There’s something about the sheer ridiculousness of playing with a single finger on this particular piano that becomes too much for me before long, and I can’t stop myself from breaking out into giggles.

“I can’t see what’s so funny,” Rose says. “We’re making something beautiful together.”

“I’m sorry, did I ruin the moment?”

“Less apologizing, more majesty.”

“It’s hard to be majestic with one finger, Rose.”

“I’m managing it just fine.”

Suddenly, Rose stops playing. I trail off and give her a questioning look.

“I can’t remember the rest,” she says ruefully. “It’s been about five years.”

“Eh,” I say, waving a hand. “Quick refresher course and you’ll be playing concertos in no time.”

Rose lifts her knee and shifts so she’s angled toward me on the seat. “Could you teach me?”

“To play concertos?” I ask. “Oh, sure. Give me an hour.”

She holds out a hand for me to shake it. “And in return, I’ll teach you a triple axel.”

I stare at her hand for way too long before I take it. “Deal. Is that hard?”

“I believe so, yes.”

“Was it hard for you?”

She barks a laugh, still holding me. Her thumb moves against my palm, and my eyes flicker down to look at our hands before I can stop them. “I can’t even do a single axel. God didn’t want to make me overpowered. I thought we were slightly exaggerating our promises.”

“We were, but I can play concertos.”

“Well, now I’m even more impressed. And I’m much more difficult to impress than you.”

I raise our joined hands up and down, finishing the handshake. Rose is slow to let go, and there’s no way I’m imagining how long we’ve been looking at each other. The same way I definitely wasn’t imagining it when she kept looking at me in Eleanor’s room a few weeks back.

The silence has been going on for too long, and I feel like I need to fill it, but I can’t think of a single thing to say. Rose’s self-assured grin has dropped off a little, and she’s scanning my face like she’s looking for something. She bites her lip, and I must lose all grip on reality, because for one delusional moment I actually think it feels like the energy before a first kiss. Where your fingertips tingle, and your heart starts to trip over itself as it races downhill, and you can’t tear your eyes away from one another until suddenly the space between you isn’t there at all anymore, and you don’t even know who closed it.