roman stares, mouth agape at his father lounging on willow's day bed. and willow tries her best not to make it too obvious that she gauging his reaction. her fingers tense on the shed's handle.

"did you guys fuck?"

"roman," she seethes, face reddening. before she can get a word in otherwise, he shrugs his shoulders and reaches a hand out for po, leaving the two to their own devices with a blasé, "whatever."

willow stares after him and then rubs her temples. "it's probably a lot for him to process. we'll let him sort it out on his own. but that does remind me..."

she grabs the moonshine and tucks it back under the hidden plank in the floorboards. after a bit of searching, she finds her phone - on ten percent - underneath the day bed. 

missed call from LANCE VOLLANS

crap.

she bites her lip, looks up at bo, and then back down at the screen. last night leaks back in and she remembers her anger. he doesn't deserve more than this, she thinks, as though that makes what she's about to do any better. 

Lance, I don't want to see you anymore. Good luck with everything.

"breakfast then?" she asks bo as she slips her phone in her jeans pocket. "and maybe a shower? no offense, but you kinda stink."

boruta maher LANCE VOLLANS

☉

"incredible," she says with a grin as she watches him sink a finger into the gooey, viscous liquid. she has a few crackers sitting around somewhere, she's sure of it, but the sticky golden nectar is good enough to swallow down on its own. 

"this is about the yield we expected, actually. i'm honestly kind of thankful summer's almost over. it'll be a couple more weeks before they slow down still."

gretchen caterwauls and willow turns her head, eyeing the blonde stranger walking her property. it takes her longer than she'd like to admit to put a name to the face, but dahlia's colloquial manner with greyson is the last piece of the puzzle.

that and the bodyguards hanging around her. 

"ah, no intrusion at all. it's nice to meet you."

Greyson Connors dahlia goode

☉

having boruta maher on the farm has been an incredible help. with the influx of Elisabeth Fiorelli's regulars, she's had more on her plate this summer than ever before. ophelia, off from school for summer vacation, has dedicated more hours into the shop than willow likes, but she hasn't said no either. 

so her days off, when greyson visits and they check on the bees and the hives together, are some of her favorite. she's still exhausted, but being able to skirt around her flowerbeds and take a moment to just breathe is wonderful. 

on these days, the sign outside atkins' arrangements reads that they're closed, but the hand-painted wood also tells visitors if they need help to just find her in the backyard, tending to the plants. 

Greyson Connors dahlia goode

☉

it gave her hope that day, but it also turned everything upside down. she'd spent the night curled in lance's arms, watching some movie she can't remember because she hadn't been paying attention. she'd been thinking about being anywhere else - not just with bo, but with her plants, her guitar, her son. thinking of her mother in the next room over, mind unraveling because she couldn't bear the loss of the man she'd loved with her whole heart and more. 

and thinking to herself, maybe it's wrong to love someone so much. 

is that why she'd stayed with him for so long? because it was easy? 

"i could never underestimate you," she says with a laugh, turning to brighter, happier things. "i've no doubt you could eat them, but i want to kiss you again tonight and if i know you, you'll be passed out from a food coma by nine after eating that."

those fingers on his hand draw back as the steaming pie arrives on a tray between the two of them. the nostalgic smell, look, feel of it all makes her eyes glassy, but she blinks them away with a grateful grin to louise. 

"mm, smells perfect." she nudges a slice of the veggie side onto her plate. cheese dips, spooling onto the plate before she drops the slice, fingers warm. she leaves it be for now to cool down. 

"can i ask you something?"

boruta maher

☉

he says yes and her fingers tighten around his jaw. the beaming smile on her lips goes away only so she can plant another kiss on his lips. a jolt goes through her, a warm reminder of their time spent the night before. and then roman's knocking on the door again, counting down until po blows the shed down. 

so she slides off of bo. and at his question, she shoots a mischievous smile over her shoulder. she should think about this. about the best way to do this. but she's been thinking about it for so long without inaction and now that this has started, it can't be stopped. it won't be stopped. 

she opens the door a crack and leans against the frame. roman scowls up at her. 

"why are you sleeping in the shed like you're homeless?" his eyes narrow. "is mole face here - dad?" willow nudges the rest of the door open with her foot and thinks, i should have at least hidden the moonshine.

boruta maher

☉

all of it had always felt like the wrong time, but had it been? really? it had always been her, pushing him away and then tugging him closer when he drifted too far. penelope's words still itch at the back of her head; a pest that never leaves, no matter how much she bats it away. 

"it gave me hope," she says with a shrug, smiling apologetically. their eyes meet again and she pushes the flowers out of her mind for now. because he echoes the sentiment bubbling in her now. 

we're here now. we're happy.

