The following weekend, Mia woke late and poured herself some cereal. She had worked a later shift at the café the evening before, and with several of her coworkers out, she hadn't been able to clock out until two hours past the café's closing time. She was sure she looked exhausted as ever as she sat at the kitchen table and munched on her breakfast.

Mia glanced at the clock on the oven. With the rate she was going, she should speed up her pace. She was supposed to meet Julian at the pumpkin patch in less than an hour, but her limbs were heavy, and it was taking all of her willpower just to keep her eyes open.

Mia lifted her head up at the sound of Leila's door opening. She walked out into the kitchen in a flattering orange cardigan and dark blue jeans, clearly looking as if she had somewhere to go.

"Where are you off to?" Mia asked.

"The pumpkin patch up the street. My friends and I wanted to go take pictures there," Leila explained.

"Oh. I'm heading there too," Mia said. "Julian and I were going to hang out."

"Oh! What time?" Leila asked.

"Pretty soon. I should probably be eating faster than I am," she said. She shoved another bite of cereal down her throat, even though she wanted nothing more than to return to her bedroom to sleep.

"Do you want a ride?" Leila asked.

"Are you sure?" Mia asked. "I don't want to be an inconvenience. I can just bring my own car—"

"You look too tired to drive. Let's save gas," Leila decided.

"Okay. Give me a few to get ready," she said, downing the rest of her cereal bowl as quickly as she could.

Mia's fall outfit looked nowhere near as good as Leila's once she had managed to get herself dressed for the day. She stuck with a worn flannel she'd had since high school and the one pair of leggings she owned that weren't stained.

As she and Leila drove down the road, Mia rested her chin on her hand and stared out the window at the colorful trees lining the road. She struggled to remember the last fall she had spent in Maine. It had been so long ago, and her mother had been ill. She didn't even remember what she had dressed up as for Halloween that year.

"It's pretty, isn't it?" Leila asked, mistaking Mia's troubled thoughts for awe.

"Yeah," Mia said. "It's been a long time since I've been to a pumpkin patch."

"Do you remember when we used to go as kids?" Leila wondered. "It was usually for the school field trip."

Vague memories returned to Mia of hay mazes, candy apples, and petting zoos. She supposed she hadn't tried hard enough to keep those memories. Summer had always been her favorite season in Maine despite the horrendous heat. It was the time of year she remembered feeling the most at ease. 

"It feels weird being back here in the fall," Mia admitted.

"I'm sure you'll enjoy the pumpkin patch though. Obviously it's not as fun as when we were kids, but they still have good food. It's a nice place to hang out for an afternoon," Leila explained. "My friends and I still make an effort to come every year. Was this not your idea?"

"It was Julian's," Mia explained. She tapped her nails on the side of the car door, then spoke up. "Do you think we could stop by my mom's grave on the way back?"

"Sure. I was just thinking it had been a while. Why don't we get some flowers too?" Leila asked.

Mia nodded in agreement.

Once they had parked, Mia glanced around, spotting Julian at a nearby picnic table on the lawn. She turned, seeing Leila already waving to her friends who were down by the hay bales.

"Meet up in a few hours?" Leila asked Mia.

Mia nodded. She watched Leila happily run off to her friends, and for a moment, Mia envied her joy. She felt like she was dragging her feet as she went to meet up with Julian, but she blamed it on the exhaustion. Of course she was happy to see him.

"Hey," Julian said, greeting her with a quick peck.

"Hi," Mia said, sitting across from him at the picnic table.

"Here. I got us some doughnuts," he said, shoving them toward her. "They're really good."

Mia reached for one of the sugar-coated donuts and took a bite. Julian was right. They were delicious, so much so that he had to pull the box away from her to save a few for himself.

"What, did you not eat breakfast or something?" he asked.

"I did, but I didn't eat dinner last night. My shift was insane," Mia complained. "Did you at least have a nice evening off?"

Julian shrugged. "Would've been better if you were with me." He reached across the table and squeezed her hand. "Now, come on. Let's go walk around. I'll buy you a pumpkin for your apartment."

