a/n: and here is chapter 2! i'm sorry if there are any mistakes, but i'm not feeling well and was really lazy with my final editing... this chapters is essentially a recap of the first chapter with a liiiiiitle extra at the end!
What Evergreen had expected when she woke up that morning was a sunny sky with a few, wispy clouds, and a calm business day.
Freed had breakfast all cooked by the time she was awake, as usual, and she'd read a book while she'd eaten. Afterwards had come a shower, some fiddling with her always-impossible hair, smoothing a thin layer of makeup over her face, and putting on her clothes.
She'd gone downstairs to the store, checked that all the day's orders were prepped and not wilting, then opened up the shop. The first employee, a cute girl with cherry-red hair in pigtails, walked through the door shortly after, greeted her with a smile, and put on her apron and went to work. The second one, a lovely dark-skinned girl with deep green eyes, did the same. Customers came into the shop at the slow, steady pace they always did. Some perused through the flowers, others leaned in to sniff, some asked questions, and some were there only to pick up orders and leave.
Two of three roommates came charging down the stairs throughout the morning and went off to work with lazy waves to her and yawns erupting from their mouths. That left only Freed upstairs, where he was likely reading and/or cooking until his shift at Yajima's restaurant came near and he left.
People bustled around outside. Ever sat down behind the counter and put her head on her arms. The last customer inside went out with a bushel of daisies in hand, and she shut her eyes to listen to the noise outside: Footsteps, mothers yelling, smooth-spoken barters, dull music playing from multiple areas, all mashed into a soothing sort of sound.
And then, there was the sound of heavy footsteps, the familiar sound of a fist on a face, and her ears perked towards the sounds.
"Ah, there's a fight going on outside!" The cherry-hair girl unconsciously picked up a pot of flowers and moved back from the window. "Both of them look scary."
"Just stay inside, Annie," the dark-skinned girl commented aloofly. "It's probably just a scuffle. Unless, you know, the boss lady wants to go out and do a little somethin' 'bout the punks fightin' by her shop."
Evergreen didn't lift her head from her arms or open her eyes, and only continued to listen to the muffled sounds. "Someone else'll stop 'em. I'm too tired to go deal with a couple of idiot men."
"They're getting pretty close, Miss… Lilica, b-back away from the window! What if something happens?"
Lilica leaned an arm against the glass, arching over the delphiniums to see the fight better. She whistled. "Don't be scared, Annie. But, dude, both of those guys are preeeetty big."
Finally, the commotion grew louder and louder, enough to stir her stomach anxiously. It was too close for her own liking. Ever opened her eyes and hopped off the stool, went around the counter, and walked through the shop with a sigh. "If nobody else will break them up, I guess I-! Hey!"
They were right at the shop now, yanking at each other and punching. The smaller man (if it was even right to call him 'small') jumped back on the balls of his feet and leaned forward. That was something she'd seen punks in high school do when they got into fights with Laxus- it was the best way to knock someone who was bigger than you off their feet. As the man lunged forward, Ever shoved the young woman by the window into her arms and threw them away.
A devastating crash entered the shop just as they hit the ground, a safe distance from the window, fortunately. Multiple smaller crashes followed. Water flew into the air. People outside were yelling and Annie on the inside was squeaking.
Ever squinted her eyes open, watching the silhouette of a massive man shake his head, sending droplets of water flying, then get up and ram into the other man. The window was completely shattered. So was the display of flowers. Every pot and vase was smashed to the floor and broken, water leaking from shelves and stray petals sprinkling the floor.
She was enraged.
"M-Miss! Lilica!" Annie nervously stepped forward. The pot she held was thrusted in front of her like a shield. "Are you okay? That other man just shoved him into the window!"
Lilica was spluttering out something while her boss scrabbled to her feet, ungracefully slipping on water. Her right ankle twisted as she fell back down and she winced. The redhead twittered over softly, flapping her hands anxiously. Ever stood up, stomped down her slightly injured foot, and ran for the door.
A man the size of a mountain was standing outside, huffing, puffing, his back drenched with water, and he reached for her cart that he'd overturned. Scarlet blood was dripping down his face from his nose and he was half-heartedly trying to mop it up.
The culprit.
"Hey!"
He flinched and turned towards her. His nose was still bleeding over his dark skin and the upper half of his left eye was was a rip on the abdomen of his shirt, and he looked overall tired and wobbly, almost pitiful.
But she would have no mercy.
Her hands balled up into the collar of his shirt, and she stood on her tiptoes and yanked him down to her. "Look at my window! It's a wreck! And you ruined all my delphiniums I had lined up there for a display!" They had been such nice flowers. Her eyes misted a little, but it only made her more angry and she blinked it off. "You're lucky I didn't have my forsythias there! Then you would be paying big time!"
