Archive of Our Own ^beta

I heard that there's a new ice cream 
parlor near your office building. You wanna 
check it out? My treat. 

Aiah sighs after reading the message, her steady exhale causing a small cloud of vapor to come out of her mouth due to the cold.

Mikha had been trying to get her attention for weeks now, and it was beginning to make her feel a little uncomfortable. 

She honestly doesn't get why the girl even bothers asking her anymore. It was already a 'no' then, and it's still going to be a 'no' now. 

Especially now. 

She shoves the phone back in her coat pocket and gingerly bends down, her dark brown eyes settling on the new arrangement in front her. 

Fresh blue tulips sat on top of the smooth granite, its graceful display comically overshadowing the bouquet of daisies that she had left the day before. 

Aiah's not surprised. It was like this every day.

"Someone's got an admirer." She chuckles into the wind. 

The cool October breeze blows past her as she sets aside yesterday's daisies and replaces them with a new batch that she had handpicked from their greenhouse earlier that morning. 

She wasn't always fond of daisies, if she was being honest, but the girl she loved absolutely adored them. So, Aiah grew to love them, too.

...and maybe even more. 

There's a thoughtful smile on her lips as her fingers trace the letters of gold engraved on the granite surface. 

Aiah sighs. It's been three weeks.

Three weeks since Colet had passed. 

Three weeks of unbridled grief from the lives she had graciously been a part of. 

Three weeks since Aiah lost the girl of her dreams. 

She still remembers what the sky looked like that day, a mix of orange hues and shades of pink that spread vibrantly across the horizon.

The sun had just set.

And it was beautiful. 

She still remembers what color Sheena's clothes were when the girl came barreling into her arms, tears streaming down her face as she let out sob after sob, soaking Aiah's favorite red sweater that Colet had given her on their second anniversary.

She still remembers the numbness she felt when two police officers showed up right behind the girl, their voices firm and direct as they relayed the bad news. 

There was an accident,

and her wife... 

...her wife didn't make it. 

Aiah felt like she was falling. Her whole body sinking into the unforgiving depths of the abyss as her heart shattered into a million pieces. 

No. 

It couldn't be.

Colet had so much to live for.

She was kind, compassionate, and so, so dearly loved. Out of all the godforsaken people in the world, why did it have to be her? 

Her beautiful, beautiful Nicolette.

Aiah wiped an involuntary tear from the side of her face as she stared longingly at the sky above her. Why was she even crying? 

It was alright now.

The storm had already passed. 

And she's alright. 

She's alright.

By the time Aiah had gotten back to the house, it was already nearing 7 o'clock in the evening. 

The children of the town were all dressed up, roaming the streets with their parents and friends as they knocked on strangers' doors, asking for sweets. She didn't really mind the light traffic, though. It was Halloween. Colet's favorite holiday.

Aiah slips off her shoes and enters the household, thoughtfully taking note of the empty candy bowls right outside their front door. It seems that she may have underestimated the amount of kids that Colet used to entertain with chocolate bars and Skittles. 

"Max?" Aiah calls out as soon as she sets her keys on the living room table. "Where are you, baby?"

Loud, eager footsteps padded towards her direction just as she was about to remove her coat and before Aiah knew it, she was tackled to the ground by an enthusiastic golden retriever. 

"Easy, boy." She says in between giggles. 

Her words fell on deaf ears as the two-foot-tall canine, clearly, was having fun licking up the entirety of her face. It was a good thing that she didn’t put much make-up on before she left the office earlier. Otherwise, the two of them might have had to pay the veterinarian on the other side of town an unexpected visit. 

"Get off of me, you big lug. Your breath stinks." Aiah protests weakly, not really making any move to stand up—much to Max's delight. 

In all honesty, Aiah actually loves that she still gets her sloppy welcome kisses whenever she comes home. Colet got her way too used to the affection when she was still alive—pulling her in and peppering her face with kisses the moment she walks through the front door.

She was grateful she still had Max. 

He may sniff people's butts all day and occasionally smell like wet socks, but he was arguably the best thing in Aiah's life right now. 

She wouldn't trade him for anything in the world.  

They stayed like that for a while, wrestling around on the wooden floorboards until Aiah's phone began to ring. 

It was Mikha again.

Aiah sighs.

"You just don't give up, do you?" She whispers softly, bottom lip trapped between her teeth in careful thought. 

Figuring that the girl was only going to keep calling her if she were to ignore her again, Aiah reluctantly presses her thumb on the green button and answers the call. 

"Hey, Mikhs." She steadily breathes out. 

"Ate Aiah! You answered..." Mikha says on the other line, seemingly sounding more relieved than she was surprised, causing Aiah to chuckle. 

