I hate this story. It's too long. Its cute, but too long. And it sucks. Its a VERY last minute attempt at a Valentine's Day DerekxAngie fic for a contest I'm entering on DeviantArt.

I'm really not in the mood for criticism on this one, if that's alright with everyone. I know that CutieCat wanted to read a V-day Derek and Angie, so here it is.

I'm going to lose this contest, haha.

Um, hope you enjoy it...?

If there was one thing that Angie had made clear in the years that Derek had known her, it was how much she hated Valentine's Day.

Hated.

Sure, Angie liked to be fussed over just like any other girl – but not on Valentine's Day.

It was the same thing every year while she was growing up – flowers and cards, flowers and cards. Something about having the whole world remind you to do something nice for your loved one seemed a little – unromantic to Angie.

Though when she started dating Derek Stiles who loved celebrating even the most pointless of holidays, she found it surprising that he respected her wishes about the hated day.

Every year he would simply kiss her on the cheek and wish her a happy Valentine's day, promising to spoil her on another day if he couldn't that day.

No flowers, no cards, no surprises – just the way she liked it.

Though sometimes when the ill-fated day would grow close, she would compare Derek to the other men of her past, wondering what it would be like to celebrate the day with him. The others had pulled out every tool at their disposal to try to win Angie's heart, but Derek managed to do it effortlessly just by being his loveable self - which to Angie, was the biggest surprise of all.

Thinking that over as she played with the diamond necklace he had given her for her birthday, Angie sat at her desk reluctant to finish a small stack of paperwork waiting for her as she returned from break.

But just before she could start, that loveable, happy-go-lucky doctor she was so crazy about popped in the doorway and over to her desk, kissing her cheek briefly before he pulled her out of her chair and over to the couch.

"Derek…" she warned gently as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close - so tight that she was comfortable but unable to budge.

"Hmm?" he replied, his face now muffled in her shoulder as he held her close to him.

Angie giggled momentarily, trying to remember what she was saying.

"Derek, I have to get going on this paperwork or I'm going to have to stay late."

Derek pulled away from the hold he had her in and looked her in the face, pointing over his shoulder.

"See that?" he asked her, watching her green eyes scan over to his desk – more notably, the giant stack of paperwork that sat upon it. She giggled at the sight, realizing that the little stack she was fretting over was no match for the mountain that he had to tackle.

"If you have to stay tonight…" he started, chuckling along with her. "You'll have good company."

Angie smiled and brushed a piece of hair out of his face just as he began talking again.

"I'm going to miss you a lot while I'm gone…" he said sadly, eyes boring deep into hers.

She paused. "What do you mean when you're gone – where are you going?"

"Well I just got back from a meeting with Sidney, and he said that Dr. Kimishima broke her leg in three places when she slipped on some ice, and she was supposed to be the representative from Caduceus… which means I'm going to Japan tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?!" Angie exclaimed, eyes popping open wide. "But, that's so soon! And Valentine's Day is on Saturday!"

Derek's eyebrows shot up and a smile slowly trickled onto his face. "Since when do you care about Valentine's Day? You've hated that day since I've known you!"

She grew quiet and shook her head lightly. "Well, uh… I know, how much you like holidays…" she stumbled, trying to save her outburst. "..and even if we don't celebrate it we're usually together anyway."

The surprise dropped straight off of Derek's face, his warm grin staying put. "Yeah, I guess you're right – this is the first time we've been away from each other since we've been together… heck, even since we've known each other!" he mused, gently taking her hand in his. She smiled and leaned her head to the side, resting it comfortably on his shoulder.

"And just so you know – I'll be home Valentine's Day morning… you know, just in case you wanted to celebrate it…"

Angie cocked her head up to look at him during his teasing, trying to hide her smile.

"I do NOT want to celebrate it. And I swear I will avoid you all day Saturday if you think about trying anything funny."

"There's my Angie…" Derek said with a laugh, kissing the top of her head.

----------

"Are you sure the two of you are going to be okay?" Derek asked concernedly, chunks of light brown hair falling in front of his eyes as his head lowered to look at her. He grabbed one of her hands and then the other shortly after, hanging them down in the space between them.

"Tama and I will be just fine – she's used to me by now, remember?" Angie said, recalling when she was once terrified of the cat she had bought Derek. "Are you sure its okay that I just stay at your place while you're gone?"

"Absolutely Ang – just please don't clean it, alright?" he said with a chuckle, looking down at their clasped hands. People walked all around them in the Angeles Bay airport but they didn't care, obviously more focused in on their little moment.

