Title: Be My Valentine At The Nine-Nine
Author: WriterGirl89
Fandom: Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Rating: T (for now)
POV: Third-Person
Pairing: Jake/Amy
Summary: Valentine's Day is on the horizon and Amy Santiago - still single and willing to waste the holiday away with extra work - is put in a different mindset when she starts to realize that she is being romantically persued by her partner. *wink wink*
Author's Note: Okay, so, yeah, I came up with this last night, guys. I was starting to fall asleep after tumblring my new favorite OTP because I was bored and being a freelance writer does not a serious life make, know what I'm saying? Anyway, I just thought that since with this month comes the worst holiday of my existence, I would, for once make something positive out of it and get to writin' this piece that could go either way, if you ask me. Which, you probably won't because I'm my worst critic, so don't do that. Anyhow, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I covet a few Lonely Island songs. Does that count for anything?
….
It all starts on a Tuesday. Which is also February the 4th.
Amy could admit she doesn't like February very much because it consists of Valentine's Day which , in the past, has been simultaneously the worst and best holiday of her life and yeah, she knows it both ways because when she's had a boyfriend, you see, she's fine and depending on the guy, she more or less gets to enjoy herself with dinner for two and chocolate and candles and good sex and loving life because she's not alone on the most inconvenient day to be as such.
(Except, for, you know, that one day she actually got dumped on Valentine's Day, which was just a boatload of fun… and tears.)
On the other hand, though, and for most of her adult life, when she's been single and has had to endure every bit of propaganda concerning love and happiness and stupid couples cuddling in the park, that's when the cynic comes out and she's grumpy and mean to others and curses all of her exes – good and bad – for causing her to be alone and ordering herself some take-out, vegging on her own couch, and dreading those phonecalls from the friends and family that do have someone and aren't cursing the earth and every non-single person on it.
This year is sure to one of the latter, of that she's certain, because she's single and if she's being honest – and she tries very hard not to be- there hasn't been anyone steady since before she entered the Academy and she's okay with that, honestly, and is pretty positive she'll have to beg Holt for extra work on Said-Holiday-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named and she walks into her precinct, as breezily as she can and braces herself for the distraction of paperwork and chasing perps.
Then, she sees the flowers.
A large, over stuffed, bouquet of multi-colored roses.
For moment, she thinks she's hallucinating and stops before her desk where the lush bouquet lay keeping her files and messages company and looks around, as if to see if anyone misplaced this quite large, set-up of flowers.
She gets nothing because no one's even noticing her and there's no clue has to how this got here.
When she realizes that there's a good chance there is no misunderstanding and the flowers may actually be for her, she settles into her desk, grabbing the assorted roses and trying her very best to seem dispassionate as she sees that they're a mix of pink, red, and a kind of swirly pale yellow.
It's an odd combination but, even she has to admit they're beautiful and she sighs again when she sees a small card hanging on the side and reaches for it, almost certain that this could very well be another old, early prank courtesy of one of her brothers, making fun of her single status and saying something like, happy lonely heart's day, loser! followed by a stupid winky face because it's happened before and she prepares herself for that, for the disappointment that's sure to hang over her after.
That's not what happens.
The small card simply says: Enjoy the flowers! I know you like tea roses. :)
OK, so, not a prank. She surmizes to herself, bringing the bouquet closer for a sniff. Or...? She again braces herself for something. A sprinkle of water or something awful to come out of those roses-
-Only to breathe in the best, nicest, most gorgeous fragrance she's ever smelled and then letting out a pleased exhale at the scent that sends her mind to an immediate happy place.
She soon has to shake herself out of it because she still has work and also, there's still the mystery of who in the blue hell sent her the roses.
This big, beautiful, thoughtful, fragrant, and utterly romantic bouquet of roses.
Mmm. She thinks, trying to do the math in her head. Whoever sent her these flowers knows her enough to know that she likes tea roses and not the usual, generic type of things people normally sent and put a lot of thought into this gesture and even the card itself speaks of somebody who abhors any clichéd messages or writing and probably knows that she thinks the very same way.
Whatever. She could be wrong and this could just be someone being nice and trying to give her a good start to the day, despite the month it happens to be in.
Or maybe because of it.
She forces herself not to read anything more into it and asks Gina for a large mug of water so, that she could put the flowers in it.
