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It was a warm spring morning, with the birds chirping a tune to begin the day. A black haired man grumbled in his bed, tossing and turning until he inevitably got up. This man was Norton Campbell, a student at Oletus University. Norton sat up in his dorm bed and stretched before walking to his bathroom to get ready. Today was a Friday, which meant he didn’t have any classes today. As he finished getting ready, a knock was heard on his door. “Coming” was what his low voice said in his usual monotone way. He opened the door and to no surprise, it was his friend Mike Morton.
“Heya Nort!” Mike said, giving one of his classic smiles. “Me and Edgar are going into town today, wanna join us?” Norton rolled his eyes at the ugly nickname, then thought for a moment. “Sure.” “Awesome! Meet us in the parking lot in 10, okay?” Norton nodded a ‘yes’, then Mike was on his way. Norton couldn’t remember the last time he went into town, since there honestly wasn’t much to do. All their town was known for was their university, that’s why so many people from other places came here. However, Norton grew up here, and liked the quietness to it.
He went into his bathroom again before leaving to give himself one last look, but instead found himself staring at the giant burn mark on the left side of his face. He never told anyone about it, and no one ever asked. He also had burn marks down the left side of his body as well, but he hid them. Shaking his head to get out of this thoughts, he grabbed his Oletus baseball cap and put it on, pairing it with his outfit which consisted of a grey hoodie, black jeans, and black boots. He soon found his way outside and in the parking lot, where Mike and his boyfriend, Edgar Valden, were waiting.
It took them about 15 minutes to get to town, and when they did they went downtown to where all the good shops were. Norton noticed a newer looking shop that hadn’t been here before. It was a flower shop named ‘The Secret Garden’. He didn't realize he was staring at the shop until Mike grabbed his attention. “Nort! Earth to Nort! Let’s go!” He turned his head towards his friend, snapping him out of whatever he was in. “Sorry..” was all he said. The three then began going from shop to shop, with Edgar and Mike only really getting anything, as Norton just kinda tagged along.
After about an hour and half of shopping, they arrived near their car again. Edgar looked the flower shop up and down, and told Mike he wanted to go in. Mike agreed, and thus Norton was also dragged in. They walked in with the door giving a little ding as they entered. Their attention shifted as the person at the counter greeted them. “Hello! Welcome to The Secret Garden!” A bright and bubbly girl said. She had light brown hair, bright green eyes, and dawned a green gardening apron with the shop's name on it. “Heya!” Mike answered back.
Norton was overwhelmed for a second by the two bubbly personalities which contradicted his own. Edgar walked up to the girl and said “I would like to purchase flowers for my boyfriend here, do you think you could help me out?” “Of course!” She replied, walking over to a wall with a wide array of flowers. She explained the different flowers and their meanings, and left Edgar to decide. Norton stood alone, not sure what to do. However, he was surprised when the flower girl came up to him. “Any flowers today sir?” She asked, her bubbly attitude persistent.
“Ah.. no actually. I’m just tagging along with them.” He motioned over to Mike and Edgar. “Oh, alrighty!” The two fell into an awkward silence until she spoke up. “So.. what’s your name?” “Norton Campbell.” “Well it’s nice to meet you Mr. Campbell! I’m Emma Woods, the owner of this shop.” She stuck out her hand, which Norton hesitantly shook. He opened his mouth to say something, but Edgar interrupted him. ‘Miss, I’m ready.” “Alrighty!’ She glanced at Norton before helping Edgar, who was left in silence. Emma rang up Edgar, and he headed outside with Mike.
When Emma was done with the register, she turned her attention to Norton, who was about to leave. “Mr. Campbell! Please come again, alright?” He let out a huff and said “No need to be formal, just Norton, Emma.” With that he turned away and left, leaving Emma all alone. Norton got in Edgar’s car and Mike immediately turned his attention to him. “Soo?” Norton gave a confused look. “So what?” “She’s a cutie Nort, maybe your type~” “Yeah, no. You know I’m not interested.” He rolled his eyes and put his seat belt on. “Whatever Nort, I know she likes youuu.”
[Time Skip]
Norton was walking back to his room from dinner when he was stopped in the hall by a familiar voice. “Campbell, can we talk?” He turned to see Aesop Carl, who was his dorm neighbor. “Sure. What’s up?” Aesop looked a little nervous, then began to speak. “I heard from Edgar that you went to town today, no? He told me you went to a flower shop, and I was wondering if perhaps you could escort me there tomorrow? I know not much about this town, and you seem familiar.” Norton debated for a moment, then said “okay, what time?” “How about 1pm?” Norton nodded in agreement, and the two said their goodbyes as they went into their dorms.
