After Saturday's tell all between Deacon and Rina they seemed closer. Walls were broken down on both sides. The rest of the weekend zoomed by. Rina didn't see Deacon again until Monday at work but texted constantly. Rina felt ashamed of the opinion she had of him at the beginning of the summer. At the beginning of the summer, she'd dreaded having to work with him now when walking through the doors of Gardner's Gardens she couldn't wait to see the handsome boy who was slowly winning her heart.

The week went pretty quickly. They were busy due to the long weekend with people looking to redo their gardens. Rina was asked a lot of questions about flowers. Customers were directed to her by Mrs. Gardner. Some even asked if she had time to help them make their gardens perk up. Rina took the numbers of a few of the customers promising to call.

After one customer who was begging her to revive her roses, she sighed and put her head on the counter. Rina was feeling overwhelmed and flattered by Mrs. Gardner's opinion of her gardening skills. While her head was down she felt a warm palm start rubbing her back.

"That feels good." She said into her folded arms.

"It's tough being a gardening rockstar." Deacon chuckled.

"I know right." She smiled then stood up straight. "I just can't believe Mrs. Gardner recommended me to all these people. I'm flattered but I'm only some high school kid who knows how to garden."

"No, you're not, Rina. Your very talented with gardens and flowers. I think its awesome Mrs. Gardner is recognizing you and the talent you have. You should definitely work with those people. You never know what could come of it in the future. If anything, it might look really good for colleges." He smiled giving her a side hug.

"Yeah I guess your right." Rina was about to lean up and kiss him when she saw a familiar car pull up outside of Gardner's. Rina stiffened and pulled away from Deacon. He looked outside to see what caught her attention.

The doors opened as Spike and Brittany strode in. Great! It was too late for her to go to the warehouse to hide. Rina turned her back and started straightening the shelves behind the counter. All she wanted to do was escape. Since she couldn't do that she tried to blend in with the shelves and ignore their conversation.

"Douche!" Spike yelled a few feet from the counter.

"Hey, Baby!" Brittany said sidling up.

"Dude you really missed out. That party was so awesome! The girls were hot and E-A-S-Y!"

"I'm sure you had a good time." Deacon said dismissively.

"Baby! You should have come. I was so ready for you. You would have loved what I was wearing and what I wasn't." Brittany said in what she probably thought was a seductive and sultry tone.

"Brittany, I've told you time and again I am not interested." Deacon said.

Rina tried to hold back a laugh but a snort came out. When she tried to cover it up she ended up knocking items off the shelf then quickly bent to pick them up.

"Ugh! Is that Rina?" Brittany said in a snobby tone.

"Yes, its Rina. She and I work together." Rina heard the smiled in his voice.

"Rina! Did you think something was funny?" Brittany said moving toward her side of the counter.

Rina turned around and stared at the scantily dressed Brittany. "Brittany is there something I can help you with?" Her sugary sweet tone would have given anyone cavities.

"I said did you think something was funny? I know you thought we couldn't see you but how could we not see you. I'm sure astronauts in space can see you as big as you are. So, I say again did you find something funny?" She said leaning toward her.

Rina glanced at Deacon and Spike staring at them. "Well, yes I did Brittany. I found that no matter your whorish behavior it still didn't work. You are disgusting in your own way. I may be fat, but I know that when I wake up in the morning I don't have to question who or what I slept with. You're a disease-riddled whore of a bitch and honestly, I could care less about your opinion about me. So, if you need help with the gardening supplies you can start with the fertilizer because that is all you ever will be." Rina left the counter walking toward the warehouse where Jimmy was working.

When Rina couldn't find Jimmy right away she stood with her back against the walk taking deep breaths. She couldn't believe what she'd just done. Standing up to the one girl who'd made her life a living hell felt empowering.

"Hey. You ok?" Rina was jolted out of her thoughts by Jimmy.

"Yeah. I guess. You will never believe what I just did." Her voice still shook.

"What? Did Deacon propose?" Jimmy said laughing. Then when he noticed her now paler complexion he did a double take. "Ok. I won't joke about that. So, what happened?"

Rina went into detail about what happened. As each detail spilled from her lips, she still couldn't believe she'd finally stood up for herself. When she was finished she was met with silence. Jimmy stood there slackjawed staring at her. Then without warning he broke into loud laughs. Rina looked around as people stared in their direction.

"Oh my God, Rina. You just called Brittany shit without saying it. That is priceless. I can't believe you said all that but I'm glad you did. So, what did Deacon do while you were telling Brittany off?" Jimmy said breathlessly from his laughter.

