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When Rose walks into Juleka's room with a bouquet so big it covers her face, Juleka is nothing short of confused. She's even more baffled when Rose marches over to Juleka's bed, puts the bouquet down, takes off the backpack slung over her shoulder, and begins to take out…. scissors? wires? supplies?
“Hello to you too, Ro,” Juleka says with a laugh as she walks over to Rose. The way Rose has made herself at home in Juleka’s room always warms her heart. “What are you doing?”
Rose simply gestures for Juleka to sit on the bed as she continues to take out supplies. Juleka sits down just as Rose takes out the final material and closes the backpack. She turns towards Juleka with a grin.
“Jules, what do you think about making flower crowns?”
Rose looks up at her with wonder in her eyes, and Juleka can’t help but smile as she answers, “I- sure? Is there a reason why or...?”
“It looks fun! And we’re going to the pride parade tomorrow so I thought maybe we could wear them there?” Rose gestures to the flowers on the bed. The color scheme is perfect for what she has in mind.
“That sounds wonderful.”
“Great!” Rose chirps, and she quickly begins sorting through the materials. “So if you take the orange and white and pink flowers, I'll take the other pink ones along with the blue and purple flowers…”
Juleka watches Rose fondly as she rambles. Listening to Rose talking about what she loves always brings a smile to Juleka's face.
“Here!” Rose says at last. She gently places a set of flowers in front of Juleka. “These are yours. The pink ones are carnations and dahlia flowers, the orange ones are cosmos and gerberas, and the white one is baby’s breath.”
Juleka nods, and Rose smiles before pointing at her flowers. “I have pink roses, obviously, and then purple petunias and blue morning glories.”
“How did you pick all these?” Juleka asks in awe as she stares at the amount of flowers. There are so many - Rose could’ve just picked one type and gotten different colors, but she’d instead taken the time to pick out all different types for each color.
Rose blushes and looks away, murmuring something she can’t quite catch.
“What was that?”
Rose shakes her head. “Nothing, Jules. Don’t worry about it.”
That only makes her frown more; Rose isn’t usually one to hide what she’s thinking. Not unless it’s something serious. The last time she’d acted like this, Juleka had woken up to find out the girl she loves was hospitalized.
The girl she loves.
Don’t be something serious, don’t be sick, don’t be dying—
Rose reaches for her hands. “I’ll tell you later. I promise.”
Juleka hesitates, her lips parting as if she has more to say, but Rose simply hums, placing some floral wire and scissors in Juleka's hands.
"Let's make some flower crowns!"
The next two hours are filled with trial and error - along with plenty of laughs and smiles - as they attempt to make the flower crowns. Rose guides Juleka through the process, and Juleka almost forgets her anxiousness about whatever Rose was holding back earlier.
Almost.
The thought comes back when they're putting the final touches on their crowns. Rose takes hers and places it on her head, before turning towards Juleka with a grin.
"What do you think?"
"Wow," Juleka breathes, staring at Rose, "y-you--I-I mean, it's... beautiful."
Rose is beautiful.
Not just in her sparkling eyes or soft smiles; Rose is beautiful in the way she holds her hand, the way she cares, the way she thinks of little things like this.
"Juleka? what's wrong?"
She hadn't realized her eyes were watering. "Just thinking. You're... you're amazing, Ro."
"You are too, you know." Rose glances down at her hands. "You know what you were asking about earlier?"
Oh no.
If Rose is nervous... she's afraid to know why.
But instead of voicing that, Juleka simply nods. "What about it?"
"These flowers." Rose gestures to the ones on her head, before her gaze lands on the flower crown in Juleka's hands. She reaches over and gently pries the flower crown from Juleka's grasp. "They're not just any flowers."
Rose leans over and carefully brushes Juleka's hair behind her ear, making it so that her hair no longer covers her face. Rose smiles. She lets her gaze meet Juleka's as she places the flower crown on top of Juleka's head. Rose's hands linger there, and Juleka finds her face grow hot at her proximity. She looks away from Rose's gaze.
"What do you mean?"
"The flowers on your crown have meanings." Rose lets her fingers hover over each flower as she explains. "Cosmos symbolize peace and wholeness. Gerberas represent energy and warmth, represent sunshine. Baby's breath can be a symbol of everlasting love, dahlias can show long-lasting commitment, and carnations..." Rose pauses. "Pink carnations are a way to say I'll never forget you," she whispers, and Juleka feels tight emotion gather in her throat.
Forget her? Does this mean Rose is trying to tell her that.... something is going to happen? With her sickness? What does this --
"What I'm trying to say is that I love you, Jules," Rose says, "a-and I wanted to ask i-if for tomorrow's pride parade, w-would you be interested in, um, going together? As... more than just friends?"
Oh.
Juleka lets out a sigh of relief. She's okay. She's not going to the hospital, and she's asking her out.
Oh.
Rose is asking her out. On a date. Her heart warms at the realization. "That'd be perfect," she answers with a smile.
"Really?"
"Really. I love you too, Ro."
Rose beams at her and leans in to press a soft kiss against her lips.
It’s gentle and comforting, just like her, and Juleka can feel the love blossoming out of her chest.
(At the parade, Juleka is more delighted to call Rose her girlfriend.)