I Looked at You and Knew

The day he turned thirteen, she brought him half of her meager dinner and a shirt she had mended for him. They sat in the usual valley, sharing the bread and cheese as he wore the shirt and she sang him 'Happy Birthday'.

"You didn't have to do anything," he told her, resting his arms on his knees and letting her finish the food, guilty about taking any of it at all with her wrists so thin.

"I wanted to," she smiled, tucking her hair behind her ear. The sunset behind her colored the strands a warm orange, and he couldn't help but call her pretty. She laughed, and took his hand, lacing their fingers together as she looked out towards the flowers.

"What do you want?" he asked, and she turned to blink at him in confusion, "For your birthday," he explained, "It's soon."

"Oh," she shrugged, "Nothing really."

"There has to be something," he pressed, "Everyone wants something."

She squeezed his hand, and shook her head, "Not me. I'm fine, just like this."

He looked down at their hands, and after a moment he let go, and stood up. She looked at him, hurt, before he realized what she thought. "No, sorry! Wait, I want to..." He looked around quickly a moment before stumbling over to a patch of flowers, glancing at them quickly before picking the one that looked the best. He quickly went back to her, sitting down and grabbing her hand again. "I didn't mean that like it looked," he explained, taking the flower and awkwardly tying the stem around her ring finger, "I wanted to get this."

She glanced at her finger, before suddenly laughing. "What?"

He scowled, cradling her hand between his larger ones, embarrassed. "It's not supposed to be funny."

"I don't understand what you mean by this," she giggled, motioning her hand, "What are you trying to give me?"

"It's a promise," he couldn't help the pout, looking away, "I promise you that...one day I'm going to take you away from here, and show you snow, and do all the other stuff that will make you happy."

She went quiet, and when he looked back at her, she was smiling softly. She leaned over, kissing his cheek gently, before resting her hand against her chest, over her heart.

"Thank you," she murmured, "But you already make me happy."

He flushed, and turned away, trying to hide the color on his cheeks. She laughed again, moving over to him and leaning over his back, playfully teasing his shyness.