//aftermath// a. i.

II. screen doors and a forest

Imagine TFIOS minus the cancer and the main character dying...so basically fluff.

        Grace pulled up to a rusting garage door just as the sun disappeared behind the crisp blue mountains. She eyed the house speculatively. It was falling apart- the shoddy gray siding was breaking apart with every wisp of wind that passed by. The tiny house had a screen door that hung off the frame- it seemed someone had duct-taped the top of the door to the frame itself, so the only way to get through was to duck around the side of the screen and crawl through the hole in the plastic. It seemed to Grace that if A really lived here, he didn't truly live here. 

        Grace eyed the beat up car in the drive way and sighed. A had instructed her to park in the drive but walk around the side of the house to the backyard. She wasn't sure how she was going to get there- the weeds and brambles rose up at least three feet on all sides of the house; from what she could see of the back, it looked like an overgrown forest. She sat unmoving in the driver's seat for a few minutes, collecting her thoughts. It seemed like so much had happened today that she was struggling to keep track of it all. Grace jumped when she felt her phone vibrating beneath her- she checked the Caller ID- "A."

        Grace huffed and slid the lock on her phone to answer the call, but before she could get a word out, she heard A's scratchy voice on the opposite end. 

        "Where are you, Princess? I thought your world was ending? Did you decide you didn't need a loser like me in your life?" He sneered, the contempt evident in his voice. 

        "A, seriously? I just pulled up. I'm getting out of my car right now." Grace reprimanded, unbuckling her seat belt and flinging open the car door. She heard A chuckle.

        "Alright Princess. Need me to come get you so you don't get lost in the forest on your way back here?" He taunted.

        "No," Grace huffed. She didn't like that he called her Princess all the time, and she certainly didn't appreciate being treated like a five year old. She closed the car door and made sure to lock it, tucking her keys into the pocket of her jeans and stepping around to the left side of the house which seemed just slightly less overgrown than the other side. It took what seemed like hours, but after wrestling her way through massive branches and weeds, Grace shoved her way through the thick wild to A's backyard. Grace brushed the sleeves of her sweater and winced as her fingers caught on burs. The sharp edges ripped, unforgiving into the soft skin of her fingers, causing Grace to suck in a breath- an attempt at holding back the tiny tears of pain. She was covered in dirt from head to foot, and now her hand was bleeding; to top it off, she was pretty sure she'd stepped in some sort of animal feces about halfway through the short trek, so now not only did she look atrocious, she probably smelled it, too. 

        The weight of the events of the day pressed heavily on Grace's mind, to the point that she felt fresh tears forming in the corners of her eyes. Shit, why am I crying? Why does everything seem to be going wrong? Why? Grace sniffled, feeling hopeless. She took another step into the cool evening air of A's backyard and froze when she realized what was set up in front of her. 

        At the edge of the yard, overlooking a cliff, A had set up a massive pile of blankets, a basket of food, a few candles, and three pillows. It was like something out of a movie- romantic, and comforting. Grace hiccuped- she hadn't been expecting such a kind gesture. The tears began to fall from her eyes fairly freely. I wish I wasn't such a mush, God I cry about literally everything. Grace laughed at herself, the tears commingling strangely with the sound of her laugh. 

        "Are you laughing at me?" A's voice came out of no where, startling Grace. She whirled around to see him standing on his deck, his arms rested comfortably against the railing, like he'd been there awhile. Watching her. Grace hiccuped again, blushing.