vanessa's garden was her best friend.
if she had nobody, she had her garden. her garden was there through the thick and the thin of college.
she loved to spend her free time caring and tending to her plants.
although with all the travel she does, it was hard for her to keep up when she was gone. if it had been really dry outside, camila would come over and take care of them. they were essentially divorced parents to vanessa's plants.
she stood behind her house, kneeling down and staring at her landscape.
"it needs something." she muttered to herself.
it didn't need anything. it was honestly one of the most beautify, well taken care of gardens around.
when she was in college, she lived in an apartment outside of campus. it was the worst. she had no yard, which also meant no garden. so she knew that when she got out of college, shed be buying a house immediately.
she didn't really want to go back to new york after school, she just couldn't see herself with a future there.
jaylen had just moved in her last semester of college, so until she could get a house of her own, she stayed there with him and his fiance at the time.
vanessa went inside and grabbed her keys off of the counter and headed out to her car. it didn't take long in her car ride until she received a call from trea.
"hey ness,"
not the normal way to start a conversation for him, "is everything okay?"
"uh yeah? why?"
"you never start with 'hey ness,' "
"what am i supposed to say?"
"hello my most gorgeous and perfect angel, how has your day been going my love?" she mocked him.
"my days been good, how about you?"
"i hate you."
"no you don't."
"what do you want."
"nothing, i was just calling to check in on you."
"really?"
"am i not allowed to call you and make sure you're okay?"
"well i mean i'm pretty capable of living on my own."
"is there a special occasion for the attitude today?"
"excuse you?"
"i'm just saying it like it is."
"are you done?"
"are you done 'hating' me?"
"i'm hanging up with you."
"okay."
"okay. bye."
"bye, i love you."
"i love you too." she spat out quickly and annoyed as she hung up the phone.
i wasn't giving him attitude, right? he was just being, i don't know, trea?
there was nothing vanessa hated more than being rude to trea. she knew it'd always come back to get her at some point. it was less about her being rude, more so about him not even deserving it. she shook it off as best as she could.
vanessa arrived at the greenhouse not to far from her house.
as she walked in she scanned the area quickly, making sure no one would notice her but the employees who saw her just about every week.
she picked up a few pots of daylilies that matched the rest of her garden.
she grabbed one of their hand picked bouquets for trea. she always loved seeing them in the store, but she never got one because they were so expensive. although they were some of the most beautiful flowers she'd ever seen.
after she got her flowers, she stopped at starbucks and grabbed herself a coffee and one for trea.
she felt bad for giving him attitude earlier, so she figured he'd forgive her if he at least got a coffee and some flowers out of it.
she called him back.
"hi."
"well hello my love."
"are you home right now?"
"i am."
"okay. i have an apology gift for being mean."
he laughed, "it's okay ness."
"nope i already got it. i'm on my way over."
"okay, i'll see you soon then."
"i love you."
"i love you more."
she curled her left leg up on the car door because she "couldn't s drive any other way" as she would always say.
by the time she got to trea's house, her starbucks was already gone. she had to control herself not to drink his.
she grabbed his things and went inside to find him making lunch in the kitchen.
"hi," vanessa said with a smile. in one hand was a coffee and in her other arm was the flowers she'd bought him.
he turned around to see her gentle green eyes immediately meeting is. "this is for you." she spoke softly and held out the items in her hand.
he said nothing and took them from her, then placed them on the counter behind him. he pulled her into his embrace and held her there.
"i love you." she muttered into his shoulder.
"i love you so much." he said with his head muffled in his hair.
he let her go, "now you better not let those flowers die, you don't wanna know how much i spent on them."
"i love them, they're beautiful," trea replied. "just like my girlfriend."
"who's your girlfriend?" vanessa teased him.
"oh you'd love her. she's caring, funny, selfless, compassionate, understanding-"
she cut him off, "wow, you should introduce me sometime! id love to meet her." he still could make her blush through any situation.
