>•~Falling Upwards~•<

Chapter Thirty Eight: I Love You, Again

I love you,
Again.
For the second time,
Around.

For around,
And around,
We go,
I love you, again.

--

(Some time later; still a dream?)

~.~

I know I made a promise to Clover, but I also made one with Bean.

  I gently push Clover off of me. We were sitting in her bedroom, just talking. I feel like we are on better terms now.

  Something about her seems off now, though. I recall her venting on how scared she is, if one day she just "snaps." I'm worried for her. I want to be there for her, more than ever now. Just like how she was for me when we were little.

  Although, I do not remember too much from my childhood now. I remember the flower-people, braiding each other's hair, dolls, making up fairies, and trying on our mom's shoes and dresses. What I can never seem to fully grasp again, are the bad parts.

  'Oh well,' I silently make my way down the stairs.

  I'm wearing a nice silky blue dress. The fabric dances around my body. I haven't worn this one too much; it's our mother's dress. This one is the only one she gave me, just before we moved here.

  On the way down the long stairs, I pass by Mus's room. I am quiet to not wake him up, but that didn't really work. A couple more steps down, and I hear his door creak open.

  "Hebe, what are you doing?" He asks me.

  I turn to him, a little startled. "Oh, Mus!"

  "Yeah, I am Mus." He stares at me, and even in the dim lighting I can tell that he won't take my act of playing dumb. "What are you doing?"

  "Uhm.." I try to search my brain for an excuse, but come out empty.

  "Just tell me," He sighs.

  "Yikes, er, so you know all of the dirty-coats that work here, right?" I feel a bit nauseous about telling him this. He is my friend though, so I suppose he has a right to know.

  He looks at me with a confused expression, "Yeah...?"

  After a bit of me trying to think out how to say this, I finally blurt, "Well, I'm meeting a friend tonight. Bean."

  His light blue eyes go wide, "A friend? - Never mind - Hebe! What if someone finds you both?"

  "I've done this before," I murmur; very embarrassed. I look down the hallways of bedrooms winding around the staircase.

  "Please keep this secret. I gotta get going now," That's all I give before I continue my rush down.

  "Be careful!" I hear him whisper-hiss at me. I throw a small thumbs up, and then I hear his door slam shut.

  'Well, that's Mus,' I think in a snort to myself, 'He tells you to be careful, and then slams the door,'

  That doesn't matter, as I am already outside. The moonlight makes everything look so... magical. It paints a soft glow on all of the little flowers beside the pathway.

  I feel like I'm in the flower-people's village. Tonight is so perfect. I cannot imagine anything going wrong.

  My feet glide me back to the garden Bean and I have always met at, and tended to. It is no wonder that here, the flowers spring up so much taller than the others. They have such wonderful people to tend to them.

  As I reach the area, Bean suddenly springs up from behind the flowers, "Hebe! You made it," He grins at me, and sends my heart in spirals.

  I smile back, and brush off a bit of dirt off of his forehead, "Of course I'm here. Wait, how long were you waiting there?"