Work Text:
It starts on a particularly unspecial day.
Dex is walking through the North Quad on his way back from class, when he notices that the Biology club is selling little succulents for $5.
Typically he stays as far away from plants as he can, as he did not inherit the green thumb that some of his family members have.
“If you want it to be alive in a week, don’t leave it with Will,” they like to joke.
Dex knows that Nursey, on the other hand, loves plants. Some of them have been around since his freshman year, and his collection keeps growing. They’ve begun to spill out of his room and have taken residence on the kitchen windowsill, in the living room, and, during certain parts of the year, the porch.
It’s interesting that someone as clumsy and disaster-prone as him is extraordinarily good at keeping houseplants alive, but they add an extra layer of homeliness on top of what Bitty’s already done with the Haus.
Dex walks over to the table and one of the girls sitting behind it smiles.
“Would you like to purchase a succulent?” she asks.
“Yeah,” Dex says, scanning the table. He points to a vibrant green one, with shiny leaves that make it appear as though it’s a plastic plant. “Could I have that one?”
“Sure thing.” The girl picks up the pot and holds it out to Dex. He hands her a five and takes it. “Would you like instructions on how to take care of it?”
“No thanks,” Dex replies. “It’s for my... friend.” The word catches on his tongue, but thankfully she doesn’t seem to notice. “He knows a lot about taking care of houseplants.”
“Oh that’s great! The one you picked out’s actually commonly known as a ‘Friendship Plant’, so I’m sure your friend will love it.”
“Thanks,” Dex says, walking away as the girl moves on to help someone else. He picks up the pace, the need to get back to the Haus now much more urgent than a few minutes ago.
They know each other’s schedules by heart now, so Nursey should be in his room when Dex arrives. He takes the stairs two at a time and stops outside Nursey’s open door.
Sure enough, Nursey’s lying in bed reading a thin paperback book. “Hey,” he says, the beginning of a smirk on his lips. “What’s up?”
“I got this for you,” Dex says, crossing over to Nursey’s bed and holding out the succulent.
Nursey face relaxes into an expression of genuine surprise. “Oh. Thank you.” He brings it closer to his face to inspect it. “This a Jade plant.”
Dex shrugs. “The girl said they’re called ‘Friendship plants’? I just saw it and thought of you.”
Nursey places the Jade plant carefully next to the bonsai tree on his windowsill. “I wanna name it after you,” he announces, and Dex’s stomach swoops. “Dex Junior, welcome to the family.”
lisianthus
Nursey chooses a flower that can be easily played off as chill because it’s totally cool and not weird to give someone a flower as an expression of gratitude, especially if they gave you a plant first.
Dex’s door is cracked open when Nursey goes into the basement, so he pokes his head in. Dex is sitting at his desk, facing away from his door, working quietly at his computer.
The first time Nursey went into Dex’s room after Dex moved out, he’d felt out of place, like he didn’t quite belong in Dex’s space yet. He feels something similar now, like he shouldn’t be here.
He of course opts for the best option, which is to do nothing and stand there awkwardly, contemplating getting the fuck out of there before Dex turns around and notices him.
Inevitably, Dex turns around and notices him.
“Oh, hey Nurse,” he says. “I didn’t hear you come in. Were you waiting on me?”
Nursey’s been waiting on Dex for a long time, though not in the way he’s asking. He clears his throat. “Oh, no. I, uh, I just wanted to stop by and give you this.”
Dex glances down at his hands to the vase he’s carrying. He gets a strange look on his face and alarms start going off in Nursey’s head.
Oh fuck he hates it.
“I can take it if you don’t want it,” he adds quickly, embarrassed by the defensiveness in his voice.
Dex’s eyes widen and he reaches out. “No no, it’s not that,” he assures Nursey. “I’m terrible at keeping plants alive and I was worried you’d think I didn’t like it if it died right away.”
Relief washes over Nursey and he takes a second to regain his composure. “I still want you to have it.”
