The Flowers That We’d Grown Together - Chapter One
Chapter One: Like Litmus Paper
Summary: Dan didn't mean to forget Mother's Day. Nor did he mean to develop a crush on the adorable boy at the local flower shop. But sometimes things happen and sometimes they crash and burn. (sometimes they blossom into something beautiful -pun intended- but Dan doesn't know that yet) Or the one where Phil is the cute flowershop boy and Dan's been giving out way too many bouquets.
Dan hadn't meant to forget about Mother's Day. It's just that he had this inability to actually look at a calendar every day and every time he tried to put it on his phone calendar he forgot to. So when Dan woke up on Sunday he had a feeling that he was forgetting something. He felt it while he brushed his teeth, and while he straightened his hair, and even when he updated his facebook status for the first time in, like, three years. That's when he got the call from Louise, "Dan. I know you forget everything but please tell me you haven't forgot Mother's Day."
"Dan!" Louise scolded. "She's the reason you exist, how could you have forgotten Mother's Day?"
"I dunno! I even have her Mother's Day dinner on my calendar but until now I haven't looked at the stupid calendar."
"Have you gotten her anything?"
"Jesus, Dan. Go get her flowers or something."
And so off Dan went to get her flowers... or something. Unfortunately for him it seemed as though every other human that was incapable of juggling the responsibilities of adulthood was also out to get flowers for their mum. Every flower shop was chock full of people. It was only after roughly an hour of searching that he finally managed to find an empty flower shop. It was a run down place nestled between a Starbucks and a bakery that had no sign and seemed as though it ought to be haunted. Dan persisted anyway for his mum's sake.
When Dan finally got into the flower shop he ended up tripping over a wire and falling flat on his face. 'Fan-fucking-tastic,' Dan thought, beyond irritated. He heard a terrific laugh while he was getting up and glowered at the cause of the laugh. And- oh. This boy was absolutely gorgeous. He had the same scene kid haircut (that was really only popular in 2008) that Dan had but his hair appeared to be jet black and blue eyes that Dan wanted to swim in. Wait- no. That was creepy, even for Dan. "Sorry, I didn't mean to laugh. It's just, not many people come in here and never has anybody face-planted in here."
"Well, if there's one thing I pride myself on, it's my originality," Dan said.
"Do you need any help or do you just enjoy tripping into shops?"
"While I do enjoy tripping into shops I actually do need help. I'm looking for a bouquet."
"Well it appears you've come to the right place," Flower Boy laughed.
"Yeah, I actually need something for my mum. I somehow forgot Mother's Day," Dan admitted while awkwardly scratching his neck.
"What do you mean you forgot about Mother's Day?" Flower Boy asked, incredulously.
"I feel bad for your mum."
"Anyways, the Mother's Day flowers are over here," the guy said, gesturing for Dan to follow. "How about some roses?"
"I think she might be allergic to those."
Flower Boy, or Jason as Dan began to refer to him in his head, grinned, "How about mums for your mum?"
"What are we? 6?" Dan scoffed.
"What did they ever do to you?" Jason asked, looking as though Dan had personally caused him offense.
"When I was in Year 9 a girl I was dating, Lilac, made a big deal because I hadn't gotten her flowers for our one month anniversary. The next day I showed up with lilacs, cause I thought that was clever, and she threw them in my face and broke my poor little thirteen year old heart."
"Yeah, she was probably the worst girl in my school," Dan remarked.
"Well. In terms of flowers, do you have any better ideas than me?"
Dan thought for a moment, "She likes the smell of lavendar, and the way those flowers look, the ones that change colors based on the soil."
"Hydrangeas?" Jason asked.
"I think so, are those the ones that are either pink or blue?"
"Yup, like litmus paper," Jason responded, solemnly.
"Lit-? Why do you even know what that is?"
"Why do you?" Jason countered.
"What's her favorite color?"
"No, your girlfriend's. Of course your mum's," Jason rolled his eyes at Dan.
"She likes blue and purple," Dan responded and got a nod in response.
Jason waltzed through the store picking up various flowers before arranging them artfully into a bouquet. He showed the bouquet to Dan for confirmation. It had purple hydrangeas that were turning blue around the edges accented with small sections of baby's breath and lavender. In the very center of the bouquet was a single blue rose. "She'll love it," Dan found himself saying. "Thanks."
They walked over to the cash register together and Dan patiently waited as Jason typed various things into the cash register. "That'll be five pounds," he said, after a moment. Dan dug around in his pocket for a while before finally producing his wallet. He pulled out the five pound bill and handed it to Jason.
"I dunno how you managed to fit that whole wallet in there," Jason said, before apparently realizing what he had said and turning a lovely shade of red. Dan himself turned a less lovely shade of tomato. "Anyway," Jason continued. "You're all done." He handed Dan the bouquet.
Dan looked at Jason, "Bye."
"Have a good day," Jason said with a grin that could cure disease.
It was only once Dan got home that he realized he hadn't caught the guy's actual name, nor did he have any means with which to contact him. So he did what he'd do in any situation that required humans other than himself, he called PJ. PJ picked up after two rings.
Dan could hear screaming in the background, particularly, "Give the phone back, Chris!"
"Hey," PJ answered after what felt like eternity.
"PJ, I've done something really dense."
"No, Peej. It's worse than usual."
"Wow. You must've done something pretty awful."
"There was this boy at the flower shop and he was so cute."
"Did you say something really embarrassing?" PJ interjected.
"No. But I don't know his name and have no means of contacting him."
"Wow. That's not horrible at all. All you have to do is go back to the flower shop and ask his name."
"But then I'll be like a total creeper," Dan whined.
"Then buy something, a flower, a vase, a bouquet for Louise."
"PJ, would you by any chance mind telling me who you were-" Dan couldn't even finish his sentence before he was interrupted by the dial tone. With the thought of going back the next day he decided to have a nap before he had to go see his mum.
