He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not -TDDK-

Chapter 16 -He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not-

Imma just leave that there.

Delicate petals swayed throughout the air, landing softly across the sun-painted floorboards. Those shimmering emerald eye seared their image into the forefront of the young florist's mind.

"He loves me," a petal danced through the sunlight, floating soundlessly to the ground. "He loves me not," with a thin, honey-like laugh, Shouto rested his head on the counter. A foolish kind of longing began to pool his brain with a fantasy's potential.

That whole day his mind swirled, thoughts of that moment dancing like a painting, so beautiful that one could barely see the big picture, only allowing sights on the smallest strokes.

Over and over, analyzing every fraction of a movement, sliver of a second, enamored with how this could have been. Staring blankly through the window, dazed all night, it wasn't until he found himself laying wide-eyed in bed that morning that the experience had fully wrapped around his mind.

Ears burning with blush, almost couldn't believe the absurdity that he'd committed. Asking a person out, specifically that person? A bold, borderline insane, move that he could almost regret.

Stupid, frankly. That's what this was, stupid, yet, gloriously so.

Burying pink cheeks in the shade of crossed arms resting upon the counter, his poor attempted to hide the wildest flush.

For now, he supposed it'd be best to just get back to work's distractions rather than harp on childish games as petal-plucking. Brushing the petals away, Shouto turned to the computer, looking for any online orders that'd come through, or possibly a just distraction. Either would suffice.

Thankfully, after a few refreshes, an order popped up on the screen. An anniversary bouquet, a simple but rather enjoyable one.

Gathering white orchids, miniature monstera, a few alcoa palm leaves, a bit of floral foam, and some lacey ribbon, he laid them out across the counter and grabbed a square, white, ceramic vase to match. Trimming all the stems he got to work, carefully pinning them into the foam.

This specific work was arranged in one of his personal favorite ways, waterfall style. True to the name, flowers cascaded gracefully down from the heart of their vase, a floral resemblance to the lovely water feature. Sure, it could be a pain, but that was exactly what made it a perfect distraction for the moment.

Though, the distraction barely lasted. Ten minutes in, he found his mind had wandered off to curiosities and worries regarding this 'date', clambering over the nonexistent what-ifs that plagued his thoughts.

Come to think of it, he should probably find a restaurant or something. Yes, that was correct, this fool had gone and asked someone out to lunch with any further plans.

"Hey Tsu?" He called, setting down a pair of scissors.

"Hm?" She rounded a corner, distracted by a bucket of fresh dried pampas, inspecting it for any stowaway critters.

"Do you know any, any lunch places around here?"

"What? Why?" Her attention had immediately been caught as she propped the bucket up in her hip, eager to hear the reasoning of this odd request.

"I, I made some plans-"

"Oh, you've asked that guy out, haven't you?"

"Y-you could put it that way," swallowing a lump of nervousness, he scratched at the scar over his cheek as he tried to get the proper words out.

"Ah, there's a few around here," she began, kindly deciding not to push his nerves. "My favorite's a little place about three blocks from here, it's great for light little lunches, Fresh."

"Thanks, Tsuyu,"

"No problem, dear," she offered a single consoling head pat, before waltzing off to restock the pampas grass.

Returning to the bouquet, a sense of calm washed over him for the first time since that morning.

The rest of the morning was actually fairly peaceful, the bouquet only took a bit over an hour but there were plenty of other projects to be done, to fill the time.

By the time lunch had approached Shouto was feeling strangely calm. He fixed his appearance in the breakroom mirror, trying to keep suddenly wild hair and disheveled clothes under control.

"Hon, you'll be fine," Tsu sighed as she walked past with a fresh bouquet.

"I suppose. But what are we going to tell m-, Rei?"

"What are you going to tell her," she corrected, not wanting to get tied up in that weird conversation. "And you could just tell her you're meeting a friend."

"Oh..." he trailed off, feeling rather stupid in light of this seemingly obvious answer.

A clock perched on the wall alerted him that the time was edging closer and he was going to need to leave in two minutes.

Grabbing his bag and shop keys, he headed out, waving a nervous goodbye to Tsuyu.

Jaunting 'cross the street, hands tightly gripped the messenger bag straps, trying to settle rising nerves.

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Fuck life. I'm not paying a premium subscription for this shit.