A pink rose is friendship
Tying two souls together in harmony

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Point of View: Roman, First Person
Timeline: Present Day

"HIYA PRINCE!!!"

The stranger jumped at the sound, startled by Patton's alarming excitement. "Gah!" he yelped, hands coming up in front of his face defensively.

"Whoops," Patton apologized, cheeks momentarily pink in guilt. "Sorry, kiddo. Didn't mean to scare ya!" he finished with a giggle, but the apology was a genuine one.

Patton turned to me. "You meet the deadline, kiddo?"

I nodded, sinking a bit in relief. Well, technically I still had to send it, but the project was done and I had an hour or so to do so I'd be fine. If I had any technical issues, I could always just stop by the studio anyway. Besides I'd have to stop there anyway to pick up my back up flash drive, I was running out of room on this one...

"Yeah, he was a life saver," I confessed, gesturing to my purple haired stranger.

The man cheek's flushed a bit, avoiding Patton and my eyes, fiddling with the sleeves of his purple and black patchwork hoodie. After a moment, he merely grabbed his cup and started making his way over to the recycling bin.

"He's cute," Patton said, poking me in the shoulder. "Dontcha think?"

I tore my eyes away from the... gorgeous stranger and focused them on Patton's over excited frame.

"You think he's gay?" I asked, taking every ounce of my self-control not to watch him walk back over.

"Why don't you ask him?"

"I can't just ASK him if he's GAY," I argued, feeling my own cheeks begin to heat up. "Can't you?"

"I'm with Logan," Patton said, giving me a rare frown. "I can't just walk around asking random guys if they're gay. Or single," he added as an after thought.

I slumped at that. "You're probably right - he's probably straight and taken. That's how it usually works."

"But... I'll going to take it from the way he was looking at you that he's both."

I frowned, tilting my head at him in confusion. "Both... wait what? What do you mean 'the way he was looking at me?'"

"Gay and single," Patton said happily. "And my gay-dar is never wrong," he added, happily.

"... Gay-dar?" I asked and Patton merely nodded.

"But if I were you I'd act quickly," he continued, grabbing my cup of hot chocolate and taking a sip. "Considering that he just left."

"Wait - what?!" I said jumping up and eyes flying towards the door to see our purple haired stranger already outside - headphones on and disappearing from view. I swung my head back to Patton who merely set my now empty hot chocolate cup on the table.

"Patton can you -"

"Better hurry up, kiddo," Patton winked at me, settling down in my seat to watch my stuff. "Don't let him get away."

I gave Patton a quick and rushed thank you before bursting through the door into the sea of people, searching for a purple blob. Frowning at the fact I couldn't see him, I merely raced the direction I had seen him go, yelling apologies as I ran.

I had made it to the next intersection and was just about to give him when I saw a streak of purple in the corner of my vision.

"Hey!" I yelled, jogging now that I had him in sight. "Hey - um - you!" I yelled, oddly - painfully aware that I didn't even know this man's name.

Unsurprisingly, he didn't turn around.

I reached forward, tapping him on the shoulder.

The man immediately turned around, eyes wide and then even wider once he recognized me. He slowly yanked his headphones down, leaving them to rest on his collarbone - faint music blasting from them.

I flushed, suddenly realizing how desperate I looked, chasing him down.

I'll going to take it from the way he was looking at you -

"You - uh - really saved me today," I said, wincing inwardly. Really? Was that really the best thing I could come up with? Ugh.

Thankful, the man didn't seem to notice, eyes fixated on his sleeves - once again yanking them over his hands. "I - I have to go," he stuttered, avoiding my eyes.

I let out a tiny exhale at that, running a hand through my hair. Great. Now I knew he thought I was some creeper -

"You're gay," he said suddenly.

I could tell he hadn't meant to see say that out loud - his eyes immediately growing wide in surprise. How did he know I was gay?

"Yeah," I admitted. I froze as a thought crossed my mind. What if Patton was wrong? Goodness, he's not homophobic is he? "Is... that a problem?" I asked.

"No, no, no! I - I, um, I'm - uh," The man stuttered. After a moment he gave up trying and rolled up his left sleeve, showing the bracelet on his wrist. I reflexively glanced at my own, surprised - for some reason even though Patton had already told me he was gay - before making my next move.

"Hey, um, I know this is... a little crazy," I started, nervously fixing my hair. I felt my cheeks heat up a little but I tried to ignore it. "But, um, are you free Friday night...?"

Pleasebesinglepleasebesinglepleasebesingle-

The man immediately took a step back, nervous wrapping his arms around his stomach, uncomfortably.

"I - I'm sorry, I just got out of... a really bad breakup and I - I'm not ready to be in a relationship right now," he finished, eyes staring at me in pity.

I tried to backtrack, feeling my cheeks become even darker. "Just as... friends then?" I tried.

The stranger shook his head, taking a couple more steps back. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "But... I can't," he finished, spinning around and walking away with so much as a glance behind.

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"Yikes," Patton said when I walked back inside. "That badly?" he asked, handing me a fresh cup of hot chocolate, considering he finished off my last one.

Gosh Patton is such a good friend. It's refreshing to be around someone who just... gets you.

"Gay and single," I reported. "And also tragically heart-broken," I added, sinking into my chair, trying not to pout.

"Aww," Patton said rubbing my back, comfortingly. "You okay, kiddo?"

"I'll be okay," I admitted, giving him a smile. "Shame - he doesn't know what he's missing," I winked.

Patton rolled his eyes, getting to his feet. "I gotta head out - Logan's watching Thomas right now and I'm sure could use a shift change," Patton held up a to-go cup. "And some coffee."

"I will never understand how coffee makes that man sleepy," I admitted, taking another sip of my hot chocolate.

Patton merely smiled. "See ya later - kiddo! Don't stay out too late," he chided.

"Patton, I'm 28 years old - you don't have to tell me that," I said amused.

Patton pointed a firm finger at me. "Call me when you reach your apartment safe and sound, okay? You're not running on a lot of sleep," he pointed out.

"Yes Dad," I agreed, sarcastically.

Still, it seemed enough for him and he finally left.

I sighed, opening up my music project and sending the project to my boss.

Working at a recording studio sure was fun, but incredibly stressful at times.

Like the project I just finished.

I only got that project two days ago - which normally wouldn't have been an issue if it wasn't for the simple fact that I already had another deadline for another project of mine. And then last night I had already agreed to watch Thomas for Patton and Logan so that the both of them could get some well deserved sleep.

I sighed, opening up a Word Document. Exhausted or not, I had to write and edit at least a little bit - my deadline for the next draft of my book wasn't until the end of the week, but at the rate I was going at, it would take me... all week.

My life is so crazy - you know what? It was probably a good thing that the man didn't accept my offer. Yeah, with all the things on my plate, there's no way I could give a relationship the attention it needed. It was only for the best...

Right?
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