Efflorescence (Sequel)

Efflorescence Two

"You're suggesting we go back home to visit my family. After what my mother pulled last night?" His incredulous look almost makes me laugh if the situation weren't so real.

"Alec, you can't hide from her forever. She's your mom. And we're not going there for her. We're going there for Izzy. Your dad was right last night when he said you don't go home enough. And your siblings are all heading home, too." I argue calmly, crossing my arms over my chest and leaning against the dining table across from him. Tugging at his curls, he sighs in defeat and glances up at me under his lashes.

"You're right," he murmurs defeatedly.

"You wouldn't keep me around if I was wrong all the time," I remind him with a grin, leaning forward to capture his lips in a sweet kiss. It's short, but it's warm and loving, and all I could ever want.

***

Days pass quickly, and soon enough, I'm loading the last bag into the trunk of our car.

"Got everything?" I ask Alec as I shut the trunk. He looks stunning in his black tight fitting jeans and a cream coloured v-neck that hugs him perfectly, ray bans perched on his perfect nose.

"Think so. Come on, we should hit the road before traffic picks up. Thank heavens it isn't a long drive."

Sliding into the driver's seat, I nod sympathetically and turn the key until the engine purrs softly beneath us. "Damn rights. New York traffic is unforgiving."

It's barely 9 in the morning when we begin driving on familiar streets from our childhood. Buildings pass by that I recognize from lazy drives with Alec during our last summer as teenagers before we packed up and left for Brooklyn. It feels like yesterday, but already, over two years have passed since we've lived in this town. Two years full of schooling and busy lifestyle that has finally settled into something perfect.

"Can we make a stop before we go to your parents' house?" I ask, turning the radio down and glancing at my boyfriend as he lifts his gaze from the sheet music in his lap.

"Yeah, of course. What do you have in mind?" Closing the folder, he stretches in the confinements of the car and yawns.

"I want to stop at my mom's flower shop," Alec reacts with a warm smile that I don't see nearly enough.

"I'd like that."

Pulling up to the curb, I cut the engine and slide out of my seat, shutting the car door behind me. I feel 17 again, feel the pull of this city that was my home for so long, feel the ache and longing for the wooden floors and the strong floral scent that would wrap me up so early in the mornings and make me feel like somewhere in this hectic world, I belonged.

Alec slides his sunglasses up until they're perched on top of his head, leaning back against the car to look at the sign above the door. It's the same as it always was, and a pang of nostalgia hits me full force in the chest.

"Let's go inside," he offers, smiling at me and tugging at my heartstrings like only he can. Smiling back, I walk around the car, letting him slide his arm around my waist and guide me through the door. The bell chimes above our heads, the sound so familiar that I can almost see the day that Alec walked through this same door for the first time, so different than the man standing next to me now, but still holding all the parts I loved so much about him back then.

"Hello, welcome to-" my mother's voice stops mid-sentence as she comes through the back curtain into the front of the store. Seeing her reminds me that it really has been too long since I've been home. Since both of us have dared to come back here. She looks as if she hasn't aged a day, but that's just my mother. Good genes have always run in our family.