ASP One Shots/Songfics

Flowers of Love

(Gene's POV)

Hanahaki Disease: An illness brought about by one-sided love where you cough and throw up flowers when suffering from unrequited love. So basically, whenever you think of the person you love who doesn't love you back, up comes a flower. I should know. I've has Hanahaki for the past year. Ever since my best friend, Phineas Pell, started dating another friend of mine, Leper Leppelier. I was happy for them when I found out. That happiness came to an end when I suddenly couldn't stop coughing, and when I had ran into the bathroom and finished my coughing fit, discovered that I had coughed up an orchid petal with a few spots of blood on it. When Finny asked what was wrong, I just said that I had a nasty coughing fit, but I left out the bloody flower. That night, I Googled 'coughing up flower petals' and discovered what Hanahaki Disease was. After reading the description, I thought back to all of my interactions with Finny, and realized that I did indeed love him. I had thought that he'd returned my feelings. Apparently he didn't. Fast forward a year later, and Finny and Leper are still dating while I'm still coughing up flower petals. What's worse is that the coughing attacks have gotten more violent, and I'm coughing up whole flowers now. At this point, I know there's no getting rid of the flowers in my system. I just hope that I don't have an attack tonight, when Brinker and Leper come over. It was just going to be a normal night, with movies and snacks and, because Leper, naturalism. No big deal. There's a knock at the door, and Finny gets up to get it. I look up from my book at the wrong time, because I watch Finny and Leper hug. I'm still not used to that. I swallow, trying to suppress any coughs. Brinker goes around the couple and says hi to me, and I say hi back. We all four settle on chairs and the floor and turn on The Avengers. Fine with me. Leper and Finny cuddle during the movie, making me feel like I might have another coughing fit adorned with blood and flowers. After, Finny takes Leper's had and leads him toward a less cluttered part of the room.

"What's going on, Finny?" Leper asks. Finny takes a deep breath.

"Leper, we've been dating for a while now, and I know this seems sudden, but I think I'm ready," Finny says. I watch as he pulls out a ring and gets on one knee. Leper gasps. I feel a coughing fit about to start, and I try to swallow down the flower. Finny looks at Leper with hopeful, loving eyes. "Will you marry me?" I notice Leper tear up.

"Yes." he answers simply. Finny stands up and throws his arms around Leper before pulling him into a kiss. I can't hold back the torrent of coughs any longer.

"Excuse me..." I mutter in a slightly pained voice. I quickly make my way to the bathroom and lock the door. I take a couple of fast breaths before coughing my lungs out. I need to use the sink to hold me up as I cough up a mixture of blood and flowers. When the first one appears, I expect that to be the end of it. I'm wrong. I keep coughing up blood and feeling flowers rise in my throat. My eyes widen as a realization comes to me: I'm going to die.

(Brinker's POV)

Finny and Leper shoot me a worried expression. Gene's been coughing in the bathroom for about ten minutes straight, and none of us know why. Finny holds Leper's hand, so as to feel reassured.

"I'll go check on Gene," I decide, leaving the two fiancés. I see Finny and Leper nod okay. I go to the bathroom door, and I can hear Gene, and he sounds as if he's suffocating. I knock on the door.

"Gene, are you okay?" I ask him, even though I think I already know the answer.

"I'm fine," he responds quickly before launching into another coughing fit. I take a second to think, then nod to myself and go to Finny and Leper.

"Guys, I can handle him. You two go do something together, you know, celebrate the engagement," I tell them. Finny shakes his head.

"I think we should stay, just in case," Finny counters.

"Seriously, there's no need to worry. Go." I half shove the two of them out the door and close the door behind them, then go back to Gene. I jiggle the door handle only to find it locked.

"Gene, open the door please. Maybe I can help," I ask him.

"You can't help," he manages to say before coughing again. I take a second to think: why can't I help him? I mean, people get colds but they don't usually-

Oh my gosh.

One word comes to mind as the pieces finally click: Hanahaki

That's why I can't help Gene. A moment after I make my realization, I stop hearing coughing. What I hear next is worse. I hear Gene fall to the ground. I quickly call an ambulance, and I kick the door open. I pick Gene up bridal style, and as I leave, I take one glance at the bloody flowers in the sink, then tear my eyes away from them and race out the door. The ambulance pulls up, and a paramedic takes Gene. I ride in the ambulance with him, and once we get to the hospital, I'm sent into the waiting room to fill out any paperwork and to, well, wait to find out about Gene. A few minutes later, a doctor comes into the waiting room and asks for who's here for Gene Forrester. I stand up and walk toward him. By the somber, sympathetic expression on his face, I think I already know what he's going to say.

"I'm sorry son, but your friend is dead. He had flowers in his lungs and roots in his respiratory system, causing him to choke on flowers and his own blood. To put it simply, he died because of Hanahaki," he tells me. I can't help but feel shocked at his death. It's at that moment that Finny and Leper run in. They're too late.

"Brinker! The hospital called and said that Gene was here. What happened?" he asked. Both are breathing heavily. The doctor gives me a look asking whether or not I want to be the one to tell them, and I nod slightly. Finny and Leper notice, and Finny starts to tear up. So I say simply:

"Gene is dead."

(Time Skip)

(Finny's POV)

The funeral reception was held in our old room. Leper pulls me into a comforting hug, and I gladly accept it. I squeeze his hand and tell him that I'm going to wander the apartment. He says okay. I'm strolling down the hallway when I look into the bathroom, and notice something in the sink. I turn the light on and see that there are bloodstained flowers in it. Pieces begin to click in my head as I stare at the bloody plants. All of those times Gene would sneak off or excuse himself suddenly made sense. And staring at those flowers, I realized three things.

One: Gene had Hanahaki.

Two: Gene loved me.

Three: Because he loved me, Gene was dead.

Word Count: 1249

A/N- I wanted to write something that was pretty angsty, so I wrote this. I have a Hanahaki AU now, which is neat.