Work Text:
Some days at Rob’s are slow.
Today is one of them.
Steve is propped up on his elbows, half asleep on the earthy counter of the shop, but that is better than doing any of the tasks that need to be finishes by closing. Yeah, it’s empty, so he could use that time to print out the new labels, or sweep the floor, or sort the tags, or help Robin in the greenhouse, or fix the register, which would keep him from having to deal with his poor mental arithmetic skills, but for now, this is fine too.
Robin had been overly ecstatic as she’d presented him the opportunity of their own little flower shop on the outskirts of Chicago. Therefore it’s her name that’s printed over the front window of the establishment, embedded between a vintage clothing store and a sushi restaurant.
Robin agreed to be the customer service angel regarding her special interest in plants and gardening, while Steve mostly hid away in his office out back, dealing with finances, orders and rent.
However, Rob’s had been a little more successful than anticipated, so he’d been forced out into the open field, mostly working the register and praying that any question asked wouldn’t have anything to do with flowers, which he knows is a silly hope to have working in a flower shop.
After Robin had briefed him enthusiastically she’d declared him ready to handle the “World out there”.
But even a place as money making as Rob’s had its slow days. And that was fine.
The world out there being a lonely room with a view onto a lonely street.
Steve is decently occupied with counting the flies, watching the little carnivorous plant next to the computer doing its job rather poorly, if he’s being honest.
That is until the little bell above the door chimes. On a busy day Steve loathes the thing in a way he couldn’t even describe if he wanted to keep this PG. But today it’s a welcomed sound.
A guy steps into the store that doesn’t necessarily look like he belongs here entirely. He’s all leather and chains and very little glitter and wool; the usual accessory of a frequent Rob’s customer.
He doesn’t spare Steve a glance or a word of acknowledgment, instead carries his majestic hair and cold attitude right over to the flower display next to the entrance door and crosses his arms. He stares at the flowers, like he’s analysing them scientifically, and Steve gets bored after a few minutes, looking back at his fingertips.
“Excuse me”, are the words that pull him out of it again. He straightens maybe a little too fast, thinking it is Robin, who’s starting to see right through his steady avoidance of work today. Instead he’s met with the most gorgeous smile he’s ever experienced.
Leather guy’s looking almost shy, or nervous, clutching a bouquet of tulips. “What colour are these?”
He’s biting his lower lip. It’s pierced twice, he notes, or rather the skin beneath it. Snake bites, Steve thinks, is what they’re called.
He very suddenly figures that he’s looking pretty dumbfounded right now, so he clears his throat and eyes the bouquet. “Uhh, orange?”
“Orange”, leather guy mumbles, “Orange, okay, uh…” He stares at the flowers in his hand intensely. “That’s not really what I was going for, uhh, what other colours do you have these in?”
Steve frowns as he rounds the counter and walks up to the display. He waves his arm lazily. “You know, pink - ish, yellow tips, uh, red, purple, those aren’t in a bouquet yet, but I can do that for you, uhm, light pink, white, of course and then these dark ones, I’m not sure if they’re supposed to be black but if you hold them in the light the kinda have a burgundy touch to them.” He picks a flower out of the container to demonstrate, holding it up against the window to make the sun work its wonder. “See?”
Leather guy looks at the tulip in Steve’s hand. “Yeah.” He nods once. “No, uh, which one do you like best?”
“What?”
“You know, which one’s the prettiest in your opinion?”
Steve shrugs. “I guess, uh, I don’t know, the light pink is nice. It looks, uh, soft?”
Leather guy smiles softly and nods once more. “Okay, cool, yeah, uh, can I get a small bouquet of those?”
“Sure.”
Steve sends him on his way with a smile on his lips and a bouquet of tulips in his hands.
Robin mocks him relentlessly. Turns out that she had been watching the whole interaction over the security screens in his office instead of doing her work, so they were even in that regard.
“I can’t believe you’re a loser now”, she snorts, rewinding the footage once more to point out the awkward wave Steve had given his customer on his way out.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean.”
“Come on, Steve.” She gives him the look. “Aren’t you supposed to be an ex Casanova? Where is all that rizz gone?”
“Don’t say rizz.”
