Sorry about the long wait on the update! My writer's block was made of titanium recently. (And my word processor stopped working. Sigh. So apologies in advance for typos.)

"So I was thinking: do you think you could do my greenhouse as well? It could use a touch of the class that you brought to the party tonight."

I didn't even have to think about it before answering. "Definitely."

I stared at the untouched glass of water sitting in front of me and seriously started to doubt why I was currently at Gray's house at all. It was more of a mansion really, a creation of glass and steel, several stories high, angular on all fronts and brightly lit with natural sunlight. It was a Thursday afternoon. Gray and I were meeting in his reception room during my lunch break to discuss the greenhouse remodeling I had blindly agreed to last week.

"Are you sure this is alright, Mr. Fullbuster?" I asked, tapping my fingers together nervously while I eyed the modern furnishings in the room. Everything was streamlined and monochromatic, occasionally broken by the green of a potted plant.

"It's fine," said Gray dismissively. "My house, your office; it's all the same to me. Besides, I have business meetings here all the time, so it's not some novelty." I didn't actually have an office but I wasn't about to correct him. I was starting to notice this about Gray, but he was never really bothered by anything. Always laid back, composed, and easygoing.

He was a pretty nice guy, beneath the self-confident air he put off.

"You told me you wanted your greenhouse redecorated," I said, bringing the conversation back to the subject at hand. "Perhaps you could elaborate?"

"I suppose I wasn't being very specific back at the party. The underlying problem isn't so much with the decorations as it is with the flowers. They refuse to bloom, no matter what I do. More water, more fertilizer, pollination by hand… none of them work."

"Sounds like you need a scientist to fix this."

"I've sent a sample to a nursery. They said the soil's fine, the acidity is fine, everything's fine, everything checks out. So I've given up on science, and now I'm willing to try anything to at least make it look nice."

I pretended to ponder his statement but it was mostly to entertain him because I didn't know jack about gardening after all. I'd need more info.

"Mind if we take a look outside?" I asked, gesturing to his expansive backyard. The afternoon sunlight felt nice after the sub-zero temperatures inside Gray's house and I shrugged off my blazer and left it with his housekeeper.

He held the glass greenhouse door open for me, and when I stepped inside, it was like being transported. Rows upon rows of luscious greenery, all tended for like a geometric empire. The concrete pathways were neatly kept and swept clean. It smelled fresh and earthy and primal. Oh, and it was freezing. The abrupt change in temperature sent goosebumps rising up my arms.

"It's cold," I said, confused. Since when were greenhouses cold?

"Sorry, I forgot to tell you about that. Here."

He slipped off his jacket and cautiously placed it around my shoulders. It wasn't all that warm and it was way too big but it felt nice and I felt my mouth turn up into a smile nonetheless. "That wasn't exactly what I meant, but thank you."

"Erm, you can keep the tie," I said, as I eyed him loosen it absently.

"So why's it so cold in here? I thought this was a greenhouse," I said.

"It's a long story," he said.

"I've got time." (I actually didn't, and had to be back before my lunch break ended, but if I was choosing between work and "work"...)

"The greenhouse belonged to my mother before me. She adored winter and snow and all things cold, so she built all of this," he gestured at everything, "where it could always be kind of like winter. It's the complete opposite of what you'd call a greenhouse, and it's totally weird, but Ur was one-of-a-kind like that." He smiled fondly. "She'd walk around here dressed like it was the freaking beach. The woman was damn crazy, but she was amazing."

There was nostalgia in his voice. "Did something happen?" I asked.

"She's gone." His voice shifted, and I decided not to press the subject.

It was quiet for a moment before I broke the silence with, "So which of these plants are the flowers that aren't blooming?"

"All of them," he laughed sheepishly.

"All of them are flowers? And you couldn't get a single one to bloom?" I said incredulously.

"Gray's an idiot like that," a new voice interjected. A young man had slipped in unnoticed beneath the noise of our conversation. He had beady black eyes and spiky white hair that could rival Mirajane's in color. He crossed his arms and stared at us contemptuously.

"Lyon?! The hell are you doing here? I'm having a business meeting," Gray growled at the newcomer. I flinched at his sudden irritation.

