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"Are you sure this looks fine?"
“Trust me, you look fine as hell..."
Flora thunked her head against the wall where she was currently on a ladder trying to hang the banner for Bloom’s welcome home party.
How the fuck she got roped into this, she wasn’t sure. It was probably Terra’s fault. Now here she was, Riven saying cheesy lines, trying to make her smile and maybe it would have worked had a new voice not made her jump.
“It needs to go a little higher on the right.” Sky pointed out.
“Hmmm.” She put it up a little higher and tied the ends so that it didn’t move. That would have to do.
Climbing down the ladder, she felt someone come up behind her and put their hands on her waist as she made it a few steps down.
Spinning away from Sky’s hands she moved over to the drinks where Terra was trying to organize the alcohol.
“You could just talk to him.” Terra hadn’t even looked up.
“You’re the one that wanted me to help set this up!”
“Yeah, because she’s our friend. But Sky’s-”
“Her boyfriend.” Flora cut Terra off.
“She’s been in the realm of freaking darkness for 6 months. I don’t think that term applies here anymore.”
“Oh, yeah because you’re the relationship expert now.” Flora saw Terra visibly flinch.
“Shit Ter - I’m sorry. I’m just a little - prickly?” Flora put her arm on Terra’s shoulder and squeezed.
“You know you don’t have sugar coat it for me, but you also don’t have to torture yourself by being here.”
Flora frowned down at the table.
“I’m happy she’s back - it’s just - I -”
“You and Sky did nothing wrong.”
“Then why do I feel so guilty?”
“Because you’re a good person Flora.”
“What if - what if we did do something wrong and it - ruins their relationship-”
“The second she chose to go to the realm of darkness, she ruined their relationship. Fuck, she ruined a lot of relationships here.” Terra absentmindedly rubbed her chest, as if she could feel the heartbreak from the day they woke up to those letters.
“Then why are we throwing her this damn party?”
“Because for the first time since she left, we all don’t have to feel worried or scared of what’s happening to her. Anger? I would bet a majority of people here are feeling that. But for tonight, we get to just exhale a little. Relax. Maybe enjoy being a group again?”
Flora knew the winx girls had gotten closer with Bloom’s leaving, but it was hard to have girls nights without that black cloud hanging over them that someone was missing.
Maybe Terra was right, maybe this party was a good opportunity for everyone to actually enjoy being together for the first time in 6 months. And she wasn’t going to ruin that.
Losing herself to the mindless set up for an hour or so, she still avoided Sky but felt a tiny bit better that everyone here wasn’t feeling all sunshine and daisies like she had thought.
In that time Riven had offered her a joint, Kat had offered her a vape, and Stella had offered her champagne. She didn’t think any of those options were going to help settle her nerves - or her conscience - so she declined.
Once more people started filing in she lost herself to the crowd. Talking to her friends from the greenhouse, she felt some semblance of normal.
Feeling up to it she went to survey the drinks table. There were way too many options of liquors and mixers that didn’t go together, but the party had been short notice.
Picking up a bottle she squinted to read the label.
“You’re not going to like that one.” Sky said, coming up to the table and standing across from her.
Frowning, she did realize he was right and put that bottle down, picking up another to see what this one was.
“Not that one either.”
She could tell he wanted her to look at him, but she was staring a hole in the bottle that clearly was labeled gin and she really did hate that shit.
Putting it down again, she moved her hand towards a different bottle.
“Ah-” Sky started to say.
“Don’t even fucking say it!” She pointed her finger at him.
“I’m just trying to help.” He held his hands up in a gesture of surrender.
“I can choose my drink by myself. I don’t need your help.”
“Yeah, but I know what you like.” Sky rounded the table and presented a bottle to her. Damn it, it was her favorite wine.
“Where the fuck did someone even get this? It’s from Limphea.” She murmured out loud, before screwing off the top and taking a swig directly from the bottle.
“I brought it.” Sky shrugged.
She paused with the bottle half way to her mouth for another sip. Carefully lowering it, she continued to stare straight ahead.
“...why?”