“Don’t tell me how to speak.” She crosses her arms and turns in the office chair to give him another look. “Damn you really need to get laid, I see you falling for a guy likely buying flowers for someone else, we can’t have that, you hear me, Steve?”
“I’m not falling in love, Jesus.”
“Whoa”, Robin lets out a laugh. “Who said anything about love?”
Steve turns around and starts sweeping the floor. Work suddenly sounds marvellous right now.
-
Leather guy comes back exactly a week later. It’s the same procedure as before, only that Robin is standing behind Steve now, wrapping a shipping order of potting soil.
He enters quietly, staring down the flower display, then walks over to the counter with a shy smile, his pick in hand.
“What colour are these?”, he asks.
“Red”, Steve answers, still frowning though. He needs to stop that, leather guy might think, he’s causing trouble or confusion.
“Oh”, the guy mutters. “That’s a bit strong, isn’t it?”
“Is it?”
“I don’t know, I’m asking you.”
Steve nods. Right. “Well, it, uh, depends on who you’re giving the flowers to? Red roses typically have a meaning of devotion, passion, true love.”
“Oh” To his dismay, leather guy seems satisfied with that answer. He doesn’t know why exactly (he does) but Steve’s mood turns a little sour. “Okay, then.”
Steve scans the tag slowly and nods. “Anything else?”, he asks stiffly.
The guy shakes his head. “No thanks, that’ll be all.”
“Seven dollars.”
He feels Robin kick him in the back of his leg, causing him to stumble into the counter. Leather guy looks at him with concern.
“If you’re planning on becoming a frequent customer at Rob’s, I can offer you a stamp card, which would make your tenth purchase free”, Steve adds like he’s in school revisiting what he’s been taught. He practically is anyways.
Leather guy smiles his stupid upside down grin and nods. “Sure, why not.”
Steve puts the stamp onto the paper card harshly, causing all three of them to flinch. He pulls his face apologetically. Robin turns around. “I’m sorry about my colleague. He’s a little cranky on Monday’s.”
Leather guy chuckles at that. It’s not fair, the way it sounds and Steve sighs. “Aren’t we all? I’m actually starting to get my boyfriend flowers every Monday for that exact reason.”
“No way”, Robin giggles. “Oh, would you maybe interested in a subscription then? It’s a service we offer for summer. We’ll have a new bouquet prepared for you each week and it’ll take two dollars off each bouquet. Plus you can cancel at any time, even over phone if you can’t make it in person.”
Leather guy lifts his brows. “Oh? Sure, what do I have to do?”
Steve steps back to let Robin work her magic of convincing people to give them money for the stupidest reasons. Like for boyfriends that probably suck.
Robin bends down to the decade old computer. Leather guy snorts. “Damn, that’s a real antique baby. How the hell does that still work?”
Robin looks up at him amused. “Yeah, at this point we’re only still using it out of spite. Name?”
“Eddie”, says leather guy. “Munson, if you need a last name?”
“Can’t hurt.” She winks at him.
After Eddie’s put down his payment info and now officially is part of their system, Robin waves him goodbye.
“Gee, lift your face up, you look bitter as fuck, right now.”
“What? I don’t look bitter, why would I look bitter?” He totally looks bitter.
“Please keep treating him nice? Please, don’t do what you always do, with people who reject you and ignore him entirely.”
“He hasn’t rejected me.”
“Steve.”
“Ugh.”
-
Over the next three weeks, Eddie comes by every Monday, picking up his bouquet and always asking about its colour. Steve gets more and more annoyed as well as fascinated about it.
Four weeks into his subscription, Eddie comes in on Monday afternoon. Steve wordlessly hands him his bouquet. Eddie thanks him. “What co -“
“Purple”, Steve says quickly. “God, why do you keep asking me that?”
It sounds meaner than he intended. Eddie halts.
“Uh - because I can’t see it”, he says like it’s obvious. Steve feels like the biggest jerk on the planet. “I’m colour blind. I only see what a regular person would describe as black and white.”
He shrugs.
“What, so you - “
“Have never seen purple even once in my life? Correct. But I like to know what colours I give the people I love. I google the meaning and feeling of the colour once I’m home. Just so I can enjoy them too, you know?”