The massive man only stuttered and tripped over his words. Grunts behind her drew her attention. His opponent was stumbling to his feet, waving his arms like wings for leverage. Culprit number two. She shoved the man away from her, harshness intended, and stalked to the other one with a pointed finger.
"And you! One of my shopgirls said you were the one who shoved that oaf into the window! You're equally responsible."
Fear entered his eyes, whether from the prospect of responsibility or the fire in her own, she didn't know. But he started running, his balance recovered, and he was surprisingly fast. But he just couldn't get far after getting knocked down by someone as large as the man he'd fought with, so she started to give chase.
By the time he threw the trash can down, she'd gained too much speed to stop and tripped, her already-smarting ankle tangling up in one of the rails. The man gave her a quick glance, but kept running. A few from the crowd weakly started after him, clearly not committed to chasing him seriously. Others were hovering towards her now, a few softly asking if she was okay as she twisted around to try and pull herself free.
The first man shouted and rushed to her, holding out a hand. All eyes were on her and she admitted: It was too much. She was embarrassed, stuck, and her shop was broken. The shop she'd saved all throughout high school to build, working three jobs, all while maintaining a good grade average, and the front of it was just smashed in and shattered.
It was enough to make anyone cry.
But Evergreen was not anyone, and she wouldn't let the embarrassment or the trash can stop her. With a harsh yank, her foot ripped free of the railing… though she felt an uncomfortable pop and snap, and it felt like, just for a second, someone had poured hot lava over her ankle. The pain was extremely intense and she hoped she hadn't broken anything.
"Do you need help up?" he asked, his hand still held out.
"Don't touch me!" she shouted, smacking away his hand as hard as she could.
He retreated back, holding his hand lightly. The crowd was leaning towards her, but she waved them off, keeping her burning eyes on him. She got a good look at him now: He was significantly taller than her, by probably at least a foot-and-a-half, meaning he probably neared seven feet. Under the thin jacket he wore was hard muscle that rolled as he shook out his hand. His pure white hair was still dripping water droplets from the very end at a rhythmic pace.
It angered her, but he was stupidly cute. Not necessarily what she would define as the best looking guy in the world, but definitely more handsome than she had first registered, especially with the blood from the fight still leaking from his nose; it gave him that ragged look she'd always been ridiculously attracted to. It looked stupid and out of place with the "Hurt Puppy" look he was wearing.
Honestly, though, she didn't give a crap about how cute he was.
"Look at my shop!" she shouted as she stumbled up. "The glass! My cart!" Her head whipped towards him away from the glass and her frightened employees peering out. "What are you going to do about it?"
"Hey, the other guy pushed me in!" he yelled. "It's only manly to put the blame on him!"
"You see the punk?" she sneered. "No. You were involved in the fight and take the brunt of the responsibility until I find that guy's ugly face again."
He stepped back and Ever feared he would run like the other. Her ankle was burning intensely and she definitely wouldn't be able to give any sort of chase. Just barely standing on it, even with all her weight shifted to the left, was near agonizing. But he whipped his head towards the window, clearly steeling his nerves, and muttered about how he could fix it, but then changed his mind.
"Of course you can't," she muttered, limping past him. A sense of dread and sorrow settled in her and she rubbed her arms. "I'll hire someone to do it. Just pay me back sometime."
He sputtered in protest, but Freed was through the door the next instant to take her attention, apron on and looking around wildly. He rushed for them, arms slightly extended to reach out for her, and began sputtering angrily about the shop, then turning his attention to her leg. Without hearing a single word of protest from her, he picked her up, and her ankle immediately stopped the burning feeling.
"Did you do this?" he asked, hostilely stepping towards the man. "Wreck her shop and hurt her leg? You better-"
"Freed!" she hushed, and he fell silent. "He was in a fight. Some thug knocked him through the window. He's going to pay for it. Right?"
She sent The Glare (as it was called in the apartment) towards him once more, and he only muttered something unintelligible while she explained her injury to Freed. Annie and Lilica hurried out of the store as the crowd lost interest, righting the overturned cart and picking up stray flowers.
The most shocking thing that had happened, however, was when he called for their attention again, bowed, and shoved a piece of paper towards them.
"I'm a customer!"
Freed narrowed his eyes. "You've got to be kidding me."
Evergreen slapped his shoulder scoldingly and he set her down, still keeping a hand on her shoulder.
"Come inside then. Get your order and get out."
"I-it's for a Mirajane Strauss," he informed as they walked inside, stepping through wreckage. "My older sister."
The order was up front, filled with fragrant roses and lilies, arranged one after the other in a thick vase. She almost tripped over her hurt ankle getting behind the counter, but righted herself and retrieved her work from the shelf.
"Here it is. Roses and lilies, just like your sister asked for."
She was exhausted from the excitement now, and her pain was starting to overwhelm her once more. The man took them, softly said something about them being very nice, offered to help around, and began to move towards the door when she shooed him away with the order to return in a few days, but he turned back to her with his hand on the doorknob.
