I go back home.

If what you suspect the situation is as serious as it is with Flora, you decide not to do anything dumb. Delilah might have been worth the risk, but not this blonde.

“Hey,” you glance at the bottle and the empty glass. “Thanks for the drinks, Maple. I appreciate it.”

Maple smirks but doesn’t seem disappointed. “Anytime, Warren. Don’t be a stranger to Tiny’s Tavern. Drop in anytime you’d like to talk.”

“With Delilah gone, I might have to take you up on your offer,” you say, planting seeds of false hope. “I’ll see you around.”

Already, you’re back at the house. Amara and Alexandra are tucked away in a room, conversing with each other. Flora, as you expected, is in the living room reading on the sofa. However, when she notices you, her face lights up, and she places her book down. When you see her reaction, you realize you couldn’t mistrust her… could you?

“I want to go out!” Flora says.

“What do you mean?” You ask, a little nervous.

Flora blinks, finding her “cool,” and then says. “I mean, well, I want to go for a walk, but none of these assholes will let me leave this house without someone holding my leash..”

You consider your opinions for a couple of seconds, just to realize you have none. You left Maple because you wanted to be with Flora…Well, more or less, anyway. “Get your boots on then,” you smile. “I’ll go out and walk with you for a bit.”

“Aw,” she smirks slightly. “Are you going to be my leash?”

Your heart skips a beat. Flora’s voice wasn’t very sensual, but the remark couldn’t have been any more naughty,

Flora shivers slightly, but when the sunlight hits her face, you’re reminded of the first month you knew her. You smiled at this memory, just in time for her to notice. “What?” She said, laughing somewhat.

“You’re pretty,” you admit, and she blushes.

“Where did this come from?” She hugs herself, looking away with uncharacteristic bashfulness. “You can’t just say stuff like that.”

“I can when it’s you,” you press. “You’re worth more than just a random compliment every once in a while.”

Flora shivers again, but it’s for a different reason. “Are we safe to talk like this?

“Yes,” you say. “Especially if we’re going to attempt a cross-country runaway, we might want to build our relationship a little bit more…”

You hear Flora snort, so you glance at her. Your eyes meet, and she squints slightly at you. “Are you suggesting we have more sex?”

The winter’s cold is **** out when you start to blush. “What?”

Flora comes to a complete stop to talk to you. “You said that whole thing like a flirt, or are you so natural that you didn’t realize that?”

Before you know it, Flora is holding your hands, and she’s looking up at you. Her smile is nothing but a smiley grin. You swallow and look around before returning your gaze to her. “You’re a natural, too. You know?”

“You’re saying that like your face isn’t as red as a balloon right now, Warren.”

She’s got a slightly different tone to her voice now, but it’s all the same. Was she always this smooth? “How was our first time together?”

Flora puts on a smug face and lets go of your hands. “I’ve had better.”

“Really?” you reply, unsure if she’s lying or not.

“Of course,” she now starts walking again, the snow beneath her crunches down. “But, you weren’t bad.”

A slight sense of jealousy goes through your mind. So her asshole husband is better than you? That didn’t sound right to you, nor did you want to believe it. “From who?”

Flora picks up on your feelings relatively quickly when she gauges your expression, but you can’t read what is going through her mind. Her smile is still present, however. “You know who,” she says with a wink.

Without saying anything else, she continues forward. You run up behind her. “I don’t believe you,” you admit. “That was…you were incredible.”

A subtle blush washes over her cheeks. “Oh, Warren.”

“I’m serious,” you say. “You felt so good around me, and hearing you when we were having sex–”

“Warren!” Flora snaps. “Don’t say stuff like while we’re outside.”

You look around again. No one is here, and you relay that to her.

She hugs herself, giving the area a quick look around too. “Doesn’t matter. It’s still embarrassing for you to say things like that outside.”

A grin playfully spreads on your mouth. “You don’t want people to know that we sleep with each other?”

Flora puts on an expression that can be easily read. She’s annoyed. “You’re not helping me for the sex, right?”

“What?”

“Don’t be so immature,” she sighs.

“You’re the one who brought it up,” you remark.

“I didn’t expect you to take so much offense,” she glares. “You’re obviously better than my ex-husband, and I was obviously teasing you.”

It wasn’t obvious… you wanted to say, but you didn’t want Flora to raise her voice any more than she already has, so you approached her differently. “You’re right. I apologize.”

Unsatisfied with your response, she continues to regard you with a slight glare. “Can we talk about something else now? This is senseless.”

“I have a few more questions, don’t I?”

Flora blinks. “Hah?”

“I have ten questions I never had a chance to ask you.”

“Oh,” her eyes travel down. “Yes…right…I guess I never had a chance to give you ten answers.”

“Would you like to walk somewhere first, or is here fine?”

Flora shivers again, her arms going back to her sides. “Let’s continue walking, but we can talk.”

“Sweet or savory?” You ask.

“Savory,” Flora answers quickly and grunts. “Be serious! Enough of these childish questions.”

