would i seem to desperate if i called him?

tom pondered. it was either sit in his room all day and do nothing or call tord. it was 11am, and tom had just woken.

he looked around the room blankly as if one of the items around the house would help him decifer an answer.

oh, but the choice was obvious!

he wasnt going to do either of those things. today he was going go to go..

downtown!

why he wanted to go their was unknown, but everything did happen there. it was the main street of the town. all the cafes and fun stores were there.

he also had heard there was a nice flower shop there. so thats where he was going to go.

but he also needed to look presentable. which required a nice outfit.

rummaging through his closet he managed to find a shirt that had been through the washing machine too many times that the design was coming off.

it was a dark gray t shirt that had a torn british flag on it. printing atop the flag in spiky white letters it read

DEF LEPPARD

def leppard was an old time band that tom still loved to this day. he also still loved that shirt.

so he put it on, but the only downside of that was his wrists.

they were fully visable, and even though there was only a couple fresh red cuts that stood out from the other faded pink ones, you could still see it.

dang, he was looking forward to strolling downtown in his def leppard tee.

but,

his lovely mind came up with the idea of wrist bands. they did most of the job, leaving the corners and edges of some wounds peeking out from below, it was better than nothing.

and with that, he left for downtown.

the stores grew closer together and the people became a bit more chatty. he began to doubt his clothing choice for today was another foggy day. there was no sun, just grey clouds and cold weather.

the small restaurants were packed with couples, which was unusual. the restaurants were pretty expensive on main street. maybe there was a special today. discount, something along the lines of that.

he passed a small vintage ice cream parlor where he saw a couple sharing s small bowl of mint ice cream. he tried his best to ignore it because it reminded him of how lonely he was. coming here was supposed to take his mind off of things, right?

well, it wasnt doing that good of a job.

well, tom was happy on his own.

he passed a store selling retro items. there were records, band merchandise and black and white movies. seemed interesting enough.

he opened the door, triggerering a bell to go off. some of the chipped red paint from the door stuck to his fingertips, which he just brushed off. he immediatley set off towards the records section.

even though he didnt have a record player, he would buy them for the aesthetic. he would display it on a shelf and leave it there like a trophy. 

that is, if he bought one. 

he looked through all the big disks in the plastic packages and read the print that listed the songs contained in the record. there was really no songs he liked, better yet he had heard of. he expected there to be some def leppard, since he was popular during the time period records were. but to his surprise, there was no trace of def leppard anywhere. 

he gave up on the record section and roamed the store, checking out all of the vintage antiques and furniture pieces. he ended up not buying anything, but he did find a really old phone.

you know, the ones with two separate pieces, one to be held to the ear for listening and to the mouth for speaking.

it was quite expensive, though.

he left the store and set off to see the florist shop. 

it wasnt all that hard to find. it was on the corner of the main road and it had no walls. the checkerboard tiled floors satisfied tom, since it was his favorite pattern. he surveyed all of the flowers (that were surprisingly very cheap) and decided he was going to purchase one.

he hovered over the roses.

there were light pink ones, pink, red, dark red, orange, white and purple. 

he liked all of them. but he was drawn to the red ones. maybe it was because that was the stereotypical rose colour, the colour he was used to.

the florist approached him.

"see anything you like?" 

"yes, actually. the red roses are beautiful, i must say." 

"you sure are lucky, boy. your getting a bit of the last batch if you decide to buy. everyones coming in a buying them for their 'one true love.'" the man said. tom looked up at him, puzzled.

"valentines day." the man said, answering every one of toms questions. thats why he saw so many people at the restaurant. and that is why the roses were so cheap. it was valentines day.

that explained a lot. but it also made tom sad. he didnt have anyone.

but that wouldnt stop him from buying a rose. maybe by the end of the day he miraculously find something to do with it.

"oh yeah. ill take one." 

the man rung him up and sent him off with one single rose. and who was it for? 

tom didnt know.

he arrived at his apartment complex and found his way through the maze of doors to his own. he went to go hide away in his room likr always.

since he didnt have a vase, he took a dust filled glossy white glass mug, filled it with water and meant to stick the rose in it, but didnt. he left the mug on the corner of the kitchen counter.

he went to his desk, slipped the rose behind his ear and grabbed a sticky note and a pen. he wrote on it,

buy vase for rose

and stuck it on the wall above the desk. thats where he put all of his important things that he was to forget about, but if he stuck it on the wall there was no forgetting.

there were things like important dates, such as the last time he talked to the california boy or any family memeber. things that were to be boughten but he never had the time or money too. places he wanted to be, like street concerts or store sales. the store he went to always put his favorite vodka cheap when there was a sale.

random stuff like that.

he took another note and wrote

call tord

it wasnt something he would forget but he just wanted to fill the space. make himself seem like a person with things to do other than go to vintage shoppes and buy single roses on days he shouldnt even go outside because it was actually valentines day. it made him feel sad because he had no one to enjoy it with.

there was a sudden knock on the door.

tom grabbed the rose from behind his ear, and a thorn grabbed some skin leaving tom with a stinging wound. he wiped a bit of blood off.

tom was suspicious,  for no one ever knocked on his door. he approached it caustiously and tried to look out of this key hole with no success.

maybe he was taking too long because the person at the door knocked again. tom set his hand on the knob deciding if he wanted to open it.

yes, he was going to open it.

he pulled on the knob and dragged the door open.

it was tord.

"sorrytoseemannoyingitsjustthatyoudidntcallsoigotworried." (sorry to seem annoying its just that you didnt call so i got worried.) tord said, nervously.

tom looked at him as a sigh of relief washed over him.

tord looked down at the rose.

"its pretty. you get that at the cornerstore florist?" he asked.

and suddenly, tom knew who this flower was meant for.