We Were Blue // Completed

36//

"Two souls don't find each other by simple accident."

-Jorge Luis Borges

* * *

The flowers are overgrown.

It's the first thing I notice as we drive up the winding gravel pathway. Gram's was always out with her flowers, planting, growing, nurturing. She loved them like they were her children, but now they're a mess. Vines with small flowers dotting sporadically wrap around the old wooden spindles, flying higher than I've ever seen them. Leafy bushes peak just above the edge of the front windows, they need a good trim but something tells me that won't be happening anytime soon. 

People only stop doing what they're passionate about when they can't anymore. With being away from her all these years I tend to forget she's getting old, and activities as simple as playing in the flowers are much more difficult than they used to be.

Shadows caress the small cottage reminding me of how late it is. Part of me thinks that maybe we should turn around and find another motel to stay at for the night, but knowing my Grams she's probably still up anyways. She's always been a night owl, staying up to all hours of the night, and yet somehow still being awake to make breakfast for me despite her little sleep. 

Roman parks the car and cuts the engine, the porch lights reflecting off his icy eyes causing them to appear glassy. "You ready?" It's weird how everything seemed so much bigger when I was a little girl, it's all the same yet somehow all different too.

"Yeah." I mumble as I climb out and I breath in the smell of my childhood: a wispy scent of pine needles and salt mixed into one. My gaze wonders up to meet the stars, they shine bright without a cloud in the sky, giving me hope of better days to come. Roman comes to stand by my side, his skin whispers against my own- so close yet not close enough. 

The trees whistle with the chilly wind that takes hold of my hair and pushes it behind my shoulders. "Are you just going to stand there like a stranger or come give this old hag a hug?" Our attention jumps to the lady standing upon the porch, I didn't even hear her come out.  

Without a second thought I'm up the creaky stairs  and into the warmth of her arms. She feels like home and love and everything I didn't even know I missed. She's frailer than I remember; all skin and bones, and I'm almost afraid if I hug too hard I'll snap her in half. "Darling I always knew you'd find your way back here one day." Stepping away, I allow my hands to drift down into they take ahold of hers. 

Blue eyes, the same shade of my own sparkle under the golden light, shining with happiness as they gaze at me warmly. She leans closer. "You planning on introducing us? Or are you gonna make the poor boy stand out there all night?" Her toned is hushed and I can't help letting a chuckle escape my lips before waving Roman over. 

His smile is alarmingly charming, lacking it's usually deviousness. "Nice to meet you. I'm Roman, Fel's friend." He takes her fragile hand into his large one, causing it to appear even smaller. Grams squints her eyes in the same way she does when deciding whether the strawberries she grows are worthy to eat.  A brilliant grin suddenly takes control of her lips and she pulls him into a bone-crushing hug. I guess he passed the test.

Ushering us inside, a shiver controls her small body- shaking her like a small leaf in the wind. "It's too cold out there for an old lady like me." As she shuts the midnight blue door I examine the entryway subtly taking note of how nothing as changed. 

The walls are still a deep purple from the time she painted them because I refused to quit drawing on the plain white ones. I remember telling her that the walls needed to be more colorful and I was just trying to help out. Photos litter the wall, practically covering every inch of paint, something she decided to do a few years after painting them.