Rose

Chapter Seven: I Want To Hear More About You

That evening, Alec pulled into Rose's driveway, a bouquet of flowers -he didn't know what kind- in his lap. They weren't the roses from that morning. The roses were merely a twenty-dollar pick-up line, he later gave them to his mother in a dollar store vase. 

He had a clean shave for the first time in memory, his hair styled to the best of Alec's ability. He wore a navy, well-fitting cotton button-up, a skinny black tie trailing down his torso. His shirt was tucked into black dress pants, a plain belt holding them up. His shoes were simply the brown leather dress shoes he wore to church, nothing out of his ordinary. Everything else was, though. He looked nothing like himself. He took pride in that.

He heard music echo from the backyard, so Alec followed it to Rose tending to a clothing line, a pencil between his lips. On the clothing line weren't clothes, but instead pieces of splotchy paper blowing in the gentle breeze. He smiled, striding up to Rose. He tapped his shoulder lightly, only for Rose to scream loudly, spin around, and prevent himself from punching Alec in the face.

"Alec!" Rose shrieked. "Don't do that!"

Alec smiled apologetically. "Sorry," he replied, holding out the flowers. Alec cringed. "I...I just remembered that you're a florist. You probably don't want more flowers."

Rose just smiled kindly, taking them from Alec carefully. "Nonsense. I wouldn't get a job around flowers if I didn't love them." He pressed his nose against them, going to turn off the music playing from his cell phone. When he turned back to Alec, he appeared panicked. "Wait, what are you doing here?!"

Alec looked startled. "Um...I thought you wanted to go out tonight."

"Well, yes, but- IT'S SIX-THIRTY ALREADY?!"

Alec smiled lovingly, nodding. "Yeah. It is."

Rose threw his head back. "Merde!" he cried. "I thought it was five! Just give me one second, I'll be ready, I promise!"

Rose sprinted into his house with surprising speed, leaving Alec doubled over laughing at his antics. Alec was proud to say that he, so far, had brilliant taste in men.

Rose swung open his closet, throwing articles of clothing out in an effort to get to the one that he had prepared. Finally, he reached for it, pulling it on as quickly as he could manage. Oh, how did I forget?! He thought to himself. God, I've been thinking about it all day, but I couldn't bother to check the time?! He probably thinks that I'm a hot mess.

Rose rubbed foundation on his face, still pulling his shoes on. With one hand, he carefully applied eyeliner, while the other one was focused on buttoning his shirt. Alec's waiting, he reminded himself, tying his tie single-handedly, putting on strawberry chapstick meanwhile. With a once-over in the darkened window, he bolted back outside. Alec was still smiling. Rose, unable to help himself, returned it.

"Sorry," he apologized, following Alec to his truck. "I should've kept track of the time."

"Nah, it's cool. I think it's cute."

Rose went red, moving a styrofoam cup to sit down. "Yeah..." Alec turned to look at Rose gather miscellaneous trash and throw them in the back seat.

"Sorry. I'm a slob."

Rose just smiled, climbing into the tall faded red ford without difficulty. "It's just evidence that you're human, Alec. You could be like me."

Alec chuckled. "Yeah. What's with that? It wouldn't kill you to get a chair or something."

"Actually," Rose contradicted, "it might. Stuff weighs you down. If I need to skip town and leave for the airport in the span of an hour, how am I supposed to drag suitcases of things with me?"