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Putting yourself out there was hard, so when Michael decided to be brave again after many failed relationships he swore that this would be the last one and hoped it went well.
His mom would tell him the stories about how her and his father met on a rainy day in Brooklyn and he shared his umbrella with her, walked her home and bought her favorite flowers on accident on their first date.
That was their love story, Michael had tried to replicate that scene so many times and pray for the same outcome they had. It didn't work like that for him though, one person even called him sappy and predictable.
Right now Michael was getting ready for his third date this month. Yes third shit’s been really hard for him, newly thirty and wanting to settle down in a generation full of one night stand lovers was like trying to go to the moon with no helmet or suit.
The white button down he wore fit perfectly around his muscles, Michael was such eye candy.
With a few sprays of his fancy cologne he only used for night like this, he was out of the door and ready to see about his date.
It was a guy like four years younger than him, tall, white and red headed with a face full of freckles. Michael walked into the cafe and smiled, it was really cute inside but he couldn’t find his date Rolland.
Michael struggled to pull his phone from his pocket for a while before getting a good grip on the device. He shot Rolland a text that instantly declined to go through.
Muttering a small “fuck” under his breath Michael wanted to just turn around and leave.
He reread every conversation he’s had with Rolland on his phone and couldn’t find anything worth standing him up.
The ping of his phone brought his attention towards an incoming text and it just happened to be from Rolland. Michael felt as if his eyes weren’t seeing clearly as they bounced back and forth and read what the man texted him.
“Hey it’s not going to work out, your like a total nerd under those muscles and I expected more brawn’s not brains 🙄, plus you seem to want something long term and I just wanted something short and sweet, like a good fuck. Lol Bye loser”
What was he eighteen? Who the fuck talks like that Michael thought.
Well he definitely dodged a bullet tonight no matter how much it hurt him. That's why he didn't date younger men, it never worked.
The air tonight had suddenly gone humid, was it going to rain today? Michael hadn't even noticed the dark clouds earlier due to his excitement. And then the rain began to drizzle and Michael basked in it.
So what he was a nerd, Anime was his childhood, he styled his hair like Goku for his entire eight grade year, and got bullied for it.
Michael would collect action figures and geeked out over them every chance he got, because he truly put his hard work into the display case sitting in his living room.
Reading was another thing, that was peace for him, he liked Manga’s and comic books.
Another thing that threw people off was that Michael was Demisexual so often than not he was mostly to himself. He didn't do flings and he wasn't hypersexual, he was just your regular nerd turned businessman.
It's their loss.
When the rain started to pick up that's when things got serious. His once white button-down was now soaked and see-through and there weren't any shops coming up for a while.
On second thought he took that back, there was a cute little warm lit flower shop that looked ready to close. Michael jogged across the road quickly avoiding the oncoming cars, and trying not to slip on puddles.
Upon opening the door the little bell above Michael’s head chimed and signalled that a customer had walked in. The soaked man looked around and smiled, they're were flowers he couldn't even name, some being hand-grown in little pots and some barely budding, just seeds still trying to grow.
A young man came from behind the beaded curtain with his hands full of different things.
“Hey let me help with that” Michael inched forward and carefully took the huge bags of soil from the boy and sat them on the ground.
Michael looked up and locked eyes with the most beautiful boy he had ever seen.
His glasses were adorably sliding off and his cheeks were flushed surely from a long day of work.
“Thank you” Wow even his voice was beautiful, deep, and smooth and so pretty, it had such a nice tone to it.
“No problem what time y'all close?” Michael notices the boy avoiding eye contact and he smiles….cute Michael thought.
“We close at nine, it's my shop so I stay full-time,” Peter responded shyly, he was trying to avoid looking at Michael’s muscles through that white button up but he couldn't help that he was a gay deprived man.
“Would you like a shirt to change into, I don't think the rain is stopping anytime soon so you're welcome to explore the shop until closing. We uh, have a small upstairs area where I serve tea maybe we could have some?” Peter wanted to fling himself into a puddle and then get run over by a car.
He was being so obvious but Michael’s smile eased any nerves that he had. “I’d like that, I’m Michael by the way nice to meet you.” Michael's charming smile made Peter swoon and forget his own name.
“Oh! I’m Peter” He was already breathless and weak in the knees, why was Michael looking at him with those eyes. Peter cleared his throat and offered the man a freshly washed oversized sweatshirt that was perfect for Michael’s muscles but was huge on Peter.
Michael took the shirt and smiled, he instantly began to unbutton his wet and uncomfortable dress shirt without a second thought.
Peter burned red and quickly turned around to busy himself with anything else.
Michael chuckled before giving Peter a tap on the shoulder “I'm done, i’ll be upstairs okay?” Peter nodded at Michaels words and went back to preparing the store for closing.
It had a nice aroma emitting around the building. Michael had grown up used to the smell of flowers, his father would buy them for his mother so often that the scent had started to cling to the house.
This was nice scenery after being stood up that's for sure. Michael wanted to call his mom but he couldn't bring himself to tell her about another failed date.
Rustling caught Michael’s attention from the corner of them room causing him to raise his eyebrow. What the hell was that? Was it Peter or was someone else in the shop also.
Ah, it was a kitten, a white and black spotted kitten with a pink color and a little bell sitting in the middle of it. Michael smiled instantly and began to call the kitty over to play.
The cat came waddling over and perched itself in Michael's lap, the man cooed at the cat and scratched at its fur.
“I see you’ve met Bella, I rescued her from the street like two weeks ago, she could barely open her eyes then but now she’s full of energy.” Peter smiled at the memory, and Michael looked up at him like he was a saint.
“So how long have you been running your shop?” Michael asked, his eyes following wherever Peter went. The boy hummed and sat two cups down onto the round table before grabbing the porcelain teapot and pouring.