Dex’s brow furrows but he takes the vase anyways. He stares down at it reverently, like he’s been gifted something precious that he’s unworthy of. “I don’t want to kill something you gave me.”
“Well then,” Nursey says smoothly to hide the way the softness in Dex’s tone makes his heart skip, “I guess I’ll just have to keep finding you replacements.”
lily
The Samwell Women’s Tennis house is one of the most interesting houses Dex has ever seen.
The outside is painted a pale lilac, with white shutters, and the handrails and tops of the steps leading up to the front porch are a darker purple. Rows of yellow flowers fill the rectangular planters on the porch. The color reminds him of Lardo, and he suddenly misses her and Holster and Ransom.
He knocks on the door and a girl with black curly hair and dark eyes opens it. She squints, looking him up and down, and he gets the feeling he’s being appraised.
“Are you here to hook up with Val?” she asks, poking his chest. “Because she promised us she would give us a bigger heads up, especially if it was during the daytime.”
“Um,” Dex answers. “Eleanor’s in my Software Design class and she mentioned that your dishwasher’s been acting up?”
“Oh my God Marley!” Eleanor says, coming down the stairs and shouldering Marley out of the way. “Sorry about her. Come on in.”
They move back so Dex can enter the house. It looks like a catalogue for a home goods store, clean and tidy, with a couch that appears safe to sit on. A diffuser in the corner sends a lemony scent wafting through the house.
Eleanor leads Dex into the kitchen, Marley trailing behind them.
“We’re not really sure what’s wrong and our work order’s been processing for days,” Eleanor says.
“I’ll take a look,” Dex says, setting his toolbox on the ground and readjusting his baseball cap.
“Thank you so much.” Eleanor starts to leave, pausing at the threshold when she realizes she’s not being followed. “Marley. C’mon. Leave him be.”
“I’m not doing anything,” she says, blinking innocently at her.
“Well he certainly doesn’t need you ogling at him while he works.” Eleanor grabs her arm. “We have to study for our anthro test anyways.”
“Ugh, you’re no fun,” Marley whispers fiercely, letting Eleanor drag her out of the kitchen. “Also, where the hell do you all find these guys?”
*
When he’s finished fixing the dishwasher, he texts Eleanor that it’s done, and within a few minutes she comes back downstairs.
“Your dishwasher should work just fine now, but let me know if you have any issues. If the maintenance guy comes, he should check it just to be safe.” Dex stands wiping his wet hands on his jeans. “While I’m here, is there anything else that’s been giving you trouble?”
As he’s finishing his question, the basement door flies open and a girl with round glasses bursts through.
“The washing machine fucking leaked again!” she exclaims. She does a double take when she sees Dex in the kitchen with Eleanor. “Oh. I didn’t know we had guests over.”
Eleanor snorts. “That’s Emily,” she says.
“If you’d like me to take a look at the washing machine, I have time,” Dex offers.
Emily’s eyes widen. “Would you? If it’s not too much trouble, of course.”
“I’ve had to fix the same things in the hockey house before,” Dex says. “I just need you to show me where it is.”
Emily smiles, showing off her perfect, white teeth. Dex wonders if one of the requirements to be on the tennis team is to model on the side.
“Thank you so much,” Emily says, as they descend the stairs. “I know Eleanor collected money for you, but is there anything we can give you as an extra big thank you?”
Dex sets his toolbox on top of the dryer. “Um, this might be kind of weird but could I have one of the flowers from out front?”
Emily tilts her head. “The lilies?”
Dex nods, even though she could’ve said literally anything and he wouldn’t be the wiser.
“I don’t think anyone would have a problem if you took one.” She peers at him, something like amusement in her eyes. “Is it for someone special?”
Dex feels warmth rush to his cheeks. “Yeah,” he says. “I mean— it’s for my friend. He, uh, he really likes flowers.”
