Part I: Chocolate Valentines

William P. Jones (Pennsylvania) glared murderously at the stacks of paperwork that had been dumped unceremoniously onto his desk earlier that day. He huffed and turned back to the paper in front of him, stubbornly ignoring the calender that was perched precariously on the far edge of his desk. He didn't want to see what day it was...

"Hershey's chocolate! Hershey's chocolate! Hershey's chocolate baaaarrrr~!"

Pennsylvania yelped and jumped as the theme song for Hershey's Chocolate World started blaring from the cellphone in his pocket. He frowned and hastily yanked the phone out of his jeans, his eyes narrowing behind his glasses when he noticed that several stacks of paper had been knocked onto the floor by his sudden movements.

"Whoever the hell is calling had better have a damn good reading," William growled into the phone, not even bothering to look at the Caller I.D.

"Whoa, calm down, Penny. Is that any way to great your boyfriend on Valentine's Day?"

Pennsylvania sighed and ran a weary hand through his honey-blonde hair at the sound of New York's voice, an unwilling smile making its way to his lips.

"Hello, Albert," he greeted quietly, struggling to keep some annoyance in his tone as he addressed the New Yorker. "Happy Valentine's Day."

"Aw, c'mon Penn," New York whined. "You can have more enthusiasm than that. Wanna try again?"

"Don't push it, Bertie," Pennsylvania shot back. "I've been stuck in this godforsaken office all day, and I don't really feel like being nice."

Albert laughed, his chuckles crackling cheerfully through the phone's speakers.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry," he snickered. "By the way, I didn't know that you still had the Hershey's theme song for your ring tone."

"Hey, it's a good song- Wait, how the hell do you know what my ring tone is?"

There was another chuckle and a mumbled "Hang on a minute." Pennsylvania frowned and gingerly pushed away from his paper-laden desk, taking care not to knock over anymore stacks of paper. He started when something clicked against the glass of the window behind his desk and turned around, his blue eyes widening behind his glasses when he saw a mop of messy blonde hair standing below the window, a pair of black sunglasses glinting up at him in the cool February air.

New York grinned and waved up at Pennsylvania, his right hand hidden carefully behind his back.

"Hey, Penn!" he called cheerfully. "You wanna get down here? It's damn cold out!"

"What the hell are you doing here, Albert?" William called back, his mouth falling open in an undignified stare.

Albert Jones merely laughed and gestured for the Pennsylvanian to come down. "C'mon, I already cleared things up with your boss."

William blinked in amazement and hurried out of the office, his heart beginning to hammer in his chest. He wasn't even going to ask how Albert had managed to get his boss to agree to this...

Albert grinned when the Pennsylvanian appeared at the front door of his Harrisburg office building, his thin arms hastily shoved into the sleeves of a navy blue wool coat. William raised his eyebrows at the New Yorker, his lips quirking upwards when he saw the other state shiver beneath his black leather jacket.

"Maybe you should've dressed warmer," he pointed out wryly.

New York pouted and rolled his eyes, his hands clasped innocently behind his back.

"Doesn't matter, we won't be outside long," he chuckled. "Now hurry up! We've gotta get going before sunset..."

"Why? Did you get cursed by England when I wasn't looking?" Pennsylvania joked, his blue eyes flickering curiously over New York's shoulder.

New York laughed and shifted his arms behind his back, his expression slightly guilty. "Oh yeah, Artie totally put a spell on me. Now I can only remain human during the day."

"If this is you being human, I don't even want to know what you're like at night," William muttered.

Albert grinned and winked. "Oh, I think you already know, Will. Don't you remember New Year's Ev-"

"Okay, what the hell are you hiding behind your back?" William interrupted hastily, his cheeks flushing a light pink.

Albert pouted and started to back away, his eyes flickering backwards occasionally to check what direction he was heading. "Whoops, can't tell you until you get into the car, Penny~!"

Pennsylvania sighed exasperatedly and started after the New Yorker, a small smile still present on his pale features.

New York grinned and waited until his shoulders had pressed against the cool black surface of his BMW before carefully pulling a large, red, heart-shaped box of chocolates out from behind his back. He handed the box to the already-drooling Pennsylvanian, his electric-blue eyes glowing happily behind his sunglasses when the other state eagerly clasped the box against his chest. William blushed and glanced down at his feet, his brow furrowing.

"I... don't have my present for you," he admitted guiltily. "I left it at home..."

New York shrugged and gently pushed the other state into the car before crossing to the driver's side, his lips quirking upwards into a crooked smile.

"I don't need presents when I've got you, Penn," he remarked casually, ignoring the slight warming of his cheeks that came from the Pennsylvanian's intense gaze. "Alright, enough of the gooey speeches. Put on this blindfold."

William blinked and flushed as the small scrap of black silk was pressed into his hands, his eyebrows raised curiously.

"In the car?" he remarked. "You usually like to do this sort of thing in a more private setting... It's not really that far to my hous-"

"Uh, not yet, Penn," Albert interrupted with a laugh, causing the other state to go even redder. "Just trust me, okay? Now, put the blindfold on. And no peeking, got it?"

Pennsylvania muttered sullenly and removed his glasses before tying the blindfold behind his eyes, taking care to avoid the loose ponytail that hung at the nape of his neck. New York carefully extracted the glasses from William's grip and placed the frames in the nearest cup holder, a small chuckle breaking through his lips when he saw Pennsylvania's pout.

"What?" Albert laughed.

"...How am I supposed to eat this chocolate with a blindfold on?"

NYPA*NYPA*NYPA

"Bertie, I can't see anything."

"That's kind of the point, Will."