Steve swallows. “I’m so sorry, I was such an ass.”
Eddie’s still smiling somehow. “Don’t worry, I get it. It’s a weird question. I mean, the flowers are right there, why would I ask that.”
Steve can’t decipher if he’s being sarcastic or not. “You can just ask me”, he blurts out.
“I already do?”
“No, yes, I mean, about the meanings. Robin’s taught me a bunch of flower language. It’s really cool, every flower has a very distinct meaning and story behind it.”
Eddie eyes him carefully. “What does purple mean then?”
“Well, purple itself is a colour of wisdom and ambition. Creativity, power, luxury. All of these things. Basically just of what great minds can do. Now, purple peonies are a symbol of nobility and dignity. You’re showing the other person respect and elegance. Almost like you’re kneeling in front of a king or something. It’s, uh…divine.”
Eddie smirks. God damnit. “Perfect, then. Donny will love it.”
“Will he?”, Steve asks.
“He loved all your bouquets before, I doubt he’ll suddenly hate this one. Especially when I’ll explain the meaning to him.”
Eddie chuckles and grabs the flowers. “Bye, Steve, see you Monday!”
-
“Donny”, Steve tells Robin that very night, as they’re closing together. He’s sitting in front of the register, counting, while Robin wipes the counter around him. “That’s the stupidest name anyone could have.”
“It’s a nice name, probably a nickname too, what is wrong with you?”
“I don’t know. I’m bitter.” Steve flips off the front desk computer for good measurement.
“Why don’t you retry Tinder, hm? Just to get him off your mind?”
Steve shakes his head. “How am I supposed to get him off my mind, when I see and talk to him every week? Plus he’s just so - “ He mimics strangling someone.
“Babe, you’re kinda giving me mixed signals here.” Robin looks at him. There’s concern in her eyes.
“Nice, Robin, he’s nice. And I’ve been treating him like garbage for asking the same questions every time and turns out, he’s colour blind. I’m an idiot and he thinks I suck ass.”
“You do, occasionally.”
“Robin!”
She cackles. “I’m sure he likes you just fine. Try to be civil, you’ll get over him.”
“Why are you so sure about that?”
“Because you don’t even know him, Steven. He comes here once a week, and all you ever talk about is flowers. At most. Just keep it that way and we’ll be fine.”
-
Steve doesn’t keep it that way. Three more weeks pass and Eddie grows a lot more comfortable to him than he’d like. (He loves it).
This time, before Eddie can even ask, Steve says:”White Orchids, innocence and purity, a symbol of new beginnings and hope. Also just a sign of appreciation in general.”
Eddie smiles. “Hello to you too, Steve.” He nods. “New beginning’s perfect actually. Donny just finished his masters degree.”
Steve feels jealousy poke him between the ribs but he ignores it. “Oh? Congrats, what degree?”
“Software Engineering.” Eddie looks too fucking proud. “He’s been studying all month, but he’s finally done.”
“Cool, did you - uh - meet in college or - ?”
“No, God, no, well…yes actually, see I didn’t get into college.”
“Hey, me neither”, Steve smiles awkwardly.
Eddie chuckles. “So I started working as a free artist across the city, then one day I had this job at a tattoo parlour and I somehow just stayed there.” He shrugs.
“What, you tattoo people all day?”
“Kind of yeah, ’s how I met my boyfriend too. He fainted right before I was about to start, so I took him outside for some air, we talked a little, you know how it goes.” He’s wearing that stupid love struck smile on his face, seconds away from twirling his hair. “He still doesn’t have that tattoo though.”
Steve snorts. “Well, hope he enjoys the flowers.”
“I think he will, see you!”
“I hate myself”, Steve mutters.
-
The week after Eddie’s not alone. He comes in with a dude in a sweatshirt and blue jeans and he’s holding his hand. Great.
“Morning, Stevie.”
Steve wordlessly hands out the weekly bouquet, a tight smile on his lips. “Blue Hydrangea, typically a symbol of forgiveness and regret. Or rejection.” He swallows. Eddie frowns a little, but doesn’t lose his smile.