“Uh-huh.” Emily smirks, as she leaves him to attend to the washing machine. “Well, in that case, how could I say no?”
sunflower
Nursey is adamant about enjoying the nice weather while it lasts, which usually means dragging Dex and Chowder outside with him to study.
Today, Chowder’s spending time with Caitlin, which means it’s “prime d-men bonding time” as Nursey loves to say.
Nursey had given up actually doing his homework a while ago, now preoccupied with picking sunflowers and weaving them together. His book sits face-down on the blanket, open to keep the page. Dex can see him in his peripheral vision, but continues to work on his stats homework.
The last thing he needs to do is look up and see Nursey picking flowers, relaxed and bathed in sunlight, the sleeves of the soft blue sweater he loves pushed up to his elbows. He’d never be able to finish his homework if he did.
To be honest, Dex is finding it harder and harder to concentrate on things that aren’t Nursey. It’s no secret — not to him anyways — that he likes Nursey a lot.
He should probably do something about his feelings.
“Hey Dexy, I’ve got a present for you,” Nursey says in a singsong voice.
Dex looks up without moving his head, feigning annoyance. “It better be something good for you to interrupt my math homework.”
Nursey moves forward and in an instant he’s very close to him. Dex catches a whiff of his cologne and his heart aches.
“I made you an accessory,” Nursey says, proudly showing off the flower crown he’d been attentively creating.
“For me?” Dex utters, shocked that someone would make something so beautiful for him.
“That’s what I said, isn’t it?” He leans forward so he’s even more in Dex’s personal space to stick it on his head.
Dex tries desperately to fill his mind with stats concepts and other unsexy things to avoid getting one of the most awkward and unconcealable boners of his life.
Nursey leans back and just stares at him without saying anything. His eyes are slightly scrunched up because he’s facing the sun, cheekbones illuminated by the sunlight.
“What?” Dex says, nervous laughter bubbling up in his throat.
“Nothing,” Nursey replies gently. His gaze lowers and Dex fixates on the delicate curl of his inky black eyelashes. “You look pretty.”
Dex has been called many things in his life, but no one has ever referred to him as pretty.
He thinks if it came from anyone else besides Nursey he might hate it, but when Nursey says it, it lingers briefly before dissolving into the warm air and Dex decides right then and there that he is in love with Nursey.
“Thank you.”
Nursey picks his book up and lies back down on his stomach. “Little dazed there Poindexter?”
Dex shakes his head and says, “Finish your reading Nurse.”
Nursey flashes a teasing grin and redirects his attention to his book. When Dex is sure Nursey is absorbed in his reading, he reaches up and gingerly touches the flowers. He doesn’t even want to know how dumbfounded he must look right now.
He should really do something about his feelings.
jasmine
“Hi Will, come on in,” Mrs. White says, holding the door open for him.
Dex takes a seat on one side of her desk and immediately notices a vase of flowers near her desktop computer. He resists the urge to kick himself.
Look at what Nursey’s done to us, his brain tells him.
Mrs. White sinks into her desk chair, props her elbows up on her desk and rests her head on her hands. “What can I do for you today?”
“I’m just here to check in, I guess.”
She smiles. “Well let me pull up your info and I can get you in and out of here in less than ten minutes, alright?”
Dex studies the flowers as she wakes up her computer. There’s enough small white ones in there that she probably wouldn’t notice if he took a few.
“Okay, William Poindexter,” Mrs. White says to herself. “Let’s see…” After a few more clicks, she skims the screen. “Are you planning on changing your major?”
“No.”
“And do you need any help with registration?”
“Nope.”
“Then everything looks good. You’re right on track to graduate on time.” She turns to him. “Is there anything else I can do for you?”
“Actually, uh, now that I think about it, I’m pretty sure I lost my class planning sheet?” Dex clears his throat, hoping that it’s not super obvious he’s fibbing. “Could you print me another one?”
“The by-year one?”
Dex nods. “Yes, please.”
“Sure thing.” She opens a new tab. “I’ll be right back.”
