C H A P T E R   F I F T E E N
Flowers   And   Honey

It seemed like the party just started when Meg and John rode off in their carriage, away to their home.

Delia could feel Jo's disgust as they rode away, while as Meg was waving and laughing. There was clearly tension between the two eldest March sisters.

Delia was afraid to ask Jo about it, she was afraid Jo wouldn't appreciate her concern and things would change between the two friends. Thinking back on it, Delia was just overthinking everything.

As the family friends and relatives rode off on their carriages home, Delia found the only people there left were, the March Family, Laurie, Mr. Lawrence, Delia and her sisters. The venue looked
so sad, so empty and lonely.

Charlotte and Harriet were still hyper, probably because they drank and ate any sweet thing they could find. Delia shunned them but they just laughed at her and disregarded her concern.

"Charlotte, Harriet, I'm giving you the responsibility of walking back home alone, alright? Don't you dare pull anything funny, if I don't see you back by the time I'm home, I'll tell mother and you'll never go on another trip in your life, understood?" Delia pointed her finger at the two of her sisters, speaking sternly and in a deeper voice which made the hyperactive kids laugh and jump around but running off into the direction of the river bend near their home.

"I hope this is a good time for us to catch up... alone." Laurie approached Delia with a grim expression, waiting for her response.

"It's good enough." The girl sighed, following Laurie to a nearby clearing of the trees. It was a vast hill that took 5 minutes of walking and running combined. Nevertheless, the two of them made it there in a haste.

The air there seemed colder yet fresher to Delia. She could feel the wind blowing away strands of her golden locks of hair and the cold breeze blowing against her face. The sun was starting to set, an assortment of colours was painted in the sky.

"It's lovely, isn't it?" Laurie exhaled with his hands in his pant pockets.

"It really is," Delia acknowledged the sky like a masterpiece, feeling allured by all the screaming colours that were slowly fading into the inevitable dark starry night.

"Almost as pretty as you." Delia turned her head to glare at Laurie before sitting down on the grassy hill and cuddling her legs to her chest.

"In my eyes, that is," Laurie added, taking a seat next to Delia on her left-hand side.

"You haven't talked to me much today, it's unlike you." He frowned.

"Just because I haven't talked to you much, doesn't mean I'm not like myself," Delia stated, letting out a grumble afterwards. She felt uncomfortable, she knew Laurie felt the same.

There was tension building up between the two of them, Delia was too nervous to say anything. She hadn't seen Laurie in over a year, he seemed so different yet the same to her. Maybe it was because of how they left things off.

Suddenly, Delia could feel the skin of Laurie's hand reached up and graze her upper sternum, he was touching the moon crescent necklace around her neck. A chill chorused through her, making a shiver be sent down her spine.

"You're still wearing it..." Laurie rejoiced, trying to hide the happiness dancing inside of him like a flame of fire.

He was... happy Delia still wore the necklace he had gifted her.

Part of her wanted to boast and ask Laurie why he thought she didn't but Delia kept her mouth shut.

"Would you laugh at me if I told you I haven't taken it off ever since you gave it to me?" Delia asked nervously, rubbing her arm.

She could still feel Laurie's hand still holding onto the necklace. The skin of the back of his hand would occasionally graze Delia's skin.

"Depends on whether you'd laugh at me if I told you I couldn't stop thinking about you." Delia shook her head, a quick curvature in her lips appeared before disappearing almost instantly.

"I had a dream," Laurie started, taking a deep breath and slowly breathing out. He stretched his legs out and leaned back onto his forearms. Laurie was trying to look cool and casual but to Delia, he looked somewhat ridiculous.

"You were singing and strumming your guitar, wearing your off-white nightgown, your hair was let down and messy. You looked tired and it was dark outside, the light from the moon illuminated your face, so I could make everything out. You..." Laurie stopped, trailing off into his thoughts.

He was looking out into the sunset, biting his lip while thinking carefully of his words. The impatient girl turned her head to stare at him.