Aesop waited in the hallway for Norton to come out of his room. Soon enough Norton emerged looking very sleepy. “My, Campbell, you look.. tired.” He just shrugged in response, then the two headed to Nortons car. It was an old Aston Martin Vantage, and Norton had made sure it stayed nice. They made their trip to town, and soon found themselves in front of the flower shop. Aesop got out of the car, and was surprised when Norton did too. “You do not have to come in if you don’t want to, Campbell.”
In fact, Norton didn’t know why he wanted to go in. He didn't like flowers that much, so why go into a flower shop? Then he thought back to what Mike said the day prior about Emma. He shook his head and followed Aesop in. The door did its little ding again, and there was Emma, all bubbly as she trimmed some flowers. “Hel- oh! Norton, hi! And good day Nortons friend!” Aesop did a little bow at Emma, and Norton just gave her a small wave. “What can I help you guys with?” She put down her trimmers and walked over to them. “Do you perhaps have any yellow roses? If so I would like a bouquet, please.” “I sure do! I was actually just trimming some. If you wait at the register I’ll have them right up!”
Emma went back to the roses and Aesop went to the counter. Norton wasn’t sure what to do, but he realized his feet were taking him over to Emma. He stopped next to her, then leaned down. “Do you need help?” Emma shook from his low voice being so close to her ear. “I..! Um, sure, actually!” She grabbed an extra pair of trimmers out of her apron and handed them to Norton. “Can you trim those right there? If you’re not sure where I can show-“ “It’s okay. I am familiar with these.” He raised them slightly then went and cut a rose. Emma couldn’t believe he was so good for someone who looked like he would never garden.
He finished his roses then handed them to Emma. “Here ya go.” Emma blushed slightly from the way he handed them over. The roses were in a small bouquet, and it looked as if he was gifting them to her. She took the roses and said a ‘thank you’ before going up to Aesop. Norton stood and watched Emma ring him up. “Please come again Mr. Carl!” Aesop bowed again and went out to Norton's car. Norton turned to Emma, then said “see ya, Emma.” Emma’s heart skipped a beat when he gave a small grin-like smile before leaving. Norton got in his car and found Aesop staring at him.
“What?” He chuckled lightly before responding. “You two have a connection, Campbell. It is quite beautiful.” Norton just shrugged it off, then the two headed back to O.U. Later that night, Norton was laying in bed and found himself thinking about Emma. He didn't know why, either. He was not the lover type, but something about Emma drew him in. Suddenly he was drawn out of his thoughts when his phone buzzed on his night stand.
[Mikey]: Norty! Heard you went back to flower girl today! Keep it up lover boy!!
[Nort]: How do you people get news so fast? And I’m not in love, leave me alone.
[Mikey]: Whatever you say lover man!
[Time Skip]
It had been a week since Norton saw Emma last. A couple times he thought about going to see her, but he thought that was weird. And she probably didn't even want to see him. Norton yawned as he got up. His alarm clock read 12:13pm. He sighed as he got up, he always had a bad habit of sleeping in late. He did his usual and got dressed, but he then realized he had nothing to do today. Normally Mike would drag Norton off somewhere, but he went away for the weekend with Edgar.
Norton went down to the dining hall and ate some lunch, but afterwards he didn't know what else to do. He never had work to do since he always got it done on time, something his friends couldn’t believe. But then his mind went back to the flower shop. He zoned out for a minute debating with himself if he should go or not, but he ultimately decided he’d go on his own. Maybe he could help her with work or something?
He made his way to his car and started it. He loved the way the engine hummed. Norton then drove off to see Emma. He couldn’t believe he was doing this, she probably didn't want him around. It’s not like anyone else did, anyway. Before he knew it, he was there. He turned his car off and his feet carried him inside. The familiar ding sounded through the shop, and his dark brown eyes met with familiar green ones. Emma was a little shocked to see Norton all by himself in her little shop, but she was happy.
“Norton! It’s so good to see you!” Emma exclaimed, hurrying up to him. “Hey, Emma.” He waved, and once again, gave a small smile which gave Emma a warm feeling. “I, um.. wanted to see if you needed help today, since I’m free.” He rubbed the back of his neck, feeling dumb for even showing up. “Actually.. I do need some help with something.” Emma went over and stood next to a metal ladder. “Do you think you could trim those sunflowers? It would help me finish this section faster.”
