Flowers//Elavan

~4~

Liz couldn't quite put her finger on it but there was something about that Avan guy that just drew her in. She didn't know who he was or why he seemed to be so comfortable around her but deep down inside she felt as though her soul has known this man in the most intimate of ways. It was like their spirits have already collided in a cosmic way.

It was a bit dramatic to think about it. The way she felt about the guy was something you would watch in a movie or maybe read in a novel, but not really experience in real life. He made her curious and gave her a good reason to want to remember.

For the past few days, Avan has spent every sliver of time that he could in her room. He didn't do much except talk to her. One would think he would be bored of it by now but he wasn't. He felt like he was getting to know her all over again and it was wonderful. Of course all the things she told him, he already knew yet the way she talks and how her eyes light up kept him hooked.

He had forgotten how warm and fuzzy he felt when he first met her. The way the butterflies in his stomach would flutter around and his heart would turn into goo when she tucked a strand of stray hair behind her face. It felt nice to see her swipe her tongue against her front teeth whenever she held back a laugh or hear her talk of life and love as if they were two forces of the universe that could never be explained.

Even if Avan missed the way her fingers would touch his lips every time they pulled away from a kiss, or how she would casually tell him that he was the love of her life, the little gestures she had when they first knew each other was more than enough to remind him that his life-loving Liz was still in there.

He was reminded that so long as she was still here, he would get to know her a million times over and never in those million times would he ever feel remorse.

Avan brushes his hair and starts to style it in the way he knew Liz liked, or the way she used to like it when she actually remembered him. It was his one day off and he was going to spend a few of his hours with her, given that Mia was still a factor.

"I wanna come," Mia whines, tugging at her father's jeans.

"Mia, we've been over this. Little babies aren't allowed," he huffs.

That was a complete bluff. Technically, Mia was allowed to visit her mother, but it was against Avan's better judgment. Liz didn't even know she was married, much less had a daughter. He wanted to take things slow with her and make her fall back in love with him.

Avan shook his head at how negative his thoughts sounded even to his own ears. Her retrograde amnesia was not sure to be permanent yet, she could start to remember things in a couple days, weeks, or months. But was it really so bad if they got this fresh start? Again, he shrugged off the thought.

"I'm not a baby. I'm a big girl," she pouts, her bushy eyebrows knitting together.

Avan sighs and picks the child up, sitting her on his forearm.

"You're Papa's baby though, aren't you?" he tries to defuse her mood and nuzzles her chubby, pinkish cheek.

"I want mommy," she juts out her lower lip even further as it started quivering.

"Oh, my baby," he coos, holding her even closer to him.

His heart ached in his chest as the young one's tears started to drip down on the collar of his shirt. It was even worse knowing that Mia was not the type of kid to cry a lot. She was emotionally vulnerable but generally, Amelia was a little ray of sunshine. But tragedies as big as what is happening in their lives right now can change a child's demeanor.

"Let me come with you, Papa," she manages to say between heavy sobs. "Please."

"Mia-bear," he sighs. "Papa loves you very much, you know that, right?"