I know we'll always end up on the same one when we're old.

Twisting myself from Aliza is one of the hardest things to do. The moment I succeed in moving one of her body parts, two more appear. 

She's like a damn squid, a tiny, adorable squid, but she has too many limbs. Just give up and go back to bed. I almost do. I made arrangements with Augustine to use the bakery today.

Aliza doesn't know; I surprise her with sweet treats for the opening. That's why I'm struggling at 2 am to get the little fish to stop sucking onto me. Are squid even really fish.

I sigh in relief when I successfully manage to get out of bed. The room is dark, except for the light of the hallway. I packed a bag last night so that I can shower at the bakery. Everything is planned correctly.

I leave a note on the bed that was already written last night as well. I stare at her from the doorway, she's in that weird position again, and I can't understand how that's comfortable. I found out last night that she does yoga every day, as I thought.

Explains the perfect ass. That was my first thought when she told me after I asked what the mat was for. The second thing was more along the line of being a pervert, and what else do you use a yoga mat for.

It just never came up, I guess. Maybe that's why she can sleep like that. I walk down the hallway softly, put on my shoe, and grab everything I need. Closing the door takes me almost a full minute because I don't want to ruin the last step.

The walk to the bakery is quick in the brisk night air. I put on the industrial ovens immediately when I arrive. I start to mix everything; I'm keeping it simple with cupcakes and some danishes. If I have time, I'll make something else.

I put some music on and dance around the kitchen while I prep. I don't know what possesses me, but at 4 am all the ovens are fired up, and over a hundred cupcakes are baking around me—going to eat cupcakes for a very long time. The danishes go next, into the three remaining ovens.

Amy comes in at five for her shift, and she's an angel because she immediately offers to help me. I take out some of the flowers I might have stolen last night from the shop and put them in the flash freezer for garnish. The time escapes me, and when nine rolls around, I'm finishing the icing on the last cupcake.

Shit, I only have an hour. I told her in the note I'll be at the flower shop by ten. The opening starts at twelve, so we'll have more than enough time to set everything up. 

I make rapid work of putting the cupcakes in the van that Augustine has given me for today.

I start to clean up, but Amy shoos me away, and with the quickest shower ever and a kiss on the cheap to Amy for helping me, I'm just on time at the flower shop. I walk inside to find Aliza pattering around the front.

She's standing at the counter, looking down at some papers. I sneak up behind her and grab her around the waist; my chin rests on her shoulder. Ow. "Where were you?" There's no accusation in her tone, only curiosity.

"Come, I'll show you." She lets me drag her away from the counter and outside to the parked van. I pull the back open, the cold breeze feels heavenly on my skin. She steps into the truck behind me, and I notice how little she needs to crouch down while my ass is nearly on the ground.

"I baked you some treats for the people. You can give them away." I bite my nail nervously. "I stole some flowers." 

Well, she's going to find out soon enough. She's staring at me and then the cupcakes and back to me. It's like a tennis match. "You baked. You baked me, sweets?" It's unbelievable to her.

"Yea, for your special day," I murmur. I'm tackled to the ground, nearly missing the stacked cupcakes. We tumble into a heap, and she pushes her face into my side. "You're going to kill me."

"Not the reaction I thought I'd get," I mumble. She moves her hand to my head and yanks me towards her. Jesus, she's aggressive today.

 I lose my thoughts when she molds her lips along with mine. Now, this is what I'm talking about. She pulls away too quickly. "You baked me things." She asks, narrowing her eyes.

"You named your flower shop after me." I retaliate. She shrugs. "Fair point." I laugh at her. She pushes against me to get back into a standing position. "Let's get these babies on display." She rubs her hands together, licking her lips.

***

"Harry!" She comes around the corner, spinning into me. I hold her up when she almost slips. "Let's do your hair." She says.

She's holding some of the bridal arrangements in her hand along with some clips and an elastic. She's smiling enthusiastically at me.

The cupcakes and danishes are now on display, covered in glass domes, and they fit perfectly between the flowers. It's like a treasure hunt; you'll discover one when you least expect it because it's blending in with the flowers.

I haul her onto the counter and turn around to stand between her legs. My back rests against the counter, and she throws her legs over my shoulders. Her feet sway slowly; she's barefoot. "What should I do?" She murmurs, bending down to ask me. "Make a braid," I suggest, and she peeps with joy.

She kisses my cheek and starts working on my hair. It doesn't take her long. "I'm done." She produces a mirror from God knows where but I don't even question her anymore. I look at myself in wonder. She's made a braid that falls to the side of my head with little flowers woven into individual parts.

It's beautiful. They're almost woven in the form of a crown and then through the braid, finished with a daisy dangling from the elastic. "It's phenomenal love," I murmur. Our eyes connect in the mirror, and she's beaming.