“I’ve had my shop for about two years now, it was a gift from my aunt who passed, it was in her will that I inherit it.” Peter’s voice trembled slightly but he would allow himself to break down in front of a stranger.
“Sorry to hear that, the shop is beautiful I'm sure she’d be happy with how much care you're putting into it.” Michael gave the boy a small smile and took a sip of his tea, pinky automatically shooting up, like he had seen on Bridgerton.
Peter chuckled and blushed again “Thank you for saying that. So why were you out in the rain? And dressed so nicely too.” Michael chuckled before sitting the small cup down.
The kitten had long ran off and crawled under some warm blankets Peter had sat aside for her.
“Actually I had a date, they uh, stood me up said I was too much of a nerd how childish is that” Peter gasped and slapped his forehead in disbelief, who would ever stand this man up.
“Thier lost, what a total idiot move if I scored a date with a man like you, I’d never stand you up, nerds are so cool and I'm speaking from experience because I am one.” Peter was getting loose with his words, hadn't even realized what he was saying until it was done.
“Oh my god I'm sorry” He quickly apologized and tried to shrink in on himself, Michael found him so adorable, his sweater low enough to show off collar bones and the flush of red running up his neck and cheeks.
“Sure you wouldn't stand me up?” Michael smirked, he had a playful glint in his eyes, it was fun to tease Peter.
“I mean you seem like a nice guy, maybe we could meet here tomorrow? Hopefully no rain next time.” Peter fiddled with his fingers in anticipation, he surely thought Michael would turn him down as they just met but he was mistaken.
“Alright then Peter same time tomorrow” After that Michael excused himself while the rain had come to a stop. He turned to give Peter one last charming smile before he made his way out of the shop. Peter grabbed Bella and placed her in the pocket of his coat to keep her warm.
He went home that night and couldn't sleep, he was so excited to see Michael again.
Peter doesn't remember the last time he had a date, and even then he knows he’s never felt a feeling such as this one.
Meanwhile Michael went home to his penthouse and felt hope, for the first time in a long time.
The next day was the same for them, Peter having to open the shop and Michael having to sit through boring business meetings and hear people beg for his company to sponsor them.
Really the only thing on his mind was getting to know Peter, the connection felt pretty genuine yesterday unless he was just delusional and couldn't tell.
Michael definitely had bad luck in the love department.
As Peter greeted customer after customer the traffic officially settled down and he was able to tidy up before Michael arrived.
Bella the kitten was just as eager to see Michael apparently, she bolted out of her hiding space when she caught sight of him opening the door. The little bell above the door sounded off and Peter was quick to rid his hands of his work gloves and run his hands through his hair.
Did he look okay? Was he sweaty? So many concerns.
“Hey Peter, you know I can see you right?” The man was currently trying to hide behind the beaded curtain to fix his appearance. But the curtain was see-through so what was the point.
“Hi Michael!! I was just making sure I didn't have soil on my face or something, that would be embarrassing.” Peter threw the curtain back and smiled shyly. Michael had clearly just come from work himself, he was still in his suit.
“Don't worry bout that stuff, your beautiful plus no shame in working hard, a little soil won't ruin our date baby.” Peter physically and mentally began to malfunction, his lips were pursed and his eyes went glassy at Michael’s reassuring words.
“How could anybody ever stand you up, your scarily perfect Michael” And Peter meant that wholeheartedly, Michael had such a way with words, it was so poetic he even made simple words sound like they mattered.
Michael blushed and took off his coat slowly, he allowed for Peter to take it and sit it on the coat rack before bending down to pet Bella.
“Well for one, I'm an apparent loser, two I'm a nerd despite the muscles and whatever else, and three I'm Demisexual, a lot of people want sex right away they expect that from me because of my appearance but I'm not like that.”
Peter began to grow even more excited to learn more about Michael, the man was full of surprises.
They went upstairs and talked about anything and everything, even after the shop was closed they stayed and talked. Peter opened up quickly to Michael about his aunts passing and his strained relationship with his family.
They didn't support him being gay or owning a flower shop but his Aunt did, she supported Peter no matter what and that's what mattered most to him.
Michael although his parents were the opposite of Peter, being the most supportive of him, he admits that growing up was hard.
Being openly gay from a young age and having even your teachers look at you with disgust was dehumanizing. On top of that he was one of those kids perceived as weird, his Dragon Ball backpack and Naruto printed converse made him stand out sure, but being black and openly different than his peers is what made his childhood hell no matter where he went. No matter how many schools he changed it was all the same until he just decided he wanted to be homeschooled.
That night Michael drove Peter home and received a kiss on the cheek from the boy.
And after that things changed for the better, it went from “I really like you” to “I love you” in a matter of three months of dating.
Michael finally found true love, he found someone he could bring home to meet his parents and be proud about it.
Peter found stability again, he found hope after his Aunt’s death and Michael knew what it truly meant to love someone.
They would go to Anime events and cosplay freely, Peter opened up about wanting to wear a dress to a convention and Michael was all for it. He even sponsored Peters shop to help fulfill out Aunt May’s dream, she wanted shops all over New York once upon a time and they made it happen.
It was the next week when Michael finally came to
Peter about wanting to have sex and Peter thought he was joking. But that was the best sex Peter had ever had in his life, Michael was a true beast when he was in love with the person he was fucking. Peter was glad it was him even if he couldn't walk for like two days.
One day while cleaning up the shop Michael
Paused to just admire his boyfriend. Peter looked like a fairy, the sun shining on him through the window, flower petals in his hair from earlier and that beautiful smile he had as he worked.
And that's when Peter adopted his precious nickname.
“Flower boy” he was Michaels flower boy.