Flowers//Elavan

~22~

Liz's eyes roam the four small corners of her room at the institute from the small bedside table and the double bed to the singular light bulb above her head. She had spent so many lonely days in here. So many of her lonesome nights were held within the small room. This is where she found out about her husband and held her child for the first time since she woke up from her induced coma.

She smiles to herself. Even if it was a pretty boring place, it did hold a few good memories. But that didn't mean she wasn't excited to leave it.

A pair of muscular arms wrap around her waist as she zipped up her bag. Liz leans in to the embrace and suppresses a giggle when she feels herself being lifted off of the ground.

"You ready?" Avan asks, resting his chin upon her head.

"Ready as I'll ever be," she smiles as she put her hand over his on her waist. "Where's Mia?"

"At home."

Liz swerves around abruptly at his words, her maternal instincts kicking in.

"Alone?!"

"No," he chuckles before kissing her forehead. "Ari is there with her. I'd never leave that rascal alone."

"Good," she smiles before pecking his lips lightly.

Now that Liz gave herself the liberty to be loving and affectionate to her husband, it was almost as if they couldn't keep their hands to themselves. There was always a small kiss being given or a cuddle. If they were doing something that required their full attention, like when Avan was making progress charts, the other would lay their head on their shoulder.

They were slowly going back to being the envy of everyone.

"Let's get going, yeah?" he states as he twirled her ponytail in his fingers in a flirty manner.

"Mmkay," she nods excitedly.

The entire drive home, Liz couldn't seem to sit still even when Avan had his hand on the higher regions of her thighs. She was bursting with excitement and anxiety because she doesn't really remember how their house looked like but as long as she got to be with her baby girl and her husband as often as she could, she would be happy. It was strange to her to be seeing things other than the white walls of her confined room but Avan watched as her eyes sparkled at the mere sight of trees and grass.

Avan loved the child-like joy gleaming in her sparkly blue eyes. It was like she was slowly becoming herself again. Liz's love for life was glowing in her face and the way she rambled on and on about the wonders of this world was music to his ears.

"Look, it's a petunia bush," she points. "They remind me of you, y'know."

"Oh?" he smiles while quirking up his eyebrows, his eyes still fixated on the road. "Why is that?"

"It's the first thing you ever gave me, you flirt," she laughs. "I still have it in one if my poetry books, all pressed and pretty."

"Aww! You love me."

"I don't know, hubby. Do I?" she teases, poking his cheek.

"That's not nice," he pouts, making Liz chuckle in triumph.

"Give me a kiss and maybe I'll tell you I love you."

"I'll give you one later. I'm driving," he informs gently.

Liz didn't get it. She was sure that lots of other people weren't this focused on the road when driving. Obviously, their attention was to the road but Avan was on a whole new level. He barely took his eyes off the road and his knuckles were slightly turning white with the tightness of his grip on the steering wheel.