"You're late." Rosalind looked up as Skye walked in through the front door, "Was there a lot of traffic?"
"Not a ton, there was just some idiot talking on his phone in front of me, and he was driving slow." Skye complained and tossed the delivery van's keys in a box behind the counter, "Where's Jane? Isn't she back from school yet?"
"No, she has theater Thursdays, remember?" Rosalind finished tying a bunch of roses together and then began to wrap them in plastic.
"Right." Skye nodded. She took off her jacket and placed it on the hook, "Aren't you supposed to have a break?"
"I can manage without one. There's no-one to cover without Daddy here."
"I'll cover." Skye waved her off, "The rest of the deliveries can wait half-an-hour."
"Are you sure?" Rosy asked doubtfully, "I know you hate helping customers, and to be honest you still don't know half of these flowers' names."
"Ha! That's where you're wrong. Well sorta." Skye pulled out a notebook. "I've been writing down all the flower arrangements, what each flower represents, and all their names with descriptions."
Rosalind raised an eyebrow.
"Go ahead. Ask me anything." Skye dared.
"What's a yellow chrysanthemum symbolize?" Rosalind challenged.
Skye flipped through her notebook.
"It stands for...ah, slighted love." Skye announced triumphantly.
"Which flower in this bunch is a geranium?" Rosalind questioned holding up a bouquet.
Skye hunted down her geranium description and then looked over the flowers Rosalind was holding out to her.
"It's a trick question." She decided at last, "You don't have one in there."
"Good." Rosalind smiled, pleasantly surprised, "Well...I guess it wouldn't hurt to let you, and Thursday afternoons are usually really slow."
"Go on already." Skye waved impatiently.
"Alright, I'm going." Rosalind laughed, and then paused at the door that led upstairs to where the family lived, "Oh, I almost forgot. The sprinkler in the potted section is acting all fritzy again, could you take a look at it?"
"Again?" Skye frowned and grabbed her toolbelt, "Sure, I'm on it."
"Thank you!" Rosalind waved back as she went upstairs.
...
Jeffrey rushed to duck under the canopy of the 'Penderwick Family's Flower Shoppe'. He shook his hair out vigorously and wiped the rain from his face. It was really coming down hard, not that he really minded. It was just rain, and Jeffrey loved the feel of it. Everyone else appeared grumpy as they ran around with their umbrellas. His had broken, predictably. He had had his suspicions that it was cheaply made when he bought it at a dollar store, but he couldn't help himself. Not when it had the lyrics to "Raindrops Falling on My Head" written on it.
Jeffrey shook the broken umbrella out carelessly, and scraped his sneakers on the welcome mat to the florist shop. He turned the knob on the door, with a jingle of the bell above. Stepping in, he was embraced with the warm, earthy scent of the flowers. Jeffrey inhaled deeply, and instantly felt relaxed. The worst thing about living in the city was definitely the lack of outdoor space. The closest thing to an open field he had seen in months was the dead ivy plant his roommate was too lazy to throw out.
Jeffrey finally opened his eyes and looked around, but he couldn't see anyone around. No florist, and no customers. Must have been slow due to the rain.
"Hello?" Jeffrey called out, turning in circles among the multicolored forest of roses, "Anybody in?"
"Back here." Someone replied from somewhere off on his left. "I'm in the greenhouse with the potted stuff. Door to your left."
Jeffrey ducked past a wide array of daffodils, and found the open sliding glass door to the greenhouse. He entered and his eyes lit up. If the front area of the store was welcoming, the greenhouse felt like heaven.
Different flowers and leafy plants hung on hooks all around. Table displays were crowded with tiny Clematis in little garden boxes, looming Calla lilies stretching up daintily out of their orange pots, and dark, indigoed Bachelor's Buttons clustering thickly together. There were even some Pink Lady Slippers dangling from their stems precariously that reminded Jeffrey of romps in the woods up in Maine, where he had visited his dad.
"Just give me a sec." Grunted a voice that startled Jeffrey. He had been so enthralled by the greenhouse, he had forgotten the person who had directed him inside. He spun around and finally noticed the person on a stepladder way at the back of the greenhouse.
