It was his first Valentine's Day with someone.
With a girlfriend.
And he totally blew it.
How he forgot about February 14th was beyond him. The fact that Valentine's Day actually became something special to him completely flew off his mind. Before he usually thought of the day as a petty holiday card companies made so cheesy couples can buy little gifts for each other. However, he didn't mind the candy swapping in 1st grade or the occasional anonymous cards he got in his locker each year since middle school.
What can he say? He is a stud after all.
It wasn't like he just forgot about Valentine's Day too. Well, he did, but he had an excuse. It was the start of a new semester at Gotham Academy, plus missions have been pretty hectic lately. Not to mention nightly watches with Bats.
But he wanted to make this day special for her, so how exactly is he going to do that an hour before midnight?
Well he'll figure that out later once Alfred drives him to the nearest grocery store.
During the drive there he constantly cussed himself out under his breath. Zatanna didn't deserve a last minute present. She deserved a million red roses and fine chocolate flown in from Germany.
Not a stupid cheesy card from the Valentine's section in Walgreens.
"We're here Master Grayson, and not a with a moment too soon. The store closes in 10 minutes." Alfred huffed, breaking the silence in the old car.
"Right, thanks. I'll be quick, don't worry." Dick replied as he unbuckled his seatbelt.
"You better be Master Grayson, you have school tomorrow morning, don't you forget."
Dick chuckled under his breath, "Alright Alfred, alright. I'll be back in 5 minutes tops."
It was easier said than done however. Jesus, who knew there could be so many options for Valentine's Day cards? Not to mention candy, stuffed animals, balloons, oh god. Just thinking about all of the different possibilities made Dick's head hurt.
He strutted through the aisle, glancing and scanning through the different cards. Most were combinations of blood red and intoxicatingly bright pink colors. If he thought the card was tacky, obviously she would as well.
However one did catch his eye.
Unlike the other ones, this one was simple and to the point. It had a black background with a small red heart in the center. At the bottom of the card in tiny Times Roman font it read in white letters, "Happy Valentine's Day." Dick opened the card to see if there was anymore written inside. Nope, it was blank. Feeling as if he probably won't find anything better in this damn store, he grabbed an envelope behind the stack of cards and went to the candy aisle to buy a pack of Zatanna's favorite candy. Because honestly, no one can resist a whole bag of Twix bars.
The next morning Dick stood by Zatanna's locker, her present in a red bag gripped tightly in his hand. He made sure to get there right when the school opened its doors, just so he knew he got there first. How awful would it be if he showed up late and got her a crappy present? Wow, what a great boyfriend he was.
He leaned against the metal lockers and slid out his cell phone to check the time. The bell was going to ring in five minutes, where the heck was she? She's usually early to school, Zatanna always said how she liked being prepared and ready in the morning instead of hectically running to her 1st period class. Maybe she was sick? But she seemed fine yesterday when he hung out with her at The Cave. Maybe she got into traffic? Or got in a terrible accident and had to go to the-
"Dick what's in your hand?"
The boy wonder looked up and saw Zatanna, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. She was wearing their school uniform; however how she seemed to pull it off and make it look so gorgeous on her was beyond him. She gripped her backpack straps as she walked over to her locker, which was right where Dick was leaning.
"You're pretty late aren't you?" he began, stepping to the side so she could get to her locker.
Zatanna turned the knob and dialed her combination. "Yeah I know. My alarm didn't go off; M'gaan had to wake me up. I practically ran around the whole cave trying to get ready on time, and to be honest I think I forgot to brush my teeth."
Now taking a good look at her, Dick realized her hair was still in knots and her mascara seemed to have smudged a little onto her eyelids. Smiling, he took his finger and wiped away a bit of eyeliner that travelled to far onto her temple.
"And you still seem to look absolutely perfect."
"Geez, you seem dapper this morning."
"Dapper? Who the hell uses dapper anymore?"
"I do. Got a problem with it chalant boy?" she retorted.
Dick just laughed.
"You still haven't answered my question. What's in the bag?" she nudged her chin, indicating the small red bag dangling from his arm. Zatanna shoved her backpack into the small locker and searched through her locker for her math textbook
With a smirk he held out the present, "Happy Valentine's Day."
