Daisy noticed that after being scolded Leo went back to what he had been doing before he went off to war. Handholding, cuddling, and light kissing. Nothing more than that. It went on for over a week.

The only thing that really changed between now and then was the fact that she went to bed with him every night. It was cold and it would make him happy so it was a win-win.

Every morning he greeted her with the brightest smiles she had ever seen from him. He was usually up before she was and gazed at her with his heart in his eyes the same way he had the first morning this happened. Her poor, confused heart didn't know what to make of it.

Part of her was miserable because it wasn't fair to him being so happy about being taken advantage of but part of her was excited since no one had ever looked at her like that aside from him. Like he would be satisfied to stare at her forever.

Another aspect of this emotional cocktail was Daisy knowing that she didn't actually look like this. Leo had called her beautiful on multiple occasions but what he was seeing wasn't her. It was Veronica May.

She didn't look anything like Veronica. She wasn't small and delicate or even all that feminine. Her hair and eyes were nothing special either and she had plain, forgettable features.

The day he found out her true age he claimed it was the soul that mattered not the age. Would he feel the same way if he knew that her soul had come from a body that looked so different from the one he liked? She was afraid to ask for some reason.

Daisy knew Leo wouldn't have been interested in her if their circumstances were different. He was saved by a beautiful girl only two years older than him and labored under that delusion until it was too late.

Once he was already in love with her it didn't matter how old she was to him but he never would have fallen in love with her in the first place if he met her as herself. If her original body had come here instead of only her soul things would have been very different.

She would have been a motherly figure to him the way she was to Ira. That was how it should have been but her insides twisted at the thought.

Why? Daisy knew it was wrong that Leo loved her. That it should never have happened in the first place. She knew that and yet she didn't want to lose it. She was such a horrible, selfish person!

She was so desperately lonely after a lifetime of being unloved that she was willing to accept the affection of a nineteen-year-old kid without being able to return it properly. She was the absolute worst. He deserved better but stubbornly clung to her anyway.

It was starting to get to her. Who wouldn't be affected by that level of adoration? Especially since it was coming from someone she loved.

Daisy loved Leo more than she had ever loved anyone but she wasn't sure if it was even possible to change that love from familial to romantic. That was why she was such a wreck. She didn't want to let him down but she didn't want to let herself down either by doing something she didn't agree with morally.

He was so sweet. So caring. So different from all the other men she had ever known.

If she had met someone like him back in her world she would have been head over heels. But she hadn't. Would she ever be able to accept the way things were without feeling weird about it or would they be stuck in relational limbo forever?

Leo didn't seem to care one way or another. He was happier than Daisy had ever seen him. That only made her feel worse.

"I'm home, Daisy!" he called as he came through the front door while she was preparing dinner. "And I have something for you. The baker happened to be testing out new recipes when I went over for lunch and let me take some of them home since she credits her son's safe return from Zel to me. I think you'll like it."

She looked up and opened the bakery box curiously. A loud gasp escaped her when she saw what it was. "Cinnamon rolls! I haven't seen these since I was back home! How did you—"

"You mentioned them before, remember? You said they were one of the foods you missed most but you couldn't make them because of the difficulty procuring both cinnamon and cream cheese.

"Cinnamon is very common where I'm from so I recognized the smell and asked her what she was making. Isn't that a lucky coincidence? She let me take half a dozen when I expressed an interest in them," Leo said with a shrug.

Tears filled Daisy's eyes at his thoughtfulness and she threw her arms around him. "Thank you thank you thank you! This is amazing, Leo!"

He smiled as he rubbed her back lightly. "You're welcome. I had hoped you would like it. I can't guarantee it will taste exactly the same but she did seem the use the general ingredients you mentioned."

She didn't care about that. Anything close to cinnamon rolls would be better than nothing. They had been her favorite special occasion treat back in her world aside from cookie dough ice cream. Finding that here would be nearly impossible.

Daisy stood on tiptoe to give him a kiss for his thoughtfulness, figuring he deserved it. She didn't see him flush with delight since she was too preoccupied with opening the bakery box and devouring her first cinnamon roll in nearly eight years. It was every bit as good as she remembered—the baker was spot on—and she actually cried tears of joy.

"Are cinnamon rolls that important to you?" Leo asked taking note of her tearstained face and contrasting grin.

"Yes! There was a Cinnabon in the mall where I worked in college and I would always get myself one after my shift to perk me up. After I graduated I would buy the frozen kind and heat them up for myself when I was having a rough day…but you don't understand half of what I said, do you?"

"No. Your world sounds like a complicated place."

"It was. Much more complicated than here," Daisy admitted. At least for the most part. Emotions were complicated no matter where you went.

Leo had an unfathomable expression on his face. He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on top of her head. "I can find a way to make other foods you miss, though I'm afraid there's nothing I can do about the technology."

Where was this coming from? His comment had come completely out of nowhere.

"Why would you do that? This is more than enough," she insisted.

"I want you to be happy here with me, Daisy," he said softly. "I want to give you everything you could possibly want and then some."

Daisy's heart thudded against her ribcage. No one had ever said anything like this to her before. He sounded so serious! She knew he meant it too. He was the type of person who would bend over backward for the ones he loved.

Leo shouldn't have to burden himself like that though. The way he said it…he sounded like he was afraid of her leaving him. She had already promised to stay, hadn't she? What more did she have to do to convince him? She internally sighed as she realized the answer to that question as soon as she thought of it.

To ease his fears she needed to be in love with him. Otherwise he was always going to think she would leave, wouldn't he?

She reached up to hold his hands. "I'm already happy though."

"Not as happy as you could be," he replied with an obvious frown in his voice. "You work too hard. I want things to be easier for you. At least they're better now than they were back on the farm."

"I loved being on the farm!"

"Yes but you were also exhausted. Don't deny it."

Daisy couldn't. She had been exhausted but happy. Happier than she had been back on earth since she had a sense of purpose and was doing something she enjoyed.

She did prefer working at the flower shop overall. As much as she loved her fruits and vegetables, flowers were her true love. It didn't even matter that the flowers weren't hers since she still got to see them virtually every day.

"So what? I was still happy," she insisted.

"But I want you to be happy without being exhausted," Leo said as his arms tightened around her. "Or stressed or otherwise burdened by things you shouldn't have to deal with."

Daisy nearly laughed. That wasn't how life worked. His earnestness was adorable though and affection for him threatened to overflow.. He cared way, way too much but it made her feel very loved.