Work Text:
You knock on your boyfriend’s door and after a few moments he opens it, “Hey, Sweetheart,” Cole greets softly and sweetly.
You give him a small smile as he leans towards you and kisses you.
As he pulls back he notices the pinch between you brows and the small frown that forms on your face, “Everything alright?” he asks worried as he ushers you into his home.
He closes the door behind you and you turn to him and open the small cardboard box you had brought with you. Cole stares at it curiously and you remove the small ceramic pot filled with dirt.
“I think I killed my cactus!” you whine.
“Your-OK, now hold on,” Cole says gently taking the pot from you as you start to tear up, “Let me have a look at it.”
“The instructions said it takes a couple of months to grow, and just keep it moist and warm and it looked like it was growing so I moved it to a better spot so it could get more sunlight, but then it dried out and I watered it again and-“ you ramble.
“Whoa there, c’mere, Pumpkin,” Cole soothes wrapping an arm around you and pulling you close.
You hug him back and Cole sets the pot down on his kitchen counter and then wraps his other arm around you.
“I think I killed it, because it’s not growing anymore,” you sniffle.
Cole brushes back some of your hair from your face, “Hey, listen to me, Darlin’,” he speaks softly, “It is Very hard to grow almost anything from a seed, it’s why plants make so many of ‘em. I’m sure you did your best, Sweetheart.”
You nod a little against his chest.
“Deep breaths,” Cole says.
You take a deep breath and then exhale slowly.
Cole slowly releases you and then bends down to look at you, “We can always get you a new cactus, where’d you get this one from?”
“Online,” you say.
“Well, that could have made things more difficult to grow it,” Cole says.
“It was a reputable site, I did some research,” you say.
“Yes, but then transit still could have been rough on your seeds,” Cole says stroking your cheek with his thumb.
You shrug your shoulders, “I guess so, I’m still pretty sure it was my fault.”
“Hey, things happen, you can’t go blaming yourself for things that went wrong, you can only try to do better next time,” Cole says.
You smile a little, “Thanks, Cole,” you say and then you hug him again.
He rubs your back for a few moments before pulling back, “Now, why don’t I make us some lunch?”
You nod and smile, “Yeah.”
After lunch you’re feeling much better, especially now that you’re currently snuggling your boyfriend on the couch. You look up at Cole and notice that he doesn’t seem entirely focused on the tv.
“Cole? Is everything alright?” you ask softly.
“Huh?” he questions looking down at you, “Oh yeah, Pumpkin, I just was thinkin’…there’s a plant nursery that I like to go to from time to time and I think maybe I could find you a new cactus there.”
“Really?” you ask.
“Yeah, they’re bound to have some little ones, do you wanna go?” Cole asks.
“Yeah, actually,” you say.
Cole smiles, “Well, alright,” he says starting to sit up.
You get off of his chest and sit up and look down at him, “You mean go right now?” you laugh.
“Well…yeah,” Cole says propping himself up on his elbow, “I mean if you wanted to.”
“You know what? Let’s go!” you exclaim smiling wide.
“Alright!” Cole exclaims sitting up and clapping his hands together.
You and Cole both get ready and before you know it he’s driving you to the plant nursery that he talked about.
The two of you walk in and as expected it’s just wall to wall greenery.
You marvel at all the plants as Cole leads you by the hand towards the succulents and cacti in little rows in the center of the building. Staring at all the different shaped succulents on the way, some are spiky, some are almost purple, and some almost look like little flowers…and that’s when you finally come to the cacti.
You smile as you examine the small cacti in their pots.
“Now these are Bunny-Eared cactus,” Cole explains gesturing to a cactus.
“Just like that one you have at home,” you say smiling up at Cole.
Cole chuckles, “Yeah. That’s a type of Opuntia,” he continues and then points at another one, “Ooh! they’ve got Fairy Castles.”
“That’s a cute name,” you giggle.
Cole laughs, “It is. Now, the plants here are in much better shape than what you’d find in one of those big hard-ware stores, where they glue flowers to ‘em,” he says distastefully.
You scoff, “I always hate when they do that.”
“The succulents also get the same treatment,” Cole says.
“I know! And I don’t see why? They’re so pretty by themselves,” you say glancing back over at them.
