Work Text:
Ding ding!
Obi-Wan looked up from his work bench, where he had been shaping a particularly large poinsettia ready for Christmas, and moved his gaze to the door. His eyes rested on you, as you pulled your scarf off from where it was tight around your neck, and he beamed at you.
You’d been a regular visitor in his flower shop, Stems of Stewjon, for nearly a year now. Since you’d moved to a new city, you promised yourself you’d buy fresh flowers every week as a way to keep your mood uplifted, and your house smelling floral. It had been several months before you’d come across Obi-Wan’s shop, opting to buy from supermarkets for convenience, before realising that the quality of his flowers and houseplants were infinitely better than those you’d previously been buying.
You also came to him from presents, a bouquet of lilies when your friend had been sick, a bunch of tulips for your mother’s birthday which he’d given you in one of those flattened flower boxes to send to her, and forget-me-not seeds for your grandmother’s garden when she’d been particularly missing you.
However, Obi-Wan’s favourite thing was when you asked him to surprise you with a bouquet of his choosing, asking him to include his favourite flowers, calling him ‘the expert’.
Stems of Stewjon was good for other reasons, too. It allowed you speak to new people. When you’d first moved, you didn’t know anyone, but after introducing yourself to Obi-Wan, the two of you had become fast friends. He’d helped you with directions (“I would avoid that route, you’ll pass my biggest competitor and I simply can’t do with losing my most regular customer,” he’d teased) and the two of you even just chatted about life, your job, anything that came to mind. His assistant, Ahsoka, had even befriended you too, and you enjoyed speaking with her about Obi-Wan, learning all his little quirks, like how he made sure to include blue flowers in every bouquet he made for you because it was his favourite colour.
What you didn’t know was that the months of your weekly visits had allowed him to develop certain feelings towards you. You’d shared so much of your life with him, and he had too. He loved your insights into flowers he would sell, the way you’d always come in with a smile on your face and ask him how his day had been going.
And what he didn’t know is that you felt the exact same. But it was almost as if the two of you had made some sort of agreement that you didn’t know about to never tell one another about your feelings. Obi-Wan often thought of you as a flower of summer, and him of winter: whilst you knew the same Earth and same environment, just like how bulbs lay together in the soil, you would never be able to bloom together, destined to hide away whilst the other flourishes. It was tragic, really.
Right now, you were looking for something. It was typical of Obi-Wan to jump to conclusions.
Which is exactly what he was about to do.
As you walked further into the shop, you smiled back at him. “Obi-Wan! How are we today? Is Ahsoka in?”
Turning away from his workbench completely, he pulled off the gloves he used when dealing with the particularly rambunctious poinsettia. “I’m excellent, thank you! How might you be today? And no, I thought I’d give her the day off considering she’s been working so hard in this run up to Christmas.”
“Ah, always the gentleman, aren’t you?”
He was used to you poking fun at him.
A lopsided grin appeared on his face. “I try my best. Anyway, is there anything specific you’re looking for today? How about another bunch of irises, you said you liked them last time? Oh! How about this poinsettia that I'm wrangling at the moment? Very good if you’re in the market for Christmas plants! I even have some Christmas trees if you’re looking for one of those.”
You laughed at his overexuberance. It was one of the things you liked about him, how discussing his shop and merchandise brought out a side of childish whimsy in him that not many others saw. “Actually, no flowers today. I was just wondering if you’d gotten any mistletoe in yet?”
Oh.
His face dropped.
One, mistletoe was clearly romantic. Maybe you had a partner? He knew he shouldn’t be sad about this when you had your own life and friends, and you were allowed to know people that weren’t him.
Two, you always give a reason for why you’re buying a certain plant. Anxiety settled in his body when he realised you weren’t giving a reason for buying mistletoe.
Upset couldn’t begin to describe how he was feeling. He knew he should have asked you out earlier. It had only dawned on him now that he’d missed his chance, and he knew he’d regret it for a very, very long time.
