My hands press against the flower shop counter. I didn't actually have work today when I told Nico that yesterday, but this morning, my grandparents asked if I could come to work while they work on painting their kitchen.

And I had nothing else to do, so why not?

The customers came and went, and nothing was out of the usual. I wore my hair in a braid today, paired with a white dress and shoes. Some customers glanced at the band-aids covering my palms, but they never said anything.

I blew a raspberry while I looked at the clock. Two more hours.

I was going to drag Rio with me to get ice cream later, whether he likes it or not. But I guess if he really refuses, then I would ask Winter.

My eyes moved up and my heart skipped a beat seeing Nico enter through the glass door.

Here to buy flowers for another girl.

Black pants, red shirt, black belt. Hair perfect without a single strand out of place, which only made me want to go over and mess it up to make him angry. He doesn't deserve to have a good hair day.

My dark brown eyebrows lowered seeing an iced coffee in his hands. He set it down the counter before sliding it toward me with his index finger. When I didn't pick it up, he motioned to it, "It's for you."

I found myself wanting to smile, but I didn't. I picked it up and set it down on the table behind me, "Thank you."

When I turned back around, he looked confused that I didn't take a sip. I crossed my arms, holding my elbows, and moved my hands up and down my upper arms, "You need more daises?"

"No, actually," his words surprised me. "I was in the area. Thought you might want that shit."

"Thanks," I said quietly.

His eyes narrowed on me.

"Stop by the tattoo parlor tonight," he said, that being his way of asking me to hang out.

I shook my head, "I'm getting ice cream with my brother tonight."

"Okay. So then come after."

"It'll be pretty late."

"I'll be up."

The bell dinged behind him. A customer I was expecting walked in, giving me a big smile. I smiled back at her and bent down to grab the tulips that I had for her behind the counter. I reached across the counter and handed them to her, "Good morning, Mrs. White."

"Morning, Elle!" she took the flowers from me and set the exact amount of bills and change onto the counter. "Thanks for helping me out on the phone earlier."

"Of course," I smiled at her.

Mrs. White's eyes moved to Nico. She looked between us and asked, "Is this gentleman your boyfriend?"

"No," I responded before Nico could do what he did last time. "Just a friend."

Nico gave me a look when he heard how fast I answered, and even though I could see him in my peripheral vision, I kept my eyes off of him.

Mrs. White nodded, "Oh. He doesn't seem too much like your type anyways, Elle, since I've seen you with that blonde boy quite a few times."

Nicos' head whipped around to her as she said that. The blonde boy she was referencing was just a regular customer, I don't even know his name. But Nico doesn't need to know that.

I nodded, "You're right."

"Didn't seem that way last night," Nico spoke up, his voice cold and laced with either annoyance or anger. Or maybe even both.

Mrs. White's eyes widened, assuming he was talking about sex. I crossed my arms, "Your performance last night was nothing to boast about."

"You haven't seen what the fuck I can do yet," he spoke to me, not playing along with the 'sex' thing.

"Um....I'm going to go now," Mrs. White forced a smile at me. "I'll see you again soon, Elle."

I waved at her and watched as she left, ignoring Nicos' eyes that I felt burning my skin.

"Blonde guy?" he tilted his head.

I nodded while picking up the money she had put on the counter and putting it into the cash register. He watched me as I did this, "What blonde guy?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yea. It does."

I finally moved my eyes up to meet his. I just shrugged, "A regular customer."

His shoulders relaxed.

"I'll have some shit in the backroom for you," he told me.

"I can't go. Maybe next time."

I tried to keep my voice even, filled with no emotions. He was staring at me, intensely. I tried to act like it wasn't making my heart beat faster.

"You're acting weirder than normal," his eyes looked me up and down. "And that's saying something."

I rolled my eyes. I fiddled with the band-aid on my palms, and his green eyes moved to it. He reached across the counter and took my hand in his large one, pulling it towards him. He said quietly, "Let me see it."

