Apologising to Rory was becoming way too much of a common occurrence for Otis these days, so much so that part of him didn't even want to do it as it would feel like confessing that he was guilty of hurting her. Which he was, but he just didn't like to admit that out loud as it made it harder for him to be around her knowing how much he'd hurt her.
But no matter how much it pained him to acknowledge that guilt, he knew he had to say he was sorry. He couldn't carry on without telling her that, telling her he was more sorry than he'd ever been in his whole life. That he was an idiot, that she was right and he should have listened to her which is why he was now begging for her forgiveness again. Forgiveness he knew he didn't deserve but still wanted anyway.
Otis needed to hear that Rory had forgiven him as if she didn't, if she couldn't find it in her heart this time to accept his apology, then he'd be marching straight into Chief Boden's office to hand in his pink transfer slip, as he didn't think he'd be able to continue working at fifty-one if that was the case.
What had he been thinking, accusing her of making up that story about Amy? He should know by now that Rory barely ever lied, and when she did it was usually a white lie so as to not hurt anyone's feelings, like when she told Capp his new shirt looked good when in reality it made him look like an idiot. He felt like such an ass, more so than usual given how quick he'd been to dismiss her allegation, which had been true as Otis found out the second he got home when he immediately called Amy who straight up told him she was cheating on him.
Normally finding out your girlfriend was cheating on you would be devastating, and for Otis it kind of was but just not for the reason one might expect. No, he was devastated because it proved Rory had been right and that he'd been the dick who was so quick to dismiss her. Otis didn't know exactly how he'd even begin with apologising to her, but he figured his first little idea wouldn't be such a bad start.
"You broke up with Amy... Why are we even here?" Cruz asked, his nose scrunched up at the strong smell of pollen filling the air inside the florists they currently stood in. He didn't appreciate being woken up earlier than usual just to end up sneezing due to the vast amount of flowers surrounding him.
"Because... Now either shut up or go wait outside." Otis gritted back, stepping up to the counter as the nerves inside him began to grow. A bouquet of flowers wasn't exactly the best way to say he was sorry, but he knew Rory liked all things floral, so who knows, maybe it might just be enough.
Cruz sighed, shoving his hands into his pockets as he moved to join Otis at the counter, dodging a vase full of tulips as the last thing he wanted was to have his work clothes covered in pollen. He'd never hear the end of it from Mouch when he started going on about his allergies.
"Can I help you?" The florist asked politely, a beaming smile on her face as she came up behind the counter, her own clothes dusted in pollen.
"Hi, I was wondering if you had any large bouquets of, uh, of daisies?" Otis questioned, his face reddening as he felt rather embarrassed asking that question. Not that there was anything wrong with it as he was sure plenty of men came in asking about flowers, many of them perhaps even in the same boat as him, but still, he felt silly.
"We certainly do." The florist replied, her voice way too bright and chipper for it being this early. "Do you have a colour preference or would you prefer an array of different ones?"
"Yeah Otis, do you have a colour preference?" Cruz repeated sarcastically, making Otis subtly nudge him with his elbow, and not gently either.
"Shut up." He hissed, hearing the florist chuckle softly as he imagined she'd had many encounters similar to this. With a cock of his head, Otis sent Cruz to wait outside, which he was happy to do as his nose began to start tickling and he was one more deep breath away from sneezing. "Sorry." Otis muttered, embarrassed, as he returned to face the florist again. "I was, uh, I was thinking maybe some pink ones? Maybe even purple and white too."
"Alrighty." The florist nodded, noting down the order in her notebook before she looked back up at Otis, who she couldn't help but think looked way out of his comfort zone. "Is this to take-away or would you like us to deliver?"
"Oh, uh, delivery would be great." Otis said a little happier as the thought of having them delivered to Rory seemed a lot easier than him having to give them to her himself, in front of the others as he needed to be at work in a half hour. He accepted the card from the florist, scribbling down the address for the firehouse along with Rory's name, even writing her name made his heart ache... God he really hoped this would be enough to earn her forgiveness.
"And would you like to include a handwritten card?"
Oh. Did he want to include a card? Maybe he should. Maybe he should write his apology on there as at least that way Rory would get one when he no doubt chickened out when the time came for him to tell her himself. He nodded his head, a look of guilt on his face as he accepted the small, white piece of card, which soon ended up covered in his scrawling writing. He slipped it into the envelope, sealing it shut before passing it back to the florist before he changed his mind.
After paying for the flowers and telling the florist that the delivery time could be literally any point during the day, he didn't want to know as he was a little scared so the less he knew the better, Otis joined Cruz outside and the two of them headed to work. Where Otis knew well that he'd be on edge all day until the flowers arrived and Rory read his note. He was still planning to apologise verbally rather than just using the note like a coward, but he wanted a little something to break the ice first and he was praying that it worked.