"I'm… going to miss you…" he said, head still focused downward.

"Hey…" she replied, bringing his focus back to her face. "It won't be too long, okay? And that'll just be an excuse to call and email me as much as you possibly can."

Derek half-smirked, pulling their joined hands into his chest, which in turn pulled Angie closer to him. He dipped his head down towards her, exchanging a smile before he closed his eyes and swept her up in a sweet, romantic kiss.

"Flight 1525 to Japan is now boarding. I repeat: Northwest flight 1525 to Japan is now boarding."

Derek began to back away while still facing Angie, who was now doing the puppy-dog pout that could make Derek give her anything she wanted.

"Angieeee…." he whined, dropping his shoulders into a slump. "You know I can't resist that face…!"

Angie immediately began to giggle, her skirt swaying with the generated wind from passing strangers. She blew him a kiss and waved goodbye, and as he went to catch it he backed into a row of chairs and toppled over it backwards and onto the floor.

"Oh gosh…!" Angie exclaimed, heels clicking as she quickly ran over to Derek who was on his feet now, face bright red from embarrassment.

"Are you okay?!" she said, trying her best to hide her laugh.

"Hah… yeah, I think I'm alright – except the entire flight is going to be making fun of me now…" he mused, looking over his shoulder at the line of people waiting to board his plane. "But its okay, because I caught it…"

Derek opened up his clenched fist and slapped the palm that contained Angie's air-kiss onto his cheek, smiling as she began to giggle uncontrollably.

"Well if you made a fool of yourself just for that, I might as well give you a real one…"

Angie pulled him down by the collar, seeing the grin on his face right before she locked lips with him once, then twice, and then finally let him go.

"Call me when you get there safely?" she asked, backing away through the crowd of people.

"I will – leave me a message so I can hear your voice whenever I feel like it?"

Angie smiled. "I will. Only walk forward, okay?"

This was met with a small laugh, but then the sad expression came back, poorly hid by a fake smirk. "I will Ang… I l–"

Derek stopped, realizing how close he'd come to saying something very important.

"I'll, uh… call you every chance I get."

The phrase he had used to replace what he almost said did little to ease the thumping of his heart in his chest.

Angie just nodded to this, now far enough away that a response would have to be yelled. She smiled and waved, her skirt fanning out around her as she twirled around and walked forward out of the airport, but not before sending a small smile over her shoulder once more.

Derek just watched her leave, trying to figure out the jumble of emotions now pulsing through his veins. But as she left his view for good, he found himself just staring despondently at the space she had once filled, now occupied by people he didn't recognize. His thoughts continued to fester until he was pulled out of them by a quirky, somewhat ditzy voice.

"Oh, my God dude…"

Derek turned to his right to see two teenage girls looking at him with wide eyes and sporadic giggles, realizing quickly that they were talking to him.

"I'm sorry, what did you---"

"Why didn't you tell her?" the black haired girl quirked, her friend waiting for Derek's response as well.

"What are you—tell her what?"

They girls exchanged glances and scoffed, looking back towards him again.

"You SO love her…" they said in unison, causing Derek to recoil in surprise.

"What?! I do not lo—"

"Oh it's so obvious…" the brunette pitched in. "You are so in love with her… just admit it."

The line began to move again and the girls and their giggles, lip gloss, and coach purses were pulled away from Derek, eliciting a thankful sigh from the doctor. He had enough to think about without being teased by a bunch of girls… girls who were handing their tickets to the attendant.

And that's when he realized two things:

He was in love with Angie Thompson, and those annoying girls were on his flight.

With an annoyed sigh and slight sadness still in his heart, Derek walked forward and boarded his flight – thankfully the plane ride was long enough that he could get some serious thinking done.

----------

Angie had gone back to sleep after dropping Derek off at the airport, curled up in some old sweats of his on his couch.

The ringing of her cell phone startled her out of her slumber, though when she noticed it was Derek calling she snapped wide awake.

"Hey…" she said sleepily, eliciting a laugh from the other end.

"Sorry to wake you Sleeping Beauty..." he joked, laughing all the while. "I just wanted to tell you thanks for the cute message you left, and that I am safe in Japan."

"Oh, that's good…" Angie said.

"It's ridiculous Angie – Valentine's Day is two days away and already people here are celebrating it... it's like Japan has nothing better to do than rub that my girlfriend is halfway around the world in my face."

Angie laughed. "Yeah, I did hear that was on their agenda… I'm sorry Derek"

She paused slightly.