Norton nodded as he went over and climbed the ladder. The two then spent a while trimming flowers and exchanging small talk. Emma finished before Norton, and stood back so she could watch him. At some point Norton rolled his sleeves up, and Emma could see his left arm covered in burn marks. She had a look of sadness on her face, and didn’t realize Norton had come down. Sure she had seen the mark on his face, but she was shocked to see more.
“Emma? What’s wrong?” He was now a little worried since she was always so happy, it pained him a little to see her upset. “Um, Norton.. may I ask how you got those scars?” Norton was a little taken aback by the question since no one ever asked him about it. “Well, I was in a bad accident a while back. Nothing to fret over, I’m alright.” He lightly placed his hand on her shoulder, giving her a reassuring smile. Emma turned her head away slightly to hide her own childish smile. She couldn’t help it though. Whenever he smiled, she could tell it was genuine, and she loved it.
“Norton, are you hungry? I take an hour lunch at 2 and I was wondering if you’d wanna join?” “Sure, I’d love to.” Emma beamed at his response, then ran to the door to flip the open sign to close. Norton followed Emma up a spiral staircase to a loft area in the shop, where he saw she lived. “It’s not much, but make yourself at home!” Norton couldn’t lie, it looked nice for a small space. He walked over to her kitchen where she was setting up things to make sandwiches. Norton helped her make them, then they sat and ate.
The two were seated on the couch talking about whatever. Emma was happy she finally had someone to talk to, and Norton kind of understood what Aesop meant by their “connection” now. And he couldn’t lie to himself that when he was with her, he was happy. No white noise plaguing his head, no bad thoughts every ten minutes, just peace. He wondered if this could be love. Norton actually wasn’t sure what love meant, sure he saw his friends in love, but he hadn’t experienced this before. It was new, but comforting.
Eventually 3 o’clock rolled around and they headed back down to the flower shop. Emma flipped the sign back to open, then went to the counter. Norton was looking at the countless flowers around the shop until Emma grabbed his attention. “I know we hung out for a while today, but.. would you maybe want to come back for dinner later? I close shop at 7.” Norton’s face heated up a little. He wasn’t used to this at all. “Um, sure. I can be here at 7:15?” “Perfect! I can't wait to see you then!” Norton left with a wave, then headed back to his dorm.
To say he was nervous was an understatement. Norton had never done anything like this with anyone. ‘Is this a date?’ He thought, unsure of the situation. He was all dressed and ready in a black button up, white suspenders, black pants and nice black shoes. He debated wearing a hat, but decided against it. His hair was a curly mess, but it didn't bother him much. He also rolled up his shirt sleeves since Emma had already seen his arm, he figured it didn’t make much a difference.
Not much was different on Emma’s end. She was frantic about having invited Norton for dinner. ‘What was I thinking?!” She thought to herself, not really having anything planned since it was on the spot. Emma was dressed in a pale yellow button up, white pants, and brown shoes. Currently she was finishing up dinner. She had made meatloaf, corn, and mashed potatoes. Emma was caught off guard when her phone went off due to a text that Norton was here. She raced down her spiral staircase and let him in.
“Wow, Emma. It smells great.” “Thank you, Norton!” Emma beamed as she got plates for them. Once they got their food they sat at Emma’s small table and ate. They talked in between, and just enjoyed themselves. Once they were done, Norton said “hey Emma, can we go down to the shop for a minute?” She was a little confused, but agreed. Once they were down in the shop, Norton grabbed a pink camellia and walked over to Emma. He placed it behind her ear, then stepped back. He reached out his hand, and she took it, having an idea of what was going on.
The two began to slow dance to no music, just the beat of their hearts. Emma looked up at Norton, who gave a warm smile down at the shorter girl. No words needed to be said in this moment, they knew what this was, and how they felt. Norton twirled Emma, who swung back to him, making them be face to face. He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, and she returned with a giggle. Emma closed their small distance by pulling Norton into a hug, wrapping her arms around his neck.
Emma then leaned in and gave Norton a small kiss, which they rejoiced in for a moment. She pulled away, and the two just hugged for what felt like forever. Norton never thought he could feel this happy, and Emma never thought she’d experience something like this. When the two had finally finished their night, it was somehow already 10pm. “Norton, you can um.. stay the night if you want, so you don’t have to drive back..” Emma said, clearly nervous to even suggest it. Norton contemplated for a moment, before accepting her offer. The two then went upstairs, and decided to watch a movie.
Before long, Emma fell asleep on Norton on the couch. He turned the movie off and moved them so they were laying down. Needless to say, this was by far one of the best days of Norton’s life. This was the happiest he’d been in forever, and it was all thanks to Emma. The two slept soundly that night, and it became the start of a beautiful relationship.