Wisps of Mia's hair floated as the standing fan in her bedroom blew around the room. The air was warm and sticky, but the cool air from the fan helped some. Mia's body sunk deeper into her mattress as Julian leaned over her, his lips gently tracing her jaw and neck. Mia thought she would be enjoying his presence more. She turned her head, allowing more access to her neck, but the view of her shut door made her pause. All she could think about was Leila in the other room.

Having Julian in her apartment felt strange. Mia had only let him spend the night a few times since moving in, mainly because she was still trying to gauge how comfortable Leila was with having him over. While Leila assured Mia that she didn't mind Julian spending the night, Mia continued to be hesitant. However, Julian had been frequently pestering her lately about how little time they spent together since moving in, so she once more agreed to let him spend the night.

As Mia continued facing the door, feeling Julian's warm lips press against her neck, she shut her eyes, trying to block out her thoughts. Julian must've taken this to mean she was enjoying herself, because his hand crept under her shirt. Mia quickly shoved it away.

"No," she said suddenly, her eyes opening again.

Julian looked down at her, confused. "What?" he asked.

"Not tonight," she repeated, exchanging a glance with her shut door once again.

"What's wrong?" Julian asked.

"Nothing's wrong. I just don't want to do anything tonight," Mia argued.

"That's what you said last time," Julian complained.

"Can you move off me? I want to sit up," Mia said.

Julian moved to the side, and Mia sat up once more. She adjusted her tanktop and looked over at Julian. It was easy to sense his annoyance. He appeared tense and averted his gaze from her.

"Hey," she said, stroking his arm. "Come on. Don't be mad."

"I am mad," Julian complained. "What's the point of inviting me over, then?"

"Because I want to spend time with you?" Mia reminded him. "Look, I'm sorry. I'm still getting used to this apartment and living with Leila, and I just don't really feel comfortable doing anything right now when she's around."

"Yeah, yeah," Julian mumbled. "So should we just go to sleep, then?"

"Yeah," Mia agreed.

She was afraid Julian wouldn't want to cuddle her when they crawled under the sheets, but thankfully, he pressed his body close to hers and wrapped an arm around her. Mia sighed in contentment as she felt his breath against her face. Her eyes shut slowly, and finally, she dozed off to sleep.

When she had been living with Abby, Mia and Julian usually spent their mornings lounging around, grabbing breakfast around eleven in the morning, and spending the rest of the day together. When Mia woke up in the morning, however, Julian was already awake and packing his things in his duffel bag.

Mia yawned and sat up slowly. "Leaving already?" she asked groggily.

"Yeah," Julian answered.

"Don't you want to get breakfast?" Mia asked.

Julian shook his head. "No. I'll get out of your and Leila's hair."

"Julian," Mia said softly. She'd hoped sleep would ease their argument, but he still appeared upset. Not in the mood to fight, Mia didn't press him any further. She had learned at this point to give him space when he was annoyed. He was usually kissing her by the next time they met up anyway.

Mia walked him to the door, gave him a parting kiss, and decided to get herself ready for the day. It was one of the rare occasions she didn't have a shift on a Sunday morning, so she enjoyed a warm shower, put on a new romper she had recently bought, and made herself an omelet to enjoy.

Leila walked out into the kitchen, a yowling Fuji behind her. Clearly her cat didn't seem to mind Mia's being around when he was hungry. His priorities were elsewhere in those moments.

"Morning," Mia said.

Leila let out a loud yawn. "Good morning," she said. She glanced around. "Where's Julian?"

"Oh. He left already. Had a busy day ahead," Mia lied.

"Oh," Leila said. She dropped a can of wet food into Fuji's bowl and began rummaging through the cupboards. "What are you up to today?" she asked Mia.

Mia plated her hot omelet and paused for a moment to gather her thoughts. "I was thinking of visiting my mom's grave today."

"Oh! Would you mind if I come with you?" Leila asked.

Mia paused for a moment. She was so used to Julian always turning down her invitations to visit the grave that she was shocked Leila would even suggest accompanying.

"Um, if you don't want me to come, that's okay!" Leila exclaimed, noticing Mia's silence.

Mia walked over to the kitchen table with her omelet and shook her head. "No. I don't mind you coming," she said.

Leila smiled at her. "Okay."

Later that morning, they both drove in Mia's car to the gravesite. Though Mia hadn't been planning to bring any flowers, Leila had insisted they stop to get some. The hydrangeas were in bloom, so they picked out a bouquet of blue and pink flowers to leave at Mia's mother's grave.

