Newtmas One-Shots

1. NEWTMAS - FLOWERS AND MORNING JOGS

Thomas never missed his morning jog, for two reasons. First, he liked to keep his body fit and healthy, and second, because it felt good following closely the same routine each day, it helped him keep his mind clear. Right, maybe there was a third motivation to his morning jogs. Or, at least, to why he chose to run in a neighbourhood that was at the other end of the city, extending his course by at least a mile. His friends would laugh at him for being so soft and choose a route only because it passed along a very pretty balcony covered with flowers.

But he couldn't help himself the first time he saw it, still sweaty from the run he had just performed. The balcony was worth all the greenhouses he ever visited in his life. Not that Thomas was an expert in gardening, and probably the flowers growing by the window weren't this exceptional, but Thomas could tell just by looking at it from down the street, how much the person who was taking care of the plants loved it. The whole balcony radiated love and care, and Thomas simply fell in love with that feeling. Every morning, he would wonder who could throw so much love and attention in gardening. Sometimes he imagined an old lady, watering each and every one of her plants in slow but experienced movements. Some other days, it was a little girl in his mind, learning about gardening and loving every moment of it. And, yes, when he felt bold and liked to dream crazy scenarios, he was picturing a boy, around his age, picking at every flower in such a handsome yet caring way.

And one day, about three months before he first spotted the garden, he saw him, the man from the balcony. He was a dirty-blonde boy around Thomas' age, just like the runner had ever dreamed, yet prettier than he could ever have imagined. Every morning, he would kneel by his plants, taking care of his garden with such attention, that Thomas could only watch in awe at how adorable he looked. He immediately fell for the blonde, admiring his every movement. After his jog, on his way back, he would stop by the house, and observe the boy gardening on his balcony. Oh, how Thomas wished someone could care about him the way the boy cared about his flowers. But of course, the blonde never noticed him, he was so focused on his garden, he never turned to see what happened in the street, where Thomas was.

In a way, Thomas was grateful the gardener never noticed him, because he was terrified to ever talk to him. He felt like the blonde was so much better than him, at everything. He was better-looking, looked more mature, smarter and the list could go on and on. Not that Thomas had such a low self-esteem, but he spent too much time looking up to the mysterious boy - both figuratively and literally- to ever be able to compare himself to the blonde. He found his name on the letter box one day - Newt. A bit unusual, but original, Thomas thought. He decided he liked it, because that suited the man pretty well.

Part of him was dying to be able to talk to Newt, but another part was perfectly fine with just looking at him every morning, in fear of making a fool of himself if they ever met.

He had tried to learn more about gardening, however. At the bookshop he worked at, he had purchased almost every book they had on plants, flowers, and gardening. Teresa, his co-worker, had made so much fun when she realized that he spent his nights trying to remember periods of plantation for different species and other useless informations when one didn't own a garden. She had even bought him a shrub of petunias, as to make him at least apply what he was learning. The flowers died in less in a month. Thomas had had yet to read the chapter on pot flowers, in his defence. Not that it would have helped so much anyway. He had to admit, he wasn't a gardener, he was more of a runner, a man of action. He loved books, indeed, but he spent the rest of his free doing sports, staying fit, and going on adventurous trips, most of the time with Teresa.

His next move, however, had been Teresa's idea. She was tired of hearing him rambling about "the blonde angel with a pretty name and his heavenly garden", and because Thomas wouldn't take a step forward and go talk to him, she decided to make him do something in between. Something that could also make him use all his new acquired knowledge on plants and gardening. Every morning, on his way back from his jog, as he passed the balcony for the second time, he would drop some flower seeds, or a gardening tool that he had noticed Newt needed, by his door. The blonde could never see him, as he knew that at that time he was focused on his plants on the balcony. It was a wonderful idea from Teresa. Thomas felt as sharing a very special something as he watched the boy growing the seeds he had given him, using the clippers he had dropped a few days ago by his door. It was like he could play a little part in whatever sacred task Newt was accomplishing in his gaden, and that made him happy.