Old Habits Die Hard

Chapter 7: Purple Hyacinth

NOTE: This song played non-stop in my head while I wrote this, so I feel it's only fair to share.

"I'm an idiot," Gnomeo sighed with his face buried in his hands.

The day had finally come to a close, and now, much to Gnomeo's relief, only the murmur of crickets could be heard in the garden.

It hadn't taken long for Benny to tell him about the Blue's new plan to "take care of the Reds."

Gnomeo was far less than on board, but despite his many attempts of protest or persuasion, his mother, Benny, and the rest of the blues for that matter had already made up their minds.

Shroom grabbed his friend's attention with a gentle nudge.

"Hey, Shroom..." Gnomeo said with a half smile.

The mushroom tilted his head as if to ask what's wrong.

"I've messed up, mate. Now even the humans are going to suffer because of this stupid feud.

I don't know how to fix this. Where do I even start?!" As he spoke, Gnomeo stood to his feet and gave a melodramatic kick to a nearby pebble.

Shroom grabbed his friend's attention once again, this time to gesture to the shed where Juliet and Featherstone had spent the afternoon.

Gnomeo instantly knew what Shroom meant although he wished he didn't. It was time to apologize to Juliet.

"Thump thump thump!" he knocked on the shed door. "Juliet, it's me!" he called.

There was no answer.

He knocked again.

Still no answer.

"Juliet! Featherstone!" He called as he wearily opened the door.

To his dismay, the shed was empty.

—

"Yes, this'll do nicely," Juliet said, dusting her hands, as she admired the clear spot in the weeds which would be her and Featherstone's bed tonight.

The friends lay side by side under the protection of the Lawrence greenhouse. There had been some discussion on whether to set up camp in the greenhouse or the old tool shed, but Juliet knew revisiting his old prison might be less than pleasant to her friend.

"Juliet," Featherstone spoke, breaking the silence. "Do you remember the day ju' and Gnomeo decided to stay here forever?"

Juliet breathed in sharply, "Yes, I do," she responded.

"I was so happy. After being alone for so long, I actually had friends- friends that were going to stay... And then I met your families! The circumstances were not very good, but then I had even more friends!... Juliet,"

"Yes?"

"Why do they have to fight like they do? Why can't they get along?"

"I don't know." Juliet wasn't sure what to say. She wanted to provide her friend some condolence but had none to share. "This is all that stupid statue's fault," she said after a pause.

Featherstone took a while to respond. "Are you sure ju' and Gnomeo are going to make up?"

She hesitated for a moment before blurting out "Of course I'm sure! Don't ever worry about us!"

"Alright, just checking. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Juliet said as she held back tears. She wanted to believe she and Gnomeo could work this out, but every day she grew less sure. She didn't even know how she felt towards him. She was so angry, but she missed him so much.