The clear sky and shining sun brightened Mia's mood. Oftentimes, she drove to the grave anticipating she'd be returning with swollen and puffy eyes and a pile of used tissues in her car. However, she didn't expect that same energy today. She and Leila chatted happily as they pulled into the parking lot, and for a moment, Mia had almost forgotten why she came.

Mia held her hand to her forehead to block out the sun as she walked along the rows of graves. Leila walked behind her with the bouquet in her hands. Eventually, Mia's feet paused at her mother's gravestone. Before she could say a word, Leila knelt down and began brushing away the dead flowers to make way for the new ones.

"See! Good as new!" Leila exclaimed.

Mia smiled weakly back at her. She didn't feel comfortable speaking to her mother's grave with Leila around, but somehow or other, Mia still felt like her mother's presence was there. They both stood together for a few moments in silence, staring at the quiet headstone.

"You know what I really miss?" Leila asked.

"What?" Mia responded, her gaze still locked on the grave.

"Your mom's brownies," Leila said. "I always looked forward to eating them whenever I was over."

Mia laughed slightly. "I miss them too. I tried making them a few times in Missouri, but I never could master the recipe."

"You mean you still have the recipe?!" Leila exclaimed, her eyes widened in excitement.

"Yeah," Mia answered.

"We'll have to try making them sometime," Leila thought.

"Okay," Mia agreed.

Quiet settled between them again. In the distance, Mia could hear the breeze rustling the trees. The wind felt cool on her skin.

"You mentioned baking in Missouri. What else did you do there?" Leila asked.

"I drew a lot," Mia said, thinking back to the long summer days in the small home she shared with her father. She didn't like to think back to her time in Missouri often. When she considered the experience of living there as a whole, she realized the memories from that time were mainly painful.

"There wasn't a lot to do there," Mia continued, noticing Leila was struggling for a response. "The summers were stupidly hot. There was no one I could go ride a bike to the ocean with for that matter. Besides, we lived in the middle of nowhere. My neighbors were a mile away."

"Oh," Leila murmured. "You never told me this."

"I probably didn't want to worry you," Mia said. She crossed her arms together behind her back and kicked a pebble on the ground. "When I wasn't drawing, I was at my aunt and uncle's house. I spent a lot of time there. They always put me to work babysitting my cousins or doing chores around their house. They didn't really like me wasting time drawing. They always found something for me to do."

"Oh. I see," Leila responded.

Mia sighed. "But I mean, what can you do? There were days when my dad wouldn't leave his room, he was so depressed, so sometimes those family members were all I had." Mia glanced up, noticing Leila's look of concern. "Sorry. You probably don't want to hear this."

"No, no!" Leila assured her. "I never knew about any of that. You never mentioned it in your letters."

There was a lot I didn't mention in my letters, Mia thought.

"It's fine. It's in the past now. I'm happy to be back here now, miles away from all that, and gahhh—" She made a sound of surprise as Leila's arms wrapped around her and engulfed her in a hug.

Mia was startled at first. Despite having reconnected over two months ago, she realized suddenly that they had not yet hugged each other even though they had hugged so frequently as children. Mia slowly raised her arms to embrace Leila back. Despite being rather touch-averse, Mia found herself melting into Leila's arms. Mia wondered when was the last time she had gotten to hug someone like this, just not saying anything and admiring each other's warmth? She struggled to remember.

"I'm sorry you had to go through all that," Leila murmured against her.

"It's fine," Mia murmured into her shoulder. She wondered when Leila had gotten so tall. They'd always been neck and neck as children.

Finally, Leila pulled away. Mia stepped to the side and turned her gaze back at her mother's grave. Her cheeks felt warm. She blamed it on the humidity.

"Um, shall we?" Mia asked.

"Sure. Do you mind if we stop at the grocery store on the way home?" Leila asked.

"Not at all," Mia said.

As she followed Leila toward the parking lot, she turned her head one last time to stare at her mother's grave. Strange. She hadn't felt the tears well up once.

Mia turned her gaze back to Leila. Her long hair that hung down her sundress was swaying back and forth in the wind, and when the sunlight hit her hair just right, Mia noticed some spare strands of blonde reflecting against Leila's otherwise dark hair. Mia decided not to dwell on the fact that she hadn't cried long. After all, she assumed it must've just been because she didn't want to cry in front of Leila.