A/N: Yet another request to do a two-parter. This is a continuation of "Garden Paths". I actually hadn't planned on continuing this one, but I saw a prompt that said simply 'overgrown' and it seemed to fit. Hope you enjoy!

"Overgrown"

Ruby never understood what she liked about gardens; especially gardens that grew freely at the side of homes. She usually liked runs around town or through the forests to clear her head, but to feel at home and accepted it was small gardens that did the trick. There were foggy memories that drew her to the tiny sanctuaries, memories she couldn't see or remember. Something maybe buried so deep, she may never understand.

During one of her morning jogs that she had become accustomed to since Mary Margaret came back home from her stint in jail, Ruby took the long way around town and toward some of the homes that had sat vacant for as long as she could remember. At the side of one of them, she slowed her pace and trotted to a halt as a small garden fence could be seen.

She looked closely at the house and knew that it was abandoned. Cracked and broken windows, wooden paneling crooked and falling apart only emphasized that the house was no longer a home. She came closer to the gate and saw that some of the vines had grown over the fence, but there was a clear pass for the gate to open and close. She looked up and down the street and once she saw that it was clear, she walked into the garden.

The yard was larger than she thought it would be and she thought it a shame that no one cared for the garden any longer. It looked like it would have been beautiful in its hay day. There were rose bushes in the corner where the wild blooms still blossomed through their thorns. Daffodils were bright and yellow against the dark green plumage of their surrounding fauna, unkempt and unchecked of its density. A small bird bath sat in the middle though any water that was once in it was gone a long time ago.

Ruby smiled as her tennis shoes padded along the beautiful brick pathway. She again looked around to make sure that no one was around and began to skip down the path, humming 'Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?' as she did so. She danced between the small path and the over grown bushes and began to childishly talk to the bushes.

"Hello Mister Daffodil," she stopped and looked at the flowers and then turned her attention to the roses, "You and I have something in common, Miss Rose. The color red."

"Along with natural beauty."

Ruby yelped and jumped back from the bushes, her hand at her chest from the shock. She leaned forward after a moment to check the plants again, "Who's there?"

"Sorry, Ruby," Archie pulled himself from behind some of the larger bushes and brushed himself off, "Didn't mean to frighten you."

"So you just laying in the bushes for a nice nap?" she asked with a playful smirk.

"In all honesty, you surprised me first," he plucked his umbrella from the bushes and turned to her, "I didn't think anyone else came to this garden. When you came into the gate and started to shuffle along the path, it made me jump and fall into the bushes."

"You come here a lot?" Ruby asked and looked around the small garden again.

"When I can," he nodded and brushed off the last of the dust from his old leather jacket, "I don't know what it is, but I have had an affinity toward gardens, though I have never had the green thumb."

Ruby chuckled a little at the thought of the psychiatrist hands deep in the dirt of a garden, dirt and grass stains on his pants, "Yeah, you're too clean for that."

"I can get as dirty as the next guy, Ruby," he said indignantly.

Ruby burst into a loud laugh and held out a hand to stop him from talking again, "Archie, as a friend… don't ever say that again. It doesn't suit you."

"Friend, huh?" Archie paused at that and looked the young woman over.

"Of course I see you as a friend," Ruby smiled at him and took him by the arm, "I don't see you much out of the diner, but when we do we have a great time, don't we?"

Archie coughed into his hand to try and hide his blush, "We do, yeah."

"Okay then," she nodded and pulled him with her along the path of the garden, "Who would leave a beautiful place like this unfinished?"

"I don't know," Archie took a breath now that his heart beat went back to normal, "It's a shame, really. It looked well loved."

"Hm," Red agreed and pulled away from him, "You know, I think that we have always been friends."

"Oh?" Archie smiled, now more at ease in her presence.

"Yeah, like we made a pact a long time ago and it's always been there, just underneath it all," she nodded at her own description, "Like with me and Mary Margaret and Ashley. I don't remember becoming friends with them. I just… was. Like with you, but different."

"How so different?"

"Well, speaking candidly, Doctor Hopper…" she clutched his hand again and pulled him toward the gate. Before she opened it she came close to him and whispered, "You are a lot cuter than they are."

She giggled flirtatiously when his cheeks glowed bright red once again. She winked at him and walked out of the gate toward the street to finish her jog, "I will have your lunch ready when you come in later today."

"S-sounds good," he nodded anxiously.

"And for future reference…" she added, already beginning to jog in place, "This is my favorite route in the mornings."

He didn't say anything as she ran off, down the street and around the corner. Archie stayed in place and looked back at a garden. He always loved gardens. Now he had a reason to be thankful for them too.

END