Started 3/21/08 after thinking of Valentine's Day and how there aren't many Danny fics on here. Came up with this idea after reading Did I mention I love you?, so the idea is The-New-Nightingale's. I only slightly copied, though if I get lots of complaints, I'll take it down. The fic itself is mine, as is Alexis the OC. I didn't incorporate all the same things TNN did, though some of it is teh same. But don't the best authors get inspiration from others? But like I said, enough complaints and I'll take it down and try writing something else about Danny. =D

WAY late for Valentine's Day, but consider it a slightly-late Easter present. :D

Glancing at the calendar as he rolled out of bed, Danny O'Farrell groaned.

Great, the day I've been waiting for, he thought sarcastically, pulling a shirt over his head. Let's hope Vallejo's not cranky this morning…Nah, he's probably found a Valentine. I'm probably the only one stuck without one.

Making his way to the kitchen, Danny's spirits lifted as he inhaled the welcoming scent of his mother's pancakes, but his smile faded when he entered the kitchen to find a plate of heart-shaped cakes in front of his chair.

"Morning, Daniel," his mother smiled, setting a tin of strawberries and a container of whipped cream on the table. "Happy Valentine's Day. Got any big plans?"

"No…" Danny replied, unsure what to make of his mother's grin.

"Hm. Well, maybe that'll change."

Mrs. O'Farrell gestured to his chair. "Sit. Eat. You're hungry, right?"

Not bothering to answer the rhetorical question, Danny walked to his chair, startled to find a yellow rose on the seat cushion.

Picking it up gently, he inquired, "Uh, Mom? Is this from you?"

"Nope. And your father wouldn't buy you a rose, I'm afraid. It seems you have a secret admirer."

Danny was silent as he sat down and began eating, didn't speak when he placed his dishes in the sink and went to brush his teeth. He didn't respond when his mother handed him a bag lunch and told him to "Have a good day at school." He didn't speak, in fact, until after he had walked toward his desk in Safety Patrol HQ and noticed a second rose sitting in a vase, along with a rose that looked to be made of chocolate taped to the vase.

Too stunned to eat the chocolate, Danny placed the first rose, which he hadn't let go of since finding it, in the vase next to the second, a strange shade of red.

Then, he asked aloud, "Okay, who's trying to confuse me?"

No one replied, and Danny realized he was the only one in the room. Shrugging, he sank into his chair and tried to sort through which of X High's girls might actually like him.

Answer?

None of them. They all thought of him as immature, and none of them would ever consider him a boyfriend.

Besides, half the girls at school already had boyfriends.

"Hey, O'Farrell."

Fillmore's voice cut into Danny's thoughts and he looked up to find the older Patroller grinning. "You send those to yourself, Danny, or do you have a secret admirer?"

"They're not from me or my parents…"

Fillmore nodded. "Somebody likes you. Any ideas who?"

"Nope."

"Well, keep your eyes open. Anybody who likes you enough to send you two roses and chocolate is somebody worth finding."

As Fillmore sat down at his own desk, Danny turned to him to ask, "So, Fillmore. What're you giving Ingrid for Valentine's Day?"

--DO--

As the day progressed, Danny received more roses; so many that he had to ask the janitor for another vase.

Still not sure who knew his schedule well enough to leave him at least one rose in every class so far, Danny wracked his brain as he walked to his last class. Stepping into the Math room, he ran into Alexis Grande, knocking her books from her hands.

"Sorry!" they both apologized in unison, and Danny smiled.

"It's not your fault—I wasn't watching where I was going."

Kneeling, he picked up the shy girl's books, handing them back and noticing her blush as she stammered, "Thanks. I'd better get to class."

Before Danny would reply, Alexis was practically jogging away from him, down the hall to her final class.

Shrugging, Danny walked over to his desk, once more discovering a rose placed carefully on his chair.

For the rest of the class period, he could hardly focus, and when the final bell rang he raced through the halls back to HQ, dropping the rose in a vase and pulling up short on his way to Vallejo's office when he noticed an envelope with his name on it taped to his chair.

His hands shaking slightly, Danny peeled open the envelope and unfolded the note inside:

Still wondering who I am?
Meet me in the library at three o'clock.

A look at the clock told him he had ten minutes, and he spent seven pacing the floor of Vallejo's office, explaining the situation and receiving a groan from the older boy.

"O'Farrell, just go. Find out who this admirer is—and stop fidgeting."

With a sigh, Danny obliged and headed to the library, arriving right at three. Surprisingly, the giant room was empty, and he spent two seconds figuring out why.

Not sure where to look for his admirer, he stood near the librarian's desk until a familiar voice met his ears.

"You showed up."

Spinning toward the voice, Danny's eyes widened.

"Ingrid?!" he choked. "You're my admirer? But…but…"

"Calm down, O'Farrell. I'm not your secret admirer. I was just helping her," Ingrid assure him with a smile.

"Oh." Danny blushed. "Sorry. So…who is 'her'?"

"It's 'she,' Danny…" another familiar voice corrected gently, and Danny's blush deepened when his secret admirer stepped out from behind a bookshelf, her face pink as well.

"A…Alexis? But you ran away from me earlier…"

"Because I didn't want you to find out who was leaving you the roses. I have Math right before you, so I found out which desk was yours and stayed after class to leave it for you."

"But the first rose…at my house…"

"That was me," Ingrid said with a grin. "Your mom thought I was dropping off your homework, and she was so busy making pancakes that she must not have noticed the rose right away."

"I think she thought you left it, then…"

"I did," Ingrid laughed. "But I get what you mean."

"But why leave so many roses?" Danny asked, looking at Alexis.

"One for every year I've known you. Since preschool 'til now."

"But there's an extra…this is eleventh grade, and I have twelve roses…"

Alexis's face was rapidly turning red.

"The last one is pink..."

Danny had learned enough about roses the past two days to know what that meant. "You…admire me…?"

Alexis's face was pink, and she was staring at the floor, clearly embarrassed.

Danny stepped closer to her, smiling and tilting her head upward.

"Well, that's good, because I admire you, too."

Alexis blinked at him. "Really?"

"Sure. You're smart, you respect others, you're polite…" He hesitated before continuing, "You're cute…"

"Cute?" Alexis stammered, her face turning a darker shade of pink.

"Yep," Danny laughed, knowing his face was pink, too. "Sooo… Do you like cameras?"

Alexis's head snapped upward, her eyes shining. "Photography? I love photography!"

"Well, maybe we can talk photography sometime…" He laughed nervously. "Got plans for tonight?"

"Not really…" Alexis smiled.

"Well then," Danny declared, offering her his arm. "Shall we?"

"Let's," Alexis said on a giggle, taking his arm and exiting the library with a smile that made her eyes twinkle.

Danny, too, was smiling widely as they left X High, positive that this Valentine's Day was the best one yet.

Silly ending, and prolly strange fic, but it's what my brain came up with.

So, Vallejo finding a Valentine was completely random…and Alexis was just some random girl I based just a tiny bit off myself…

Almost 1200 words, so semi-patterned. =D