She appeared to be tinkering with a metal sprinkler set in wood panel on the glass ceiling. He looked up appreciatively at the dark skies as they poured down raindrops that ran down the glass. The girl wobbled slightly on her ladder as she gave a rather energetic turn of her wrench, and Jeffrey hurried to hold the ladder still for her.
"Thank you." She glanced briefly down at him, "Sorry to keep you waiting, I'm almost done."
"No rush." Jeffrey told her, "Take your time."
She mumbled a thanks, and switched her wrench out for a screwdriver on her belt. Jeffrey squinted up at the sprinkler trying to figure out what the girl was trying to fix in it, when she gave her screwdriver one last tight turn and finished her work. There was no question as to whether it was fixed or not, because the sprinkler instantly sparked to life and flooded them with a surprisingly strong blast of water.
Jeffrey and the girl spluttered in shocked unison and hurried to block their faces with a defensive hand. The girl tried hopelessly to undo whatever she had done, but only succeeded in getting more soaked. She gave up, and leaping off her stepladder, she ran over to a corner of the greenhouse and turned the water off at its source, the knob by the water spout.
"Really, Rosy? You couldn't turn the water off, or at least warn me?" She muttered flinging droplets of water off of her dripping hands.
"Sorry about that." The girl said ruefully back to Jeffrey, and it was the first clear sight he had of her face. She looked exasperated, her blonde hair wet and stringy. She looked pretty, even despite the circumstances.
"Don't worry about it." Jeffrey was quick to reassure her as he shook his sopping curly wet hair out of his eyes, "I was already soaked, thanks to the rain outside."
"Still, it was careless of me not to make sure the water was turned off first." She insisted, "Let me get you a towel, you can wait out by the counter."
She was off before Jeffrey could protest, so he followed her instructions, though he left the welcoming jungle rather regretfully. The blonde was back with a towel before Jeffrey even had a chance to settle.
"I'm really sorry about that." She apologized again.
"It's fine." Jeffrey dried himself off best he could, "You did a great job fixing the sprinkler."
"Yeah, a little too good." She mumbled from under another towel as she rubbed her wet hair vigorously with it, "Sorry about the extended wait, was there anything in particular that you were looking for?"
Her blonde hair was a ridiculously tangled mess, but she didn't seem to care. And to be perfectly honest, it didn't take anything away from her looks.
"Yeah, I was wondering if you guys just made specific kinds of bouquets or if there was a way I could tell you what flowers I wanted in the bouquet and you could make it according to that order." Jeffrey motioned with his hands.
"Yeah, we can do that. Do you want it right now?" For some reason she sounded rather panicked.
"No, I was just curious. Is there a way I could make a preorder though?"
"Yeah, you can do that too." The blonde smiled in what looked like a relief.
"Great. I wanted to beat the crowd of last minute people on Mother's Day." Jeffrey explained.
"Smart thinking." The blonde snatched up a pad of paper, "What do you want in the bouquet?"
"I was thinking Baby's Breath, some apricot-colored roses or light orange ones if you don't have those, some dahlias too, some hydrangeas, and...hmm. Do you think orchids would look good in there?"
The blonde visibly hesitated.
"Yeah?"
"You'd think so, right?" Jeffrey squinted thoughtfully, "I mean I can't think how'd they clash with any of the others as long as you went with a light color instead of like one of their deeper hues. Like maybe put some light green ones in or something? What do you think?"
"To be perfectly honest with you, I have the faintest idea. I have no idea what an orchid looks like unless I look through my cheat notebook." The blonde informed him, pulling a very wet and disheveled notebook out of her pocket, ruefully "The last time I made a bouquet I mixed roses with carnations and that was apparently an off limits combination."
"Were the carnations pink and the roses red?"
"Probably. Can't remember."
Jeffrey shuddered.
"Yeah, just don't do that ever." He shook his head, "But why do you work here if you don't know how to work the flowers?"
"It's my dad's business, the whole family helps out, but I mainly do all the deliveries and fix what breaks. I don't care all that much for flowers, I'm covering for my sister because she's on lunch. We've been a little stretched out on help, lately."
Jeffrey nodded in understanding.
"Well in that case, I'll just go with orchids in there. It makes sense in my mind."
"Orchids it is." She jotted it down, "Anything else in there?"
"If you guys make it and feel something is missing, I don't mind if you add something else." Jeffrey shrugged.