Your face feels warm suddenly. You exhale, thinking about your next question with more consideration. “Are you depressed because of what happened to you?”

The silence that follows after that question makes you wonder whether or not you should have taken such a giant leap or not. But then, she finally replies. “No. It was easy to…to ferment in all those horrible things that happened to me, but as much as I dislike being with the Syndicate, they helped me recover quicker than I would have ever thought possible. Especially Amara.”

“What’s Amara to you?”

Flora sighs, but she doesn’t stop walking. “I thought of her as a mentor, or maybe as someone who could have guided me to the right place, but the longer we’ve worked and traveled together, I’m suspecting her as someone who wants to use me for something that I don’t understand…or have any interest in. She’s very manipulative– I’d even say dangerously charismatic. I don’t know what to think of her anymore.”

“How about Kenji?”

She snorts. “Kenji? What is Kenji to me… I like him, I guess? While you were gone, I spent a lot of time with him. I don’t think he likes Amara much, or even the ARS. I wouldn’t say he’s abusing the power of being a part of the Syndicate, but he’s using it for something personal. He’s a confusing person, but I don’t want to learn anything else about him.”

“And then Alexandra?”

This time Flora stops, but it’s only for a second. “Alexandra treats me the worse out of everyone else. Of course, Scarlet and I didn’t see eye-to-eye on every matter, but I never thought she disliked me. If she were here instead of Alexandra, I would have no problem with that. So, I guess I view Alexandra as an antagonist against me…against us.”

“OK then,” you say. “How about me?”

This time, Flora comes to a complete stop and turns to face you. There’s a subtle smile on her lips. “I wanted to ask what you thought about me first.”

You spread your arms. “I beat you to it. Sorry.”

A small giggle escapes her. “To be honest, I don’t know what to think of you. I mean, we’ve slept with each other already, but I’m still wondering if that was a mistake or not. I don’t mean anything naughty by bringing that up even, but… The only other person I’ve been with intimately was my ex-husband.”

“I’m sorry if you’re conflicting about that still,” you say. “If it helps, I don’t have any regrets about doing that with you. You’re something else, Flora. I mean that.”

Her face becomes red, and she smiles gently. “I guess there’s just some fear in there then.”

“What kind of fear? What do you mean?”

Flora continues again. “Hey, that counts as two questions.”

“Fair enough. As long as you answer it….”

“I will,” she promises with a deep sigh. “I told you what happened to me. The first person I became intimate with didn’t just trick me– he sold me off for personal gain. My husband was the most important person on earth to me. We showed each other love in more ways than just in bed. Forgive me, Warren, but in some ways, I viewed throwing myself on you as a way to convince you to help me, or to at least get rid of any negative thoughts about helping me…”

“That’s a little shitty,” you say, your smile gone, your emotions mixed.

“I… I kind of tricked myself in a way because all I’ve ever managed to do since our first time together was consider you in everything I do. You’re different, and you showed me that…made me feel it even.”

“Do you think we honestly have a chance of escaping?”

“Oh yes,” Flora says with complete confidence. “With you behind the wheel, I think our odds will forever be in our favor. Next question.”

“That was…hopeful,” you remark before thinking of something else. “Do you think you’d kill your ex-husband if we crossed paths?”

“In a heartbeat,” she says. “He’s planted seeds of hate in me, and if I’m offered a chance to make him reap what he’s sown, then I would.”

“Remind me not to make you angry,” another remark, but she smiles at it. You continue beside her. “When you’re back with your family, what will you do?”

“Apologize endlessly. They might have gotten me involved in that marriage, but they did everything they could to get me out of it. I was just too stubborn to see it then.” She sighs.

“You don’t have any kind of resentment against your folks because of that? How could that be?!”

“That’s two questions,” she comments before getting to the main point. “Of course I do, but in the end, it was technically my fault. Plus, I know my mom and dad love me. They meant well, and they admitted they were wrong when they tried to get me to divorce. I wish…well, I guess I wouldn’t have met you if I listened to them.”

“Are you going to let me stay with you when you’re back home?”

“Warren,” Flora gasps. “What kind of question is that?”

“Just a regular one, I guess?”

She looks down, embarrassed all of a sudden. “How could I not let you stay with me? Look at how much trouble I’ve put you through. Look how much you’ve already done for me. What kind of person would I be if I didn’t offer you a place to stay to at least settle down?”

“If you’re scared of finding love again, what if you find it with me when we’re back with your family?”

Flora points at you. “That’s a question.”

You smile. “Fair enough.”

“Maybe after everything is said and done, I’ll be unable to see my life without you. A person hasn’t been willing to risk so much for me since I was sold off as property. I’d be a terrible, twisted person if I couldn’t acknowledge the possibility of love between us.”

You’re approaching a distant motel. The smoking coming from the chimneys indicates that it’s still operational. A sign in front of the place reads Boot Inn.

“And for my final question…”

She knits her brows. ”Yes…?”