The older girl finally nudges Max out of the way and moves to stand up, jogging towards the direction of the kitchen to refill Colet's pumpkin-shaped candy bowls. The loyal golden retriever follows after her, tail wagging wildly in excitement after having waited all day for his owner to arrive.

If her wife were still here, she'd have never let the bowls run out of sweets for the shy kids to take.

Colet's learned in the past few years that some kids were far too sheepish to rap their knuckles against stranger's doors, feet lingering a little too long on the sidewalk before eventually walking away with their heads hung low. 

Aiah still remembers the pride she felt in her chest when she woke up one day to Colet in the backyard, eyebrows knit together in concentration as she repeatedly struck a hammer onto two slender pieces of wood. Apparently, her wife was building some sort of wooden table that she plans on situating in their front yard for Halloween.

Now, Colet wasn’t exactly skillful when it came to carpentry—this much was obvious by the looks of the horribly disfigured object in front of her—but she really tried her best to make it easier for the bashful kids of the neighborhood, and that was enough to make the older girl's heart swell in absolute admiration. 

Aiah kissed her square on the mouth that morning.

Right after the younger girl hesitantly showed her the swelling purple thumb on her calloused left hand.

See, Aiah wasn't really one to believe in the so-called patterns of the universe. But, every time that Colet flashed her a toothy grin between those fluffy round cheeks, Aiah just couldn't help but think that she really must've saved the world in her past life for her to be able to love someone as perfect as Nicolette Vergara in this lifetime. 

"Yeah, I just got home." Aiah replies, standing on her tiptoes to reach for the bags of candy bars Colet had stacked up specifically for that October night. "Did you need anything?" 

Mikha takes in a shaky breath. “Actually, I…” 

Woof!

Her golden child disrupts, tugging at Aiah's jeans just as she was about to round the kitchen island. She looks down to see Max eagerly coaxing her to move to the other room, his eyes glistening in the light as he pushes her towards the direction of the study. 

A fond smile stretches across Aiah's lips as she crouches down next to him.

“In a minute, baby.” Aiah coos away from her phone, lovingly scratching the bottom of his chin before she saunters back into the living room. 

She couldn’t wait to enter the study, herself, but her wife’s traditional candy bowls needed to be returned to their respective places first, before anything else. 

“Sorry, Mikhs. You were saying?” 

“Oh. I was just wondering if you’d like to grab dinner with me later.” Mikha nervously reiterates. “There’s a new seafood place not far from here, I can pick you up?” 

Aiah holds back a sigh as she walks towards Colet’s crooked wooden table near the fence. The exact same one she recalls oh so clearly from her memory.

As tempting as the offer sounds, she really just couldn’t bring herself to say ‘yes’, knowing full well that the girl’s intentions weren’t exactly as friendly as before. Mikha is a good friend, and it breaks her heart to watch the younger girl pine over someone who can never reciprocate her feelings.

It breaks her heart even more to know that that person was herself. 

She closes the front door shut and chuckles when Max practically drags her towards the study, not even giving her the time to put on her indoor slippers before he was pulling at her jeans again. 

Aiah can’t believe that she actually used to hate dogs for the majority of her life. 

“I don’t really feel like going out, Mikhs.” She mumbles on the phone, flicking on the light switch in the room before she's moving again to close the blinds. “The streets are packed tonight.” 

A plethora of picture frames and paintings adorned the peanut-colored walls as the lights flickered open, giving a homey atmosphere to the otherwise stereotypically boring work room. 

She and Colet had decorated the room themselves when they first moved in, filling the then empty space with their favourite belongings and a few random stuff that they’d bought on impulse from an online Christmas sale back in 2019.

Among other things, Aiah had her typewriter on one side and Colet had her turntable on the other, showcasing their love for the things on different sides of the same spectrum.

Old souls, she recalls Mikha teasing them back in college—lovers of things that have been made irrelevant by time, but somehow found a place in the corners of their contemporary hearts. 

The older girl smiles once she spots Max waiting for her on the other end of the room, running in circles as he barks for her attention by the wooden desk. She shakes her head in amusement before walking towards him with her phone sandwiched between her shoulder and left ear.

It was time. 

“Well, how about I come over?” Mikha asks on the other line. "I can always cook for you, if you’d like." 

There's a scoff. “Not tonight, Mikhs. I’ve got a lot of work to turn in tomorrow.” Aiah half-heartedly replies, eyebrows knit together as she thumbs through her wife’s impressive collection of vinyl on the white ladder shelf by the door. “The studio’s swamped this month because of all the photoshoots for fall. Maybe next time.” 

Aiah's eyes light up once she spots the faded blue cover of the record she's been looking for. The legendary image of four men in suits crossing the street in St. John's Wood in London giving her immense joy just at the sight of it.

"Abbey Road." She quietly breathes out. 