He couldn’t meet your eyes, so his own peered down at the floor whilst he spoke. “Oh. Um…yes. Let me just…I’ll go and get you some. I won’t be a moment.”
You grinned at him, not picking up on the man’s disheartened nature. “Thank you, Obi-Wan. I appreciate it.”
A few moments later, he returned with a rather large basket of mistletoe. It looked heavy, but the florist seemed to be carrying it with no difficulty at all.
As he pushed his hair back from his face, having fallen in front of his eyes when he was collecting the basket, you couldn’t help but admire the veins in his arms.
“How much do you require?” he asked you, his voice taking on a more serious tone of voice to the usual one you were used to.
“A few bunches should be fine, thank you.”
“Of course,” he replied.
Perhaps you did notice something was wrong. Perhaps you knew he was disappointed by you buying mistletoe.
Right now, however, you were focused on one thing. Buying the mistletoe and getting it to your friend’s house. It was, of course, the key component in your master plan: getting two of your other friends together. You inadvertently smiled at the thought, excited by the event happening later in the day.
Obi-Wan, seeing your smile and presuming that it was for your supposed significant other, wrung his hands together. A nervous tick he hadn’t done in years.
He was well and truly devastated.
As you handed him the money, and he handed you the bunches of mistletoe, your fingers brushed and Obi-Wan could have sworn he felt a spark between you.
Wishful thinking, he thought. She’s clearly in a happy, comfortable relationship and I won’t ruin that.
Snapping him out his thoughts, he heard you speak. “Hopefully I’ll see you before Christmas but if not, have a good one!”
A sad smile appeared on his face. “Thank you, and you too.”
And with that, you were gone.
*****
The next day came. The party had been a success. You’d managed to convince your friends to meet under the mistletoe and allow for them to start a new relationship. You were very happy, but a part of you couldn’t help but feel jealousy towards the two of them. They would have a relationship for Christmas, and you were as single as you’d been last year. And the year before that.
Shaking the thoughts out of your head, you thought it was a good idea to thank the person who helped start the relationship between your friends: Obi-Wan.
You took the time to think, what did you know he liked? And what could you gift him that might show your certain feelings towards him? After some mental deliberation, you concluded that you’d gift him a flat white from your favourite coffee shop, and a beautifully decorated red plant pot that you’d seen in another shop to match his hair and his favourite thing: plants.
After setting out on a mission to acquire the goods, it didn’t take you long to get to Stems of Stewjon.
Ding ding!
Just like the previous day, Obi-Wan lifted his head when he heard the bell on the door ring out. He hadn’t been expecting your arrival, but he thought perhaps he’d manifested it with how much he’d been thinking about you in the past day.
“Y/N? Back so soon?” he spoke as his eyes flickered down to the coffee and gift-wrapped present you were holding in your hands.
You let out a nervous chuckle. “Oh…yes…um…I just got you a little present for getting me the mistletoe yesterday, you made two people very happy.”
The same sadness Obi-Wan had felt after your conversation yesterday returned. His theory was confirmed: you were in a relationship.
Adjusting the neckline of his now rather scratchy and somewhat constricting Christmas jumper, (the man was trying his best to not let the news ruin his celebrations) he tried to calmly articulate his thoughts. “...Well, I’m happy to have helped you and your partner celebrate the holidays…”
Your eyes widened as he spoke.
You blinked at him. What was he talking about?
It took you a moment to speak. “I’m sorry, my partner?”
He nodded. “Yes. Your partner. You bought mistletoe for the two of you. You just said I made two people very happy.”
You placed the coffee and plant pot down on the counter and ran your hand over your face.
“Yeah. You made two people happy. My two friends, the mistletoe was part of my plan to get them together at a party we had last night. I…I don’t have a partner. Did you think I did?”
It was Obi-Wan’s turn to be shocked.
He didn’t speak right away. He was wrong? But you were so happy yesterday. So excited. Of course the first thing his mind went to was that you must be thrilled to spend Christmas with your significant other. Of course the jealousy had corrupted his mind so much that he’d simply presumed the mistletoe was for a partner.
