❛y’know             it’s   a   real   tragedy   that   nothing   rhymes   with   orange.❜

           there was a phrase their mom often used when they would come to her with Big Questions,  as she referred to them.   ❝   time is the great destroyer — and the great healer.   ❞   the words brought a wry smile to willie’s face as they recited it,  suddenly realising how strange it must look to luke.   ❝   i, uh, lost my dad early on. he left before i started elementary school; only found out later that he was dying of cancer. i never got to say goodbye before he passed.   ❞   they pull their knees up to their chest,  gaze cast down at the bracelets on their wrist.   ❝   mom instilled in me early on that life and death are equal. can’t have one without the other. same thing with pain and love.   ❞   if they closed their eyes,  they could almost sense her presence  —  creaking floorboards and tinny music drifting out from the radio,  her hands wrapped around their wrists as the two of them twirled and danced and laughed. 

          willie gazes back up at luke and offers him a hand,  nostrils flaring briefly as they sigh.   ❝   thirty years ain’t a drop in the pond either. i had… absolutely nothing before caleb, meanwhile all my friends were growing old and getting married and having kids. it — i’m not even going to lie to you, it was fucking awful. but once you learn that time takes out the sting of the bad times, it’s a little easier to find comfort.   ❞   at least it would be easier for luke,  alex,  and reggie.  they had each other plus julie,  and their unfinished business would likely be clear to them soon.   they had given up hope long ago of figuring out theirs. 

luke   is   quiet   while   he   listens,   eyes   focused   on   nothing   in   particular   so   that   his   ears   could   focus   on   the   words.   time   wasn’t   something   he   was   ever   scared   of   until   he   was   presented   with   an   infinite   pool   of   it.   or   maybe   he’d   always   thought   time   was   never - ending,   and   being   faced   with   it   now   was   too   daunting   a   task.          ❛i’m   sorry   about   your   dad.   your   mom   sounds                     real   fuckin’   smart.❜       a   breathy   chuckle   escapes   him,    though   it’s   meant   to   be   heartfelt.   he   pictured   his   own   parents   for   a   moment,   HIS   MOM.   he   wondered   if   she’d   ever   come   to   terms   with   this.   if   she   would   ever   be   able   to   balance   the   two.   luke   patterson   had   his   mother’s   heart   stitched   into   his   chest                 they’d   never   been   known   for   finding   balance   in   their   emotions.   luke’s   gaze   falls   to   the   hand   extended   to   him,   and   he   wastes   no   time   in   taking   it.   

“In the defense of everyone that’s done that, they probably can’t see you because — The whole ghost thing.”

oh wow hi ily