Aria was halfway through arranging a bouquet when she heard the front bell of the flower shop jingle—twice in rapid succession, like someone nervous had just stepped in.
Which was weird.
She hadn't heard the door open.
Frowning, she peered over the row of sunflowers—only to find the shop empty.
"...Hello?"
Silence. Just the soft hum of her playlist and the faint scent of freesia and eucalyptus in the air.
Then—
THUMP.
Aria yelped and dropped her scissors.
"Okay. Nope. Haunted. This is it. I'm being haunted by a dramatic ghost with good flower taste."
She tiptoed toward the sound, peeking behind the counter—
And there, squatting behind a display of hydrangeas, sunglasses crooked and hoodie sliding halfway off her shoulder… was Kaelira.
Holding a pizza box.
And a huge teddy bear.
Aria blinked. "What… are you doing?"
Kaelira stood up with the most guilty smile in existence. "Delivering a surprise… like a normal girlfriend?"
"You broke into my shop."
"The door was open!"
"It was definitely locked."
"I may or may not have called Niña to distract you with fake flower orders while I climbed through the back window."
Aria laughed—sharp and sudden and bright. "You're unbelievable."
Kaelira grinned. "But cute?"
Aria looked at her. Disheveled, a little sweaty, holding a pink teddy bear with a little flower in its paw and a pizza box that had "FOR THE PRETTIEST GIRL (and her lunch)" scribbled on it in marker.
"Yes," she said, walking over and hugging her around the waist. "You're an unbelievable, adorable criminal."
Kaelira melted into her. "Good. Because I brought garlic bread, too."
⤹ ❀
They ended up on the floor of the shop, sitting cross-legged in a nest of blankets Kaelirq pulled from the back, eating pizza and garlic bread in between giggles and glances that lasted too long.
"So," Kaelira said, licking sauce off her thumb. "I was supposed to just drop this off and go back to practice."
Aria raised a brow. "And yet…"
"And yet," Kaelira repeated dramatically, "I saw your face in the window and suddenly couldn't leave."
Aria bit into a slice of garlic bread, then whispered, "Cheesy."
"Exactly."
Kaelira leaned in. "But also… I really missed you. Even though it's only been a day."
Aria tried to stay chill. She really did.
But her face was already heating up.
"I missed you too."
They didn't kiss right away. Not yet. They just leaned into each other, hands touching lightly where their fingers rested on the blanket. The shop was filled with warm light and the scent of fresh roses, and outside, the city buzzed by unaware that inside this tiny flower shop, two girls were having the softest kind of love story.
⤹ ❀
Later, while Aria was restocking some small potted succulents, Kaelira wandered around the shop like she always did—admiring, pretending she knew what things were called.
"Oh! This one looks like it's judging me."
"That's a haworthia. And it probably is."
"What about this little angry guy?"
"Echeveria. They're dramatic but cute. Kind of like you."
Kaelira stuck out her tongue. "Flirty florist energy."
Aria smiled, pressing her hand briefly over her heart like she could hold in how warm it felt.
⤹ ❀
As the sun began to set, Kaelira sprawled on the loveseat in the corner of the shop, flipping through a book of flower meanings Aria had left out.
She read aloud, voice light and teasing.
"'Peony: bashfulness, beauty, and romance.'"
"Classic," Aria said.
"'Baby's breath: everlasting love.'"
"Also classic."
Kaelira paused, her eyes trailing down the page.
"'Camellia—white: you're adorable.'"
Aria glanced over her shoulder. "That's not what it says."
Kaelira shrugged. "I'm improvising."
"Cheater."
"Still true."
They both laughed, and for a second, it felt like they weren't hiding from cameras or sneaking around stage managers or writing their story in the margins of their separate lives. It felt like this was how it was supposed to be.
⤹ ❀
Just as the sky turned gold, Kaelira stood at the doorway, hoodie zipped up, sunglasses back on.
Aria walked her out, reluctantly, already missing her.
"Next time," Kaelira whispered, "I'm kidnapping you instead. Prepare to be illegally romanced."
Aria grinned. "You'd better bring garlic bread."
"Always."
And just before she left, Kaelira pulled her close, tilted her chin up, and kissed her soft and slow, right there in the middle of the doorway, half-shielded by hanging plants and sleepy late-afternoon sunlight.
It was the kind of kiss that made everything else go quiet.
⤹ ❀
Later that night, Aria found a little flower tucked under her counter. A pressed camellia.
Taped to it was a note in Kaelira's handwriting:
"You're adorable."