A/N: With the Valentine's Day approaching, I just couldn't stop myself from writing something fluffy about Jack and Sue. My initial plan was a short one-shot, but it all evolved into a little bit longer two-shot, yet i don't think anyone is going to complain ;) This is the first part, I'll publish the second one on the 14th :) Hope you're going to enjoy :)


Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped upon hearing her friend's news. She was staring at her flatmate in disbelief, wondering if she has just heard a right thing. Yet, the expression on the blonde-haired woman's face was telling her, that she was as serious as only possible. The moment this realisation dawned on her, a very loud, high-pitched squeak left her mouth.

"Oh my God, you're having a date with Jack on the Valentine's Day!" she screamed and before Sue was able to say anything, she found herself trapped in her friend's very tight embrace.

Just like she suspected, Lucy immediately started to plan all the things they needed to do in between getting excited about the fact that Jack Hudson finally took his head out of the sand and asked her out. She was waiting for this day to come ever since Sue announced she decided to turn down the big opportunity in New York and stay with those she cared for. It wasn't like Lucy wasn't aware that a certain dark-haired special agent played a pretty big role in this decision.

It's been a long time since Sue decided to stop pretending that her feelings for Jack Hudson were the kind one had for a friend. She allowed herself to admit it, first to herself and then to her best friend, what was pretty obvious for the whole world. Just a look of those wonderful, expressive brown eyes was able to make her forget about the whole world around her. His smile could brighten her whole day no matter how bad it was and his closeness made her heart beat so quickly that it felt like it wanted to jump out of her chest. It was him, who could chase all her worries away just sitting next to her and holding her hand, or make her feel completely safe just holding her in his arms. There was absolutely no denying that; she was head over heels in love with him.

She also couldn't negate that making up her mind to stay, she didn't hope for something to happen between them. The wistful looks he was sending in her direction whenever they were in the bullpen, which she was very aware of but pretended to ignore, how heartbroken he looked like when she announced she got a promotion, the expression present in his eyes while telling her how much he was going to miss her, before finding out she wasn't going anywhere; it all raised her hopes really high, only so they could get shattered into pieces. It's been almost ten months since she made this decision and things between them were exactly in the same place as back then. It was becoming clear to her – she was never going to find her happiness with him, or any other man for that matter, since her heart was entirely in the possession of one, who didn't want it.

She was usually completely indifferent to the Valentine's Day. She didn't have any reason to either like or dislike it. Her father was pretty much the only man, who has ever bought her gifs for that holiday. Of course, there was also a heart-shaped box of her favourite chocolates waiting on her desk every year, which always brought a smile to her face. There was no letter, nothing what could indicate, who it came from but the way he was 'secretly' glancing in her direction to see her reaction was sending a very clear message, that it was from Jack. And even though Lucy insisted it was his way of showing how important she was to him, Sue didn't try to find any deep reason for it. It wasn't as if she didn't place a neatly wrapped box on his own desk during lunch break, with a small bottle of his – and hers, too – favourite cologne. This year, however, the whole atmosphere was making her feel depressed. It felt like all the blissfully happy couples have gone out and wherever she went, she was bumping into them. How much she wished they could be one of them! And yet, it wasn't going to happen.

At some point in the past, she would have been as excited as Lucy about getting the invitation to spend the day with him, but she wasn't sure she wanted to do that. She was pretty sure it was going to leave her even more heartbroken than she was. She also couldn't understand why he actually asked her for that and the more she was thinking about it, the more convinced she was getting that most probably, he wasn't even aware it was the Valentine's Day they were talking about. Still, she found herself accepting his offer; a part of her absolutely hated it, but she seemed completely unable to say no to him.

"You look like he invited you to attend a funeral! Cheer up, girl! He's going to fall to your feet, we're going to make sure of that!"

"Stop it, Luce, please. You know as well as I do it's not going to happen."

"I wouldn't be so sure about it! Something tells me he finally decided to take matter into his hands and make both of you happy!"

She definitely wasn't pleased, when all she got in response was just a heavy sigh, indicating that Sue decided there was no sense in carrying on this conversation, but not because Lucy managed to convince her. She couldn't tell her that she was absolutely certain Jack planned something really big, because she once caught him making reservations at one of the most popular restaurants in the city and accidentally noticed two tickets to the theatre for a performance, which was to be both signed and spoken, the very same one she knew Sue really wanted to go to, but couldn't get the tickets as they were all sold out within the first day of appearing on the market. She was pretty sure Jack had to pull more than a few strings, and most probably make a couple of promises. They were what made her absolutely certain, that it was Sue, who he had in mind while making all those plans. It was until Sue told her he did ask her to spend this time with him, that Lucy knew he didn't chicken out. Quite the contrary; for her he seemed quite determined and she wished her friend could see that as well.

