Anemone

Violet: Knot

Amias blinked blearily as he sat back to get some movement back into his horribly stiff muscles. It took him a few seconds to realize that he was sat in grass, and another few to see the pitch black he sat in was illuminated by some sparse path lights. He pulled out his phone and woke up the screen.

2:03 am.

"Falling asleep in a cemetery," he mused aloud. "That's a new one, even for me."

He smiled at the grave.

"I'll see you when I can, Isabel. Thanks for letting me stay."

He heaved himself onto his feet and wiped the trickle of drool at the corner of his mouth as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. It would've been nice if he'd brought a scarf with him— he could barely feel his cheeks and it was probably better to head back to the hotel. But he didn't feel the need to go back yet.

The near-freezing part was the entirety of his fault for falling asleep outdoors, anyway. And it wasn't like it was winter where the snow would crunch under his boots or where the wind would curl up his spine like a hungry snake.

It was fall. Chilly, tolerable, empty fall.

He'd find something to do before going to meet Seona and Aneta for breakfast at seven.

But it was only the ungodly hour of two in the morning and there would be no one out except those sleepy workers at fast food corners or gas stations or 24/7 smoke shops. Amias kept to the edge of the roads, especially the one that wound lazily around the river side.

He remembered often coming to this place when he was in high school. After meeting with the Red Cross Club on Mondays and Tuesdays and the Animal Shelter Volunteers on Wednesdays through Fridays, he and Nivek would pass by and feed the ducks their left-over lunch. They didn't have many classes together and talked about how their days went.

How'd you do on that test? Did you see that fight out in the quad? I heard that teacher's absent again. Did you get a new project?

I love you.

Amias frowned and made a sharp turn off the path. He hadn't had a real conversation with Nivek after he was told about how his soulmate fell in love with the woman who gave him the brightest red tally he'd ever seen on anyone—that same girlfriend he'd been with for over ten years. That girlfriend, who in fact, was one of the most wonderful people Amias had ever met.

That was only sometime after graduation. He started the painstaking process of snipping the strings that tied him and Nivek together after that, and he couldn't say that he did it with a light heart. In his third year of college he met Isabel, and after his fourth year, he flew across the country without a single goodbye.

Past the river was the road where the farmer's market set up every weekend. He and his mom would visit in the summers because she loved strawberries and watermelons and made them into tiny shapes to eat with chopsticks. Sometimes he and Nivek would—

Amias' train of thought screeched to a halt.

He tore his eyes away from the street and quickened his pace. What other places could he think of to go? Maybe the museum, or the part with all those angry swans, or even the plaza that had the too-greasy pizza and cheesy crusts.

He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't register where his feet carried him until the scenery at his side started to gradually change. Wooden fences turned to metal railings and the chill in the air felt that much colder.

The skating rink.

Amias swiped his eyes with his sleeves and made a hasty retreat.

I still love you.