bitter basil, (hozier)

september 23, 1969 - evening

judy looked up at him with a playful smile. "and we're not?"

andy chuckled. "heaven forbid we were ever normal."

"so," judy inhaled sharply, eyeing the pile of large boxes in the back. "you ready to tackle this, sugar?" she asked.

"let's do it."

in a matter of minutes, they had the boxes open and in the center of the floor, pillows scattered around for them to sit in. andy put on the beatles' rubber soul on the record player and judy poured two glasses of wine. because they're classy.

"okay, alphabetical or by genre?" judy asked as they sat down. before her boyfriend could even answer, she raised an eyebrow. "don't say dewey decimal system-"

"it would be so efficient!" andy stressed.

"how would that even work in a record store?!"

"well, you'd just - wait, that does make things a lot harder," said andy, a concentrated frown on his face.

judy chuckled and rubbed andy's arm. "it's okay, we can do it by genre to be fancy and subjective," she said comfortingly. "would you like that?"

andy turned his head to look at her through his eyelashes. it wasn't long before he broke out of his intense stare to laugh, judy following in suit. these were judy's favorite moments with andy; when their banter reaches a head and all either of them can do is laugh until their sides hurt. those moments remind her why she decided to let andrew become a part of her summer. moreover, they remind her why she left virginia in the first place. those moments make it worth it.

soon, judy and andy are interrupted by the sound of the doorbell ringing, even though the store's closing time had come and gone.

"we're closed, i'm afraid," andy called from their spots on the ground.

"oh that's alright, i'm just looking for someone. do you think you could help me out?"

that voice. it rang through judy's ears like a bell she'd heard countless times before.

"wait," judy whispered, her pupils moving around rapidly in thought. andy glanced at her in concern. without speaking, judy stood and finally faced the man in the doorway.

the man looked at her, and it all clicked.

"judes," he sighed. "you sure know how to make a guy worry."

"mikey," judy whispered. slowly, she met her brother at the glass door, andy watching from the shelves.

judy stopped when she was right in front of mikey, her eyes already welling up in tears.

"how you doing, kid?" mikey asked, a gentle smile on his face.

judy could say nothing, but instead pulled him into a desperate hug, gripping the back of his leather jacket. "mikey, oh my god," she said. "i'm completely floored right now... how did you even find me?"

mikey hummed uncertainly. "can we talk outside?"

judy's eyebrows furrowed, confused. "uh... yeah, we can do that," she said. quickly, she made a gesture towards andy, telling him that she was going outside. andy nodded.