Mia nodded and walked hand-in-hand with him. In the distance, she could see Leila chatting with her friends. She'd never met them before, though Leila spoke often about them. They all had smiles on their faces and were giggling loudly. Leila looked like she got along well with them.

"Did Leila drive you here?" Julian asked, noticing Mia staring at her from afar.

"Yeah. She met up with some friends of hers," Mia said. "We figured since we were heading to the same place, we would carpool together." She noticed Julian looking slightly annoyed. He didn't used to look at Leila like that. It was only in the more recent months Mia noticed the tension whenever Leila was mentioned. Mia gently touched his arm.

"Hey, let's go pick out some pumpkins. I want you to find me the best one," she said.

Julian smiled. "Of course."

Mia was amused as she sat on a hay bale and watched him carefully inspect each pumpkin. She wasn't sure what criteria he was using to judge them, perhaps by how orange they were or how round, but she found it cute all the same. Still, every once in a while, her gaze would turn to Leila with her friends, and each time she did so, she felt her heart twinge.

I  miss my friends from New York, Mia thought. Julian was good company, but he didn't make her smile quite like the way Leila was smiling at the moment.

"How's this one, babe?" Julian asked, dropping a large pumpkin into Mia's lap without warning.

She let out an oof as it thudded against her lap. "It looks good. Let's go pay for it," she said, wanting it off her lap more than anything else.

After they had purchased pumpkins, Julian laid out a towel on the lawn for them to sit on. The sun felt warm on Mia's skin despite the slight autumn chill. She leaned her body against Julian's and rested her head on his shoulder, trying to ignore the sound of Leila's friends laughing in the background.

"How'd that drawing class go the other week?" Julian asked.

"You remembered?" Mia asked.

"You thought I wouldn't?"

"I only brought it up in conversation once, so I didn't know if you would," Mia said. "It was good. I met some nice people. They're all a bit older than me, and a lot of them are novice, but it felt...it felt right drawing again and having a community to do that. They told me about some other artist groups. Maybe I'll check them out."

"That's good," Julian said. "You've been so busy lately."

Mia wasn't sure if this comment was meant to be negative or not. It wasn't said with disdain, but she wasn't sure why else Julian would bring it up. Rather than try to think of a response, she tilted her head up towards Julian's for a kiss. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Leila and her friends walk by as they headed toward the pumpkin patch. Leila seemed to barely glance Mia's way.

Not sure what had come over her, Mia pulled Julian's head toward her again when he broke away, trying to block out the sound of Leila and her friends' chatter. They had been distracting Mia all day, making her feel envious for reasons she couldn't describe. Kissing Julian was the only thing that took her out that headspace.

Julian forcibly pulled Mia back. "Woah. Slow down there. We're out in public, you know," he said, his face looking reddened in embarrassment.

"S-Sorry," Mia said, feeling embarrassed herself for kissing him so passionately in front of several people.

"Do you want to head back to my place?" he asked.

Mia paused.

"What? You have something else to do?" he wondered.

"Yeah. Leila and I were going to go visit the cemetery. I mean, you're welcome to come," Mia said.

Judging by the way Julian sighed, Mia already knew he was going to turn her down.

"No. That's all right. I have errands to run anyway," he grumbled.

"Julian," Mia said.

"When are you next free? Let's plan another date soon," he said.

Mia nodded, working out another time in the upcoming week that they could get together. His mood remained sour, however, and seeing that it wasn't going to improve, Mia suggested he go off and run errands rather than continuing to keep her company. She gave him a brief kiss good-bye, then stood alone in the pumpkin patch, holding the heavy pumpkin he had bought for her.

Mia glanced around for Leila, finding her down in the pumpkin patch with her friends. She awkwardly adjusted the pumpkin in her arms as she headed over. When she found them, they were in a corner, awkwardly finagling with someone's phone to try to take photos.

"No, Elena, you don't have the self-timer on!" the redheaded one complained.

"Ashlynn, we're not going to get a good angle no matter what we do," Leila argued with her. "The phone's not going to balance on the hay bale like that."

