“Hello? Mark?” His heart fluttered at the sound of her gentle voice, and his lips expressed the slightest of smiles. Just by hearing her voice that his ears had longed for quite a time cured his aching heart. It was only days they were apart, but he already felt like he was missing an indescribable part of him – not that they were lovers though, not even close. He wished they were already officially together, or if not, at least Wendy was feeling the same towards him. If he was brave enough to tell her the truth, he would have told her that he ing missed her, and that he wanted to hear her voice every single day. He could have called her first in the first place but he did not. Instead, he chose to wait patiently (though it almost drove him crazy) for her call. Was he a coward? Or was he simply letting Wendy have some time alone to herself? He was unsure himself, but one thing was certain for now, that he felt the longing pain slowly fading and leaving his chest. He exhaled a sigh of relief at how calm her voice was and there was no sign of fear or pain, and so he was glad there was nothing to worry about as he knew it was not an emergency.

“Hello beautiful, and yes it’s me, Mark,” he answered softly yet full of enthusiasm, he could almost imagine her pale face looking at him with her sparkling eyes. If he was in public, people must have thought he was a crazy man for grinning widely to himself. But if he was really in public that time, it did not matter if he made a fool of himself in front of strangers, because he was already a fool.

Wendy paused for a moment and blushed at how Mark had called her beautiful. If Mark was in front of her, she would already run off to hide. The word, so tender and personal, enveloped her with warmth. Was she really beautiful in his eyes? She loved how he casually slipped that heartwarming word from his mouth, and how sincere it sounded. She kept telling herself that she was not in love with Mark, and that she still loved the person she had loved for years, but at the same time, every time Mark is around, she felt safe and when he held her hand, she never want to let go. She was not ready to fall in love again, but was she already falling? If she was, was it a mistake?

“Well, you see, lately I’ve been thinking about what you said to me before,” she pinched her lips together, before continuing. “I will do it.” Her voice sounded serious, and it gave Mark chills all over his body.

“Do? Do what?” Mark asked curiously, his forehead wrinkled. She never sounded so serious, he thought.

“Gardening. It’s time to make it alive again,” she sighed. “But I need a help. That is if you don’t mind.”

“Of course I would love to help, after all it was my idea,” he chuckled softly. Mark was extremely happy that he finally managed to change Wendy’s mind. The roses would not be screaming at him and he would not be seeing them bleeding anymore. He then had a thought and wondered, was her aching heart had come to a halt? That was indeed impossible, she would not be able to forget someone she had loved with all her heart, but perhaps she was giving herself a chance. A chance to move on. Just like how his heart gave in to another girl after she had gone to the other side.

Silence came greeting them, but it only lasted for a few seconds. “Good, see you tomorrow.”

Before Mark could even reply to her, she abruptly ended the phone call. Mark did not take her actions to heart, because he knew that she was not being rude, and she just wanted to end the conversation for some reasons that no one would able to tell, not even from her expression. She was hard to read, yet at some point, her expression would be able to tell her story. Wendy was different, a lot different than everyone he had met in his 22 years of living. She had something peculiar about her, though Mark could not tell what. Mark loved everything about her, like how she looked at someone with hope in her eyes, her choice on aprons, how she decorated her big home, how she loved to smile so bright, her playful gestures and jokes and how she was honest towards him. He felt guilty sometimes, for how he was easily giving his heart to her, that he almost forgot about his late lover. Of course, he still loved her, more than anyone could imagine, but she was gone and there was nothing that can be done to get her back into his arms.

***

They both stood side by side, staring at the hopeless; dead garden. At the other side of the house, there was an apple tree that Mark did not notice before, as his eyes were always focused on the garden instead. The neglected tree was in no state to be the jewel of anything, it was an awful sight. The bark had a sort of creeping mildew and the leaves were curled in an unhealthy way. It bore apples of sort, some even with a pink blush, but they all bore deep brown spots. Despite how dead it looked, it was not dead, and it could be saved. Mark glanced at the girl by his side, she was frowning, and she looked confused. Perhaps she was thinking on how to save this little garden of hers and where to start. Mark remembered that time when he asked her if she wanted to fix her dead garden, she told him that she loved gardening as much as she loved flowers but she was never good at it. Realizing that they have stood there, not moving an inch for almost five minutes, Mark reached out his hand and tapped Wendy’s shoulder lightly. That was not enough to wake her up apparently, and so he finally spoke up.

“Hello? Earth to Wendy?” he exclaimed, as he bent his knees a bit before Wendy, looking straight into Wendy’s eyes. “Wendy?” he called out for her again.

“Oh!” She blinked her eyes twice. “Sorry I was- well...thinking on how to do this,” she sighed.

“It’s fine.” Mark looked up to the blue sky and thought for a while.”Let’s start cleaning up the garden, pulling out the weeds and giving them a healthy soil. You have all the stuffs we need right?”

“Yes, everything is in the backyard, including some new flowers that I have just bought yesterday. We need to transfer them onto the garden from their pots.” She was smiling a little, a smile with a twist to it, like the smile of a child who is determined not to weep. Her smile shined so beautifully like the golden sun. For in that specific moment, time had actually stopped to stare and admire her grace. Despite every pain she had gone through, she still persisted to smile and be the one thing that could brighten up even the saddest of days. She was a strong woman, and Mark admired her.