"Doesn't look like it. Since when do you take clients to your house? And telling her Ur's story? You don't even have the right. What happened to her was your fault after all," he scoffed. "Besides, Ur left this greenhouse in my hands as well, and it doesn't look like you're taking care of your half very well."

Before Gray could voice whatever rude thought I saw burning in his eyes, Lyon plowed right on. "Anyway, I'm not here to pick a fight. Your housekeeper's got someone on hold on the phone, and told me to tell you it was important."

"I'm not finished with you," Gray said, pointing a finger at Lyon before stalking out. Lyon let out an amused snort, before turning to me. He stared silently, and I shifted uncomfortably.

"Your jacket's too big for you," he commented at last.

"Huh?" I'd forgotten I'd been wearing it all. "Oh, it's not mine."

"It probably is now." Before I could ask him what he meant by that, he extended a hand.

"Pardon the intrusion. Lyon Vastia. Gray's brother."

"Your hair colors are different." I wanted to stab myself right after I said that. What if the guy is just going gray early? Don't be so insensitive, Lucy!

"Half-brothers," he amended. "Though most people notice the last name first."

Oh no. I've upset him, haven't I? Fortunately, I could always become a kindergarten teacher because I could obviously tell colors apart.

"And you are?" he questioned, interrupting my thoughts.

"Lucy Heartfilia. I'm the one redoing his, well, your guys' greenhouse. Though what I'm 'redoing' exactly is a good question."

"Miss Heartfilia, I understand. You have come to solve the unsolvable puzzle: will Juvia return my love or will she be trapped in Gray's icy clutches?"

"What." I furrowed my brow at the abrupt change in direction the conversation had taken.

But Lyon was too far gone to slow down now. "Her silky blue hair, soft like the drizzle of rain on your skin. And her eyes, so emotive and shining like she's forever on the brink of tears. Shed them, my love! The tears of a damsel; nothing purer exists on this earth. There is only Juvia!"

I'd landed in a looney bin. There was no other explanation. Fortunately, I was saved from having to come up with a decent response because Gray returned at that moment and "politely ushered" Lyon out.

"Mr. Fullbuster, your brother, he's… something."

"Thanks for being polite," he coughed.

"Who's Juvia?"

"Uh, no one important. Anyway, something came up that I have to take care of, so I'll have to excuse myself. However, you're welcome to stay and examine some more."

"It's alright, my lunch break ends at twelve so I have to take off soon too."

"That's in ten minutes. Will you make it?"

"Yeah." I wouldn't. Not even close. But that wasn't his problem.

"That's great. So this Saturday is good for you? I'm having people over on Sunday so I just need there to be something to show them. Maybe find flowers to put on display? I'll understand if you cheat and bring some in that are already in bloom." He winked and began to leave.

"Mr. Fullbuster, your jacket?" I began to shrug it off, but he held up a hand.

"Keep it until Saturday. It might, uh, rain on the way home."

"Um, thanks. I'll see you Saturday then."

"He doesn't want the jacket back," Mirajane stated after I returned to the office and explained why I was late and had both a blazer and jacket on a warm spring day. "Also, you two will have very cute children."

"That's what I said!" Cana exclaimed, "only not the second part. I personally think Lucy and I would have cuter children but I digress."

"But he literally said 'keep it til Saturday,'" I protested.

"Lucy, you're so naive, it's adorable," Mirajane giggled. "I'm sure he fell even harder for you when you actually bought his excuse of an excuse."

"What does it smell like?" she continued, indicating the charcoal gray jacket on the reception desk. "What does he smell like?" she added mischievously.

Cana didn't even wait for my reply and grabbed the jacket and put her nose to it, inhaling deeply. Her eyes lit up. "Oh, I know! It's that one thing that grows in the forest. Super minty, super au naturale, kinda like an herbal cocktail…"

"Cedar," I said helpfully.

"Aha! So you have sniffed it!" Mirajane cooed.

"I did not!" But it wasn't like I was going to tell them that I'd found out by hugging him.

Cana sighed. "You're in denial."

Saturday came all too soon, and I was still stumped. Sure I could purchase a few pedestals, put flowers on them, and place them about, but with the amount of money Gray was paying me to do this, it just wasn't right.