Max follows eagerly after her as she pads towards the direction of the turntable, his tongue sticking out in anticipation as they watch the thin record slowly begin to spin and music start to fill the room. Aiah chuckles. 

Here come old flat top

He come grooving up slowly

He got joo joo eyeball

He one holy roller

He got hair down to his knee

Got to be a joker he just do what he please

A gust of cold wind sweeps her hair back as Aiah walks out of the study to prepare another bowl of sweets. If the incessant knocking on their front door was any indication, she’d say that she had a few trick-or-treaters on the other side of the door that needed attending to. 

“I’ll be right back.” She mumbles under her breath, snubbing the sudden mist slowly enveloping their surroundings as the turntable's volume gradually increases to its maximum by itself. 

It doesn’t come as a surprise to her when Max doesn’t follow her out of the room this time.

“You said that yesterday, Ate.” Mikha sighs. She can only imagine the girl pinching the bridge of her nose as she tries her best to contain her disappointment. Sorry, Mikha. “But, I understand. Just…call me if you need anything, alright?” 

Aiah's features soften when she hears the sincerity in the girl's voice.

She really didn't want things to be this way. 

He wear no shoe-shine

He got toe-jam football

He got monkey fingers

He shoot Coca-Cola

He say, "I know you, you know me" 

One thing I can tell you is you got to be free

“Yes, ma’am. You have my word.” Aiah mutters into the phone softly, waving goodbye to the platoon of little vampires that had just vacated her front porch as she lingers a little by the steps.

She waits patiently for their tiny feet to cross the street before turning around and slipping back inside the house. 

The music's a little louder now and she can faintly hear Max barking in the other room, accompanied by someone's familiar, bubbly laughter that sends pleasant shivers down her spine. 

She's here.

“I've got to go now, Mikhs. I'm afraid that the pictures on my camera aren't going to develop themselves." Aiah jests lightly, rubbing a warm hand over her sleeve out of habit. "I’ll talk to you soon, okay?” 

The younger girl hums on the other line, reluctantly accepting tonight’s defeat.

Tomorrow’s another day, she guesses. 

“Okay, Ate. Have a good night.”

“You, too, Mikhs. Take care.” Aiah replies before finally hanging up the call. 

She stares mindlessly at the device in her hand, screen slowly fading to black as she lets her head fall back against the cold oak behind her. 

Aiah hates that she has to have this conversation over and over again. 

She had first met Mikha Lim in college when she first moved to the States. They shared two minor classes together in her sophomore year and Aiah could say that the girl was the epitome of sunshine. Mikha literally brightened up every room that she walked in—effortlessly making people laugh and putting smiles on their faces alongside her best friend, Colet.

The two were dynamite. 

Aiah had always admired the duo's friendship even before she got properly acquainted with them. They were quite popular around campus, Aiah recalls, the springtime soulmates. Always radiating warmth and comfort even in the coldest nights of winter, with a bottle of beer and a good story on the tips of their tongues for every person who needed the company. 

In everything that they did, it was always Colet and Mikha. 

Aiah still remembers the day Mikha introduced Colet to her. The redhead's mischievous antics leading up to a paint-stained shirt, an angry professor, and the best thing that ever happened to Aiah's life.

She still remembers the first time Colet asked her out. The brunette tapping frantically on her dorm room window as Mikha stood wobbly on top of a pile of broken chairs, her shoulders aching at the sheer weight of her best friend on top of her that was so lovestruck she couldn't even say 'hi'. 

And Aiah also remembers the day of Colet's funeral. The bittersweet beauty of the blue and grey sky above them, and the heart-wrenching sound of Mikha wailing her heart out as Colet's coffin descended unto the ground. 

Aiah may have lost her greatest love,

but, Mikha lost the other half of her soul. 

"You're later than usual." A voice speaks up from across the room, its familiar husk causing the corners of Aiah's lips to turn upwards in a childlike smile. 

There she is. 

"Should I call Stacey and file for a divorce?" The voice adds teasingly, causing the older girl to forget about her Mikha problems for a while. "You know I don't like sharing what's mine." 

Aiah lifts her head up and glances ahead, eyes tracing over the translucent figure of a woman standing next to Max by the dimly lit hallway, her smile blinding as she sends a playful wink Aiah's way. 

God, she's beautiful. 

The figure was wearing an off white blouse and jeans underneath a long black trench coat, looking exactly the way she did when she walked out the front door on the morning of October 12th.

The only noticeable difference this time was the tiny yellow handprint on the bottom her jeans, and if one were to look a little closer—the short trail of dried up crimson on the side of her head. 

The latter was an ugly reminder of their life's horrible fate, but Aiah honestly couldn't care less because even in that heartbreaking state, Colet's still the most beautiful girl she had ever laid eyes on. 

