Daisy
Tuesday morning, Daisy woke up excited. She took out her phone and sent Hayden a text before she headed off to classes for the day:
See you at 5. Don't forget my coffee :).
She braided her hair, adding a few small flower pins down the braid, and headed off to campus.
As she walked toward her first class, her phone buzzed:
Your coffee. Got it. How do you take it?
She smiled down at her phone, typing:
Mocha Latte, please.
A few seconds later, her phone buzzed again.
Good teacher with good taste. You got it, boss.
She rolled her eyes, smiling the rest of the way to class.
At four forty-five, Daisy walked up the entrance to the library. She stopped when she saw Hayden standing there, two disposable coffee cups in his hands. His brown hair spilled down his forehead in messy waves. She started walking again, smiling as she approached.
"Coffee!" she said, taking hers from his hand and sipping. She closed her eyes, feeling the warm liquid spread through her body. "Oh yeah. Just what I needed."
She looked up at him, smiling. "Ready?"
"Ready," he confirmed, falling into step beside her as they headed into the library.
They claimed their usual study room, and Hayden set down his coffee and the green notebook.
"So," he said, settling into the chair beside her instead of across from her this time. "I tried a few problems on my own. Figured I'd see if any of it stuck."
She looked over his practice problems, focusing on the work he did to get his answers. They were all right. Pride filled her chest.
She looked over at him, a proud smile on her face.
"You're killing it. I'm so proud of you!" she beamed, looking down at his work again.
"Yeah?" His voice came out rough, like he wasn't expecting them to be right. "I mean, they felt right when I was doing them, but I wasn't sure..."
He turned to look at her, his eyes holding hers with an intensity that made the study room feel smaller. It was almost intoxicating. "You're a really good teacher, Daisy. I don't think I've ever actually wanted to understand this stuff before."
His hand moved across the table, fingers brushing against hers in what could've been accidental, but she had a feeling it wasn't.
"Makes me wonder what else you could teach me," Hayden said quietly, vulnerability mixed with something warmer, more dangerous.
Daisy looked at him, calculus forgotten, football forgotten, just him and her and this moment. She tilted her head slightly.
"I probably have a few things up my sleeve," she said quietly, her eyes still on him. Her heart beat quickly against her ribcage.
Daisy's breath caught at the way he was looking at her, like she was the only thing in the world that mattered right now.
"A few things, huh?" His voice dropped lower, rough with emotion. He shifted closer. She thought briefly about breaking the moment, turning away from him. But she didn't.
His hand came up slowly, fingers barely grazing one of the flower pins in her braid. "These are new," Hayden said softly, the gesture intimate and careful.
Daisy glanced down when his hand moved to the flower pins in her braid and smiled.
"Thought they were cute," she said, her eyes flicking back up to him.
He was so close to her face now that it was almost intoxicating. It would only take half an inch to close the distance between them. His breath tickled her cheek as he spoke about his vulnerabilities.
"Daisy," he breathed her name like a confession. "I don't know what I'm doing here. I'm not... good at this. At letting people in."
"Don't overthink it. Just... do it," she said softly, her hand coming up to his arm, resting gently against it.
With that, he closed the distance between them, his hand sliding from her cheek to cup the side of her face as his lips met hers. The kiss was tentative at first; careful, like he was afraid this moment might shatter if he pushed too hard. But then she leaned into him, tightening her grip on his arm, and he deepened the kiss.
The air left her lungs in a rush she couldn't reclaim. Her heart hammered so hard she thought it might crack a rib. Her mind, always three steps ahead, always planning, went blissfully and terrifyingly silent.
He kissed her like she was air and he'd been drowning. His other hand found her waist, pulling her closer. She wrapped her arms around his neck, stretching up on his tiptoes to pull him impossibly close.
When they finally pulled apart, Hayden rested his forehead against hers, breathing hard, eyes searching her face like he was trying to memorize every detail.
"Daisy," he whispered, voice wrecked. His thumb traced her jawline, gentle. "I don't deserve you. But I'm too selfish to let you go."
Her hand moved to his cheek, her fingers tracing his cheekbone.
"You deserve more than you think you do, Hayden," she said softly, her heart aching at his inherent need to put himself down.
"You keep saying that," he murmured, turning his head slightly to press a kiss against her palm. "And I'm starting to believe you might actually mean it."
"Then I'll keep saying it until you believe it yourself." She said, eyes soft.
"I don't know how to do this," Hayden admitted. "The whole... relationship thing. I'm gonna mess up. Probably a lot."
"That's okay. I probably will, too," she said with a chuckle. "I'm not exactly an expert in relationships..."
His hand slid down to lace his fingers through hers.
"Good," he said, a genuine smile breaking across his face. "Then we'll figure it out together. Make our own rules."
He kissed her forehead, then nodded toward the open textbook.
"Come on. We should probably at least pretend to do some calculus before they kick us out. Even though all I want to do is kiss you again."
Daisy chuckled at that, nodding and pulling away from him. She picked up the pencil from the table and started explaining the next lesson to him. Throughout her explanations, there was one thing that was constant: The smile that played on her lips. No matter how hard she tried, it just would not go away. And every now and again, between problem-solving and explanations to his questions, they would glance at each other with shy smiles.
By the time their session ended, Hayden had learned more calculus than he had all semester. But more importantly, he'd learned what it felt like to be completely, terrifyingly happy.
They packed their things slowly, dragging the time out as much as they could.
"Same time Thursday," she said.
She stood from her chair, waiting until he stood before heading toward the library exit. When they left the library, Daisy stopped.
"Walk me back?" She didn't want their time together to end yet. The thought of it made her chest ache. She looked at him, hopeful he'd say yes.
"Yeah," he said, shouldering his gym bag and falling into step beside her. "Of course."
A grin broke out across her face, and she was confident that if she were only a few pounds lighter, she'd have been floating up to space by now.
"You know," he said after a moment, "I used to hate Tuesdays. Just another day to get through before the weekend, before a game. But now..." He glanced down at her, that rare smile playing at his lips. "Now they might be my favorite day of the week."
She looked up at him, her eyes soft. "Mine, too."
His hand found hers again, fingers lacing together, and it felt like the most natural thing in the world.
She shivered against the cold and, without hesitation, he shrugged his jacket off, draping it over her shoulders. She nestled into it, breathing in its scent.
By the time they reached her dorm, Daisy was already dreading another goodbye.
"Thursday," Hayden said softly when they stopped at her entrance, both hands holding hers now. "And Saturday. And every day you'll let me."
He pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead, then her cheek, hovering near her lips but holding back.
"Text me when you're inside safe," he murmured against her temple, echoing her own words from Saturday. "Goodnight, Daisy."
"Goodnight, Hayden," she said softly, holding his hand for just a few beats longer before walking inside and up the stairs.
When she got inside and closed the door, she leaned against it, closing her eyes. She wasn't sure what she was doing, or what this was between the two of them. But she knew it was powerful. She hugged his jacket around herself, breathing him in again.
She took out her phone and sent him a text:
Inside. Thank you for walking me back, Hayden.
She changed into her pajamas and climbed into bed, smiling the entire time.