As soon as her heels click down the hall, Will reaches over the desk and pulls two of the white flowers out of the bouquet. He tucks them into the pocket of his hoodie, careful not to smash them.
Mrs. White returns with a single sheet of paper and holds it out to Dex. He stands, taking it from her, and steps towards the door.
“Your flowers are, uh, nice,” he says.
Her face brightens. “Thank you! They were a gift.” She waves at him. “Bye Will, it was good to see you.”
Dex gives her a friendly smile back. “Good to see you too. Have a nice day.”
chrysanthemum
Dex settles into his seat. As the rest of the class files in, he fishes his pencil case out of his backpack and opens it up. Nestled between the few pens and pencils inside is a single dried flower.
“Huh,” the girl next to him says, peeking over at it. Her name begins with a V or an C — Dex can never remember and it’s too late in the semester to ask. “Do you know what that is?”
“No,” Dex says, rolling the stem between his fingers.
“It looks like a chrysanthemum. My mom plants them in her garden every year.” The girl digs out her notebook. “She likes the pink ones too. Do you know who gave it to you? They might like you.”
Thankfully, the professor starts to talk, saving Dex from having to answer.
He follows along and takes notes as the lecture goes on, but once again finds it difficult to focus on anything that isn’t Nursey. It verges on alarming now, how easily and quickly his head fills with thoughts of Nursey.
It’s clear the chrysanthemum was put there purposefully. It peeks out at him from his pencil case, demanding to be thought about. By extension, it’s impossible not to think of Nursey.
Dex’s leg bounces up and down under his desk for the entire hour, and the second they’re dismissed, he’s out of his seat and rushing for the door. He could tell by the look on the girl’s face that she’d been waiting to ask about the chrysanthemum again, and that was not a conversation he wanted to continue.
Nursey’s in the kitchen making boxed mac and cheese when Dex walks in. “How was class?” he says, stirring the noodles.
“Fine. Hey, um. Did you…?”
Nursey lifts his head with a pleased grin. “Yes?”
“The girl that sits next to me wanted to know about it. She thinks I have a secret admirer now.”
Nursey shrugs. “You never know, Dexy. Maybe you do.”
“Haha very funny.”
Nursey turns his attention back to his mac and cheese. “I figured if I dried it for you, you wouldn’t have to worry about trying to keep it alive.” He stirs his noodles a little too vigorously and boiling water spills out onto the stove.
“Careful Nurse,” Dex sighs, nudging Nursey out of the way. “You’re gonna burn yourself.”
Nursey hops up onto the counter, swinging his legs against the cabinets. “What if I did that on purpose so you’d make my mac and cheese for me?”
“What if I took over because I wanted you to share some with me?”
Nursey watches him fondly. “I’d share with you anyways.”
“What’s going on with you and Nursey?”
Dex pauses, pulling his head out of the fridge. “What do you mean?”
Chowder raises his eyebrows. “Oh, I don’t know, maybe the fact that you’ve started giving each other flowers and you’re all smiley around each other?” He grins wickedly. “Are you about to owe the Haus a shit-ton of fines?”
Dex pokes his head back in the fridge, partially so Chowder won’t see the blush rising in his cheeks and partially because he knows Bitty made strawberry cheesecake and the boys better not have eaten the rest of it.
He realizes he hasn’t answered Chowder, which isn’t helping his attempt at a casual, unbothered front. “Do you want a piece of cheesecake?” he asks, extracting the tin from the fridge.
“Yes, but you’re dodging the question.”
“Honestly, I don’t know. It feels like a game, this whole exchanging flowers thing. I’m not really sure.”
“Hm.”
“Why? Has he said anything to you?”
“Maybe. Maybe not.”
“You’re the worst.”
“Do you like him?”
Dex hangs his head.
Chowder’s face lights up. “I knew it!”
“Ugh, you don’t have to be so smug about it.”
Chowder rubs his hands together. “I’m just waiting to be able to fine you like you guys fine me.”