Aiah shakes her head in amusement. "Go ahead," The older girl humors, arms crossed loosely against her chest as she straightens her back flat against the front door. "but, know that I'm taking Max with me." 

The other girl chuckles. "Please. My son won't pick you over me, Mrs. Vergara. I raised him." 

Aiah's heart swells in her chest. It's been about four years since she and Colet tied the knot, but she still gets butterflies every  single time that someone calls her Mrs. Vergara. 

"You wanna bet?" Aiah challenges. 

Colet narrows her eyes at her and grins. "You're on." She confidently exclaims, crouching down to be at eye level with her trusty golden retriever. "Let's show thi—hey!" 

Woof!

The younger girl watches in disbelief as Max marches happily towards the direction of the older girl, his tail wagging from left to right as the latter scratches the spot under his furry chin. 

"Traitor." Colet mumbles, making Aiah throw her head back in victorious laughter.

"I'm his favorite person now, pretty girl. You've unfortunately dropped down to spot number two." 

There's a wistful gleam in Colet's eyes as she watches the interaction from afar, her cold hands finding shelter inside the deep pockets of her dark trench coat as the two laugh heartily a few feet away from her. 

"Looks like Max and I have another thing in common, then." She comments softly, making Aiah's heart melt in her chest. 

The older girl lifts her head up and smiles at her, the kind of smile that only comes out when Colet was around.

"Don't worry, pretty girl. You're still my favorite." 

Aiah doesn't know how to explain it.

She really doesn't. 

When the old lady from the subway station told them that the $18 record player was freaking magical roughly seven years ago, the best that she and Colet expected was a mediocre speaker sound and a semi-working stylus.

Never in her wildest dreams did Aiah think that the rusty, old turntable Colet bought on their first date would give her back the love of her life on a drunken Thursday afternoon a few years later. 

But, then again, 

who was she to question fate? 

"Hey, pretty girl?" Aiah calls out from the other end of the couch, fingers mindlessly combing through Max's golden fur as she attempts to catch her wife's attention. 

Colet peels her eyes off of the TV screen and glances behind her.

"Yes, baby?" She softly answers, stretching her hand out to grab the remote control on the coffee table, only to find herself frowning when her feeble fingers pass through the solid object. 

"Right..." She dejectedly mumbles, cradling her left hand with her right as she puts on a lukewarm smile for the distracted girl behind her. "What does my wife need, Mrs. Vergara?"

The three of them were lounging about in the living room, watching reruns of Lassie on cable as John Lennon's bright vocals played faintly in the background.

Aiah used to hate overlapping sounds, often making Colet turn down the radio most mornings because Stacey Sevilleja's voice was already loud enough to wake up old man Cosmo on the yellow house across the street. 

Their newly-registered lawyer friend frequented the couple's home because she claims that she simply didn't have the time to cook her own meals before going to work, taking full advantage of Colet's love for cooking and the fact that the three of them moved to the same neighborhood right after college.

Every weekday morning, Aiah would wake up to Stacey at their dining table, munching on a plate of honey-coated pancakes while her apron-clad wife brewed coffee by the kitchen counter. 

She would listen to the younger girl rave on about the current divorce case that her team was handling while Colet quietly crossed the room, making sure to kiss the top of Aiah's head in greeting before setting her wife's breakfast down on the table and moving to the study to turn off the music.

Aiah had always hated overlapping sounds. But every time that Colet unconsciously sang a tune right after she turned off the dusty, old turntable, Aiah could only think about how she had really lucked out in life by marrying the pretty girl in the midnight blue apron. 

Aiah props a hand under her chin as she faces the younger girl. "Where do you go when you're not here?" She finally asks. 

Ever since Colet showed up in their living room on the afternoon of October 16th—the day after her funeral—Aiah has found herself in constant wonder about the things that she, before, wouldn't even think twice of. 

Colet tilts her head in thought as she shifts her outstretched legs on the carpeted floor. "Do you remember that place in 'The Lovely Bones' where Susie Salmon spent her days of waiting?" 

"Mm-hm. The in-between?" 

"Yeah, the in-between." Colet nods in confirmation. "It's like that, but only there are more spirits there like me." 

"More spirits?" Aiah pauses thoughtfully. "So, it's like the Good Place?" 

Colet chuckles. "Yes, kind of like the Good Place." 

Her eyes glance back to the rough collie running around on the TV screen as Max barks enthusiastically beside her.

The two are convinced that Max has developed some sort of crush on the celebrity dog at this point. He whines whenever they watch anything else. 

"Oh, and we kind of have our own version of Janet there, too. Her name's Ellie." Colet nonchalantly adds, unaware of the accusatory eyebrow on her wife's face that's raised slightly in speculation. "She's the one who filled me in on everything I needed to know and I—why are you looking at me like that?" 