“Because it’s your favorite and I wanted you to have something to enjoy here.”
“Sky, it’s not that I’m not enjoying -” She didn’t want to lie to him but she also didn’t want him to feel bad about his girlfriend coming back.
“Please, everyone here knows you’re having a hell of a time. Didn’t you think it was odd that Kat offered you her vape? She treats that thing like her damn child. You should be flattered.”
“I guess I should be.” She took another drink.
“I’m not having a good time either… in case you were wondering.”
At that she turned and looked at him. He looked sheepish, but she also noted the slight discoloration that was under his eyes and the way his hair looked like he hadn’t combed it today.
“I thought you’d be happy… your girlfriend is back - you guys can - um celebrate and all that good stuff.” Flora knew she sounded like forced happiness, but that’s what she felt like too.
“Celebrate her leaving me?” Sky took the bottle out of her hand and took a drink.
“She came back to you.” Flora pointed out while grabbing the bottle back from him to take another drink.
“But she didn’t come back for me…Hell, she didn’t even stay for me.”
Flora offered him the bottle, after a sentence like that he needed it.
“But she’s here.”
“Is she? Because I haven’t seen her all night.”
“You know what I meant.” Though Flora did scan the crowd and notice the lack of a certain fire fairy and Flora frowned.
“What the fuck.” She now turned her body, looking at the places she didn’t on her first sweep. Swinging her head back to Sky she raised an eyebrow at him.
“Apparently, there is some prophecy she learned about in the realm of darkness that only she can fulfill and she demanded a meeting with the headmasters.”
“But, but it’s her party.”
“Eh, it was never about her anyway.” Sky tried to wave off her concerns.
“What?”
“Look around Flora, everyone is actually having a fun time. I think if she came, that might ruin it. It seems like she did us all a favor by skipping out tonight.”
“...Even you?” Flora was feeling the liquid courage from the wine, but that didn’t stop her from biting my lip.
“Especially me.” Sky pushed the bottle back into her hands, and stepped closer to her. Once hand came up to delicately trace a line down her cheek.
“You’re avoiding me.”
“You were with your girlfriend.” Flora leaned into the touch which Sky must have taken as encouragement, so he stepped even closer and fully cupped both sides of her face.
“Ex-girlfriend.” His thumbs smoothed over her cheeks and she closed her eyes, relishing in this contact.
“...was it… was it because of me? - us?” She flinched and she knew Sky felt it.
“No, it was because of me .”
“What - what do you mean?” She opened her eyes to watch a small smile play on his face.
“I mean I haven’t considered us a couple in a long time and she expected it to be like she never left. I’m not the same person I was six months ago, you know?”
Flora did know. She had watched him struggle with Bloom's leaving, but also with the PTSD that came from the blood witch magic that had been used on him and the fact that he had technically died. She had watched him train harder than before, both his body and mind. She had held him when he had nightmares. She had gone with him to visit Andreas’ grave.
So she just nodded.
“You’re not the same person you were either.” One of his hands leaves her face and he spreads out over her chest, right where her scar from the scrapers sits.
She took a deep breath.
For as much as she had been there for him, he had also been there for her. He had held her through nightmares. He had shown her proper wound care. He had helped her get confident in her body again after all the insecurities about the scars started to surface.
“And maybe, if I’m not the same person, and you’re not the same person we were 6 months ago… and we’re both getting better … then it might be time to admit something to ourselves.”
“And what’s that?” She laid her hand over his.
“That obviously we’re better together.”
“Together?” Flora felt a flicker of hope at his words.
“Together. You and me. No misunderstandings this time.”
Now she was the one sporting a small smile.
“Hmmm, and what does together entail, exactly ?” She fluttered her eyelashes at him.
“Well, I can show you better than I can tell you.”
Flora knew him well enough to see that he was waiting for a signal from her. Rolling her eyes, she lifted up on her tiptoes and that was all the sign he needed to lower his head to kiss her lips.
She had thought that if they ever got the opportunity to kiss again it would be lustful and bruising. Instead, this kiss was steady and certain. Certain that they would be in this together.