Gil walked proudly between Ruby and Evie. Ruby carried a pot filled with roses. Most of them where yellow, orange or blue, while there was also one pure white and one bright red rose standing in the middle of them all. Evie already held a blue rose in her hand, while Doug beside her carried an orange rose. Gil and Ruby spend the entire day cutting and collecting the flowers. Rapunzel helped them picking the flowers who were ready to be cut. She was surprised to see how well Gil and Ruby were getting along. She remembered when Ruby was still hesitant about her mom's idea to bring a VK to their garden. After the first day Ruby admitted the guy was nice, but he had a lot to learn. This day Rapunzel saw them laughing together as if they were already friends. Ruby didn't even hesitate to heal Gil with her hair after he accidentally cut himself with one of the scissors.

Rapunzel told them the flowers were supposed to go to the castle of Auradon, but Gil asked if he could give each of his friends just one rose. Even if it was just to make up for the last time what happened with the rose bush. Before Rapunzel had been able to answer, Ruby jumped in and suggested to pick different colours for each one of them. Rapunzel had smiled warmly. It wasn't possible to have any objections against it when the two of them were already disgusting which colour fitted who.

Rapunzel drove them to Auradon and they stopped at a little dress shop at the outsides of the city. At Evies 4 Hearts Ruby noticed how Gil got disappointed when Evie told them the others weren't there. Fortunately she and Doug were happy to show them the way. Gil thought they didn't walk fast enough and he had trouble to slow down his own pace. After what happened that morning with his brothers, he couldn't wait to see Jay again. Even if it was just to make sure he was okay.

"Here they are," Evie said when they finally arrived at a green field.

A smile immediately appeared on Gil's face when he saw Jay practicing his moves. Jay turned around and was surprised to see Gil standing beside Ruby with a pot filled with roses. His face still lit up the moment he saw Gil approaching. Carlos stopped playing with Dude and noticed the eye contact between the two guys. He particularly watched Gil, since he already knew that Jay was on cloud nine. Carlos happily shook his head when he concluded Gil stared at Jay the same way as Jay stared back at him.

Ruby was only focused on the king and queen who were just casually chilling on a blanket surrounded by all kinds of food. She had seen Ben and Mal before, but never quite in that manner, cuddling closely and just enjoying their afternoon together. Dude was the first to come running towards to greet them, Carlos followed closely.

"Hey Dude," Gil greeted the dog and ruffled over the dog's head.

"Good to see you again," Carlos greeted Gil. Ruby put the pot with roses on the grass and Dude took the chance to take a closer look.

"Did you steal these too?" the dog asked Gil.

"No, I got these at Ruby's place," Gil answered the dog's question. Ruby looked up in surprise when she heard the dog talk. She had heard rumours he could, but she didn't believe it at first.

"He helped Ruby with cutting the roses," Evie backed him up. "There are a lot more. Doug and I have seen them. But they're still in the car at the cottage."

"Impressive," Jay joined the conversation, while he walked towards the group.

He was wearing his blue tourney shirt, while he had his tourney stick hanging over his shoulder. His long dark hair hung loose over his shoulders and he had a friendly smile on his face. Gil had never seen someone walk so graceful before. He couldn't wait until he saw Jay on the tourney field again, when he could follow his every movement without anyone noticing it. Gil still couldn't get his eyes of him though. Jay didn't need to make fancy movements, every step he took seemed to be magical.

"So you're really learning about flowers now?" Carlos asked and Gil had to force himself to get his eyes from Jay to face Carlos.

"Yea," Gil replied. "You should see it, they have so many different flowers. Oh wait, here you go." Gil gave Carlos a yellow rose and Carlos gratefully accepted. Gil then turned back to Jay and got lost into those dark brown eyes once again. Gil picked the bright red flower from the pot and reached it towards Jay. "This one is for you," he said with a shy smile.

Jay reached out to take the flower. It crossed his mind if he could secretly touch his hand while taking the flower. Just very carefully ran his fingers over his fingertips. Jay decided to just take the red rose and to not put too much thoughts to it.

"I thought I told you last time, giving roses is a declaration of love," Mal said and Jay silently cursed Mal's bad timing. "You shouldn't give roses to everyone. They might think you're in love with them."

"Ruby said it depends on the colour what the rose stands for," Gil said back to her as he gave her a yellow flower.

"He is right," Ruby said as she took her chance to give the king an orange rose. Ben also accepted the flower with a smile. "Yellow roses stand for joy and friendship. Orange roses are also for friendship, but also for gratitude and support."

