Dan boarded the second train of the day, lugging his suitcase behind him. He beelined towards an empty seat and sat down, a small moment of victory in what could possibly be the worst day ever. (Dan realized that he was overreacting, but he felt cranky and dramatic) He shifted his luggage so it would be in between his legs and out of the way and pulled out his phone from his pocket to review a text his brother had sent which woke him up just a mere few hours earlier. "Hey Dan, just wanted to remind you that I'll be picking you up at Manchester Terminal at about 12:30. Don't forget to bring mom's presents and bring the booze! lol". Dan sighed at his phone, then shut it off and replaced it. He looked around the carriage, tapping his fingers on the bag in front of him and wondering which deity he had pissed off to make his luck as bad as it was. After waking up at the previously mentioned text, he realized that he overslept, wasn't finished packing and procrastinated the buying of his mother's presents for her birthday so much that now, he had nothing to give to her. Last night, he planned on being prepared, but got distracted halfway through packing his bags by the internet, and eventually forgot about the whole thing. He awoke by that horrible dinging sound of his phone under his pillow in the morning. After groggily lifting his head up and skimming the contents of the message, he jumped out of bed and grabbed some clothes that were strewn around during his attempt to be organized last night. He sprinted out of his bedroom with his suitcase banging around the hallway behind him and slid into the kitchen to grab something to eat. He reached for his shoes on the floor and slid them on, taking a jacket from the hook near the door, and ran out, saying a rushed "Bye" to his roommate, Justin, who was unresponsive during the entire calamity, placidly eating cereal whilst Dan was screaming his fool head off about how late he was.
Dan ran out of his apartment building and managed to sprint to the nearest Underground station without getting run over or pushing any pedestrians into the street. He boarded the first train, and made it to his second one on time. He shifted in his seat again, thinking how ashamed he was. Dan would have to lie about the present to his mum and just tell her that it hadn't arrived yet. He bit his lip in discomfort. "Well," Dan thought, "I'm just going to have to make do and try to buy some flowers or chocolate on the way as a cheap replacement until I actually buy something." Still unhappy, Dan went back at his phone and tried to look distracted for the rest of the train ride until his stop. When he heard his platform announced, he shoved his phone back into his bag and stood up along with all of the other passengers. He quickly disembarked and strode to the nearest stairwell that would take him out of the tunnels. He took the stairs two at a time up to the top of the earth with his long legs and squinted at the new change of light. Looking around at the street, he realized that his brother's car wasn't there. Still trying to find him, Dan shot his brother a text. "Where are you?". He started walking up the street, trying to find a silver Toyota when a small shop sign caught his eye. "Flowers By Phil" he muttered, stopping in his tracks and eyeing the storefront, when he made the decision to cross the street and go inside to try and find something acceptable to present his mother with when he arrived back at his childhood home.
Dan looked both ways crossed the street in long strides, stopping in the doorway of the shop when he heard his phone in his back pocket give a ding. Stepping out of the doorway and grabbing his phone, he saw that it was Adrian who texted him.
"Hey Dan, super sorry I'm late. Traffic's a bitch, so I'll be about another 30 minutes or so. Was the ride out ok?"
Dan huffed, glad that he wasn't going to be the one blamed for being late, and glad that this would give him some more time to find his mum a gift that was not completely lame. He poked at the screen, telling the other man that the train ride was ok, and stepped into the warm shop.
And almost dropped his phone.
Standing there was a handsome man, about as tall as he was, with alabaster skin and ebony hair to match. He had a jawline that could make him sin, and his eyes… from this angle they looked like a clear blue, maybe of the Caribbean or some other beautiful water, but when Dan scrapped his jaw off the floor and managed to step closer, they looked like the murky green of the tea he had at the Chinese restaurant down the block from his flat. Or maybe the jade statues that were placed on the tabletops, but they were still beautiful either way. The handsome man was standing behind the register, looking down at something when he heard the bell chime as Dan walked in and looked up at him. Seeing the new customer, he smiled, and greeted Dan.
