Chapter 18

I cross my arms over my chest and stare at him. No way am I going to be the first one to talk.He folds and unfolds his arms and look down at the ground.

"Ok so, I know I messed up yesterday. It wasn't suppose to go like that. I'm so used to being a jerk to most women that it's kind of become a habit. I know it's not an excuse but I'm asking you... no begging you to give me another chance." He gives me his best puppy eyes and I unfold my arms.

I think it over for a second but decide to give him one more chance but then he'll have to work very hard to regain my trust.

" Fine, but if you mess this up... "

" I won't... I promise. Uhm so I was wondering, I have a... uhm suprise for you but I still have a few things to do. So if you want to change or nap or whatever, I'll come get you when I'm done." He looks at me with a half smile, shuffling from side to side.

I can see he's extremely nervous. I laugh, nod my head and walk back into the kitchen without saying another word.

~~~°°°~~~

It's been an hour since I came to my room. I've changed into something more... formal but still comfortable, I've eaten, taken a bath and a nap,not necessarily in that order. I've run out of things to do so I've been pacing in my room waiting for Finn. My feet are starting to get sore though, so I sit down . I've always loved singing, especially when I was all alone at times so I start singing song my adopted parents used to sing to me.

I was about to start the second verse but there's a knock at the door. I jump up from the bed and run to door. When I reach for the door handle, I realize that I'm being silly and that I should calm down. I smooth my yellow flower dress and pat my hair. I open the door slowly and I'm surprised when I see Lisa. I feel so embarrassed that I made such a fuss that I begin to laugh.

"Hi Valery. I'm told to bring you down stairs, it's a secret so I'm not suppose to tell you what's happening!" She winks and grabs my hand.

She leads me down the stairs, chatting away about her sixteenth birthday and how she can't wait for her second decade, then she'll finally be a teenager. We reach the bottom and... Aurora stands there holding flowers.

"My dear, these are for you. The purple ones are called giggle sprouts, they make you laugh for about three days if you inhale the pollen. The red ones are called bloody maries for the red colour bleeds away when winter arrives. The blue ones are called raindrops because they smell like dew. Finally, the yellow ones are called happy suns because they turn to the sun to soak up all the vitamin D. "

She hands me the flowers and I can't help but admire the sheer beauty and creativity of them. I resist the urge to smell them because I don't want to laugh for three days. I smile at her through blurry eyes.

"Thank you, they're absolutely lovely. Why did you give them to me though?" I ask while Lisa runs of to play somewhere else.

"Oh Finn said that you should follow the flower trail. He said that you should follow the colors of the flowers and nothing else. It might lead you to get wet." She winks at me and I frown, trying to figure out what that means.

She opens the door behind her, that leads to the back garden, and motions for me to look. When I step through, I can see two paths, one with purple petals and one brown. I follow the purple trail for a while when it comes to a stop in front of a tree.

"A batch of chocolate cookies for no one is as sweet as you are." Luka winks at me, steps aside and shows me where the trail continues.

It splits into two sections again, blue petals and pink petals. I follow the blue trail and I'm lead to a rose maze. I stop at the entrance, confused. I look at the walls and realize red flowers are woven into the right wall and orange flowers into the left. I continue through the right path. There's a lot of turns and twists and I'm starting to get very confused. I finally come out the middle and I see a lone flower in the middle of the square. I move closer and see a red rose with a note. It says Her red hair burns like the rays of the sun, I see her and I am lit.

Tears have begun streaming down my cheeks and I don't try to stop then because I can't believe Finn has done all lf this for me. I walk toward the other entrance of the square and see two paths again. The one with sunflowers and the other with black roses. I love the black rose so I pick one up, but follow the sunflowers. It's starting to get dark and I can barely see the flowers anymore.

Luckily, I come to the exit fairly quickly. I burst into tears again, holding the flowers, cookies, note and the black rose to my chest. In front of me stands Finn, holding black roses in his hand. He's made a path with firefly bottles. He's also put down a blanket with a basket in the middle.

"I hope the trail wasn't too long. I did bring some more chocolate to make up for it, if it was." He frowns when he sees my tears but then smiles softly.

"It's perfect. Everything is just... perfect." I whisper.

I walk toward him, dropping everything on the blanket and just embrace him. He's startled at first but then hugs me back, tightly. After a second he let's go.

"Shall we?"