"it makes me happy too. so let's not ruin this nice night with you getting sick after trying to eat nine pizzas, okay?"

she reaches out, brushes her fingertips along the top of his hand. "will you stay again tonight? not in the shed, of course, now that roman knows."

boruta maher

☉

as they're planting and ollie gets all up in arms over the possibility that lance hurt her, she smiles. Elisabeth Fiorelli had told her to plant them while reminding herself of what she's most thankful for. as her hands spread over the damp earth, she thanks her friendships - both elisabeth's and ollie's. 

she's grateful for much more, but in this moment, she looks up at ollie and thinks only to mellow his concern. 

"no, nothing like that. we just...weren't compatible." she's holding back and ollie might be the only person to look through the veil (save for bo), but she doesn't give him the opportunity to press. 

"so when's the wedding? so i can make sure i fit it into my calendar."

ollie morales

☉

"he's a good person," she agrees. and she's always known that, of course. she's never thought him a bad person. even after finding out about all the rocket stuff, it's...life stays busy? life stays complicated. but she's never really known it any other way. 

as they enter the grove, she checks her own plot of soil. not so long ago she'd been here with ollie morales, planting their dreams for the future together. she wonders, briefly, if he ended up asking penny to be his date for the wedding after all.

"it's not for everyone," she says and lifts her gaze. she understands, really. raising a kid had been hard at her age, but she never did it alone. her mother and father were a big part of ro's life. she always knew the meaning of the word family. 

but mom and dad and kid all under one roof, well, that had taken some time. 

"i'm still figuring things out," she says and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. "i'm fairly busy, but if you ever want someone to talk to, well, i get it." 

she moves the seeds around in his palm with her fingers and then smiles. with a squat, and spade in hand, she starts clearing dirt.

"my family. my courage. my life, really. hard not to be grateful, even if it's hard sometimes."

Callan Young

☉

"mhm," she affirms when he mentions her dad, but she's surprised when he turns the question back around on her. what she does remember of rustboro is swathed in sepia tones, nothing but childhood memories, but visiting it as an adult, she can safely say she prefers her secluded life on the farm to the bustle of the city. 

"i fell in love with it too. all flowers mean something, you know. it's beautiful, i think, being able to tell someone your feelings in not so many words."

their walk is leisurely. no wild pokemon to bother them as they go. taillow twitter in the trees and others rustle about in the undergrowth. she still has a couple of pokeballs on her hip. from bo's recounts, she knows these woods aren't as save as they had been. 

she laughs at his question. "yeah, that was bo. he's good." her smile quirks. "he's taking the quiet life in stride."

they pull away from the beaten path and onto a trail that will take them to the woods. back to the spot where she planted her own gracidea seed with ollie morales. 

"have you ever thought of a life like that? even if you're not, uh, headlining anymore, i'm sure you're still plenty busy."

Callan Young

☉

what happened? what happened is she finally stopped lying to herself. what happened is she faced the truth and she probably hurt lance because of it, and maybe she could have been more gentle. maybe she could have been courteous, even.

"i broke up with him," she says and scratches her cheek, leaving a smudge of dirt. her cheeks stay rosy, but she can't keep her grin off her face. 

"it, er, just wasn't going to work out. he's not who i thought he was."

ollie morales

☉

with the shop all squared away, they head off. ophelia's look of utter terror had flashed to instant relief when boruta maher shouldered his way in, promising will they'd be able to manage. 

"since i was a teenager, really. we moved here from rustboro and my dad fell in love with this quaint little life all over again." she shrugs her shoulders. 

she tucks a lock of hair behind her ear and looks sideways at him with a small smile. "sorry for not recognizing you earlier, by the way. we're pretty small town and the only time i hear about the elite four is when they're on the news. but it's callan, right?"

Callan Young

☉

it's his expression that makes her realize the glooms' stress. she crouches down and, with her hand (protected by thick gardening gloves), wipes some of the drool away and shakes it out. "stop that now," she chides and shoos them away. gideon hurts them away from the soil and leaves the two trainers alone. 

"oh," she says, trying not to look as disappointed as she felt. she notices him putting the seeds away and shucks off her gloves. 

"she was - is. it's just so...unlike her. but i'm sorry. you came here for something and i made it all about me." she drops the gloves. 

"i know where those should be planted, at least. if you don't mind, i'll just need to tell ophelia i'll be gone for a few hours, and we can head to petalburg."

Callan Young

☉

"that's me," she says with a smile. she rears the shovel back and then spades the earth with a grunt, affording her something to lean on while he talks to her. he stretches out his hand, but his referral makes her startle. the smile slips somewhat, but she takes his hand nonetheless. 

"you know elisa? have you seen her? is she alright? i've been worried sick."

he continues onward, asking about gracidea seeds. her own flowers are growing, as per elisa's instruction - one of the last gifts from her before she went missing. but she could care less about the seeds, and about his reason for being here, if he knows anything about her.

the gloom, sensing willow's unease, start to drool a bit more. 

Callan Young

☉