“I bought daisies this time, I thought that it’s time for a change,” she continued. Daisies. She had always loved daisies.

They both worked on the garden silently at the first half an hour, but eventually they began to chat and joked around. Gardening was supposed to be a tiring work, but they both enjoyed it so much they barely felt the aches all over their body. After hours of diligently working on the garden, they both came to their satisfaction. The garden was now beautiful once again. The sight of the filthy weeds was gone, also the dead crying roses. The grass had been mown so short the ground almost showed through, but it was perfectly covered by the beautiful daisies. Every petal lied perfect under the sun, white, yet kissed pink at the tips. Mark loved that they come not in ones or twos, but in hundreds like an intense floral flash-mob, maybe that was also the reason why Wendy loved them. They both stood back, gazing at their hard work. They chose to cut the grass like that so it would take a far longer time to grow back.

Both of them were covered in their own sweats, hands were dirtied with soil. Noticing at how dark the day had turned into, Mark looked up to the sky. It looked like it was about to rain. He then shifted his eyes on Wendy with a bright smile on his face, but within a few seconds, the smile slowly faded as soon as he saw the sad face before him. "W-Wendy, are you okay?" he hesitated, worried that she might break. The girl, not daring to lift her head up just nodded slowly. Realizing that the rain had drizzled over them, and it could rain heavily in a moment, he took the bucket and the dirt-covered shovel in his hand and hurried into the house. A loud thunder was heard, the sky cried heavily, forming a wall of rain before the door. Just before he opened the front door, he realized that Wendy was not following him. He turned his back, and there she was, sitting in the rain, hugging her knees to her chest.

It was raining, but he saw that her eyes cried, despite the blur hue vision before him. Mark dropped his shovel and the bucket almost immediately, and ran towards her. He pulled her in for a hug, settling Wendy's face on his chest while his chin rested on her head. At first, Mark felt she stiffened a bit, but she became relaxed soon after and wrapped her hands around him. He tried covering her with his body, shielding her from the heavy downpour. It was not the best way to protect her, but at least he tried to do something. They both were quickly drenched, and his hair fell in strands around his eyes. While the rain pummeled the roof, the whole world went silent but Mark could hear her sobs. He patted her back softly, assuring her it was fine to cry. He wanted to tell her, that he was there for her. Always.

***

Wendy watched Mark walking towards the house, not even wanting to follow him from behind. Instead, he collapsed and sat down quietly, as her tears began to roll down her pale cheeks. The drizzle of rain she had felt earlier turned into bullets of rain against her skin. She felt cold but she did not care. She thought she was alone but then she felt strong hands pulled her petite frame. It was Mark. He brought them closer and embraced her while she continued to sob. Mark's touch was soft, and as he made his grip on her a little bit tighter, it felt like all the bad from her past had been erased. It suddenly felt like fate brought them closer. They were total opposites from each other, though they almost are similar in some ways and shared the same story.

Wendy thought she was imagining things, but she was not. For as long as it took to get to this moment, when it came it was so fast.  For that time she wanted to be in Mark's embrace for as long as she could, because...because...

She loved Mark. For the first time, she felt it solidly. Some parts of her are warning her for falling into love again, but she did not care. She loved him, and nothing could stop her that time. No one could take him away from her, no one would even dare. She warned her mind, do not tell her who she could and could not love. Do not put limits on what was or was not appropriate for her. She could love any person of any age, gender and background, and it was her choice to do so. Love flied on indestructible wings that could not be broken and she was blessed to feel it running through her veins again.

She loved him.

***

Mark opened his tired eyes and stared at the white walls surrounding him. Where was he? He was lying on a king-sized bed beside a tall window, and a he was tugged in a comfy blanket. He felt sore, his head was heavy and his eyes were almost crying. What happened to him? His questions were answered when the door to the room was opened, and a small figure walked towards him with a tray in her hand. The tray was holding a bowl of porridge, a bowl that seemed empty with a white cloth resting on the side, a glass of plain water and two pills. Wendy walked towards him with a smile in her face, and there was a sign of relief. She carefully placed the tray at the end of the bed, and sat quietly. She took the white cloth and soaked it in the 'empty' bowl that was filled with cold water. Then, she twisted and squeezed it to get rid of the excess water before leaning closer towards Mark. She slowly raised it towards his head and gently pressed it against his bare forehead. He felt loved.

"I'm glad you are awake," she said in a low voice, while her hands diligently pressing the wet cloth against his skin. "You should have gone into the house when it rained," she continued, sighing. "I'm sorry...you should have told me you can't go out in the rain for too long." She then left the cloth resting on its own on his head. "I hope this will make you feel better a bit."

Mark shook his head slowly and smiled softly. "No, it's not your fault, it was mine." He gulped before continuing, "I wanted to be a hero," he said, laughing weakly as he stared on those worried eyes. "Are you okay now?"

