a plant bursts from the dirt, growing up, up, up like he never will, and when you sigh his name—Aiden—the leaves unfurl with a babbling coo while viridescent eyes blink open and it’s there, right there with the sight of something so green coming from something so blue that you break; you fall into him and he catches you, tendrils wrapping around you like you wanted to wrap around him except he’s in the ground and you’re not so you stay there sobbing while he whispers through the wind it’s okay, you’re still alive, you’re alive, you’re alive.