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There was something delightfully mundane to everyday life.
Tasks to complete, contacts to greet, household to maintain.
A calmer cadence to counteract his rapidly changing reality.
That was how Carlisle found himself at the grocery store with Mina, picking up several ingredients at Elle’s request. The trip had started out uneventfully, with them strolling through the produce aisles, but as they approached the bakery, an all-too-familiar trace of earthy sweetness burst through the air and captured his attention.
“Does he want us to notice him?” Mina whispered.
“Unlikely,” Carlisle answered as his eyes darted to the mirror above them.
The boy, Beauregard, was attempting to hide himself behind a somewhat unstable display… and miserably failing at it. Memories of another boy hiding behind a towering oak tree, came to mind - one who left his long brown hair free to fly in the wind.
“Could you make sure he’s okay, Mina?”
“These were at the door.”
Mina set a glass vase atop the coffee table, then took a seat in the armchair across from him. She leaned her head on her hand and carefully considered the vivid gold arrangement between them for a moment, before her gold eyes flicked up to his face.
“Are they from him?”
The bright yellow bouquet had captured Carlisle’s attention the instant Mina entered the dark library with them in hand. Radiant sunflower blooms entwined with slender stalks of yellow acacia flowers burst forth, reaching out to eagerly greet him.
Just like the sender in question.
As Carlisle reached out and gently traced over the petals, he easily imagined Beauregard fussing over the floral arrangement, making sure everything was perfectly in place… just as Adrian had so long ago, in responding his suit of courtship.
With bright yellow flowers and a shy smile.
“Yes, they are.”
“Is that a stake in your pants or are you happy to see me?”
Within moments, a hint of bitterness slipped through the otherwise sweet, herbal notes that marked Beauregard’s presence. The warm brown eyes and bright smile that graced the boy’s face when he first entered the study, soon gave way to quiet awkwardness and a shy, downward gaze… though not for reasons Carlisle would far prefer.
Fortunately, he knew how to change that.
“I am always quite happy to see you, verculum.”
Immediately, a deep blush bloomed across Beauregard’s face, as if a wilted flower suddenly returned to life. Those warm brown eyes finally met his gaze, almost sparkling as they ran over him… though Beauregard made his awkward departure not long after.
Just as he thought… even better, perhaps.
“Seems like that boy staked his place in your heart,” Mina teased, from the door.
“That, he has.”
Even though it had been over 150 years since Carlisle first met Mina, she’d never failed to impress him, whether it had been her skill as a mystic human, her ability to adapt to the passing decades, her successful courtship of Alice, or her calming nature - one that had Carlisle opening up to her about Adrian, losing him, and everything that had transpired… everything he had felt since finding him again, almost 2500 years later.
And now, seeing Beauregard out of the corner of his eye, standing by a window some yards away, manila folder in hand... clearly, Mina had outdone herself yet again.
“Doctor, how should we proceed?”
Though Carlisle’s focus returned to the two nurses’ questions, he couldn’t keep a small smile off his face as he wondered how Beauregard might surprise him that day.
That lighter feeling dissipated, upon noticing the manila folder sitting on his desk.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
Carlisle looked up from his book and met Mina’s concerned gaze from across the library.
“I am. Is something the matter?”
“I haven’t seen Beau around the house with you lately.”
Of course, Carlisle had noticed Beauregard’s absence.
“He likely has many matters on his plate at the moment.”
“It’s the summer and he’s here when you’re at the hospital.”
Of course, Mina wouldn’t let the boy’s avoidance of him go unstated.
“He likely has his reasons for staying away.”
“Because he doesn’t think you like him back.”
…
As Carlisle spent his afternoon at the greenhouse, meticulously snipping herbs for Elle, Mina’s words circled in his mind. He had played a delicate game, balancing caution with his deeper desires. The latter was winning, aided by the many vivid memories and sensual dreams that visited him at nightfall.
In time, he had finally made his decision.
“Good afternoon, Beauregard.”
Carlisle set his book down and headed towards the boy standing in the middle of the library.
Even though Beauregard was attempting to hide behind the violet vervain and pink ranunculus blossoms he held, his bright scarlet blush and rich herbal sweetness laced with enticing spice left him an open book for Carlisle to read.
“Did you…? But these are…? And I’m not-”
Not wanting Beauregard continue down that path, Carlisle cradled his warm cheeks and gently kissed him.
His lips tasted even sweeter than they did in his dreams.
“You are, meum verculum.”
Beauregard opened his eyes, meeting his gaze with a warm brown that far outshone his distant memories and the flowers between them.
Enchantment, divine beauty, and radiance indeed.
Carlisle could not help but pull the boy in for a deeper kiss.
No, Carlisle wouldn’t be able to let Beauregard go so easily anymore.