TEN

Simon Minter walked into the flower shop with his hood pulled over his head, he was still embarrassed about his red hair, and the bruise that was still clear around his eye.

"Can I help you sir?" Asks a woman who was watering some potted plants.

"I'm fine, thanks," Simon says, his eyes scanning across the flowers.

"Well if you need me let me know," She smiles before she turns back to the plants.

"Actually," Simon says, clearing his throat afterwards, causing the woman to turn, "I'm looking for something to buy my girlfriend,"

"The roses are over there," She says, pointing towards the left.

"What if she doesn't like roses?"

"Well...Do you know what scents she likes?" The woman asks and Simon shakes his head, "Roses are your best bet sweetie,"

"Roses it is...How many?"

"A dozen," She tells him, she puts down her watering can and she walks over to the bouquets, she finds a bunch of roses that are nicely wrapped up and holds them towards Simon.

"Thanks," He says and she smiles.

"She's a lucky lady," Says the woman, sending him a flirty smile.

Simon just looks towards the counter and says, "How much are they?"

"£7.50," She replies blankly and he pulls his wallet from his backpocket and pulls out the correct money.

"Thank you," He says as she takes the money.

He heads out of the store and pulls his hood further over his head, making sure no one can see the bruise, or the red hair. He makes his way towards Cleo's house, he knew she would be in, Harry had told him so. He missed Harry a lot, he missed his jokes and funny comments at Sixth Form and he wondered if Harry was even happy anymore being forced to do an apprenticeship in his fathers business.

Simon arrives at Cleo's house and as he looks up towards her window he sees the light is on, she must be inside. He presses the doorbell and then glances towards the drive, double checking that her parents car wasn't there.

After a few more moments the door slowly opens, revealing Cleo in her pyjama shorts and a plain blue hoodie.

"Simon? What're you doing here?" She asks as he pulls down his hood.

"I brought you these," He says, holding out the roses.

Cleo gives him a gentle smile and steps aside allowing him to step inside her house. After the door is closed she takes the offered flowers and smells the subtle scent from the rose petals.

"How did you know I liked roses?" She asks.

"Beginners luck?" Simon chuckles as she leads him into the kitchen.

She finds a vase and places some water in it before rearranging the flowers into the vase.

"They're beautiful," Cleo says softly and Simon smiles.

"Well it was either going to be roses or like a selection of different ones- I thought roses might be a bit more romantic," He says and Cleo nods, picking up the vase.

"Would you like to come upstairs?" She asks and Simon just nods before following her upstairs and to her room. They head inside and Cleo places the vase on her window ledge.

"Your room's nice," Simon says, he was taking it all in, the walls were covered with posters and photos and the floor was covered in school work and drawings.

"Its a mess," She says, beginning to shift some of the work to her desk.

"Its nothing compared to my room," He laughs and Cleo gestures for him to sit down. He sits on the bed and kicks off his shoes as he pulls his legs up onto the bed too.

"Your long legs make my bed look tiny," Cleo laughs as she dumps the final pile of work onto her desk.

"You have so much work, I feel like I don't have enough," Simon comments.

"I do a lot of extra work, and some of its from Harry- he asked me to help with his apprenticeship stuff so I've been doing little bits for him," Cleo says, she climbs onto the bed, sitting near the bottom of the bed so she can face Simon properly.

"Oh I see," He says, "I wish I had a sister like you, you know, one that'd help me out,"

"If you need help with work, Simon, I'd be happy to try," She says and the red haired boy smiles softly.

"Thank you, Cleo," He says and she nods.

"So, did you only come here to give me flowers?" She asks, glancing towards the vase on her right.

"No...I came to say that...I might be leaving the Sixth Form," He says and Cleo frowns.

"What? Why?"

"My dad...He wants us to move house, to move away from here and of course, I'll have to go somewhere else or travel here," He says and Cleo lets out a deep sigh.

"You should tell someone what he does to you and your mother," Cleo says, she moves closer to him and looks at the bruise around his eye, she lifts up her hand and places it on his cheek, her thumb grazing the tender skin of his bruise.

"I can't...My mom won't let me,"

"No, you can. The only reason you won't is because you're scared because your mother is scared," Cleo says, "You're scared your dad will find you one day, and maybe hurt you worse than he already has,"

"Cleo," Simon says sharply, "You don't know what its like to have a father who hits you, or a father who hits your mother 10 times harder,"

"I know, but it'll be better than you think it will," Cleo tells him and Simon just shakes his head.

"Like I said, you have no idea," He mutters and Cleo moves her hand to rest on his neck.

"Simon, please just consider telling someone," Cleo asks and he gives her a slow nod.

"Fine, I'll consider it," He says and Cleo gives him a soft smile.

"You won't regret it," She says and Simon nods.

"Okay," He says and Cleo looks into his eyes for a moment before leaning forwards and pressing her lips against his.

________________

Its been like 2 months, but we back!!!

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed!

This won't have too many more chapters because its intended to be more of a short story?

Much love to the most Savage fam on Wattpad!

~lachys-loch❤️