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"Come on, Athos. Just do it!" Aramis stomped his snow boots against the pavement trying to keep himself warm.
"If he doesn't want to do it, he shouldn't have to," Porthos crossed his arms and wrapped them tight around his middle, trying to do the same.
Aramis made an indiscernible sound in Porthos general direction as they both watched their friend Athos pace up and down in front of them. He kept glancing over at the unsuspecting flower shop across the street. The thoughts of what might be in store for him once he entered, made his heart quicken and suddenly he wasn't as cold anymore.
"Nope. Can't do it," Athos stopped and turned to them. He leaned against a lamp pole and sighed.
"All right, let's go inside for some coffee then, huh?" Porthos stood up from the bench and inched his way towards the cafe door.
He stopped short and turned around, seeing that both of his friends were still standing on the sidewalk facing each other as if they hadn't heard him at all.
"Then you lose," Aramis smirked, sticking out his hand and wiggling his fingers palm-side up, "And you owe me ten."
"How did this start anyway? Was I there when this whole bet started?" Porthos asked with a chuckle but neither of his friends were laughing.
"Fine," A low growl came from Athos as he slapped his friend's hand out of the way. Without a glance back, he jogged across the street to the other side and stood outside the shop.
Be casual. Be casual. He coached himself as he found himself pacing the sidewalk again.
That's what you need to do - look like a nutbag before you even go in. Athos berated himself as inhaled the winter air. He let it fill his lungs and cool the heat of his anxiety for a moment.
He had no idea what he was going to say, what he was going to do once he was inside. The bet was to walk in and say "hello," but what then? He could run out but then again, he would have to go to school the next day and face her. So running away wasn't an option.
"I'm getting old over here!" Aramis hollered from the other side of the street, which disturbed Athos from his thoughts.
It was then something snapped inside Athos - his best friend's constant teasing hit his last nerve. The usually passive-aggressive one of the three boys, spun around on his heels and flipped his friend off, hoping his friend could see it from the other side of the street. Aramis' eyebrows raised in surprise for a moment and then his face crinkled into a laugh.
Athos didn't know if it was the teasing or the fact that Aramis was now laughing at him that enraged him even more. He swung the shop door open wide and strode in, not stopping until he was at the front counter, where Anne was busy with the flower cooler.
"Hello, how do I passive-aggressively say "fuck you" in a flower?" He fished a twenty dollar bill out of his pocket and slapped it down on the table. He didn't wait for her to turn around and see him standing there.
Anne glanced over her shoulder with her hazel eyes glittering as she closed the cooler door and approached him.
"And who may this be for?" Anne asked. She didn't even blink or flinch at Athos' language or unusual request, only smiled sweetly.
He had rarely seen her smile at school, so to see her smile now, rendered him speechless. He swallowed the lump in his throat - he was anxious to know if her polite demeanor was genuine or if maybe she was teasing him too. Or was this flirting? He couldn't tell. It only made matters worse for him when Anne leaned over the counter and her sweet perfume overwhelmed his senses.
"Is it for your friend over there? Across the street?" Anne asked as she nodded towards the door.
"Yes," He replied, feeling bashful. His fingers drummed against the twenty dollar bill on the counter, itching to take it back and leave the shop before he further embarrassed himself.
"I see," She answered as her smile grew wider, "Well, you can't really say that in a single flower...You need a bouquet."
Without any further encouragement from Athos, Anne started picking out and arranging flowers in her hand.
"Let's see..." Anne perused the array of flowers in the cooler, "We can group geraniums, which mean stupidity..." She moved around the counter to another cooler, "with Foxgloves for insincerity..."
Athos took delight in watching her move and in seeing her fingers flick and caress the flowers as she decided the next one to add to the bouquet.
"Meadowsweet for uselessness," She picked a white wild-looking flowers and then moved to another cooler, "Two orange lillies for hatred," she said with a giggle.
"And a yellow carnation for 'You have disappointed me,'" Anne walked back around the counter and opened the first cooler to take one of the carnations to finish the bouquet. She promptly prepared and began selecting a yellow-green paper for the wrapping.
"Someone else might have selected black to wrap them in but that's too obvious. If you really want to say "fuck you" then this yellow-green paper can also mean "hatred" if you want to drive your point home, even though the only person who will know what it means would be you," She looked over her shoulder and winked. Athos pulled on the collar of his coat - suddenly he felt quite warm.
She finished the bouquet in silence and once she handed it to him, she opened the cash register and took the twenty dollar bill. While he watched her make change, Athos realized he hadn't said anything this whole time. He had to say something to her before he left and most likely never spoke to her again.
"I've seen you at school," He said, mentally cursing himself for saying something so stupid.
"I've seen you at school too," Anne admitted as she held out his change. Athos took it with a nod, shoving the change into his pocket and turned to leave. He was too embarrassed to even say goodbye.
"Wait!" She called out to him and ran over.
"Your receipt," Anne smiled, handing it over to him.
"I don't need - " He started to say but stopped short when he felt her press it into his hand.
"You do," She whispered and then the warmth of her hand left his. She opened the front door for him and he wordlessly walked out.
Before crossing the street, Athos looked down at the receipt clutched in his palm. His eyes widened in disbelief at what he saw scribbled down at the bottom of the piece of paper. He hurriedly pushed it into his pocket, as to make sure it wouldn't blow away. He was too dazed to realize that neither of his friends were outside until he crossed the street.
He found them in the cafe, sipping coffee in one of the back booths.
"Here," Athos slapped the bouquet against Aramis' chest and sat down across from him.
"Thank you love," Aramis smiled as he put the bouquet down on the table beside him.
"How did it go?" Porthos asked.
Athos reached into his pocket and brought out the receipt. He carefully unfolded it and looked at the phone number in her handwriting. He folded it back up, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jacket.
"It...went well," He sighed.
"By the way, I knew you would know what to say with flowers," Aramis winked over the rim of his coffee cup. Athos threw one of the crumpled napkins at his friend as a final blow. It bounced off of Aramis' head, which made both of his friends chuckle while Athos merely smiled.