The first thing Otis and Cruz saw when they pulled up outside fifty-one was, you guessed it, Rory. Otis's heart skipped a beat as he watched her exit her car, her shoulder length brown hair blowing in the gentle breeze, showing off the daisy earrings she had in, something that had his stomach twist inside him. He'd bought her daisies and the fact that she was wearing them in her ears only made him more nervous to see her reaction to his attempt at an apology.
"Are you getting out or what?" Cruz's rather loud voice made Otis jump, his head snapping towards the driver's side of which Cruz stood next to, his own head ducking beneath the door. "We're gonna be late."
"Right." Otis swallowed, his eyes flicking back to Rory who still hadn't gone inside yet. He didn't really want to get out of the car just yet, not until she was out of sight as even looking at her was too much for him to handle.
Following Otis's eyeline, Cruz sighed, his own eyes shutting for a second as he couldn't keep putting up with this for much longer. He slammed the driver's side door, rounding the car to open the passenger's side.
"You cannot hide from her forever." Cruz said with minor exasperation, earning a bunch of unintelligible babble from Otis in response. "You just bought her flowers. How do you plan to apologise if you can't even get out of the car when she's near?"
"You don't know what I did, Cruz. You don't know how hard this is." Otis hissed, still able to see Rory out of the corner of his eye. She was taking her time doing whatever she was doing and if she kept going he'd have no choice but to get out.
"I do know." Cruz replied, grabbing the front of Otis's shirt. "You told me." He pulled him from the car, gently of course as he didn't want to accidentally hurt him. Brushing off Otis's shoulders as a way to straighten out his shirt, Cruz then shut the car door and locked it. "Now get a move on, I'm not being late because of you."
"Fine." Otis grumbled, swinging his bag to the other side of his body before he made for the firehouse, doing everything in his power to avoid looking at Rory. But of course the universe hated him for what he'd done to her as they'd barely reached the apron before he heard her voice aimed their way.
"Cruz!" Rory called, waving Cruz over which had him exchange a confused glance with Otis, who looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him whole. "Can you give me a hand with this?"
"Uh, sure." Cruz replied hesitantly, his eyes shifting to Otis who was just staring down at the ground before he quickly spun on his heels and headed up the apron, unable to stop himself as he just couldn't face Rory right now.
Cruz jogged quickly towards Rory, who was staring past him at Otis, her lips dropping into a frown that had Cruz silently pity her. He really wished they would set aside their differences and just date already because he really, really couldn't take this much longer.
"What's up?" Cruz asked, pulling Rory's attention towards him again, her frown literally turning upside down as she no doubt forced the smile that was now painted on her face.
"Well, my dad had a cancellation on this huge cupcake order and since they're personalised, he can't exactly sell them." Rory began, gesturing to the large white boxes in the trunk of her car. "So, he figured you guys would appreciate them a little more."
"He would be correct in saying that." Cruz chuckled, his eyes widening at the thought of the amazing cupcakes that lay hidden within those boxes. He took the biggest one from Rory, his arms extended out as wide as they could before she set a smaller one atop it before shutting her trunk and locking the car.
Rory removed the second box from Cruz's, holding it herself as the last thing she wanted was for it to end up on the ground as she could only imagine the disappointment that would cause. Mouch would probably be out to see if there was anything salvageable from it if that happened.
"Hey, are you... Doing okay?" Cruz asked hesitantly, breaking the silence as the two of them walked up the apron. He saw the way Rory tensed a little, clearing her throat in a way that told him she wasn't. But Rory never liked to openly admit that she wasn't okay, at least not to Otis's best friend and roommate.
"I'm great." She told him, lying through her chipper voice, one she had to force along with the smile on her face. "Never better really."
Cruz didn't get a chance to say anything else before they reached the doors, which Rory pulled open to allow him to step in first. He thanked her briefly, manoeuvring himself between the metal so as to not drop the cupcakes. It was safe to say that he didn't believe Rory, not one bit, but he said nothing. It wasn't his place after all, and besides, she had Jimmy and Sylvie on her side which is more than can be said for Otis, who Cruz started to realise had nobody, not even him as most of the time he gave him an earful rather than offer his support.
Maybe he'd try to be a little more understanding now, rather than constantly reminding Otis of what he'd done to Rory. But that could wait as right now all he could think about was the cupcakes in his hands.
"Oh, what do we have here?" Mouch exclaimed excitedly as he jumped from the couch, his newspaper landing in a heap on the table.
