Chapter 3

The next day Jaryd was at the counter and Ash ordered his usual decaf and Dan's order. Jaryd had this look on his face.

"What?" Ash asked

"Why decaf?" Jaryd responded.

Ash bit his lip. "Because regular coffee sends me into a coma"

"How is that a thing? " Jaryd looked more confused. Ash shrugged. " Adhd brain"

"Ah" Jaryd nodded.

"Can one of you guys draw floral tattoos?" Ash asked sheepishly.

"i can" Jaryd responded. "You thinking of getting a tattoo?"

"I always wanted one. When are you free?"

I can squeeze you in tonight at 7:30" Jaryd said enthusiastically.

"Sweet" Ash smiled.

" It's a date" he winked as he left for the booth. Jaryd swallowed hard.

Dan, in the booth, had a funny look on his face.

"What?" Ash asked.

"What did you say to him that left him looking like a deer in the headlights?"

"I may or may not have winked at him while walking away" Ash said while blushing

"Look at you, flirting with the hot barista" Dan said proudly.

Ash looked around nervously to see if someone heard that ." For fucks sake don't make a big deal out of it" he whined.

"Alright alright" Dan laughed." Did you ask about the tattoo thing? "

"Jaryd said he can do it tonight at 7:30" Ash said nonchalantly.

Dan had this knowing look on his face and a shit eating grin.

"What?" Ash asked again.

"They close at 7" Dan replied

"Huh?"

"He's staying late for you" Dan pointed out.

Ash turned crimson at that. The audacity of Omniscient Dan Sparrow.

Later Ash swung by at 7:30 and the coffee shop looked deserted. Jaryd opened the backdoor for Ash and Ash went in. It was a tiny space but it felt cozy. Ash sat on the chair and looked around. Lots of tattoo pictures were on the walls. These guys were truly talented.

"So? What do you have in mind?" Jaryd asked as he sat on the stool in front of Ash.

Ash pulled out his phone and looked around in his gallery. "This". he showed Jaryd a pic he loved of a gorgeous red rose he took 3 months ago.

"Nice. And what color is it?"

"Right, sorry" Ash forgot that Jaryd is colorblind. "It's a faint shade of red. I think it looks light grey to you"

"It is light grey to me" Jaryd agreed. " But it's simple enough. I can match shades no worries. Where do you want it?"

Ash held out his right hand on the table. "Are you a righty or a lefty?" He asked curiously.

"I'm ambidextrous " Jaryd said as he held the tattoo pen in his right hand and a spray bottle in his left. " Numbing spray?" He asked .

"No need" Ash refused and pulled out his airpods and stuck them in his ears.

"Alright" Jaryd said and the tattoo pen came to life.

"Motherf- " Ash groaned as the pen pierced his skin.

"Wanna hold my hand?" Jaryd asked and there was a faint blush on his cheeks.

Ash nodded and held Jaryd's free hand. If his face wasn't already red from the pain it would've got red from the hand holding. But soon he got used to the pain he closed his eyes and started humming to the music in his ears. 30 minutes later Jaryd turned off the pen and let go of his hand. Ash opened his eyes and looked around. Then he saw his hand and it looked beautiful.

"This is so great, Jaryd!" Ash exclaimed. "I'm gonna show it off all week"

"Hold it, Cherry Blossom" Jaryd laughed. " We gotta wrap it up first".

"Oh my god there's two of them now" Ash sighed. "Please Don't call me that"

Jaryd snorted then sterilized the hand and wrapped it up but kept holding it. "So why a red rose?" He asked

"Well..." Ash started. "You know I'm a florist, right?"

Jaryd noded solemnly.

"People always come to me to buy flowers for their loved ones".

"Naturally "

"And yet I've never received a flower from anyone" Ash looked away shyly.

"Ever ?"

"Nope". Ash looked Jaryd in the eyes. "So this is my gift to myself and a promise that someone will, one day, get me flowers".

"That's so ... I'm speechless" Jaryd muttered.

"How much do i owe you? " Ash asked, trying to change the subject.

"You don't owe me anything" Jaryd's bedroom eyes met Ash's.

"Huh ? " Ash asked and only now did he realize how close he and Jaryd were. Their faces were a couple inches apart.

"Consider it your first flower" Jaryd smiled. "A flower that'll stay with you for the rest of your life". He palmed Ash's cheek and lowered his eyes to stare at Ash's lips.

Ash got the memo and went red. But he gathered his guts and kissed Jaryd. It was a soft, warm kiss. Jaryd deepened the kiss and soon enough they were making out. Then they reluctantly stopped to catch their breaths.

"You sure know how to handle a guy" Ash joked.

"Believe it or not, you're the first guy i ever handled" Jaryd said while running his fingers through Ash's hair.

Ash laughed.

" Can i have your number? " Jaryd asked.

Ash kissed him again and pulled back "Sure" he said.

They exchanged numbers and Ash left to go home. At home Ash kept rolling on his bed while remembering the kisses. He texted Dan.

-yo guess what

= What?

- i kissed Jaryd

= It was foretold

-by whom ?

=Me

- you omniscient prick

= So ? How was it?

- soft and sweet

= Not the kiss, you dork. I know how those are. The tattooing

- ah. A bit painful at first but not as bad as you'd think.

=Would you do it again?

- probably

= Is the tattoo as good as you'd hoped?

- yes

= Good for you

- thanks

***

Jaryd walked in with a smile on his face that Jason could not, for the life of him, not comment on.

"How did it go?" He asked Jaryd.

"How did what go?" Jaryd asked dumbly

"You said you had an 'errand' to run" Jason pushed suspiciously.

"Oh ! It went well" Jaryd tried innocently

Did it involve a certain pink haired 25 year old florist? " Jason wiggled his eyebrows.

"What do you mean 25?" Jaryd asked confusedly.

"I looked at his Facebook. He's 2 days older than you" Jason said matter-of-factly.

"You serious? "

"Yup" Jason flipped his phone and showed it to Jaryd.

"I thought he was at least 27!"

"Nope. You're just short. Everyone looks older when they stand near you" Jason taunted.

Zain walked in "Honey, stop taunting Jaryd." He said to Jason. "YOU are freakishly tall and he is freakishly short" he snorted.

Jaryd sighed ." The Meathead and the Streetlight are ganging up on me" .

"Silliness aside, how did it go? " Jason said seriously.

"I tattooed him and he kissed me" Jaryd said nonchalantly. Jason whooped two times and Zain wolf whistled.

"Alright Mordecai and Rigby. Shut up" Jaryd said as he walked inside his room and locked the door behind him. He looked up Ash's Facebook account which was linked to his Instagram account so he spent the night looking at Ash's old posts. He saw lots of selfies with different hair dyes.