As soon as Louis slipped out the door, Harry felt a tap on his shoulder. His blond coworker, Niall, had a knowing smile on his face.
"So that's the guy who gave you flowers, yeah??" He said a little too loudly.
Harry nudged his arm and told him to "Hush", before Niall took the hint and started signing to Harry behind the espresso machine.
So he is the flower guy, yeah?
Yeah, Ni. He is. Harry shook his head with a small laugh.
He comes in like every day, he totally fancies you. You've seen him look back at you. Haz, he totally fancies you! Niall signed out in a rush.
Harry blushed and signed back Ya know, I hope so. I may have asked him to dinner while I was on break.
Niall's jaw dropped. You did not! Look at you Haz, dinner with the flower boy!
Niall teased him and poked his stomach.
Harry giggled and signed Yeah, yeah. We'll see how it goes.
You know it'll go well, Haz. You fancy him, he fancies you. He brought you your favourite flower for Christ's sake.
Harry blushed with a huge smile, looking down at his feet, before he turned back to the till to help the next customer.
He and Niall made goofy faces at each other the rest of his shift, and once the end of Harry's shift at 2:00 came around, Niall rushed him out the door with a cheeky "Have fun with flower boy, Haz!"
Harry laughed as he got out the front door of the shop, and he pulled up a patio seat to wait for Louis. He took his hearing aids out, popped in his earbuds, turned Yiruma to the highest volume, and laid his head back with closed eyes and a smile on his face while he waited.
Louis shuffled around the little flower shop filling call-in orders and sweeping fallen leaves and petals off the floor. Georgia was back in her office taking a large floral order for a wedding next month. Louis loved working at Georgia, he loved the smell of all the flowers, he loved the customers, he loved how they were always looking for 'what flower would make him/her happiest?', it was a place of beauty.
As Georgia came back up front, Louis was humming Talk Show Host by Radiohead. She joined his humming and gave him a cheeky pat on his bum before turning back to the till.
"Hey, G?"
"Yes, love?"
"Do you think you could start teaching me how to make the floral arrangements? I'd love to learn how to make the flowers I care for look so beautiful like you do."
Georgia's eyes lit up at his question."Of course, Lou! Oh, I'd love to."
Georgia had been a florist for years, she and her wife had opened this shop together when she had decided that teaching wasn't for her. Georgia and Charlotte had both left their jobs to pursue their passions, and the flower shop and Charlotte's bakery were doing extraordinarily well.
Louis loved working for someone who was so passionate about their work. He had decided about six months into working at Georgia, that he wanted to be a florist for a very long time, maybe one day even open his own shop.
Georgia stepped away from the till and slipped into the flower cooler. Louis watched her rummage around through flower bins for a few minutes before she came back to the counter with a handful of pastel blossoms.
"I didn't mean right now" Louis laughed.
"No time like the present, love."
Georgia handed him the bunch of flowers and ran to the stock room to grab a vase. She came back quickly with a clear short vase.
"Alright, Lou. Set the flowers down by type, yeah?"
Louis laid the flowers out on the counter by variety, careful not to smash any petals.
"Right, now take the Juliet roses there and snip the stems to this length." She held the sheers out for Louis to cut the rose stems.
"Now tuck those in the vase and move onto these here." She watched as Louis tucked the flowers into the little vase strategically.
Georgia made a small noise of approval. "Lovely."
She stepped away from the counter and ducked back into the flower cooler, appearing moments later with something behind her back.
As Louis was finishing up tucking small greenery into the spaces between flowers, Georgia pulled the flower from behind her back and handed Louis the pure white peony.
"Throw one of these in for good measure, love."
Louis blushed and took the peony from her. He tucked it gently in between a Juliet rose and some greenery.
"Now tuck these little ones here and there," Georgia said while pointing to tiny white sweet peas that still lay on the counter.
"Perfect." She placed her hand on Louis' shoulder and leaned to say in his ear.
"So beautiful Lou, very proud of you."
Louis held up his arrangement and smiled. "Thank you, Georgia."
Louis felt insanely proud of his arrangement and went to place it on the little white shelf by the flower cooler.
