In everything that Belinda had said or done, not once did it occur to T.J. to ask her why she didn’t invite him to come along on her trip. Sure, he knew that it was incredibly important to her, but he could have easily put things on hold with the greenhouse in order to travel with her, help her, and even protect her. As for the rest of the group, he made friends easily (for some reason, people tended to support getting free weed), so there wasn’t a chance he would step on anyone’s toes. Truthfully, he didn’t mind that he wasn’t invited. In his mind, he was sure that Belinda would have invited him if she thought he could have helped, or maybe she didn’t want to leave his greenhouse alone. Because not once did it even cross his mind that he wasn’t invited out of sheer absent-mindedness. Belinda was, more often than not, the central focus of his thoughts; it seemed impossible that she did not think of him the same way.
He grinned brightly when she began digging around in her bag. “Souvenirs? Awesome!” He slid up to the edge of his cushion and waited patiently (although, he was bouncing a little like a child) for her to pull out the gifts. When she handed him the bowl and pipe, his smile doubled and caused his eyes to squint shut. With one hand, he felt the cool ceramic of the bowl. On top of having a nifty gift from his girlfriend, he was impressed by the craftsmanship that went into the bowl. Someone, so very far away, actually made the little thing and if that wasn’t a way to feel connected to people and the earth, then he didn’t know what would. Next, he traced a thumb over the smooth wood of the pipe. “Oh, ‘Sprout, this is fantastic! These are so cool!” He was definitely going to break in that pipe before the day was out.
T.J. sat them on the corner of his coffee table and returned both of his hands to Belinda’s so he was holding both of hers. His smile softened and his gaze was warm as he studied her face. He’d lost count of how many nights he stayed awake, wondering if Belinda could see the same stars he saw through his window. It had been remarkably depressing, but now with her back in front of him, it didn’t seem quite so sad. In fact, everything he endured, he did so for her and just how much he loved her. He leaned forward and pressed a tender kiss to her lips, hooking one hand in the curve of her neck and letting his thumb trace an arc along her cheek. He pulled back slightly, brushing his nose against hers.
“So, a whole field of crops, huh?” He grinned again. Belinda was a talented young woman when it came to her elementalism, but she was a lower level than he was so it delighted him to hear how she progressed with her abilities.