"You know what? When you get home on Saturday, how about you and I celebrate our first Valentine's Day ever?" she said, trying to control her hatred for the "holiday".

"Angie honey, are you feeling okay?" he joked, laughing. Hearing her scoff, he quickly stopped teasing. "I would love to have our first Valentine's Day celebration with you – that is, if you can control your vomiting when I take you out..."

"If you don't stop making fun of me we're not celebrating anything!" Angie laughed.

"Haha, well you might be surprised... my personal mission is to get you to love this day as much as I do. But listen Ang, I gotta go, I'm already running late and I just got here... so, I'll talk to you later, alright? Go get some more sleep."

Angie could see his face in her mind and hear his smile through the phone which in turn, formed a smile on her lips.

"Okay Derek – call me later?"

"Of course – bye Ang."

Angie hung up the phone and rose from the couch, grabbing her keys and her purse. As she put on her shoes she realized that gathering things to celebrate this stupid holiday was going to take all the strength she had.

----------

Boredom ended up forcing her to clean Derek's apartment, even against his wishes.

Four hours after she started, Angie only had one room left to clean – Derek's bedroom.

She lived closer to Hope and he to Caduceus, which is why Angie never understood why it was that they were always in her apartment instead of his. Now that she thought about it more she realized that she had only been in his bedroom a handful of times, and not for very long at that.

Sitting down on a crisp white down comforter with the setting sun beaming in through the window, Angie watched Tama walk into the room and jump onto Derek's bed and up towards his pillow. As the cat settled comfortably she noticed a frame on the nightstand which she had never remembered seeing before. Crawling up towards the head of the bed to get a closer look a broad smile swept Angie's face when she realized it was a picture of the two of them – their first ever, in Africa. It was taken while they were seated in the back of the Jeep used to scour the island for the GUILT facility – Derek had his arm around her, trying to settle her down from the motion sickness and fatigue which were wreaking havoc on her body. Though when the aide had turned around with a camera they both smiled, and it turned out to be the cutest picture they had taken to date.

Lying sprawled out across Derek's bed on her stomach with the picture in her hands Angie suddenly felt a sneeze coming on, and as it came out the force caused her to drop the picture frame onto the ground, causing an instant wince when she heard it crack upon hitting the floor. Biting her lip she looked over the side, noticing that the picture and backing had been knocked off the frame, but thankfully that everything was intact.

Reaching down she picked up the pieces of the frame and sat up ready to put them back together when something caught her eye. There was wording on the back of the picture – something she had never noticed before, and as she read it, she realized why… the handwriting belonged to Derek.


"I'm going to marry this girl..."

Though shock was her first response Angie couldn't help but let a smile of epic proportions sweep onto her face, her heart beating tenderly. She giggled like crazy reading it over and over, unable to believe how cute Derek was...

Her smile quickly turned into a frown as she realized that Derek was not here to explain this, though a second thought told Angie it was better that this was kept a secret. She couldn't help loving it though – it was so cute, and damn did she love him…

Angie paused. Did she really just think that?

The blonde turned toward Tama who was already watching her curiously.

"I… love him." she admitted out loud, analyzing the statement before she finally found it to be true.

The ringing of her cell phone snapped her out of her train of thought, and she dashed into the kitchen and picked it up, noticing that the call was coming from Derek.

"Hey you…" she said with a smile, heart still hammering away in her chest. "Only a few more hours!"

"Yeah, about that..." Derek said, his voice dripping with exhaustion and sadness.

"What do you mean?" she asked, hoping that this wasn't going to be bad news.

"We had an emergency patient come in and since everyone else is with their loved ones for Valentine's Day I had to stay and operate – I missed my flight Ang..."

Angie's heart sank as she slowly sat down in a chair in his kitchen. "So, you're not going to be home for our first Valentine's Day?"

"I'm afraid not – and apparently there's a huge storm front coming this way, so they keep telling me I'm going to be stuck here until early next week..."

"Next week?! Dereeek…!" Angie whined, feeling suddenly quite lonely again.

"I know, I know – I feel the same way... I was so excited to come home and see you." he said, his tone reflecting slight irritation. "But there's nothing I can do. I called the airport and there are no more flights out tonight, and the earliest ones tomorrow are already completely booked. I'm so sorry... I know you must've done a lot of work for our day tomorrow."

Angie turned towards the kitchen, looking at the monstrosity of baked goods and decorations.

"…No, I actually really haven't done anything yet…" she lied.

"Why are you lying?"

If there was one thing he was good at, it was catching her lies.