"Hello, how can I help you?" The other man said cheerfully. Dan just dumbly stared back, feeling like a guppy and incapable of speech. "Holy shit. Who is this?" Thought Dan, then thinking "Oh God. Stay cool. Be chill. You can do this, don't fuck it up." Feeling a bit brave, he walked forward and reached for the counter, about to lean on it and oh-so-suavely say- well, he didn't think that far in advance. Unfortunately, before he could even open his mouth, he put his hands down on the counter too hard, slamming them down and knocking all of the cute knick-knacks that were on display to the ground. Frozen for a moment, shocked at how badly this encounter had already started, Dan muttered "God, please kill me" and hastily bent down to retrieve the items. Dan felt blood slowly creep up his cheeks as he ducked down, afraid that he had just made the biggest fool of himself. All he wanted to do right now was to walk out the door and pretend nothing had ever happened. However, the universe had other plans. Dan heard the counter door swing shut and saw a pair of old shoes step closer to him. The attractive shop assistant bent down next to him to help, and Dan saw a flash of a blue nametag that described the hot piece of ass coming to help him as "Phil". "Flowers by Phil…" The realization smacked Dan and he felt another wave of embarrassment flood over him. At this point, Dan thought that it would be better if he had just handed the trinkets back to the owner of the store and went outside before he could make this situation even worse than what it was. They gathered the objects together, and Dan handed the ones in his hands to Phil. The two men both stood up at the same time, and Phil quickly re-arranged everything back onto it's original place on the counter. Dan was about to turn tail and run, but Phil had other ideas and turned to Dan with a look in his eyes that made him want to melt in his shoes. "So, how can I help you?" The young store owner quipped and Dan muttered something along the lines of "Flowers…mum...birthday present." Without fully catching the other man's eye. Phil nodded, and with determination and a small smile took Dan by the hand and led him to another part of the store.
Phil began showing Dan all the flowers with a strange vigor, explaining the type, species, and meaning of each plant, while Dan just stood there and admired Phil, but tried to not look too creepy whilst doing it. "This Baby's Breath represents innocence, and this Acadia means elegance…"
Dan was not fully grasping all of Phil's words, but he could tell how much Phil loved the things. His eyes were animated, and it felt like he could see so much life inside them. Dan felt a strange warmth grow inside his chest, one that he hadn't really felt since the first year of university. Dan was dumbly and not-so-discreetly staring at Phil, when he caught something that the older man said.
"... and these Forget-Me-Nots are characterized by their vibrant blue. I really like them myself, and they represent true love." Dan's head shot up. "I'll get them." He exclaimed, and was mentally slapping himself for his bluntness as Phil bundled up a dozen and asked Dan if he wanted to get anything else. "They are usually a companion flower. Usually people buy them with other flowers, to accent them and to bring extra fullness to the bouquet." Dan mumbled something about roses or carnations, and Phil finished ringing up everything while Dan got out his wallet and took out a bank note that would cover the cost. Phil handed back the flowers with change and thanked Dan for coming. He said all of this with a smile, and what looked like a genuine one to Dan. The younger man stood there for a second longer than needed, contemplating something. He lifted up his foot, about to turn around and walk out, but changed his mind and took out a blue flower from the bouquet. "For you." He said, and then not to seem too weird, stuttered out "W-well, you said that you, uh, liked them, um, so..." But Phil just took the flower, turned around, and placed it in a half-full water bottle. When he turned back around to thank Dan, he was already out the door, back into reality and out of the warm little secluded world that was with Phil.
Dan was striding down the street, finally seeing his brother's car, when he heard old shoes slapping against cracked pavement, and a northern accent calling out "Wait!" Confused for a second, Dan stopped and turned around, when he saw Phil stopping before him with a slip of stationery paper. "I've wanted t-to give this to you, because, erm, yeah. Here you go." Dan looked down as he took the paper, and noticed a phone number penciled in next to a scribbled "Phil Lester". He looked up, and Phil seemed as flustered as Dan was before, with red dusted on the tops of his pale cheeks. Phil pivoted on one foot and hurried back into the shop - small, stiff heavy steps documented this. But Dan, forgetting the delicate plants bundled in his hand and the potential eyes of his brother, thrust his fists out. "Yes! Yes! Yes! I'm not complete shit!" He was stopped mid-victory by a car horn honking, and was shaken out of his mantra by realizing that his brother had seen this whole encounter. Dan put his head down, and hustled back to the car, wrenching the passenger door open and sat down, hard in the leather seat. "Who was that?" His brother inquired, and Dan bluntly and unconvincingly replied "Nobody." It didn't seem like he gave enough conviction in that three syllable word, because Adrian gave him an incredulous look that made Dan squirm in his seat. "Drive! Go!" He squeaked, and Adrian gave a little huff of laughter and a shake of the head as he stepped on the gas. Dan looked out the window, smiling when he saw a small shop sign and clenched his fist tighter around the thin sheet of paper in his grasp.
Blah blah blah, this is my first story, blah blah, please review, blah blah blah tell me if I've blasphemed against the writing gods