Wufan’s mind is a mix of worry and tired as he leaves the nursing home. It always is. He had decided to drive today instead of taking the bus, so he pulled his keys out and headed towards his car.

The drive home is a rather short one, but its packed full of things to see, and Wufan had a story for almost every place along the way. Every little place seemed meaningful to Wufan now. He passed the small grocery store they had built over the diner he and Yixing used to go to a lot in the 70’s. He passed the park where he first asked Yixing for a date. And eventually he arrived at the place he’d spent the last 40 or more years of his life with Yixing. Memories, memories, memories. He couldn’t escape them, and Yixing couldn’t catch them. It sickened him.

He parked the car, letting out a long sigh because this was the hardest part of his day – entering an empty house made of nothing but memories. A step through the doorway, foot landing on a rug Yixing had bought from a local vender because ‘It was handmade and the woman looked so sad..’; another step, Wufan’s eyes catch sight of their couch and he thinks back to the time the two newlyweds picked furniture out together, settling for beige because ‘light colors are happier colors and Wufan, you’re so stern, you could use some lightening up.’ And they giggled.

Wufan smirked, walking to the couch and slowly taking a seat, running his hand over the fabric and giving a soft sigh. This time, Wufan’s eyes landed on the old banged up guitar case in the corner of the room, and his face fell, mind floating back to all the times Yixing had played the very one that now looked so lonely it was almost unbearable. “..You and me both.” He whispered, standing and deciding he wasn’t in the mood for dinner, but perhaps a good read. But as Wufan settled on a book, he knew he wouldn’t open it. His mind was too much of a mess to focus on empty words. Instead, he ended up as he always did, lying back in his bed with only the light from his lamp on the bed stand to brighten the room, thinking.

“Do you think..” Yixing had mentioned to him once, “That when we get old, we’ll still be the same, you and me?” He had asked, and Wufan had scoffed. “Of course we will be. Why do you ask? Do you think I’d grow tired of this?” He murmured, his hand trailing up Yixing’s bare side as the two laid in bed, spent and nuzzling into each other’s warmth. Yixing giggled. “No, I mean..” He started, humming softly as he tried to find the words he wanted. “This happy. Together.” He murmured, and Wufan watched him carefully. He watched the way the light fell on Yixing’s features just right, the way his eye lashes curved so perfectly, the way his nose seemed to have been sculpted by a master artist, the way his lips curled and formed those gorgeous dimples Wufan often liked to kiss. “..Fannie?” Yixing asked, and Wufan smiled softly. “..Yes.” He decided firmly, and Yixing grinned, because once Wufan had made a decision, it was final, and they both knew it. “I love you.” Yixing had said, and Wufan nodded. “I know.” He whispered, leaning down to capture his lips, and then they were lost again in the infinite space of time.

He always regretted not telling him it back sooner. Now he told him every day, but Yixing hardly knew what the words meant anymore, and Wufan wasn’t even sure he even heard him.

Wufan woke early the next morning as always, his eyes heavy and he heard rain pattering against the window. He groaned, sitting up and looking over at the large numbers on the digital clock he kept on the nightstand. 7 a.m.

He slowly gathered himself, pulling himself out of bed and shuffling over to the window to look at the weather outside. It was raining rather heavily, making it hard to see their backyard, but even then, he couldn’t stop himself.

“Fannie, come on! It’s just a little dirt, it won’t kill you.” Yixing had urged him, flowerpots upon flowerpots being emptied as he tried to plant row after row of plants in their little flower gardens Yixing had made the day before. “Xing, don’t you think you ought to wait? It said it was going to rain today..” Wufan tried, reluctantly stepping out on the porch to watch the happy boy work. Yixing rolled his eyes. “That’s the best time, silly. Flower’s gotta drink too. And the longer you stand there, the longer I’ll be out here.” He murmured, and Wufan sighed, finally moving off the porch to clumsily help him plant the flowers. “Don’t you think you’ve bought too much?” Wufan mumbled, and Yixing just laughed. “Don’t be such a stick in the mud.” He scolded, and Wufan smirked. It wasn’t until they had finished when the rain broke loose, Wufan urging Yixing to just leave the tools and come inside - that they could get them after the rain had stopped, but Yixing only giggled and pulled Wufan out under the spray, laughing widely and despite Wufan’s protests, managed to get them both soaked. (That was when, regardless of what he might have said, Wufan decided he liked the cliché of kissing in the rain most).

Wufan ripped himself away from the window, going to gather fresh clothes for after his shower and starting his coffee maker while he was at it. Maybe today he would bring flowers for Yixing, he decided. Yes, that sounded like a perfect idea.

Once he had showered and got himself almost entirely ready, Wufan threw on an old jacket and pulled the hood up, garden sheers in hand as he made his way out to pluck a few of Yixing’s favorites out of the vast array of flowers in their backyard. Lilies, Orchids, Chrysanthemums, and a rose to top it off, he decided.

