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"Ele! Come here! Quick!"
Who said being with a shy girl would be easy when she was this energetic when it comes to animals? "Poppy!! Wait up—" but that didn't change anything as Poppy kept running so fast, leaving Eleanor behind.
"What do you see?" Eleanor finally reached Poppy, who was crouching and staring at whatever it is in front of her. "A kit! I wonder where her mother is..." Eleanor chuckled, how could one be this cute? " Do you wanna help her to find her mom?" Caught the excited girl's attention as she looked up at Ele with her big doe eyes.
Poppy quickly nodded and gave Ele an excited 'yes!'. They left with the kit in Poppy's embrace, still a little afraid and nervous but Ele was sure she was more than comfortable in Poppy's arms— at least that was what she felt every time she was being held in her arms.
A 15-minute walk around the park almost got the two of them to give up, it was so confusing because they didn't see any sign of the kit's mother anywhere. "Such an irresponsible mom," Ele sighed, trying to make Poppy laugh. And that worked, Poppy giggled— oh God, she wishes she could keep her safe so that no one and nothing can hurt this precious girl.
"Oh— Ele! Look! Over there!"
And there she went. Ran as fast as she could with a kit in her arms, and, obviously, left Eleanor behind. Eleanor could only sigh and chuckle to herself, making another note of always keeping your guard up because you never know when Poppy will leave you behind and run that fast.
By the time she catched up with Poppy, Poppy was already knelt and put the kit down, letting it rejoin her mother. "Our hero Poppy has saved another precious creature today! Woo!" Eleanor clapped while giggling before Poppy joined her as well. She stood up straight and bowed down as if she just finished her performance on a stage— however, this was indeed her stage. The world is her stage.
"So, our coolest hero, Ms. Sweeting, would you mind joining me for lunch? If you don't have another plan to save the world, perhaps." A slight tinge of pink could be seen on Poppy's cheeks with Eleanor's hand being held out for Poppy to hold.
Eleanor felt like the sun has stopped its job to shine the world when Poppy's smile grew wider while accepting her hand. "It would be such an honor for me, Ms. Russell," with their hands holding tightly onto each other, they headed to a restaurant they always loved to stop by.
The waitress immediately lit up when she saw the couple stepping into the place. "My my, look at my girls coming back here! The usual?" Both Eleanor and Poppy nodded, but Eleanor added, "Guys, our Ms. Sweeting just saved a kit today!" And that got almost everyone in the restaurant to laugh a bit before Alice, the waitress that wrote down their orders, went to the kitchen and make their orders.
Poppy was pinching Eleanor's side playfully while they went to their favorite table; the one near the big window with a nice view of people passing by. "How were today's classes, by the way, Poppy? Anything fun?" She nodded and excitedly start to explain how her classes were to Eleanor. None of them had even realized that Alice has come with their orders.
"Alice? This...?"
Alice smiled, "our hero needs something special, doesn't she? This one on the house, bright girl." Eleanor smiled while Maria winked at both of them. Poppy still staring at a slice of strawberry pie in front of her before Eleanor poked her hand and caught her attention again "Poppy, shall we eat now?"
"Mm!" and so they ate peacefully with a little chatter now and then. "Oh goodness, I'm so full, Ele!" Eleanor only chuckled, and sneakily took a chance to admire this sweet, adorable, and kind girl when Poppy close her eyes to how full she felt after finishing her food.
'Perhaps this is the reason why I was so eager to get into this school; to meet her.'
That already sounded very weird but what could she do when someone is being this... lovable. She never spoke about this feeling to anyone, unless her dog could be counted as someone. It took Eleanor almost a year to accept the feeling and let it flow, although she kept hoping she would stop being a coward for once and tell her how much she loved her from the very first time they met. How Eleanor adored her gleaming eyes when she talked about the animals she met for her class, how she tried to hold herself not to squeeze Poppy in her arms every time she came to her with that bright face of hers, how she wished it wouldn't be so weird for her to buy Poppy flowers every single day to remind her that she was the best thing that ever happened in her life—
"Ele? Eleanor?"
Eleanor snapped out of her daydream, she was just as confused as Poppy when she didn't realize it had been 10 minutes since Poppy asked her where does she want to go after this. "My— I'm sorry, Poppy. My mind wandered a little. What were you saying?" Poppy shook her head and smiled, "I asked you, where do you wanna go after this? Home?"
'I want to be with you.'
If only that didn't sound weird and they were a couple, she definitely would say that to her. "I'm not sure, I don't have any plans today. How about you? Do you wanna go home?"
Poppy's gaze moved to the empty plate while thinking, "I don't know, honestly. But," her eyes now back at Eleanor's. Her bright yet so dark eyes, as if she could drown in them, looked like they could talk and ask Eleanor right away. "Do you want to join me for a walk around here? I found a good place yesterday."
Who was she to say no to her crush? So Eleanor nodded and Poppy put that wide smile on her face again. They left the restaurant after saying bye to the staff and paid for their orders. They stopped by at a small cafe and bought themselves some coffee. Poppy thought it would be nice to sit there while having coffee and Eleanor couldn't agree more.