But then, he had a moment of realisation.
You’re single.
And you brought him gifts. Including his favourite coffee. Simply just to say thanks.
“I…I’m sorry. I just presumed that…” he stuttered. He really didn’t know how to react to this news.
You didn’t really know what to do either. The man standing in front of you was clearly stunned by the revelation, and you didn’t want to immediately reveal your feelings to the florist, even if his jealousy was shining though just moments ago.
“What are you sorry for, Obi-Wan?”
He lifted his head up and met your eyes.
“I thought you had a partner. I let my…jealousy get the better of me even though you’re my customer and it wasn’t my place and—”
He was nervously rambling now, and you needed to cut him off before it went too far.
“Jealousy? What could you possibly be jealous of? You needed to hear the words come from his mouth. You also didn’t want to incorrectly presume and be in the same situation he was in.
He sighed.
“I was…jealous of the partner I thought you were with. I…really like you, Y/N, and I know I shouldn’t but there is truly nobody as kind or thoughtful as you in this world and I want to get to know you outside of you being a customer of my business. Would that be alright?”
Gently taking his hand over the counter, you smiled at him.
“I would like nothing more, Obi.”
He smiled back at you.
“Have you any plans for Christmas Day? Maybe we could start there…if it isn’t too personal of course. I can cook us a dinner and we can watch a film and—”
“That sounds wonderful, Obi-Wan. I can’t wait.”
“Great…great!” He pulled out a business card from the drawer of his desk and handed it to you. You noticed it said ‘Mr. O.W. Kenobi, Florist’ and you couldn’t help but think how utterly adorable it was. “This card has my phone number and if you text it, I’ll send you my address, okay?”
“Okay,” you grinned. “I suppose I’ll see you on Christmas Day then.”
“That you will, my dear.”
*****
Three Days Later
You awoke at 6:31am on Christmas Day. You’d always had trouble sleeping on Christmas, and that didn’t go away despite you now being an adult.
You’d spent the last few days collecting some presents for Obi-Wan. You loved gift-giving, and you couldn’t just turn up to his house on Christmas Day empty handed, especially because you thought it could technically be considered your first date.
So, a few hours later with presents in hand, along with a bottle of wine and a store-bought yule log, you set off towards the address that Obi-Wan had texted you the night of three days ago.
Stepping out of your home, you saw that small flakes of snow had begun to fall, coating the ground in a thin layer of white.
You wrapped your scarf tiger around your neck and continued walking the relatively short distance to Obi-Wan’s home. Christmas Day had made the streets deserted, and people were spending time with their loved ones, something you had been solely missing a few days ago, before your plans with Obi-Wan had been made.
Once you arrived, you took a deep breath and knocked on the door, which quickly flew open revealing the rosey-cheeked man.
“Y/N! You’re here! Come in, come in! You must be freezing, I can’t believe it's snowing! Here, let me take those and you can get warm.”
Oh, he was so sweet.
Obi-Wan’s home was as you’d anticipated. Full of houseplants, with monstera deliciosa being a clear favourite, and vases upon vases of different flowers laid out. Of course, he had a real nordmann fir Christmas tree in the corner of his living room with some neatly wrapped presents laid underneath it. Who they were for, you didn’t know.
As he reentered the living room where you now stood, you turned to him.
“Something smells good,” you commented.
“Turkey is in the oven, the vegetables are cooking, it won’t be long to wait until we can eat. In the meantime, perhaps we can drink some wine and open some presents? The ones under the tree are for you…” he said bashfully.
“For me? Obi-Wan, you didn’t have to.”
“I did, considering the presents in the bag you just gave me are all for me. What kind of a person would I be if you turned up with all these gifts and I got you nothing? Anyway, let me get you a drink and we can start.”
What you didn’t know about Obi-Wan until today, is that gift giving was definitely his love language. Truthfully, he had gone a little overboard with presents for you, but realistically it was because he loved you and just wanted to see your excited smile. Over the past few months of knowing each other, you’d absentmindedly discussed things that you’d had your eye on, or didn’t want to buy due to expenses. So, this was his time to shine, and he could finally reward you for the excellent company you made whilst buying from Stems of Stewjon.
