Uriah

"Anyway," he stood up with a huff, taking the cup in his hand and looked back at her, "Welcome to Astilbe. I'm the owner of this small flower shop, Uriah Baker."

She gave a polite smile, "Jasmine Fletcher. Thanks for the warm welcome."

"Thanks for being that insistent on coming in that you had to faint just to get your way." He gave her a mischievous grin, hoping to ease up the tense atmosphere.

It worked.

Jasmine laughed a little, clearly not displeased by his teasing at all.

A look of understanding flashed across his face, "Oh, so that explains the face you made when I told you about the tea."

"Yeah. You noticed?"

"It's hard to miss that."

She was easy to see through, someone who didn't have anything to hide, a really honest person.

Unlike him.

Jasmine

"Let's go down. I'll show you around." Uriah led her down the stairs, in a slow manner. It led her to wonder why such a gentle and caring person that took notice of every little thing would show such sadness in his eyes earlier. They didn't fit together. It felt odd and awkward, like putting two pieces of puzzles together that were not meant to fit.

Jasmine followed behind him, realizing that he was much taller that she was, leading her to guess that he was also much older than her. 18 or 19, perhaps.

"How old are you?" She asked out of curiosity.

"Have a guess."

"18?"

"Close," he answered with his back facing her, "I'm 19. I don't look my age, do I?"

She had to agree to that. He looked more youthful than his actual age.

A small pause later, Uriah said, "I'm guessing you're 16?"

"Yeah."

"I'm  right then," he smiled, turning to let her have a better look at where they were. Jasmine assumed it to be the display area, judging from what she saw.

There were so many different kinds of buckets, vases and baskets of different sizes, all holding diverse types of flowers placed on the floor, and right above them was a long shelf with smaller, potted plants. Everything were neat, and looked like they were where they belonged to.

The lights were bright enough to light up the whole area, making them look like an entirely different dimension, a place full of life. A mix of sweet, spicy, minty, and earthy scent assaulted her. Even the air were fresher and cooler.

Jasmine felt the excitement seep out from within her, hardly able to contain herself from getting closer. How alluring, the scent, the sight, everything. Like a bee attracted to pollen, she couldn't take her eyes off them. It has been a long time since she visited a flower shop.

Uriah was already by the first section of the display area, standing beside a small, brown bucket filled with flowers, urging her to come closer. She did, and because it wasn't in her reach, Jasmine had to bend down to take a closer look. It was a mix of similar flowers but in a series of different colours.

"These are carnations. They can be in red, white, pink, yellow, purple or even striped." Uriah's voice came from below her. He was originally a head taller than she was, but now that he was crouching down, Jasmine was able to see him from a higher angle. His long, jet black bangs slid slightly to his side, revealing his face a little more instead of half covering his eyes before.

"What's the difference?" She poked at the petals of one of the carnations, trying to pay more attention to the flowers instead of him.

"Their flower meanings." He slipped a white one out of the vase and presented it to her, "It means innocence."

She took it, twirled it between her fingers and took a light whiff. Spicy.

"A pink one means gratitude. A light red is admiration, dark red being deep love." He went on with his explanations.

"How fascinating, the colour defines them." Jasmine mused.

Uriah

"Yeah," Uriah took the flower back and into the vase it went. "Everything in this world is colourful, that's why it's beautiful."

What if someday my everything, my world just turned black and white? What, then, should I do?

Uriah's heart sank. It felt heavy, all of a sudden, like he wasn't just smiling second ago, having fun as he usually does. Everything seemed to have dimmed a little, despite being in such a well-lit place, surrounded by the flowers he loved.

Happiness was always out of his grasp, but this time, it was as though it left him completely.

Jasmine

Jasmine turned away from the carnations and towards him, but stopped when she noticed how close he was to her as he moved in closer to arrange the carnations back neatly. Her gaze landed on his face, but she was stunned at how broken he had looked right then. Like he was going to shatter.

Even before she had any time to question why, Uriah looked up, and their eyes met, this time even closer than the first time they stared at each other.

The same murkiness clouded his eyes, and all of a sudden, more than the flowers, she wanted to know more about this boy, especially the sorrow he carried in his gentle eyes.

Uriah

He saw her eyes again.

Pure hazel eyes, crystal clear, almost transparent and bright.

So hopeful.

All his previous thoughts that he thought would start cutting right through his heart, ripping it to shreds and had refused to leave even then, vanished without a single trace. He momentarily forgot about everything else but the beautiful flower that stole all his attention -- Jasmine.

Jasmine

His eyes lit up, and that prompted her to speak.

"Blue," She stammered out.

He blinked, "What?"

Jasmine felt her cheeks burn up as she looked away, "Nothing. I mean, my favourite colour is blue." She wouldn't let him know that she was too into staring at his eyes, their colour, that she had accidentally let that slip.

"Mine's white," He chuckled after a few seconds pause.

Jasmine stole a glance at him, grateful at his attempt to stop the awkwardness even though she was still feeling extremely embarrassed. The air around them softened, and turned peaceful, tranquil again. Nothing was between them anymore, and Uriah found it relaxing to keep talking about the flowers, as do Jasmine to keep listening to his smooth voice, filled with joy, but still with a tinge of sadness.

The afternoon went by just like that, and both of their day passed in a way they least expected it to be -- enjoyable.

Uriah

The sun was setting as a faint orange glow streamed in through the window. It was almost five when they both decided that it was time to part.

"Would you like to get anything before you leave?" He took off his apron and walked her out of the display area. He hadn't expected it to be so late this fast, but it was only logical since he could feel his throat dry from all the talking.