Sue wasn't very eager to, but she managed to almost drag her to the mall, so they could find a perfect dress for her for the special evening. There was no way Lucy was going to allow her to take any chances; she was going to make sure Sue was going to knock Jack off his feet the moment he saw her and he wasn't going to be able to take his eyes off her for the entire time they were to spend together. It was the least she could do, the rest was up to the two and she could only hope that Sparky wasn't going to feel like being a coward and ruin everything.

Little did she know that Jack was actually facing difficulties to wait until the fourteenth. The thought that Sue was the one he wanted to spend his life with appeared in his mind around the time of their pretended marriage. It was when he got to see what it was like living with her, what it could be if they were closer and a part of him knew that it was exactly what he was looking for. And yet, it was only now that he allowed himself to admit that the perfect woman for him was right in front of him and by finding out all the reasons why they shouldn't or couldn't be together, he was just wasting precious time. If he told her how he felt the first time he realised that she wasn't just a special friend for him, that his feeling exceeded friendly ones, they could be married for some time, maybe even have a child or at least be working on one. Perhaps he was going to make a fool of himself, but there was absolutely nothing what could stop him from telling her how he felt and he only needed to somehow get to the Valentine's Day. It was much more difficult than it seemed; he felt almost desperate and every time their gazes met or she sent him this beautiful smile of hers after catching him staring at her, he had to fight the desire to pull her to one of the rooms and make it clear to her then and there.

"Jack! Come to my office for a moment, please." Dimitrius' voice got him out of his thoughts, when he was just about to enter the bullpen on the next morning. "I wanted to make sure you remember about the annual FBI conference. It's held in Los Angeles this year, you'll have a little rest from all the snow and cold."

Hudson's eyes widened, when he realised what his supervisor was talking about. He had no idea which of his feelings were stronger – a shock, because he completely forgot about it, or a very quickly growing anger.

"You're joking, right?" he asked, trying his best to control his emotions, but his eyes and voice showing them very well.

D. looked at the younger man, dumbfounded. He could feel the anger in his words but not understand it. It has always been Jack going to those conferences for as long as Gans was working with him, what meant quite a few years now. So to say that Dimitrius was surprised by his reaction was slightly an understatement.

"Excuse me..?" he asked with a questioning look in his eyes and Jack snorted.

"Don't act like you have no idea about anything going around! The whole floor is talking only about the fact that I asked Sue to spend the Valentine's Day with me, about all the people I owe now just because I wanted to make it perfect! You were always the one knowing those kind of things, repeating that it was normal because walls have ears here, and now you suddenly go acting like you are oblivious to everything around?!"

"You invited Sue for a date?" he asked, staring at him in disbelief.

Working along the two for almost three years and now being the unit's supervisor, he was very aware of the bond they shared. Just like everyone in the team, he hoped that one day they were going to stop pretending they're just friends and take the one, small step they needed to take to bring the true happiness to each other. Yet, it didn't seem like they were anywhere close to that; it was pretty obvious for him Sue wasn't going to make the first move, and Jack wasn't exactly hurrying to do it, clearly because of the FBI rules as the way he was around Sue didn't leave any doubts he was very aware of his own feelings towards her.

"Yes, I did. I actually wanted to come to you later today to mention to you, that I would like to transfer to another team."

"Today?"

"Yeah. I have to answer, no matter the way it goes. We can't date and work together, and I won't be able to work with her if she doesn't share my feelings. Either way, I need a transfer."

"Right, I understand, but I'm afraid you have to go to this conference. The director believes you are representing our Counterterrorism Division very well and placed you on the list this year, too. I don't think I'll be able to convince him to send someone else, I may be forced to make you go."

"You are not going to do this to me, D. You will not ruin it for me." were the last words Jack said, before turning around and walking out of the room, slamming the door shut.

All his colleagues from the team, with the exception of Sue, heard the conversation – or at least his part, as lowering his voice was the last thing on his mind – and exchanged knowing glances. It really seemed Sparky was very serious about it and they couldn't wait to see, how it was all going to turn out.