"Okay, I did some stuff, but not that much…"

"I'm so sorry Angie... I'll make it up to you, I promise."

"You're sorry? I'm sorry! You're stuck in Japan all by yourself…"

"Yeah, it stinks – I really miss you."

"I miss you too Derek… and so does Tama." she said, hearing Derek gently chuckle.

"Okay, well I'll keep you updated as soon as I figure out what's going on – until then, I'm going to go get some sleep."

"Okay…" Angie replied disappointedly. "Get a good night's rest – you're going to need it for the flight home you're going to get tomorrow."

Derek chuckled on the other line. "Let's hope Angie, let's hope... goodnight sweetheart"

"Goodnight Derek…"

Angie hung up the phone more depressed than ever – it was only the late afternoon, and Derek's flight was supposed to have gotten in at 11 a.m. tomorrow.

She looked around his apartment, realizing that she was out of things to do. The only thing left was to drown her sorrows in food.

With a giant sigh, Angie picked up the phone and dialed the number of her favorite Mexican restaurant.

The verdict was in – Valentine's Day screwed her over yet again.

----------

The thought of not getting to see him for days longer made Angie upset, and thus, she ended up in his bed, trying to take in as much of him as she possibly could. Staring at the picture of them at the frame as she laid still full of enchiladas with Tama, she was startled as her phone rang. Hoping for good news, she answered.

"Hello?"

"Don't hate me, okay?"

"That's never a good start to a conversation, Derek…"

"Okay, well I checked every flight out of this airport – even ones that connect like 10 times, but there's nothing before that big storm – I'm stuck here... I'm so sorry."

Angie tried to hide her disappointment, realizing that it wasn't working so well.

"Oh… it's, okay Derek…"

"No it's not – you finally decide to celebrate one of my favorite holidays and I totally ruin it..."

"You didn't ruin it!" she exclaimed. "And I never cared about the stupid day – I just really miss you and want to spend time together."

"I know Ang... I'm going to get going back to my hotel though – I know it's early but I'm way tired."

"Okay – get some good sleep… alright?"

"I will... goodnight."

"Goodnight, Derek."

As Derek flipped his phone shut and closed himself inside his rental car a sad feeling grew into his chest. Corny as it sounded he was excited to get home and tell Angie that he loved her – and now it would be waiting for God knows how long…

With a small smirk he flipped back open the phone and dialed Tyler.

"Hey man, I need you to look up a number for something please…"

----------

After a late night of stuffing her face with more enchiladas and watching movies all alone, she woke up remembering it was Valentine's Day, and decided immediately to go back to sleep.

Hours later when her body wouldn't let her stay unconscious any longer, Angie woke up and reached for her phone, calling Derek. She knew it would be late in Japan, but he would pick up the phone no matter what time of the night it was.

"Hello, you've reached the voicemail of Dr. Derek Stiles..."

Angie furrowed her forehead at this. He must either be back at Caduceus or in a coma. She left him a quick message and hung up, crawling out of his bed carefully as not to smush Tama, who had been at her side all night.

A workout, shower, and a few hours of shopping later Angie returned to Derek's apartment and plopped down tiredly on the couch, clicking on the TV to cure her loneliness.

"Oh, come on…" she muttered as every channel she flipped across was something else related to couples in love on Valentine's day. "There's got to be something on for those of us who don't get to spend this stupid day with the person we love…"

And just then, Angie found it. Infomercials.

"If you dump red wine on the carpet, OxyClean will get it right up…!"

"Okay, nevermind." she said, shutting off the TV and returning to the previous lull of silence.

With Tama in her lap, Angie looked around for something to do, quickly realizing that she couldn't wait to go back to work tomorrow – a thought that saddened her slightly.

Breaking her train of thought was a knock at the door, one that confused her slightly. Angie set Tama down on the couch and walked over, seeing a man she didn't recognize through the peephole. With caution, she swung open the door and the man smiled broadly at her.

"Are you Angie?" he asked, to which the blonde nodded. He then bent over just next to the door and lifted a vase of two dozen pink roses into his arms – Angie's favorite.

"These are for you – Happy Valentine's Day!" he said with a smile, handing her over a card as well.

"Thank you…" she said softly, unable to fight the giant smile that sprang onto her face immediately. She stood in the doorway and smelled them, watching the man walk forward and around the corner out of sight before she walked back inside.

Closing the door with her foot, Angie set the beautiful bouquet down on the table and admired it with a smile.

