flower boy ; larry

It was a bright and sunny morning. Not that it was uncommon to see such a morning during the later side of spring.

This weather was the prime time for people to show up at Smell the Roses, an independently owned florist shop.

Harry, the owner, inherited the shop from his gran. The small business had been in the Styles family for almost four generations, with Harry hoping to keep the store in the family.

It was no surprise when Granny Styles passed her bustling little shop on to her grandson with a deep appreciation for pastel clothing and always loved visiting his gran at work.

You could say it was an understatement that Harry was the favourite grandchild. Harry's gran often did visit the shop with some of her friends

Contrary to the bright and sunshiney store neighboring it, Flaming Art Tattoo's had a much different origin story.

Louis did almost everything out of spite. He dropped out of medical school for art because his parents told him not to. He opened a tattoo shop because his great-aunt said it would be a lousy career. He had full sleeves of tattoos all up his arms because his older cousin told him he'd look like a cheesy biker Halloween costume, on top of his already punk look.

Needless to say, Louis was the odd one out in his clean-cut, religious, stereotypically perfect family.

Back to the two side-by-side shops, both occupants got along greatly despite their obvious differences in appearance and interests.

Everyday Harry would give Louis a fresh flower with a different coloured ribbon. Between the hours when Louis arrived and the tattoo parlour opened, he'd sketch out the day's flower and press it between a large stack of phone books that collected dust in the front desk.

Their lunches were spent by Louis bringing Harry a smoothie from a local vendor. He soon learned the pastel boy's favourite was unsurprisingly strawberry banana, due to the colour and how it matched the shop walls and Harry's favourite sweater.

On alternating days, Harry brought Louis coffee at lunch. He was equally unsurprised to find out the punk boy took his coffee black.

At the end of the day, Louis would cut the drawing out of his sketchbook and give it to Harry, a wide dimpled-grin across his features with a little blush on the apples of his cheeks.

The pure smile on Harry's face made Louis smile a little bit. "Thank you." Harry said, his deep voice taking Louis by surprise. Based on appearances, Louis was expecting a much softer voice from the pastel boy.

It wasn't long before this little charade became a part of their daily routine. Eventually, Louis' collection of pressed flowers became so large he decided to decorate the office space around him.

His parlour's pinstriped wallpaper was soon decorated with vertical stripes of colourful pressed flowers. Clients always complimented the little touch, and Louis would always direct them to Smell the Roses.

Occasionally Louis would visit Harry when business was slow and ask his assistant Zayn to take over for a little. The first time Louis came into the shop he saw Harry talking with a little girl and an older woman.

As soon as the little girl laid eyes on Louis, she tugged at Harry's pant leg and he leaned down so she could whisper in the pastel boy's ear. He chuckled as she spoke, which Louis may or may not have thought was the cutest thing he'd heard in awhile.

"So you're the famous Louis that Harry's been going on and on about." She said in a very soft and tiny voice. Louis' cheeks immediately flushed, along with Harry's.

Flower boy's been talking about me?

"Yeah, thats me." The elderly woman smiled kindly. "You're right, Harry. He is quite the looker." Louis cheeks flushed redder than the roses behind him. "Graaaaaan." Harry groaned, obviously embarrassed.

After a series of eye gestures between Harry and his grandmother, she realized that her grandson and the punk boy weren't an item. "Oh! Well, I just realized I have to take Dorothy home. Bye Harry!"

She pinched her grandson's dimpled cheek before hauling herself and the little girl out the door. "They seemed...lively." Louis commented in an attempt to break the awkward silence.

Harry chuckled. "Yeah, Gran's a little senile and Dorothy's got the wildest imagination." Louis smiled at how bright eyed Harry got while talking about his family. "I'll bet. It's really sweet she visits you in your shop."

The two boys spent about an hour just talking about their families and things. Harry learned that Louis was more of a loner. Louis learned that the entire Styles family got together every Sunday for a family dinner.

Conversation continued until Zayn called Louis since he was clocking out. "I have to go. My co-worker wants to leave." While Louis didn't show it on his face, Harry could tell he was sad to leave.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Lou." Harry's hand rested on Louis shoulder and the punk boy smiled. "See you later, Harry."

After exchanging goodbyes, Louis left to go back to his own shop and didn't see Harry until tomorrow.

The next day, Harry found himself looking through all the flower drawings Louis had given him. His favourite was of a long stemmed rose. It looked quite real, and it made Harry think about what a great tattoo it'd be.

During his lunch break, Harry strolled into the tattoo shop with the drawing in hand. Louis was standing by the front desk, absent mindedly sketching a daffodil. The pastel boy cleared his throat, and the punk boy looked up. "Oh, Harry! What're you doing here?"

He shook the rose drawing in his hands. "I was wondering if you had an opening and could do a tattoo for me." Louis smiled. His flower boy wanted a tattoo that he designed. "There should be time, Zayn's on his break right now. Follow me please."

With that, Louis got up and lead Harry to a small room in the back with a chair and the tattooing equipment.

After an hour and and a half or so, Harry had a perfect red rose with a long green stem. "Thank you so much! I love it!" Louis smiled at his words, excited to see the reaction on the other boy's face.

When it came time to pay, Harry handed Louis the money. Right before the pastel boy left, a piece of paper was handed to him.

Hey Flower Boy, call me sometime...
xxx
Louis