“Uh, okay? That’s not too happy.”
“Yeah, I know, they’re really pretty though, I guess and we got them freshly delivered, so they’ll open up a little more once you’ve put them in a vase, you know? They’re really impressive at their full size.”
“Huh, okay.” Eddie nods and takes the flowers. “Oh, this is Donny by the way.” He points at the guy behind him, who’s giving him a bright smile in response.
“Steve, right?”, he asks and Steve nods. “So you’re the guy who makes my Mondays just a little more bearable?”
“Hey, I thought that was me!”, Eddie mutters in fake annoyance that Steve wishes was real. Donny shrugs. “It’s a team effort I’d say.” He plants a kiss on the side of Eddie’s head. “Thanks man, we gotta go though.”
“My mother in law’s in town”, Eddie says and rolls his eyes. Steve chuckles. Donny sighs. “Yeah, she’s not the nicest, can’t wait for this to be over.”
“Guess the blue Hydrangea is fitting after all”, Steve mumbles. “Til next week, Eds. Donny.” He nods courtly, then turns.
-
“Steve, please stop looking so sad, please, please, please, what can I do to help you.”
“I don’t know, I’m being an idiot, moping for a dude that is perfectly happy in his picture book marriage.”
“He’s married?”
“Might as well be.”
“Steve, come on. I’m really sorry, but I don’t want you becoming delusional.”
-
Donny is the perfect guy. Steve has felt the urge to do a little digging on him. He’s found Eddie’s instagram account weeks ago, filled with candid shots of himself in a studio, tattoo gun in hand, an easy smile on his lips.
Steve almost choked on his saliva, so he gave himself a slap across the face and moved the fuck on.
There’s a highlight on Eddie’s profile called Mondays:(( and it’s a picture of Steve’s bouquets on a small dining table each week. He feels a little honoured at that. There is another highlight too. It’s called “Donny” Simple as that.
Sure enough it’s packed with the typical cutesy couples shit. Kissing at the beach, museum, tattoo studio, living room. Small videos of Eddie jump scaring Donny when he gets home, the two of them at a cat shelter, volunteering.
He finds out that Donny is short for Donovan J. Caldwell, he’s from a small town near Kilkenny and yes, he has the stupidest accent. His parents own a little restaurant chain in Ireland, he himself came to Chicago for a semester abroad and just decided to stay afterwards. Now he’s freshly programming websites for a living, therefore his enthusiasm over the cat shelter. Not only did he make their website for free, he also donated a thousand dollars. Great.
Steve doesn’t like him.
Small talk with Eddie lowers itself to a bare minimum. Steve hands over the bouquet, describes it briefly and sends Eddie on his way without further ado.
And then one day Eddie comes in and Steve has the urge to let it all go again. Cause he’s not really smiling that day at the end of August. It doesn’t reach his eyes.
“Hi, Eds.” Steve turns to grab the bouquet. Blue Iris, today. They’re beautiful, but tragic.
Eddie grabs the flowers and looks at them. He doesn’t ask about their colour. Instead he puts them onto the counter and sighs. “I, uh, can I cancel the subscription?”
“Oh, yes, yeah of course, just one minute.” Steve types Eddie’s name into the system. “Any reason? Donny not a flower guy anymore?”
“He’s dead.”
Steve freezes. “I - I’m so sorry, I - “
“To me!”, Eddie hastily adds. “He’s dead to me.”
“Oh, good, okay, yeah, no - not good but - “
“Just cancel the subscription.”
Steve nods and does so. He straightens again, then slowly takes the Blue Iris away from Eddie. “Those may not be the right flowers to give you today, I fear.”
“I know what they mean, thank you, Steve, hilarious. I’m aware.”
“No, I mean - “
Eddie leaves the store before he can say anything more. Steve sighs. Then he tosses the blue flowers on the counter behind him. They don’t deserve to be looked at right now. Instead he rushes to the greenhouse and cuts off the perfect flowers. He doesn’t think he’s ever been quicker at tying a bouquet.
He runs out of the shop, looking around frantically. He finds Eddie’s figure at the end of the road, staring at his phone, as if to find directions via maps.
