The Inside Diaries

Pansy

"Didn't fancy you the breaking and entering type," Fernando remarked some ten minutes later, now sipping that fanciful, altogether decorated juice. Mint, strawberries, pansies, hibiscus...and was that lime and a hint of...agave? Honey? He licked his lower lip. Whatever it was, it was definitely—

"Delicious?" Melanija gave a crooked half-smile, side-stepping Fernando's earlier comment. He nodded. She chose her words carefully, then finally made her reply. "Oh, is this what it is? Technically...is it breaking and entering if someone is offered another's shared abode and retreats before providing a final answer?"

More sips, more silence.

"What do you need? Want?" He spoke, unsure of exactly how this conversation would go. Was she here to flaunt her culinary skills, then leave just as sudden as she had appeared? He hoped not, but this was Melanija, creator of fictional works and worlds alike. Anything could very well happen.

"A talk," came her swift reply.

"A talk."

"About living arrangements..."

Oh. "Mel, I'm sorry I said what I said earlier...your place is your own too, no matter what ownership hold you've got. I put my foot in my mouth."

"Whatever. Really. I mean, you do kind of have a point...minus the asinine statements." She ran her finger against the kitchen island's surface. "When's the renovation finishing up?"

"Uh..." he thought aloud. "Mid-July? End of July at latest?" Fernando paused. "But it's not like it matters...I mean, we're...or we were...taking things slow."

"Yeah..." Melanija's voice trailed off. "About that...I gave some thought to things. Sought solitude for awhile. To find myself. If I needed to. Just to see who I was and what I wanted. Long-term. And I think...no...I know...what I want."

He raised an eyebrow, tilting his head just so. "And what might that be?"

Not what, but who. "You," she all but whispered as she crossed the kitchen to sit next to him. "I want long term companionship. I want celebrations. Birthdays, Bastille Day, Bouquets on Valentine's Day. The dirty nitty gritty too. Renovations where we tear down walls like maniacs. And someday...kids. I want all that...with you." Her lips drew closer to his as he cupped her chin gently, drawing her lithe figure atop his lap, holding her fast, as they wordlessly promised each other to never let the other go.

Breaking apart only for air sometime later, she smoothened her outfit and her hair.

"What happened to your solitude is bliss, perfect timeline of dating for a certain time, married for a certain time?" Fernando couldn't help but ask, as her lips made contact with his cheek, a gentle brush of a kiss.

"I realized life was too short," she answered, thinking of Morgana and Matias' decades-long relationship, love, complications, split, and reconnection besides. "I don't want to create artificial barriers where there should be none. And I don't want to run away from my feelings. Not anymore."

"Go with the flow it is, then," smiled he. "Speaking of which...want to go camping this weekend?"

Camping? As in, less Air B&B, more...jungle wilderness? Melanija hesitated for the briefest of moments, then assented. "Sure. I'd love to."

Onward to new adventures, then.