Zatanna immediately spun, her eyes wide in shock. Was she so surprised that he got her a present? I mean he was a guy, but he wasn't heartless. Or maybe she thought he forgot and was totally set on the fact that he wasn't going to get her present and now she's just surprised?
"Oh my fucking god." Zatanna groaned, her face falling into the palms of her hand.
"Zatanna what's wrong?" Dick asked worriedly. He took a hold of her chin, hooking his index finger around it and tilted her head upward. Zatanna peered up at him, her face covered with guilt.
"Dick, I totally forgot. Oh my god. How did I forget about Valentine's Day?"
Dick gaped at her, and then snorted, trying to stifle his enjoyment of the situation. Then at the mere sound of his snort, he broke out in a full fit of laughter. It was so uncalled for people started staring at them.
When his laughter slowly turned into more of little chuckles she annoyingly asked why he was laughing.
Honestly, he worried so much about this in bed the other night. He laid awake thinking over what to say and what to do. How he would make it up to her later. Zatanna actually forgetting didn't even cross his mind. I mean, she never mentioned Valentine's Day before, but he thought it was just some mind trick girls do. Like, how they always want their boyfriend to know what they're thinking without actually saying it out loud or some bullshit like that.
Still smiling, he wiped a tear from the corner of his eye, "Just open it."
The magician grabbed the present from Dick's hands; eagerly emptying out the multiple white tissue papers he seemed to carelessly stuff into the bag. Once she saw what was inside a huge grin spread across her face.
"Twix bars? Oh hell yes! This is so going to help me get through Pre Calc. Mr. Galloway is probably going to complain about his failure of a love life all through first period." She ripped open the candy bag and grabbed one of the mini bars. Before she could tear it open and stuff it into her mouth, Dick grabbed it from her hands.
"Not yet, there's one more thing in there."
Curiously, Zatanna opened the bag wider. He was right, there was something in there. She didn't even notice it, the white envelope blended in with the tissue paper and the inner lining of the bag. Zatanna slid it out and carefully tore off the sealing.
Inside was a card, however after pulling it out, she saw something drop to the ground, the shine glinting in the corner of her eye. It was small pendant of a Z on a silver chain. Zatanna stared at it for a few moments – in which Dick slowly started panicking. Did he go to far? It was their first Valentine's Day together and he got her jewelry, but it was just some pendant he found at a corner shop on the way home from Walgreens. Fuck, he should've stuck with just the candy. Or gone traditional and get her a bouquet of flowers-
"Dick you really shouldn't have." Her voice was barely a whisper.
Well there's no stopping now so...
Dick bent down and picked up the necklace from the ground. Carefully, he reached behind her neck, fiddling his fingers so he could hook the two sides together. Clasping the chain, he laid his hands on her narrow shoulders.
"You look beautiful in it." He smirked.
Zatanna smiled, looking down at the new piece of jewelry on her neck. Shaking her head she laughed, "I'm such a terrible girlfriend. I'll make it up to you, I promise."
The taller boy leaned down and kissed her on the top of her nose. "You better. I'm expecting something pretty big next year." She has enough composure to lightly punch his shoulder. Dick grunted, rubbing the soft spot. Sure jokingly, he admitted to himself. But it still hurt like hell.
The warning bell rang. People around them, who had been chatting or hanging out in the halls, sprang into action. They gathered their stuff and started walking different directions to their first period. With a huff, Zatanna lifted the binder and textbook from her locker. Seeing that her hands were filled, Dick slammed the metal door shut for her.
"Would it be too much to ask for you to walk me to Galloway?" she grinned.
Dick lifted the heavy books from her hands and hoisted his own backpack over his broad shoulder. Sure she could carry it herself, probably 20 of those stupid Pre Calc. books if she wanted too. But hey, Dick was a gentleman.
"I would be happy to." He bowed, before lacing his fingers with hers and leading her down the hallway.
Well there you have it. Have a happy Valentine's Day everyone! Feedback and Reviews encouraged (: