Tomatoes

Ren was known by her few friends as the crazy plant lady. And she was fine with it. In fact, it suited her. Her small apartment was filled with all sorts of flowers, herbs, and spices, and they were everywhere- in window sills, under lamps, even hanging off her balcony. Ren especially loved her balcony, where she grew a tomato plant. No matter how much Ren watered and cared for that plant, it never grew any bigger. On her few days off from college classes and her job at the local cafe, she was sitting out there, breathing the fresh air and reading. Every time she sat on the balcony, there was a girl on the one beside hers. She had a tomato plant as well, but it was much smaller and slightly withered. Though Ren had never met the girl, she felt a strange sense of kinship with her. After all, what were the chances that two people were growing tomatoes outside in California in spring? Pretty high, Ren realized.

One day, she was sitting on the balcony, reading. The girl was out there, but this time Ren kept catching her staring. Ren looked at her plant, and to her surprise, noticed some small, thin vines growing towards the girl's balcony. Ren took this as a sign from the universe to stop being so damn awkward and pulled her chair over to the edge of the balcony. She waved at the girl slightly. The girl's eyes widened at this, and she tenderly waved back.

''Hello!'' Ren called out with some trepidation.

''Oh! Um, hello!'' The girl called out, just as hesitant as the other. Her voice was low and melodic. Ren tried to break the tension by gesturing to the plants awkwardly. The girl giggled.

''How do you keep those so healthy? Mine always wither so fast.''

''Lots of love and attention,'' Ren laughed. An awkward silence hung between them for a moment, Ren trying to read her book. They both kept stealing glances when they thought the other wasn't looking. The girl had bright red hair and these mesmerizingly bright green eyes. She was pretty in an otherworldly way, as if she didn't really belong on Earth. Ren eventually had to go inside, but she couldn't stop thinking about her. She kept spacing out in class, with the girl's giggle echoing through her mind.

The week rushed by in a haze of due dates and coffee. By the time Ren got home, she was dead tired. She collapsed onto the balcony, where the girl was waiting. Ren was suddenly aware of her dirty, coffee stained uniform and the dark circles that were surely under her eyes.

''You look like shit,'' the girl blurted out, then her eyes widened. ''I-I'm sorry!''

''No, no, I'm sure I do!''

They got to talking. As Ren watered the plant, she noticed vines branching from both their plants, almost as if they were trying to reach each other.

''So,'' Ren said when there was a lull in the conversation. ''I never caught your name.''

''My name is Lucy.'' Lucy. Somehow, it suited her perfectly. They talked until Ren started nodding off and it got too dark to see. Every spare moment Ren had after that, she talked to Lucy. The tomato plants grew completely intertwined and grew more than ever. Ren was the happiest she had been in years, the thought of talking to Lucy getting her through her brutal shifts and mind-numbing classes. Winter came much too fast, and more often than not it was freezing. Lucy wore her usual tank top and shorts, even when it started to snow. When Ren asked her about it, she just shrugged. Ren, on the other hand, was freezing.

''It's so cold out here,'' Ren shivered one day. She was wearing the warmest clothes she could find, and her teeth were still chattering. Lucy's lips pursed like they usually did when she was thinking hard. Without warning, she ran inside. Ren, confused, tried to look into Lucy's sliding glass door. She was just walking inside when a knock so slight Ren wasn't completely sure it had happened sounded from her door. Ren looked through the peephole, and standing there was Lucy, looking unnerved. Ren was again struck by how bright her eyes were. Up close, she also had a smattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks. Ren quickly opened the door, and Lucy jumped. Ren gestured for Lucy to come in, and she carefully walked inside. Lucy looked around, then sat on the couch like she was afraid she was going to break it. Ren plopped down next to her.

''Your house is nice,'' Lucy said, breaking the silence.

''I try,'' Ren said. There was another awkward silence. Lucy was looking at her intently, and Ren couldn't help but feel like she was being judged.

''You're really pretty,'' Lucy suddenly said, and clapped a hand over her mouth. ''I'm sorry, I'm-''

''It's okay! You don't need to apologize so much, you know.'' Ren hesitated. ''And, for the record, you're really pretty too.'' Lucy's cheeks turned as red as the tomatoes they grew.

They made small talk, but there was a nervous tension that neither of them was sure what to do with.

''So,'' Ren said hesitantly. ''Would you maybe...want to, you know, go out sometime?'' The second the words left her lips, she couldn't believe she'd said them. Lucy looked at her with wide eyes for a second, and Ren internally cringed. Of course Lucy didn't like her! She had probably just talked to her in the first place because she felt bad for her, and now she was asking her out! She was so bust freaking out, she almost didn't hear Lucy's response.

''That...sounds nice,'' Lucy mumbled, and Ren looked at her in surprise. Lucy was just as much of a blushing mess as Ren.

So they went out for coffee. After that day, Lucy came over all the time. So much, in fact, that Ren suggested she might as well live there. So Lucy moved into Ren's apartment, after the team effort that was extricating the tomato plants from Lucy's balcony railing. The day Ren proposed to Lucy, the tomato plants bloomed with beautiful white flowers. Their love blossomed as well, and together they navigated through Ren graduating, buying a house (Lucy wanted a place to play music, and Ren wanted a garden), and eventually welcoming two boys into their home, whom they loved with all their hearts.

One day, while Ren and one of the boys were tending to the garden, the boy noticed a vine that was growing into their tomatoes. It had somehow squeezed itself under the fence from the neighbor's garden, which had another tomato plant in the process of climbing the fence.

''Hey!'' The boy yelled over the fence. ''Your tomatoes are in my yard!'' Another boy walked out from the sliding glass door.

''Like hell they are!'' he shouted, and they started arguing.

Lucy walked out to the garden, having heard the whole thing. Ren stared at the fence, then at Lucy, mouth open. They both laughed. Mother Nature was a great matchmaker.