Colet blinks in confusion as she stares at her wife who now had her arms crossed against her chest, the girl's face scrunched up in an odd grimace as she seemingly tries her best to keep herself from scowling.

"Is she pretty?" Aiah suddenly asks, causing both Colet and Max to look at the girl like she had just grown two heads.

"Are you serious?" The younger girl sputters out in disbelief.

Aiah glares at her. "It's a simple yes or no question, Nicolette Vergara. Is she pretty?" 

Colet bites the inside of her cheek to stifle the laugh bubbling up her throat, because come on. Look at that adorable face!

Is her wife really jealous of an anthropomorphized vessel of knowledge? 

"She's a spiritual computer, is what she is, baby!" Colet giggles, scrambling to her feet to quickly move towards her frowning wife. 

Aiah always had been the jealous type. 

Especially back in their college days.

Colet recalls a time in her final year when Aiah literally dragged her away from a crowd of people in the university gymnasium because they were a little too close to her for Aiah's liking.

The older girl had already graduated then, only bothering to visit the university during Colet's special events. That meant that a lot of people around them were unaware of the fact that her beautiful girlfriend was already off the market.

Well, not on her watch. 

Colet still remembers how scary Aiah looked when a freshman in her department boldly wiped off the red paint from her right cheek, the shy admiration in the boy's brown eyes making Colet fear for his dear hetero life. 

She also remembers the clear annoyance on her girlfriend's face when she drove her home afterwards, the older girl petulantly refusing to hold Colet's hand while the latter kept giggling in the driver's seat.

In their seven years together, Colet had always been the perfect person for Aiah. Always trying her best not to give any reason for the older girl to be jealous. 

Because how could Aiah possibly be jealous still, when Colet clearly couldn't be more in love with her? 

"Come on, baby, look at me." Colet coos in front of her, smiling triumphantly when the older girl finally spares her an annoyed glance.

"Well?" Aiah sasses. 

"I'm not gonna lie to you, she's a little pretty," Colet teasingly starts, shaking her head in amusement when the older girl began to scowl at her. "but I'm telling you right now that she's no Maraiah Vergara."

Aiah scoffs, the treacherous shade of pink on her porcelain cheeks betraying her supposed displeasure. "Shut up, Nicolette." 

"I'm serious!" Colet chuckles, suspending a cold, translucent hand right against the side of Aiah's face. The girl's dark brown eyes now beginning to soften under her loving, phantom touch. "No one can ever compare to you, Mrs. Vergara. Living being or not,"

"never for me." 

"Mikhs is calling." Colet speaks up from across the kitchen island.

Bowls and bowls of experimental cookie dough sprawled about the quartz surface as Aiah rummaged through overhead cabinets in search for their snowflake-shaped cookie cutters. 

It was only the first week into the month of November yet she was already practicing pastry recipes for their annual family dinner hosted by the Arcetas every Christmas Eve. 

Colet was usually the one in charge of these kinds of things, but since the unfortunate had happened to her, the crucial task of baking sugary goodies to give to the kids had now been passed on to the inept raven-haired girl.

Aiah was a decent enough cook (for the most part), but by the looks of the their flour-covered floor and the mysterious batter splattered upon their kitchen ceiling, it was pretty clear that Aiah needed all the practice she could get. 

The older girl pops her head out from behind the refrigerator door and raises a questioning eyebrow Colet's way. "What was that, pretty girl?" She asks, a little distractedly. 

Colet tilts her head to the side and smiles.

She doesn't tell her wife that their cookie cutters were nowhere near the places she's searched in so far—the tools' place always having been in the drawers underneath the sink for as long as she can remember. Instead, she lets the girl find them by herself.

Aiah was stubborn sometimes and also a teensy bit prideful. That's why more often than not, Colet doesn't help her out unless her wife directly asks her for her assistance. 

She knows better than to get in the way of Miss Independent's baking-tool mini search party. 

"Your phone." Colet points, amusingly, towards the vibrating device on the countertop in front of her. "Mikha's calling you." 

"Oh." Aiah lamely breathes out.

She spares a dubious glance at her neglected mobile phone before shrugging her shoulders and sticking her head back inside the fridge. 

"Just ignore it." She unenthusiastically mumbles, causing the younger girl to look back at her in modest concern. 

Week four, Aiah muses. 

A few days short of a month since Colet had passed, and Mikha still hadn't given up on her.

She appreciates the genuine effort and concern that the girl shows her in the form of daily text messages and random lunch visits at work, but in all honesty, Aiah wishes that the younger girl would take the blatant hints she's been throwing her way and just stop. 

It was hard enough for her to endure seeing Colet every day and not be able to hold her in her arms like she used to. She didn't need another reminder that things were different now and they were never going to go back to how they used to be. 

