after natalie left, zion turned back into his normal, cheery, charismatic self. rae had come early in the morning, and it was early evening now. instead of staying home, he dragged her out, despite her protests that she stayed with him the whole day, and even though it was the weekend, she had to get home.

"you dragged me out to bring me to a flower shop?"

rae was standing in front of a cozy looking shop with her hands on her hips. zion was nodding at her, bouncing on the balls of his feet. he reminded her of a gold retriever, an annoying golden retriever at the present moment. since natalie left the house, he seemed better, like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders.

"but why?" she asked again, curious about the intentions of the blue-eyed boy. he gave her a sly smirk that sent her heart into a marathon mode. "i want to give some flowers to mrs shane, the old lady in our street. its her birthday today."

aw. rae's heart melted a little. "and you want me here because. . .?" she asked, mirth lighting her voice. "so you can select some for me." he smiled cheekily, and her heart melted.

"aw, is my rae blushing?" he asked teasingly, poking her reddening cheek. "whatever," she mumbled, acting nonchalant even as her heart was fluttering at the word my. shaking her head, she pushed the door of the shop open, letting the cold her cool her hot cheeks.

a few minutes later, she finished picking some colourful yet soothing flowers, hoping the older lady would appreciate them. she didn't know her personally, and just went with her gut feeling. walking over to the counter, she gave the cashier the flowers and requested for a bouquet. zion, who had disappeared while she picked flowers, had reappeared to pay.

as they left, the cashier handed zion the bouquet and her a folded card. before rae could question him further, he slipped away, leaving a rather confused rae and a smug zion.

zion walked out of the store, and rae followed him, still confused. as they stepped out, leaving the air-conditioned room, rae sighed in frustration. stopping, she opened the card, taking in the contents. red roses against a creamy white background met her eyes, on which a message was embossed in bold. it was a ready made card.

"'please accept my prop-rose-al.'"somehow, she knew it was the idiot zion. lifting her head, she looked around her, but her was nowhere to be found. "here, babe." she looked down at the source of the voice: zion kneeling in front of her on the ground.

"be my girlfriend?" he asked her hopefully, a rose mysteriously appearing in her hand.

under the hot sun, in front of a flower shop where new stories were being made, rae gave zion her answer.

"no."

.