Dex raises his eyebrows. “Oh, well in that case I’m not gonna tell him.”
Chowder exaggerates his puppy face.
“I wasn’t going to tell him either way.” Dex eyes him pointedly. “Neither are you.”
“But—”
“Please.” The mild desperation in his voice is enough to make Chowder pause. “I… I really like this — whatever this is that we have. I don’t want to ruin it or make things weird.”
Chowder rolls his eyes. “Fine,” he sighs. “I promise.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it.”
Yeah,” Chowder snorts. “Don’t mention it.”
daffodil
The warm weather doesn’t last and eventually the winter arrives, which presents Dex with a critical problem:
He has no idea where to get more flowers.
There haven’t been any more opportunities for him to acquire them from someone else, and it’s not like he can go out and pick some now that the cold has killed mostly everything. It’s been weeks since Nursey left him the chrysanthemum, and Dex hopes that Nursey doesn’t think he’s given up.
The solution comes to him in the middle of the night when he can’t sleep, tossing and turning as he racks his brain for options.
He’s always been good at crafts and he enjoys making things.
So, if there aren’t any real, living flowers available, he can make one.
The easiest and most obvious type would be to fold an origami flower. All he needs is paper and some directions. He slides out of bed and digs around in the basement closet for the construction paper Lardo left behind.
He returns to his desk, equipped with colored paper and determination, and turns on his laptop.
There are a million and one tutorials on how to make all kinds of different flowers, and he eventually chooses daffodils.
This looks doable, he foolishly tells himself, clicking on the first tutorial listed on Youtube.
By the time he’s made one he deems worthy enough to give to Nursey, he’s surrounded by a wasteland of crumpled up, failed attempts. His desk looks like the beginning of a recycling PSA.
It’s worth it though, because he’s managed to fold the most perfect daffodil he possibly can, and more importantly, he’s got something to leave for Nursey.
He crawls back into bed, his restlessness appeased, and falls asleep figuring out where to put the flower.
When he wakes up, this time at a much more reasonable hour, he pads upstairs to Nursey’s room, avoiding the squeaky floorboards.
Nursey is out like a light, his alarm not scheduled to wake him up for at least a few more hours. Dex tiptoes over to his desk and slides the flower into the mug that holds his pens and pencils. He notices a bundle of all the flowers he’s given Nursey hanging from his whiteboard to dry.
Dex slinks out of Nursey’s room undetected, a warm feeling uncurling in his chest.
carnation
Dex wakes up in a prickly mood.
He and Nursey got into a minor altercation a few days ago at practice, and the whole thing has left a sour taste in his mouth. It was stupid and he can’t even remember how it started.
A selfish part of him is the most upset about it potentially being the end of their flower exchange.
He skips his morning class because he doesn’t need to go to it anyways, and takes some time to lie in bed and stare at the ceiling. Once he’s had enough moping, he gets out of bed and makes his way up to the kitchen.
Nursey and Chowder are already there, Nursey sitting on the counter, talking way too animatedly to be seated so close to a hot pot of coffee. Dex thinks he hears his name once or twice, but Nursey falls silent when he enters. Nursey’s eyes dart to him then the floor. Chowder looks back and forth between them.
“Um. Good morning,” Dex says.
“Hi,” Chowder says at the same time Nursey says, “Sup.”
“I thought you had class,” Chowder adds.
“I didn’t feel like going.” Dex wants Nursey to look at him, but his gaze is fixed on the countertop.
“I’m going to the library,” Nursey announces, placing his half-empty mug in the sink.
Dex turns to Chowder after Nursey’s gone. “What was that all about?”
Chowder presses his lips together. “I can’t really say.”
“If that’s how he wants it to be—”
“It’s not like that,” Chowder interrupts. “Nursey’s not mad at you. He’s just… working through some stuff right now.”
“How’re you doing?” Dex asks, switching subjects. It’s too much for him to think about Nursey right now.
