Author Note: I apologise for how sickeningly sweet this is! I don't even like Valentine's Day but did need a Ric/Serena boost; this is for Louise for being my fellow Rena cheerleader, and Sarah and Katie who need the optimism of fluff. Happy belated day of romance, reviews always welcomed.
Serena walked in to the office she once had shared with Ric and as usual realised she missed working much with him - which was odd after openingly being in a personal relationship for eight months but they had leaned to deal with it - still dressed in her pink scrubs and she leaned against the edge of the other desk facing him. "Thank you for the present."
"What present?" He asked, glancing over the rims of his glasses as he piled up his paperwork and stood up to join her.
"Ric, I have ten minutes until I have to be in surgery." She said, bored already of his denial when he shrugged his shoulders.
Crossing her arms over her chest she continued, "So you know absolutely nothing of a silver necklace left in these pockets?"
"Nope, never heard of it, someone must like you a lot though."
"Okay, I'll go and ask around, I might even give Edward a quick call." Serena muttered with a sly smirk before turning away.
"Oh no you don't." He said, pulling her back by the wrist and pressing his lips against hers while brushing his thumb down the side of her face.
"Are you admitting to it now? That you broke our pact not to buy presents for Valentine's Day?"
"I am doing nothing of the sort. Even if I were to have bought my girlfriend a piece of jewellery it would have only been because she has worked so many hours this month that I may have missed her a little. And if it was a Valentine's gift, you are not supposed to interrogate unsuspecting men in their office until one confesses out of fear."
"You aren't afraid of me," she muttered as her hands travelled round the back of his neck and pulled him down to share a quick kiss. They hadn't spent any time together outside of lunch breaks and the hospital wards for almost a week - even this office which she spent a lot of her time in seemed to have turned into a drop-in centre for everyone and their friends but that may be because everyone was attempting to catch the bosses doing something they shouldn't be.
"What time do you finish tonight?" Ric asked, touching their heads together.
"Nine unless anything changes."
"I'm off at six so I could do some more work or come back to give you a lift." The staffing rota had finally given them the following day off although they had no real plans for it.
"No, that's just silly. You can go straight home and have a lovely evening laughing at poor old me having to stay on."
"The restaurants will all be closed or fully booked by that time so you could always come by my place and have a late meal or early midnight snack and then at least I'd see you for a few hours?" They hated the idea of a commercialised romance but she would need food and it was just coincidental that it was on this specific couple had been on so many alternating shifts that they had decided to stay in their own houses for the preceding fortnight so as not to disturb the other's sleep pattern but prior to this they had slept in the same bed for so long that not having a body next to them was just as troubling. His bed was almost a foreign entity because Serena had practically moved him in without any spoken agreement after her daughter had been told about them.
"That sounds nice if you're absolutely sure you don't want longer for your beauty sleep. I mean, you are getting older by the second." She said as she tilted her head to allow his lips access to her neck.
Sometimes her cheeky quips infuriated him to no end but other times like this it made her even more adorable. "Of course I am sure. Now, go save a life." He broke the contact they were sharing and raised an eyebrow at her.
She didn't want to leave the warm embrace of his arms but she knew had to. "Happy Valentine's Day and thank you for this," she said as she fumbled for the small teardrop stone on its chain around her neck.
"Still haven't said I bought it." He countered, leaning in to kiss her once more, a deeper one this time as they enjoyed the feel of the other's lips and tongue mingling with their own.
Serena was home by ten and found her daughter on her laptop in the living room, to be honest she had not expected there to be anyone else in the house as she thought Ellie would be out with friends in some dirty nightclub getting drunk with unknown males.
"I'm not here for long, just a quick change then Ric has invited me round to his so he knows that I am actually taking in food." She rolled her eyes in mock irritation but the teenager winked in reply, "Just be glad you have someone for tonight."
Serena stopped halfway up the staircase and called back down, "Actually, Eleanor, could you help me find something to wear?"
A glass of wine later they had exhausted her possible outfits and settled on a low-cut navy blue top and an above the knee skirt. It wasn't necessarily her style but she had to admit it showed off her best assets without looking too tarty. Eleanor watched her mother in the mirror as she smoothed out the non-existent creases in the dark fabric of the upper half. "Mum, are you nervous?"
She ran a hand through her hair and ensured the necklace she had received that morning was facing the correct way before glancing behind her, "I am going for a meal on Valentine's Day with a man I really like, of course I am nervous." The first February 14th she had spent with Edward had caused her to feel the same and it was disconcerting for her as a usually confident woman.
