A/N: Hello everyone!

Before we go any further, I just want to start by wishing you all a Happy Valentine's Day! Whether you're single or in a relationship, I hope you all are surrounded by the people you love!

This is a fun little something I wrote for the Valentine challenge from the BTR Plot Adoption Forum.

I hope you all enjoy!

"He's not gonna show." I sighed as I slumped further into the chair.

"Will you relax? He'll be here."

"That's easy for you to say." I muttered. "What if he already has plans? Or...I don't know, something goes wrong?"

"Look," Logan sighed, "Carlos is with him. He'll make sure James is here."

"This was a mistake." I said, trying to tamp down the panic I could feel trying to make its way to the surface.

"No, it's not."

"How can you be so sure?" I asked, not missing how...sure he sounded.

"Just...trust me. Okay? You're doing the right thing."

I could tell there was something he wasn't telling me, but I focused on taking deep breaths in an attempt to stay calm.

We sat in silence for a while until I noticed Logan starting to fidget a bit, and I couldn't help but smile a bit.

"Just spit it out, Loges." I said, knowing that there was something he wanted to say, but he wasn't sure how to go about it.

He rolled his eyes-probably annoyed at me being able to read him so well-before letting out a sigh.

"Fine." He relented. "I was just wondering...why today?"

I stiffened as soon as the question left his mouth, but forced myself to relax. I should have known this was coming. Honestly, I'm surprised he hadn't asked sooner.

"I…" I started before trailing off, not really sure what to say as my mind went back to this day last year.

"Valentine's Day sucks." I muttered as I stared at the TV screen in a desperate attempt to not focus on Carlos and Logan, who were cuddled up on the couch just a few feet away.

"Someone's in a mood." Carlos teased.

A retort was on the tip of my tongue, but Logan beat me to the punch.

"Go easy on him. I mean, the guy he's in love with is on a date with someone else."

I let out a groan, not for the first time wishing I could go back in time and take back my confession to Logan and Carlos about liking James. Not that it would do any good.

It was apparently obvious to pretty much everyone except James that I had feelings for the brunet.

"Why don't you just tell him how you feel?" Carlos asked for what felt like the hundredth time.

"I told you-"

"He's in a relationship and isn't even gay." They both said at the same time, repeating my own words back to me.

"I hate when you guys do that."

"Have you ever considered that maybe he's in a relationship because you were in a relationship and unavailable not too long ago?" Logan countered, ignoring my remark.

He...kind of had a point.

Just a few months ago, I was dating Jo. I had loved her, but I wasn't in love with her. Honestly, I was only with her to try and get my mind off of James. Then I finally got to a point where I realized that it wasn't doing either of us any good and it wasn't fair to her. So I finally broke things off.

Eventually, I finally worked up the courage and decided to tell James how I felt.

I was ready to lay it all out on the table and deal with whatever fallout that came from it, and in a cruel twist of fate, the exact same day I had planned to tell James was the day that he announced that he was in a relationship.

Her name was Rachel, some up and coming artist who had recently moved into the Palm Woods.

It may have been a bit dramatic to say that my heart broke at the news, but that was exactly what it had felt like.

But I was also happy for him.

I knew James, and even though he would never admit it, I knew it had bothered him to be the only one to not be in a relationship. And when he told us about his relationship with Rachel, I could see how happy he was.

So, even though it killed me, I kept my mouth shut.

Logan and Carlos had constantly tried to get me to tell James about my feelings for him, but I knew that James was loyal, almost to a fault. It was one of the things I loved most about him. I knew that if I told him about my feelings while he was still with Rachel, it would just do more harm than good.

Even if (by some miracle) he did have feelings for me, he wouldn't break up with Rachel. He wouldn't want to hurt her, and he would feel like he was hurting me in the process and it just wouldn't be good for anyone.

So every time Logan and/or Carlos brought it up, I deflected. Just like I planned on doing now.

"Guys, I-" I started, but trailed off when the door to the apartment opened and James walked in.

To anyone else, James probably looked completely fine. They probably couldn't see how the brunet was trying to hard to hold himself together and was barely succeeding.

"What's wrong?" I asked, not prepared for the two words that fell out of his mouth as he fell apart.

"It's over."

Rachel had broken up with James that day. On Valentine's Day of all days.

She had gotten an offer to open up for a huge artist on a world tour and felt like they wouldn't have been able to make it work with all of the travelling and long distance.

Needless to say, James had been completely devastated.

Rachel had been one of the most serious relationships James had ever had. He was so sure he had found 'The One.'