"i'm sure she'd love to meet you." he said while pulling out a vase from the back of his cabinet then filling it with water, then placing the flowers in the vase.
they sat in silence for a second, "so who's prettier, the flowers or the girlfriend?" she muttered.
"my girlfriend, of course."
⋆.ೃ࿔*:･
vanessa's afternoon plans were to ignore everyone in her life and do her own thing.
she pulled up her beetle to the back of the best tattoo parlor around. she grabbed her bag and went inside.
surprisingly, the building wasn't as harsh as she'd thought it be.
"i have an appointment for 3:30 with beck." she told the man at the counter.
"if you could just wait over there, she'll be out any moment." he said. she complied and sat on the couch scrolling on her phone for a while.
a woman with orange and pink hair walked out from the back with tattoos up her arm. she wore a loose ripped up t shirt and jean shorts that were essentially hidden.
"ness?" she asked , smiling at the girl.
"yeah, beck right?" beck nodded and guided her to her chair. "camila recommended you if i ever needed anything."
"oh i love cami!" she beamed. "what are we doing today?"
"something small. maybe on my foot."
"do you have a photo in mind?" beck asked.
"yeah," she pulled out her phone and showed a reference photo. "like this?"
"easy peasy, it will take no time."
"perfect!"
within 45 minutes, vanessa was finished.
"i love it, its perfect." she said, looking down at the tattoo on her foot.
"it looks great!" beck said as she covered it up with some kind of wrap. "lets get you checked out."
she payed around 200 for the tattoo plus a fairly generous tip. now it was time to show trea.
she opened the door to his house to find it particularly quiet. "trea?" she said, looking around.
she walked through the house and found him dead asleep on the couch. instead of intentionally waking him, she curled up by his side, which inevitably woke him up anyways.
instead of saying anything, he just wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him.
"good morning." she said as she felt him move slightly.
"hi." trea lazily muttered into her ear.
"did i wake you, princess?" she teased him.
"a little." he said softly.
"you know its 5 right?"
"yeah," he muttered, not paying attention to what he was saying.
"and we have to be at the stadium to leave at?"
"i dont know.." he said, tucking his head into the back of her neck.
"how does 5:45 sound?"
"i dont wanna get up."
"we have to, have you even packed?" she asked.
"yeah, i think so."
"you can sleep on the plane."
"you know i cant." he groaned.
"illdrive, you can sleep in the car."
⋆.ೃ࿔*:･
"what's that on your foot?" trea asked as he noticed the small tattoo as she was driving. "did you get a tattoo?"
"maybe." vanessa replied.
"i love it, its adorable." he smiled.
"thank you," she said looking over at him in the passengers seat.
"nervous for playoffs?" trea asked. it was their last road trip of the regular season
"why should i be nervous, i dont have to go out there and play." she said. "me and dave have done everything we can, your turn to show up."
"alrighty then."
"im just being honest." she shrugged.
"what happened to all positive and peppy ness?"
"she's on her off day."
"well you should tell her that were gonna need her in the lineup." he said, "what are you going to do next year when you dont have dave to fall back on?"
"are you doubting my abilities to manage on my own?"
"no of course not." he said.
"it sure sounds like it." she seemed slightly offended. "who knows if i'll even be here next year."
"right." trea said, seemingly disappointed.
next year. it was always a touchy subject for the two of them. it was always something they chose to ignore.
"so um, when did you get the tattoo?" he asked.
"earlier today." she said.
"who did it?" he continued.
"camilas friend did it for me."
"oh that's nice." trea said. "she did a nice job."
he was being especially awkward for whatever reason. it was almost as if they hadn't been dating.
"are you okay?" she asked bluntly.
"yeah why?"
"you're being weird." she admitted.
"what are you even talking about?"
"i don't know you're just off right now." she said "are you still hungover from your nap?"
"no, i'm fine."
"what the hell. now i know your lying."
"ok now you're pulling shit out of your ass."
the two stared at each other for a second in silence.
"sorry." she said softly.
"it's okay."
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