Sanders Sides AU August

A Shared Bouquet

AU: Flower Shop

TW: Side Character Death

WC: 467

Date: 8/7/2021

Flower shops were supposed to be for Valentine's Day, Weddings, Anniversaries, and all the other joyous days in a person's life; sometimes Patton forgot that a Flower shop was also there for funerals and memorials. He hated the idea that something so beautiful was being used to memorialize something so tragic. It had been five years since his father passed, but on days like these, the pain stung as fresh as the day it first happened.

He stood on the street staring at the shop in front of him. He knew he needed to go in and pick up the flowers, but going in made it all too real. The memories of the good times, the memories of times that would never happen again, all of it was so much.

After a few more minutes, Patton took in a sharp breath, clinging to the strap of the frog purse he carried, his dad loved that purse, and he walked across the street.

The bell for the shop jingled, a happy tone that really was meant for happy occasions.

"Welcome to Cosmic Cosmos where our flowers are out of this world. What can I get for you?" Patton looked up at the man with the deadpan voice.

"Oh, hi, um, I was hoping to get a bouquet of white mums and Poppies?"

The man looked at him with a confused look. "Of course, I can do that for you, but are you aware of the meaning of those two flowers?"

"Yeah, I am."

The man nods. His name tag said, Logan. "Then I am sorry for your loss."

Patton gave him a sad smile and a soft nod as Logan went to the back to gather the flowers.

"Here you are, that's going to be 13.50."

Patton handed over his card as he collected the bouquet.

"I know this is a weird thing to ask, but you've probably had a lot of customers who deal with grief, does it ever get better?"

There was a slight pause, Logan's face softened a bit. "It does, in a way. There will be days when the pain is just as fresh as the first day you found out, and there will be days when the pain isn't there at all, but, in my personal experience, I have found that the days where the pain is overwhelming, lessen with time."

Their eyes connected, and Patton knew this wasn't just from observation, this was from experience. It was nice to hear someone tell him that it was okay to still hurt. It was normal for the pain to still be there.

"Thanks," It was a small thing, but knowing that he wasn't alone in his grief and his pain, knowing that there were others that understood, made Patton feel a little better.