Concentrated Sunlight
Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader
Warnings: Fluff, some angst (?) maybe a curse or two
Word Count: 1362
Summary: Steve Rogers owns a flower shop and is smitten with a regular customer. What happens when he finds out she has a boyfriend?
A/N: This was done for @syntheticavenger‘s challenge! It was a lyric prompt “ If I told you that I loved you, tell me what would you say?” (The Neighbourhood ‘The Beach’) And I made up a little flower shop AU to go along with it! I want to thank @syntheticavenger for reading my story and @river-soul for hyping me up to post this! This is my first EVER fanfic for any fandom and the first time I am publishing my work anywhere. If I forgot any warnings let me know!
Friday, 4:00, like clockwork you walked into Steve Rogers flower shop. The sunflowers always seemed to lean into you when you passed their cooler. You had been coming every Friday to pick up what you called “weekend flowers” for 6 months now and simply knowing you were coming seemed to make the weeks go by a lot faster.
“Hey Steve! Got anything fresh this week?” you teased. You knew he went to the wholesale market daily to make sure each arrangement held the freshest flowers. You had asked about it the third time you came into the shop and he made it a point to tell you about his daily trips to the wholesale market. What he didn’t tell you was that he made a point of going 6 months ago when you started coming in, just in case you needed flowers any other day of the week.
“Hey doll, got some orange dahlia’s that look pretty good. Wanna take a look?” He moved towards the cooler that held the special find. Orange was your favorite. He noticed how you always seemed to pick out orange day lilies, poppy’s, marigolds, and orange Gerber daisies. There weren’t many impressive orange flowers so when Steve found eye catching ones at the market he would always buy them out of stock.
“No, actually, I’m not picking up flowers for me today.” You paused and looked at Steve who seemed to stiffen. “I’m meeting my boyfriend's family for the first time tonight and I think they prefer white flowers with lots of green filler, maybe roses? I don’t know though, do you have anything a bit more traditional?” You shifted around to where Steve stood at the cooler a bit nervously. You loved his flower shop and didn’t want to go anywhere else, but admitting to needing something to bring to another man's family seemed unsettling.
Steve’s face visibly dropped and his hand white knuckled on the cooler door. You had a boyfriend. Of course you did. You were concentrated sunlight, even the flowers noticed. Each bloom always opened up a bit more when you were around. He knows he sure as hell did. “You have a boyfriend? How long have you guys been together?” His voice threatened to break, and his grip on the coolers handle somehow tightened.
“Not long really, about a month? My co-worker kind of set it up, thought we would be a good fit. I’m not sure though it seems to be going a bit fast. Isn’t it a bit soon to meet the family? We’ve only been on a handful of dates. I'm not even sure why I agreed to it.” You mumbled while chewing your lip raw. Your eyes were looking all around the shop until they finally landed on Steve. “Are you okay Steve? You seem a bit flushed. Maybe you should sit down.” You moved to grab Steve's hand off the handle. He immediately relaxed at your gentle touch. You led him to the back office where he could sit while the color came back to his face. “Can I get you some water? Or do you have anything to snack on back here?”
“Don’t go. Tonight. To meet his family.” Steve spat out breathlessly. He couldn’t let you go. You said so yourself that it was only a handful of dates and you thought it was moving too fast. Surely there was a reason you hesitated, right? He had to say something, anything to get you to get your orange dahlia’s and stay for a few hours. He loved your Friday afternoon conversations and the thought of those coming to an end made him nauseous. He didn’t enjoy anyone’s company more than yours, you had to know that by now.
“Steve what are you talking about? I already agreed to go, what will they think of me if I cancel at the last minute without a reason?” You were fidgeting with your hands unsure why you cared what they thought of you. You knew very little about the guy as it was, he wasn’t much of a talker. He wasn’t much of anything really, but he was polite and punctual. When he asked you to go to dinner with him at his parents house you felt your brain start to cloud over. You had just taken a sip of the bitter coffee he had ordered for you when he dropped that bomb. What were you going to do, say no? You were caught off guard! He was a perfectly lovely person. Just not the one you had your eye on.
Steve could see your hesitation, he knew you were uncomfortable. He saw the way your eyebrows knit together and how you were fidgeting with your fingers. You only did that when you were unsure about something. You did the same thing when you were trying to decide between the peonies and the anemone’s after you had a hell of a week at work. He knew that you thought buying flowers for the weekend gave you more time to enjoy the colors. He knew that you moved here after cutting off ties with your family, looking for a fresh start you said. He knew you preferred tea to coffee but he knew you wouldn’t pass up a peppermint latte during the holiday season. He had to tell you how he felt, he couldn’t let you start this relationship with this guy without having you know how he felt about you.
“If I told you that I loved you, tell me what would you say?”
You stared at Steve in shock. Your mouth hung open with a gasp. You had a huge crush on the town's florist but thought he was way out of your league. After that revelation you finally caved and said yes to your coworker’s attempt to set you up. You always did have a problem saying no to people and now it was biting you in the ass. Steve made your Friday flower shop visits the highlight of your week. He taught you so much about each flower and the day he told you that you reminded him of a peony in bloom you could have kissed him right there. You knew he preferred coffee to tea after the hour long debate one afternoon ending in you storming out only to bring back a chai tea for him. He said it smelled like bells of Ireland and you had to agree. You knew he was taking care of his mom after her stroke and he had a best friend named Bucky who used to get him both in and out of trouble. You stared into his crystal blue eyes full of hope and adoration. You brought your hand to his face and he sighed leaning into your warm touch.
“I would ask you what took so long.” You teased as he smiled. He grabbed the hand that was resting on his cheek and pulled you into him. You felt his soft lips kiss the top of your head and you let out a breath you didn’t realize you had been holding.
“So, how about I wrap up some orange dahlias and bring them by your place tonight.” You looked at Steve confused. “What? I don’t think you’re still planning on going to meet that guys family tonight and I want to take you to dinner. Call it a date”
You laughed incredulously shaking your head, “Ha I guess you’re right. Should have known it wouldn’t work out when he got picky with the flowers.” You spot a pen and paper on the desk and scribbled your address on the page. “Pick me up at 7:30 and don’t forget my weekend flowers.” You pulled away from Steve and headed towards the door.
Steve stared as you left his office with a cheshire cat grin. He walked back into the main store and grabbed every available orange dahlia he had and closed up shop. He had a date to get ready for.