"Holy mother... Poppy, this is absolutely breathtaking! How did you find this? Were you trying to save a cat and accidentally rolled to this place??" Eleanor took her time to looked around the place. While Poppy laughed and sat down on the grass, watching the view of a lake surrounded by trees and flowers. This place looked as if it came out of a fairytale, not to mention how unreal Poppy looked right now. Maybe if heart eyes were indeed real, Poppy would know how Eleanor felt about her.
"I didn't roll to this place, but I got dragged by Constance's dog, and thanks to him I found this place." Eleanor shook her head as she let out a chuckle. 'Well I suppose thanks to him indeed.' Poppy hugged her knees and stare at the lake. "Eleanor, I wonder what you think about my friend's problem..."
Eleanor glanced at Poppy with curiosity clearly shown in her eyes, "What is it about? Just tell me." If you ask for only one word to describe the atmosphere between these two girls then it would be awkward. "So... How do I put this into words? Mm... My friend— let's just call her Amber, is having a crush on her friend. And both of them have been friends for quite a long time now. She wonders what to do, because you know, her crush is also a girl... She finds her friend is so amazing and sweet she can't stop that feeling. She's afraid if she confesses to her then she might ruin their friendship. What do you think she needs to do?"
'Holy crap, if it isn't me and my problem.'
"Let's see... Amber and her crush have been friends for a long time and she has a crush on her for how long again?" Poppy immediately looked away the moment Eleanor asked her with her eyes moving to see her, she surely was not planning to get caught blushing so hard, right? "I think... A year?" Eleanor nodded and continued to focus on her thoughts.
It took a while for Eleanor to finally answer, her eyes were still staring at the lake as if it was her own problem she was talking about. "I'm not sure how to say this from Amber's point of view as I'm not close to her whatsoever but, if I were her, I think I would just be like now or never with no intention of getting the same feeling from my crush, you know."
Poppy's eyes slightly grew wider at Eleanor's answer, "You're right... That's what people should do. Be brave and not be a coward when it comes to love. I see... Thank you, Ele." Eleanor smiled, patting the top of her head gently. "Don't mention it. I'm just... giving a piece of advice that I'm not sure would help either." Poppy giggled while her cheeks turned even redder— almost looking like tomatoes were being stuck onto her cheeks.
Eleanor would love to spend the rest of her life admiring this girl who was sitting next to her. Her short brown hair looked as soft as cotton, her eyes were much brighter than all the stars in the galaxies, her soul was the purest form of innocent love and joy, and her whole existence was the reason why Aphrodite existed.
"Eleanor, I think I love you."
The very soft and faint whisper that escaped Poppy's mouth almost didn't make its way to Eleanor's ears. Her eyes blinked, trying to process Poppy's words. "Can you... say that hst again, Poppy?"
Poppy shoved herself into Eleanor's embrace, her arms wrapped around her so tight and got Eleanor gasped softly. "I love you, Ele. I love you lots and lots... I'm sorry if you don't want to hear this coming from me... I— I can't hold myself anymore." Eleanor chuckled while she slowly pulled Poppy into her arms even more with a tight hug. "Poppy, look at me."
And those brown bright eyes looked up at her, fear, worry, and nervousness could be seen in them. "I love you even more, Poppy. I really do. I'm sorry I couldn't be as brave as you are, Ms. Sweeting, but I've been in love with you since the first time we met— remember when you helped me to find Professor Weasley's office? Your whole presence immediately got my heart skip a beat."
Tears welled up in Poppy's eyes before they made their way down her cheeks. Eleanor smiled while her thumbs softly wiped off the tears. "I thought— I thought... Oh God, I thought you despise that kind of relationship..." and that got Eleanor laughing a bit. 'How on earth?'
"Goodness— Poppy, why did you think that way? Is it because I never talk about it before?" Poppy nodded shyly, her tears kept coming back— she didn't even know was it due to happiness or embarrassment that she didn't know Ele had a feeling for her all the time. "Oh my, you've always been so oblivious, haven't you? Do you know that Viktor had a crush on you for months until he stopped and dated Eliza?" Poppy's mouth was wide open as she had never known that before Eleanor told her. "What— how?? How is that even possible? I thought he was having a crush on you?"
Eleanor couldn't help but laughing so hard, her hands held Poppy so tight so she won't fall off of her. "No, Poppy. He sees me as his sister, older sister. But oh well, I'm glad he stopped trying to win your heart, I don't have to fight any competitor." Perhaps if cheeks and chest could explode for real, Poppy would be in heaven right now. "Poppy, ahem— would you be so kind to be my dearest girlfriend? I swear I will treat you as gentle as possible— like when you took care of the sick horse you showed me two months ago."
Poppy could feel her tears were starting to well up again before she nodded her head quickly. She got no time to lose, to not say yes to this vanilla blonde haired girl. "Yes— yes, Eleanor!" The hug tightened while her head were pressed against Eleanor's shoulder. "Holy shit, I can't believe this..." and she only chuckled to respond to Ele's sudden curse.
"Let's go home, shall we? We can cook together but I'm sure mom would love to be helped by her daughter's girlfriend."
They headed home hand in hand and wide smiles on their face. Eleanor was sure, being with a shy girl would never be a regret to her; it was a treasure for her instead.