Between the Perennial Blooms || Paul Lahote

Forty Six | Hollyhock

"When you are with me, I do not say: here and now we are together. Rather, I say: You and I and eternity, we swim in nowhere."
—Mahmoud Darwish | 'When you are with me'

• • •

Over the course of the next few days, the Cullen vampires and Quileute wolves met up three more times — all of which Bailey was not present for. Rather, in attempts to keep her mind from straying and her thoughts as far from the worry that plagued her as he could, Paul had been keeping her busy and tiring her out by dropping her off with Emily nearly every day from sun up to sun down.

They didn't do much — in fact, a large majority of the time the two women simply cuddled on the couch and binge-watched new shows on Netflix whilst gorging on popcorn. However, when they weren't absorbed in the fantasy world of Stranger Things or fawning over Nick Miller in old episodes of New Girl, they were baking, they were cleaning, or they were embarking upon regular trips to the grocery store if only to get out of the house and experience a change in scenery. Most of the time they only needed something simple: two more tomatoes for homemade marinara sauce or one more bag of flour for a last batch of muffins. To all those who saw them out and about, it seemed a little ridiculous — especially Kim when she managed to tag along. Yet for Bailey and Emily who'd quickly become as bored as can be, two more ears of corn or a new jar of ground cinnamon (even if the one in the pantry wasn't entirely empty as of yet) was all the excuse they needed to break free from their Imprints' self-imposed lockdown. Sam and Paul claimed it was for their protection and they believed them, but, still, this didn't negate the fact that there was only so much TV they could watch and new recipes on Pinterest they could try before their safe house started feeling more and more like a prison.

"This looks good," Emily said on Friday afternoon as she held her phone in one hand and stroked Bailey's curls with her other. Turning the screen around to face Bailey who had her head resting in the older woman's lap, she lowered her hand and showed her the recipe she had pulled up on the screen.

"Chocolate chestnut cream cake with coffee and rum," Bailey read aloud. She nearly moaned at the sight of the picture that went along with it and felt her mouth water too. "Ooo, that looks yummy," Bailey commented, unconsciously making a face of longing that sent Emily into a fit of fond laughter. "We should definitely make that!"

Fully aware that the youngest Swan girl had a sweet tooth that could rival even the most adamant of candy-eaters — as she had quickly learned over the course of the past few days — Emily bopped Bailey on the nose and turned her phone back around quickly. "On second thought, maybe we should look for something a little more healthy."

"Emilyyyy..." Bailey whined, rolling over so her face was buried in the older girl's stomach. "It's chocolate. You- you can't pass up a chance to eat chocolate!"

"Oh yes I can. And if I recall correctly, last time we made something with chocolate — those Reese's cookies I believe — you ate yourself right into a belly ache that was so bad you nearly threw up."

"My stomach only hurt a little bit!" Bailey defended herself with a muffled whine. "And besides, it was Reese's. Those things are addicting!"

"You, sweet Little Wrenning-bird, have the worst case of the sugar bug I think I've ever seen," Emily mused.

"Which is weird because she doesn't like candy," a familiar voice spoke up from across the room.