For the writing-prompts I was doing on tumblr back in February/March and somehow forgot to post here. An anon asked for "I'm not sure if they're a secret admirer or a stalker… but at least they have good taste in gifts." for AshxLance.

In Secret

There are some things Lance just doesn't want Ash to know.

That he has a soft spot for romantic movies, for example.

Or that he likes to pay attention to a lady. Well, Ash in his case. His lady.

That he would like to treat her like a lady, but can't.

Because it doesn't go together with the image he has of himself.

The image of a tough guy.

But still, he wants to treat her like a lady sometimes.

Ash doesn't know he can be like that, though.

He isn't even sure if she'd like it.

So there is only one way to do that.

In secret.

So he buys a long stem rose, hides it from Ash, and when she needs to go to the bathroom, he quickly runs to the front door, opens it and places the rose on the doorstep.

And when they leave he just takes his sweet time so Ash - with a roll of her eyes - goes ahead.

"Oh," she says when her eyes fall on the rose, and Lance bites down his lip to not smile.

He puts some extra effort into looking bored when Ash turns around with wide eyes, holding up the rose.

"Lance…"

"What?" he asks with a shrug.

Ash holds up the rose a little more.

"So you have a rose, so what?" he asks, shrugging once more.

"But…" Ash looks from the rose to him, back to rose and then to him. "Is it from you?"

"Me?" Lance raises his brow extra high. "Why would I do that?"

"Because you're my boyfriend."

"I am not into this romantic stuff, babe, you now that. Besides, I wouldn't place it on the doorstep if I got you a rose."

"Oh, okay," Ash says. "But who would give me a rose then?"

"It's just a rose, Ash." He rolls his eyes. "It's not a big deal."

"Okay," Ash says again, lowering her eyes again.

But when they leave she holds the rose close and from the corner from his eye, Lance can see that she's smiling.

So later that day he buys another rose for her in secret and places it on the doorstep again the next morning.

Ash looks a bit confused again when she finds it, but she doesn't say anything.

She only smiles.

So he keeps it up because he likes to see her smile.

After a few days he buys a beautiful box of chocolates.

Ash is still at her job when he arrives back home this evening, so he places the box of chocolates on the doorstep before he enters the apartment.

Ash arrives half an hour later, already munching on the chocolates when she comes into the living room and climbs the couch next to him.

"I'm not sure if they're a secret admirer or a stalker," Ash says, popping another chocolate into her mouth, "but at least they have good taste in gifts."

"Is that so?" Lance asks, fighting the urge to smile and to keep his tone bored.

"Yeah," Ash replies. "Really tasty."

"Nice," Lance says with a shrug.

And then suddenly Ash leans in closer and places a quick kiss on his mouth. It's warm and tastes like chocolate and Lance likes it.

"What was that for?" he asks, keeping his tone bored.

Now it's Ash's turn to shrug.

"Just because I love you," she says.

And there's something in the way Ash smiles at him, that makes him frown a little.

Her smile has this little edge to it that makes it look a bit like a smirk.

Does she know it's him? No, that can't be. He's good at keeping secrets, isn't he?

He places a kiss on her lips this time, longer and deeper than her kiss before.

He still likes the chocolate taste very much.

"Just because I love you too, babe," he says with a shrug when he turns his attention back to the TV.

He isn't sure if he sounded as bored as he wanted, but well, he tried.