Colet watches as the older girl busies herself across the room. Her bottom lip trapped between her teeth in careful concentration as she flips through the worn-out pages of her grandmother's old cookbook. 

Aiah looked adorably foreign in her midnight blue apron that was now covered in baking powder and sugar—a sight that Colet rarely got to see when she was still alive—so, she stares a little longer, lingering slightly at the back of her wife's powder-coated head when she notices something different.

Colet smiles. 

"You got a haircut." She points out cheekily, eyes trained on the dark, messy bun on her wife's head. 

Aiah looks back at her fondly, an impressed smile on her lips as she moves to the island sink to wash her hands. "I did. Sheena dragged me to the salon this morning when Max and I went for a walk." She explains. "Long story short, I got tricked into trimming the ends because I chose hot pot instead of ramen." 

The younger girl throws her head back in laughter at that. "I don't think I even want to know the whole context of that story. Knowing Sheena, it's probably something completely random or just plain ridiculous." She comments, giggling. "Can I see it?" 

Aiah shakes her head in amusement at the excited sparkle in her wife's eyes.

God, she'd really do anything for this girl. 

With a playful sigh, Aiah rolls up her brown shirtsleeves to her elbows and swiftly removes the purple tie from her hair. Her silky, raven locks falling softly below her shoulders as she runs her fingers through the top mindlessly. 

Colet couldn't help the adoring grin spreading across her lips as she stared at her wife from across the room. 

"You look beautiful, Mrs. Vergara." She mutters, breathlessly. "I know I'm dead, but I swear to god that my heart just skipped a beat right now." 

The older girl laughs heartily at this, her cheeks turning a more prominent shade of pink as she rolls her eyes at the smiling girl in front of her. 

"I don't appreciate you saying such cute things when I can't kiss that smile off your face anymore, pretty girl." Aiah says, clicking her tongue in feign disapproval. "I think that's very inconsiderate of you, Col."

Colet cackles. 

"Says the girl who's wearing my apron and my clothes!" She exclaims, accusingly. "Come on, baby. You know that you in this hands-on wife fit gives me butterflies." 

"I could say the same to you!" Aiah giggles, shaking her head in amusement as she bunches her hair up again into another messy bun. "I'm actually surprised that you noticed the haircut. It's only a few inches shorter than before so there's really not much of a difference."

"Ah, you underestimate my keen observation skills." Colet replies, coyly. "I have you memorized like the back of my hand, my honey-sweetie-baby-darling-love." She ridiculously singsongs. 

The two look at each other seriously before bursting out in uncontrollable fits of laughter, Colet's statement rooting from an inside joke that they picked up from watching too many romance movies back in college. 

The older girl wipes at the bottom of her eyes as their giggles gradually died down.

"You're impossible, Nicolette Vergara." 

"You love me anyway, Maraiah Arceta." Colet counters proudly. 

"I do." Aiah replies without even a second of hesitation. Her voice just above a whisper as she looks back at her wife in absolute adoration. "I really, really do."

The kitchen was silent for a moment. The only sound being Octopus's Garden playing faintly in the background as the two stared at each other from across the room.

I'd ask my friends

to come and see

an octopus' garden

with me

I'd like to be

under the sea

in an octopus' garden

in the shade 

No words were spoken, but the palpable outcry of their love and longing echoed loudly against their hollowed, broken hearts. It's a bittersweet thing—what they have, Colet thinks.

How could someone so near be so far from her reach? 

And how could someone she loves with every fiber of her being break her heart when it wasn't even beating anymore? 

Their moment of silence was interrupted by Aiah's phone ringing on the countertop again, the piercing sound allowing her the time to let out a breath that she didn't know she had been keeping in. 

Impeccable timing, Mikha Lim. 

Colet silently takes note of the exhaustion in Aiah's eyes when they flicker down to the device in front of her. 

She knows all about it—Colet does—about Mikha. 

Aiah had already told her. 

She knows about the questionable display of affection that the girl's been showering the love of her life lately, and had it been any other person, Colet would just brush it off as a friend who's helping out another to cope with an unexpected loss. 

But, it wasn't any other person. It was Mikha.

Her best friend. 

She'd be lying if she said that the girl's actions were anywhere near platonic lines anymore, because she knows her. And even though the situation pains her soul dearly, Colet just can't help but feel sorry for the other girl. 

"You're breaking my best friend's heart, you know." Colet comments, softly. Their joyous moment gone as she lets her eyes focus on the vibrating device in front of her. 

Aiah purses her lips. "Well, your best friend should know better than to go after a married woman." She impassively replies, forcing out a smile as she resumes her previous activities. 

She doesn't like where this conversation was going, so she weakly attempts to change the subject in hopes that Colet would just drop it like they always did. But, it seems that the universe wasn't on her side today because her painfully determined wife had other plans. 