I turn around and wrap my hand loosely around her. I put the mirror next to her. "Pretty flower boy." She mouths at me. She hypnotizes me with her eyes. She renders me speechless. "Let's open the doors," I say, hyped from the feeling. I grab her and swing her around. I carry her to the door. She clings to me, her legs around my waist.

Little squid. She slides down when we reach the entrance and face the door, standing next to me. I look outside. I covered the sign again last night for the big reveal. There's a chalkboard on the sidewalk with some specials scribbled on it.

I drew a flower there last night. "So proud of you," I say to her. She leans up for a quick kiss, and with a hard exhale, she flips the open sign outwards. "Now we wait." She dances away to one of the displays. She admires the cupcakes, each with an individual flower on top.

"You woke up early to bake me cupcakes. "It's like she's seeing them for the first time again. "I did, Amy helped." She looks at me. "I'll thank her when she gets here." I don't tell her that I don't think she'll be here. I may have forgotten to invite her; I don't know if she knows the details.

I move to the record player and turn it on. The needle scratches against the record, and then sweet melodies fill the room.

Half an hour later, we're both standing at the counter. I look at the clock nervously, willing today to be successful. I think it rolls off me in waves. "It's okay Harry; I don't mind if no one comes today. That's not what the shop is for." She assures me. I'm supposed to be the one who's doing the assuring. "It's not time, and we have ten minutes." She continues.

"Dance with me," I tell her, and she giggles, but she reaches for me too. I take her in my arms softly and twirl her in place. I dance with her around the counter and into the shop. I twist us along the displays and over to the fridges. Her giggles fill the room, and my heart is light, ready for taking off at a moment's notice.

The bell chimes, and when I turn around, still dancing, Mitch and Sarah are standing in front of us. I don't stop, though. I turn her around when Adam and Emi come in with their kids in tow. I bend her down almost to the floor when Sam and his wife enter. I lean down for a soft peck just as the door opens and Augustine makes her way into the shop.

I only stop once I see all the other people streaming in. I quickly turn her around, grabbing her shoulders. Her head snaps up, and she pushes the hair out of her face. The bell chime is going crazy, and the whole town is standing in her shop.

My jaw is slack; I'm going into shock. Her shoulders are shaking, and at first, I think she's crying, overcome by emotions. I turn her swiftly, and she's laughing. She's laughing so hard no noise is coming from her. She points to the door behind her shoulder, and I look who it is.

He stands there, a lot older than I can remember but still the same. I'm in front of him, and before I can register what I'm doing, I'm grabbing him and pulling him into my chest. "Elijah." I breathe. "Hi, big brother." I pinch my eyes, willing the tears away. He's holding me just as hard.

I pull him back just to pull him in again. He laughs, and I join him. He pulls back, wiping under his eyes. Aliza stands next to me now. "Never thought I'd see you again," I murmur, stunned. "You always find your way back home." He tells me. He tells me the words I told him so many years ago when he refused to leave his family.

When I had to pry his hands from my shirt, ripping it in the process. When Lidia, our housemother, had to restrain me when they pushed him into the car physically. The only sound was the running engine of the vehicle and the screams and sobs that convulsed through me.

"Took you long enough," Aliza says next to me. She tentatively moves closer to him. He doesn't move because he knows not to touch her. She surprises us both when she wraps her arms around his waist. Her whole body tightens before she relaxes into him.

She'll feel it for him. He wraps his arms around her. He bends down a little to give her a proper hug. They stay like that for a while before she pulls back.

"Come on; you can meet everyone." She says, already a couple of feet away from us. "She hasn't changed." He says, now standing next to me admiring her. He's under her spell too. "She's feisty sometimes, stands up for everyone around her, just like always and with just as much grace," I tell him. He has a pensive look on his face.

"Thank you." I furrow my brow. "Before I forget. Thank you for being family to me and making life bearable. You taught me everything I needed to know in life, you and Ali." I shiver from the name he gave her as a five-year-old without teeth and wild blond hair.

"Man, gonna make me cry." I splutter. "I'm glad you found her again." He says. I nod. "I've redeemed all my prayers and all my good luck, but it's okay. I won't need anything else." I'm slightly better with being open now. Elijah also doesn't count; he grew up as we did. He's one of the misfits.

"You'll have to tell me someday." He asks. "You staying around?" I retort. "For now, taking a break. I'm a wildlife photographer." It suits him perfectly. "I'll tell you," I promise.

"Introduce me to your friends." He says. Guess there's no time like the present to spill everything about your past. Well, maybe not everything. I put my hand on his neck and lead him into the crowd.

It reminds me of times where he wouldn't brush his teeth, and I was the one who would have to plead until I got angry and dragged him by the neck to the bathroom. "Still mad about that." He says next to me, and I laugh loudly; he was thinking about it too.

