a/n: I just realized the reason I was getting like, no reads on this story was because I had it set so only my followers could read it lmao

phil's pov

I groaned, pulling off my shirt and throwing it on the bed with the rest of my rejected outfits. I had never been one to take more than ten minutes to get dressed, but today I had been going through outfits for nearly half an hour trying to find a nice outfit. I recognized what I was doing was stupid, but I was going to see Dan again and he was really cute, and I was almost positive he was gay.

I sighed, turning to the mirror. I finger-combed my black hair into it's usual quiff, a few lose strands poking out. My skin looked almost paper-white next to the dark ink of my tattoos. There were a few that I had done in color, but almost every one was outlined in black. It looked cool, but it also made it look like I never left my house.

I sighed, turning back to my closet and running my tongue over my lip piercings. I really needed to figure out what to wear.

Seven shirts later, I had finally decided on a black muscle tee with the words "New York City" written in small, white letters across the front and ripped, black skinny jeans. In all truthfulness, I had never been to New York; I just figured if no one else knew that then it didn't matter.

Already running a bit late, I grabbed my leather jacket and was out the door.

…

"You're late. Again," Liam grinned impishly at me as I walked into the already-unlocked tattoo parlor.

"You can tell me I'm late when you're the boss," I muttered, setting my coffee down on the counter and unlocking my office. "Who the hell let you in, anyway?"

The blonde slouched down in my office chair, propping his feet up on my desk. "I nicked a key."

"Ah. Remind me to change the locks," I muttered, glaring at him.

Liam had curly blonde hair, tan skin, and bright green eyes. Between his messy hair and worn leather jacket, he was ruggedly handsome. And though I would never admit it to his face, I was somewhat jealous of his good looks.

"Oh, shut up," Liam laughed, "Are you really going to lock out your most dedicated employee?"

"If you were really that dedicated then you would restock the fridge," I replied coolly.

"Was it my turn to do that? Shit, my bad," Despite Liam's apology, I could tell he really couldn't care less about his little slip-up.

"Whatever. Start cleaning the needles," I demanded, motioning to the row of tattoo equipment.

"Yes sir," Liam gave me a mock salute, complete with his signature smirk before heading off to complete his task.

…

My original plan was to return Dan's bag during my lunch break, but work was slow and I was impatient.

"Hey um, Liam?" I called out into the shop, "I need to run an errand, can you cover for me?"

"Yeah, sure." Liam paused before adding, "Where are you going?"

"I just need to get some coffee, I feel kinda drained." It wasn't often that I lied to Liam, but I knew that if he found out I had a crush on the flower boy down the street, I'd never hear the end of it.

"Oh, okay. Can you pick me up something? My wallet is in my bag." He motioned to a worn, black backpack behind the desk.

"Yeah, no problem. The usual, right?" I gave a forced smile, grabbing a few pounds out of his bag. Of course, Liam would want some coffee. Why didn't I say I was going to buy cough drops or something?

"Yeah, thanks."

"Whatever" I muttered.

…

Upon arriving at the little store, I was rather surprised to see it was crowded with teenage boys.

"Um, excuse me," I spoke up, trying to get past two rather unpleasant-looking kids.

One of them looked as if they were about to make a rude comment, but stopped short when they glanced up. "Yeah, sorry…" the two boys muttered apologies under their breath, quickly moving to the side.

Making my way to the back of the shop, I scanned the crowd of people, trying to find Dan. After several moments of fruitless searching, I finally found him standing by a shelf of pink roses, talking animatedly to a group of teens. Walking a bit closer, I managed to pick up a bit of what he was saying.

"…so like I was saying, all flowers mean something. Like, for example, red chrysanthemums can mean 'I love you' making them a great flower for corsages."

Of course, prom season. That would explain the teenage boys.

"Yeah, no problem! Just let me know if you need anything else!" Dan smiled in response to the boys' gratitude. He began to walk back to his desk but stopped when he saw me. "Phil, hey!" He grinned, approaching me.

"Hey, I um, brought your bag back," I held out the canvas bag, waiting for him to take it.

"Oh yeah, thanks," The florist looked particularly nice today in a loose, baby blue tank top, white capris, and a daisy flower crown.

"Well, you seem pretty busy, so I guess I'll let you go," I gave a reluctant smile, and was about to turn around when Dan spoke up.

"Wait!"

I tried not to laugh at the blush rising in his cheeks. "Sorry… I-I just remembered, could you help me move some boxes in the back? I um, I can't reach the shelves…"

"Oh, yeah, sure."

Dan led me into a room full of various ribbons and empty flowerpots. The place was unusually clean for a storage room.

"I need some more supplies for the corsages and they're all out-of-reach," Dan pointed to a few boxes on the top shelf, only a foot or so above my head. "Can you get them?"

"I think so…" I stood on my tiptoes, straining to reach the crate. After a moment of struggling, I managed to get a grip on it.

"Here, is this it?" I asked, handing Dan the box.

"The one next to it too, if you don't mind?" Dan added, fidgeting with his fingers.

"Yeah, no problem," I smiled.

"Thanks," Dan grinned shyly as I handed him the box, "I should probably get back to the customers now…"

"Oh yeah, of course!"

I followed him out of the storage cupboard and back to the main room.

"Thanks again for the help," Dan gave a shy smile, readjusting his flower crown.

"You're welcome," I paused for a moment before adding, "Oh and, don't get me wrong, helping you was no problem at all, but couldn't you have just used the ladder you had propped up on the wall?"

Dan's face turned a deep red color. "Oh, I um—well... It's just…"

"Don't worry about it, sweetheart," I smirked, pleased with the reaction I got.

Dan still wasn't making eye-contact, his cheeks burning. "I should get back to work…"

"I'll let you go then," I chuckled, turning to leave.

"Feel free to come back any time…"

"I'll think about it."

…

"Uh, where's my coffee?" Liam raised an eyebrow.

Shit. "Oh. They were closed."

"Oh really? And it took you, what, twenty minutes to realize this? Not to mention you walked in the opposite direction of Starbucks. C'mon Phil, where did you really go?"

I let out a sigh, turning to face Liam. "I had to return a bag to the owner of Spring Morning, that flower place."

The blonde gave me a confused look, running a hand through his curly hair. "And you lied about this why, exactly?"

I groaned. There was no way out of this now. "Because the owner is fucking cute and I know you're never going to shut up about it."

Liam lit up, his smile curling into a smirk. "Oh really? So you like him, then?"

"I never said that, I just think he's cute.

"What if he's straight?"

"He wears flower crowns and baby blue tank tops—I don't think that's an issue."

Liam raised his eyebrows but didn't comment on the matter. "What's his name?"

I struggled to hide my smile as I answered: "Dan."

a/n: are there any ideas you guys have for something you want to happen in this fic? i'm open to ideas rn since it's so early in.