I remember the conversation James and I had that night like it was yesterday.

"Maybe I'm just not meant to be in a relationship." James muttered as we lay in his and Carlos' shared room later that night.

Logan and Carlos were out on a date night. I could tell they had wanted to stay, but James wasn't having it.

"Just because my Valentine's Day is ruined doesn't mean yours has to be." He had told them.

It had taken a lot of persuading from James, but they eventually caved, promising to be back soon.

"Jay-" I started, stopping when James held a hand up to stop me.

"I know, I know. I'm being dramatic." He sighed.

"You are." I said, chuckling a little bit before continuing. "But that's to be expected. You just had your heart broken. You're bound to feel a bit dramatic."

I saw the corners of his lips tilt up in a small smile, but as quickly at it came, it was gone.

"Look..." I started, choosing my words carefully before I spoke again. "Just because it didn't work out with Rachel, that doesn't mean that your soulmate isn't out there."

He didn't say anything in response to that, and for a moment, for one small moment, I considered telling him.

James wasn't with Rachel anymore, which meant he was a Free Agent of sorts. But then I reminded myself that James had literally just gotten dumped on Valentine's Day of all days, and I felt like a jerk.

"You're right." James said, breaking me out of my thoughts.

"I am?" I asked, feeling myself perk up way too much.

"Yeah. I mean, don't get me wrong, this...it hurts like hell and isn't something I want a repeat of anytime soon." He said, letting out a humorless chuckle. "I think I'm just going to stay away from romance for a while."

They were words that I never thought I would ever hear come out of James Diamond's mouth, but James had stayed true to his word.

Of course, he had help in the form of a world tour that we ended up going on a few months later, which was kind of ironic, considering…

James had thrown himself into work and the tour, giving his all every night onstage.

It had taken a little time, but eventually James was back to his usual self. Well, mostly…

When we were out in public, or meeting fans, or pretty much anything that involved being around other people, James had seemed completely fine. But there were moments when he thought no one was looking where he let down his guard, and I saw how...lonely he seemed.

"Kendall?" Logan asked, breaking me out of my trip down memory lane.

"Do you remember what happened a year ago today?" I said, answering his question with another question.

I had said it lightly, meaning for it to come off kind of jokingly, but I could tell from the look on his face that he didn't find anything funny about it.

"Yeah, I do. Which is part of the reason I'm so confused that you waited until now."

I wasn't quite sure how to explain my emotional reasoning to him, so I went with the logical reasoning.

"It's just...yeah, I was ready to tell him that night. Okay, almost ready." I corrected at Logan's quirked brow. "But James was going through a breakup and that was hardly an appropriate time to bring up my feelings while he was going through that. And then we had the to do the tour and-" I stopped when I noticed the smirk on Logan's face. "What?"

"Nothing. It's just kind of funny to me that you actually believe that."

"I don't know what you're talking about." I said, feeling my cheeks heat up.

"Yeah, you do." He responded, his expression softening. "You didn't say anything because you were nervous. Scared. You didn't think that James could actually feel the same way about you, and you suddenly had a reason to prolong telling him."

I didn't say anything in response. Couldn't. Because he wasn't completely wrong.

I wouldn't admit it out loud, but I was scared, and even though part of the reason I didn't tell James about my feelings for him stemmed from the circumstances surrounding us, I knew that I still could have told him how I felt. I just chose not to. Plus, Logan didn't know about James swearing off of romance for a while.

"Look, I get it. I do." Logan continued when I still hadn't said anything. "I know how scary it can be to put your feelings out there. But...I'm really glad you're doing this."

"Thanks, Loges." I said softly.

He shot me a smile in response as his phone buzzed with a text.

I watched as he picked up his phone, reading the text message before his smile widened a bit. "They're on their way."

"Oh, God. I think I'm going to be sick." I muttered, feeling my stomach start to churn.

"No, you're not." Logan stood before walking over to me, putting his hands on my shoulders. "I know you're nervous, but trust me, you have nothing to worry about."

That was the second time he'd said something along those lines.

"What aren't you telling me?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.

Logan shook his head. "It's not my place to tell you. Just trust me, okay?"

"Okay." I resigned, knowing I wasn't going to get any information from him.

We decided to change the subject, which helped calm me down a little bit. But that went out the window as soon as I heard the door to the restaurant that I rented out for the evening open.

As soon as I saw James, I felt my heartbeat speed up.

I watched his eyes widen as he took in the restaurant. I had probably spent way too much money on decorating and renting the restaurant out in the first place, but it was so worth it to see the look on James' face now.

