The boy didn't come by yesterday, but he's here today, a Saturday, when I arrive for my afternoon shift. I enter and greet my cousin, who's working at the counter for the morning, then pause when I see him right there.

He's in a crouching position, one leg bent and knee leaning on the tiled floor, supporting his position, his elbow resting on the other knee. In his hands is a digital camera, and he's using it take pictures of the displays of flowers near the window. Just like how he'd been taking the pictures of my flower at school.

"You seem very interested in flowers," I say, coming to stand beside him.

He looks up at me, surprised. "What makes you say that?" he asks, and I'm struck by how his smile, temporarily free of the emotional weight he's carrying, looks so innocent and carefree. It makes his eyes shine in a short of shy way.

"I've seen you photographing the rose near the school gates," I tell him. "You seemed very interested, is all."

"True, I like flowers," he admits, getting to his feet and making me feel small again. He walks a few feet down the aisle and crouches again, assuming the same position and clicking away at the camera. "But I hardly know anything about them. I just know they're pretty. Besides, I'm more of a photography person. I love taking pictures of random things, anything that captures the moment."

"How artistic," I comment. "Lucky for you, I'm very knowledgeable in flowers."

"You read about them a lot?" he asks as he clicks the shutter, pausing with a thoughtful look. He reaches out and fixes the position of the red blossoms, making them look better than the way I'd arranged them the day before.

"No, my family taught me," I say, poking at a few flowers that seem to be wilting. "They own this place, you see. Well, at least my father does. When he's gone, I'll be the one in charge since my older sisters all have gone off and done other things. One's a doctor and the other's a nursery school teacher."

His eyes widen. "You're basically the heiress?"

"That makes it sound like I'm inheriting a fortune," I laugh. "Technically, yes. I'm Matsuki Seiko, by the way."

"Nishimura Riki," he says, giving me another one of those oh-so-shy yet so bright smiles.

I could get used to seeing those. It's cute.

"I have two sisters, too," he tells me, getting up and moving further down the aisle again. I follow him, ignoring the mischievous look on my cousin's face. She's so annoying sometimes, for someone who's three years older than me. "A younger and an older. They're okay-ish."

"Isn't that everyone with their siblings?" I ask. "Okay-ish about sums up how much we'll admit we like them."

"True," he murmurs, sitting back on his heels and contemplating the flowers in front of him. I realize that the flowers are completely wilted and feel a pang of disappointment. Those are the ones I'd forgotten to pay more attention to the week before, but he seems interested, and snaps a picture. Several, actually.

"Do you have any other interests, besides photography?" I ask him.

"I like painting," he says. "Want to see some of them?"

"Sure," I agree. He stands up and presses the buttons on his camera while I stand beside him, suddenly aware of the fact that he's very good-looking. My breath catches in my throat, my heart leaping upwards to meet it, when he steps closer, just a few inches from me, showing me the screen. It seems like he doesn't recognize that normally, boys don't come to stand so close beside girls. Then again, it's a different case here.

"This is one I did of mine and Rinne's hands the other day," he says. I examine the painting done on an A3-size paper, like the sketchbooks students use, surprised by the level of accuracy to the picture he shows me next. "She doesn't know I did it."

"Rinne is your friend with...?" he nods at my question. "Did she like the flowers?"

"I don't know, actually," he admits sheepishly. "She was asleep when I made it back to the hospital. Yesterday she was in chemotherapy when I got out of school and I didn't want to tire her out so I just texted her to ask if she was okay. She said yes, just tired."

"Do you want to give her some more flowers?" I ask.

"Actually, that's why I'm here," he looks embarrassed as he says it. "Other than photographing the flowers. I was waiting for you."

I blink in surprise. "Why? You could have asked her," I say, pointing to my cousin.

He shakes his head. "I didn't want to explain again," he says, and his voice is soft, scared, vulnerable. For the first time, it strikes me that he's terrified of losing her, the Rinne girl, and my heart aches for him. It occurs to me that he's simply not just her friend with a crush on her. Just from these two conversations we've had, I can tell his feelings go so much deeper.

"That's alright," I tell him. "Tell you what, I'll be here on afternoon shift every day of the week. For Fridays and Saturdays, I do night shifts, too. You can stop by and I'll help you pick the flowers you want."

He stares at me for a moment, and I feel myself slowly going red under his intense gaze, meeting it squarely but wanting to run away. "Thank you," he finally says. "That's really nice of you."

"It's nothing," I say, swallowing. I don't know what's come over me.

I stride away towards the aisle where I had shown him the alstroemerias and he follows me. To get there, I have to pass by the counter, and as I do, I meet my cousin Eri's eyes. She smirks at me and I stick a tongue out at her childishly. I make a note to talk to her.

I stop in front of the flowers I'd shown him at first. "I can tell you love her so much," I say softly, pitching my voice so that Eri wouldn't hear. He flushes with color but I continue. "So please. Give her some flowers that actually say what you want to say."

He stares at the primroses, and finally, his expression crumbles and tears well up in his eyes. "I can't live without her," he whispers, voice cracking. "But I promised her mother I wouldn't demotivate her. She gets demotivated easily and I say stupid things all the time. I...this flower..."

"It's okay," I tell him gently. "Tell her that they mean 'I can't live without you.' Tell her that it's another gesture to stay strong, because you believe in her. Don't you?"

"Yeah," he sniffles. "Yeah, I do. Thank you again, Matsuki-san."

"No problem," I say again, picking the flowers for him. "It's the least I can do."

✧✧✧

WORD COUNT: 1172

A/N: this isn't the same universe as forever yours, if anyone who saw that book is wondering!