Valentine's Day

“What are you doing?” Dawn stood in the doorway to her room with her arms crossed. 

Nic was on the couch in the lounge room. “Opening a bag of chips.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. 

Since he didn’t know what she wanted he held up the packet in offering.

She let out a long sigh. “It’s Valentine’s Day tomorrow.”

“I know.”

She raised a brow. “And you aren’t getting prepared?”

“Lance won’t be home for another three hours.”

Dawn still looked unimpressed. 

He waved a hand at the kitchen. “I already bought groceries. Which you didn’t help me put away at all. Doc is too short to be much help with putting things away.”

She ignored said sarcastically, “I saw that, very romantic.”

“Cooking dinner for someone is romantic.”

“It can be, but considering we all take turns cooking for the entire apartment, is it that romantic?”

Nic blinked at her for a moment. “Did I do something to cause this attack?”

She stomped into the room. “Don’t you understand how important this is?”

“What is? It’s just Valentine’s Day.”

Dawn closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. “This is Lance’s first Valentine’s. Do you really think his parents were celebrating every year while they forced him into isolation?”

“I guess that's true, but—” 

“No buts! This is important. And what have you planned? A typical night and a card.”

“How did you know—did you go into my room?”

Dawn waved her hands through the air. “My point is you barely planned anything.”

“I have planned something.”

“What?”

Nic felt his neck warm. “I got him the fancy ice cream.”

Dawn rolled her eyes. “You always get him the fancy ice cream.”

“He loves it.”

“But Valentine’s is special. It’s supposed to be more than the things you always do.” 

Doc let out a little beep across the room. Nic sent him a look of betrayal. 

Dawn waved at him. “Up, up. We have to fix this.”

Nic stood and tried to protest, but she hurried him out the door. 

It wasn’t until they were in the carthat he realised he didn’t even get to eat any of his chips. 

---

Dawn led them through the shopping centre to the grocery store. 

“I was just here,” Nic said grumpily. 

“But you don’t get the right things,” she pointed out. “We start at the flowers.”

“Lance doesn’t need flowe—holy crap, is that how expensive roses are?”

“Yes.” Dawn picked up a small bunch of roses. “But they are a must.”

Nic pushed the flowers back at her. “We’re supposed to be trying to save money.”

“But roses are a Valentine's classic. And we are getting him all the classics.” She held the roses out again.

Nic eyed them wearily. “I guess.”

That’s how he found himself following Dawn around the supermarket as she picked out a box of heart-shaped chocolates, an oversized teddy bear holding a red heart, a bag of pink balloons with cheesy words on them, a candle with an overpowering and slightly horrible smell, and, finally, a heart-shaped pillow that declared “BE MINE.”

They left and filled up the back of the car. 

“We can try and book somewhere for dinner, or we can go with the dinner at home option.”

Nic climbed into the passenger seat. “At home would be better. It’ll be busy, and Lance doesn’t like it when there’s lots of people around.”

Dawn nodded. “Okay.”

She turned on the car and pulled out of the parking lot. But not in the direction of home. 

“Where are we going now?” Nic asked. 

---

Dawn knocked on a familiar door as Nic crossed his arms sullenly. He felt like a twelve-year-old being dragged around against his will. 

The door opened, and Elrod’s smiling face greeted them. 

Dawn said, “It’s so hot the chocolates are already starting to melt.”

“Come in.” Elrod waved them inside. “We can put it in the fridge.”

Once the chocolates were safely in the fridge, Elrod led them into the guest bedroom. 

Nic blanched. “What is that?”

Elrod lifted the jacket. “Took me a while to find it. But this is my suit from back when I was in my twenties.”

Nic’s jaw dropped open. Then he said to Dawn. “You want me to wear a suit?”

“It’ll make dinner at home special.”

Nic took a step back. “No way.”

Dawn plucked the jacket from Elrod’s hand. “You’re wearing it.”

Elrod sent him a sympathetic look and said, “At least it looks like it’ll fit pretty well.”

---

Nic sat on the couch surrounded by all things pink and red. 

He sighed and blew some black hair out of his eyes. “Back to work,” Dawn called at him. 

He picked up the scissors and continued with his task of cutting out paper hearts and adding string to them. Dawn and Monica were currently turning the lounge room into something Cupid would look at and say, “That’s a bit much.”

Monica was hanging pink and red streamers. Doc was at her heels, with the various streamers in his arms, so whatever colour she needed was right there. Dawn was blowing up balloons and arranging them along the floor to mark a pathway. 

Nic pulled at the neck of the tie. 