He runs after him. “Eddie!”, he calls out to him and he turns around. “Eddie, wait.”
Steve comes to a halt and holds out the flowers. “Orange Gladiolus.”
Eddie stares at him, then at the flowers.
“They, uh -“ Steve swallows. “They’re a sign of struggle, strength and pride. Heroic significance, they mean victory. Uh, that’s where they get their name from. Gladiators would fight and if they won, they won these flowers.”
Eddie’s quiet. And Steve can’t seem to stop talking.
“I just thought - you paid for them and…they would maybe be a better fit than - “ He shuts the fuck up.
Eddie takes the flowers and wipes away the tears that have sprung to his eyes at some point. “Thank you, Steve”, he mutters. His lower lip is quivering a little. “That’s very nice of you.”
They stand there on the side of the road for a few seconds before Steve decided to break the silence. “Are you gonna stop coming by? The shop, I mean.”
Eddie avoids his gaze. “Guess so”, he breathes. “Not like I’m gonna buy flowers for myself.”
“What happened?”
Eddie hesitates. “He hit me.” Steve feels his heart clench. “Just once and he looked…he looked shocked. Absolutely devastated, like he wasn’t even a part of it and couldn’t believe what he’d just witnessed.”
Eddie shrugs.
“And I had sworn myself that I wasn’t gonna get hit anymore.”
“Anymore?”
“My Dad hit me all the time. I thought maybe it would be different once I grew up.” He smiles at Steve. “Guess I was wrong.”
Steve eyes him carefully. “Should you be alone right now?”
“Well, I am, can’t really change that, unless I call Donny up and tell him to come back home.”
“No!”, Steve says, maybe a little too quickly. “I - I can take an early break and…and we can talk, maybe. Or just sit in silence. The café across street is really cute… No, I’m sorry this is really assaultive, I - sorry.”
“Actually, that would be kinda nice”, Eddie says.
-
They spend Steve’s break together. He learns that Eddie grew up in Indianapolis with his abusive Dad and alcoholic mother. At thirteen his uncle took him under his wing and moved him to a place named Hawkins, where he then spent his youth. He shows Steve some of his latest work, tells him that he wasn’t accepted into arts university, because of his inability to see colour.
Steve swallows at that.
“Isn’t that like, illegal? To not accept someone because of a disability?”
“I guess, but I don’t have money for a lawsuit or something like that. So I just let it go. I’m happy now. Relatively.”
“What does that mean?”
Eddie shrugs. “I guess, I just don’t really have friends here, and my colleagues are okay, but the only person I was really close to was fucking Donny and his friends and I only just realised that, so I guess, I’ll be alone now.”
“I can be your friend”, Steve says, maybe a little too enthusiastically.
Eddie smiles lightly at that. “That’s a start, I guess.”
“I feel like I should be offended.”
“You should, I suck at being people’s friend, so be prepared.”
Steve laughs.
-
They don’t stop texting for a week. So much, that Robin rips his phone out of his hands. “Don’t overdo it, Steven.”
“I’m not overdoing anything, I’m being a friend.”
“You’re trying to get into his pants. He’s fresh out of a year long relationship.”
“One year”, Steve huffs. “That’s nothing.”
“Yeah, for you it isn’t. Because you’ve only had longterm relationships with girls. It’s harder when you’re in a queer relationship. You’re so happy you even found someone like you in the first place and then they actually like you back, it takes time to trust as a queer person and I know you’re new to this but please be considerate.”
“I’m not the devil, Robin, I know what I’m doing.”
She lifts her brow. “Sure you are, but can you fucking sext outside of working hours?”
-
They meet at the café frequently. Eddie’s getting more and more relaxed throughout their meetings. The sadness in his eyes or voice gets thinner. And Steve is enjoying himself. He hopes Eddie does too.
“So, how are things with the apartment, found a new roommate already?”
“Can we maybe not talk about the tragedy that is my life right now all the time?” Eddie rubs at his neck. “I’m still on my own. Haven’t really been looking anymore, to be honest.”
“What, why not, you can’t afford rent on your own.”
“I get by just fine, Jesus. What about you? Any love life I can be jealous of?”
Steve chuckles. “I wish.”
