dear diary (larvis)

dear diary - valentine's day

travis
i walked up to larry's house after school on valentine's day, not seeing him for most of the day and if i did i constantly avoided him. it felt weird to dress formal so i dressed in my normal clothes as i usually did. his mom opened the door, a big smile on his face and the flowers already in her hand.
"take these!"
she said it as if i had never seen them before.
"he will be here in a minute!"
i held the flowers gently, sweating and my hands trembling. i refused to look up as i knew i would embarrass myself. my face had gone red and sweat dripped down my face. i gripped the flowers more and more as more time went on as i knew larry would be here soon.

i saw larry's mom walk into the living room after coming into her bedroom, holding something, but i refused to look. as i heard the door open, i tried my hardest to stay calm. i could see his feet from where i was standing, and i was almost on the verge of tears when i saw him walk over to me.

out of impulse i lifted my head, looking to larry. surprisingly he looked the same as me, scared, worried, and sweating. and in his hands, he held a bright yellow bouquet.
"these are for you."
i took the flowers from his hand, looking down at the bunches and smiling to myself. he hand remembered my favourite flower. daffodils.

i gently placed the bunch of forget me nots into his open hands, his face almost like a statue from how still he was. i was admiring the flowers he had given me, gently stroking the buttercups and the petals of the daffodils. i looked up the thank him, when i almost dropped the flowers in my hands. larry was holding the bouquet tightly, crying into the flowers. his eyes were closed as the tears fell directly from his eyes into the centre of each of the flowers, making a quiet sound. not from him, but from each of the flowers as the tears hit the petals.
"why are you crying? do you not like the flowers?"
he shook his head and hugged them tightly.
"i love them. thank you."
he sniffled when the flowers pressed against his cheek.

i hadn't even acknowledged what daffodils meant to me due to larry crying, and i almost cried myself when he remembered so much about me. i pushed the tears back and gently took the flowers out of larry's warm hands, placing them onto the table. i put my arms under his, hugging him once more.

hugging larry now felt so normal to me, and i was glad that after so long i actually had someone to hug and hold onto.
"forget me nots?"
larry's mom lifted them from the table, smiling and looking into them.
"these are his favourite flowers. you know so much about him travis."
he held onto me tighter and i smiled, rubbing his back in some way to soothe him although he was happy.

larry pulled away, his bangs coming into his face again.
"wait travis i uh.."
larry wiped his eyes and nose, putting the tissue his mom handed him onto the table.
"i have something else for you."
he took my wrist and opened his bedroom door, letting go and closing his door, away from his mom.
"you really don't understand how much that means to me. i thought you wouldn't remember my favourite flowers but you did. thank you so much, really. i love them. and i love.."
he cut himself off.
"i love the smell."
it was so obvious he had said too much to me, since forget me nots had no smell and he was trying to cover up whatever else he was trying to say.

he walked to the easel in his room, taking the canvas off before i could see it.
"so it's not exactly dry yet.. but this is for you."
he flipped around the canvas, revealing the painting. it was a picture of me and him, him holding flowers and me sat beside him. he had drawn each of my features perfectly, and the drawing looked more like me than actual me. it was so perfect, and he drew on all
of his and all of my imperfections, that weren't imperfections to me. well, atleast his weren't imperfections. they just made him more perfect.

"oh my god it's.. beautiful. i love it so much. thank you."
i went to hug the canvas when i realised the paint wasn't dry and i placed it back onto the easel.
"i'm glad you love it. it took me ages."
he chuckled and sat on his bed.
"you know i've never received anything for valentine's day?"
i shook my head, lying back.
"you should get them. you're pretty."
he turned red and looked over to me.
"you're pretty too you know."