Mia stepped closer to them, still holding the pumpkin in her hands. She wanted to tap Leila on the shoulder to get her attention, but she knew if she moved her arms, the pumpkin would fall out of her grasp.

Leila's friend Elena made eye contact with Mia. "Uh, Leila, I think you got some company," Elena said.

Leila turned, noticing Mia standing beside her. "Oh! Mia! Did Julian already head out?" Leila asked.

"Yeah. Sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt," Mia said. "Um, do you guys need help taking pictures? I can take them for you."

"That would be great!" the redheaded one, Ashlynn, exclaimed. "You're Mia, right? Leila's told us a bunch about you. I'm Ashlynn."

"Hi," Mia said from behind the pumpkin.

"And I'm Elena," Leila's other friend said.

"Hi. I'd shake your guys' hands, but—"

"Well, quit holding that thing," Leila said, grabbing the pumpkin from Leila and setting it on the ground beside her. Mia's arms ached from holding it for so long.

"Um, whose phone?" Mia asked.

"You can take them on mine," Ashlynn said, handing her a phone with a glittery pink case.

Mia nodded, watching them argue as they got into position. Their banter reminded Mia of her friends in New York. She wondered how they were doing right about now, if they'd seen each other at all lately, if they were celebrating the season. Mia snapped several photos for Leila's friends, offering Ashlynn back her phone several times to see if they looked good.

"Mia, you and Leila should take a picture together," Elena suggested.

"Oh, uh, I'm not really looking photo-ready," Mia argued. She'd just discovered another hole in her flannel while sitting out on the lawn with Julian.

"Nonsense!" Ashlynn exclaimed, shoving Mia so she was standing next to Leila by the hay bales.

"Why do you two look so awkward?" Elena asked. "You've literally known each other since you were kids. Put your arms around each other or something. Don't just stand side by side."

Mia reluctantly slipped an arm along Leila's back and smiled for a few photos. It was the first photo they had taken since reuniting in adulthood, she realized, once Elena showed her the final pictures.

"I should probably be heading out," Leila told her friends.

Mia suddenly felt guilty for drawing Leila away from her friends, especially since they seemed to be having so much fun.

"Oh, we don't have to leave—"

Leila ignored her. "Mia and I have some errands to run. I'll talk to you guys soon about hanging out again," Leila said.

"Nice meeting you Mia," Elena said.

"Yeah, hang out with us again sometime!" Ashlynn exclaimed.

Mia weakly smiled and waved to them as she headed with Leila back to her car. She set the pumpkin in the back of Leila's car and climbed into the passenger seat.

"I'm sorry. You didn't have to cut things short because of me," Mia told Leila when she got into the car.

"What? No. We were wrapping up anyway. Plus, I didn't want to leave you all alone like that. Where did Julian go?"

"He had some errands to run," Mia murmured.

"Oh. Well, do you still want to get flowers?" Leila asked.

Mia nodded. Being alone with Leila now, she suddenly felt much better. She wasn't sure what emotions she had been feeling while at the pumpkin patch with Julian, but now, being back in Leila's car, she suddenly felt much more at peace.

After they stopped by the grocery store for a bouquet, Mia walked with Leila in the cemetery, crunching dead leaves beneath her feet. She knew her mother would appreciate the flowers now that the naturally occurring plants and leaves were slowly shriveling and dying around her gravestone. Mia supposed when it snowed in the winter she would need to bring more flowers than usual to brighten the grave.

Mia reached down and replaced the dying flowers currently sitting on her mother's grave with some new ones. She crouched down and stared at her mother's grave. Beside her, Leila spoke.

"Did you enjoy the pumpkin patch?" Leila asked.

"Yes," Mia lied.

"It must be weird being back here in the fall after so long. I don't know how beautiful New York autumns were, or Missouri ones for that matter, but it's pretty here, isn't it?" Leila asked.

Mia nodded her head and stood. She and Leila stood side by side in silence for a few moments longer before they both silently looked at each other. They'd long established a universal look by now for when it was time to leave. Leila nodded, and together, they quietly returned back to the car.