On Purpose

The minute she lifted the hairpin out of its box, Hilary understood why Tyson wanted to gift it to her when they were alone. The muffled sounds of the party behind the walls dropped to near quiet, only to be replaced by the heavy pounds of her heart careening off her rib-cage and the strong swoop in her stomach that may as well be a wave crashing on the beach.

She carefully lifted it up, turning it this way and that, running her fingers against the sleek, smooth, cool metal. The light above caught the gold running up the pin where a bouquet of resin flowers burst at the tip, clustered together, forming a cloud. Dangling from the end of the pin was a single, closed flower bulb, glittering like a diamond on a silk thread.

"Tyson…" His name came out petal soft, delicate, as if speaking any more would cause their world to shatter. She pressed her lips together, tears welling at the corners of her eyes. It was beautiful, so beautiful. No matter which way she turned the pin it sparkled and glittered under the light and the flower petals, so realistic, she was surprised to find them hard beneath her touch. They looked as if they'd been plucked right out of the ground, the lack of dirt clumps on the bottom the only sign of the opposite.

"So…you like it?" Tyson asked. His fingers tugged on a loose thread at the hem of his dark jeans and he studied the side of her face with such intensity she was surprised a hole hadn't been burnt into her skin. She felt it all the way down in her toes, or maybe it was from kneeling and sitting back on her heels for so long.

"I…" It took her a few tries to find the right words, nodding her head until the motion wiggled a few loose. "It's beautiful."

"It is, isn't it?" He sat up straight now, all bravado melting his previous nerves away as he gripped at his ankles and leaned forward. His large smile returned, sending another wave crashing in her stomach. "You were saying before you needed a new one."

"I did." He remembered that? She'd made an offhand comment about it between classes. Her mother insisted on throwing Hilary a big birthday party this year, which was code for all her family coming in from around the country, so she'd need to dress herself up a little, wear some makeup, do more than just brush her hair. In the midst of her lament, she'd mentioned maybe putting her hair up, but she didn't have a good enough pin to satisfy her nitpicky aunts.

And now she did.

Sucking in a breath, she swallowed down the lump rising in her throat and finally looked up at him, at the light shining in his stormy eyes. "I can't accept it."

"What?" His eyebrows collided at the speed of his confusion. "Why not?"

"Because." She bit her lip, carefully rolling the words around in her mind, picking and choosing the right ones to deal the least crushing blow. "I've seen this before."

"Huh?" His head tilted and, god, that puppy look on his face came to the forefront. His smile faded, like a slow twist of a dimmer switch. His eyes turned away from her face, down to the pin in her hands and his chest swelled with the quick breath he sucked in. She closed her eyes, steeling herself. "Oh." Bingo. At least he got it now. If she had to explain it to him…that'd hurt worse. "It's okay."

"No, it's not." Her head shook from side to side before she even spoke. The tears came back, only this time pooling in sadness than the touched surprise that took her over before. "I can't take this from you."

"Yeah you can."

"No I can't!" She shoved the pin into his hands, forcing his fingers to take it, curling them around the cold metal. "It was your mom's."

"I know."

Her shoulders sagged in her huff, and she hastily dabbed at her eyes. He knew? If he knew, if he really knew, he couldn't be this…blasé about it. He just couldn't. "I get it. Maybe you don't understand…understand what that means but—"

"Hil, stop!" His hand clasping her wrist stilled her, held her breath in her chest, held her still in the moment as the heat in his skin seeped through hers. "I want you to have it." He slowly lowered her hand from her face, shifting his grip to her hand, letting his fingers drag against her palm until they pulled away. The cold replacing his heat made her shiver, only to them be replaced by the pin once more. "It's your present."

"…What?"

"Yeah, it was my mom's but, I mean, she can't exactly use it can she?" And he let out a laugh, it was small and a little hollow, but the fleeting sadness in his eyes shifted over to "It just sits there, and it should be used. And I'm sure she'd like that you have it."

"If you thought about it just a little—"

"I did!" He threw his arms in the air and rolled his head on his neck, his eyes following the journey in their sockets. "I get it. Things tend to work out for me and I don't exactly think things through before I do them all the time but, with this, I mean, I…" And he growled, rubbing his hands though his navy hair so fast it wouldn't have surprised Hilary to see it burst into flames. And when he lifted his head, the heat must've sunk to his cheeks because they burned bright red as he blurted, "Those things just happen. I like you on purpose."

She counted the seconds that passed as they ticked by in time with her heart that once beat so wildly but settled into a content, smooth rhythm beneath his words. A sheepish smile bloomed on his face and he shrugged in a what can you do? way.

What could she do?

Well.

With sure hands, but not steady due to the giddy pleasant tremors at her fingers, she gathered up her hair and twisted it into a quick but nice bun. She slid the hairpin through, securing it against the back of her head, surprised at the ease of which it nestled within her thick hair, like it was made for her. Dropping her hands into her lap, she turned her own sheepish smile to Tyson. "Well?"

His eyes lifted from her face to the back of her head and once settled back in his position, he nodded once. "Perfect. Right where it belongs."

Her heart gave and extra hard beat and she followed its trajectory, rocking forward on her knees, placing a kiss to his cheek. She giggled softly at the stupefied expression crossing his features as she leaned back on her heels and, when he smiled his signature smile once again, the wattage had been cranked up. Basking in its glow, she took his hand in hers and lightly laced their fingers together. His pulse beat strong in her grip.

"Thank you, Tyson."

"Happy birthday, Hil."

A/N: This is my 100th fic posted on my profile! So happy it's about these two!