Your New Neighbor

4

When I opened the door to the flower shop, a little bell rang.

"Ah! Welcome to The Queen's Fresh Picks!" The lady at the counter announced. She ran over to me and said, "Can I help you with finding anything?"

"Oh! Um..." C'mon, Y/N. We rehearsed this already. "Do you guys have any White Camellias?" I asked.

The lady thought for a moment. "We don't, actually." FUCK. "We usually have at least some here, but yesterday there was this dapper young man who came in and bought the last ones."

Screw you, dapper young man, who is probably Wilbur.

"Ah... then... oh... do you have any flowers that could possibly suggest mutual feelings?"

"Hmm... it depends on the feelings you're trying to express. We have gardenias if that works? It's kind of a way to say... "You're Lovely."

That would pair well with his, "You're adorable."

"I'll take those. Thank you."

.....

Oh my god, what am I even doing?

I was standing outside of Wilbur's door with a bouquet of gardenias. I'd managed to purchase the flowers and walk up to his door, but now I'm too nervous to give them to him.

Oh... but I'm already here. I might as well.

I knocked on his door three times (disrespect God, Jesus, and the holy ghost. lmao).

After a second, I started internally freaking out. Should I just leave the flowers on his doorstep and run? But what if someone sees them and takes them? Or what if he doesn't know that I was the one who got them for him?

"Y/N?" Wilbur said, confused. I looked up at him, and my brain just went... completely blank.

"Ah. Oh. Uhm. I... here." I stammered, holding out the bouquet of flowers.

He looked somewhat shocked. "Now, what's this, then?" He said, holding the flowers up to his face. "Gardenias?"

"Ahm. Yes. They are. Y'know... I don't... I don't know. You've been... kind to me since I moved here..." My brain is not thinking. Why did I rehearse what I was gonna say to the flower lady but not to Wilbur?

"Even if... you're a bit loud sometimes... it's not unbearable..? And... I don't know... you're quite nice to me... and it's nice to get to talk to you every once in a while..." I said quietly.

Wilbur was quiet for a moment. "Gardenias..." He said to himself. "I think you're quite lovely yourself, Y/N."

My face was heating up. "Ah— you— you know... flower language?"

He breathed a laugh out. "Yes. I do know flower language." He smiled.

My brain is just... fucking exploding at this point.

"Oh. Okay. Great. Um. I'll see you around, maybe. Bye." I said before running to my apartment.

"Goodbye, love."

HE'S TAUNTING ME.

.....

The week went by, and I didn't hear much from Wilbur. After my shift on Friday, I sat on the sofa and pulled out my phone to text Ophelia. She had told me to message her when I got home.

I sent her a quick message, then turned off my phone and sat in silence.

Or, at least, it was silent until I got a knock at my door. Is it Wilbur? I don't know anyone in the UK other than him and my coworkers... but only Wilbur knows where I live.