The Great Book of One-Shots

Flower Shop

Wooo! Day three in a row of posting!! I'm trying to post everyday this week ^-^

Prompt (didn't exactly follow this time oops :P): Person A is a florist who loves romance. They love learning about the meaning behind flowers and crafting beautiful bouquets to convey a meaning. Everyday, they make an arrangement of flowers for their love, Person B.  Person A makes sure to keep Person B's grave is full of flowers, because that's what they loved when they were still alive...

Warning: character death

Enjoy!

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Did the flower shop suit Ian? No.

Was it ever his intention to run it? No.

Did he fall for the beautiful, green eyed Dane that had previously owned the shop? Yes.

Had the little building and great gardens been left to Ian when the other left? Yes.

Did it hurt to do tasks he had seen the smaller do a thousands times? Yes.

Did it take everything in his power to not break down when customers asked what happened to Ben? Yes.

Did Ian's hands tremble as he tied the ribbon around a bouquet for who had become his lover? Yes.

Would he give the flowers to Ben face to face? No.

Would he have them delivered? No.

Would he see Ben smile as he saw all of his favorite flowers in all of his favorite colors? No.

Would he ever see Ben smile again? No.

Why? Simple. Ben was dead.

He was dead and had left the shop to Ian and as much as it hurt to work there Ian wouldn't let Ben's life dream go to waste.

Ian closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It didn't help. It never helped and he questioned why he still did it. If anything, closing his eyes only ever made it worse.

Every time he closed his eyes he would see the same image. Every single time he closed his eyes he would see the scene he wished so desperately to forget.

He had been sleeping in the little house connected to the shop. A little house that only had a sitting room big enough for a small couch and a few chairs, a simple kitchen, a small bathroom, and a bedroom barely big enough for the bed and dresser. Ben had let him move in once they started dating and Ian had been more than happy to spend all hours of the day with his little lover. Though, the thin walls had made it easy to hear the loud noises coming from the flower shop.

The first thing Ian had noticed when he was awakened was that Ben wasn't next to him. It wasn't too worrying though as he was usually up early to take care of the plants anyways.

Guessing that Ben had dropped a potted plat or something, Ian took his time getting up before going to help. He couldn't of been more wrong.

By time he got to the flower shop it was a mess. There were plants and dirt all over the floor. The glass door was shattered. The cash register was open and empty. There was a knocked over watering can spilling out into the middle of the room. And in the middle was who had dropped the watering can.

Ben was laying on the ground in a pool of red. There were several stab wounds on his chest and a deep gash in his neck. His eyes were foggy and his chest wasn't moving. The image would never leave Ian.

The man took a deep breath to keep the tears back. The memory always made him emotional and he knew it always would. After all, he hadn't been able to say good bye. He hadn't been able to tell Ben that he loved him once last time. He hadn't got a satisfying ending and would always be tortured by that.

He had gone to sleep with his perfect boyfriend in his arms and when he woke up he was gone - dead. He had been killed by a robber and Ian could of saved him. If he had gotten there quicker, he could of tried to stop the bleeding and there could of been a chance of Ben still being there.

But, no, the reality of the situation was that Ben was dead and nothing would change that. There had been a funeral overflowing with flowers of all types and all colors and so many people. It seemed like the whole town had adored the flower shop owner enough to see him one last time before burial. As he sat by the casket and watched person after person walk by, it warmed Ian's heart to know just how many people had cared for Ben.

Of course, after the burial, most of the people had left, but Ian stayed. He stayed and sat by gravestone until the sun began to set. He stayed because he didn't want it to be real. He didn't want to have to wake up alone again. He didn't want to have to run the shop by himself. He didn't want to live without Ben.

Though, as time went on, he learned to accept the truth. He accepted that Ben was dead. He took on responsibility of the shop. He figured out how to live without him again. He made a habit out of making sure Ben's grave always had pretty flowers on it. After all, it was the smaller's love of flowers that had started his dream of owning the shop.

Ben had put his life into that shop. He had worked so hard for so long and sold so many things that meant so much to him to be able to afford it. He had moved out of his comfortable apartment and into the tiny side house. He had sacrificed sleep to working and cleaning the long abandoned shop. He had turned it from a building destined to collapse from age and neglect to a beautiful flower shop, filled to the brim with plants common and exotic, bland and colorful, simple and intricate.

Ian only wished he new more about it. Wished Ben could tell him more stories of how the shop came to be. What had sparked the smaller's love of flowers? What had made him think he could fix the building? What kind of work had he done? Just how many jobs did he have to work? How much sleep did he actually get? He knew Ben had a habit of working over sleeping or taking care of himself in general, there had to be a start to that mindset somewhere. Then there was the biggest question: who else would Ben be okay with taking over his shop?

Ben had loved Ian, so it only made sense that he had to stay to take care of the shop, but Ian didn't know how long he could keep doing it. He knew it was unhealthy for him to stay there, but he didn't know who else Ben would of trusted enough to give his dream to.

With a sigh, Ian forced his thoughts away. He shouldn't be getting depressed now. He should of been happy. He was always happy when he was going to see Ben. And as he walked through the gates of the cemetery, he forced a smile. It wobbled and tried to turn back to his always-present neutral expression. Though, as Ian approached the grave, his smile widened. Not because he forced it to, but because he couldn't help the happiness he always got to see him - even if it only was through the beautifully engraved headstone.

Ian kneeled down next to the stone and traced part of a carved flower as he whispered a small phrase, "I love you." It was short and brought memories of all the times he had said it while Ben was alive. Tears began to fall down his face as a wave of emotions hit.

Ian laid the flowers down and whispered in a cracking voice, "I miss you." He wanted to say more, he always wanted to say more, but the crying took over and he couldn't help it as his hands went to his face and he sobbed into them.

He wasn't okay.

He was far from okay.

He was depressed and still not over the death.

Ben had died years ago.

Years that Ian robotically operated, still numb from the news.

Years that he only lived for the shop.

Years that only one thought ran through his mind.

He couldn't live without Ben.

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1340 words! Don't you just love depressing endings? I sure do... apparently.

Hope you enjoyed!

Requests always open!!

~Angel ^-^