what if your imaginary friend wasn't imaginary?

Grier is a woman who tries to make the best of what she has... in every season of her life. After years of fearing and facing rejection, people and confrontation, she decides at the fresh age of 28 years old to take her mental health more seriously. All the while, she never quite retired the childish habit of talking to her 'imaginary' friend. This friend she could see sometimes, and others she couldn't. But she always knew he was there. He had been since she was a child. When ears turned away from her and arms rejected her, his covered her in safety and love. 

She always just thought that this was a figment of her imagination... something that her mind had created to help her deal with her deeply rooted traumas. Until she is surprised one winter afternoon when a man shows up on her doorstep. 

@hathfury as Grier Smith (28) 

 @jjinnno as Eli Seong (32) 

 TEASER ONE:

"He's not coming." 

"He promised. He promised he would."

"Baby,"

"He said if I got all A's on my report card that he'd buy me a Gameboy Switch." Solemn brown eyes watched as the girl sat by the window, looking out over the parking lot. It was already half past 3 o'clock but he gave his word. He said he was gonna come today. 

Eyes opened and her chest felt heavy. Like it held unshed tears and pain. She glanced down at her body, covered in a pastel yellow lounge set. Sighing, she buried her face into the pillow and bit her lip. She felt like that same little girl who sat by the window waiting for a father who never fulfilled his promise. Once again, she'd been foolish enough to trust... foolish enough to believe that for once someone meant what they said. 

"I'm such an idiot." Sighing, she lifted up and came to sit on the edge of her bed. 

"Don't you think I'm an idiot Eli?" Turning to look at her pretty pastel bedding and few stuffed animals that laid against the headboard, she lifted frustrated fingers to rustle her silvery strands. 

"I'm still the same little girl waiting..." A soft gentle breeze filtered in through her sheer curtains. The breeze was a gentle caress against her skin and it brought her comfort. Eli was listening. 

"You probably think I'm dumb. A grown ass woman having stuffed animals and girly things. A grown ass woman who gets hurt by the littlest things. Who cries herself to sleep when her asshole boyfriend doesn't keep his word." Her breath was angry and yet her eyes filled with yet more tears. 

"I'm pathetic." The breeze teased her shoulders as if it were a hand sliding across the flesh. Sniffling, she plopped back down onto the bed, grabbing hold of her small stuffed bear, one that was gifted to her when she was a baby by her grandmother. 

"You always take care of me Eli. You're always are there to listen. Thank you." 

TEASER TWO: 

"Ms. Grier Smith?" 

"Yeah, that's me." Standing, she looked into the face of a friendly woman who appeared to be of brown descent. Relief flushed her. Somehow, she just didn't feel comfortable unpacking her entire childhood with someone who didn't look like her. 

"Hi darling. It's good to see you. I'm glad you decided to come." She swallowed. She'd been putting this session off for years. 

"Yeah um... sorry...about um always cancelling."

"It's okay love. Really. You and you alone know when it's time for you to start your healing process. You can't rush it." 

"Mm."

"Well, come on back to my office. Let's get started." 

*** 

It was so cold when she left that even through all the layers she had on she still felt a chill dance upon her spine. Somehow, even though she'd intended to start her first session talking about her childhood, she spent more than half of the time talking about Eli; embarrassingly. This seemed to pique the interest of Dr. Asana and she asked more in depth questions. He was nothing and nobody she explained. Simply a figment of her imagination that her adult self had yet to let go of. Sighing, she shut the car door as she finished her commute home. Locking the door, she quickly scurried into the house. Not even twenty minutes later, a knock sounded at her door. Pursing her lips, she finished slipping into a light brown satin set and put a pretty plum robe on. So, now he wanted to come huh? Well, she wasn't going to make it easy for him. In fact, she had half a mind to make him suffer. Gripping the doorknob, she took a deep breath before pulling it open. 

"Sam, you're an asshole you know th-" Her words died on her tongue as she took in a person who most definitely was not Sam standing in front of her. Almond shaped eyes stared back at her, a pretty russet brown. Winter had sucked most of the color out of his face except in his cheeks, lips and nose, a charming red. He stood at least a head or two taller than her, wearing a heather grey longline coat that emphasized the length of his body. He wore a matching heather grey hat and a scarf around his neck. The only things uncovered was his hands, which were covered in tattoos she observed. The cold winter air seemed to jolt her from her shock, her mouth having been agape as she took in this very unfamiliar man. 

"Um....w-who are you?" She asked, reaching to close her robe. The cold air had frozen her bare skin and brought her nipples to painfully stiff points. He licked his lips and sighed. 

"This is going to sound really strange but... I'm Eli. I'm your imaginary friend." 

TEASER THREE: 

"So you're not some mystical creature from the blue lagoon sent here to destroy me?" Hands took hold of a warm mug and smooth full lips smiled. 

"The blue lagoon? Really?" 

"Well shit you gotta explain how you're here somehow! I need some type of rational explanation because you being here and existing is something that is most definitely NOT rational!"

"Why isn't it?" He asked, lifted his deep hooded eyes upward. That smile from before had turned into a smirk and his eyes twinkled with mischief.

"You know the answer to that."

"You don't believe there are other realms in existence but this one?" He teased further, lifting his mug to take a sip of black coffee. 

"I'm... not saying that...I just...it doesn't make sense." 

"I know. It sounds crazy Grier. Fucking insane." Placing the mug back onto the table, his eyes drew hers in, teasing sucked out of them like wind. 

"But it's true. All of it." 

"Dr. Asana is never going to believe this."

"I'm sure she won't. Nobody will." She watched as he let go of his mug and reached for her hand. Eli was one of the only people she felt comfortable enough to do what she wanted and say what she wanted without fear of judgement, rejection or hurt. He'd been that safe place for her since she was a little girl and now... now he was flesh and blood... here sitting across from her like he had been doing so her whole life. It made no fucking sense. Her fingers gently glided across the plethora of tattoos that decorated his hand, from his fingers to the back of it. 

"Do these mean anything?" Smiling, he closed up her fingers inside of his palm. 

"Of course they do. They all come from you." Lifting her beautiful brown eyes, she gawked at him, waiting for explanation. 

"Every single tattoo I have on my body is directly related to you Grier. Whatever you felt...pain. Hurt. Abandonment or self hatred. Hope. Joy. Love. Every emotion in your heart I have had permanently put on my body." She took her hand back suddenly and for the first time, she didn't want to touch him...

"Why...why would you do that?" She asked quietly, ignoring his gaze. 

"You and I are intertwined Grier. Spiritually. Emotionally. You've needed me to fill so many roles for you and I've taken great pleasure in doing so." Reaching for her hand, he gently squeezed. 

"But what will bring me the most happiness is seeing you heal from all of this. When you heal, everything will go away." Her eyes appeared wet like she was tearing up. 

"Everything will go away?"

"You'll see soon angel. You'll see."