Okay so I wanted to write this since I saw a post about this on tumblr and I hope you guys enjoy this! I'm only posting this one separately from my normal one-shot collection because I have a feeling I'm going to do a lot more with this than I'm originally thinking I might

For as long as I could remember, my family had run the local flower shop in the heart of Arcadia. The Lake Family Flowers was originally created by my great grandmother after her husband came back from the war. Ever since it was handed down through the family line ever since. Always owned and worked by a Lake.

Well, that was until my dad ran off almost fourteen years ago.

My mom was in medical school at the time when it happened. It seemed so sudden but was also premeditated. The deed to the store was signed over to her, divorce papers were filed, and custody was already placed in her name over me. The only things proving that he was even there were the pictures hanging on the walls, his last name hanging on the neon sign, and the fact I bore his name. Nothing more, nothing less. It was hard at first but mom wasn't going to let the store she knew my grandmother adored to fall through the cracks. It was one of the promises she made to her when she passed and she wasn't going to break it all because my dad left. So she got to work. She dropped out of medical school and placed every moment she could outside of raising me into the flower shop.

Then when I got old enough to lend a hand, I did. I would take orders, carry shipments, and when I was old enough to drive the Vespa my uncle Blinky helped me put together, I delivered orders. Ironically, the person that ordered almost every week from us was actually right next door.

For almost as long as mom's been running the flower shop, there was a tattoo parlor right next door. It was called Mystical Inks and the old man that ran it was unironically named Merlin. He didn't care for me much, but he adored my mother's flowers. Always insisting on having a fresh set of her newest order on display on his front table. Even though he didn't quite care for me, his son Douxie and I got along quite well. We would play with one another when our parents were busy and thanks to Douxie being a few years older than me, he would even lead me a helping hand with school work as we got older. Once his old man past a few years ago, he took on taking care of the parlor on his own and even did his own twist to his father's traditions. But he was sure to keep ordering flowers from us as his father had.

But if I wasn't lending a hand to Uncle Blinky on his busy days at his auto shop or helping mom out at the flowers, I was spending time with Douxie and my other best friend Toby. Especially once I got out of high school. Besides the weekend and night classes I took over the year that ended up with me getting a business associates a year after high school, my day to day was filled with working at either of the shops, hanging out with my two best friends, or cooking random dishes for fun. I was rather content with my life up until that point.

Well, up until I met her.

She had slightly tanned skin with jet black hair that was cut short over her shoulders. A blue streak seemed to be dyed into which added to the 'don't fuck with me' aura the woman gave off. She had a purple tank top with a skull on it which allowed her arms to be shown which seemed to spot with tattoos. One I could make out instantly was a red rose right above her heart that had the words 'A rose by any other name would smell as sweet'. Though with the dark jeans and obviously badass demeanor, she was bluntly beautiful. She was looking at some of the red roses we had before walking around the table and inspected some of the larger flowers we had on the wall display. I swallowed dryly as I started to try to gear myself up to talk to her.

Come on, Jim. She's just a customer! You've dealt with many of these! Even though she is incredibly beautiful and looks like she can kick your ass into next Tuesday with or without the steel toe boots she had on, she's just a customer.

I shook my hands a little as I could feel my anxiety only flaring at the pep talk I was trying to give myself.

Oh, come on, man! You're twenty! You should be past this kind of stuff. Leave the awkwardness at the door, bitch. Now hop to it!

I dried my hands off on my grey work apron I was wearing over my white t-shirt and blue jeans before making my way over to her. It was only then that I realized how many tattoos she truly had. Her left arm was completely covered with different Hispanic symbols and flowers that I could only truly make out due to the years I had to spend in high school Spanish classes. One of which was a giant Dias de Los Muertos skull with purple accents and a large red rose headpiece on her bicep as the words 'Viva la Vida' were written in large black cursive letters. The symbol right under it was what I knew was dubbed the Scared Heart of Mexico which was in the same color pallet as the roses that crowned the skull but was instead surrounded by marigold to seemingly fill in some of the blank spaces on her arm in between the two pieces but the rest of the way down her forearm was fallen marigold pedals that ended right above her wrist. Even though my best friend was a tattoo parlor owner, I was never one to get tattoos. The idea of how much pain it would be always kept me away from it.