We find Mitch and Claire first. Mitch has a cupcake stuffed into his mouth, and Claire is nibbling on hers. "He ate the flower, pushed the whole thing into his mouth." She explains. Mitch narrows his eyes at her, but it has the opposite effect.

His puffed cheeks make him look like a chipmunk. "This is Elijah; we shared a home." I expect the confused looks. I don't expect the hug Claire gives him or the fact that the questions don't follow.

Mitch manages to swallow the cupcake. "Who baked these fucking dry cupcakes." He moans. I hit him on the shoulder because he's lying. They're fucking perfect. He sticks his hand out to Elijah. "Nice to meet you; I'm this one's friend." He points his thumb at me. "My brother sure has nice friends," Elijah replies sarcastically.

It causes a round of laughter. "Didn't know you had siblings." Elijah stiffens next to me. I put my hand on his shoulder for reassurance. He knows how sensitive the subject is. "Yea got a sister too."

"Cool, can't wait to meet her. Maybe she got the looks and the brains." Claire laughs. Her comment doesn't upset me; it makes me laugh. It makes me laugh so hard I have to bend over, and I can see Elijah doing the same. "Jesus, I'm adopted, Claire." I laugh out, standing to my full height again.

She's red in the face, and I feel bad for spewing it like that. I grab her arm and pull her into a hug. "I'm sorry that was mean. I shouldn't have dropped it like that." When I release her, she looks a little better. "You're adopted?" She asks, bewildered. I nod. "Yea." I shrug awkwardly. "Cool." She pipes and continues to eat her cupcake.

See, you always make it harder than it should be. "Well then, in that case, your sister got the beauty and the brains." She chokes out, laughing at her joke. You deserve that. The awkward tension evaporates as laughter replaces it.

"What are we laughing about?" Aliza asks, appearing next to us. She's high; her eyes are red. This must be hard for her, all of these people. "Hazza's stupidity," Elijah says next to me, earning him a jab on the rib. He ducks before I can make contact.

"Ooh, can I join the conversation?" She laughs. I look at Elijah with a told you so look. "No picking on the prince," I say as I turn my head back to hers, pointing at the flower crown in my hair. She doesn't have an ounce of guilt. "Oh yes.... right... King prince, how can I make it up to you." I can think of a few things. I just give her a look, and her lips clamp together.

"So you're adopted? No fucking?" Mitch asks. "Yea, we all are." She swings to Elijah and me. "Hey, the misfits are back together!" She shouts, only now realizing it. Elijah pumps his fist in the air as she dances in her spot.

"I'm the grumpy one if you haven't figured it out yet." Looking at them and taking the piss out of myself. Sarah and Adam join the group. "What did we miss?" I let out a sharp laugh; my hand covers my mouth as Sarah jumps from my outburst. What a loaded question.

"Why are they dancing?" Adam asks. "Because we're adopted." The same reaction as the others, Adam is just a little slower. "All of you?" I nod. "huh." He says. Sarah is quiet; she's afraid of saying something wrong.

You get that a lot when you reveal such things. Aliza notices to, once she stops dancing, out of breath. "What's the worst question you can think of, Sarah?" Aliza asks. Sarah's head snaps to her. "Well, I'm wondering how they handled the parent-teacher conferences at your school." That's somewhat brilliant. It sets off an obnoxiously loud howl from Aliza.

"Please, God, will you marry me," Elijah yells from beside me. Sarah hides her face on Adam's shoulder. I slap the back of Elijah's head; he's too young for those thoughts. "You're five-stop saying things like that." I scold him.

"I'm five and a half." He sticks his tongue out to me. Oh dear God. "That was the best one yet." He nods in agreement. "See, now it's fine, you can say whatever you want," Aliza assures Sarah, and we get her to laugh about it eventually. A bunch of animals surrounds me.

Out of focus, somewhat crazy people, and I love it. We don't fit together, and that includes me just fine.

***

The rest of the opening goes on a little less emotional and scarring... Scarring for Sarah, that is. She's still slightly pissed at me, but she'll get over it. The crowd only grew, up to the point where we ran out of cupcakes. Out of the hundreds of pastries I made. The public has lessened by now as we round seven. Aliza is guarding the last cupcake on the table. She fought a guy off about an hour ago.

She keeps insisting it's for Amy. I don't think Amy is coming today. She's protecting it like it's her most valuable possession. I close the door behind the last customer, only the group of friends left. She's not moving. I contemplate calling Amy, but that'll be wrong of me.

"Let's light this, buddy." Aliza laughs, pulling the joint from her pant pocket. She does it too, light it up and take a drag. Elijah looks at me with wide eyes, and I shrug. "It's for the feeling thing," Aliza says, not even looking at us.