He smiled softly, bringing the flowers inside and arranging them, quickly wrapping them in a sheet of newspaper before deciding he was ready to go. He replaced his old jacket with a nice suit jacket and headed out to his car, holding onto that hope that today would be one of the good ones.

“Good morning Yixing.” Wufan greeted, happy to see that the nurses were out at the moment. The other greeted him with a small smile, the questions swimming in his eyes, but Wufan tried to ignore that. “How are you today?” He asked, carefully taking a seat at the edge of Yixing’s bed. At least Yixing was in his recliner today, which meant he couldn’t have been all that bad.

“W..W..ho..?” Yixing tried, and Wufan nodded, slipping back into his usual routine. “Wufan. Wu Yi Fan.” He murmured, smiling softly and managing to pull a smile from the other as well. “I like to visit you sometimes. We knew each other long ago.” He told him, carefully handing the flowers in his direction. “I brought you some flowers.” He told him, gently helping Yixing to hold them and trying not to get too discouraged when he couldn’t wrap his shaking fingers around the bouquet.

“..It’s okay, I’ll set them on your bed stand, okay?” Wufan smiled, gently setting the flowers aside as the other nodded slowly. “You look good today.” Wufan complimented, trying to think which story would be the best to tell him this particular day. To maybe pull a moment of remembrance.

“..The rain made me think of you this morning, and I remembered a time when you told me how much you liked flower, so I decided I might bring you some.” He explained, and Yixing nodded slowly, as if trying to process when he might have spoken the words to the other.

Wufan cleared his throat, still unsure if he was being too forward today, but he tried anyway. “..Do you remember the time I helped you plant flowers in the rain?” He asked, and Yixing looked at him questioningly.

“We were much younger.” Wufan started. “And you told me I needed to be less stern, and more relaxed.” He chuckled. “You thought all the colors and smells of the flowers would help. Also, you just really liked flowers, but anyway, we decided to plant them, or actually you did, and it ended up raining so hard we were drenched..” He finished, but Yixing only shook his head, totally lost.

Wufan gave a sad smile, nodding in understanding. “It’s okay. It was a long time ago.” He uttered, and Yixing nodded, but it was evident the information had muddled his brain a little.

“…You always told me I was too stern.” He murmured, catching Yixing’s attention again. “You always told me, ‘if you don’t start smiling more and frowning less, you’ll get wrinkles by the time you’re 30.’” Wufan chuckled. “I don’t know, I’m in my 70’s now. Do you think I have a lot of wrinkles?” He asked, surprised to see a shimmer in Yixing’s eyes as he gave a small half smile, about all he was capable of thanks to the .

Wufan kept going. “I suppose I can just blame it on age now, huh?” He asked, hand coming to rest lightly on Yixing’s and happy to find he didn’t recoil.

“Do you remember the first time we were caught in the rain together?” He asked, Yixing shaking his head slowly in response. “Well, I believe it was around the time we were in our early 20’s.” He murmured, thinking back. “You always liked nature, and there was a park near your house, so when ever I would visit you we would go for walks.” He explained, Yixing’s smile urging him on. “And well, one day I decided I was going to ask you a very important question, so I thought we should go some place you liked. And so we went to the park. That’s where I asked you that very important question, right by your favorite type of flowers, and it poured and poured before we could even get home.” He chuckled, still holding Yixing’s gaze.

“Do you remember what that question was?” He asked, to which Yixing’s smile turned sad, and he shook his head yet again. Wufan patted his hand lightly. “It’s alright.” He started, deciding to just go for it. “I asked for a date.” He grinned, and he could almost see Yixing’s uncertain blush. “Yep, I asked for a date, and you almost didn’t believe me. You just kept asking, ‘Are you sure? Are you sure you want to take me somewhere?’” He chuckled, and Yixing relaxed. “But I said yes, of course. I couldn’t get those dimples out of my head.” He told him softly, and Yixing managed a smile just wide enough to make one appear. “..There it is.” Wufan whispered, hand coming up to lightly smooth over the little indent. “Still just as perfect as I remember it.”

Yixing’s smile faded just a bit, his eyes almost sad as he opened his mouth. “C-Can…t… rem…me….mm…ber…?” He tried, and Wufan’s smile faltered. “..I know Xing.” He whispered. “It’s alright. Sometimes when you get to be our age, things just slip your mind so easily..” He whispered, hand wrapping around Yixing’s. “But we’re alright. We’re gonna be okay. Don’t worry about it, okay? As long as one of us remembers, we’ll get through, right?” Wufan smiled, but this time he knew it didn’t reach his eyes. How could he smile sincerely when the love of his life couldn’t even remember his name?

“We’ll pull through. We always do.” He whispered, but this day, Yixing didn’t remember. Yixing only listened.