Chapter Text
It honestly shouldn't surprise Simon anymore when he gets woken up at 5am by his older sister, he used to get woken up earlier in prison but he had been out for 5 years and was expecting to be able to sleep in at least once.
"Come on Si, you wanted to work at the plant shop, you gotta get up and get ready." His older sister, Ava, said as she threw a pillow at his head. He tried to block it with his left hand, before remembering that he, in fact, did not have one of those anymore. Simon groans before finally letting out a very quiet "five more minutes."
Ava sighs before practically dragging Simon out of bed. Simon knew his sister was strong, but he wasn't expecting her to be able to drag him onto the floor. He lets out a small hiss after his head hit the floor. "Sorry Si, but you really have to hurry if you don't wanna be late." Ava said before leaving the room to get ready herself.
~~~~
Simon finally got out of bed and dressed, he had stared at himself in the mirror for a good 30 seconds before splashing water on his face to wake himself up before doing anything else. He grabbed his bag and put his phone, a notepad, a few colored pens and his keys in it.
He grabbed a piece of toast before walking out the door and heading to the plant shop. It wasn't a horrible distance from where he lived, but it was still a good 10 to 15 minute walk to get there. He passed by a few different types of shops, one of them being "Stratt's Coffee", it was a family owned business, Ava was friends with the daughter of the shop owner, they seemed to get along well.
He also walked past the middle school, he normally saw a few of the students outside, normally Rocky would be out there with them but there was someone new there. A blonde man, he was definitely taller than Simon, he was also a little buff, which surprised Simon a bit but he decided to move on when they suddenly made eye contact.
~~~~
He had arrived at the plant shop, he didn't actually think there was gonna be so many plants there, maybe a few flowers or bushes, but nothing like what was there.
There were a few trees in pots, vines lining the walls, hundreds of roses, tulips, lilies, cacti, daisies, azelas, you name it, they have it.
"Hey, theres my new employee!" A man with a very thick Irish accent says as he walks up and holds out his left hand.
"Uhm."
"Oh my bad."
The man switches and holds out his right hand. Simon lets out a small chuckle before shaking the man's hand. "It's nice to meet you, sir."
"Please, call me Jack!" He says before taking his hand back. "Adrian had told me ALL about you, they say you're friends with their husband?" He continues as they walk behind the register.
Simon looks amazed, he didn't realize that people talked about him, I mean, he expected it, he got this job through Rocky and Adrian, but he didn't know they talked anymore then his experience and how he's always wanted to work with plants.
"Yeah, Rocky and I have been friends since I first moved here, he was one of the few people who I actually felt comfortable around." Simon shrugged as he hung onto his bag strap. "I've always loved plants, I'm glad I'm getting the opportunity to work with them." He continued as they walked into the back room. There were so. many. plants.
Jack had shown him around most of the small shop, he showed him the lockers and pointed at one of the top ones. "That one is yours! You may decorate it however you wish, just make sure not to forgot your locker combo." Jack continued as Simon nodded along.
Simon looked over to see a person sitting at the table, it must've been Adrian, he knew they worked here but they were not what he expected them to look like.
They had longer hair, maybe to about their mid torso, it had a greenish/teal color hue to it. They were looking at their phone before finally looking up and seeing Simon.
"Hey! You must be Simon, Rocky talks about you a lot, did you know that?" They blurted out. Simon just looked shocked for a second, the voice was also not what he was expecting, he had never met anyone so androgynous.
"I did not know that, but I expect nothing else from Rock, he talks a lot about you as well." Simon says as he puts his bag in his locker. Jack had walked away at that point, he did need to open the store after all.
Adrian lets out a laugh, before standing up. "Come on, I'll show you the ropes, aka, what you're gonna be doing." They say as they place a hand on Simon's shoulder and basically pushing him out of the back room.
They walked through the store, Adrian showed Simon the different plants, telling him what plants are which and how to take care of them properly. Simon already knew most of these plants but he appreciated the gesture so he didn't complain.