Laurie had her waiting for a solid minute before continuing on, saying, "You looked so real, and your blue eyes looked up at me every once in a while. I wanted to touch you but I knew everything would fade into nothingness. I wanted you to be there with me, I would've stayed in that dream forever if it were possible." Laurie stuttered and struggled for words as the words on his mind came tumbling out of his mouth.

What was happening to him?

"Music to my ears," Delia uttered softly in a shy manner, still rubbing at her arm.

She felt as though her head was spinning around, maybe all of this was also just a facade, a dream, nothing but a wish but it wasn't.

Laurie seemed truly lost for words, Delia's voice saying those four words rung in his mind, rattling around and toying with him. It was like a catchy song he couldn't get out of his head. Oh, how great of a song it was to him.

This song gave him a heartache, there was a pain in Laurie's chest that he could only guess to be coming from his heart. He could feel the twitching in his bottom lip and how there was a desire, quite possibly a need for something.

"I... can I kiss you?" Laurie's question sent a shock through Delia's fingertips. Her eyes were open wide from dismay of his words.

Never in a million years would Delia had thought someone would say that to her, especially someone like Laurie.

The word kiss was something she tried to stay away from, she couldn't even wrap her head around it. She could hardly even imagine saying the word aloud, even when she could, she would always be afraid of someone hearing her say it.

It was like a curse word, with a lighter meaning.

She could just think back to all the romance novels she's read and how she could feel Laurie's lips pressing against hers just like it was yesterday. She could recall that moment so incredibly well, she couldn't imagine a day she'd forget that time.

She thought about it for a moment, thinking of her answer to Laurie's question.

"Yes," Delia breathed, speaking the word lightly and breathlessly, almost like a silent prayer.

There was a pause that had been caused. Both of their hearts started burning and beating at an exponential rate before stopping at its peak.

Laurie sat up, no longer leaning back, then turning his starry-eyed gaze to his lover, he wasn't sure if Delia was fooling with him or not, but Laurie couldn't help but feel a sense of pain at the thought of a joke like that.

Delia could sense Laurie's uncertainty which made her instinctively place her hand on top of the area in which his heart was located. She could feel the strongly beating heart pumping against his chest.

The girl was blinking an abnormal amount of times, she was trying to take snapshots and images to save in her mind. She wanted this moment to never end.

This felt as though it were happening too slowly, Delia wanted it to just happen in the blink of an eye, but part of her disagreed.

Laurie placed his hand under Delia's chin, lifting and tilting it to meet his gaze. His brown eyes looked to be mixed with gold flakes, Delia could've gotten lost in his stare for infinity, she felt captivated by him.

Her hand still placed at his chest, she felt his heart skip a beat or was it that his heart stopped for 2 seconds? She couldn't tell.

Biting his lip anxiously, Laurie moved in and connected their lips together. It felt as though they were out of reach, unstoppable.

It was like rain was pouring over them and suddenly the air became way more saturated. Delia didn't dare open her eyes, in fact, she felt as though she were clamming her eyes shut.

When they let go and created a large gap between them, Delia felt like she had just kissed an angel sent from the heavens. It felt like it was everything she wanted.

The blonde girl felt lost for words, what was there to say after that heart-stopping moment? What was there to do but to savour every detail?

A bright Cheshire Cat smile was on her face. Laurie still held her gaze, their lively eyes still staring warmly and directly at each other.

He felt as though he needed to inch close to her, wrapping his arms around Delia securely. He wanted her to feel safe with him. Delia tilted her head to the left, leaning her head against Laurie's shoulder.

Being so close to her, Laurie could smell the scent of flowers and honey on Delia. As the two sat there in peace, not daring to speak a single word, it seemed as though all of their problems had faded and nothing existed except for the two of them, the hill and the sky with its moon, sun and stars.

A U T H O R ' S   N O T E

:') I just really like this chapter y'all. any thoughts on this chapter in general? Maybe I just really like
when Laurie and Delia together.

Love y'all so much!! Thank you for all the support! I love this book and it's nearing the end.
Just a few more chapters.