“What about that colleague of yours, you seem awfully close.”
“Robin? No, never, we’re just friends.”
Eddie nods absentmindedly.
The days go by and Eddie seems more and more sad and lonely again. Steve only sees him now and then at the café in the morning. “I’m kinda worried”, he tells Robin.
“Well, he’s going through a tough time, just listen if he wants to talk but don’t keep initiating the topic. It’s rude. And frankly a little desperate.”
“I feel like I’m losing my mind, Robs”
“Oh, babe, you are”, Robin says and nods. “You are.”
-
Steve finds himself in front of Eddie’s apartment with a bouquet of magic star lilies. Eddie looks confused as he opens the door.
“They’re light pink and white. A real Barbie kind of flower. They’re a sign of sorrow, regret and the prefect flower to hand out as an apology.” Steve needs to stop himself from talking so much.
“What are you apologising for?”, Eddie asks him, while he slowly takes the flowers. “They’re really bright.”
“Yeah, they are.” Steve nods. “The brighter the more sincere.”
“Sincere?”
“I’ve been a dick to you”, Steve mutters. “Kind of, no scratch that, massively. You told me you weren’t feeling well, that you didn’t wanna talk about it and all of that and uh…I kept digging. That was wrong, I don’t want you to be friends with dude that lacks his fucking respect for boundaries, soo, uh, yeah.
Eddie chuckles. “Speaking of respect for boundaries, how did you know my address?”
Steve blushes. “Rob’s system”, he mumbles. “But that will have been the last time I overstep, I promise. No more making you uncomfortable.”
“Gee, exciting” Eddie sounds sad but he looks a lot better than the past couple weeks. He smirks. “Wanna come in? I took a week off at work. It’s been kinda lonely.”
They end up on Eddie’s well loved couch, chatting about whatever comes to mind. Donnie isn’t mentioned once. Eddie’s opened a bottle of whine. “My uncle gave this to me when I moved away. Haven’t really found the special occasion to drink it yet.”
“Sure you wanna waste it on me”, Steve grins.
“Yeah, I guess it can only go worse from here.”
They play a round of Monopoly that Steve spends mostly in jail or debt. Or both. “Fucker”, he laughs, when Eddie demands 700.000 Dollars from him for passing his hotel. “I give up, you drain me, Edward.”
Eddie kicks him in the ribs as he cackles. He falls off the couch in that process, pulling Steve with him.
It’s dark in the living room all of a sudden. Or maybe it had been for a while. And Eddie’s face is right in front of him. And he swears his eyes flick downwards for a split seconds.
He knows he shouldn’t. But there’s a tad too much wine in his system and his head is screaming at him to lean forward. So that’s what he does.
Eddie flinches back. For a second they just stare at each other, Eddie’s eyes blown and wide. “So much for setting boundaries”, he mutters and gets off the couch. Steve swallows. “I’m so sorry, Eddie, fuck, I didn’t…I didn’t mean to - “
“Well, you did, Steve, what the fuck is your problem?”
“My problem?”
“Yes! I’m grieving a fucking person that I thought loved me. I’m crying myself to sleep every single night, and you fucking know that, what made you think that - I mean in what way did I make it known that I would want this right now?” He pulls a strand of hair over his face in frustration. Steve blinks. “Right now?”, he asks and it’s the wrong thing to say.
“That’s what you got from all this?” Eddie shakes his head. “You have to go, Steve.”
“But…” Steve stands as well. “Eddie, I swear to you, I didn’t wanna hurt you. You have to believe me, I … I don’t know what was going on in my head and - “
“Steve…” Eddie looks at him funny. It’s not really sad, not disappointed, it’s…torn. “If you don’t go, I might do something stupid. Something that I can’t do right now, I need to finish making up my mind before I do anything else ever again. And I can’t do that with you here.”
Steve frowns. Then he nods. “I’m sorry.” He leaves the apartment. “Bye Eds.”
“I’ll call you”, Eddie tells him. But he’s just trying to be polite about this. Steve is well aware.
-
“I’m not gonna say I told you so, but I have informed you thusly.”
“You’re a horrible consoler.”