"Um, he didn't do anything. In fact, he and Spike just stood there with their mouths hanging open. Though I thought I heard laughter after I made my way back to the warehouse, but I couldn't tell whose it was."

"Huh." Jimmy said now very sober.

"What?"

"Well, it kinda bothers me that Deacon didn't do anything. I mean he stood there and let Brittany say those awful things. He should have stepped in before you even had to. I'm not very impressed with him right now."

"Well, I don't know if he really had the chance to say anything. I'm sure he would have if anything would have gotten any further. He was probably just shocked that she was saying those things in the first place." Rina half-heartedly defended Deacon. Though a question floated through her mind. Why hadn't Deacon said anything?

"I don't know, Rina. I still think he should have said something." Jimmy stopped because just as he was about to continue Deacon came in through the warehouse doors.

"Rina are you ok?" Deacon grabbed her in a fierce hug.

"She's fine. No thanks to you apparently." Jimmy said snidely.

"I'm fine, Deacon." She smiled wanely at him before he could address Jimmy's comment.

"That was so awesome what you said to Brittany. She so had that coming. I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks." I said softly.

"What's wrong?" Deacon said immediately noting the change in my demeanor.

"Nothing." Rina went to move around her.

"It's not nothing, Rina. I think you should ask him." Jimmy said.

"What's Jimmy talking about?"

"Nothing, Deacon. We should be getting back up front."

"If you're not gonna say anything, Rina then I am. Deek you should have said something to Brittany. You just stood there while she railed at Rina. She tore her down in front of you and you just stood there. You should have been the first person to step up and put Brittany in her place, but instead you watched as she did it. I thought you were a different kind of person than that." Jimmy said with a note of disappointment.

"But, Rina handled herself beautifully. I didn't need to step in." Deacon said defensively.

"She shouldn't have even had to have done that. You should have ended it before it began. She has had to deal with that too much in her life to have her boyfriend stand there and let someone treat her that way." Jimmy said turning to go.

"Jimmy, he's not my boyfriend and he doesn't have to defend me. Clearly, I can handle myself." Rina left to go back to the front of the store. Maybe Jimmy was right. Maybe Deacon wasn't the champion she thought he was.

***

Deacon watched Rina leave the warehouse and Jimmy went to the outdoor facility leaving him there with his thoughts. He knew he should have said something to Brittany. He was just caught off guard when Brittany just started railing at her. He never thought anyone would talk like to another person. How could he ever prove to her that she's special if he let people treat her that way?

Walking out to the store's main area he watched as Rina went back to straightening shelves. A customer came up to the counter she smiled and made polite conversation with them while she rang up their purchases. His heart clenched as he recalled what he let happen. He felt like the dirt under someone's shoe. After the customer left, Deacon slowly strolled up to the counter and took the place next to Rina's.

"I'm sorry."

"There is nothing to be sorry about, Deacon." She said without looking up.

She went back to straightening the shelves. Cold fear shot through him at the thought of losing her over his stupidity.

"Yes, there is. I promised myself that I would show you how special you are and that no matter what you are absolutely beautiful. Instead I am a coward. Standing frozen letting someone be so mean it was unconscionable. I'm truly sorry. Jimmy is right. A boyfriend is supposed to protect and care for his girlfriend. I promise that will never happen again."

Rina stopped working part way through his little speech. She turned toward him with a touch of coldness in her eyes. "You don't need to protect me. Like I said to Jimmy, you are not my boyfriend."

Deacon walked over to her and took her hand in his. "I want to be your boyfriend. I want to protect you and call you mine. Just like I want you to call me yours."

"I'm sorry, Deacon but I can't be your girlfriend. I can't say yes to that no matter how much I would want to. Jimmy brought up a valid point as did you. I fight for my self worth all the time at home and at school. If I had a boyfriend, I wouldn't want to have to fight for it around him. I just don't know if you're the guy who can step up against all odds and proclaim I am yours. I'm sorry. I think I'm going to see if I can go home early."

Rina moved to leave, and he grabbed her hand. "Wait." He said desperately.

"What?" Rina said without looking at him.

"Are you still coming to Mom's tonight for dinner?" Deacon heard the desperation in his voice.

Rina sighed. "Of course. I made a promise and I don't plan on breaking it." Rina moved to the back of the store.

Deacon was busy with a few customers when Rina slipped out. He needed to straighten things out with her. If he accomplished nothing the rest of the day he was going to do that.