Colet momentarily hesitates, but eventually finds the courage to voice out an honest yet heavy blow to Aiah's chest. 

"You're a widow, mahal." She wistfully clarifies.

The five-letter description rang agonizingly in Aiah's ears as she takes a moment to steady her beating heart. 

"I don't like that word." 

"But, baby—" 

"Colet, no." Aiah cuts her off sternly, the bowl in her hand dropping carelessly against the quartz surface as she closes her eyes shut out of sheer frustration. 

Colet visibly stiffens at her tone, her sudden timidness making Aiah feel guilt immediately wash over her like a bucket of ice-cold water being poured on her pretty little head.

Aiah lets her body fall back against the counter behind her and lets out a sigh, arms hugging herself tightly across her chest as she speaks up once more. 

"I'm sorry." She shamefully breathes out. "Shit. I'm sorry, baby. I didn't mean to raise my voice, i-it's just...I don't understand why she's doing this. She's your best friend, for crying out loud." 

Colet feels her heart ache in her chest at the sight of her usually collected wife be so close to tears in front of her.

It kills her to not be able to hold the older girl in her arms anymore and whisper in her ear that everything's going to be alright. 

"Hey, it's okay. I understand." Colet quickly assures her, a solemn smile plastered on her face. "But, you have to talk to her, you know. She's just worried about you." 

Aiah scoffs. "Bullshit. Staks and Sheena are worried about me, too. But you don't see them asking me out on romantic dinner dates every other day." She mumbles. "Besides, she doesn't have to worry about me because I'm more than okay."

"Baby, you're not."

"I am." Aiah softly reiterates, feet walking slowly towards the younger girl before stopping in front of her and cupping her cheeks. "I have you and that's all that matters to me." 

Colet frowns at this, her cold, translucent hands suspending helplessly against Aiah's warm ones as she looks at her wife worriedly in the eyes. "But...I'm not always going to be here, mahal." She whispers. 

And with that, Aiah breaks. 

Treacherous tears fall silently from her eyes as she closes them shut against Colet's lifeless chest.

What the younger girl just said wasn't something that she wanted to hear. Not now. Not ever.

Aiah bows her head even lower as she suppresses a sob. 

"Lie to me, Col." She manages to croak out after a while. "Tell me that you're not going to leave me again." 

Colet closes her eyes in despair as she bites at the bottom of her lip to stop it from quivering. "Aiah, please, we've talked about this. I—" 

"Please?" Aiah pushes again desperately, eyes filled to the brim with tears as she stares up at the younger girl with a sad yet hopeful smile. "I just need you to tell me that you're not going to leave me alone again, okay? I-I don't care if it's not true, pretty girl. I just need to hear you say it."

"B-But—"

"Please. Just this once, baby. I need you to lie to me." 

"I-I...I-I can't." Colet chokes out, a single tear making its way to the bottom of her chin as she reluctantly looks away. 

As much as she wants to tell her wife what she wants to hear, Colet knows that it's only going to make it more difficult for her to accept what happens next.

They've talked about this.

A wandering soul can only last a hundred days in the land of the living before they leave every memory behind and move on to the afterlife. 

It wasn't something inescapable, but the ones who choose to stay behind have no hope of coming back to life in the lifetimes yet to come. They wander aimlessly on the surface of the Earth until their souls die out because of loneliness and regret.

And to make matters worse, their innocent soulmate's spiritual being would also face the same tragic fate—whether they were deserving of the punishment or not. 

Aiah clutches a shaky hand to her chest as she wipes her tears with the ball of her hand. "I-I'm not ready, Col. It still hurts." She whimpers. "It hurts so much." 

"I know, baby. I know." Colet whispers, consoling the girl as best as she could despite her own agony. "But, there's nothing we can do to reverse this. That's why I need you to be strong for me." 

Aiah shakes her head, childishly. "Can't you just stay?" 

"You know I can't."

"But, why?" She whines. "Don't you want to be with me anymore?" 

Colet chuckles at this. Her teary eyes concealing into perfect crescents behind her lids as she blows a gentle breeze on the loose strands of Aiah's hair.

"You're the love of my life, Mrs. Vergara." Colet tenderly whispers. "God knows how much I want to stay with you until the end of time. But, unfortunately, my days are up...and I can't be selfish. The other half of my soul doesn't deserve it." 

The older girl's shoulders slump as she lets out an exasperated sigh. She knows that what Colet was saying was right, but it all just...sucks. 

It sucks big time. 

Aiah pouts at her wife petulantly as they both sniffle like newly-born infants from the Alps. "Sure, you can. It's probably just Mikha." She jokes, lightly, wiping her nose with the back of hand as she and Colet share a much-needed laugh. 

