Lucas glanced down at his phone for what seemed like the hundredth time in the past twenty minutes, frowning when he saw the time reading 2:00. He let out a 'tsk' as he snapped his phone case shut, frustrated enough that he didn't even want to look at it. He had been waiting here in his seat for half an hour, and he was getting tired of testing his patience further.

"Would you like some more water?" asked a waitress as she was passing by.

Lucas gave her a reluctant nod and mumbled, "Thank you."

"Would you like more time to wait?" she continued, asking him the same question she had asked him multiple times already. He was almost annoyed by the obvious pitying look she gave him, probably assuming he had been stood up, as did other nearby customers who sympathized with the scene. He couldn't pull together the energy to care though because he did look so pitiful sitting alone at his table, and it wasn't as if she was wrong.

Once the waitress walked away, Lucas checked his phone again. This time, he read 2:04. Ness was supposed to be here at the agreed restaurant more than thirty minutes ago and he wasn't replying to any texts, not answering any calls, and showed no signs of showing up to their date. Lucas was more than ready to throttle his boyfriend the next time they meet. They had been together for three years now, and Ness decides to stand him up now of all times?

Lucas stared at the new glass of water the waitress had brought him for a moment, watching the cubes of ice in it flicker once. He quickly snatched his glass and downed all the water in a fit of disappointment.

"Wha—?!" A waitress's shriek was heard from the front of the restaurant. Lucas didn't pay much attention to it as the sound faded within the chatter of other customers. "Sir? Are you okay?" A pause. "Of course, come right this way."

Lucas sighed and stood up. If Ness wasn't here already, he wouldn't come at all. His loss, the blonde thought. Lucas wasn't going to stick around like some bum and be even more humiliated than he was already.

"Luc—! Lucas! Hold on!"

Lucas blinked, and paused where he was pulling out money for the tip. It couldn't be, he thought. And yet, he still hung onto the hope that it could be.

"Ness?" he mumbled out, turning to look at him with wide eyes and parted lips.

In front of him stood his boyfriend, out of breath and exhausted, but smiling nonetheless. Ness chuckled awkwardly in between whatever breath he found comfortable to laugh in. He looked thoroughly exhausted and a little bit sweaty.

Although Lucas didn't know why Ness was so tired, he felt bad for doubting his boyfriend. After all, Ness wasn't the type of person to just ditch someone on purpose, without any notification. He knew Ness was too nice for that, and gave him a chance to explain.

"Lucas, I'm so sorry!" Ness blurted out. "There was really bad traffic 'cause of a car accident—and when I tried to call you my phone died and I forgot my charger at home—and there was no exit for like twenty minutes so I couldn't even get to the streets which was awful—"

Lucas stood there trying to process what Ness was saying, whilst worrying about the commotion he had made, causing nearby eyes to turn to them. So much was happening in a short moment and he didn't know where to start.

"—because I still had to pick up your flowers and there was only ten minutes left until I was supposed to meet you! So I rushed to the flower shop but they lost my order and by that point I was so late so—"

Lucas picked out the strangest word. "Wait, flowers?"

Ness stopped his rambling and seemed to brighten up immediately in excitement, gathering all of his lost breath in one inhale. He flung the said flowers up in his rush to show Lucas.

"Yes!" he exclaimed. "I ordered these for you so that I could surprise you! But instead they ended up just making me even more late than I already was… so I'm sorry."

"Aw…" Lucas didn't have it in him to be mad at Ness anymore, not when he had clearly gone so out of his way. Instead, he settled on a content smile and being happy that they ended up being able to spend time together in the end. "Thank you, Ness. I really appreciate it."

Lucas stared at the bouquet as he reached out to hold them in his own hands. The mix of flowers were only of two kinds, with their golden colors reflecting the blonde's charmed smile.

"They're sunflowers and yellow tulips," Ness assured. "I know you love sunflowers, so I got them and these tulips. The lady at the shop said sunflowers always brings out your lover's smile, which go well with the tulips meaning 'sunshine in your smile', and I thought you had the loveliest smile in the world." Ness spoke so earnestly that Lucas couldn't help but feel himself flush.

Honestly, how did Ness always manage to make him feel so embarrassed? Yet, despite his fluster and past anger, he smiled greatly at Ness.

This time, it was one of Lucas's brightest expressions that Ness had ever seen.