Emilie had already begun to fall for her friend, an aspiring fashion designer with dreams far bigger than the world could hold, when he turned to her on Valentine's and offered a beautiful bouquet of red roses coupled with pretty green stems, carefully and meticulously dethorned. It's a sight that stills her, as the water below her rustles gingerly in response.
"Th-Thank you." She isn't sure what to say as she takes the bouquet carefully from him.
"Be mine." It's a soft whisper nearly caught in the wind before he corrects himself, "Will you be my Valentine?" It's said with such genuine hope that she can't imagine answering any other way.
"Of course." She leans in and gives him a kiss on the cheek, not knowing whether this will be a love quickly swept out as if a flame awaiting doom on a birthday candle or if it will be a marriage that spans years and lights beautiful fires in her heart and soul, a marriage that she'd die to preserve.
It's an odd realization as she glances back down at red roses and hopes that this won't be a quick romance but a steady, long lasting one. She almost wants to say, 'I love you,' but they've only known each other for a smattering of months, and she'd rather confess if he ever fully asks her out.
Gabriel glances back at the water that has stilled before them, and Emilie's already smiling softly at the delicately attentive lake before them, when he finally asks the next question.
"Would you like to go out with me?" He guards his words as if the more formal the better, and Emilie is sure it is because of just who her parents are or the wealth that never flees from them.
"I would love to." She leans against his side, letting the cool air soak up and delve into her joy. It's such a wonderfully bright Valentine's that she already can't wait for the future ones that will surely follow in its trail.