Alstroemeria

When they met, something made them click, they stuck with each other. They were always there for each other. When Yahel went for the first time to a therapist, Vivian received her and they both went to buy ice-cream. When Vivi would get hurt after their cheer practice, Yahya would have a frozen bottle of water for them. When Vivi came out, she was also there… they always had each other’s back.

Yahel was doing an essay for her history class when she felt a weight being added to her back. She let out a soft chuckle. She turned to look at her best friend and now sibling and smiled. “Want me to move to my bed so you can hug me while I work?” Vivi nodded. And so, Yahel took her laptop and sat herself down on her bed. Vivian scurried right away to hug their best friend around the waist and closed their eyes.

“Nap?” she asked

“Mn, nap” they responded

She kept typing on her laptop. In the end, her grades depended on it. Her adoption into Vivi’s family became official when she was around 10 years old. She could still remember the day Nana had to explain her mother wouldn’t be coming back for her, which broke her a little. Looking back then not once did Vivi back out or gave up on her. They were always there for her and that made her happy.

She could remember herself asking her mother for a little brother.

She sighed, placed her laptop aside, and shook Vivian a little. “Come here”. Yahel patted her lap, and lazily Vivi moved and placed themselves on top of her. “Thoughts?” they asked with a sleepy but worried look. “Mn, thoughts” Yahel replied.

Vivi tightened the hug trying to comfort the white-haired one that was holding them. They have been in this situation thousands of times too.

Yahel would silently stop everything she was doing and search for Vivi’s comfort if her thoughts were to overwhelm her. With time both learned to read each other’s body language, and learned how to react too.

Amid thought… Vivian’s eyes lit up.

“Want some ice-cream?” To that question, Yahel couldn’t help but smile. “You could finish your essay later! I can help!” That made Yahel laugh.

“Vivi… you suck at making essays,” she said. Vivi frowned, flicking Yahel’s forehead with their finger. “I’m better than you at retaining information!” they said back. “I still remember everything we saw in class.” Yahel snorted. She let go of Vivi and opened the closet. Took her boots out and put them on.

“So?” They asked, poking Yahya on the shoulder. “Is that a yes? Is it? Is it?” Yahya rolled her eyes. She finished tying up her shoelaces and got up, patted her sibling’s head, and opened the window.

“You better be paying Vivian”

She was already standing at the frame of the window, they learned to sneak in and out of the house considering all their antics. They did almost everything together. She grabbed herself from the pie that was near the lower roof and placed herself, sliding down carefully and landing on the ground. As she did that, Vivi straight-up jumped to the floor, softening the fall by separating their limbs and joining them back as they touched the ground.

Yahel introduced her hands in the pockets of her pants as Vi caught up to her. She had her hair at neck-length, white, and straight. Vivian was brunette and wearing a short pixie-cut. Her eyes were ice blue while theirs were golden; almost clear. Most of the time they shared clothes, they were the same size after all.

“I didn’t notice… you are wearing the long skirt I bought you on your birthday.” A shy smile formed on Vivi’s face. “It does suit you… I remember how much you begged for one.” Vivi became a full blushing mess that instant Yahel mentioned that. Their face was so warm they felt like they could explode any minute right there. They cupped their face in their hands as if that would be enough to hide from the embarrassment.

“Hey… Hey… don’t hide yourself!” Yahel stopped her tracks and grabbed Vivi by the arm to stop them. She pulled them and embraced them tightly. She stayed there for a while, waiting for her best friend to calm down. They were the type of person that even with the best intentions, they couldn’t take a compliment. Something that they were still working on.

“Vivi… I mean it… don’t hide yourself, you look amazing” she let out. “Promise?” you could feel a bit of distrust in the air. “Yes, I mean it.” She reassured. “I gifted it to you because you liked it when you first saw it.” She told them while not breaking the hug.

Vivian giggled lightly and broke the hug. Nodded as a sign of acknowledgment.

“I’m still not paying for the ice-cream” Yahel declared in an air of fried as she started to walk. Vi threw her a light punch on the shoulder and continued their way to the ice-cream shop.

Yahel sprinted to catch up.

---

“A coffee ice cream, please! What would you want?”

“… Vanilla…” it sounded almost like a whisper; the voice was shy, almost nonexistent. After the tiny meltdown they had, their voice could barely be heard, it wasn’t often, but it happened. The white-haired girl nodded. “And a vanilla ice-cream please.” She said it with a smile, while her cold glistening blue eyes seemed to start preparing for something.

The short-haired person with golden eyes handed the money to the man that was serving them, while they still didn’t say a word. They gave away shyness and doubt; a bit of embarrassment too. Their face was all shades of red and, while not making it obvious, they wished they could hide somewhere.

The man handed the first cone to the girl and as soon as the cone touched her hand, it became freezing, more than that; it was immediately covered in a white, beautifully patterned, frost. You could describe the pattern as snowflake-like. The second cone was handed to her too, and as it touched the tips of her fingers, the same thing happened. She handed the vanilla flavored cone to the person beside her and directed at them a soft smile. The pattern of the frost looked like tiny flowers fitting perfectly with one another.

That was Vivi’s favorite pattern. It became a habit for Yahel to make beautiful frost patterns on Vivi’s ice-cream, it became their thing. Sneak out to buy ice-cream together when one or the other was upset. sometimes it would be Yahel, sometimes it would be Vivi. Either way, the routine was there. It was almost a rule for the pair of friends.

Yahel handed the vanilla ice-cream cone to her friend and proceeded to hold their hand in an attempt to make them feel better. She squeezed their hand softly and smiled at them.

---

They made their way home quietly, not talking at all. They just walked and enjoyed each other’s company. There wasn’t much to talk about, and if it was, when they felt ready to address it they definitely would do so. The frost that Yahel used to cover the cones helped a lot since the two took the long way back to avoid Nana and Valence. Oh, the earful they would get if they found them on their way back home.

To be honest, it wouldn't be a surprise if they were caught, Nana was used to their antics and was a really smart woman. Valence was soft with them and it wouldn't be as bad if they were caught by them, but in some sense, it was still a scary thing to get caught by them.

Vivian poked Yahel on the shoulder. "Finished", they pointed out. They held that face that showed satisfaction, they seemed less shy and inhibited, more open and sure of themselves. They gave out a tiny smile.

"Do you still want me to help you with your essay?"

Yahel chuckled.

"It's ok, don't worry about it." She smiled back at them and ruffled their hair. "We first gotta make sure we don't get caught sneaking back in. "