“I’d be a lot better if you admitted you’re in love with him.”
Dex flinches.
“Aren’t you tired of hiding it?”
“Of course I am,” Dex sighs, pouring coffee into his thermos. He slumps back against the counter, crossing one leg over the other. “I wish I could tell him, I just… don’t know how.”
His phone buzzes in his pocket. He pulls it out and sees an alarm going off, notifying him that he has to meet up with a classmate in fifteen minutes to work on a project.
“I gotta go,” he says, starting for the coat hangers by the door, “or I’ll be late again. I’ll see you later.”
Chowder watches him coolly as he goes. “You could try telling him with words.”
“I don’t think he wants to talk to me right now.”
“Then tell him without words.”
Dex blinks at him. “I don’t understand.”
“C’mon Dex.” Chowder folds his arms across his chest. “What has this whole flower thing meant to you?”
*
By the time Dex gets back he’s in an even worse mood than when he left, once again reminded why he hates group work. All he wants to do is crawl into bed and take a long nap.
He kicks off his shoes and shuffles down to the basement. The door to his room is ajar, which he finds a little weird, since he’s pretty sure it was closed when he left, but he’s too tired to think much of it.
He nudges the door open, dropping his coat and scarf onto the floor, and starts climbing into bed when a splash of red catches his eye.
One of the tall cups from the kitchen sits on his desk, partially filled with water, and in it rests three brilliant red flowers. Dex runs his fingers gently over the petals, fascinated by their softness.
There’s a sticky note stuck to the cup. Dex recognizes Nursey’s neat handwriting, the kind he uses when he has to submit a handwritten assignment.
I miss hanging out with you :(
Nursey
tulip
Nursey wakes up at an unreasonably early time for a Saturday morning.
This is all Dex’s fault, he grumbles to himself, unable to go back to sleep.
If he’s going to be awake before noon on a weekend, he figures he might as well make a trip to Annie’s and get something Dex would hate to internally spite him.
The whole walk there, he wonders if Dex has seen the carnations yet. They still haven’t really talked, though Nursey would like to believe it’s because they’ve both been rather busy lately. Now that he thinks about it, he hasn’t seen much of Dex at all.
As he walks up to the entrance, he stops short when he spots Dex inside, lingering near the end of the counter where you pick up your order. Dex is already holding a drink in one hand, but takes a second cup when he’s called and heads for the door.
On his way out, Nursey watches as he pauses next to a table with a small vase of tulips in them. He does a quick survey to make sure no one is looking, then pulls one of the tulips out and books it for the doors.
Nursey scrambles to move away from the building to give the appearance that he just arrived when Dex walks out. He strolls over to Dex, ignoring his pounding heart.
Dex’s face turns red when he sees Nursey. “Oh. Hi,” he says awkwardly. “Why are you here?”
“Am I not allowed to get coffee on the weekends?” Nursey teases.
Dex’s blush darkens. “No, that’s not— I meant I’m surprised you’re up this early.”
Nursey nudges Dex’s side with his elbow. “Yeah well clearly somebody’s been rubbing off on me.”
Dex clears his throat and offers the tulip to Nursey. “This is for you.”
Nursey bites back a smile. “Thanks.”
“Also, I got this for you,” Dex continues, shoving one of the cups into Nursey’s free hand. “Anyways, do you wanna walk back to the Haus with me?”
“I don’t have any reason to stay.” He takes a sip of his drink. “Mmm, that’s perfect.”
“If you mean disgustingly sweet, then yes.” Dex wrinkles his nose. “I think I got nauseous ordering it.”
Nursey shakes his head, clicking his tongue. “You don’t get it Poindexter. The drinks are a metaphor for us.” He points to his cup. “Perfect and sweet.” He points to Dex’s. “Bitter and gross.”
Dex shoves Nursey. “Shut the fuck up man,” he says, but he’s laughing and there’s a lightness in his tone and Nursey feels things fall back into place.