But wow this woman seemed to be really able to handle it with how much ink was on her tanned arm.

I swallowed dryly as I finally got myself to step up toward her.

"Um, hi." This caused her to look up to me and I was shocked to see a soft face to the rather punk aesthetic that she had. Soft yet high cheekbones with a small nose and soft smile dancing on her lips as she seemed to enjoy my small interruption in her small adventure in our little store. But her eyes were probably my favorite feature by far. They were this light chocolate color with gold small flakes of gold that seeming swirled within her irises.

Dear God. She truly is beautiful.

"Um," I tried to get myself back on track as I glanced over to the wall display that she was looking at to see she was looking over the larger orange sunflowers. "I see that you're enjoying our sunflowers over here. Is there anything I can help you with when it comes to them?"

"I'm looking for a new muse." She glanced back over to the flowers as she scanned them with her eyes. "Oh," She closed her eyes for a moment as she looked back toward me with a soft lopsided smile on her face. "I should probably explain myself. I'm a tattoo artist. I just got a new apprenticeship at the parlor next door and a lot of my customers enjoy my floral designs so I'm looking for something to use for new ideas."

"You've got an apprentice?"

"I know right!? Someone actually wants to get paid for a.) Working for me, and b.) LEARNING FROM ME!" I laughed lightly at Douxie's excitement as he then suddenly lost his excitement for a moment. "Well, I used to know her when we were in high school and she's like a little sister to me, but that DOESN'T MATTER BECAUSE SHE'S MY APPRENTICE!" Suddenly a black cat jumped up onto the counter that Douxie was having a riot behind. "Sorry, Archie. Did I bother you?" The cat gave a small meow before sitting on the counter as his tail flopped over the side. "Sorry, mate." He then turned his attention back to me with a wide smile. "Her name is Claire. I met her through an art program at the academy and when she told me she graduated with her bachelor's in Art and Design already, I asked her if she wanted a job and she accepted! I can't wait for you to meet her. You two will hit it off for sure."

"Wait, you're Douxie's apprentice?"

"You know my boss?" She gave me a soft smile as she crossed her arms over her chest. I felt a lopsided grin place itself on my face as I placed my hands in my jeans pockets under my apron.

Hit it off indeed, Doux.

"I grew up with him. His dad used to order from us all the time when I was a kid and since it was always to his parlor next door, my mom would always let me deliver them so I could hang out with Douxie." I pulled my right hand out of my jeans pocket to then scratch the back of my neck nervously. "He was talking about you the other day actually. You're name's Claire, right?"

"That would be me." Her hands dropped from being crossed over her chest as she then placed her hands on her hips. "You must be Jim then. Douxie talked about you as well."

"Douxie said you two went to school together." I tilted my head slightly as I let my right hand drop to my side. "How haven't I met you before then?" Claire gave me a soft giggle that sounded like an old forgotten melody to me as she glanced away from my sight for a moment.

"Let's just say I was a troublesome kid a few years back. A very rebellious girl that thought she knew what was best for her all the time. If I were you, I would be happy you're meeting me now instead of back then." When she looked back toward me, she gave a smirk that almost made my heart stop in my chest. "What about you?" I chuckled a little as I just started to eye my shoes as if they were the most entertaining thing I've ever seen before.

"I was kind of a help-o-holic, as my best friend would state." I brought my eyes back up to her as I started to tap the toe of my right shoe behind me. "I would help my mom here after school normally, but if I wasn't here I was at my uncle's auto shop down the road. My normal day was wake up, go to school, come here and do homework during my downtime, go home, eat, shower, sleep, and then repeat the next day." I shrugged as I finished the small description. "My two best friends had to legit pull me away from the stores to get me to hang out with them every now and again."