"So mystery flower." Skye wrote that down, "I'll need your name and number too. Also when you want the bouquet."
"That's Jeffrey Tifton, my number is 508-249-6754, and I'll pick it up on Mother's Day." He told her, leaning on the counter.
"All right." She tore the sheet off and taped to the wall behind her, "Anything else while you're still here?"
"Yeah, actually. What's a good inside plant that doesn't ask up too much care?"
The blonde furrowed her brow and looked at a loss.
"Um..."
"I'm kidding." Jeffrey waved her off, "Sorry, I couldn't resist."
"No, I was just trying to decide between a cactus and Venus fly trap." She said, "Those are the only two plants I can remember. Though, who am I kidding. You should always go with a Venus fly trap."
Jeffrey laughed.
"Good advice, but no I'm all set. Thanks for the towel." He handed it back to her.
"Sorry about that again."
"Nah, it's fine."
Jeffrey waved as he opened the door. Then he paused and turned.
"Hey, out of curiosity, are you guys accepting any job applications?"
...
(One month later)
Jeffrey couldn't tell you what his favorite part of working at the Penderwick's flower store was. Everything about it was great.
Mr. Penderwick was great. He was remarkably calm and the quiet anchor in a family composed of loud going-ons. He also had to be the most knowledgeable botanist Jeffrey had ever met. Which was saying a lot, because his mother made him attend several of her garden parties. Skye had laughed at that.
Iantha was Mr. Penderwick's second wife and was the kindest, most good-hearted person he had ever met. She didn't do much in the floral department because she taught college astrophysics, but she did teach Jeffrey how to do his taxes. He no longer feared the possibility of jail due to tax evasion.
Rosalind, the oldest Penderwick sister was incredibly patient and made sure nothing slipped up. She ran the household, headed the ordering, made sure everything got done in due time. And she never forget the slightest detail. Like how she had kept a constant supply of coffee in the pot during his and Skye's finals, and dealt with their panicked anxiety and their sudden push-up contests that would break out at the drop of a hat.
Jane was the most energetic Penderwick, and by far the best saleswoman there. She was able to find the perfect bouquet for every man that walked through the door, just by chatting them up. Out of nowhere, she'd be able to tell even the most clueless guy what his significant other's favorite flowers were and make a perfect arrangement for him. She was also writing a play for her school's theater group, and she and Jeffrey would go in the greenhouse when they were on break and read the parts to see if they made sense. Skye walked in on them once and had laughed her head off, until Jane had coerced her into joining in because it meant she and Jeffrey got to engage in a fencing match. Skye had won, even though it was his character who was supposed to.
Batty, the youngest Penderwick sister, was the artistic one in the family and did up each day's signs. She was extremely timid, but Jeffrey had finally broken the ice with her when he found out she loved music just as much as he did. Sometimes, they'd talk loudly about old jazz masters just to annoy Skye.
Ben was Iantha's son, and the sisters' step-brother. He was a pudgy little red-head that followed Batty everywhere. He was really good at helping water the plants outside and at least could remember more of the tricks of the trade than Skye could. Though, Jeffrey had caught her showing Ben how to drive the delivery van at one point.
Hound was the Penderwick's enormous dog, and although very tame had a tendency to drool and eat flowers. So they had to keep him in the enclosed backyard.
That leaves the only member of the Penderwick family that hasn't been mentioned: Skye Penderwick. Skye was the blonde stranger Jeffrey hadn't known one month ago as more than the blonde strange girl who had accidentally turned an indoor greenhouse sprinkler on him. Skye turned out to be really sarcastic and intelligent, something Jeffrey learned on his first day when Jane had told Jeffrey she could talk about musicals all day. Skye had rolled her eyes.
"Orchid you not?" She motioned with a box of flowers she was carrying to her van. To be sure, the flowers were not orchids, but it still made Jeffrey laugh so hard, the root beer he was drinking went snorting out through his nose.
Skye was going to be an astrophysicist, and once -when he had to stay late for inventory-she took him up on the roof went into excessive detail describing the star-lit heavens above them.
Skye was also the one who took him on a delivery run and almost made him puke, because she took her turns too fast and aggressively refused to let anyone cut her off.
And between you and me, Jeffrey really could tell what his favorite part of working at the Penderwick's flower store was. I'm pretty sure you could tell too. It was Skye Penderwick.
