“Hi, I’m Ren, Honey’s younger brother,” said fairy offered me his hand to shake as I entered the house with Honey.  “Glad to meet you.”

I probably would have guessed that they were related even if he hadn’t said so – they looked very similar.  Similar hair, similar beautiful faces – though his masculine and hers feminine – and similar smiles.  Like Honey, his face seemed to be designed to smile and his smile was bright enough to make me blink.

I looked around a little curiously at the house, noticing all the wood and – all the plants.  So many plants.  It felt like home somehow though, far more than my own did – our farmhouse was a little bleak and completely empty of plants apart from the one lone sunflower I’d had in my bedroom for the last four years.  I wasn’t sure why, but I found myself wondering if that feeling of home was because of all the green.  Maybe I should try to convince my mom to have more plants in our house.

A white floof came dashing up to me, sniffing my feet curiously.

Honey groaned.  “No fair, she even likes Kade better and she hasn’t met him yet!  Why won’t she love me?”  She scooped up the puppy, who paused just long enough to give her a lick and then turned her attention to me, trying to get closer while her tail wagged obsessively.

I itched to pet her and hesitated for a second before deciding that was probably okay.  I reached tentative fingers out to let her sniff, then carefully petted the puppy’s head.

So soft.  This was incredible.

The next moment, before I was ready for it, Honey placed the puppy in my arms.  I was quite willing, really, but still surprised.

“Her name’s Sapphire, by the way,” Ren volunteered, watching this exchange.  “And she seems to like you, so that’s good.”

“Where’s Riven?”  Honey looked around for him, and I was a little curious to see him, too.

“Changing.  He got here just before you did so he’s all soaked.”

Honey crossed her arms, aghast.  “You let him walk home in all this rain?  It’s pouring outside!  Shouldn’t you have gone and picked him up?”

“I tried!”  Ren protested defensively.  “He wouldn’t let me!  He was worried the food wouldn’t be done properly if I left in the middle.”

“Food,” Honey lectured him, “is less important than Riven’s health.”

“Yes ma’am,” her brother responded meekly.

I was half amused, half intrigued by getting to see a new side of Honey.

“Babe?”  Ren called from the bottom of the stairs.  “Are you almost ready?  Honey and Kade are here and Honey’s scolding me about letting you walk back in the rain!”

“No fair,” Honey hissed.  “That’s cheating!”

Riven, I assumed, appeared on the stairs and bounded down, quickly grabbing Ren’s hand before frowning at Honey – the sort of frown that almost made you want to smile because it was cute, though.  “Don’t be mad at Ren,” he told her, “it was my fault, I made him do it.”

Then his eyes swiveled over to where I was awkwardly standing, still holding the puppy who was kind of melting into my arms while I petted her.

Riven made a beeline for me, dragging Ren along behind him.  “Hi!  I’m Riven, though I guess you already know that.”

He gave me a sweet, almost shy smile and looked at me with gray eyes that were soft and kind – and I got it.  I understood why Honey thought I’d like him even if I’d really only heard one line out of him.

It was his eyes.  They told me he was kind, he cared even if he’d never met me before, he was sweet, and he just felt – peaceful, somehow.  Honey felt like sunlight, but he felt like the stars, gently shining and comforting with their sparkling presence.

“Hi,” I managed, suddenly realizing I hadn’t even said a word since I’d arrived.  “Um, thanks for having me?”

It wasn’t intended to really be a question, but it came out that way anyway.

Riven smiled at me.  “Of course!  We’re happy to get to meet you.”  Then he turned to look up at Ren with a special smile on his face which told me how much he adored him.  That was good, I thought – Ren was Honey’s family and she would want her brother to be loved.  I was glad his boyfriend did so.

“Is dinner ready?”  Riven asked.

“Yep.”  Ren motioned towards the dining room.  “Shall we eat?”

I didn’t talk much during the evening, still feeling shy and awkward, but I enjoyed myself anyway.  As Honey had promised, her brother and his boyfriend didn’t pressure me into talking at all, but did include me in conversations, Riven in particular throwing me warm smiles and offering quiet explanations sometimes when I started to feel confused about conversations I couldn’t quite follow.

Ren was bright like Honey, I realized, but in a different way.  He was friendly, though, and I found myself appreciating his company if for no other reason than getting to see him banter with Honey.  I even got to pet Sapphire most of the evening and play with her some, so all in all, to me, it was a great evening even if I barely said two dozen words.

As we left later in the evening, I suddenly felt anxious when we went to get in my car so I could take Honey home before heading to my own home.  “Did I – were they offended by me being quiet, do you think?”

“No, please, don’t worry about that!”  She patted my arm gently, startling me so much I forgot to be anxious.  “I told you, they understand.   Believe me, they understand.  Riven – Riven wouldn’t even look at us when we first met him, not for the longest time, and he didn’t talk much.  A bear shifter attacked him and he was going to forgo surgery to fix his vocal cords because he didn’t see talking as that important.  Point is,” she waved her hands, bringing my attention back to her instead of this startling new information, “Riven understands not talking much to strangers and Ren knows how to be patient and find a way to be friends with someone who’s on the quieter side.  They liked you, I could tell.  Don’t worry so much – next time, I’m sure you’ll talk to them a little more, and the time after, a little more.  It’ll be fine.”

I found myself believing her, even if there didn’t seem to be a good reason for it.

Maybe it was because I was starting to believe in miracles, after she told me she was interested in me.  Maybe I thought impossible things were more possible, if I stopped believing they were so out of reach for me.

As I glanced over at her in my passenger seat, I smiled to myself.  Honey had brought sunlight into my life from the first day I saw her, and somehow I was sure that sunlight would only grow from here until it eclipsed everything else in my life.

And I found myself incredibly thankful to the sunflower that had made her notice me, giving me a chance with the sunniest person I’d ever met.

Sunflowers were definitely my new favorite flower.