"Seems it was with good reason though." I laughed a little at her response as a small smile danced on my lips after.

"Yeah, I guess so." We shared small smiles together as we seemed to enjoy the small silence between us.

Seemingly two completely different beings within a flower shop that has a mutual cat-loving tattoo junky for a friend. What a small world, huh?

The tender moment was ripped away from us as her phone started to ring a familiar guitar tune before she almost instantly accepted with a sheepish smile being shot my way after reading the name that came up.

"Hey, Boss. What's up?" She glanced back at me for a moment where she continued to give me an apologetic look but I made sure my smile let her know that I didn't mind. "Yeah, I'm right next door. I'll make my way over in a few then. Okay, see ya." Just as the phone call began, it had ended as she slipped her phone back into the pocket of her ripped black skinny jeans. "Sorry about that."

"Oh, it's no big deal. As someone that's always getting a call from either one of my bosses, I completely understand." I slipped my hands into my apron pockets as I gave her a curious look. "But aren't you going to go head over?" She gave me a large smile as she glanced back down at the roses, this time being the royalty blue roses on the backside of the display.

"Well, even though I have enough ideas in my mind to draw for probably ages now, I'm not one to leave until I finished what I wanted." She picked up a single royalty rose before bringing her attention back to me. "I'll take one of these, if you may."

"Sure thing, the follow me this way." I started heading toward the old fashion register that was not too far away from us. I rang up the single rose. "That'll be three dollars for the single rose." It only took her a moment to pull out the exact change before we exchanged the rose and the money with each other while sharing a large smile. "Have a nice day, Claire."

"You as well, Jim." With that, she walked off toward her next endeavor with enough grace to captivate me for minutes even after she left. It was within that moment when I realized that I didn't even ask her for her number so I groaned and put a hand through my hair.

I held the door open with my foot as I tried my best to carry in the basket I was carrying of blue royal roses that were dethorned, Picasso Blue Calla lilies, and a few black tulips I had thrown into the arrangement to off-balance the complete wave of blue and white the lilies and roses had created. Also, I knew that my long term friend wouldn't have minded since he was also obsessed with that color as well. Entering into the tattoo parlor only welcomed to black walls with bright blue edges while blue décor filled the rest of the blank spacing.

But while walking in, what caught my attention was the fact that there were two little areas that cut the shop into two different smaller studios on both sides of the counter used to be colored based on Merlin's and Douxie's perspective personalities. Merlin's was bright green with gold fixtures while Douxie's was the same color as the rest of the parlor was now. But after Merlin's death, Douxie took over his old studio so that whoever he employed would take his old spot instead. Yet now, his old studio was not painted a rich royal purple with the same black fixtures that Douxie had. But instead of the walls being filled with hung paper designs, they were painted onto the wall itself. As if to prove that the artist knew exactly what they were doing instead of showcasing that they could draw on paper. I couldn't help but look in awe at the giant blue royal rose crown that lined like a crown on the moral's head as it was obviously a blue, white, and purple version of a female dressed up in the iconic Dias de Los Muertos face paint with her hands together before her on the wall. The words 'Sapere aude, atreverse a recordar' were scrawled out in cursive white letters under the joint hands of the woman.

"Dare to know, dare to remember," I whispered the saying under my breath as I held the basket still in my hands. It was then that I realized how familiar the artwork was to Claire's own sleeve that I saw a few days prior. Noting that the same cursive was on her left arm with the same sort of design for the skull.

Holy shit. She must have designed her sleeve herself then.

My eyes widened slightly as I decided to take in the beauty of her work for a moment longer.

She really is a talented artist.

"Ah! There you are! Usually, you just stand by the door, my friend." I turned around to see Douxie standing proud behind me with Claire who was right to his left. "Seems you enjoy Claire's work though. From what she said, you two already know of each other so I won't bother with introductions." I smiled toward them as my eyes were specifically dancing on purple V-neck wearing tattoo artist with half-smile dancing on her lips. It was obvious by the slight blush that burned the tops of her cheeks that she figured the gesture of me looking at her mural was enduring.