...
"As a matter of fact, I did play soccer. Not on a team like you guys, but Cagney played with me whenever he had the chance."
"Who's Cagney?" Jane asked wrapping some flowers.
"His invisible best friend." Skye spun her soccerball on one finger from where she sat in the corner.
"No, he isn't my invisible best friend." Jeffrey stuck his tongue out at her, "That was Jeremy, until he threw my very nice pair of sandals in the duck pond; though, between you and me I never cared much for those ugly sandals either."
Skye snorted. Jeffrey grinned pleased with himself.
"Anyway Cagney is my mother's groundskeeper and gardener."
"And your secret boyfriend."
"You're just jealous because I have boyfriend." Jeffrey shot back.
"Ooh, shots fired. Nice one." Jane high-fived Jeffrey.
"Ha, joke's on you. I just started dating someone last week, and we're getting pretty serious."
"Really?" Jeffrey was taken aback.
"Really?!" Jane's eyes lit up, "What's his name?"
"Jeremy. And he's been standing here this whole time." Skye said with a dramatic reveal.
She paused and cocked her head.
"What's that, Jeremy? Jeffrey was a manipulative backstabber who blamed you for the sandals when he was the one who threw them in the duck pond?"
Jane cracked up over that.
"And Skye takes the lead." Jane high-fived her sister.
"Alright, laugh all you want." Jeffrey crossed his arms, "Like you guys didn't have invisible friends you blamed everything on."
"I did actually." Skye admitted, "Only she wasn't invisible, and she didn't have an unimaginative name that sounded suspiciously like my own."
"To you maybe she wasn't invisible." Jeffrey retorted, "What was her name?"
"Jane." Skye threw the soccer ball at his head.
"I knew I wasn't responsible for ripping a hole in your dress!" Jane exclaimed.
Jeffrey couldn't help breaking out into a fit of uncontrollable laughter, and Skye couldn't help snicker at the sight of Jeffrey losing it. To be fair, he lost it over the lamest of jokes, but it had become one of Skye's goals in life to see how many times she could make him crack up.
"Aren't you supposed to be doing homework?" Jane asked Skye pointedly.
Skye had only sat behind the front counter five times before in the three years that the flower shoppe had been open. Even then the longest amount of time had been only twenty minutes, and that had been because she had been fixing the cash register so it would stop jamming shut. Recently, though, she had taken to sitting back there more often. She had discovered it as the perfect place to do homework. And she had also found the greenhouse's bench to be the best spot to read her enormous astrophysics books. It was purely coincidental that Jeffrey was always manning the counter when she did homework, and that he took care of plants in the greenhouse when she was busy reading. Jane didn't think it was purely coincidental.
...
(One month later.)
Jeffrey was struck with a big, life-changing realization on a rather small ordinary summer day.
It was your average work day at the flower shoppe, Skye had just finished a delivery and Jeffrey had just been relieved by Rosalind so he could take his half-hour lunch. The two coworkers/friends were sitting under the canopy overhanging the front of the shop, because it was the shadiest location they could find. They were mainly joking back and forth as was their want. As usual, Skye got pretend offended by something Jeffrey had said.
"Watch yourself, Tifton. You might provoke me into an act of "violets"." She held up a small pot.
"Those are Pansies." Jeffrey wheezed, his sandwich choking him as he laughed too hard.
"All the better. It's the perfect flower for you." Skye pounded his back, unsympathetically, to stop his choking.
Jeffrey opened his mouth to complain, but that's when it hit him, and I don't mean Skye's enthusiastic back pounding. He took one look at Skye, and choked even harder. Because it was that moment right there that changed his life drastically.
He was in love with Skye.
...
(Another month later)
"Hey, Mr. Penderwick, do you think I could have September 5th off?" Jeffrey asked, as the head of the household walked past, his nose in a supply catalogue.
"Hmmm?" Mr. Penderwick looked up, "But of course."
"Great, because there's this-"
"It's Labor Day, I'm closing the shop." Mr Penderwick continued, smiling.
"Labor day?" Jeffrey blinked in surprise, "I forgot."
"Yes, we're all planning a day at the beach. You're welcome to join us of course."
"Um...No. No, thank you." Jeffrey's face fell, and he hurriedly crumpled a piece of paper behind his back, "I've got a thing that day."