"...Where are we walking? I swear, if you lead me into a wall again-"

"Ok, that was one time! And no, I'm not going to lead you into a wall..."

Pennsylvania frowned, not quite able to let go of his fears. After all, this wouldn't be the first time that one of New York's 'brilliant' plans had ended badly for him... He still hadn't forgotten the time that the other state 'accidentally' pushed him into Lake Erie shortly after the Canal was built...*

Something flew past Pennsylvania's head, leaving the echoes of screams to rise in the air around him. William frowned and instinctively drew closer to the New Yorker that was leading through the unknown. He heard Albert chuckle and felt the other state squeeze his hand comfortingly. Pennsylvania rolled his eyes, his muscles tensing when the familiar smell of chocolate wafted towards him through the air.

Wait... It couldn't be...

"Ok, Penn, I'm going to need to lift you up here. Don't freak out, now."

Pennsylvania built back a yelp as his legs were literally pulled out from under him, his hands reaching out instinctively to press against New York's chest. Albert chuckled and held the other state close for a moment, his frame shaking slightly as he stepped onto an unsteady surface. William frowned when he was placed onto a hard, cold surface and reached out with his hands, his fingers pressing against low walls that barely reached his shoulders when he was sitting down.

"Albert?"

"Hang on, Penn," Albert murmured. "Just a few more minutes..."

William frowned and started to lean forward, only to jerk backwards as whatever he was sitting in began to rise. He clutched at the nearest wall and turned his head, his lips turning downwards into a pout when he realized that he couldn't see anything.

New York chuckled at his boyfriend's antics and reached out to hold the boy's hand, his eyes softening behind his sunglasses when he saw the other boy relax. After a few more minutes, the New Yorker reached out and carefully pulled the blindfold away from Pennsylvania's eyes, his other hand pressing William's glasses into his hands.

Pennsylvania murmured his thanks and placed the frames onto his face, his eyes widening as he took in his surroundings.

The two states were sitting in a small, circular white car attached to a moderately-sized Ferris Wheel. Rows of streetlamps spread out below them, outlining the twisted forms of roller coasters and spinning rides in deep blue against the darkening sky. A tower rose up to their right, its smooth surface broken by a rising disk with windows in the shape of Hershey Kisses built into its side. Pennsylvania glanced to his left and saw the carousel cradled among the other rides, its polished wood painted in hues of pink and red as the sun set below the horizon.

William stared at his surroundings for a long moment before turning back to Albert, his eyes widening in surprise when he saw two steaming cups of hot chocolate clutched carefully in the other state's hands.

"Wha- How did you get those in here?" he asked weakly.

New York shrugged and winked mischievously. "Magic."

Pennsylvania smiled shakily and turned back to the park, his brow furrowing when he noticed that the Ferris Wheel didn't seem to be moving. "Are we stopped?"

New York nodded casually, his bright blue eyes watching Pennsylvania carefully from behind his sunglasses. "Yeah. I asked the people in charge if they could give us a little bit of time up here. Hope you don't mind..."

Pennsylvania slowly shook his head and turned back to New York, his hands closing instinctively around the hot cup that the other state handed to him.

"W-where did you get this idea?" he asked quietly.

Albert shrugged nervously. "You've been working so hard lately, and stuff... And I know that you're still depressed over all of the stuff going on at Penn State**... I dunno, I guess I figured that you needed to have some fun..."

William nodded slowly, his expression unreadable. "Bertie?"

Albert raised his eyebrows and waited for the Pennsylvanian to continue.

Pennsylvania grinned suddenly, his deep blue eyes nearly golden in the light of the setting sun. "We're going to go to Chocolate World, right?"

New York laughed and leaned forward, his lips meeting Pennsylvania's half-way. The two states were silent for a moment before Albert broke away and pressed his forehead against William's, his face reddening as steam from their hot chocolate rose into the air around them.

"Only if we can go on Storm Runner, too," he whispered.

Pennsylvania smirked and moved back in for another kiss, his free hand reaching up to tangle itself in New York's carefully-touseled hair.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Albert," he whispered. "I love you."

"I love you too, Penn."

Hey all! So, I decided to do something a little special for Valentine's Day... These will probably be a collection of one-shots centering around the state couples (some of 'em you'll know, some you won't~!) I have no idea how many of them I'll write, but these will probably be what I'll be focusing on until after Valentine's Day is over (So, to everyone waiting on updates for Tides of Betrayal and Stolen Lullabies, you'll just have to wait a little bit longer... /shot/)

Please tell me what you think, ok? Let me know if there are any specific states that you want to see in here!

*- So, the Canal that Pennsylvania is talking about is the Erie Canal. It was built in the early to mid-1800s and was a revolutionary improvement in travel before railroads were developed. The Canal linked Lake Erie to the Atlantic Ocean, which created this huge boost in shipping. Pennsylvania and New York obviously had to work together to bring the Canal about since it bordered both of them, but knowing New York he probably had a bit of a rivalry with dear Penny.

**- So, I think most people in the United States have heard about the stuff going down at Penn State. Aside from the accusations of child-abuse that were aimed at former Assistant Coach Sandusky, the legendary head coach of Penn State, Joe Paterno, was fired by the School Board. Joe Pa died last month and is still mourned by many Penn State alumni. I have a feeling that Pennsylvania would have been extremely broken up about the entire thing.

Also, I have one last note here. If you've been reading any of my other stories, you'll know that lately I've been asking people to pray for the wife of my speech coach. She has recently been diagnosed with lung cancer and my speech coach will be leaving in March to take care of her. She means everything to him, and her illness has hit them both really hard. So, if you guys could please keep her in your thoughts/prayers, it would mean a lot to me. Thank you.