Disclaimer: Saban and Disney's, not mine
Warnings: Spoilers for up to 'Uniquely Trip'
--
He had found them while helping out with the spring cleaning around the clock tower. It wasn't until Trip had blown away the dust (and the subsequent coughing fit) that he realized that what he had dug out of the old trunk was, in fact, a bunch of old flowers.
Well, not really. If he wanted to be exact, they were fake flowers, made out of some fabric that felt unfamiliar when he rubbed it between his fingers. He wasn't sure what type of flower it was supposed to be-- which considering how much yard work he'd done since coming to the year 2001, was a little sad. He could tell that the petals had once been yellow, but age and dust had turned them a dirty shade of gold. They were still nice though, in an odd sort of way.
Deciding to take a break for now, Trip took a seat on the trunk. He had found some fake flowers, now he had to figure out what to do with them.
He couldn't just lock them back in the trunk. The whole point of today was to clear out the mess, not put everything back as he had found it. And Trip just didn't have it in him to throw them away. They had been here for so long, safely tucked away from the world. It felt… wrong to just toss them out now.
It was about then when he spotted Katie out of the corner of his eye, wiping down the table. She might like them…
Trip froze mid-step. The last time he had offered flowers to a girl, it… hadn't gone very well. At all. He shook his head and continued towards Katie. This wasn't like the last time. He wasn't trying to prove anything, he was just hoping he could make someone he cared about smile (and after everything she had been through the past couple of weeks, making Katie smile was very important to him now). And this was Katie. His best friend. The one person that he felt he didn't need to be anything else besides himself around since he first left Xybria… and to a certain extent, even before then.
He stopped again. He'd known she meant a lot to him, but he was suddenly stuck by just how much. Had it really taken him that long to realize it? Trip started to retreat. Maybe he should just hide them back in the trunk after all. If it turned out she didn't like them, or worse, thought it was some pathetic attempt at a joke, he had no idea what he would do--
"Hey, are those for me?" She grabbed them before he could do anything, but Trip did manage a weak nod as she reached for a tin can.
"These are gorgeous, Trip! I can't believe I never noticed these before, where'd you find them?"
It took awhile, but he found his voice. "Um, they were in a trunk and I found them while I was cleaning…"
"Who in their right mind would shut these away in a trunk?" Carefully, she placed the flowers, now in the tin, on a nearby shelf. She smiled at him over her shoulder. "Well, what do you think?"
Tip smiled back. "It's perfect."