Page 115 of Should Our Hearts Catch Fire

“Sweet!”

While Carrie gives herself a tour, Ellis turns to face Gabriel to give him a belated welcome kiss.

“You look exhausted.”

“I am.” Gabriel huffs. “That woman will be the death of me. And when she’s with Ash…” He shakes his head. “Armageddon. You have no idea what you got yourself into by inviting her here.”

“I have sleeping pills in the bathroom. We can slip her some if she becomes too much.”

“Hmm, I love the way you think.” Gabriel kisses him again.

Ellis notices he’s hiding something behind his back. “What have you got there?”

Flashing him a smile, Gabriel shoves a bouquet of white and red roses in Ellis’ face. “For you.” He shakes it when Ellis makes no attempt to take it. When he does, his hold is light and careful so as to not crush them.

“These are flowers.”

“Brilliant observational skills.”

“You got me flowers.”

The teasing glint in Gabriel’s eyes gives way to something soft. “I did.”

“Why?”

Gabriel grins. It’s a beautiful grin, wide and happy, causing all sorts of sensations to go off in Ellis’ belly.

“Because I can.”

The answer is so…Gabriel. Ellis has no idea what to say to that.

“I…I don’t have a vase,” he says instead. It sounds better than ‘I’ve never been given flowers and don’t know what to do with myself’.

Silently, Gabriel walks to the kitchen and rummages through the cupboards until he locates a tall, heavy glass Ellis doesn’t remember ever using. He fills it with water, extracting the flowers from Ellis’ loose grip and unwrapping the paper before putting them in the make-shift vase.

“Tada!”

Ellis’ heart swells up to twice its size, threatening to burst.

“H-how long do they last?” He’s given flowers to plenty of people, but never inquired about their longevity.

“In general? About a week. These will last a lot longer.”

“How come?” Are they a special breed? They look like regular roses.

Gabriel gives him a lopsided smile. “I gave them a little boost.” He’s probably not talking about quality fertilizer.

“You mean…” Ellis wiggles his fingers as if casting a spell.

“Yup.”

“Oh. Awesome.” Reaching out, he gently strokes a white petal with the tip of his finger. It’s soft, and beautiful, and his. Because Gabriel has given it to him.

He’s not sure what vibe he’s giving off, but Gabriel wraps an arm around his waist, his other hand cupping Ellis’ face.

“You deserve good things, Ellis. Pretty things.”

Ellis swallows, blinking rapidly to disperse the moisture gathering in his eyes. “Like you?”