That or the fact that Douxie brought up she talked to him about me might have been embarrassing but I didn't allow myself to think too much about it.

"Yeah. It's really beautiful. I was just so used to the shop having hanging pictures as well that the sudden mural caught me off guard. In a good way, of course." I gave a nervous smile with a small chuckle as I then handed over Douxie the small black basket I was carrying. "Here's your order by the way. I hope you don't mind my small addition to it. I figured you needed a splash of black to help tie the décor to everything else." The slightly older man gave me a large smile as he took the flowers I was carrying.

"You always make the most wonderful additions to my orders so why would I ever mind, my friend?" He looked over to Claire before pointing his free hand's thumb in my direction. "The guy even helped me with color combinations for my drawings when we were growing up. Always a wonderful help if you need to talk about that kind of stuff." Claire looked over to me with a smirk as an amused look took over her face.

"Noted." I felt a small blush dance on my cheeks as I felt as if her chocolate eyes were peering into my soul while her eyes met mine.

Damn it, dude. Get a hold of yourself. You met her like, what? Three days ago? You don't even know her last name or anything besides that fact that she was a rebellious kid in high school and is one of your best friend's apprentices. Does that make my interest in her wrong then? Wait, do I even have an interest in her? Okay, how about we just stop thinking, huh? This isn't helping anyway.

"Claire's going to be a wonderful addition to the shop, don't you think?" I nodded as I finally brought my eyes away from hazel ones as I looked back over to the English accent baring twenty-one years old.

"Definitely." I looked back to her to see a genuine smile appear on her face but her eyes had a slightly sad gleam to it. It seemed as if wasn't used to someone praising her work or that she didn't believe she deserved it. Even though the Bachelor's degree that hung right next to the mural she had on the wall told me otherwise. The moment was ruined as I got a text notification on my phone which I pulled out from my jeans pocket to see that I had another delivery to do to the café on the opposite side of downtown Arcadia, as well as my mom, said I should take a break afterward with a small heart emoji. "Sorry to cut the conversation short, guys, but I've got another delivery it seems."

"Where to, mate?"

"Remember the old café you worked at your senior year when Merlin said you needed to know how to work for yourself?"

"Ah yes. The white roses she would always order from your mom. Don't overwork yourself, mate." I smiled as a gave a small shrug to the idea.

"You know how it is, always on the clock." I walked past him as I started making my way toward the door but I stopped once I was right next to Claire to offer her a small smile. "Nice seeing you again."

"You as well, Jim." I felt a spark of joy as I saw the corner of her mouth rise a little further as she spoke before I turned to give both of them a wave goodbye with a toothy grin. I was able to keep my cool for the most part. At least if you don't count me stumbling through the door as I tried my best to keep my mood chipper.

I was just going for a ride around town to just kill some spare time I had as well as see how the new engine my uncles helped me put in was working well with my motorcycle. I still remember the first day I had gotten it as a graduation gift from my Uncle Aaron, or as he was better to know by, AAARRRGGHH.

"Used to be mine in war." He patted the leather seat of the green army styled motorcycle with a white star in a circle on the sides of it. His speaking pattern was quite difficult to understand as a kid, but I understood over time that it was due to the head injury he got while in the army before he was honorably discharged.

"You're joking, right?" I looked between my two uncles before Blinky placed a hand on his husband's shoulder before looking back toward me.

"We both agreed that it should stay in the family before we have no say in it anymore. We'll help you suit her up to your style if you like." I looked back toward the bike and gave it a glance over. The body was in perfect condition but it was obvious that the mechanics of it needed work. Especially the engine.

But it was Uncle A's. That's all that mattered.

"It's perfect."

I smiled at the memory under my black motorcycle helmet with a blue visor. It was originally just a plain black helmet but Douxie insisted on doing his own twist to it. Black horns were added to the front at swooped toward the back as the word 'Trollhunter' was painted in a scratch like the style on the back of it. It was a joke about how he said I always acted like a kid in one of the stories he would always read about when growing, but I didn't mind. It was cool all the same.