Attention then turned to the card accompanying the bouquet. She tore open the envelope and opened the card, seeing a considerable amount of handwriting. Unlike other men that had sent her a card and flowers not only did Derek take the time to write her something instead of just signing his name, he had actually remembered her favorite flower. She smiled thinking of this as she read the message.

"I'm so sorry I couldn't be home with you today – at the point I'm writing this I've tried nearly everything I can think of to get home but it's just not going to happen. Please know though that I've been missing every second since you left the airport.

I can't wait to see you – there's something important we need to talk about.

Happy Valentine's Day, beautiful.

-Derek

The previous smile and happy tears Angie had faded slightly, wondering what 'important thing' he could possibly be talking about. Deciding not to let it get to her she instead reached for her phone, hoping that he would pick up this time, for she hadn't talked to him all day.

"Mm... hello?"

Angie smiled as she got him on the first ring, sounding more tired than ever.

"Hey sleepy… where have you been all day?"

Angie heard Derek take in a big breath and shuffle around, sounding like he was rolling over.

"I had to go back to Caduceus to check on that patient and then I've been sleeping – I'm so exhausted."

"Well I won't keep you long…" she said, twirling a strand of her hair around her finger. "But I just wanted to call and say thank you for my flowers – they're absolutely beautiful."

"You're very welcome – but you mean to tell me you actually enjoyed a Valentine's Day present?"

"Oh, shut up…" she retaliated with a giggle. "And yes, I loved it – I've had a smile on my face ever since they got here."

"I know you did – let me tell you, that smile was worth flying all night to see."

Angie's heart flew up into her throat, her eyes widening.

She said nothing as she rose from her seat and walked slowly over to the front door – this had to be a trick.

But upon opening the front door to Derek's apartment and seeing him leaning with an exhausted smile against the wall of the hallway in front of her on his cell phone, bags all around him, Angie's hand flew up over her mouth in surprise, seemingly frozen in her place.

"Hey." he said as he clicked his phone shut, watching as the smile on her face grew to epic proportions.

Derek dropped his bags as she ran towards him and jumped into his arms with a fit of happy giggles, nearly squeezing the life out of him.

"How…? Why…?" she stuttered out, surprise still getting the better of her.

"Well, I tried every carrier at the airport and everything was completely booked… so I took a train a couple hours away to the next airport and got a red-eye out last night. Cost me a pretty penny too."

"You did all that just to see me?"

Derek smiled. "Well that, and to tell you something important."

Angie looked at him inquisitively.

"Ang..." he started, pulling her closer to him. "I did a lot of thinking in Japan, and realized something while we were apart."

Angie grew nervous, looking into his serious eyes.

"And what's that, Derek?"

Placing a hand gently on her cheek and pulling her towards him he kissed her softly. He then pulled her back, their faces so close their noses were gently touching. With a deep breath and a warm smile, he looked into her eyes.

"I love you…" he said, voice barely above a whisper.

Angie felt her legs turn to mush, heart hammering away in her chest. She searched his eyes for a brief moment, trying to figure out if he was serious, but the warm stare he sent back her way told her everything she needed to know. It was weirdly coincidental that they had both realized the same thing during their time apart.

"I love you too…" she said with a giant smile and a giggle, feeling herself be swept into his arms. They stood in that position momentarily before sharing another kiss, both still smiling uncontrollably.

"I told you that was worth flying all night for…" he said, resting his forehead against hers.

Angie checked the clock out of the corner of her eye. "Well, there's still three more hours left to Valentine's Day – what would you like to do?"

"Take you to bed with me…" he said with a mischievous grin, watching as the smile dropped straight off of Angie's face.

"Derek! Absolutely not!" she exclaimed, watching as he began to laugh at her.

"To sleep, Angie… to sleep. I'm exhausted, remember?"

Angie smiled. "Oh… well, sounds good to me then."

Derek left his bags at the front door, instead scooping Angie up in his arms and carrying her back to his bedroom.

"Hey Ang…?" Derek asked sleepily as they curled up in bed together.

"Hmm?"

"Happy Valentine's Day…" he said with a sleepy smile, reaching for her hand. "I love you."

Angie returned his smile and planted a kiss on his forehead.

"Happy Valentine's Day… and I love you too."

They shared a kiss goodnight and got comfortable next to one another, both completely content.

Watching him fall asleep curled up next to her as she lovingly stroked his hair, Angie couldn't help but admit to herself that Valentine's Day wasn't as bad as she thought.

(cue vomit)

Anyway, sorry this is a 2 day late V-day fic... I had a deep tissue massage yesterday and it felt so good I came home fell asleep and stayed that way all night :D

See you next time!