bouquet of roses | cashton

chapter 5

june 24th

"luke, what's the number to the floral shop?"

calum was sprawled across the kitchen floor as luke skillfully moved from the fridge to the stove, careful to step over the dark haired boy. he froze as he was about to turn on the stove, and slowly turned to look at calum. "what?"

"you heard me. n-never mind, i knew it wasn't a good idea." calum sighed, but luke crouched down to look at him closely. as calum peered at him, he noticed the small smile that crept across the blonde boy's lips. "no, no, calum. it's a great idea! i just... didn't expect you to come around so fast. it's only been three days, though. are you sure you're ready?" calum just nodded. "hell yeah. i mean, if it was meant to be, then he'll come when we call."

luke just smiled, reciting the phone number as if he knew it by heart. in no time, calum was off the floor and sitting on the counter. he drew in a shaky breath as the phone rang, avoiding luke's stare.

"infinity floral, this is niall." the boy on the other line sounded exhausted, but he spoke with a chipper tone. calum felt like an ass for expecting a girl to answer the phone, simply because he expected girls to work with flowers than boys. luke gave calum a nudge, whispering to him to go on.

"i-i, um... i would like to order a bouquet of roses... for delivery."

-

on the other side of the line, a boy with dyed blonde hair leaned against the counter of the floral shop as he spoke to calum. he smiled widely as a certain head of dirty blonde curls turned the corner with newly-cut daisies in his arms. he stopped at the counter, and waited for niall to give him the order information he wrote down. "alright, let me just check with my delivery crew to see if there any spots available." niall handed the slip with information to ashton, who quickly read it over.

"niall. i can't. this customer told me to stop coming around."

niall raised an eyebrow, turning back to the phone. "one sec, sir." he pulled the phone away again. "ashton, what's up?"

-

calum tried hard to hear the hushed whispers between the employees on the line, but all he could hear was ashton's muffled, frantic voice. after what felt like forever, someone picked up the phone.

"sir? we are very sorry, but we're not able to deliver to that address. you'll have to come in store to pick it up."

calum sat there, eyes wide as he hung up the phone. "you're shitting me."

"looks like you'll just have to go to the store, calum." luke shrugged, but calum glared at him. "like hell i am. i'll just keep trying. they'll have to accept my order sooner or later."

-

june 30th

"i'm going to infinity floral." those were the first words luke and michael heard their friend speak in nearly six days. after the first call with infinity floral, calum had asked if the two could leave him alone for a few days. they would check up on him three times a day anyways, and all he would do is look at them with sleepless eyes, silently accept the food they brought, and close the door on their faces.

"what? cal is actually going out for once?" michael sneered, a cheeky smile forming. calum punched his arm, quickly putting on his shoes. "i've called them thirty seven times. i'm not putting up with this bullshit anymore." before anyone could protest, calum was already out the door and in his car.

-

"thank you for choosing infinity floral." ashton smiled brightly, bagging a few flower crowns and handing them to the teenage girl standing across from him. he turned his head towards the shop's door when he heard the bell ring, signaling someone had entered. "welcome to infinity f-"

"ashton, we need to talk." calum didn't even wait for ashton to respond when he hopped the counter and grabbed his wrist, pulling him to the greenhouse in the back of the shop.

"c-calum? what are you doing here? i thought you hated flowers." ashton pouted, and calum almost forgot he was mad in the first place. almost.

"thirty seven times. i called this stupid place thirty seven times. and thirty seven times, the guy who answers the phone would get into a whisper fight with you then decline my damn order!" ashton flinched with each word, afraid to say anything as calum grew angrier and angrier. "if you don't like me, just say it, ashton."

there was a small silence before ashton began to laugh. it was quiet, uneasy, but quickly grew into uncontrollable laughter. "h-haha! you really are kind of an idiot!" calum narrowed his eyes. "what?"

ashton grabbed calum by the shoulders, standing on his toes slightly to match his height. "calum, you don't remember? you told me to decline all orders to you. i was just following your directions. i-if you missed me that much, you should've said so." he snickered, backing away from the dumbfounded boy. "now, i have to get back to the register. i'll see you around, calum." and with that, the two walked back to the front together.

calum was about to leave when ashton stopped him. he pulled out a bouquet of roses from the case at the counter and handed it to him. "this is for those thirty seven calls. maybe next time you call for delivery, you can explain why you always buy so many bouquets from here?"

a blush crept across calum's face as he accepted the bouquet, nodding slowly. "y-yeah, sounds good..."

-

two days later, calum called just before infinity floral's closing time. this time, he requested ashton come on his way home from the end of his shift, and so he did.

calum locked luke and michael away in his bedroom as he and ashton hung out in the living room and talked for hours, just wanting to get to know each other.

after about an hour, ashton noticed something. "hey, i think this is the first time i've seen you smile. you have such a nice one." he was right; calum suddenly felt self conscious, though, as his smile quickly turned to a pout. "w-whatever."

soon, ashton found himself saying goodnight to calum as he made his way to the door. "i'll see you later, ashton." ashton just smiled and nodded. and then, hesitantly, he leaned in, pecking calum's cheek as he quickly left.

"what a lame first date." michael muttered as he entered the room, rolling his neck. "i always expected you to make the first move, loser. what now?"

calum walked away slowly, covering his red face in his hands. "... i-i'm going to bed."

--

this was so badly planned and written i'm gonna die when i reread it in the morning

but idk i hope its ok???? it feels way too rushed smh

i'm just really tired soRRY,, much love xx