“Do you think Dex likes me?” Nursey asks, as he helps Chowder arrange a bouquet for Caitlin.
“Why?” Chowder responds, a suspicious note creeping into his tone.
“He’s been sending me a lot of mixed signals lately.”
“Really,” Chowder says flatly.
“Yes! First he gave me a lily, which means rebirth, and I thought it was kinda weird but also we weren’t friends when we first met so I guess it makes sense. And then he gave me a jasmine, which symbolizes love, so I was like okay he’s picking up what I’m putting down, but after I gave him a chrysanthemum, he stopped giving me flowers so I thought ‘oh shit I came on too strong and scared him off’.” Nursey’s restless hands toy with the bouquet. “But then he gave me an origami daffodil and a tulip he stole from Annie’s and now this?” He pulls a small flower made out of pipe cleaners out of his pocket. “What the fuck does this mean?”
Chowder screws his face up. “It means he likes giving you flowers? Enough that he’d go out of his way to make them for you?”
Nursey’s jaw goes slack. “Oh.”
Chowder shakes his head. “Nursey I love you, but you are a fucking idiot.”
Nursey hardly even registers what Chowder’s saying. “Fuck,” he says softly. “I’m such an idiot.”
Chowder glances at the oven clock. “Well, he gets out of class soon so you won’t have to wait that long to talk to him.” He picks the bouquet up. “I’m going to see Caitlin. Try not to do anything crazy in the next, like, fifteen minutes, okay?”
“Okay,” Nursey echoes, but Chowder’s already gone.
Dex spots Chowder before Chowder sees him. “Hey!” he calls out, jogging across the street.
“You’re out early,” Chowder says.
Dex shrugs. “We finished everything we needed to a couple minutes before class ended so my professor let us go.” He nods at the flowers clutched in Chowder’s hands. “Did you just come back from robbing a garden center?”
Chowder rolls his eyes. “It’s Caitlin’s birthday, so I’m on my way to give this to her.”
Dex whistles. “Wow, it’s beautiful.”
“Thanks.” Chowder beams, and if Dex were paying more attention, he’d notice there was a smugness to it. “Nursey helped me put it together.”
“Huh. That was super nice of him,” Dex says, peering at it.
“Yeah,” Chowder continues, “I wanted to give Caitlin something that would really tell her how much I love her and Nursey’s a big language of flowers nerd.”
“Uh-huh.” Dex nods, only half paying attention. There’s something about the bouquet that seems oddly familiar to him. Upon closer inspection, he starts to recognize some of the flowers.
Roses, a classic. But then — those are the red flowers that Nursey left in his room when he thought Dex was mad at him? And the flower he’d put in his pencil case — a living one obviously.
“Hey Chow?” Dex starts.
“Yeah?”
“Did. Did Nursey, uh, tell you what these meant?”
Chowder nods. “Roses are for passion and love, dark red carnations symbolize deep love and affection, and chrysanthemums represent loyalty, devoted love, and happiness.”
Dex freezes.
Nursey knew full well what each flower he’d given Dex symbolized, and all this time Dex had just thought he was picking them because they were pretty. Which means…
“Oh my fucking God,” he says. “Oh my God.”
Chowder stops. “What?”
Dex grabs Chowder by his shoulders. “I’m so sorry, but I have to tell Nursey something really important. Tell Cait I said hi and I hope she enjoys the flowers!” He takes off running.
Chowder grins to himself as he watches Dex go. “Fucking finally,” he says under his breath and opens his phone to call Caitlin.
Nursey’s gonna go crazy waiting for Dex to get back.
He’s about to pace a hole in the Haus’ kitchen floor and then Dex will be pissed at him and how is he supposed to tell Dex he loves him if he’s angry—
“Fuck this,” he mutters to no one.
He yanks on his jacket and hurries out the door.
Dex weaves his way in and out of the mass of students getting out of class at 3 pm, cursing the way no one moves with a sense of urgency.
