Down the county road, she spied the canal glistening in the midday sun. Amidst the green prairie grass and red clay, she saw a pop of lavender right next to the water. Freyja could hear Alice’s voice tinkling on the wind. He was singing some kind of wistful love song. Freyja couldn’t help but blush and hum thoughtfully–her heart began to pound in her chest. Her instinct was to run towards him, but she refrained. She tried slowing her approach and made sure each step was as careful as possible. Freyja would hate to ruin his singing.

Alice looked so…peaceful. Wrapped in a loose, lavender shirt (she was pretty sure it was new. Maybe he got it when he was out with Zelly?) and with his ball cap off and resting at his side. Freyja just…marveled at him. He was so delicate, so petite…he didn’t even stand as tall as her pinky. And yet, he was so full of life and love for her. And despite the abuse and heartbreak he had endured, he always had a song in his heart. It would be so easy to allow for such a weary man in a massive world to grow quiet and cold and callous…but Alice never did. He was so much stronger than he gave himself credit for.

Freyja never wanted to make herself smaller for anyone, but she knew she could be a LOT. And she knew without a shadow of doubt that Alice loved her exactly for who she is. The thought gave Freyja so many butterflies that it brought her close to tears. By this point had stopped paying attention to how heavy her footsteps fell now.

Alice stopped his singing. He peered down into the waters…he gasped and whipped around–his eyes going straight up to meet Freyja’s. He smiled wide. “There you are! Were you trying to sneak up on me?”

“I mean…yeah, kinda.” Freyja smirked and shrugged sheepishly. “Did it work?”

“Nope. Your reflection gave it away.” Alice giggled as he pointed down into the canal. Freyja leaned in and gave a booming chuckle as she noticed her titanic reflection in the water. She guessed she wasn’t as sneaky as she thought.

“Nice try, big girl.” Alice winked up at her. He picked up his ball cap and slipped it back on before patting the dusty ground next to him. Freyja smiled fondly as she gently lowered herself down to sit–and despite her best efforts, she still managed to kick up a bit of a dust cloud with the impact. She tried sitting close enough for it to feel intimate, but with just the right amount of distance that she could still see him without having to twist or bend away.

“Sorry ‘bout the wait…” Freyja sighed as she held her closed fist to her chest while she used her free hand to undo the straps of her Chacos.  “Coach had me runnin’ errands, and I lost track of time.” It was a clumsy lie, but not too far-fetched of an excuse. 

Freyja held her gift close to her heart which pounded like thunder. She had to contain her nervous excitement. She had to play it cool or else Alice would think something was up.

Freyja yanked off her Chacos with her free hand and tossed them off to the side–they kicked up some dust before coming to rest in the grass. She then slipped her feet into the cool water until they came to rest at the bottom of the canal. She couldn’t help but purr at the lovely chill which earned a bright giggle from Alice.

“Hey, I, um…” Freyja felt her cheeks grow hot. Alice looked up at her, his head tilted curiously to the side. She cleared her throat. “I…got somethin’ for you, Alice. I hope that’s okay?”

Alice blushed. “Oh! Sweetie, you shouldn’t have...”

Freyja’s voice shook as she protested, “I-I-I wanted to though! I...kinda suck at giving gifts, so…hopefully you don’t think it’s too weird or anything…”

She lowered her closed fist down for him–her knuckles resting on the red clay. Alice reached up and placed a hand on the side of one of her curled fingers. The touch was a livewire that sent a chill down Freyja’s spine. She felt each of his little fingers…so gentle and delicate. She could’ve sworn she was able to feel his pulse. Freyja found herself marveling again.

Alice met Freyja’s nervous, flustered eyes. He gently beamed. “Frey…” 

He leaned forward and pressed his lips against her knuckle in a loving kiss. Freyja inhaled sharply as she felt her muscles quiver at the peck. Alice pulled back his lips, but kept his hand on her finger. “Whatever it is? I’m going to love it.”