Without even looking up, Dawn called, “Leave it alone.”

Nic sighed. The suit fit, but for some reason, it was making him itch. “Can’t I just change once he gets home?”

“No, it’ll ruin the effect,” Monica said. “You have to be ready and waiting for him.” She’d been here immediately after school with an armload of horrible decorations.

Dawn finished up with the balloons. “Exactly.” She grabbed a few paper heart strings to hang them from the roof. “Trust me. He’s going to love it.”

Nic sighed, but he’d given up arguing with them about this.

They spent the next half an hour executing Dawn's vision for the lounge room. Then, after setting up the various gifts on the couch, the girls left. They even managed to herd Doc out of the apartment since Monica claimed he’d ruin the mood. That left Nic standing in the middle of the room with a single rose, waiting for Lance to return. 

Nic felt a line of sweat roll down the side of his face. It was already a hot summer day, and their air con had broken the day before. And the itchiness just seemed to be spreading more and more. 

Finally, the knob spun, and the door to the apartment swung open. 

Lance froze on the threshold, his eyes went wide, and his mouth dropped open. After a moment, he said slowly, “This is a lot.”

Nic spread his arms wide and said half-heartedly, “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

Lance laughed and finally walked into the pink-red explosion. “I’m assuming this was Dawn’s doing.”

Nic smiled. “Yeah. I mean, you saw how overboard she went for Christmas. Once she gets going, there is no stopping her.”

Lance hummed in agreement as he started loosening Nic’s tie. “She’s doing her best not to relive bad memories.” He pulled the tie off and tugged on the jacket next. “Now, as nice as you look in a suit, you also look very uncomfortable.”

Nic sighed. “It’s weirdly itchy.”

Lance kissed him quickly. “Then definitely go get changed.” He eyed the couch. “I’ll move all this stuff out of the way.”

Nic hurried into his room and pulled off the horrible suit. Then he slipped into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. He paused on his way out. The envelope with his card in it was still sitting on his bed. He hesitated for a moment, then snatched it up. 

Lance wasn’t in the lounge room anymore. So Nic headed into the kitchen. There he found Lance with the freezer open. 

“You got me the ice cream,” Lance’s voice was soft with surprise. It got like that every time, like he was surprised whenever someone did anything nice for him. It always made Nic’s heart squeeze. 

“I thought I’d make you a spider.”

Lance closed the freezer and turned to rest his chin on Nic’s shoulder. “And that is?”

Nic opened the fridge and pointed to the lime fizzy drink. “Just a scoop of ice cream and then you pour fizzy drink on top. It’s better than it sounds, I promise. And lime is the best flavour to do it with.”

Lance said, “I believe you.” He pushed the fridge door closed and spun Nic around, pressing his back against the fridge. “I didn’t need anything for Valentine’s Day. I’m just happy to be with you.”

Nic’s fingers tightened, and the envelope crinkled. “I did have plans. Not as elaborate as Dawn’s, of course.”

Lance wrapped his arms around Nic. “No one’s plans will ever be as elaborate as Dawn’s. What were these plans?”

Nic fidgeted. “Well, I was going to make you this new curry recipe I found online, and I got Chicago for us to watch and…”

Lance raised his brow. “And?”

Nic’s mouth went dry, and his voice escaped him. So instead, he lifted the envelope and offered it to Lance. 

A goofy grin slid onto Lance’s face. “Is this another one of Dawn’s plans?” He ripped open the envelope and pulled out the card

Nic’s heart jumped to his throat, and his hands started to shake. 

The light amusement faded from Lance’s expression as he opened the card. The expression turned serious and flickered into shock. He whispered, “You love me?”

Nic nodded helplessly. “I’ve been trying to tell you for weeks, but I couldn’t seem to say. So I decided to write it down instead.”

Lance looked up, his jaw still a little slack. “You love me? You love me?”

Nic played with the bottom hem of his shirt. “Yeah. I kinda do.”

Lance's whole face lit up, and he spun them around in a few wild circles. “You love me. You love me.”

Blush blossomed across Nic’s cheeks. “I know. You don’t have to keep repeating it.”

Lance slowed them down and repeated softly, his voice full of awe, “You love me.”

Nic reached up to cup Lance’s face, and finally, he was able to say the words. “I love you.”

“I’ve never been in love before. But if it isn’t like this, then I don’t know what is.” Lance sighed, then kissed Nic slowly and indulgently. When he pulled back, he said, “I’m pretty sure I love you, too.”

“Pretty sure? I’ll take it.” Nic laughed.

Then he kissed the boy he loved, who also loved him.