"Yea, and the blue ones stand for joy and harmony," Gil continued the explanation as he pointed to Evie and the blue rose she was holding. "That's why I gave Evie a blue rose. Because well, she was the first one who tried to befriend us pirates."

Evie held her rose even closer to her chest and bend a little through her knees. She smiled at Doug, holding the flower proudly.

"And blue fits her," Doug said, smiling back at her. Evie's smile got even brighter. The flower indeed fitted her perfectly.

Gil then pointed at the other roses who were still in the pot. Most of them were still yellow or orange, but there were also a blue and a white one left.

"The white rose stands for purity and innocence. Which is why I'm going to give that one to Harry," Gil said while he send a sly smile towards Jay. Jay laughed back at him and gave him a quick wink. He wished he could see Harry's face after Gil explained the meaning of the flower, right after Harry already accepted the white rose. Gil's mischievous smile let him know he was planning exactly that.

Then Gil turned back towards Mal to finish his explanation. "But yea, only the red roses stand for love."

Jay froze as he heard those words. As if the world suddenly stopped spinning and time suddenly stopped passing by. He looked down at the bright red rose he was holding in his hand, the rose Gil had given to him just a minute ago. He noticed how Carlos send a quick glance at the flower and Evie also frowned her eyebrows. Jay swore he had never felt his heart beat so fast as in that moment. Jay desperately scanned all the roses, not sure if he was actually hoping to find another red rose or if he wanted to have the only one. Jay got even more confused as he noticed there was no other red rose in sight. And Gil didn't notice at all as he turned back towards Jay.

"I almost forgot," he said as if nothing happened. "Harry got me a new phone today, but he didn't add any of your numbers. Could you give me yours?" Jay tried to snap out of it, but he still couldn't think clearly.

"Of course, I'll give you my number," Jay replied, while he faked a smile. He tried to find his phone in his pockets, but his shaking hands didn't seem to function properly.

"You know what," Carlos jumped in as he already held his phone in his hand. "Why don't you just give me your number and I will send all the other numbers to you."

Gil agreed and Jay watched how Carlos exchanged numbers with him. It actually gave him time to take a deep breath and clear his head. 'It means nothing' were the words he kept repeating in his head.

"Thanks," Gil said to Carlos and looked at Jay again. "Man, I can't wait for tomorrow. We're still going to explore, right?"

"Yes, of course," Jay quickly responded. As if he could ever forget. Jay didn't know how respond to the smile that appeared on Gil's face. He tried to smile back, but he noticed he shyly looked away and smiled at the flower. He still felt the thorns of the rose in his hand.

"I'm sorry I don't have much time now," Gil continued and somehow it felt like Gil was just talking to him. As if he forgot all the other that were standing around them. Jay looked up, clinging to his words. "Ruby and I have to go to the pirate ship, showing them the roses too."

"That's right," Ruby interrupted their conversation. "And after that we have to deliver the rest to the castle."

Gil nodded with an apologetic look in his eyes. He didn't want to leave just yet. He and Ruby still said their goodbyes to the group. Gil petted Dude once more when he also lifted the pot with the roses.

Jay felt like he was finally able to breath when the other guy was walking away. He still turned around to have a last glance. Gil surprised him by looking over his shoulder, sending another smile towards him. Jay was still holding the rose in his hands. He tried to hide it though, hoping none of his friends could see the redness of the flower.

"Only red roses stand for love," Carlos repeated Gil when the other guy was slowly going out of sight. Jay send him a death glare, while Carlos mischievously smiled back at him. Normally he would've hit him, but he didn't feel like it.

"Give him a break," Evie said as she also could see Jay's tension.

Mal slowly frowned as she looked at her three best friends. "Did I miss something?"

"No," Jay immediately answered Mal and faked a laugh. "It's a pirate thing. I mean, Harry gets the white flower."

Mal shrugged when she thought it over, that seemed like a fair point. Though Carlos raised his eyebrows and Evie noticed Jay's shaking hands. Jay faked a laugh again, but he wasn't sure how long he could put this up. He wasn't so good at faking anymore, after being away from the Isle for so long.

"I just reminded I have something important to do," Jay suddenly said. He quickly turned around and walked away from the group.

"Something more important than practicing tourney?" Jay could hear Mal's words, but he decided to ignore them. It painfully reminded him that he left his tourney stick on the field, but he wasn't planning on going back.

He walked through the park, trying to clear his mind.

'It means nothing.'