"Too bad." Mr. Penderwick said, "Would have loved for you to join us."
"Yeah, sorry." Jeffrey hurriedly tossed the wad of paper at the trash can, "I hate to miss it. Hope you guys have a great time."
...
(September 5th)
Jeffrey exhaled slowly, trying to ease the panic he felt seizing up in him. He peered out past the curtain at the audience shuffling around as they tried to find good seats. Why were there so many? Jeffrey was beginning to wish he had a paper bag on hand.
"Relax, Tifton. If anyone's got this, it's you." Darryl, an oboe player, patted Jeffrey's shoulder, "You're gonna nail your solo part."
"Thanks for the reminder that I'm doing a solo bit." Jeffrey groaned.
"C'mon, Dude. Just do it for your family out there."
"My mother couldn't show." Jeffrey told him point blank, "My friends couldn't make it here either. Although, they had the excuse of not knowing about it."
"Jeez, sorry, Man." Darryl winced.
"Nah, It's fine." Jeffrey sighed, "It's okay, really. You're right I'll do great."
"Glad to hear that, because the conductor is gesturing us on, Dude."
The next five minutes were a blur to Jeffrey. He felt himself swept onto the stage in Daryl's supportive grasp, and he found himself sitting at his piano almost magically. He felt like he was going through an out of body experience, and he was only looking down on himself from somewhere else. Then, as his eyes were dragging along the audience, and he began to feel sick to his stomach, his gaze fell on someone familiar. Jeffrey had to do a double take, and then, his mouth dropped in shock.
There, grinning smugly and looking decidedly pleased with herself, was Skye Penderwick. Jeffrey was so startled, he missed his cue by two seconds and he had to hurry to get back in place. Jeffrey didn't know how or why Skye was there, but he definitely wasn't upset about it. He felt loads calmer, and everything he had practiced instantly came back to him. The whole concert lasted only about an hour, but that hour flew by in a whirl of music that Jeffrey heard but didn't really pay any mind to. And when the program had ended and all the musicians had taken their bows, Jeffrey saw Skye standing and applauding with the rest of the audience.
...
"Flowers for the concierge?" Skye bowed mockingly and held out a bouquet of roses to Jeffrey.
"You do know that a concierge is someone who works at a hotel right?" Jeffrey questioned.
"I think I know the meaning of such a simple word, Tifton." Skye snorted, "And that's a connoisseur."
"Sometimes I can't tell if you're joking or not." Jeffrey squinted at her.
"Jeffrey, if I was joking. I would have called you something ridiculous like a 'concertist', or some other made up word."
Jeffrey snorted.
Skye grinned.
"Hey, you did great up there." Skye socked his arm.
"Thank you. Thanks for coming too, a-and for the flowers." Jeffrey stuttered, still a bit lost as to why she even was there.
"Yeah, you guys weren't boring at all. Kinda surprising, you know." Skye admitted, "Since whenever you talk music I fall asleep. Hey, you need a ride?"
"Uh-yeah. Yes, please." Jeffrey stammered.
"Figured. You've got to hurry up and get your license already. Hey, if you got your permit I could totally teach-"
"Yeah, um...how'd you know about this?" Jeffrey demanded, cutting Skye off "And what about your family's day at the beach?"
"The beach sucks." Skye shrugged.
Jeffrey gave her a look.
"There was a big wedding order for flowers put in last week. I stayed to deliver the stuff, and I made sure the others kept it on the downlow. I was worried you'd pull your chivalrous bit and insist on doing it, when I know you specifically asked for today off." Skye explained, getting in on the driver's side of the van, "On the positive side, I got an enormous tip."
"Okay, that explains why you aren't with the rest of your family, but how'd you find out about the concert?"
Skye pulled a rumpled flyer out of her pocket and tossed it at Jeffrey's head.
"I found that on the floor next to the trash can." She glowered at him, "You have terrible aim, and the ground's always littered with wrappers because of you. Anyway, your name's on there. I figured I'd swing by just in case you had nobody else showing up."
"Thanks. Really." Jeffrey told her seriously. Skye glanced briefly at his face as she pulled out of the parking lot.
"I'm glad you showed up, it means a lot."
"No sweat." Skye said at last, "It's what friends do. I've got your back."