"Cupcakes." Cruz smiled, watching the way Mouch's wide eyes followed him across the kitchen where he set the cupcakes down on the counter, just as Otis entered the room via the briefing room, his face falling at the next words that left Cruz's lips. "Courtesy of Rory."
"Rory Madej you are without a doubt my favourite person on this Earth right now." Mouch said softly, moving towards Rory so he could take her face in his hands and place a kiss on her cheek, something that took her by surprise but at the same time it felt nice to be appreciated. Even if she was only providing cupcakes.
"Wow, I should bring treats more often if this is the response I get." Rory chuckled, watching as those in the room began to dig into the box, well all except for Otis who didn't think he deserved one. Her smile fell a little, as did her eyes as she carried on towards the counter to place the second box of chocolate ones beside the others.
"Is that more?" Casey asked in surprise, unable to stop himself from shaking his head at the guy's reactions. Seriously, it was like they'd never seen food before.
"Yeah." Rory nodded, fiddling anxiously with her necklace as she could feel Otis's eyes burning into her head. "Those ones are chocolate."
That sentence got an array of excitable noises from the others, who all began to fight over them as there weren't as many chocolate ones as there were vanilla. Rory moved out of the way, taking a seat at the table as she was afraid she'd get trampled in their haste to get their hands on one.
"I'm glad you guys are enjoying them." She added, a soft chuckle leaving her lips as she smiled, for real this time.
"Are you kidding? They're freaking amazing." Cruz replied around a literal moan as he bit into the most moist chocolate cupcake he'd ever had, which had the perfect amount of frosting on top.
"Holy moly... This must be what heaven is like." Mouch whispered, placing his hands together as though thanking God for Rory and her baker dad, before delving into the box to try the chocolate version of the best thing he'd ever tasted.
Rory could see Otis's eyes longing to try a cupcake, at least every so often when he wasn't looking at her, something that had her heart clench and her stomach knot. He really needed to stop sending her mixed signals so she could just move on and get over him, but with the way he kept looking at her, she didn't think she'd ever truly get to that point.
Not that she wanted to, all she wanted was to be with him but he'd made it perfectly clear how he felt about her, so because of that she decided she wasn't going to tell him it was okay for him to have a cupcake, as part of her thought he deserved a little payback for how he'd been with her last shift.
-
A little later in the day, Otis's flowers still not having shown up, Rory exited the briefing room where she'd been all morning. She'd been going over marathon details with Sylvie, Chout and McCauley, her finish line team, and had only left the room twice to go out on calls. But now she'd said everything she needed to say. Chout and McCauley had left and Slyvie went to take a nap, which meant it was time for Rory to take a much needed coffee break, along with a cupcake she'd set aside earlier and hid.
"Miss Madej, I believe you have a secret admirer." Mouch's playful voice filled the room, causing Rory to spin on her heels to see him carrying a bouquet of daisies towards her.
Otis sank down in his seat at the table, abandoning his late lunch as the appearance of his flowers had him sick to his stomach with nerves. He didn't dare look over his shoulder, even though he wished to see Rory's face when she saw her favourite flowers in her favourite colour. But from the quiet gasp that left her mouth, it was safe to say she liked them and it was enough to make his head snap to the side just in time to see her very wide, and very pretty smile.
"Damn girl, Dr Rhodes is treating you right." Gabby chuckled into her coffee mug, making Otis frown as of course they'd think they were from Connor.
"I've never had a guy send me flowers before." Rory whispered, blushing over accidentally revealing that fact, one that had Otis yelling internally over being the first guy to do so.
Watching intensely as his stomach churned beneath him, Otis held his breath as Rory reached for the card, the blackened envelope standing out well against the light flowers. She faced forward, her back to the counter which she set the flowers atop, and the second she saw the writing on the note, her face fell a little out of the smile in which it had sported.
Heart beating faster than ever in her chest, Rory's eyes scanned the scrawly handwriting on the card. At first glance she could tell it wasn't from Connor, and the second the words absorbed in her mind, she knew instantly who the flowers had come from.
'You were right and I'm sorry. I know this pales in comparison to what you truly deserve but I hope you can forgive me for what I said.'
Unable to stop herself, Rory's touched eyes met Otis's, a deep, lingering desperation hidden behind them as he silently begged for her forgiveness. She had no idea what he'd done after last shift, whether he'd confronted Amy or not but from the bouquet of 'I'm sorry' daisies that sat behind her, it was probably a best bet that he had and part of her couldn't help but feel relieved.
Rory didn't get a chance to say much on the matter of the flowers, not when the firehouse doors opened and a little bundle of chaos most commonly known as Domino came barrelling in, jumping the second she got close enough to her owner which had Rory clumsily catch her.