He kept the same words repeating in his mind.

'It means nothing to him.'

A little too late Jay noticed a group of girls passing by. They giggled while they waved at Jay. He waved back as he send them a smile. The girls giggled even more because of the attention Jay gave them.

"Who could be the lucky girl?" One of them whispered to the others and she pointed at the red rose. Jay still heard the words clearly. He stopped on the field, looking down at the flower.

That's how it's supposed to be. The guy giving the girl a flower while he asked her out on a date. Instead he was walking around with a rose he got from a guy. It was not just a guy, though. It was Gil who gave it to him. The guy that made him smile, blush and shake over the most useless things. That guy who just made his whole world change the moment they stopped at a berry bush. Jay cursed himself and continued his walk. He told himself over and over again that he would not go down this road again. Knowing things like this would only lead to disaster. Because the worst part was this guy didn't even notice something was off. He was rushing back to Harry, giving him the pure white rose.

Jay cursed again. He started to hate the flower more and more. He needed to get rid of it. Maybe he could just throw it away, hide it somewhere in the bushes. Bury it in the ground and forget about the whole thing. He then remembered the group of girls that had just passed him by. A new idea popped up in his mind. A guy giving a girl the flower while asking her out on a date.

Jay looked around to glance over the other people who were in the park. Then he noticed a brunette, reading a book while sitting against a tree. She appeared to be alone. Jay made up his mind quickly. He didn't know her name, but he was going to walk towards her, give her the rose and ask her on a date. He could ask her for tomorrow, so he had to cancel his plans with Gil and stop this once and for all.

Jay already put a charming smile on his face, quickly also putting his hair and shirt in the right shape. But with the first step he could feel the thorns of the rose stinging in his hands. Jay stopped immediately while still looking up at the girl.

Jay sighed, as he looked down at the flower, softly touching the pedals. This was something he would have done years ago, back at the Isle of the Lost. Fooling around, faking a smile and guiding some girl to a deserted alley. It wasn't something he was proud of nowadays. Besides that, he wasn't as good at faking it anymore. Jay sighed frustration, while turning around. Maybe it was easier to just bury the flower.

...

Jay laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He had no idea how long he had be laying there and he didn't really mind. He tried to clear his mind, forget about what happened that day. But the more he tried to forget, the better he seemed to remember it.

Suddenly the door swung open and Jay immediately jumped up to see Evie coming in his room. He let his head fall on the pillow again.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you were in here," Evie explained herself.

"It's okay," Jay replied and just hoped she wouldn't take long.

"I just wanted to bring your stick back," Evie said as she showed the tourney stick she held in her hand. "You left it on the field earlier. Is everything okay?"

"Everything is fine," Jay said as he kept staring at the ceiling.

Evie was silent for a moment as she put the stick down and looked at Jay. It obviously was not fine, but it was also obvious Jay didn't want to talk about it. She had to find another sneaky way to ask him. Then she noticed the little red flower which stood in a glass on his nightstand.

"Carlos, Doug and I putted our roses in a vase on the kitchen table," Evie started light hearted. "You want your rose to be on the table as well or do you want to leave it there?"

Jay turned his head to look at the flower once more, just before he turned towards the ceiling again.

"Just leave it there," he sighed.

"I should leave it here too," Evie continued. "Such beautiful red colour, it really makes your room come to live."

"I guess so," Jay said, slightly aware of what Evie was trying to do.

"You know, I didn't think Gil would be the type of person who would think about which type of rose would fit us best. He really surprised me today."

"He's brighter than most people think," Jay replied as he tried to sound casual.

Evie didn't immediately reply as she watched Jay for a few seconds. She noticed something had changed in him since the night that they fought the Queen of Mean, she finally found out what it was.

"You really like the guy, don't you?" she asked straightforward.

It was silent for a moment, when Jay slowly sighed and closed his eyes for a few seconds.

"Yes," he finally admitted out loud. Not just to Evie, but to himself as well. Evie send him a reassuring smile.

"You'll be alright," she said to him. "Trust me, it's all going to be fine." With those words she closed the door again and Jay was left with his own thoughts once more. He turned to his side, so he could look at the flower again. He reached towards it, till he softly touched the pedals. He should think about what he would wear for tomorrow.

I apologize for not uploading last week. I try to upload every weekend, but I'm certain I won't succeed every week. Last weekend I needed some extra time to re-order the story for myself.

Thank you to everybody who read, favourite and comment on the story. It really means a lot to me. Really thank you for all the support. ^^