When we meet again

37. Do you remember how we met?

"This is Finn, right?"

"Yeah."

"It's Piper, ehm, Ella is not doing well at the moment and I thought that maybe you could help? I don't know, it's probably stupid. You just seem to have a calming effect on her and I don't know what to do anymore."

"Oh, okay. I'll try, but can I ask what's going on?"

"I'm not sure if I should tell you. Just a fight with her parents, it's all I can say really. If she wants you to know everything, she'll tell you, eventually."

"Alright. So, can she get on the phone or what?"

"It's on speaker, she can hear you."

"Alright. Hey, El. You know I'm bad at this. Remember what happened the last time you told me to talk? Just breathe for me, please. Breathe in... and breathe out. That's it. Can you do that for me?"

"..."

"Do you remember how we met? Because I remember it so clearly. We literally lived next to each other our whole lives, but we only met when I was five already. I remember that I saw you in front of your house and that I walked towards you, curious as I was. You were so incredibly happy and we played with each other as if we had known each other for years. Then you said you wanted to show me something and took me to your room. I didn't know at that moment that my mom was looking for me. She panicked, because she thought she had lost me. She rang your doorbell to ask the neighbours if they had seen me. Your mom laughed, telling my mom that she was probably looking for the boy that was upstairs and that she didn't know that I had gone here without telling my parents."

"..."

"Are you crying? You know I can't handle it when others are crying. Sorry, that's not funny. I'll just keep talking. I have so many memories of us, but one of my favourites is the snowball fight. It was so cold outside and my mom told me to stay inside, not that I listened. I went outside and had a snowball fight with you. I did have my coat on, but didn't wear any gloves or a scarf. Afterwards we were completely soaked. And the next day we were both sick. My mom scolded me, but I saw that she had to laugh too. I had so much fun that day, being sick was totally worth it."

"I remember that you came over the next day so we could be sick together."

"That was a laugh I heard, right?"

"You always know how to cheer me up. You've been doing that ever since we were little."

"Glad you're feeling better, El."

"Thank you. I really needed this."

"Anytime for you."

"I feel so tired now, I think I'll go to sleep soon. I need to talk to Piper first, though. We'll call tomorrow?"

"Yeah, sleep well, Ella."

"Goodnight, Finn."