It began to rain a few seconds later, and the two sat there silently as the rain tapped on the van, and the windshield wipers beat in time.
"So what're you going to do when you get home?"
"I dunno. Tie up a few loose ends around the shop. Relax. I can do pretty much anything. I can go out in the pouring rain and play soccer, and no one can stop me. I can eat cake for supper. I can clean up Jane's side of the room." Skye grinned maliciously.
"Wow. You're getting real crazy there."
"What can I say? I live life on the wild side." Skye said modestly.
"You can come over too, if you want." She said after a moment's hesitation, "We can hang out if you're not doing anything."
"I'm not." Jeffrey said quickly.
"Cool."
The rain poured down even harder than before, and when they got back to the florist shoppe, Skye and Jeffrey had to make a mad dash for the door. They still got soaked.
Skye turned the key in the lock and they both jumped inside.
"Holy macaroni, it's coming down out there. Hope the others don't have too much trouble driving home."
"Relax, unlike you, your dad knows how to drive. I'm sure he won't cut around a corner blindly." Jeffrey patted her shoulder.
"Hey! I clearly had the right of way!" Skye protested, "That jerk completely disregarded his stop sign."
"Skye, that's because he didn't have a stop sign. You had the stop sign."
"And I counted to three seconds."
"That doesn't matter, he had the right of way. C'mon! How on earth did you get your license?"
"Okay, that was three years ago. You can't expect me to remember all of those rules." Skye snorted and tossed Jeffrey a towel.
"Hey, it was raining when I first met you." He pointed out, "Remember, you hosed me down with the sprinkler?"
"And I actually felt bad about it?" Skye agreed, "Now, I would do it on purpose with out a second thought."
Jeffrey made a face at her.
"Do you want to go in there?" He asked twisting the towel in his hands, "It's always cool watching the rain fall on the glass."
"That's cheesy." Skye snorted, "I like it when the lightening cracks right past the window."
"That's morbidly terrifying." Jeffrey corrected.
"Don't be a pansie, Tifton." Skye held up a pot demonstratively.
"That's a Begonia."
"More like 'Be gone with ya'. Huh?"
"No. No, that one doesn't work. In fact it's kind of sad." Jeffrey shook his head.
"You're sad." Skye grumbled. She couldn't think of another comeback.
"Wow. Good one." Jeffrey clapped slowly, "I know it took a lot of thinking for you to come up with that one, and I just wanted to be sure you know that it really blew me away. I can't stress how original and cutting that was."
Skye shoved him into one of the large, empty pots in the greenhouse. It was a very effective way of cutting him off.
"Oh. Oh, I'm so sorry. That's really unTHORNate." Skye said sarcastically, "Can I just say I'm URNestly sorry?"
"You good now?" Jeffrey grunted as he toppled the urn over and climbed out. Unfortunately, the inside of the pot had been rather muddy, and his dress pants were... Well, I guess you could say they were-
"SOILed." Skye snickered, "You SOILed your pants."
"I swear you have a five year old's sense of humor." Jeffrey complained.
"Thank you very MULCH."
Jeffrey squinted really hard up at the glass roof, and tried to keep his face stone like.
"Okay, okay. Maybe I went a little too far with the jokes. I'm sorry." Skye apologized meekly, "You know I blame my upbringing. I think my problem STEMS back to my childhood."
Jeffrey lost it and began to cackle. He laughed so hard he had to clutch his chest. Skye smiled on proudly, and waited until he was almost done.
"I'm just going back to my ROOTS." She deadpanned.
Jeffrey leant against the glass wall and guffawed. His laughs got more and more high-pitched, until Skye collapsed against the wall next to him and joined in. They laughed until their stomachs hurt insanely. Even then they chuckled weakly, and tried to catch their breaths. It took awhile, but eventually they trickled down into silence, until they were in a peaceful state, just staring at the rain pouring above. It was mesmerizing. The rain beating softly, the smell of all the dirt and flowers permeating. They both felt happy and content.
"Thanks for that." Jeffrey said finally, "I think I really needed a good long laugh after the concert. You know, just to unwind from it all. I was really tense up there."
Skye shrugged, slightly red. Jeffrey watched her instead of the rain for a little while, and unwittingly spaced out with a smile on his face.
"What?"
