#v:crush

[theheadlessgroom]

Tumblr is a place to express yourself, discover yourself, and bond over the stuff you love. It's where your interests connect you with your

@nola-schuyler

"Oh!"

Well, that wasn't the response he'd been expecting, but Randall's smile didn't at all waver as he instead gave Nola's hand another squeeze, another small gesture of comfort, to assure her that she could tell him anything and everything. She needn't fear anything from him...which was a touch ironic, given what he did for a living, but still...

"Well...who's the lucky lady then?" he chose to ask with a little chuckle, as he leaned over to grab the nearest thing she could sit on (in this case, an old footstool) and invite her to take a seat beside him, as he wondered who this mystery sweetheart was that had so caught Nola's eye.

[theheadlessgroom]

Tumblr is a place to express yourself, discover yourself, and bond over the stuff you love. It's where your interests connect you with your

@nola-schuyler

"Of course, my girl, of course," Randall smiled warmly, gladly wrapping his bony arms around Nola to bring her in for a tight embrace: Somehow, despite having been her surrogate father for quite some time, it still pulled at his heartstrings, made his eyes damp to know that, out of everyone in the house, he was the first person she turned to in regards to her feelings, and that was worth its weight in gold to him.

"I'm always here to listen, Nola," he swore softly, trying not to let his tears drip into her hair as he pressed a loving kiss to the top of her head. "Always."

[theheadlessgroom]

Tumblr is a place to express yourself, discover yourself, and bond over the stuff you love. It's where your interests connect you with your

@nola-schuyler

"They're a bit much, I know," Randall chuckled awkwardly, still rubbing the back of his neck as his face seemed to glow a brighter shade of ectoplasmic green. "I'd never written anyone a love letter, never...confessed my feelings to anyone before, so I wound up just...writing what came to mind. Which, in hindsight, was...maybe not my best idea."

At least Emily had a good sense of humor about the whole thing, once she got her hands on the letters, smiling very sweetly as she read through them, loving each and every one-no matter how embarrassing they were for Randall to revisit.

"If I had any advice for you...write from your heart," he suggested. "Just...don't go too over the top like I did..."

[theheadlessgroom]

Tumblr is a place to express yourself, discover yourself, and bond over the stuff you love. It's where your interests connect you with your

@nola-schuyler

"I know...boy, do I know!" Randall admitted with a chuckle, recalling to her, "I'm very lucky that Emily made the first move, telling me how she felt, because if she hadn't...I'm not sure I would've been able to! I think I would've been too afraid...too afraid of her rejecting me.

But if she hadn't told me, no matter how scared I was...I would've regretted it every day of my life. It would've eaten me up every single day, and that would've been even worse, honestly."

Back then, he wrote what felt like a million and one letters he never sent, confessing his feelings for Emily in what felt like a million and one different ways...only for all of them to be crammed into a hatbox-out of sight, out of mind. It wasn't until after they married that he gave her the hatbox, and let her read all the letters.

Letters... he thought to himself, before looking to Nola and asking, "If you're nervous about telling her out loud, when don't you write your feelings down? Sometimes it's easier to say something in a letter than with your own mouth, I think, and when you're ready, you can slip it under her door."

[theheadlessgroom]

Tumblr is a place to express yourself, discover yourself, and bond over the stuff you love. It's where your interests connect you with your

@nola-schuyler

At this remark, Randall couldn't help but smile warmly, pale eyes aglow with fondness as he felt his un-beating heart begin to warm at his familiarity with this feeling Nola was experiencing.

There was no denying that it had felt strange in the moment (especially since he'd never felt so strongly about someone like that before), that it frightened him with its unfamiliarity in some ways, and it was a feeling he'd initially grappled with, unsure of where to go from there, what to do about it...

...but regardless of any uncertainty he may have felt about the future and how he would approach his feelings, any lingering strangeness from a new feeling, he couldn't deny just how right it felt, to feel the way he did about the woman he loved. And it still felt right, several centuries onward.

"That's just how I felt about Emily."

[theheadlessgroom]

Tumblr is a place to express yourself, discover yourself, and bond over the stuff you love. It's where your interests connect you with your

@nola-schuyler

"Love isn't always at first sight," Randall smiled with a little shrug. "Sometimes it takes a little time: From what I know, my pa's parents, my grandparents, knew each other for a long time, saw each other regularly around their town, and were always friendly with one another, but it took a long time before they fell in love and started courting."

Sometimes it took a little nudge in the right direction, it seemed: From what he knew, his grandfather was tired of the butchery business and had been on a walk when he stopped to pet some of his grandmother's family's cows looping around the field. She had been out to feed them, they got to talking, and the rest was history-perhaps it'd been the same for Nola and Sally, with dance being just the thing to bring them together.