"I would, but I came empty handed," Jasmine shrugged a little, eyes wandering around as she mumbled, "Maybe next time..."

"Hmm," Uriah ran his fingers through his dark hair, trying to think up of something as Jasmine walked in front of him. He glanced at the counter and his face light up.

"Tomorrow," She said to no one, and with the distance between them, Uriah didn't catch it. Jasmine turned around and spotted him, noticing the yellow flower he was holding in his hands.

"Here, a gift for you," He held it out for her, and smiled. A really goofy, slightly bashful but warm one. Jasmine found it cute for someone much older than herself to look so young, like a child.

"But I can't pay for this."

"Just take it. It's on the house, since it's your first visit." He urged her again, bringing the flower further up to her.

"Then, thank you," Jasmine took the flower in her hands, examining it. Yellow, long and slender petals with a toothed tip. A rather small flower, and simple as well.

"It's a coreopsis, in case you are wondering." Uriah added.

"I was," She looked up at him and back at the flower. "What does it mean?"

"Try to find out by yourself," Uriah said, "It's more of a surprise that way, right?"

"Okay. I'll come by again tomorrow, and do whatever I can to get the answer from you, in case I can't find it tonight," She laughed, joy evident on her face, a faint blush spreading across her cheeks.

The sound of her laughter was soft and bright like dandelions, it was really melodic and clear.

Uriah stood there, speechless for a moment, before a smile spread on his face and something that he thought he would had lost blossomed in his heart. It wasn't love, no, it didn't come in such a way. Peace, perhaps. Uriah's heart was freed of turmoil.

She said tomorrow.

The doubt of whether to open up the shop tomorrow was cleared, and when she indirectly made a promise with him to meet, he wasn't able to turn her down.

"It was fun today. Thanks for letting me in on your flower paradise."

"Sure. I had a great time too."

Having someone listen to him talk about the thing he loved attentively definitely did made him happy. For the three hours she had been with him in the shop, he hardly had any time to think about anything else but her. He felt like himself again while she was around.

"Well then, see you tomorrow."

Uriah gave a little wave as she walked out of the shop and went down the path back to town.

🌸🌸🌸

Fiddling with the tip of his long, damp bangs, Uriah's eyes glazed over, with a thousand thoughts clouding his mind. He still hadn't accepted what happened for the day. The world hated him, he decided. Throwing every kind of bad news at him only to have him enjoy the rest of his day after was even more exhausting.

Letting out a deep sigh, he closed his eyes, turning to the right, his face just inches from hitting the wall. Uriah let the silence sink, undoing all the defenses he had put on, his façade, and succumbed to the dark.

Why? He questioned himself, looked back at his life, thought about the world, and started to blame everything he could thought of. Yet, he still didn't get an answer.

It felt weird, really. Maybe it was too much for now, that even though he should be feeling more, he wasn't. He didn't have any intentions of doing anything, not for that minute, or tomorrow, or even the day after. Motivation was completely driven out of him. That was what he thought at first, but something flashed across in front of his eyes, like an unbreakable rope tugging him back from walking the other way.

He had a reason to pick himself up. She gave it to him, and Uriah was reminded of that promise. That very thing that drove him to become who he was today, and what he strived to do. His past and future.

Uriah needed to fulfill that promise from years ago, and the one he just made today as well. No matter how meaningless doing anything felt to him, at the very least, he still had something left to do.

Silent tears streamed down his face, staining the fabric of his bed. When he opened his eyes again, the wall was right in front of him. Trapped, a dead end. He laughed in between sobs, his body shaking a little painfully.

And so, he gave in to sleep, with eyes still burning and a numb heart.

Jasmine

"To think someone got home past the curfew, after declaring that she'd be right back," Her mom laughed heartily, picking up her plate in front of her and sauntered to the kitchen.

Jasmine's lips formed a thin line as she huffed, "Can we stop talking about this?"

After telling her parents about the heat stroke and dealing with all their questions, they finally let the matter go and started teasing her instead.

"I'm having fun listening though," Trevor chimed in, "Someone's clearly embarrassed."

She sighed, resting her chin on her palm, her elbow on the table supporting the weight. "I just forgot about the time, okay?"

"Where were you for the whole day? You were out for three hours, at least."

Jasmine glanced back at Trevor, nonchalantly answering, "A flower shop, at the outskirts of the town,"

"Oh," he said, "You still loved flowers after all these years, huh? Were the flowers beautiful?"

"Yes," the word slipped out of her lips faster that she could process them, "They were really beautiful, all of them." A certain raven-haired boy with steel blue eyes popped up in her mind, and Jasmine tried her best to wave it off.

"It's great that you're having fun, Jas." Trevor's voice dropped an octave, but Jasmine's mind was a little occupied at the moment, so she paid no mind to it and hummed a response.

"Alright, it's getting late, both of you should go to bed soon," Their mom cut into their conversation after looking up at the clock.

Jasmine made her way back to her room, glad that she was given the permission to, finally escaping the teasing of her family. As she closed the door behind her, she walked over to the table, pulled the chair out and settled down.

Switching on her computer, she made haste and searched for the one thing that was bugging her since dinner. It took her little time to found the answer. Jasmine went through sentences after sentences, scanning the clump of texts to find what she wanted to know.

She found it, and blinked a few times. After rereading the words for a few more times, Jasmine smiled, landing her gaze at the yellow flower in a small vase filled with water right beside the computer.

"I hope it doesn't wilt that fast," Jasmine whispered to herself, anticipation budding in her heart as she reminded herself where she was going the next day.

Coreopsis; always cheerful.