"You look great and your date is more than smitten with you. Pretend it is a normal dinner with him." She had watched the couple's relationship progress and had noticed how both became so much happier and relaxed outside of work together, and they would not admit it but getting them to focus on anything else when they were close was near impossible.
"Oh, because those never make me feel nervous, do they?" Eleanor looked at her mother with a stunned expression, she had thought Serena was not easily fazed by anything, especially not an evening with her best friend and partner yet here was the proof.
"Do you love him?" Although they had been in the relationship for several months now Ric and Serena had never considered how deeply they felt for the other. They joked about being so different that they completed their lover and they knew that the majority of their rare free time was spent together but had been in their fair share of bad relationships that enjoying the company was the priority.
"I don't know. Maybe? I know that I am long past simply wanting him." She didn't expect it when her daughter then put her arms around her from behind and hugged her.
"I was wondering where you had gotten to, now I can see," Ric commented while his eyes flicked up and down her body appreciating the view.
"I thought I needed to make a bit of an effort since you've only seen me in hospital attire recently."
"You look great no matter what you wear." She bit her bottom lip, suddenly letting her lack of confidence over this situation take control again. Ric had not seen her so nervous since their first official date and he had to smirk before lacing his fingers through hers and gently pulling her inside.
"I didn't know what you would want so there is pasta that can quickly be boiled and there are plenty of sauces you can choose from or there is some of that chocolate cake you love so much."
"Let's start with the pasta so that I don't have to immediately think of the calories waiting to be demolished later. Wine?" He chuckled at her request, he could have safely put money on that being one of her first ideas.
"There's a nice Shiraz if you want to grab the glasses." His taste in wine had changed to mirror Serena's without his realisation - he could not even recall the last time he ended the day with a Cabernet because he did not mind going along with her preference.
An hour or so after she had arrived they had finished eating from bowls of pasta and knowing that they would not be rolling into bed for a while she decided to find something more comfortable to wear. Serena remembered that there should have still been a few bits and pieces of hers in his bedroom and was correct - in a drawer she found a pair of black leggings and an old t-shirt she used to wear to bed. Both had been ironed and folded away which she couldn't help but smile at because any other man she had been with would have stuffed it away uncaringly but as always Ric was so much more thoughtful, without ever thinking that he was doing something special.
On her way back to the living room she went through his kitchen and put two slices of the luxury cake on plates and joined him back on the sofa. She glared at him as she watched him stare at her with a stupid smile on his face, guessing that he wanted to pretend she looked better in worn-out clothes rather than when she pulled out all the stops. Ric did it all the time when they were at home and she still believed he was lying to the core.
They were furiously attracted to the other when they were at fancy parties where it was usually black tie dress code but deep down they always wished they could be at home together like this. In the back of Serena's mind she fancied him more when he was doing simple things like emptying a dishwasher or when they were just about to start a long shift and he would lean down and kiss her forehead when his tuxedo was long forgotten.
Meanwhile Ric would catch her eye at the events and recalled how she looked first thing in the morning when she took a moment to yawn and move closer to him before opening her eyes - she looked stunning without make-up on no matter how vehemently she argued the claim - or how she was in theatre when he could only see those eyes above her mask. That was why he grinned more when he saw her in casual clothes; she was not trying to get people's attention, it was only for him.
Serena rested her head on his shoulder as they blankly stared at the TV screen that was showing some romantic comedy thaat neither of them were interested in, the cake however was just as good as she remembered as she spooned more in to her mouth. They continued in their peaceful mediation until she finally built up the courage, after more wine than she had intended to drink, to turn to face him and say what had been playing on her mind for most of the evening.
"Ric, when we started this relationship we weren't looking for anything from each other and I understand if that is still your feeling on the matter but I think we have been past that for quite a long while. Eleanor was the one who started all of this when she watched me get ready earlier. She helped me to realise that I... what I want to say... I love you." He looked at her, unsure whether she was beyond tired, slightly drunk or if she had simply chosen this moment to admit her feelings. But then it hit him that he had stopped caring about being totally proper with her a long time ago considering he had seen her in much worse states and she was honest enough during those states.
He softly kissed her but before she got too carried away in it he broke the contact, "I love you too, I don't know when it started but I've wanted to hear you say that for some time."
"I did buy you a present by the way - it's a watch - but I'm not as cute with my gestures as you and I forgot to pick it up when I went home." He worked out after that small ramble that the wine was definitely having a large impact on her coherency but he could see she was enjoying herself.
"We weren't doing Valentine's so although you should not have bothered with a gift, you can give it to me some other day." Serena smiled up at him, content with everything occurring in her life at that very second and pulled him down to her level, conveying exactly how she felt in a harsh passionate kiss.