"That's my girl." Colet beams after a while.

Her eyes then hover onto the neglected device on the countertop again before she turns and smiles at the older girl, suspiciously. "Now, speaking of Mikha..." 

Aiah frowns, immediately groaning at the mention of the other girl's name. She rolls her eyes snobbishly at her wife before walking back to her work station by the sink, quickly getting out of Colet's sight before the younger girl could even get another word in. 

"Not hearing it, Col." Aiah hollers. 

"Aba! Maraiah Arceta!" Colet chuckles. "I haven't even said anything yet!" 

"Aba, yourself! I already know what you're about to say." Aiah points a whisk at her, accusingly. "and it's Maraiah Vergara to you." She adds, wiping the remnants of her tears with the back of her hand as she does. "This is the second time you've called me by my maiden name today. I am a married woman, Mrs. Vergara. If you're going to shout my name, you better shout it right." 

Colet shakes her head in amusement at her wife's antics.

You'd think that this girl wasn't just having a breakdown on their kitchen floor a while ago.

Unbelievable. 

"All I'm asking is that you talk to the girl." The brunette mutters, earnestly. "She lost a big part of her life, too, you know." 

"Wow." Aiah teases. "Well, that sounds a little conceited, pretty girl." 

"Oh, shut up. You know what I mean." Colet retorts, rolling her eyes playfully at the girl before speaking up once more. "But, I'm serious, mahal. Talk to her. Mikha may not be rolling in her bedsheets in absolute sorrow right now, but we both know that she's hurting, too." 

Aiah crosses her arms firmly against her chest before looking up at the ceiling and sighing in defeat.

"Fine." She forcefully breathes out, chuckling at the way Colet punches a fist up in the air, victoriously. "But, on one condition."

Colet looks up at her. Her favorite sentence rolling off naturally from the tip of her tongue as she meets the girl's serious gaze, and smiles. "What does my wife need, Mrs. Vergara?" 

Aiah shakes her head in amusement. "I have seventy-three more days with you, Col." She softly points out. "I want you to promise me something." 

"Mm-hm. I'm listening." 

"Promise me that you'll finish those seventy-three days with me." Aiah hopefully continues. "Promise me that every time I play one of those jumpy records of yours on the turntable that you'll still show up, with that annoyingly charming smile of yours and those eyes that make me weak." 

"Promise me that you're still going to come back to me everyday until you can't anymore. I'll play your favorite old music while you and Max dance around the house like it's a lazy Sunday afternoon." She smiles. "And promise me that you'll say good-bye." 

"Promise me that when it's time for you to leave and move on that you won't just disappear without telling me that it's the last time I'm ever gonna see you again."

"Most importantly, I want you to promise me that while you're still here, you'll allow me to love you with all of my heart. Because I'm never going to stop, pretty girl. It's always going to be just you."

Colet stares back at her in awe. "Do you love me that much?" 

"More than life itself, pretty girl. I swear to all the gods out there that I'd go with you if I could." Aiah wistfully admits. "Now, do we have ourselves a deal?" 

It takes Colet a moment to take in everything the older girl just said, the tears in her eyes threatening to fall against the side of her face again as she manages to nod weakly in response. "We do." 

"Promise me." 

"I promise." 

"Then I'll talk to her." Aiah smiles softly at the girl. "I know that it means a lot to you that the two of us are on good terms so I'll be a good, loving wife and talk to your best friend."

It's the biggest smile Colet's shown that day.

God, how the hell did she get this freaking lucky?

"I'm so in love with you, Mrs. Vergara." Colet beams at her, gratefully, before looking past her wife's shoulders. 

"Now, this may be the most awful of timings to say this, but I think I just answered Mikha's call." Colet nervously admits with a hand to her nape. "Hehe." 

"What?" Aiah looks back at her in confusion, dark brown eyes blinking as she walks up to the countertop and sees Mikha's caller ID on the screen of her phone.

"Nicolette!" Aiah whisper-yells, eyes wide as she glares at the younger girl from across the room. "I didn't say that I wanted to talk to her now. I've got nothing to tell her!" 

"I'm sorry!" Colet chuckles, apologetically. "I was just looking at it and then it answered on its own and—oh, gosh. Do you hear that? I think Max is calling me upstairs." She mutters quickly before leaving the room in a haste. "I'm coming, Maximus!" 

"Nicolette Vergara!" Aiah shouts, hand covering the bottom of her phone as a voice on the other line lets out a series of faint hellos. "You're so dead when I catch you." 

Colet throws her head back in laughter as she hovers over the middle of the staircase. "Way ahead of you, baby." She snickers. "Good luck with Mikha! I love you!" 

Aiah shakes her head one last time in amusement before picking up the phone and shooting her wife another playful glare.

"I love you more, you freaking poltergeist."