Freyja pursed her lips and nodded slowly. She gently started to unfurl her fingers–with some gentle help from Alice in guiding the finger he had his hand on.

In the center of her palm was a branch of cherry blossoms. It looked so pathetically tiny, and suddenly Freyja was having second thoughts. She wanted to close her hand immediately and claim it was nothing. The branch was no longer than the distance between two of her knuckles, and it had fewer blossoms than Freyja remembered it having originally. It honestly kinda looked pathetic in hindsight.

“I-I, um…” Freyja cleared her throat and blushed bashfully. “I…hope flowers are okay? I remember seeing that you shared that one post on Insta about giving boys more flowers and I, um…I thought you mi-” She pursed her lips, then shook her head. Freyja started to curl her fingers back up, her heart suddenly filled with embarrassment. “Sorry, this is dumb. I shouldn’t ha-”

Freyja was cut off as Alice threw his arms around her finger and hugged with surprising strength. Freyja felt his racing heartbeat flush against her. He buried his face into the muscle of her finger and kissed deeply. She felt Alice’s tears against her skin. Freyja’s eyes were wide–her brain stopped working as she just stared at him. 

Alice smushed his cheek against her finger and crooned. “Thank you, Frey...I love it. It’s perfect.”

“Hey hun!” Alice chirped with a smile. He scooted all the way to the end of his row and patted the empty air over the side of the bleachers. He knew she probably wanted to take a load off. “How hungry are you?”

Freyja took a few long swigs from her water bottle before sitting down next to him with a THOOM. Alice giggled as he was launched up a few inches from her impact. Freyja looked exhausted. Her flushed skin glistened in the hot sun, her uniform was stained with dirt and grass, and she smelled of lilac sunscreen and sweat.

“I’m starving...” Freyja admitted with a tired chuckle between deep gulps of breath as she grabbed the front of her shirt and gave it a few tugs to fan herself off. She draped her opposite arm across several rows behind and around Alice to form somewhat of a protective crescent around him. The reinforced bleachers groaned in protested as she carefully leaned her weight up against it, but they were sturdy enough for the broad-shouldered titan.

Alice giggled as he leaned back against her bicep. He twisted his neck and planted a firm kiss against his impromptu backrest, which prompted a low, rumble in response as her muscle quivered against his tender touch. “Great! Me too...”

“Heck yeah,” Freyja grinned as she leaned down to gave Alice a “peck” on the side of his face. Her lips nearly knocked off his glasses and ballcap in the process. “So. What places are you thinkin’?”

“Al-l-lright,” Alice giggled as he pulled up the list he had typed up. “So! We have...Sweet Smiles Cafe, Boonchuy Ramen, Havadi Goodwan...”

Freyja grunted. “I’m kinda in the mood for a wrap, if that’s okay?”

“Wellllll,” Alice pondered. “We can always go Guy-N-Tess’s! I know how much you love their wraps.”

Freyja furrowed her brow at the suggestion. “I thought you said you didn’t like going there on Thursdays?”

Alice blinked with surprise. “Wait, when did I tell you that?”

“Last time we went out with the Trips.” Freyja replied before she took another drink. “You don’t like it cuz it gets a bit too loud with the band that plays on Thursdays.”

“I...didn’t even remember telling you that.” Alice admitted shyly. “Heck, I’m surprised you remembered. The triplets had been drinking, the band was loud, I just thought-”

Freyja raised a quizzical eyebrow before she set her water bottle down and leaned in with a warm smile. Alice blushed and inhaled sharply as she filled his vision. “Babe, you never go unnoticed.” She leaned in and whispered a low “I promise” before giving him a gentle kiss on the face. As she pulled away she shrugged, “So let’s pick something else then. I wanna go somewhere where YOU feel comfortable too.”

Alice couldn’t help but squeak and blush furiously. Finally, he managed to steal a flustered look up at her. “Thank you, Frey...” Alice whispered quietly. Freyja lovingly grinned in silent reply.

“R-Right, not Guy-N-Tess’s then...let’s see...”