Sativa.

29. Valentine

1 Year Ago

Valentine's Day represents bad luck. Contempt at the holiday doesn't stem from the breakup Blaine endured when she was in the sixth grade. Barely a pin-prick in comparison to adult heartache. The roots burrow deeper than that.

On February fourteenth, when she was sixteen, she sat in the hallway surrounded by a ticking clock collection. Grandpa Albert told her of his cancer diagnosis and that he had mere months left to live. Of all the people in her family, he most understood why she wanted to be different. Supporting her through phases when she had no idea who she was or wanted to be. Losing him felt like losing herself.

By the end of January, seven years later, she'd moved in with Travis. They settled well into domestic life only occasionally, or playfully, squabbling over silly issues. Like how best to place the Tv or when she left her curling iron on until it singed black streaks into the porcelain sink.

Valentine's Day they'd had there first real fight, and it was completely blown out of proportion. Words cut then doors slammed with finality. When Blaine returned from her walk around the trailer park, Travis was gone.

In the time it takes the dryer to go through a single cycle he's returned home. She remembers because she'd been folding clothes on the living room couch when he'd walked back through the front door.

"Hey." She whispers passively before setting aside one of his mangled work shirts she just tucked into a neat square.

"You still mad?"

"No." Blaine glances over him with a hint of a smile that she tries but fails to restrain. "Not really."

"Good. I'm sorry. And we're going out today."

The ticking clocks is a continuous background noise she can't escape from whenever this day on creeps upon her. Regardless of how nonexistent it is in present time. The memory preys unforgivingly in Blaine's mind, reducing her to a bout of moody crankiness. The fourteenth doesn't represent love -- it's a token of death.

"I don't want to."

"Why? Cause of what I said? I said I was sorry and-"

Interrupting him before he commits to an incorrect conclusion she snaps, "It's just not a good day."

Clearly deflated Travis's shoulders slump. "Well can you come outside with me at least?"

"What for?"

Without replying, he grabs her by the hand coaxing her to stand. She follows his lead, really without a choice not to, and a pile of unfolded jeans crumple to the floor when he pulls her off the couch.

"Travis." She protests as they walk across the porch. "I hate surprises."

"You'll like this one."

Blaine waits on the sidewalk while he opens the door to the car, leaning in to grab something left on the passenger seat. She hadn't expected him to turn around with a vase of lilies in his hand with a red heart balloon bobbing up from the bouquet.

"Happy Valentine's Day."

Accepting the gift with a beaming smile she says, "Thank you, they're beautiful baby."

"I'm lucky you're my girl." Slinging his arm around her shoulders he covers his face in her hair and kisses her temple.

Seeing the arrangement of flowers helps brighten her mood. "I'd like to go out." Blaine replies before she can think twice. "We can go to the restaurant downtown and shoot some pool."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure."

Blaine leaves the flowers on the kitchen counter before grabbing her coat and meeting him outside. A little green car he borrowed from work has helped them through the month since her truck crashed into the tree but it isn't particularly reliable.