~~~~
A few hours into the shift and Simon was BEAMING, he was taking care of plants, he was helping customers when they had questions about how to take care of the plants, he was helping with people buying plant food and watering cans and all kinds of things, he'd never been so happy.
"Simon!" A familiar voiced called out, it was Rocky, he didn't realize that it was after school time already. "Rock!" Simon waved at the man as he approached.
"How as your first dayyyyy?"
"Not bad, I got to help people learn about plants and what to give them."
"That's fun!"
Rocky wrapped an arm around Simon, he let out a small huff as the man squeezed him a little hard, Rocky was stronger then he looked, which Simon knew, but never mentioned it.
"You doing anything tonight?" Rocky says as he looks at Simon in the eyes. Simon tilts his head slightly, he was puzzled by the question.
"I don't think so-" before he could finish, Rocky shouts out, "Great! You, me, Adrian, and the new science teacher, tonight 7pm, at Stratt's Coffee!" Simon was, slightly? confused, more then slightly actually, he wasn't expecting to be invited to something like that, but I guess he was going whether he wanted to or not.
"Sounds like a plan." Simon said with a small chuckle, he was nervous, to say the least, he hasn't really met anyone new in the last 5 years, there were a few people who came into the shop today who he didn't know but it's not like those people were going to be people that he was going to be friends with.
Rocky just nods with a proud smile on his face before walking over to the register where Adrian was stationed. I guess Simon better get mentally prepared to meet a whole new person.
~~~
It was around 5pm when Simon got off, he decided that he wanted to go home and take a shower before he got to meet this new science teacher.
He managed to make it home in 5 minutes, compared to the 15 minutes it took him to get to work in the first place.
When he got home, he noticed that Ava wasn't anywhere to be seen, he wasn't super worried about it, she was always running off doing whatever, he expected her to already be at the Coffee shop, she was always there on her days off.
Simon had tossed his bag onto the couch before heading into his room to find something nice to wear, he really needed to go shopping for more situations.
He grabbed a black t-shirt and a pair of jeans before heading into the bathroom to take a shower.
It took him approximately 30 minutes to shower, most of that time was spent just standing in the warm water, thoughts and stresses of the day just leaving once he felt the warm water on his skin.
After he got out of the shower, he stared at himself in the mirror for another 10 minutes, maybe, he had lost all track of time in the shower.
He brushed his hair and attempted to put it into a little messy bun before finally getting fully dressed.
He still had about an hour before he had to head to Stratts, but he wasn't exactly sure what to do. The dishes were done, the plants were watered, he didn't really have anything to do so he decided to take a walk, just a short one.
He had grabbed his keys and hung them from one of the belt hooks before walking out of the door, locking it behind him.
He walked through the park, he had been in it hundreds of times, but every time there was always something new, birds would be humming songs, there were older ladies who tossed the birds bread crumbs, there'd be a few dogs running around, chasing squirrels up trees.
He had noticed that the leaves started changing colors, autumn was starting.
Simon loved autumn, his favorite season is spring, but autumn always had a place in his heart, the way the trees changed color always intrigued him.
"Do you know why the leaves change color like that whenever fall comes?" A voice says behind Simon, it was, unfamiliar, and he was surprised to turn around and see the buff teacher he had accidentally made eye contact with earlier that day.
Simon just stares at him for a second, "It's because, since the days are getting shorter, the trees are getting less sunlight." He pauses, thinking back to all the books he'd read about trees.
"The Chlorophyll starts to break down, which makes the green disappear and the yellow to orange colors become more visible." He had continued, proud of himself for answering correctly.
The other man nodded, "Yep! I've always loved the way the trees look after summer ends." He said as he stood next to Simon, both of them looking up at the tree that stands in front of them.
"I'm Ryland, by the way, Ryland Grace." The man holds out his hand, Simon looks at him for a second. "Simon." He says as he shakes the other man's hand.