Thornless Rose: Pt.2
Bam groaned, old injuries acting up from sitting too long, as he pulled himself out of the low car. He grabbed the small duffel that he'd carried his clothes in, the skateboard that rarely left his sight, and the lavender rose that Ville had given him at the concert. He honestly didn't know why the rose meant so much. Why he couldn't bear for it to be out of his sight. When he and Dunn had gotten back to the hotel room they were sharing Bam had been teased mercilessly about holding the rose, only laying it aside to go to the bathroom.
Bam lifted the rose, inhaling the subtle floral scent and imagined that he was breathing in the scent of Ville's skin. If the Finn had wanted to leave a mark on Bam by giving him the rose, then he had done a damned good job. All the skater could see when he had closed his eyes that night was Ville's green eyes staring into his, the rose held up to his face and the gentle smile behind it. He saw Ville walking toward him, his body lithe and swaying femininely as he walked through the crowd. Almost seeming to dance through the bodies as he made his way toward Bam. He saw the way Ville's long fingers caressed the long stem of the rose, gently scraping the thorns away. In that moment Bam had wished that he was the one that the Finn was touching so lovingly.
If Dunn had noticed he hadn't said anything, which meant he hadn't noticed how obsessively Bam had watched Ville throughout the night. Or maybe for once he decided to keep his mouth shut. It was possible. Wasn't it? Bam grimaced, no, it wasn't possible for Dunn to keep his mouth shut. He was either stewing on it, waiting for the time to strike, or he honestly hadn't noticed.
When the Finn had spoken, the skater had been so stunned that no words would form. He had just stared like an idiot. Watching Ville's perfect lips move as he spoke. And God help him, imagining what those lips and long fingers would feel like wrapped around his cock. Only when Dunn had elbowed him had he managed to stutter out his name. Both of them. Why he had told the Finn his real name was beyond him. Now Ville probably thought he was retarded from by the way he had acted. Probably thought that was why he had been stared at all night.
The real reason Bam hadn't spoken was because he'd been scared, nervous, to talk to the beautiful man. It had been confusing, alright, down right fucking distressing, to Bam who had never been shy or afraid of anything other than snakes his entire life. All the sudden there was this beautiful creature, this God, in the same room. He had panicked.
It had been all he could do to stand in place and not run when his God had started walking toward him, speaking to him. Then he had handed him the rose and kissed his cheek. Ville was his name and when he walked away the skater had finally realized why he'd gotten nervous and tongue-tied. Why he hadn't been able to take his eyes off of the Finn for longer than two minutes. Why his heart trembled when he'd been kissed by those velvet soft lips, why it had shattered as the Finn was pulled away by the bassist.
For the second time in his life, Bam was in love. Skateboarding had come first, but he was nearly positive that his new God could, if not take skating's place, come really fucking close.
"Are you going to stand outside all day, Bam?"
His eyes widened and he dropped the rose to his side quickly. Bam knew he was blushing at having been caught breathing in the scent of the rose and even though it was only Ape that had caught him, if it had been anyone else he'd never hear the end of it. Bam Margera didn't stop to smell the roses. Not even ones given to him by gorgeous Finnish rockstars. At least...not when anyone else was around. When everyone was around he had to pretend to be the badass. The aloof, maniacal skater that didn't care about anything and very rarely anyone. Was it sad that he felt he had to act like one even for his own mother?
"Maybe," he said in answer to both questions.
Ape only rolled her eyes and stepped back into the house, leaving the door hanging open behind her. If anyone else was around Bam would have chucked his duffel back into the car and hopped on his board, leaving the door open for her to find and close later. Just to be irritating. But since no one else was, he felt compelled to follow after her and close the door. He ran into the house, dropping his board and the duffel next to the door then shut it behind him and walked into the kitchen where he knew Ape would be fixing him a glass of iced tea loaded with sugar, like he needed sugar, and sat on the counter. He watched her carefully as she moved around the kitchen, making sure she wasn't watching him, then dropped his gaze to the lavender rose as he twirled it in one hand.
Why couldn't he leave the damned flower alone? He knew the answer to that question already, but didn't want to admit it to anyone. Including himself. Though technically he already had. Hadn't he? Didn't admitting to himself that he was in love with the green eyed Finn mean that he could admit to himself that he kept the rose purely because Ville had given it to him? Yeah, but why make things easy?
"Love at first sight." April murmured when she saw her son staring down at the rose. He lifted his head staring at her with an eyebrow raised in question. She only turned away to grab a spoon to stir his tea with.
"Hey Ape?"
"Hmm?"
Bam waited until she looked back to him then grinned. "You've seen me before. And not only is that seriously disgusting, but I'm pretty sure it's illegal too."
"Bam!" She stared at him with an irritated and disgusted grimace and finally shook her head as he cackled. "God, no. Your rose. Where'd you get it?"
"A...someone I met at the concert. Why'd you say love at first sight?"
She knew he was gay, as did Phil and Dunn, but he wasn't quite sure he should tell her that he'd fallen head over heels with a rockstar he'd only seen once.
April smiled softly, wondering if it had been a man or woman that had given her son the rose, but knew he would never answer her if she asked. They'd had his 'coming out' discussion. Or rather, his 'falling out of the closet' discussion, because that was exactly how she and her husband had found out that their youngest son was gay. She and Phil had heard mumbled voices and thumps coming from a hall closet and not thinking about what might be going on inside opened the door. A sixteen year old Bam and one of the kids he'd skated with at the time fell out.
He and the other boy had been embarrassed beyond belief, scared that April and Phil would be upset with them and it had taken over an hour for the two boys to calm down enough to talk. After that it had been smooth sailing except for the trauma of seeing their sixteen year old son getting a blowjob. It had taken both parents weeks to get over the sight. Bam was more careful after that and so were April and Phil. Enough mental anguish had been dealt.
So even though she and Phil knew, Bam still felt a bit awkward discussing his relationships. Probably it was post-traumatic stress.
Bam was staring at her, the questioning gaze in his eyes and Ape smiled, handing him his tea.
"A thornless rose, especially a lavender one, means love at first sight."
"Huh?" Bam felt like he was missing something. Which usually wasn't that far off, but in this case he was completely lost. Why was his mother spouting off about flowers meaning love? Wasn't that what Valentine's was for?
"Flowers have their own language Bam. Different flowers have different meanings. It was used in the Victorian Era. Some people still use it today."
"It's just a flower, April."
"You never know. Whoever gave you that might know what it means."
Bam couldn't help but wonder if Ville actually knew what it meant, he had dug through the roses before picking up the lavender rose. But probably he was just finding one that hadn't been crushed. Bam couldn't help but laugh at his own stupidity for thinking that someone other than his mother might know what a thornless purple rose meant.
"Just because you know what it means, doesn't mean anyone else does."
Ape only smiled and watched as he slid off the counter, carrying his tea and the rose with him as he left the kitchen. "We'll see."
Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three