Returning from the kitchen with two glasses of wine, he handed you one, and grabbed a present from under the tree and handed it to you, smiling.
“Here. The lovely guest should go first.”
And so the present opening commenced.
Before you knew it, several hours had passed. Presents had been opened, dinner had been served (Obi-Wan was definitely being humble when he’d said he was a good cook, he was in fact an excellent cook and you were now taking several plates worth of leftovers with you) and now you didn’t quite know what to do.
“Hmm…” Obi-Wan stroked his beard as he pondered. “Well I have some board games, or we could watch a film.”
“I say a film,” you replied. “I’m not sure I could handle the stress of Monopoly right now.”
He chuckled. “Fair enough. A film it is. Any suggestions?”
You both agreed on a suggestion and sat down to watch the film. You didn’t quite know where to sit, so you both sat on the same sofa, about six inches between the two of you, and he pressed play on the TV.
As the film went on, your eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and you could feel your body leaning towards the only warm thing in the vicinity: Obi-Wan.
Obi-Wan himself was particularly nervous to see you leaning towards him, eyes closing. He knew that this was technically your first date, and he thought it was going well, but he didn’t want to mess this one up. He really enjoyed your company, he thought you were kind and sweet and an utter joy to be around, and he’d hoped that he’d shown his affection for you through his gifts.
You secretly hoped the same in your gifts to him.
So, with as much care as he could muster up, he let you lean into him, guiding your head into the crook of his neck, and wrapping his arm around your shoulders.
Whispering, he kissed your head and spoke. “Merry Christmas, Y/N. I’ve got you.”
When you woke the next morning, you were laid on the same sofa you fell asleep on, wrapped in a blanket with a soft pillow below your head, both of which smelt distinctly of Obi-Wan.
Speaking of, you saw the man sitting on an armchair in the corner of the room, coffee in hand, smiling.
“Good morning. I hope you were comfortable enough on the sofa.”
“I was, thank you. I…I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep here, I must have been tired.”
“It’s no problem, I’m glad you were able to rest. Here, I made you a coffee. Your favourite.”
You smiled in thanks, and took a sip of the coffee he’d handed you.
He took a deep breath, and you noted that he looked slightly nervous. “I hope you don’t mind, but I actually have one more present for you.”
You looked at him, a puzzled expression on your face.
“I was meant to give it to you yesterday when you were leaving, but…well…you stayed,” he spoke, laughing.
“Sure, what is it?”
He held his hand out for you, and you took it. This man, your dear friend, florist, and romantic interest was offering you yet another gift, despite spoiling you yesterday. You truly didn’t know what to expect. The man was an enigma, and you were delightfully interested in him.
Leading you out into the hallway, he suddenly stopped and looked at you, a small smirk on his face.
Clearly you weren’t in on the joke.
“What is it?” you asked.
He simply replied: “Look up.”
Mistletoe.
In the doorway.
Placed there by him.
“Can’t break tradition now can we?” he joked.
“I suppose we can’t.”
He leaned forward, and his lips met yours in sweet but slow kiss, one which showed just how deep his yearning for you went. You quickly reciprocated, placing a hand on his shoulder and the other on his back, bringing the two of you closer together.
After a few moments, he broke the kiss, and he sent you a soft smile.
“I thought perhaps since you helped your friends into a relationship through mistletoe you’d like the favour returned.”
Your heart melted.
You pulled him into another kiss, this time with more passion, showing him how much you also loved him.
He didn’t pull away.
Later on in the day, when you laid in each other’s arms, you wondered what you did to deserve such a wonderful Christmas.
You thought that maybe you were neither winter or summer flowers, you were the spring ones. Perhaps you were the daffodils that signaled that the darkness of winter was finally over. Obi-Wan thought the two of you were closer to snowdrops, however. The bond between winter and spring, a reminder that although winter is still present, a new hope for spring arises, a reminder that better days are coming.