"Sunflower? Are you awake," Ash said shaking me awake.
I opened my groggy eyes and looked up at my beautiful girlfriend. She was dressed and ready to go so I sprung up. I didn't realize her flight was so early.
"I'm coming," I said I'm a raspy morning voice.
"No that's okay. I just wanted to say goodbye," she's said.
"No I wanna drive you," I whined.
"Okay if you insist," she joked.
"All right give me like 2 seconds. You can go wait in the car if you want," I said giving her a quick kiss on the lips.
The whole car ride was silent. I couldn't really think of anything to say except how much I was going to miss her. Ash is the most compassionate, loving, empathetic person I know and I could tell she was feeling guilty about leaving. I picked up her hand and pressed it to my mouth. I was trying to assure her that I would be fine even though I was still trying to convince myself of that.
We were at the airport after what felt like the worlds shortest drive. Ash hopped out of the car and grabbed her luggage. I followed her and grabbed her hand. I wanted to be as close to her as possible for as long as possible. She stopped once we got to the security check and turned to me. As hard as I tried I couldn't stop the tears in my eyes from spilling over.
"Aww sunflower please don't cry. Come here," she said opening her arms for me.
I jumped into them and wrapped my legs around her waist. I buried my head in her neck and tried to inhale the scent of roses for as long as I could. She kept her arms secured around my thighs holding me up.
"I don't want to hold you back but I'm going to miss you so much," I whispered in her ear.
"Please don't cry. You know I'm going to miss you too. More than anything," she said.
She set me back down on the ground but immediately wrapped her arms around my waist. Ash pulled back a bit and wiped the tears from my face before showering it with kisses. I giggled a little bit which cause a smile to appear on her face.
"There's my happy girl. I'll see you soon okay? Promise," she said.
"Okay soon," I repeated.
She slid her hand up through my hair and pulled my face to hers. She kissed me softly but firmly. I almost started crying again when I realized this was the last time I would kiss her for a while. She pulled away but I went back in trying to make it last. I pulled away and she gave me a small smile and another tight hug. In no world did I want to let her go but I had to. So I did. I kissed her forehead, nose, lips then her cheek.
"You have to go baby. I want you to text me as soon as you land. I don't even care what time it is," I said.
"Okay bye my sunflower," she said giving me one last kiss.
I watched her walk to the gate and once she made it she turned around and blew me a kiss. I pretended to catch it and slapped it on my face with a sad smile. She waved and disappeared around the corner.
I missed her already and was thinking about the next time I would get to see her. She always picks me up when I'm broken like now. Since she's gone I'm going to have to do that myself. I decided to go see my mom because she always cheers me up. Also she probably wanted some help with the wedding planning.
"Thena! Hi honey," my mom said when she opened the door.
"Hey mom," I said pulling her in for a hug.
"Where's Ashley," she said looking behind me.
"She went back to California," I sighed.
"When will she be back," she asked.
"I don't know. Not for a while," I said.
"Aww honey don't be sad. That girl loves you she can't stay away for that long," she said rubbing my arm.
"Love," I questioned thinking about what she said last night.
"Yeah I can tell. She can't keep her eyes off you and you're the same," she said laughing a bit.
"Okay mom that's enough," I said laughing with her.
"Okay. Okay. Do you wanna come in," she said opening the door for me.
"Yeah I actually wanted to talk to you and see if you need any help," I said.
I could feel my stomach tangle up in knots at the thought of telling her about my dad. In the back of my mind I knew that she should know that he was back but I also knew it would make her upset. I contemplated wether I should tell her or not before making my decision.
"What do you want to talk to me about," she asked once she sat down.
"Um... dad came to see me last night," I said.
"I know," she said calmly.
"You know," I asked.
"Yeah your brother came her last night. He told me everything that happened. He's actually upstairs sleeping," she said.
"Why are you not mad. I'm so pissed. They just waltz up in here after everything," I scoffed.
"Honey I have Conor now and your brother is home! We should enjoy that. It's been forever," she said.
"Yeah I guess you're right," I said.
"I always am," she joked.
"Don't go getting a big head now," I laughed.
"Oh come on and help me with some wedding planning," she said making her way to the dining room table.
After hours upon hours of planning the colors and flowers I decided it was time for me to go home. We had only made a small dent in the huge piles of work to be done but I felt accomplished.
I was sat in my room on my bed admiring the paining Ash and I had done while some old TV show played in the background. My damp hair was spread out on the pillow around me as my eyes started to fall closed. The moment I was out my phone rang and Ash's picture popped up. I answered and her face appeared on my screen.
"Hey baby," I said.
"Sunflower, did I wake you up," she asked with a concerned expression.
"No no it's all good," I said.
"Well I just got settled in and wanted to call you so you knew," she said.
"I'm glad you did. How was the flight," I asked.
"Pretty good I wrote a new song. You wanna hear it?," she asked
"Of course I do," I said.
"Okay give me like 2 seconds," she said running off the screen.
She came back with a giant grin and a guitar. Her fingers fumbled over the strings for a bit before she started playing. My eyes became droopy as she continued to play. Her raspy voices lured me into unconsciousness even further. Just as I was about to fall asleep Ash stopped playing.
"Good night my sunflower," she whispered.