Robin cackles. “I try my best, Steven. But honestly, you did fuck up. There’s not many comforting words here I can think of other than there there.” She shrugs. Steve sighs. He can’t really cry anymore. He’s like a flattened pool floaty, sinking into his couch. There’s some baseball game on TV, but Steve - for the first time in his life - does not care about it.
“What do I do, Rob’s? Do I apologise? Again? I came to say I’m sorry and I left having to say it again.”
She groans. “Give him time, Steve. For the love of God almighty. You need to learn the concept of personal space.” Steve, suddenly hyper aware of the way he’s clinging to her, reluctantly scoots away. “Not from me, Dingus, from Eddie. He’s having complicated feelings right now and you just put a truckload more of it onto him. How is he meant to get over Donny if you constantly remind him of it, if you constantly give him an even bigger pile of stuff to deal with on top of it all.”
“I guess you’re right.” Steve hugs his own legs.
“You guess?? What you guess that the sky is blue too?”
“Robin!”, Steve whines into a pillow.
“Hey, he said he’d call you, right?”
“He didn’t mean that.”
“Just wait a few days, huh? Maybe he did.”
-
The phone at Rob’s rings exactly two weeks later. Well, it rings everyday, but on this day it’s Steve who picks up; slowly and without enthusiasm, like he does most things these days. “I wanna order a bouquet of daffodil for tonight. You close at six, right? Can I pick it up at 5:50?”
“Yeah, sure”, Steve sighs. “Under what name?”
“Theodore.”
“K, cool, see you tonight.”
He notes down the information and begins binding. It’s over three hours until six but he’s got nothing better to do (He has, but Robin’s pretending to work in the greenhouse, while she’s texting Vicki, so he can slack off a little in all fairness.)
“You can go early if you want”, Robin tells him at five. “You look two seconds away from crying.”
Steve throws dirt at her apron. “We have three pre-orders left and it looks like a bomb exploded in here, I’m not gonna let you do all that alone. Need I remind you what happened the last time you tried to count the register on your own.”
“Fine, stay then, I was trying to be a good boss.”
“What can I say, I’m a dedicated employee.”
Robin snorts.
At precisely 5:50, she’s back in the greenhouse, closing up. Steve’s sitting behind the counter, emptying the register when the doorbell chimes. Without looking up he turns around to get the bouquet of daffodils. Color him surprised when it’s Eddie who’s standing in front of him.
“Order for…Theodore?”, Steve stumbles through his sentence.
“Yeah”, Eddie says, and fumbles with his wallet, holding out a ten dollar bill eventually. “Keep the change.” Steve nods wordlessly, throwing the money onto the pile of tens next to the register. He hands over the bouquet. It brightens the room vividly, but even more so it brightens Eddie.
And then something weird happens. “Thank you, Steve”, he says, before handing the bouquet over the counter again. Steve is so irritated that he just takes it.
“Yellow Daffodil, forgiveness and hope and new beginnings.” He smiles carefully. “Very bright. They suit you.”
Steve can’t help but frown, quickly changes it into grin. “What?”
“Bruh, I tried to let the flowers speak, so I wouldn’t have to”, Eddie rolls his eyes and Steve bursts out laughing. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, you forgive me, is that it, like you actually do?” He softly caresses over the blossoms in front of him. Eddie nods. “Yeah, I figured my shit out. And I really like you, and having you around like constantly and…uh, I don’t mind you having crush on me.” Steve blushes, hides behind the flowers. “Because I…maybe, I don’t know, kinda have a crush on you too?”
Steve lets the bouquet sink onto the counter. “Really?”
“Mhm, yeah” Eddie smiles that stupid upside down smile again and really that’s all Steve needs. “IF that’s okay, of course.”
“No, I hate it”, Steve says, but his smile can’t be stopped from spreading.
“Perfect.” Eddie leans over the counter and presses a kiss to Steve’s lips. And before the latter can do anything about it, Eddie turns and heads for the door again. “I’ll pick you up at six thirty for dinner.”
“At work, Steven, at work?? You slut.”
He turns quickly to see Robin stand right next to him. “Christ, Robin.”
“Congrats, dingus”, she smiles. “Better get that counting done before six thirty then, huh?”