Some time passes and she actually almost forgets about the new addition to her desk, only being reminded of it as more and more people pass her by and compliment them and try as she might, through every reaction, Amy still can't tell if anyone in the precinct sent them to her and before she even realizes the missing link she hasn't thought about, he's actually arriving to work, a belligerent perp struggling in his grip before handing him off to an officer to put in holding.
Ah. Here it comes. She doesn't want the jokes and cracks sure to come her way from Peralta but, braces herself, nonetheless, for them as she casually strokes the soft petals of her roses.
And again, like most things this morning, nothing she expects happens.
No jokes. No cracks at her expense. Nothing. Her partner simply greets a few of their co-workers on the way over and nods in her direction, gives her a short greeting of Santiago, and slides right into his chair.
He doesn't even give the flowers a passing glance.
And that, in itself, makes her worry.
"Soo..." She starts probing after a while because seriously, it's Jake. He has something to say. He has to have something to say. He always has something to say. "...I got flowers this morning..." She trails off as she looks at him expectedly.
He just continues doing whatever it is he's working on at his desk and says. "I see that." His tone of voice betraying nothing.
No, he doesn't because again, he spares no glance at her or the roses and she stifles the urge to slam her hand down on his desk to get his eyes to move because this is getting ridiculous. "They're very nice..." She says with an exaggerated wistful tone in her voice, leaning forward a little. "Really pretty and... soo romantic..."
That does something. It's just a slight change to his facial expression but, she knows that jaw twitch anywhere.
"Aha!" She says a little too loudly and lowers her voice when a few people look in her direction, leaning further into Peralta's space as his head turn to her calmly. "I knew you had something to say. You always do." She says lowly, standing and sitting on his desk, peering into his weirdly stoic face as she points an accusing finger at him. "So, spill it, Peralta. Wanna make a joke at me sending them to myself? Having a secret lover? Come on, spill." Her whisper turns urgent as she gets right in his face and sees something, something brief and unknowable, flash in his eyes and she knows there's something, anything, he's not telling her-
"I got nothing, Amy." He responds, again not giving anything away, and she fights the flip-flop of her stomach at the use of her name as he leans up defiantly, his voice as low as hers. "Not this time."
And then, she has to ask.
"Why not?"
They're almost nose to nose when he answer, sharing her breathing space and locking her into his dark gaze, the stoicism falling and his lips turning up at the corners. "Because I got 'em for you."
They're breathing heavily now and she's almost positive her whole body stops working as - through the roaring in her own ears - she process this new information and with a severe kick to her heart, realizes what he just said.
"Huh?" Is basically the best response to come out of her at this time, the revelation catching her off balance.
He simply nods. "Yeah." He's the most serious she's ever seen him and her breath catches as she struggles with his confession.
She automatically gets up from her perch on his desk and goes back to hers, sagging into her chair, her face falling into her hands.
"Are you okay?"
She waves a hand to him, the other shakily running through her hair as she looks at him again. "I just can't believe-"
"Believe it."
She looks at him in a way she is sure is close to incredulous. "You sent me roses." Her voice raises a titch and she looks around her to see if anyone's looking before she means forward like before. "You sent me tea roses. My favorite flowers. Why would you do that? Are you joking with me? Playing a prank?" Then, her heart slams and she brings up another kind of conclusion. The kind of conclusion she would normally be afraid to bring up. "It was romantic." She hears herself whispering with mixed emotions as she starts voicing her thoughts out loud."It was romantic and sweet and thoughtful-"
"That's real nice to hear." He interrupts nonchalantly, twiddling a pencil between his fingers. "Because I kinda meant it that way."
She looks at him, shaking her head, every bit of surprise running through her system. "Jake I-"
"Peralta, get in here!"
They turn to Holt's voice in his office and Jake gives her a quick look before he gets up and leaves their shared desk and she's left to watch him walk away, letting out a puff of breath she hadn't known she was holding, looking over at the tea roses being replenished in the large water mug, her fingers instinctively reaching to touch the satiny petals of red and swirly yellow, and her stomach ping-ponging as she thinks but one thing.
Uh-oh.
...
A/N: Really hoped you liked this 'cause I'm still not sure. Just the idea of Jake wooing the lovely Amy with her actual knowledge, confused as it may be, was just too good to pass up. This will be a multi-chap, I just don't know long. Probably just a few chapters. Who knows? I might change my mind.
Thanks so much for reading!