"Uh, let's see here… which of the following threats to biodiversity would fall under the category of the introduction of an exotic or invasive species? 1: Reintroducing black-footed ferrets into Wyoming. 2: Sea lampreys swimming up the Erie Canal to enter the Great Lakes. 3: Bringing wolves into Yellowstone National Park." Audrey thought for a moment, lightly tapping the eraser of her pencil against her desk. "...Just 2, they're not invasive if they evolved in that ecosystem." That definitely sounded right, but Seymour checked the back of the flashcard that had been the next in the stack for AP Environmental Science just to make sure and confirmed that it was. "That's right!" She smiled slightly, enchantingly, and he handed her the stack. Just as she had flipped to the next card and was about to ask him the question on it, Seymour heard the front door of her apartment open, and a moment later a series of frantic knocks at the door to her bedroom, presumably from Ms. Greene, sounded. "Yes?" Ms. Greene opened the door at this, not exchanging greetings with Audrey as she usually did after getting home from the shop and instead getting straight into addressing Seymour. He had never seen her this tightly wound before…
"Seymour, the plant just… collapsed while I was closing the store for the night. Do you know how to fix it?" Seymour felt his blood slowly run cold; he had been avoiding thinking about this day that would inevitably come and what he would do when that happened in favor of pretty much anything else, to the point that he had largely stopped visiting the shop and almost managed to consciously forget about this issue most of the time. Almost… he almost wished that he didn't know how to fix it… he technically knew how, anyway, but he would never actually be able to do it. What was he gonna do?! What could he do?! "...Uh… yeah, I'll go down there and… see what I can do…" After a pause, he shakily stood up from Audrey's bed, and she quickly joined him. "I'll go too, so we can keep studying for the AP exams in the car." Had school really taken over their lives to such an extent that that was a believable lie? And, once again, he had clearly done a terrible job of hiding his anxiety from her if she now wanted to go with him… even after he had actually done a decent job of playing Tevye he still wasn't any better at that kind of acting, at least with her… Ms. Greene nodded, stepping out of the doorway and their way as Seymour followed Audrey to the front door of her apartment and offering him a tense, polite "Thanks" as he passed her, which he managed to respond to with a return of her nod and an "Of course."
As he got behind the wheel of Mr. Mushnik's car… he guessed it was technically his car now… and Audrey got settled in the passenger seat at his side before giving him a brief, reassuring hand squeeze, he felt the all too familiar tendrils of tension squeezing his chest loosen slightly, slowly but surely. This might possibly not be the end of the world… yeah, he could possibly get through this, especially with Audrey's support and help… even in the worst case scenario, where Audrey 2 died, he would still have the wondrous woman it was named after, and it still would've made all of them a decent sum, and Audrey was still on track to get a full ride scholarship with her very admirable volleyball skills and track record this semester. Plus, he could go from being the plant guy, the apparent best friend of the mysteriously missing Orin, and the former Tevye back to a regular student; his accidentally gained fame and popularity was getting easier to manage, but he could still very much do without it. Seymour let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding before starting the car and the process of getting it to Mushnik's Skid Row Florists… although it should really be called Greene's Skid Row Florists at this point… and felt hesitant relief and pride shooting through him as Audrey grinned at him oh so beautifully. "You seem less stressed now… are you feeling better?"
