Yeah, I can't even follow my original intentions of these prompts and ended up barely brushing on the idea of rejection, but it's there. Also some of these prompts will eventually come together as part of much larger story so you may notice things from other chapters, for example Mistake is actually set after Rejection.

Finally, any flowers mentioned do hold significance, I used the Victorian flower meanings so for example in the last chapter heather represents admiration, beauty and good luck, and it can also be associated with solitude and protection. While hydrangeas symbolize heartfelt emotions and can be used to express gratitude for being understood.

Summary: Rico has been suffering from Hanahaki for weeks without anyone knowing, it's easy to hide given the damage to his voice. He'd rather die with lungs in his flowers than face the inevitable rejection he faces from Kowalski.


Rejection

Rico watched the petals wash down the drain with disinterest as he caught his breath, clutching the counter for support. It felt like he still had something his throat and he wondered if he had progressed to the next stage of Hanahaki. He had been coughing petals for weeks and had found himself for what may have been the first time, thankful for the damage to his throat. It had made it easier to hide that he had the disease at all.

Of course, if the disease was progressing it would prove a challenge to keep it from his team. The petals would turn to flowers as the roots grew deeper into his lungs, the flowers would begin to grown into his throat as the space in his lungs diminished, and the final step in which the roots would begin to grow through his lungs as they pushed for more space. It was easy to wash petals down the drain, but whole flower heads couldn't always be gotten rid of so easily. Then he had to worry about his physical performance, once enough flowers grew even walking would be enough to wind him. Although that would still be weeks if not months away depending on how careful he was to distance himself from the team.

Rico ran a hand over his face as he left the bathroom thinking about his next move. Despite an established reputation of being quiet long before the accident that nearly stole his voice, there was a certain degree of quiet that would draw the attention and concern of Private and Kowalski as well as the paranoia of Skipper. There was no way he was going to endure another one of Skipper's awkward attempts to lead a team therapy session. Their leader was good at many things, but hearing his attempts to get them to open up and be more honest with each other was downright painful.

He recalled the last time he had a close brush with death which had been at the fangs of one of Savio's cobra hybrids and shuddered at the memory of what misery it had been with his team pushing for some solution, some miracle cure, all while Private sobbed poetry. But Hanahaki wasn't a snake bite and he knew that they wouldn't react well to the fact that he didn't want to survive if the disease continued to progress as he suspected it would.

He pulled his phone out, selected the most recent contact under his messages, and typed a quick message to the only person who knew that he had Hanahaki.

i think its getting worse

do they know?

no

r u going to tell them?

And a second later it was followed by:

r u going to tell him?

Rico stared at the question for a moment and considered his response. He and Julien hadn't spoken at length about the disease progressing, or who it was that Rico had started pine for. It had been an awkward revelation about their relationship and they had only discussed and agreed that no one was at fault for him developing Hanahaki while they were still together. Yet, Rico had suspected that Julien had known that Kowalski had been the one to steal his heart away from the young crown-prince. Julien was astoundingly observant and insightful; it was one of the many things that had drawn him in. Well that and that nothing from Rico's ever resulted in an expression of pity only awe and admiration.

Finally Rico replied:

can I come over?

only if I can come too ;)

sorry, yes

its best we talk about this in person anyway

I'll be over in a bit.

Rico put his phone in his pocket and wondered how he would even begin to explain why he was already set on dying. He could already imagine Julien's arguments- you've already survived so much. You could have so much more to live for, think of your team, the bros, me. Think about him. Would you really like to die without knowing what could have been?

All to which he would argue that he was fortunate enough to have found Miguel and then Reina, but that he would not risk a third. Because when it came to petals every person who he had fallen for had been taken away from him and that was only if they had fallen for him in return.

And Julien would roll his eyes and then pout, what about me? Did you not fall for me? And I for you?

But he would reply that Julien had been the exception each other. They had fallen so quickly and had been so aware of one-another's feelings that neither of them had developed petals; a rare but not entirely unheard of occurrence.

"Rico?" Kowalski asked gently and frowned when the man in question startled and blinked owlishly at him. "Are you okay? You've been standing there for the last few minutes."

Rico ran a hand over his face and ignored the way is chest seemed to tighten, "yeah. M' just tired." That wasn't entirely untrue given that he didn't sleep most nights.

Kowalski nodded and sighed. "I feel it. I haven't been sleeping well since Doris developed Hanahaki. She was supposed to be the one; everything about our relationship was perfect and she fell in love with someone else."

The comment surprisingly stung even if it hadn't been directed at him or his relationship with Julien. Rico's phone chimed and he didn't even need to retrieve it to know that it was Julien wondering where he was at even though it took at least 15 minutes to walk to The Groove.

Kowalski gave Rico a knowing look. "I assume that would be Julien?"

"Yeah," Rico spoke fighting against the tickle in his throat.

"I suppose I won't keep you any longer from attending to His Majesty. I need to get ready to go meet up with Doris anyway." Kowalski sighed not looking forward to the discussion that awaited him.

Rico reached out and put a hand on Kowalski's shoulder giving him a quick reassuring squeeze adding in a low voice, "it'll be okay." It had been difficult watching the genius struggle on with Hanahaki the last few years. Of course for Kowalski the disease hadn't shown any signs of progressing until recently, when he had started his relationship with Doris to be exact.

Kowalski's expression softened and he found himself looking at Rico in a mix of awe and jealousy. He would never quite understand how things always seemed to work out in his teammate's favor despite all the odds. "You're very fortunate Rico, not just surviving all that you've been through, but that you and Julien found each other. I know I may have had my doubts about your relationship and haven't always been the most supportive, but Julien's been good for you and you've been good for him. I'm happy for you."

It felt like all the air had been forced out of his lungs and Rico struggled to ignore the tickle in his throat. For a moment he considered coming clean, admitting that he and Julien were no longer together, that he had fallen in love with someone else.

This time it was Kowalski's phone that chimed and the genius frowned as he checked the message. "Doris just left so I need to get going; best to get this over with I suppose. Thanks for listening Rico; I'm fortunate to have you as a friend." Kowalski mused and found he was missing the days before Rico was dating Julien. It was nice to have someone who would just let him rant or talk through things without interrupting or offering advice. He turned to leave but paused to add, "And be sure to tell Julien that you do need to get some sleep tonight."

Rico laughed at the comment. He always loved whenever Kowalski got a playful tone in his voice, blue eyes alight with mischief. Yet, as soon as Kowalski was out of sight Rico doubled over his laughter turning into harsh coughs that he tried to stifle with his hands. He winced feeling the warm petals stick to his hands and when he stopped he didn't need a genius to tell him that the petals were red with blood. Any thoughts of confessing fled his mind as he replayed the conversation with Kowalski over in his mind. He would stay with his original plan of hiding it from the team and with Julien's help he might even be able to pull it off. His team wouldn't know he let Hanahaki consume him until he was past the point of recovery; where no last minute confessions would stop the flowers and surgery would no longer be an option to separate the flowers from his lungs. That would be easier than the harsh sting of rejection and far easier than the enviable fallout that would cost him another person cared about.