She nodded slowly, her face lit up with a smile. "You are not in a situation to ask that, Mr.Tuan," she chuckled at his question. "Of course I am. I am fine, don't worry," she assured him. Mark stared into her eyes, finding a hint of sadness but he failed. For the first time, failure made him felt relieved. She did not lie.

Wendy took the bowl, and scooped some of the porridge. "Here, you need to eat this. A spoon or so would do. I know this would taste like a plain soup, considering you don't have an appetite right now," she said softly. She brought the spoon closer to his mouth, and Mark forcefully opened his mouth. He then chewed on the plain food slowly. Wendy insisted on feeding him, but Mark gently rejected her offer and ate the porridge by himself. Even under a light cotton sheet he was radiating heat like a brick right out of the oven, and he was sweating hard. He ate almost nothing but the most watery of soups, so diminished was his appetite. Through the corner of his eyes, he could see Wendy sitting on the bed, staring at him until he was finished.

"Good boy," she teased, taking the almost empty bowl from him. She then took the pills and handed over it to Mark, along with the glass of water. Mark felt funny when the pills travelled down his sore throat, but as he gulped in some water, it was all fine.

"Okay, have some rest now. Sleep as much as you can," she said as she put the tray on the nightstand beside the bed. Just before she walked away, Mark pushed himself up and muttered a soft 'thank you'. Wendy was about to pull the doorknob when he spoke again. "Is this...your bedroom?" He thought he needed to ask that, because this room was oddly spacious than the other rooms in that house. It was nicely decorated too, and there was a hint of softness in the interior. "Yes, it's mine," she smiled, nearing the bed again as she pulled the blanket to cover his body, telling him to sleep.

"It's yours...I can't sleep here," he frowned, feeling guilty. He never asked Wendy to take care of him, it was never her duty.

"You can," she uttered, as she placed her hand on Mark's. "I chose to let you to."

'I can't keep it in anymore... I have to tell her.' He thought, shyly peeking at the petite golden haired girl who sat close to him, her hand was still resting on his. "Wendy," he called out to her softly. "I need to tell you something." He practically blurted, his serious voice echoed in that huge room. Wendy looked up at him from where she sat by his side on the bed. She had previously been watching their hands, but now her sparkly brown eyes were on the male. "Sure. Anything, Mark." She nodded, telling him to continue. Mark reached out his other hand and rested it on Wendy's hand that was on his. Mark inhaled deeply and held his breath for a long time.

“I can't make flowery speeches to melt someone's heart,” Mark began, “and I wouldn't even if I could." he said as he saw confusion in Wendy's eyes. She looked like she wanted to speak, but she chose to wait for whatever Mark was going to tell her. “I love you," he said wretchedly, as he squeezed her hand a little. "I know this might sound too sudden, but I have always love you, since the very first time we met." Wendy looked shocked, but a soft expression still plastered on her face. “I like being able to wake up in your house, knowing that you are around. I like when we baked together, when we did gardening and when we went to your favorite place. I like when we danced, in fact I love it. I love it when your eyes light up like the stars. I like knowing you'll be there if I need you," he continued, obviously uncomfortable with what he was saying but refusing to be deterred now that he had begun. "I like being with you, Wendy. And I'd like to keep that up now that you're here," he admitted shakily. He met Wendy's eyes determinedly. "I need you.”

He felt his heart sink like the titanic as everything remained silent, and as he was about to blame himself, he shook away those thoughts and focused onto Wendy's eyes. She still had the same spark in her eyes, but this time it seemed brighter. Mark saw her eyes began tearing and her lips lifted into a small smile. "Mark..."

"This might sound crazier, but...I love you too," she stuttered, her voice was barely above a whisper, but loud enough for Mark's ears, and her cheeks flooding with the color of pure rose. "You make me feel alive again, Mark. I have always thought I was going to die anytime soon, but now that you are here with me, I feel different."

They both stared into each other's eyes for a long time. They both knew it was coming. Mark reached for her face and cupped her cheek that was slowly turning red. He smiled at her before slowly leaning into her. He felt his other hand was shaking slightly, his mind was repeating the same sentence over and over, "Stop this, Mark…stop this…” telling him to stop whatever he was about to do. But the sound of his heart was thumping so loudly he couldn't concentrate at all. Wendy was feeling the same too, she wanted to let out a scream telling herself this was wrong, and that she should not give herself another chance. Mark's other hand held her waist tightly, bringing them closer. Wendy shut her eyes close desperately, and held onto her worries.

When she felt Mark's soft lips on hers, sparks flew in every direction, and the world was slowly disappearing around them, along with all of their worries, their troubles and their problems. It was a small yet the warmest kiss she ever had. Their kiss was so innocent, it felt surreal. It was not long until they parted their lips, and they both ended up having a staring contest. Mark mouthed a ‘thank you’ before pulling her into a hug. Wendy did not know why, but when he held her, tears began to fall. She cried silently, her head buried in his chest. She was happy, those were happy tears. A part of her told her that this was going to turn into a disaster and that this was a huge mistake she had ever made. But that time she did not care. She prayed that this would never be a mistake. However, if it was a wonderful mistake, she would gladly accept it.

Mark loved her. And Wendy loved him too.