"What...what is all this?" He asked. But as his eyes met mine, I knew that he had a pretty good idea.

"We'll leave you guys to it." Logan said as he walked over to took Carlos' hand in his.

Carlos gave me a thumbs up while Logan gave me a don't screw this up/good luck look.

I rolled my eyes at the pair as they walked out before walking over to James.

"Well, I know how much you love big romantic gestures." I said, laughing nervously.

"Kendall, I...I don't…"

It was the first time in a while that I had seen him at a lost for words, so I took that opportunity to push forward before I chickened out.

"I know that a year ago, Valentine's Day was kind of ruined for you. You said that you were staying away from romance for a while, and I completely understood and respected that. But...I haven't been completely honest with you."

"Ken-" He started, but I shook my head.

"Just...please let me get this out, okay?" I asked, watching as he shook his head. I smiled a little before taking a deep breath and laying all of my cars out on the table.

"You're one of my best friends. We've known each other for what feels like forever. You're one of the funniest and snarkiest people I've ever met. You also have, like, an unhealthy obsession with you hair." I said, chuckling at his indignant "Hey!"

"But that's part of what makes you...well, you. You're the most beautiful person I've ever seen, but that beauty isn't just on the outside. It's on the inside as well. I know how selfless you are, how much you care and how protective you are of those close to you. And I guess this is all just a long, drawn out way of saying that...I love you."

There. I had finally said it. It wasn't as painful as I thought it would be, but it was too soon to say if this would be painless or not because James hadn't said anything.

"James?" I prompted as he just stared at me with wide eyes. Eventually, he shook his head, and when he spoke, his voice was barely above a whisper.

"Are...are you serious?"

"I've never been more serious than I am right now." I said, waiting with bated breath and preparing myself for whatever he was going to say next.

"Don't you think it's a little early to be throwing the L-word around?" He asked, letting out a nervous laugh. But he didn't seem upset or disgusted, so I took hold of the hope that I felt at that and ran with it.

"Maybe." I admitted. "But I know how I feel, and...I'm done holding back with you."

"Kendall, I...I don't understand."

Okay, that...wasn't what I was expecting.

"What don't you understand?"

"It's just...out of everyone in the world...why me?"

"Uh, were you not listening to what I just said a minute ago?" I chuckled, watching the blush that burned James' cheeks.

"I was. I definitely was." He said softly. "I guess I just...I never thought you would ever like me back."

And even though I felt my heart skip a beat at James basically admitting that he liked me, I couldn't help but frown because I knew I should have seen this coming.

"You're so smart, and selfless, and amazing at everything you do, and...just an all-around amazing guy." James continued before I could say anything. "I never thought for a second you would be interested in me. I'm selfish, vain, not the brightest bulb in the box...I could go on and on."

"And I could go on and on about the ways you are so wrong." I said. "Out of everyone I know, you have one of the biggest hearts. Maybe you're a little obsessed with your appearance, but it's adorable, and I know you would give all of that up if it meant helping one of us. And yeah, maybe you're not a genius like Logan, but not many people are. You're so much smarter than you give yourself credit for."

"I wasn't smart enough to see what was apparently right in front of my face this entire time." He muttered.

"Yeah, well, I wasn't either." I reminded him, which earned me a chuckle.

"We're ridiculous."

"Completely." I agreed, watching as one of the biggest smiles I've seen from him in a long time spread across his face, and I couldn't help but return it.

"So...we've really been pining after each other all this time?" James asked, breaking the silence we had fallen into.

"Apparently."

"And you really meant what you said?" He asked timidly.

"I meant every single word."

He nodded, but didn't say anything for a moment. When he did, he nodded his head.

"Okay."

"Okay?" I asked.

"Yeah. I never thought you would ever be interested in me."

"Why do I sense a 'but' coming?" I asked, watching as his lips quirked up.

"There's a joke there, but I'm not going to say anything." He shook his head before continuing. "If we're going to do this, I want to take things slow."

"Of course."

"I'm serious." He said. "I...I've wanted this for so long, but I don't want to rush into this and end up ruining it. Or worse, ruin our friendship."

I couldn't help but smile at that.

"I couldn't agree more." I assured him.

"Good." He said, bursting out into laughter a minute later.

"What's so funny?" I asked, laughing a little myself because of how contagious James' laugh was.

"I was just thinking...if this works out, our anniversary will literally be on Valentine's Day. The day of love."

"Of course your mind went in that direction. You're so-"

"If you finish that sentence with 'sappy,' I'm going to punch you."

"Wow, not even five minutes together and you're already threatening violence." I joked.