His warm hands held mine as he peeled the band-aid off, looking at the healing skin. He nodded, "Good, it's healing. But you should change it later."

"Yea, I will," I nodded.

He released my hand, so I crossed my arms, needing to hold them in place now.

"I'll see you some other time," I spoke, wanting to turn around and drink the iced coffee.

His eyes looked me up and down as if that would tell him my feelings. I kept my face neutral as he stared at me, until eventually, he turned around.

He walked toward the front door, and pushed it open with one hand. But as he stood in the doorway, he turned around to look at me. A breeze from outside entered, as he asked, "Do you regret last night, Elle?"

I could tell that's why he thought I was acting this way. He thought that I regretted it, and that's why I was being colder than usual.

I shook my head, "I don't."

He stared at me for a few seconds. He left it at that, turned around, and walked away.

I whispered to myself, "That's the problem."

I picked up the iced coffee and raised it to my lips. Nico has stuff going on in his life that he doesn't want to tell me about, or I guess I should say, someone. I can't kiss him and then give him flowers for another girl the next day, I'm not strong enough for that.

I fiddled with the end of my braid as I wanted to collapse onto the floor and take a nap.

---------

I kicked my shoes off once I got home before walking quickly up the stairs.

I shut my door behind me as I collapsed onto my bed. I didn't pull my blanket over me, since I was still hot from walking in the bright sun.

I groan in frustration as I hit a pillow over my face. I still can't get Nicos' stupid face out of my head.

I remove the pillow off of my face and push myself up on my elbows. I stare down at my socks as I bite the inside of my mouth, thinking about what I can do.

I stand up and walk over to my desk, opening the laptop that I got for 'school' even though I've never used it for anything other than watching Netflix.

I type into Google, 'How to get over a guy I never even dated.'

My eyes scan the screen in front of me, reading all of the advice that comes up. I purposefully avoid the Reddit posts that come up because I don't trust them.

I click on a youtube video and fast forward to the part where she starts to give advice.

"Sometimes, a guy you aren't even dating can hurt you just as much as one that you are dating," the girl in the video spoke. "So, my best advice to get over a guy is to cut off all contact with them. Stop hanging out with them, stop texting them, stop calling them. Once they're out of your life, soon enough, they'll be out of your mind."

I pressed the space bar to pause the video. I spoke out loud to myself, "Okay, that should be easy enough."

All I have to do is stay away from Nico.

I can do that.

Right?

---------

♦ ♦

The empty paperwork sat in front of me.

Who the fuck am I? Bringing a girl coffee to her fucking work?

How pathetic am I.

But seeing her...God. Her brown hair was braided, going down to her mid-back. The white dress made her look angelic and looked beautiful with her chocolate-colored hair and eyes.

I wanted to kiss her again. But it was as if her sunny personality had been turned to ice.

"Cross," Sins' voice spoke from the doorway. "Where's that small brunette?"

I froze hearing him mention her. I shrugged, "Fuck if I know."

"Oh, okay. Just thought that maybe you guys....nevermind," he shook his head, stopping his own sentence before turning and walking away.

I leaned back in my chair, letting out a sigh as I lifted my arms above my head and held onto my forearms. My arms rested against my head as I once again struggled to get Elle fucking Russo out of my mind.

My phone buzzed against the desk. I picked it up, wanting to see if it was Elle.

But it wasn't.

Attachment: 1 Image.

The guy that I paid just sent me a picture of who I was looking for, followed up with a text of their name. My hand clenched, nearly breaking my phone seeing the guy that hurt Elle.

I set my phone down so that I didn't break it.

It didn't take me long to find his social media, and he had where he went to school on his page loud and proud. Boston University.

I clicked on a picture of him and his friend at work, and my head lifted once I realized I knew where that was.

I grabbed my phone and slipped it into my pocket. I made my way out to my car, gripping the steering wheel tightly as I drove.

Only one thought filled my mind the entire time that I drove.

Get justice for her.

