When Harry first moved into the peaceful town from somewhere in the North of England, he did it for the safe and soothing feeling he had whenever he went out for a walk and for the lack of noise and stress he always witnessed in London. But now, the restlessness found him even here, at the end of his small world.
And everything started on that Monday morning.
After a whole week of planning his flit, Harry was relieved to finally move into his new home on the afternoon of the last Sunday, but since he was too tired to even move a muscle, he settled on the couch for the rest of the evening and watched the telly until he fell asleep with the thought that on Monday he will walk around the neighborhood and possibly talk with his friends.
What he didn’t expect to find, was a flower shop with white walls and a tiled floor.
He entered the place out of curiosity, the smell of flowers feeling his nostrils and calming his increasing anxiety. It was a flower shop after all, damn it. It wasn’t like he was going to face his doom, wasn’t it?
Wrong.
But let’s get back to the story for now.
The first things he noticed upon his entrance were the small cash desk and the numerous vases, mostly filled with roses. The room was brightly lit, the sunlight coming through the clean, big windows and giving it an almost heavenly look. There were different flower crowns on shelves and a desk calendar next to the cash register. A pair of scissors and a few ribbons rested on a messy table in the corner and when he closed the door, Harry heard the clink of a bell he probably missed the first time.
He breathed in the floral scent once more and noticed an ajar door at the back of the shop, from where he could hear a voice coming.
“Sorry, we don’t normally have customer this early in the morning,” said someone, bursting out of the door at the same time, grabbing a green flower net from the floor and going back in, so Harry could only catch a glimpse of bright blonde hair. “It’s a bit untidy around here,” the voice said again and finally, the owner came out of the room but didn’t spare a glance towards Harry, as he made his way at the cash desk and put on an emerald apron over the white silk blouse.
“What can I help you with?”
Harry tried to talk but the words got stuck in his throat at the sight of the blonde man standing in front of him, a smile planted on his face. A pair of grey eyes with a tint of blue gazed at him over the desk and Harry felt his gut tighten and a pink tint reach his cheeks. He gulped and took in the fit appearance of the florist as the man raised one eyebrow and realized he was being checked out by the customer in front of him.
“Um, are you alright?”
Harry accepted a long time ago the fact that he was gay. His friends were more than supportive towards him -only his best mate Ron was a little stunned when he found out- and Ginny actually tried to set him up on some dates a few times, but none of them had any results except one-night stands that ended in awkward friendships he soon forgot about. But now, he found himself in awe at the sight of the bloody attractive man in front of him who was looking at Harry with a smirk and an amused raised eyebrow.
“Earth to-well I actually don’t know your name but you look pretty much like a Dan to me,” this time the blonde actually laughed and passed a hand through his hair.
Harry snapped.
“Dan?” he asked in confusion because that was the only part he heard in the last minute.
“No, Draco,” he said, pointing to himself and Harry frowned. “It was just a suggestion, don’t take it that seriously. I would like to know your real name however,” the man, Draco, said and leaned over the desk with the chin propped on one hand and a strange glint in his grey eyes.
“Draco- no, I mean I’m Harry, you are Draco, and,” Harry trailed off as he took a step forward and tripped over his own legs, steadying himself in the last moment without ending on the floor in a tangle of limbs. He covered his face with his hands just as he felt his cheeks and ears heating. “Oh my God, this is embarrassing,”
“No, I actually find it pretty entertaining to watch,” Draco laughed at Harry who tried his best not to run from there right that second.
“Now you’re just being rude,” he replied and let his hands fall on his sides.
“Maybe,” Draco smirked and bit his lip. Harry suddenly found it hard to breathe. “But you still haven’t told me why are you in my shop, Harry,”
“It-it’s your shop?” Harry asked and trailed his eyes around the room once more, avoiding the blonde’s gaze.
“It’s more like a family business. My mother, Narcissa, actually owns the enterpise but I am working as co-owner and florist, as you probably noticed. It’s more enjoyable than standing in her office and helping with paper-work. Also, standing here greeting customers has it’s own advantages as well,” he stated and Harry spared a glance towards him, finding the man carefully taking in his appearance.
“Such as?” Harry questioned and manged to take a step forward without collapsing on the floor.
“Well, not everyday you have the chance to meet dazzling men like you, am I right?” now Harry was sure the blonde was openly and shamelessly flirting with him. He said his prayers in his mind and decided to join his soon to be downfall. So he leaned on his hands on the desk in front of Draco, their faces inches apart and put on a smirk of his own.
“If I agree to come here every day, you might need to change that statement,” Harry said and saw Draco’s surprised expression before he straightened and a faint blush appeared on his neck and cheeks. Harry chuckled and looked up at the man.
“So, you are here to buy flowers or just... enjoy the view?”
“The view it’s not that bad itself, but since I’m new in town I can’t surely tell,” Harry told Draco who was now leaning casually against the cash register.
“You are new in town?” the blonde asked and arched an eyebrow.
“Yes, arrived just yesterday and planned to take a walk and see what’s around here,”
“And where did you move here from?”
“London,”
“I see. I’m from Wiltshire but my family passed through some rough times so we decided to try and have a new start here, you know... Away from everything,” he let his eyes fall upon the white desk and blinked once before raising his gaze upon Harry. “If I wouldn’t know, I would say it’s the same for you,”
“Pretty much, yeah,” Harry replied and smiled at Draco, finding a smile just as genuine on the other man’s face. They stood like this for a while, just looking at each other, caught in the little world of the flower shop.
“Listen,” Draco began, “I would like to give you a tour of the town, if you want. I know a nice cafeteria where you can buy me a coffee as a payment and maybe you can tell me more about what you are searching here, at the end of the world,”
“Yes, that’s brilliant,” Harry said and saw as Draco’s face lit up as he grabbed a post it and scribbled a phone number on it, before handing it to Harry. Their finger brushed and the slight touch was enough to make Harry awkwardly cough and catch a blush once again.
As he was leaving the shop with a goofy grin on his face, one more thought occurred in Harry’s mind: Ron was going to give him hell about this.