"Please. You know we're going to be that couple that fights all the time over stupid stuff."

"True." I agreed. "But you know what that means?"

"What?"

"It means that there'll be a lot of making up to do." I said, waggling my eyebrows.

"I like the way you think."

I shook my head at him, but I couldn't hold back my laugh.

"And for the record?" He said, his voice turning serious again.

"Yeah?"

"I love you, too."

I couldn't help but return the radiant smile that graced his face. I also couldn't help the way I practically melted at hearing the words that I'd been wanting to hear from him for so long.

I didn't really know if it would work out between us, but deep down...I knew it would, and I knew that James was just as excited as I was to see where this took us.

One Year Later

"You know I'm right!"

"I know you're wrong!"

"Okay, what are you two arguing about now?" Logan asked as he walked in with Carlos.

"I...don't remember." I admitted.

James and I had been going back and forth for what felt like forever, but in reality, was just fifteen minutes.

"That's a shocker." Carlos said sarcastically.

"I swear, you two fight more than anyone I know." Logan chimed in.

"That's not really saying a lot." James said, and I let out a snort in an attempt to cover up my laugh.

"I will shave your head in your sleep." Logan threatened.

"You wouldn't dare!" James gasped, his hands immediately going to his hair as if that would protect it.

Logan shook his head before taking Carlos' hand in his. "Well, can you two keep it down? We still have a few hours left of Valentine's Day to celebrate."

And with that, he and Carlos went to their shared room.

"He has a point, you know." I said, with James grunting in response. I shook my head, letting out a soft chuckle.

This wasn't the first time we had argued so long that we forgot what we were arguing about in the first place. But it was never mean-spirited and we always ended up laughing about it after.

We lay together on the couch in silence, just enjoying each other's company after a day full of love and celebration.

We were both so happy and I didn't want to say or do anything to break up that happiness, but there was something that had been nagging at me and I had to ask.

"Do you ever think about…" I started before stopping myself, not sure I wanted to ask this or hear the answer.

"Think about what?" James asked, sitting up a bit to look at me.

"It's not a fun question."

"That's never stopped you before." James pointed out. "You can ask me anything. You know that."

I did know that, but it didn't mean I would necessarily like the answer. But still...we had never really held back with each other, and I didn't want to start now.

"Do you ever think about what would have happened if you were still with Rachel? If the two of you never broke up?"

I could tell from the look on his face that he hadn't been expecting that question, but he seemed to think about it for a moment before he nodded his head.

"Honestly? Yeah, I have thought about it a few of times." He admitted. "But the more I thought about it, the more I realize that she was kind of a...happy mistake."

"A happy mistake?"

"Yeah. I mean, sure, that break up was painful, but if that had never happened, who knows where we would be right now. Plus, you kind of turned my view of Valentine's Day on its head."

I smiled a little as I realized that he was right.

"Well, just for the record, I'm really happy with where we are now." I said.

The past year had been amazing. Yes, we argued constantly, but we had also never been closer and loved each other immensely.

"I'm really happy with where we are now, too. Even if you can't see how wrong you always are."

"Shut up." I chuckled, grabbing a pillow and hitting him with it.

"Never." He said in response, leaning in and gently pressing his lips to mine.

And like always, I got lost in the kiss and the way we seamlessly moved in sync, only breaking apart when the need for air became too much.

"I don't know what I would do if you ever lost your lips." I said, the statement making no sense and not logical at all, but James smiled anyway.

"Probably go around lying and telling everyone how right you are."

"Let. It. Go." I said, punctuating each word with a kiss.

"I'll let it go when you admit that you're wrong."

"We're going to be old and gray still arguing about this, aren't we?" I groaned, already picturing it in my head.

"Oh, definitely. Unless Carlos or Logan kills us first."

"That's a legitimate possibility."

We both laughed at that, knowing how annoyed the couple got when we argued, mostly because we were relentless and go on for hours when we really got fired up.

But I wouldn't change it for the world. James and I both argued passionately, and we loved each other just as much.

"Jay?"

"Yeah?"

"Happy Valentine's Day."

He smiled before going in for a kiss, just a quick peck this time.

"Happy Anniversary."

Done! So, obviously my one-shot skills are a little rusty. :P It's been a long time since I've written one, but I had fun with this one, so maybe I'll start doing more one-shots in the future.

Again, I hope you all enjoyed! I would love to hear any thoughts you have as well as if you happened to have a favorite part/moment!

I hope you all are having an amazing week and that you had/are having a great Valentine's Day! :)

-Epically Obsessed