Skye was looking back at Jeffrey in a mix of confusion and hesitation. Normally, Jeffrey would have shaken himself, stammered some excuse, and then avoided Skye for the rest of the night.
"Hey, Skye? Can I say something?"
"I swear, if you tell me another boring fact about Glenn Miller or Benny Goodman.."
"I...I...Lilac you."
Skye stared at the flower in Jeffrey's hand, and then looked back at his face as if she seriously thought he was joking. She opened her mouth, closed it, and then opened it again.
"That's...not..a Lilac."
"What?" Jeffrey wasn't sure he heard correctly.
"That's not a lilac." Skye cleared her throat, "Lilacs are lots of tiny flowers all bunched together. That has a long stalk and just a cone shaped bud. That's lavender."
"You're not serious!? This is the one flower you know?! How on earth is it lilacs and lavender that you know, but not something as simple as a peony or an orch-"
Skye held out a small handful of flowers. Jeffrey paused. They were tiny, purple flowers all bunched together.
"Lilacs."
"You...stole my punchline." She said briefly.
Jeffrey looked up, wonderingly and met Skye's blue eyes.
"Wait. You don't mean...?" He asked breathlessly.
"I lilac you too." rushed Skye.
Jeffrey gave a short disbelieving laugh as he leaned closer towards Skye. She moved forward too.
"Wait." Jeffrey pulled back in realization, "We don't sell lilacs here."
"Oh, for Pete's-" Skye threw up her hands, "I picked them off a bush outside. Are we really going to talk about this right-"
Jeffrey kissed her softly. When he pulled back, heart hammering, Skye blinked slowly.
"I'm actually surprised that you came out and said that before me. I thought you'd never make a move."
"Hold on. You knew I liked you?!"
"I had my suspicions. I keep catching you staring at me, your face just lit up when you saw me at the concert, you laugh at even my dumbest jokes-though that could be just a lame sense of humor on your part..."
"Hold up!"
"Even I know they're pretty bad." Skye rolled her eyes, "I guess part of the reason I like them, is because they make you crack up."
"Awwww!"
"Don't." Skye frowned.
"You have a big crush on me too!" Jeffrey hugged her, happily.
"You're pinning my arms, and I want to punch you really bad right now." Skye complained.
"Fine. All right. Give me your best shot." Jeffrey sighed. He pulled back, held out his arms, and shut his eyes tightly, "But only just this once, because I lo- like you."
He waited, wincing, but was startled when Skye only kissed him. Jeffrey relaxed and kissed her back.
It was tentative and new, but Jeffrey felt confident. He knew it was going to be a little awkward at first, and maybe a bit rocky, but there was something more that made any fears feel tiny. This was big. It was just beginning, but he could feel it. They'd make it last.
Whoooo boy. I feel a little scared posting this, even though it was an idea I've been playing with for a long while. It just felt a little too choppy and a bit jumpy at points. I had too do it of course, just because um...puns. Sorry.
P.S: Lilacs represent the first emotions (or BUDDING feelings, yes, I went there) of love.
KoalaLover-ABC-123: Thank you, m'lady. I'm delighted that you liked it!
Readwriteedit: Hoooooly crap. Jeez, I'm flattered and ecstatic that I can manage to brighten your day at least a little. I hope this longer one shot kind of makes up for a bit of a long break. Also, don't stress about leaving reviews. Sure, I love hearing from you, but I also get you. I can have a bit of a hard time reviewing other people's stuff sometimes, because I'm not good at that sort of thing. I really don't mind. P.S, thanks for the story idea, I love it! I'll get too it eventually, I promise.
To my GM: Thanks for the reviews. I love your ideas, especially the online dating one. It's got my creative juices going, and your definitely going to get that one shot at some point. I love the Claire and Turron one too, but that might take longer. We don't get hear all too much about them-unfortunately-so I want to come up with a solid one. As for Dominic, I can see a chapter in the future entailing that punk skater. Thanks again!
Nijibrush: I'm excited that that was your favorite one shot. It thrilled me that you approved of where I went with your idea, and thanks again for that plot! I loved your personal story too, because one of my goals in life is too see how much I can expand my comfort zone. Trust me, it's hella worth it. I wouldn't be writing on here otherwise, and my life's pretty rockin' right now too. P.s: Freakin' awesome coincidence with the soccer pencil, I love it!