He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not -TDDK-

Chapter 7 -Digits-

My camera was having a die trying to take this picture lol

Shouto gave a sort of out-of-character awkward wave to the barista and his mother, Inko, as they headed out the shop with her birthday bouquet. Jesus Christ, between his bright red ears, constant misspeaking, inability to make eye contact and stupid nervous neck rubbing, he was a whole different freak-out of a person around this guy, and frankly he was just about ready to smack himself for that ridiculousness.

Shaking it off, he grabbed his keys and bags, getting ready to close. Rei had already left and Tsuyu was still out, so he was the last one, and since there was usually no one who came in after 5:30 he had no remorse for closing up early.

To his surprise, when he got home the inviting scent of warm food, paired with the brash clattering of cooking utensils.

"Maman? Are you cooking?" Setting his stuff on the entryway table, he hurried to the kitchen to ensure she was alright. Her cooking, specifically home alone, scared him, especially since the... the accident.

"Oh, yes." Putting down her spoon, she gave him a quick hug, her eyes unable to meet his mismatched ones. "I just wanted to make us some dinner. It's been a while and, honestly angel, you're not the best cook."

"Everything's alright?" It was freaking him out a bit, Rei was a good cook but in the sixteen years since their accident she'd only cooked with heat seven times.

"Yes, I was... I'm going to try to start again." She said, her satiny voice soft as she tried to get a read on her son. "Are you okay?"

"Of course, of course, Maman, it's- I wasn't exactly expecting it," giving a gentle smile, his mother brushed hair away from his slightly furrowed brow.

"I've got this, angel, dinner will be ready in ten minutes." Getting back to the food, Rei began to hum a sweet tuned brining a wash of calm to their apartment.

Lending a hand, he set the table, excited to have a meal that wasn't a disgrace to the food it was made of. He even got out the good napkins for the occasion.

Just as she'd said, ten minutes later, a beautiful sukiyaki awaited upon the table. Despite his previous worries for his mother, Shouto enjoyed the meal with a great gratitude, leaving the pot just about empty by the end of dinner.

Overall, though, they had a quiet night. Wiggles, their cat, climbed on the couch for cuddles while they relaxed after dinner, bringing purr-y cuddly comfort to the exhausted family.

Feeling pretty tired, Shouto spent a good part of the evening browsing various social media platforms for work inspiration, showing his mom some of the particularly pretty arrangements he stumbled upon.

That night must've gotten away from him at some point, since the next morning he awoke on the couch, exactly where he'd been sitting last night, his phone, with his alarm, dead on the floor beside him. He had to get better at going to bed on time.

Rushing to wake up and get ready, he practically fell out the door in an effort to get out on time. Running through the building, he dashed onto the sidewalk, barely paying attention to his surroundings as he went. An approach 100% not recommended.

Crash!!!!

A sharp collision sent two people stumbling all over the concrete.

"Ah, god, I am so, so, sorry!" Collecting himself, the florist hurried to ensure the other was alright.

"It's alright," a green-haired, freckle splashed boy sat up on his elbows slowly arising from the sidewalk.

"No, it's not. I really should have look where I was going- uh, shit, let me help you up." Extending a hand the bi-colored florist, tried to dismiss his frantics and help the guy up.

"It's okay, really, I'm fine." Accepting the outstretched hand the grenette dusted himself off. "Are you okay?" His kind emerald eyes meeting the furrowed, mismatched ones, searched for words beneath their color.

Oh dear god. Shouto finally recognized who he'd bumped into... it was him... that barista, Midoriya.

"Yeah, of course I'm alright but... are- are you sure your okay??" With two hands on the shorter boy's shoulders, his fretting face scanned for even the slightest of scrapes.

"Seriously, I'm fine." Giving a friendly laugh, the freckled barista put up one hand as if taking a pledge. Nodding, the taller boy took his hands back, running one through his hair. "You know it funny, we keep running into eachother, quite literally this time." He joked lightly, handing a dropped notepad to its worried owner.

"Oh, yeah I guess we do," glancing down at his feet, Shouto seemed unable to meet the pair of gazing forest eyes for a second time.

Each gave an awkward laugh, shifting nervously on their feet, leaving an incredibly uncomfortable moment in the the air. After a decent bout of uneasiness, Midoriya broke the tension.

"So, I guess if we keep bumping eachother it'd be good to have your number, hm?" Holy shit this guy was smooth as fuck. Caught completely off guard, the florist gave a laugh, briefly glancing at the handsome guy before his flushed face forced him to to turn away.

"Only if I can, uh, get yours." Scratching the back of his neck, Shouto gave a defeated sigh. "I'm sorry, I'm not good at this."

"Your cute, it outweighs your flirting skills, trust me." Pulling a pen out of his apron pocket, the freckled barista gently took the taller boy's hand, scrawling his phone number across the back of the palm, along with his first name and a cute little heart.

"Oh, ha, um, thank you." Admiring the set of numbers, his mixed eyes gazed shyly at the striking boy infront of him, doused gorgeously in sunlight. "I, uh I better get going, I'm late for work"

"Alright, I won't hold ya any longer." He teased.

"Again, sorry about that-"

"Hey, it's all good, just... give me call sometime." Offering a wave to the florist backing up as he began to hurry to his workplace.

Shouto gave a bright smile, paired with a small wave, and hurried to the shop, now incredibly late.

He ran to the shop, this time much more carefully, trying to process what the actual bell just happened. Chucking his bags into the back room, he barely had time to unlock the doors before the he had to start loading flowers into the shop's transportation van.

Today was the day, the wedding order was to be delivered this particular day. Yes, it was only  seven thirty, but this delivery was due at nine, to a place 45 minutes from the shop.

His mind could barely even focus on the work as it raced 'round and 'round, replaying the confusingly incredible moment over and over again, trying to process even a second of it. Thankfully or woefully— he couldn't decide, Tsuyu waltzed in the back door, ready on deck to help.

She helped, attentively placing each piece of the order in the back of their climate controlled work van. They made an effort to tuck each component like a delicate puzzle so they would survive the drive. A drive that he and Tsuyu piled in to take just twenty minutes later.

Unfortunately, Rei wasn't joining. That was already the plan though, so someone could tend to the shop while he and Tsu drove out and set up. The two grabbed a few thing just in case, some scissors, garden tape, plant food, snacks, just a few necessities and gave Rei a quick text that they were heading out and climbed in the van.

Kicking off the mini road-trip, Tsuyu put on some music and pulled out of the lot. Both florists ready for a bustling day...

——————————
I've literally never dated or flirted, which explains this whole interaction.