Greenhouse || Xavier Thorpe x Male Reader

winter wildflowers || chapter 12

 When I leave my fourth period class, I notice that I'm not really hungry. Instead of going to the quad, I go to the greenhouse. Wednesday gave me the winter wildflowers, and I spent a bit of time after we did the hive chores growing the spring flowers. They need to be grafted together so I can hopefully harvest hybrid seeds to plant later.

I lock the door behind me again, and take out a small knife as well as the plants. Since I've never grafted a wildflower onto something, I decide to just slit part of each stem and attach them to each other that way. I normally wouldn't do this for flowers, but these ones aren't like what I normally work with. They're more delicate and breakable. After I attach them, I secure the position with tape. Then, I set the first batch aside and continue onto the next one.

About fifteen minutes into my work, another knock comes at the door. I seem to be extremely popular for surprise visits today. When I open the door this time, Xavier stands there.

"Get in here before Wednesday sees you," I tell him. "The work table is occupied today, unfortunately."

"Isn't there another one in the back?" He asks jokingly.

"Yes, but that's where my foxglove is living right now," I respond. He raises his eyebrows. "For Wednesday. If she ever comes in here unannounced again."

"Can't she, like, smell it?"

"Probably. Anyway, I hope you're here to help me graft these plants. I need seeds before the ground thaws," I inform him. He nods.

"Well, I was actually here to see you, but work is great," he says. We get to work on cutting and grafting the flowers and I watch him talk about art and classes and the plants. When we first met, he was always silent, but now he's so open toward me and we could talk for hours on end if we wanted to.

When we finish the flowers, I set them at the top of the table before reaching for my garden scissors and walking through the greenhouse until I find one remaining rosebush. I cut off two roses and hand one to Xavier.

"Tomorrow's the Rave'N. People traditionally give corsages while wearing a matching flower for themself, but I thought since guys traditionally wear the flower we could just wear matching ones," I explain. "I'll keep it in here until tomorrow."

His face lights up at the flower, such a simple gesture but such a complex promise at the same time. The small sun in his smile answers the prompt for him, but he does so anyway.

"That would be amazing. Thanks, [Y/N]," he responds. I kiss him and put the flowers in a small vase. We lock up the greenhouse and go to the quad, hands intertwined the whole way there.

~=~

We sit down with our friends and they greet us by slapping a pamphlet on the table.

"I stole it from the decorating committee," Enid tells us. "It's the theme of the dance, they aren't supposed to be released until tomorrow. Because it falls on Valentine's Day this year, the theme is One Love. That means like either pink and red or rainbow because it's meant to draw awareness to the queer community."

"Well, that's good for us, but I'd prefer not to wear a rainbow suit," I respond. She laughs. "No, I'm serious. I have a red suit already, anyway. I bought it to wear to my aunt's wedding last year."

"Well, I was going to wear a rainbow dress to contrast Wednesday," she says. "Xavier, do you have a red suit?"

"Surprisingly, yes. Remember last year's theme? It was War, so I wore a red suit to symbolize blood," he explains.

"So why are we discussing Rave'N outfits?" I ask.

"Because I wanted you to know the theme, and before you guys decided on red I was going to propose that we match with one of you in black and the other in rainbow," she informs me.

"That's not a half-bad plan, except I'm not wearing rainbow and I doubt Xavier would want to do that either," I tell her. Xavier nods.

"Ugh. You're no fun," she complains. "Well, tomorrow we can discuss more, but I thought we could meet herearound 6:30? The dance starts at 6, so we'll be half an hour late which should give the lines time to clear up."

The rest of us nod and Enid launches into a detailed explanation of the dance this year, from punch to music. The balloons, dance floor, and even the chair decorations are mentioned. Halfway through, I just nod along with what she says, not even paying attention as my brain is filled with knowledge I never knew I needed.

"I think you broke [Y/N]," Xavier jokes, waving a hand in front of my face.

"No, no. I was paying attention. I swear," I respond. "It's just a lot of information."

"Well, lunch is going to be over soon anyway. It's probably better to not launch a mini-lesson at him before class."

Enid pouts but stops talking. I squeeze Xavier's hand as a way to say 'thank you'. Even though it wasn't that much information, it feels like a whole class's worth of knowledge. If I answer a question with 'Red Chair Ribbons', it's entirely her fault.

~=~

The rest of the classes fly by without a mention of chair ribbons, so I guess my brain isn't that addled by the conversations as I thought. I lean back against my headboard, reading a book on my bed. Xavier's painting something, probably another portrait. He uses painting to get out of his head, the same way I use growing plants. I know his parents see mental health as something that can be 'fixed' by sticking your child in therapy, but even I know it's more than that. I'm happy he's found a creative outlet like art to help manage it.

The words on the pages begin to blur, and I put the book down and click off the light. I can't sleep yet, but my mind isn't working well enough to read. The door opens, and Xavier comes in holding a painting.

"[Y/N]? Are you awake?" he asks softly. I turn the light on again.

"Hey. I was reading, but couldn't focus," I tell him. He nods and props the painting against the wall.

"You? Not being able to focus on a book? Impossible," he jokes. I smile. "Actually, I was having the same problem with painting. I got halfway through this one and then I just couldn't focus. Maybe lack of focus is just in the air."

"Yeah. I'm sorry you couldn't finish painting," I tell him.

"Actually, I kind of like it better half-finished," he says, turning the painting around. It's us, walking in what looks like a void. "The background was supposed to be the snow, but I like it like it is."

"It's beautiful, even without a background," I agree. The background isn't necessary to make it mean something. It would mean something to me even if it was a single brush stroke on a canvas. I've dated artists before, but none of their paintings ever meant so much to me, not even the most beautiful ones. Somewhere, in the simplicity of two people in a void, lies a well of emotion, spilling over to create this.

I turn off the light again and turn over, letting my emotion lull me to sleep.

i made a spotify playlist so i don't have to listen to music on youtube anymore
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5g64fhv4iECNFynTZulbtv?si=6e00288af1e94092

listen if you want to