I parked in front of the small clothing store downtown. I got out casually, but my chest tensed seeing his face through the glass.

I entered. Scanned around for customers. There were none.

"How can I help you today-"

His sentence was cut off by my fist hitting his face. He fell to the ground, and the other worker looked alarmed. Her eyes widened and I told her, "Stay exactly where you are."

She gulped, but listened to me.

"What the fuck?!" the guy on the ground groaned.

He tried to push himself up to stand, so I punched him again, making him return to the floor. I spat at him, "You like hurting women or some shit?"

"What are you talking about, man?" he groaned.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about," I gritted my teeth, sending another punch at his face.

He held his hands over his head. This was exactly the sight I liked to see.

Karma.

His blood stained the ground beneath him, along with his uniform. This is what he fucking deserves.

I stood back up, shaking my fist. Listening to the sound of him groaning in pain behind me was music to my ears as I exited the store.

I got into my car. I started the drive to the tattoo parlor, wondering what was up with Elle today. I have two clients tonight, a shorter one, and a longer one. Thought it would more enjoyable if she was there; just for my entertainment. No other reasons.

Some fuckin' blonde guy.

I hope he gets hit by a bus.

I parked outside of the parlor, only getting there about 10 minutes before the client was supposed to come. The longer one was first, and I knew I wouldn't be done it for a few hours.

Small price to pay for financial freedom from my parents.

The client walked in, and it was a girl around my age. She smiled at me, "Hey...."

She was waiting for my name. I filled in the blank for her, "Cross."

"Cross," she nodded while thinking about it. "Odd name, is it your first?"

"Yes," I lied, not wanting her to call me Nico.

She sat down on the tattoo chair and asked, "So, I just take my shirt off?"

"If you want, but you could just pull it up like most people."

She laughed as if something funny happened before turning around and pulling her shirt off. She lay on the chair on her stomach, since I was doing a back tattoo.

I pulled up a chair beside her, and she showed me a picture of what she wanted. I started to get everything ready and she turned her face to look at me, "So, Cross. Have you always lived in Boston?"

I fucking hate when people ask me questions.

I didn't answer her, making her sigh. She smiled again, "I could show you around."

"I'm good."

I snapped the latex gloves over my hands. The sound of the machine started as I held the pen in my hands, and she asked, "Do you have a girlfriend?"

"Lets not talk about me," I muttered.

"But I'd love to get to know you."

"Well, you aren't gonna."

"Come on, Cross," she sat up in the chair.

I pushed myself back, the wheels on my chair getting away from her as her boobs hung off of her chest freely, purposefully exposing herself to me. I looked away from her and ordered, "Get the fuck out, the fuck is wrong with you?"

"Cross-"

I cut her off, still not looking in her direction, "Get the fuck out right now before you're dragged out by the police, cause I'm not fucking touching you."

She scoffed, and I heard her pull her shirt over her head. I looked back in her direction as she once again smiled at me, "Why don't you give me a chance?"

"Cause I don't fucking like you," I spat. "Now get the fuck out."

Her eyebrows lowered as if I was crazy. The machine stopped making noise, and she let out a huff before exiting it.

I rubbed my eyebrows as I sat back down and muttered, "Jesus fucking Christ."

I stood back up after a while and walked into the back room. My eyes went to the chair that still had the pillows and blanket how Elle left them.

I need a distraction.

I spent the entire day doing boring shit I didn't even need to do. I went grocery shopping, went to the gym, cleaned my house, and took a shower.

As I changed back into clothes, I didn't mind that there was one empty hanger, missing a sweater.

I grabbed black pants and a white shirt. My hair dries pretty quickly, so it was completely dry by the time that I was done eating dinner.

My eyes went to the clock. Ice cream with her brother.

I stood up, putting my dishes into the dishwasher. I grabbed my keys off of the counter and headed to my front door, opening it, and locking it once I shut it.

I got into my car and pulled out of my driveway.

Ice cream sounds better with three people.