Seymour nodded slowly, contemplating her question and not wanting to jinx the answer. "...Yeah… yeah, I think I am." Audrey nodded as well, thinking for a moment before continuing, hesitating as if she was operating under the admittedly likely to be correct assumption that he could be sent back into panic very easily. "Do you have any ideas on what might be wrong with Audrey 2?" Seymour gripped the steering wheel slightly, stopping himself from doing just that with less effort than he had expected. "It just needs to be fed." Audrey smiled slightly in relief at this. "That doesn't sound so bad, she just needs some Miracle-Gro plant food!" Seymour hesitated for a moment, not knowing how to word this, before shaking his head. "That's not what it eats, I just said that because the company said they'd sponsor the shop if I did." Audrey tilted her head confusedly, processing this. "...Then what does she eat?" The tendrils were starting to regroup now, even as he attempted to keep them at bay with the thought that the plant being sentient and bloodthirsty surely wouldn't be too much for her when she had already somehow managed to keep liking… loving him even after finding out about what he had done to Orin and Mr. Mushnik; after all, the plant turning out that way wasn't even his fault! …Just its creation and his choice to satisfy its craving for blood more than once were…
Just as Seymour had finally gathered the courage necessary to tell Audrey the true answer to that question, just as it was right on his tongue, his phone buzzing in his pocket scattered his thoughts. Maybe that was a notification about his grade on the latest exam in AP Calculus AB… it had been even harder than the others, but surely he had done okay on it? "...Would you mind checking that for me? It's okay if not." Audrey nodded, and he dug it out of his pocket, handing it to her with a "Thanks." She turned it on, looking at the screen for a second before turning back to him. "What's the passcode?" Oh… right… He ducked his head slightly, embarrassed. "...It's your birthday…" Audrey's warm smile at this sent affection flooding through him, completely displacing the embarrassment, and she unlocked his phone, navigating to the source of the notification and then staring at the screen for longer than he would've expected. "...Is something wrong?" She still hadn't answered him after he had parked the car in front of the shop, and he was starting to get worried again. "...Seymour, you're doing great with your classes and AP exam prep and everything, and no one gets perfect grades all the time…"
…Oh God… He finally managed to force himself to look at the screen as well, seeing… not even an A, he had gotten an 84.98%. A B. Even that letter in isolation was awful and anxiety-inducing to him now, as it had been for most of his high school career… If he had just put more time and effort into understanding differential equations, this wouldn't have happened, if he could have just stayed up a little bit later instead of being lazy and stupid and useless… The tendrils were usually pretty active, but now they were eerily, uneasily languid around him, pressing down on him and forcing him into a lull in which time and powers of agency seemed to stand still. Seymour only realized he was breathing heavily when he felt his chest moving against hers… he pieced together that she must've moved to his side of the car and opened the door, he had stood up probably at her prompting, and she was holding him now, running a hand along his back and reassuring him verbally in a calm, soothing voice as well. He sank into her, knowing on an intellectual level that he should be embarrassed, mortified even about needing her to do this and the circumstances that had led to this moment but not really feeling like going down that road somehow. He didn't feel like going down any road, really, he just wanted to be with her like this…
The sound of Audrey's phone buzzing in her pocket scattered his thoughts, and, after she had made no move to check it after a long moment even though this was around the time that volleyball scholarships were being handed out, he forced himself to pull back from her slightly. "...It's okay, really, you can check it… Thank you, Audrey." She hesitated for a moment, the concern in her brilliant, warm brown eyes not lessening much, before nodding and pulling it out to check it. "Of course. Are you sure you're okay…" She trailed off, staring at the source of the notification she had navigated to for a long moment. "...We're going to college… we're actually going…" He had to strain slightly to hear her hushed, awed tone, and with his excitement and affectionate pride in her and her amazing accomplishment of getting the full ride scholarship she had worked so hard for, he didn't immediately realize that she had said 'we' instead of 'I.'
"Congratulations! I always knew you would… wait, we?" She looked up at him from her phone, smiling with affection and excitement. "Well, yeah, you're coming too, right? The money from your amazing work with Audrey 2 should be enough for that, especially after you get some scholarships. Maybe you can even get some theatre ones!" She… she actually wanted him to go with her? Even after she had had to bring him back from the depths of panic like that? That hadn't been a completely delusional fantasy? As the gray mist that had seemed impenetrable before faded around him, Seymour was the one to draw her into an embrace this time. "Yes; yes I am." With a future at the side of the most wonderful person that ever lived apparently in front of him, not even a dying miracle plant or a blemish on his academic record could bring him down.