"Oh my." Rory chuckled, hoisting Domino up into her arms as the little pup absolutely lathered her in kisses, one's she couldn't seem to move her head away from. "Hi, sweet angel." She whispered, scratching gently underneath Domino's chin before she caught sight of her dad entering the room behind the dog. "Dad, hey... What are you doing here?"
"Hey princess." Scott said happily, leaning forward to give Rory a quick kiss on the cheek before Domino all but head butted him away so she could get some quality Rory time. "We were in the neighbourhood, you know, marathon training, and I figured I'd stop by, see how you're doing... I know you've been stressed about the marathon so I figured you could do with a little puppy love."
"You were correct." Rory breathed out, passing Domino from one arm to the other so the guys could come and steal some pets whilst she talked to her dad, who'd gotten part of his story right. The marathon was stressing her out, but what he didn't know was that most of her stress was coming from the situation with Otis.
"Flowers?" Scott questioned, his eyebrow raised as he missed Rory slipping the note into her pocket before he could see it. "Got yourself a secret admirer?"
"No." Rory said instantly, her cheeks flushing a little but thankfully her make up hid that. "They're from a, uh, a victim. From last shift. A thanks for saving her life."
"I see." Scott said with suspicion, fully able to tell when his daughter was lying. But he said nothing, if she didn't want to tell him the truth then he wouldn't push her, it was none of his business anyway.
"Oh, you are just the cutest little thing." Gabby cooed from next to them, making Rory smile as she looked away from her dad and towards her friend. "I may just have to steal you away and take you home... Oh yes I will."
"You'd be quick to return her, that's for sure." Rory chuckled, her eyes shifting towards Otis who seemed to be smiling a little from the appearance of the dog he'd only met once, back when he was being even more of an ass towards Rory, a time he didn't like to think about.
Scott and Domino didn't stay long, much to the disappointment of literally everyone as they wanted to spend all the time they had with Domino, who'd so easily weaved her way into their hearts. Even Otis had gotten a few pets in when she jumped from Rory's arms to run to him, taking him by surprise as part of him thought she wouldn't like him as he always suspected dogs could tell when people had wronged their owners. But from the lick attack she'd given his face, it was safe to say she liked him, which he wouldn't deny had made him smile.
"I take it your dad doesn't know about you and Connor?" Gabby asked curiously, having overheard Rory's reply to Scott's mention of the flowers.
"No way." Rory chuckled, shaking her head a little. "That's not something I like to share with them... And besides, there's no point really, Connor and I haven't hung out in a while."
Those words had Otis's ears perk up a little as he finished off his lunch, the puppy love he'd gotten had been enough to make his nerves fade away and for him to feel hungry again. Although if it hadn't, the words he just heard probably would have.
"Oh? Trouble in paradise?" Gabby questioned, both her and Rory unaware of the eavesdropping ears that sat at the table. Not just Otis's, but literally everyone... Okay so maybe they weren't unaware, more like unbothered as Rory actually wanted them to hear this as the more people who knew she and Connor had not been dating, the better.
"There wasn't really any paradise." Rory confessed, sure her time with Connor had been great but she wouldn't describe it as paradise. "We were just having fun and I dunno, I guess we've had enough now as I just haven't seemed all that eager to, you know, hang out anymore."
"That's a shame, but hey, as long as you had fun whilst you could." Gabby replied with a touch of sympathy as she shrugged her shoulder a little, clearly noticing the way Rory's eyes drifted towards Otis.
"Yeah... I did." She said absently, clearing her throat before realising she was staring. Her eyes quickly shot back towards Gabby, the tips of her ears reddening before she added, you know for good measure. "But now I think I'm ready to settle down again... Just have to find that person I want to do it with."
Otis's back stiffened, his body twitching out of eagerness to stand up, pull her into his arms and kiss her. But he couldn't. He couldn't do any of that, at least not until he knew for certain that she forgave him. And even then he didn't know if he'd ever be able to be with her without drowning in regret and guilt.
For now he'd simply wait, work on being her friend again before he decided whether or not he could go that extra step. But to do that, to be able to call himself her friend again, Otis needed one thing. He needed her forgiveness, which unfortunately for him, he would have to wait until the middle of the night to find out if he was going to get it.
-
this feels more like a filler chapter but i hope you like it anyway!
i did plan to include the actual apology in this chapter but it figured it would end up too long so i decided to cut it in half instead
anyway, if you liked this chapter please don't forget to leave a vote and maybe even a comment? always appreciated!
and i'll see y'all soon for the next one!