"What feeling thing?" Adam asks. Oh dear God, so many questions. "When I touch people, I feel their emotions along with a current of electricity that will put me on my ass if I'm not prepared." She explains calmly.

I can't for the life of me know when we decided just to spill everything in one go. It's like we chose a random day and decided that this is it. We're going to bombard them with everything we've been hiding.

She's focused on the end of the joint, blowing on it softly to make it burn. Her eyes pull towards each other as she focuses hard, and I can't help the laughter that escapes. "What?" She asks, putting the joint back into her mouth.

"Nothing, Sunshine." I snicker, but she's already lost interest in me. "So that's why you don't touch people?" Mitch makes sure. "Jap." She pops the P on end. "I'm sorry." A moment of grief flashes through him "S'okay, some people are worth touching." She smiles at him, and he returns with his own.

She passes the joint along when it comes to Elijah, he declines. I recognize the look immediately.

He's recovering. My heart falls at the thought. The thought of the sweet boy who was obsessed with Little Mermaid fell into drugs.

That life couldn't even grant one of us a stable life. Where did things go wrong for him?

"It's about high time I show you guys something." Aliza laughs. She's a sharp one when she's high. She rushes outside without any further explanation.

She's on the ladder again when we all make it outside, and I discreetly move to her, standing right under her for if she falls. She's high; I can't let her break her neck. They're all bundled outside the shop, waiting in anticipation for her to take the burlap off.

She does with a sweep, unsteady on her feet, but she grabs the ladder with a tight fist. JESUS! My mind screams, and I think I'm calling him this time for real. She just giggles and moves down the ladder right into my waiting arms. I hold her for a second, and we turn to our friends.

There are different emotions on their faces. My eyes land on Mitch; he's smirking at me because I've told him about the flowers. The rest all look excited, but it won't affect them as much. My eyes travel to Elijah; I don't expect his reaction.

He's full-on trying to hide his tears by biting his lip. He moves his head to us slowly. "That was the thing." He says, and I frown in question. He clears his throat. "The thing that made me believe you're meant to be. The thing that made me believe I have to wait for the person who wants to put flowers in my hair." It's hard hearing him say that. He was so young.

The rest are looking at him now. "I cry a lot." He utters. "They do too." They say in unison, all pointing either ahead or finger at us. It's true, though. I think it's because when you have so little for such a long time, every single good thing that comes your way is a blessing.

You learn never to expect anything so when you get it; it's the best gift. It's like reaching the perfect note in a song or finding the exact spot on your ankle that's itching. It's small and taken for granted but not to people like us. Not to people who see the world for what they wish it could be instead of what it is.

***

We all go home eventually. Elijah walks home with us, and there's a comfortable silence that rests in the air. Aliza is dancing in front of us again, still high on the success of today and the amount of weed she inhaled.

She's still clutching the damn cupcake that she has put in one of the containers where the flowers used to be. She stops abruptly when we almost reach the apartment complex. She holds her hand over her ears as if she heard something.

"You good?" Elijah asks worriedly. She nods but shushes him. His lips twist, and he shrugs his shoulders. Within two minutes, the one and only Amy come running down the sidewalk. She stops when she sees us. Don't bet against Aliza, I got it. "Oh my God, I forgot about the opening. I'm so sorry, Aliza!" She roars covering her mouth with her hands.

"Don't worry, you can come by another day." She assures her with a smile. Amy turns to me. "Damn, I missed out on your-" Aliza thrust the cupcake into Amy's unsuspected hands before she can continue.

"Saved it for you." She grins, happy with herself. She looks at me and pokes her tongue out. Guess I deserve that. "Wow, what are the odds." She baffles.

I stand in silence, waiting. " If you subtract the fact that you know her and you were invited to the opening, then the odds are quite good, actually. It's also a small town. I'd say about one to 43.65."

This is Elijah; he's freakishly good at math." Amy looks at him, slightly off her feet. "Nice to meet you." She stretches out her hand to him, and he takes it with a silly look on his face.

"Nice to meet you too." His voice is low. He's a charming little bugger. She pulls her hand away. She's on edge. She looks frazzled while she rubs the side of her neck

"Well, gotta go people to go and places to be." She messes up, and I bite my lip not to laugh.

"Bye then." She rushes and turns around so quickly she nearly trips over her feet. She runs... yes, runs away from us.

I look at Elijah. He's still wearing a smile, but he's a little star-struck as well.

"Gonna marry her." I freeze, my feet turn to Aliza, and my body follows after. "We're fucked." I stutter. She nods her head vigorously. "Completely screwed."

I grab him around the shoulder. "Come on, stud muffin; we have some catching up to do."

This is where the inspiration for the whole story came from. It's also the cover photo. 

Mkay Bye