers through his bangs, leaving behind some traces of blue paint. "Damn it, Kaoru! You're…the only good thing in my life. And call me selfish…but I don't want to give that up. And I won't let you go because of that stupid fight."
This is the closest he's ever come to admitting that he loves her.
She wants to be closer to him right now, but she doesn't want to disturb the perfection in front of her.
"It's okay, it's dry by you," he says, almost reading her mind.
She thoughtlessly walks across the flowers to him, stopping about a foot away.
"So…what do you think?" he asks, casually tossing his brush to the side where his pile of paint cans is.
"I know you. You're never going to do something like this for me again."
"Well, it wouldn't be very original if I ripped myself off…" he jokes, but then he yawns loudly. "But you're right, no," he continues shamelessly.
She shakes her head. "Then…why?"
"Can't you just accept this? I'm not like every other guy here. I'm sorry that I can't do things other people can so easily. This is what you signed up for when you decided to go out with me, and you fucking knew that."
"Of course I did," she snaps, crossing her arms when a cold gust of wind hits her. "I just…thought you would change," she ends softly. "Is that so wrong?"
"But I did. What is this telling you?"
"I don't know. What are you trying to tell me?" She feels as if this conversation is going around in circles, always winding up at the same question.
"What I said before."
"Give me something better than that."
He sighs tiredly, as if he's so much older than his eighteen years of age. "I know what you want to hear."
"Then why won't you say it? Do you not feel that way?" She tries hard to hold back her tears, and she thinks she's doing a good job.
"That's not it."
"Then please…just say it. I'm tired of your subtle remarks and actions. Please, be straightforward with me."
A tear manages to escape and she quickly wipes it away.
"But you already know now. What's the point?"
"So I can look back on this beautiful moment, a spring moment during a winter day, and recall your saying those words to me. I want to remember the sound of your voice."
He looks down at the space between them and takes a step toward her.
"I'm not going to kiss you, you know," she starts in a warning tone.
"I know, just…please."
He says with just a hint of desperation, and she can't deny him anything.
He places his hands delicately on her waist, bringing her even closer, and he rests his forehead on hers, sighing. Her heart is beating miles a minute and she allows herself to hope that he's actually going to do it.
Then he turns his head so his lips are by her ear when he whispers the words she's been waiting so long to hear.
She smiles so broadly that she's sure he can feel it. Suddenly it doesn't feel cold anymore; he's changed the weather and now it feels as vibrant and warm as spring, maybe even summer.
"I love you, too," she says in return, hoping (but kind of knowing at the same time) that she's changing his perspective on everything around him too.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed that…because I really enjoy making Kenshin an artist…don't know why.
Please review!
MissGoalie