Don’t any of you have someplace else to be? he shouts internally.
He ducks off the sidewalk and starts running through the grass, so caught up in his own head he doesn’t notice someone coming directly towards him. The person crashes into him with a surprising amount of force, falling forward at the same time Dex falls backwards. Dex is glad that at least he wasn’t on the cement when he hits the ground.
“Ow what the—” he gasps, propping himself up on his forearms as the person on top of him groans.
He lifts his head to find Nursey’s face inches away from his. They stare at each other for what feels like a small eternity, neither one saying anything as they both wait for the other to say something first.
Nursey bites the bullet and speaks. “You seem to be in quite the rush.”
“I love you,” Dex says.
Nursey blinks at him. “Um.” His gaze flickers to Dex’s lips.
“I didn’t realize that you were trying to tell me something with the flowers. I just. I thought you thought they were pretty and just now I ran into Chowder and he was carrying that ridiculous bouquet so I asked him about it and he told me how you like, know the meaning behind flowers, and I can’t believe I didn’t see it—”
Nursey leans in and puts his mouth on Dex’s, effectively cutting off his rambling. Dex shudders beneath Nursey and brings his hand up to cup the back of Nursey’s neck.
Nursey pulls away first, and Dex inhales sharply.
“Chill,” Nursey says, grinning.
“Ugh, I actually just decided that I hate you. Get off of me,” Dex says, pushing Nursey’s shoulders.
Nursey sits back on his heels and Dex sits up.
“I can’t believe you ran all the way from the Haus just to come find me,” Dex says. “Decidedly unchill.”
“You make me very unchill.”
Dex chokes on a laugh. “Don’t be gross Nurse.”
“Hey, you just told me you love me. I think I’m allowed to be unchill right now.”
Dex bites his lip. “Did you like the flowers I made for you?”
Nursey’s face softens. “I liked everything you gave me.” He stands, pulling Dex up with him, and starts walking towards the Haus. “I got scared when you stopped giving me flowers for a while though. I thought you’d figured out what I was saying and freaked out.”
Dex shakes his head. “All the flowers died when the weather got cold. I had no idea where to find any.”
“You could always… steal from Annie’s again?” Nursey bursts out laughing at the face Dex makes.
“Don’t laugh at me!” Dex protests, but it’s weakened by the fondness in his grin. “I was desperate!”
Nursey hums, lips twisted into a smirk. “I’m flattered you’d steal for me.”
“Don’t get used to it. I’m leaving flower related things to you now.”
“Chill. Hey, do you wanna come with me to get Chowder a flower? I feel like he deserves at least something for putting up with us. Poor guy had to listen to me whine about my feelings for you for months.”
“Sure,” Dex says. “Though, I don’t think we’re gonna feel all that bad once he starts fining us.”
Chowder returns to the Haus early in the morning, exhausted from a lack of sleep the previous night. He’d like to have a few hours to himself before everyone gets up and starts chirping him for the hickeys trailing below his collar.
As he nears the top of the staircase, Nursey’s door creaks open and Dex shuffles out, rubbing his sleepy eyes. He halts when he sees Chowder. They stare at each other for a minute, before Dex clears his throat.
“Um. Good morning,” he says. “I’m just gonna...” He points at the bathroom with his thumb, and spins on his heel, disappearing inside.
Chowder’s pretty sure he spots a bruise just under Dex’s jaw, near his ear, but Dex slips away before he can say anything.
Chowder trudges into his room, ready to go back to bed. There is a small vase of flowers in his beanbag chair, along with a notecard.
To our bestest sweetest awesomest friend ever,
Sorry we were idiots. Nursey says to tell you that alstroemerias symbolize friendship and devotion and also wants me to remind you that we’re your best friends so please don’t hate us for being idiots.
— Dex & Nursey
Chowder blinks down at the note, then slowly reaches into his back pocket, pulls out his phone and messages them you owe the sin bin a mega fine, before turning it off and crawling into bed.