"Hey brat, you decided what you want us to do yet? I know this isn't on your dime, but don't waste my time," growled one of the gardeners I had called to help out. Her name was Aquarius. She actually used to be contracted to do my parents' gardens, not mine, so she hated it when I called her out for favors, like I was now.

"Err…"

"Hurry up! Before I dump this pot of water on your head!" she barked, holding up a watering can threateningly.

"Eee!" I backed away to a safe distance against a potted plant when I felt it give behind me. I felt like I was seeing things frame-by-frame as it tipped off the table and plummeted downwards, but it was caught just inches above the ground by a pair of calloused hands.

"Mr. Vastia!"

"Indeed, I have returned. And so did you, I'm happy to see."

"Do you know where Mr. Fullbuster is? I tried asking his housekeeper but she said she couldn't tell me."

"He's working," Lyon said vaguely with a wave of the hand.

"On a Saturday?"

"Every day except Sunday. Work waits for no one, as you know."

"Hey, are you Fullbuster?" Aquarius marched over to where we were. "Why's it so damn cold in here? It's a greenhouse for God's sake. None of the flowers are gonna bloom like this."

I whipped around to face her. "Say that again?"

"Are you hard of hearing, little girl? Or are your ears as slow as that brain of yours? Take a look around. Periwinkles, hydrangeas- all of them need plenty of sunshine and warmth. How do you expect them to bloom in this icebox of a greenhouse?"

"It's true," Lyon joined in. "Like Juvia, all of these plants are actually beautiful flowers beneath their humble, green exteriors. Yet despite it being well into spring, not a flower is in sight, not a splash of color has bloomed to give the eyes reprieve from this vast sea of green," he said dramatically. "The cold prevents them from blooming. It's quite sad."

"Why not turn up the thermostat then?!" Aquarius ground out, tapping her gold forehead chain with impatience.

"We have. The highest that the thermostat will go is 50 degrees Fahrenheit," said Lyon proudly.

Aquarius' eyes were livid. "You crazy motherf-"

"Anyway," Lyon continued on without missing a beat, "fix the greenhouse, don't fix it. It doesn't really matter to me. I quite enjoy watching my brother struggle on fruitlessly to try and match my own gardening prowess!" He jabbed his finger triumphantly at a pot labeled "Lyon". We stared in curiosity at the pathetic wilted periwinkle inside. With a hearty laugh, he made his exit.

As Aquarius followed him to the door to yell at him some more, I got to thinking about what she had said about the cold climate. So far, I had quickly drawn up 3 solutions:

1. Install a new thermostat and heater. Cons? I'd probably be trampling on the memory of Gray's mother.

2. Install heating lamps. Cons? No cross beams to attach lamps from.

3. Something very crazy and very expensive. Cons? Gray was going to come for my ass if it didn't work out.

4. Blame my landlady. Cons? Not a solution (for this problem, anyway.)

It was obvious which one I should choose.

"Aquarius, get my landlady on the line."

"Huh?!"

"W-what I meant was, I want you to get everyone's attention."

Soon enough, every gardener and landscaper I had called was gathered around. I cleared my throat.

"Everyone, listen carefully, because I'm only going to say this once. The battle plan is this: we're going to completely clear out the greenhouse, taking all the flowers in here and placing them outside in rows. Then, we'll bring in pedestals and place them in the following areas." I pointed them out. "Now Aquarius, my phone."

She chucked it at me, narrowly missing my head.

I tapped on the app Crux, and typed "blue flowers cold climate" into its search bar. The little Southern Cross mascot nodded off for a few seconds, then a list popped up as well as images, and I had my answer. I turned back to the small crowd.

"Then we'll contact every nursery and storage house we can think of and have them bring in about a hundred of each of these flowers." I read off the list from the app. "Everyone got it? Move out the old ones, then move the new ones in. Any purchases are to be directed to Mr. Fullbuster's account. Now go! The deadline to finish is tonight."

With their instructions delegated, the crew scattered like flies. I joined into the fray and helped with sweeping up any dirt left behind and washing away water stains left on the concrete. It was intensive work for all of us, but the freezing temperatures made it more bearable. After 4 hours, the trucks finally arrived and we began unloading the flowers, well-cared for and almost in full bloom. My only hope was that they would still look this way after spending a week in this twisted greenhouse. Row by row, we moved them in: hyacinths, Siberian irises, delphiniums, and Blue Pearl crocuses. Together, they created a soft gradient of blues ranging from lapis lazuli to aquamarine.