Louis came back behind the counter and gave Georgia a tight hug before grabbing a broom and cleaning up from his arrangement. Louis was getting ready to clock out when Georgia came up to him and handed him a peachy Juliet rose.
"For the curly haired lad." She winked at Louis as his mouth popped open in surprise.
Before Louis could even ask how she knew about him, Georgia explained
"I popped in for a coffee this morning and he was talking to his coworker about the sweet boy next door who gave him peonies. Only one sweet boy works here, Lou."
She gave him a peck on the cheek.
"Happy for you, love."
Louis blushed and thanked Georgia for the rose before grabbing his things and heading out the front door.
Louis turned towards Violet Hill and grinned when he saw Harry in the same position as yesterday; head back, eyes closed, dimply smile on his face.
Louis walked over to Harry and gently placed his hand on his shoulder to get his attention. Harry's eyes fluttered open and he took his earbuds out quickly. He took his hearing aids out of his shirt pocket and placed them in his ears. Harry's shirt was olive green today, it matched his eyes perfectly.
"Louis! How was work?"
Louis sat down and handed Harry the feathery rose across the table.
"It was great, Georgia taught me how to make an arrangement, and my favourite flower was 'flower of the day'."
"Juliet rose, I'm guessing?"
"You know what they're called?" Louis looked surprised. He hadn't met many people who recognized different rose types.
"Yeah, they're my mum's favourite as well." He said "Plus, I basically lived in the flower shop in Holmes Chapel."
Louis smiled at Harry's mention of his home town.
"So I realize that 3:00 is a little early for dinner," Harry started "But, I was thinking we could walk wherever you want to go and it might make up the time."
Louis nodded, and said "I know a really good Chinese place just a bit from here."
"Chinese is my favourite!"
Harry and Louis stood up from the little table, and Harry tucked the Juliet Rose into his shirt pocket.
They turned towards Arlington Road, and set off towards Little Star Chinese restaurant.
Harry and Louis walked through Camden Town casually chatting about their days and their favourite Chinese food. Their steps were in time because Harry slowed his pace to match Louis' shorter steps, their hands brushed against each other every few minutes.
After the third accidental hand touch, Harry looked down at Louis, nudged his shoulder, and slipped his hand into Louis'.
"This alright?"
Louis blushed and nodded. They walked hand in hand up to the Chinese restaurant, and Harry held the door open for Louis as they walked inside.
"Two, please" Harry said to the man behind the bar counter.
"Seat yourselves wherever you'd like, I'll be round shortly."
Harry and Louis made there way through the empty Chinese restaurant and sat at a small table by the window.
"So I guess 3:30 is still early for dinner," Harry laughed. "But at least we have the place to ourselves."
They laughed and talked for over an hour, their plates had been cleared almost fifteen minutes ago, but they were so caught up in conversation that they barely noticed that the restaurant had begun to fill up with the actual dinner time rush.
"Can I walk you home?" Harry asked.
"Don't you live opposite way from Camden?"
"I do. But I'd love to walk you home anyway."
Harry grinned at Louis and started to stand from the table. He held his hand out for Louis to take, and they made their way out of the restaurant.
The London evening air was chilly, and neither boy had brought a jumper. They stood close together against the brick wall of the restaurant before Harry leaned towards Louis and wrapped an arm around his shoulders to keep him warm.
"Lead the way, yeah?" Harry squeezed Louis' shoulder lightly and they started off towards Louis' flat.
The walk was quick and brisk, Harry's arm stayed round Louis' shoulders the entire walk.
They stopped in front of Louis' building, Harry had yet to remove his arm from around Louis' shoulder.
"Thanks again for dinner, Haz."
Harry smiled down at Louis "Any time, Lou. Hopefully again soon yeah?"
Louis' cheeks turned pink and he nodded in agreement. Harry leaned down, hesitating for a second, and then placed a light kiss on Louis' forehead. Louis turned even redder, a massive grin breaking across his face.
"Night Lou" Harry said as he pulled away slowly from Louis' body.
"Night Haz."
Harry chuckled softly and started to make his way down the sidewalk to head towards his own flat.He looked over his shoulder once, finding that Louis was still watching him walk away. He gave a little wave over his shoulder back at Louis, and then continued down the lamp lit street.