So as I was gunning down through the heart of Acadia Oaks in my blue jumper jacket, black jeans, and my normal old pair of sneakers, you would imagine my surprise when I saw a familiar figure seemingly working on an older purple mustang on the side of the road. It took me a second to recognize who it was from a distance but as I neared, I couldn't help but pull over and see if she needed help. I cut off my engine and took off my helmet after kicking out the leaning stand on the side which was enough to get the tattoo artist's attention. Once I brought my eyes up to her after I got myself off the motorcycle I was greeted with a playful smirk as she was cleaning her greased-up hands with a cloth.

"Did take you as a motorcycle type." I smiled at her comment as I walked up to her while rolling my sleeves up to my elbows.

"You know, I get that a lot. It's the babyface isn't it?" I gave her a lopsided grin as I looked down at the open hooded mustang. "Need a hand?"

"Know anything about finding steering fluid leaks? This thing keeps having a problem holding onto it." I gave her a wide smile as I started heading back to my bike.

"As a matter of fact, I do." I opened up the side pouch on the right side of my bike about pulled about a small grey bottle before walking back to her. "This little Buddy should do the trick. It'll find the leak for you and fill it. You might lose a bit more steering fluid beforehand, but it should fix it." She gave me an amused look as I started already going to work under the hood.

"So your family runs a flower shop but you seem so much more comfortable with an engine." I chuckled a little at her.

"My uncles own an auto body shop on the other side of town." I screwed back on the lid of the stop leak before making sure everything was set on her engine. "So besides flowers, I know almost anything there is to know about anything that has oil." I looked over to Claire as I unhooked the rod the kept the hood up before gently having it come back down and hooking back into place. "But you should be all set."

"Just like that?" She gave me a surprised look as I just dusted my hands off by rubbing them together before me.

"Just like that. Well, hopefully. I've seen instances where there's more than just a leak going on that causes that problem."

"Great. Here I was hoping your golden touch would fix my situation." I turned my attention completely toward her as I slipped my hands into my jumper's pockets.

"Well, if that doesn't fix it for you, you can always bring it down to Blinky's Body Shop not too far away from here. Just a right down that corner and just straight down the road from there. I'll be willing to look at it further into it for you there if you want."

"Blinky?" I shrugged as I understood where her question was coming from.

"It was his nickname in the army. His real name is Blake. But he doesn't answer to it anymore."

"Well, thank you for your help though." I gave her a small smile as I took it as an idea to start heading back to my bike even though I kept my eyes on her as I did so.

"Anyway time." I turned toward my bike for a moment as a sudden burst of confidence suddenly filled my system as I then turned on my heel to look back to her for a moment. "Um, this is a little awkward, but I wanted to get your name. You know, besides just knowing you as Claire." The woman that was about to enter her mustang turned her hand toward me before a smirk appeared on her face.

"Claire Maria. I don't go by my last name anymore." She opened her car door before speaking once more. "Not since my parents made it obvious I would never live up to it." She seemed like she was going to enter the car right after that, but she flashed me a smile as if to say that everything was right with her on the idea. "It was great seeing you, Lake. Hopefully next time we meet it won't be in a shop or a roadside." A felt a small smile dance on my face as I picked up my helmet from in between the handlebars of my motorcycle.

"You as well, Claire." I watched her turn on the ignition before she started to pull away from the roadside and started heading down the road as I let her words replay in my head.

"I don't go by my last name anymore. Not since my parents made it obvious I would never live up to it."

Suddenly her voice faded as Toby's started playing within my head instead as I strapped on my helmet.

"Did you hear? The councilwoman's daughter is noted as a run away now. Insane isn't it? Something about her name being-."

His voice stopped as I then took my spot on the leather seat and I felt my eyes widen for a moment.

There was no way. No way in hell that she's councilwoman Nuñez's daughter. It can't be.

I looked over my shoulder where the purple mustang was making its way around the corner and down the street to the left.

But crazier things have happened in Arcadia Oaks.