The sky was a burnt orange by the time the final flower pot was moved into place. As soon as that happened, everyone wiped sweat from their brows and tears from their eyes because after 3 broken fingers and 1 fainting incident, we were finally done. Someone started applauding and soon everyone joined in.

"Now go home!" I yelled, "and enjoy your Saturday evening with Mr. Fullbuster's generosity!"

They filed outside and soon I was alone. The greenhouse really looked like something else now that it was full of flowers, like an artist had finally decided to shade in the empty spaces between the lines with a rainbow of blues. I closed my eyes and inhaled the intoxicating fragrance. The setting really was-

"Beautiful," Gray finished my thought. I jumped at the sudden sound of his voice. He was wearing a navy suit on his shoulders, a white tie around his neck, and a smile on his lips. It looked like he'd just gotten off work.

"Mr. Fullbuster? How long have you been standing there?" I asked.

"Well… Let's just say I'm glad you think I'm generous."

"When I said that, I didn't mean it like-"

"I know. I'm just teasing you."

We stood in silence, taking in the meadow that had spontaneously bloomed amidst this artificial winter.

"I thought I wouldn't have to tell you this, considering you called me 'Gray' before, but you don't have to call me 'Mr. Fullbuster,'" he said.

"I've called you 'Gray' before?" I mean, I did it all the time in my head, but I was pretty vigilant when I was talking to him.

"Once. During the party. But then you stopped after that."

"I… don't remember. But you'd prefer 'Gray' then? Makes it easier on me for sure."

"I figured," he chuckled.

We turned our eyes back to the flowers. A moment later, he said, "You really took what I said about cheating and bringing in flowers to heart, huh? Unless… wait a second… you didn't get all of Ur's flowers to somehow bloom, did you?"

He was looking at me with such excitement and wonder, and I so badly wished I could say yes.

"No, the original ones were brought outside. These are all new." His face fell, and I felt like a thin wire was cutting into my heart. I had to say something.

"But! Now that the original flowers were brought outside, they'll have all the sunlight and warmth they need and they'll bloom too. The cold weather was the culprit, not the soil or the water or anything."

"They always bloomed when Ur was taking care of them though, despite the cold… Guess I can't measure up to her, even after she's gone. Thank you, for not throwing her memory away."

"My mother's not around any longer either, so I understand wanting to keep what's left intact."

"How did you know I liked blue flowers?" he asked. Then, more hopefully, "Or are these personal favorites of yours?"

"Periwinkles? Hydrangeas? I could take a guess. Oh, and rainbow sakuras are my favorite, but Blue Pearl crocuses do remind me of where I used to live. Either way, these are all cold climate flowers so they should be able to hold up in here."

It was strange. I was working, wasn't I? Yet I was over at someone's house, having what felt like a heart-to-heart. Things just happened so naturally with Gray, it was hard to keep track of where things were going exactly. As much as I didn't want to, I had to book it before things got too personal.

"It's getting kind of late, so I should get going. Here's my business card if you come across any issues, and I'll write my direct line on the back as well." I scribbled my cellphone number on the back and handed it to him.

"I don't think I'll need it, but thank you." He seemed like he wanted to say something else, but when he didn't, I turned to go.

"Wait!" He sounded panicked, but when I turned to him, his face was calm. "Do you think I could meet with you in a week? Next Sunday?"

"Sure, but you know you can give me a ring if there's anything you don't like about the greenhouse, and I'll come back. It's not a fake number," I laughed.

"It's not about that," he said seriously. Earnestly. I could hear myself swallow.

"So, what is it about?"

"Let's just keep things cool. It'll be fun. I'll see you in a week, Lucy." He began to usher me to a shiny black car parked on the curb, which wasn't even my car, but I had no problem letting him think it was.

"Fun?"

"Yeah. I'll text you the details, so if you don't show up, I'll have to suppose this really was a fake number and besmirch your honor."

"English, please."

"Drive home safe," he grinned, and disappeared as a silhouette back up the driveway. I stood there dumbfounded. So dumbfounded, in fact, that I actually tried to open the car door, and the alarm went off. Startled, I dazedly headed for the subway home.

Wait, so is this a date?!