Best + Bitter = Better

Five days after

Maybe he is gay. The thought has been troubling him since the moment he woke up. He has been avoiding his sister all day. But has to finally give up over the dinner table where the whole family sat and ate. By the whole family, it is the whole family - cousins, aunts and uncles, grandparents, the estranged people who are supposedly 'related' that only come over for Thanksgiving. The table is joined to other tables and the food has to be passed around. Normally, this is one of Geoff's most favourite moments, but today his heart isn't in it.

He is too encased in his thoughts to pick up on any conversations thrown his way. There are too many people having too many different conversations to notice that Geoff isn't talking. His sister does though, she sits across from him. She mentions it to him, but he just waves her off. She apologises too, but he isn't listening.

Maybe he is gay. What does he tell his parents? What about at uni? What will people think? Maybe his is why he and Chloe didn't work out. What does he do? Awsten. Awsten. Awsten. What now? Awsten. What does he do? Awsten. He's so stupid to not have figured it out on his own. Awsten. What about—? Awsten. Awsten. Awsten.

His thoughts are overwhelmed with stuff that he couldn't deal with. He sighs, pushes his chair out noisily and runs out the door. The table goes silent and he just about hears Rebecca mumbling something. He doesn't care. He reverses out the driveway quickly and speeds off to the nearest florist.

Geoff bursts through the door, adrenaline pumping through his body. He has a maniacal grin on his face, but it drops to a more conservative smile when he sees someone. He charges up to the counter, glancing at the shocked expression on the florist.

"I would like any and every flower that means love, please." His chest is heaving and he is so excited. The florist, who appears to be an elderly-ish man, seems to be quite amused.

"Of course." The florist smiles. "Any particular colour?" The man asks as he starts moving around the shop, looking at his flowers.

He thinks momentarily 'pink is my favourite colour, what does it say?' then smiles, "Pink, it's his favourite colour." He shuffles on his feet, eager to go to Awsten.

"Ah, a he? My grandson is gay, too. My wife is not too happy about it." The florist begins collecting flowers as he tells his story. "I told her it's wrong to be homophobic, but she says it's wrong to love someone of the same gender." He glances up to see a tight expression on Geoff's face; he is annoyed that homophobia still exists.

The florist takes the flowers up to the till and shows Geoff. He looks at it and shakes his head. "No, it's not good enough." His eyes trail around the arrangement of pink roses and light pink tulips. "I'm sorry. I'll take this bouquet anyway, but please try again." He smiles. The florist doesn't seem one bit bothered. "While you're at it can you add some sincerity into it?" The florist simply smiles and nods.

It takes five turns and thirty dollars, but Geoff finally has the perfect arrangement of roses, pink daisies, tulips, peonies, baby's breath and pink carnations. The florist helps him take it all to his car and pile them in; Awsten's special bouquet strapped into the passenger seat. With one last smile, he drives off to Awsten's house.

He parks very close to Awsten's house, but not outside because he wants it to be a surprise. The biggest grin is plastered on his face while his mind is racing. It has to be perfect. It has to be perfect. Geoff sits in his car for a good five minutes before he has the courage to get out and make the short journey to Awsten's door. He takes a big breath before he gets out

Geoff whispers to himself with a little smile as he inches towards Awsten's house. "It has to be perfect. It has to be perfect. It has to be perfect." He repeats. He checks what he's wearing: is it decent? Does his breath smell? Is there food in his teeth? Is his hair messed up? Before he knows it, he's in front of the door and his hand has already closed into a fist and knocked twice. He takes a deep breath and smiles as the door opens.

His smile is wiped clean off of his face. His heart drops and everything feels slow. Mark opens the door. The arm holding the bouquet drops to his side and he can hardly keep hold of the flowers. The perfect flowers.

"Who's at the door?" He hears Awsten yell from a distant room. Geoff's heart rate picks up at the sound of his voice and his world crashes around him.

"No one." Mark snickers and closes the door.