"Sorry." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't even know your name. I'm Elfman."
Freed was guiding her up the stairs, but stopped pulling her along so she could look at him. He looked anxious, almost like a young boy as he flushed with embarrassment and waited for her to answer.
"It's Evergreen," she said. She took another step up the stairs. "It's in your best interest not to forget it."
"I definitely won't forget," was the last thing he said before he opened the door.
Annie and Lilica looked after him as he quickly walked down the street. The dark-skinned young woman leaned against her broom. "Interesting one. Big as a skyscraper, but he seems awful gentle."
"He was scary!" Annie asserted. "Really big and with a scary face!"
"I think you were just paying attention to the blood," her companion teased. "C'mon, keep cleanin'. The boss lady isn't gonna be on the foot for the rest of the day at least."
Their bickering faded into only background noise when Freed shut the door to the apartment.
"Let's look at that leg," he said as he eased her into her knitting chair. "It's getting really swollen."
"Do I have to go to the doctor?" she asked. "I hate doctor's offices."
He began to prod at it and she hissed in pain. The ankle was mostly red, but shifting into a purple shade towards her calf. Her foot hung almost limply from the rest of her leg, a ghastly, detached look that made her want to vomit. Her roommate poked and prodded and even shook it until she shrieked at him to stop. He finally declared his findings.
"It's not broken, just a little sprained and delocated. If you stay really still, I can pop it back into place and then get it taped up. Of course, a doctor would be suggested-" At this point, he glanced up, checked her disapproving face, and went back to feeling her foot. "But of course you won't do that. You're such a kid."
"It feels like they're going to dissect me or something!" she argued. "It's creepy and I hate it."
Even going into the hospital back when Laxus was constantly in fights gave her heart palpitations. People looked scared, some cried, the walls were too white, the nurses wore fake smiles as they held up injections… It was bad. There was suffering and a feeling of death clinging all around. Laxus had always been angry and snarling at the doctors and nurses around him when they'd tried to fix his bleeding, but the guy in the bed adjacent was always worse off.
With a swift shove and a burning pain, Freed had her ankle back in place without her even focusing on it. She yipped and pulled it away from him. It throbbed painfully and her eyes sprouted tears. Freed, however, reached and gently brought it back to him and began to wrap it in a heavy gauze from the medical kit at his side. She sniffed and let him.
"Stay off it for a few days. By then, the window should be repaired and you can open shop again." He folded his arms and stood. "I'm still miffed that that man ran away! He should be paying an equal amount as that other one that came in!"
"Men are idiots," Evergreen declared. "He was scared of being accountable, so he ran away. But I got a good look at his face, and unless he flees the city, I'm gonna find him and make him pay."
"Give him that glare of yours," he said. "Works every time. Or threaten him with a lawsuit. That also gets people going."
Freed went back to the kitchen and began to mop up counters. On the table was a tall and elegant cake, covered with pink frosting applied with small and sweeping strokes that almost made it look like a painting. Dollops of thick cream were placed around the top edge, and her mouth watered.
"Hey, that cake-"
"Is not for you. Yajima asked me to bring it into work. He wants something for the display case and is too busy to bake something. Apparently it's packed right now." Freed untied his apron and hung it on a hook. "Which means I'll be going in early. Need anything before I go?"
"Push that big stack of books my way. I think the instructions for my knitting project is somewhere in one of the them."
He pushed over the stack with his foot while buttoning up his coat. "Get more organized." After packaging the cake into a carrier, he merely waved, said, "Bickslow will be home soon. Tell him to heat up something in the fridge, and don't let him turn on the oven," and was out the door.
The apartment was silent again, save for the ticking of the clock above her head. Ever started rummaging through the stack of books, quickly flipping through the pages and tossing it aside when she didn't find the instructions to her project. There were books on botany, exotic flowers, gardening tips, fantasy novels, manga of all variety, and more. She eventually found the instructions in a dogeared and marked up copy of "Advanced Horticulture," of all things.
Sighing, she unfolded the instructions, read through them, and picked up her project. The soft ding! of the bell downstairs, muffled through the floor, told her that Annie and Lilica had probably gone home for the day after cleaning up the mess. Leaning over the windowsill, she could peer out and see them walking together and disappearing into the large crowd of people outside.
She wondered if the white-haired man- Elfman, if she remembered correctly- had made it home safely and without getting into another fight. Ever could understand why he had gotten into the fight; he was big. Laxus and Bickslow had gotten into lots of fights in high school, many of them unprovoked, simply because of their height and muscle mass. Something about those kinds of people screamed "fight me, I dare you!," even if they wound up only being gentle giants.
"Damn nuisance," she muttered to herself while the knitting needles began to clack together. "I don't care if he's the softest, nicest guy in the world. I'm gonna work that man to the bone."