“Did you want to look at the succulents too?” Cole asks softly.
You smile, you know that tone in your boyfriend’s voice all too well.
“No, we’re here to get a cactus,” you say, “As much as I do love succulents, I can look at those another day.”
“Okay,” Cole says before placing a kiss on the top of your head.
Cole would have more than happily also gotten you a succulent if you had wanted one, but it’s probably better to focus on replacing your cactus first before you decide to overrun your apartment with plants. You laugh a little and point out a cactus with several little shoots that are all curving in different directions, “This one looks funny.”
Cole looks at where you’re pointing and laughs too, “It is, that’s a Peanut cactus.”
“Peanut cactus? I love that name,” you giggle more.
You move down the row looking at all the cacti as Cole holds your hand.
There’s a lot of good looking cacti here and though you are a fan of Cole’s Bunny-Ear cactus back at his place…you want something a little different.
Something that feels like yours.
“I like the look of those ones,” you say pointing at more cacti.
“A fan of the Opuntia varieties?” Cole asks, “Can’t blame you, they’ve got a classic look.”
You smile as you try to decide between a couple, “Hmm, what’s this one?”
“I believe that’s a Cinnamon cactus,” Cole answers.
“Cinnamon? I like that name,” you say.
The cactus in question has golden-brown spines that kind of look like someone poured cinnamon over the plant.
You smile, “That one.”
Cole looks to you, “That one?” he asks mirroring your smile.
“Yeah,” you say smiling again.
You go to try to reach out for it, but it’s behind a few of the other cacti and you can’t safely reach your fingers in between the plants to grab it’s small pot.
“I got it, Sweetheart,” Cole says and lets go of your hand and then pulls out a glove tucked into his pocket to slip onto his right hand.
He gently tilts the cactus with his metal hand until he can grab a hold of the pot, he then lifts it up and out of the row and holds it out to you. You carefully grab it from the bottom by the pot and examine it closer.
You smile wide and look up at your boyfriend.
He returns your smile and then waves you on, “Come on, let’s get some soil for it so we can repot it when we get home.”
You don’t miss your boyfriend’s use of the word home.
You haven’t officially moved in yet, but you have been spending more and more time with Cole at his place. You think about those happy thoughts of living with him as you grab the soil and then checkout.
When you get home, Cole gives you one of his cacti’s old terracotta pots, one of the ones he had painted his serape design onto to re-pot your new cactus. You put the appropriate amount of soil into the new pot and Cole removes the cactus from it’s store-bought one and places it in the new pot for you, before carefully covering it with soil. You smile as you hold up your new cactus in Cole’s terracotta pot and then you set it in the window next to his cacti.
“Now, the biggest thing is to just not overwater it, it is a desert plant afterall,” Cole says.
You hug him and then kiss his cheek.
Later the two of you watch a movie together and then afterwards head to bed, and as Cole closes the curtains you look at your little cactus proudly.
“You know I think I’m gonna name it,” you state.
“Really? Whatcha gonna name it?” Cole asks curiously.
“Rico,” you say.
Cole groans, “Is this because you still think that one character looks like me?”
“Yes, and he does look like you,” you tease.
“He does not! He doesn’t look anything like me!” he protests, “AND he was the Bad Guy!”
“He does too!” you argue.
Cole sighs and turns back towards the bed.
You get under the covers yourself, “I’m naming it Rico because it reminds me of you.”
Cole shuffles in bed next to you after turning out the light and exhales, shaking his head before ultimately pressing a kiss to your cheek.
You snuggle up next to your boyfriend.
“I think you should have named it somethin’ else like…Wyatt or-“ Cole begins.
“Or what Doc Holliday?!” you interrupt, “That’s something You would have named it, I want to name it Rico.”
Cole sighs and shakes his head again, then he lets out a big yawn and you follow suit.
“Ha ha, I made you yawn,” Cole chuckles.
You rub your hand across his stomach and let out a small, breathy laugh, “Goodnight, Cowboy.”
“Goodnight, Honeysuckle,” he says with one final kiss to your forehead.
There’s a long beat of silence as you focus on his chest rising and falling beneath you.
“Any chance…you’d reconsider the name in the mornin’?” Cole asks.
“Not a chance,” you say.
Cole chuckles, “Worth a shot.”