Imogen debated whether or not she should go after Fiona for almost a minute before she headed towards the school. As she opened the front doors of Degrassi, she saw Fiona off to the side, placing the box of extra programs next to a pile of other graduation related items. As Fiona turned around, Imogen spoke up, "Look, I know I don't deserve it, but will you please just hear me out?" her eyes pleading with Fiona's. The older girl simply nodded, so Imogen launched into what could only be described as an impromptu speech, "I messed up. I know that. I treated you like crap because I was too stubborn to deal with my dad's illness like an adult. There's no excuse for what I put you through, but I need you to know that I loved you. I still love you. You are the only person who I have ever been able to count on, and most importantly, you were my best friend. I refuse to lose that without putting up a fight. I'm going to school nearby next year, so please, Fiones, give me another chance?" By the time Imogen finished, Fiona was biting her lip, visibly trying to hold back tears and Imogen realized that her own eyes had grown damp.
Fiona took a slow, deep breath before she replied, "That means a lot, Imogen, but I can't just forget how everything went down. I can try to do the whole 'friends' thing with you again, but that's all I can promise." Imogen nodded, "That's great. I just want you in my life," she responded. A small smile appeared on Fiona's face as she spoke, "Well, maybe I'll see you this weekend then. I'll call you," and with that, she headed back outside, leaving Imogen alone with her thoughts racing.
xxx
Imogen soon learned that being Fiona Coyne's friend after you had been Fiona Coyne's girlfriend was a bit of a letdown, but she was grateful that she was in the socialite's life regardless, so she couldn't really complain. Most of the pent up awkwardness and tension had disappeared over the summer, while the girls had mended their relationship and figured out how to be just friends once again. In Imogen's mind though, her and Fiona had never been "just friends", not really anyway. Ever since Fiona had invited her to that fateful party so long ago, she had felt some sort of attraction towards her, and she knew that Fiona had felt the same, whether she would ever admit it or not. It was still there though; it was electric between them but Fiona would ignore it and Imogen couldn't blame her, so she tried to as well. The fact that neither of them were drinking was truly what brought their friendship back together, since most of the other students at both of their schools would spend the weekends getting bombed. This made it easier for them to spend time together, considering there weren't many other people who were content with watching movies on a Friday night.
Although they did remain just friends, Imogen found it hard to move on from Fiona, which she hadn't really thought about in the long run. She had been so happy to be in the older girl's life again that she hadn't considered the effect it would have on her over time. She hadn't dated anyone, or even thought about dating anyone, and she knew the fact that Fiona was still so close to her was the majority of the reason why. Fiona hadn't exactly dated anyone else either, but she seemed to be more comfortable moving on than Imogen was, occasionally bringing up the idea of her dating someone or having a crush on a classmate. Imogen wasn't sure if she should try to date other people, hope that her feelings for Fiona settled on a platonic level, and move on, or if she should tell Fiona she still wasn't over her and face losing her for good. Time had flown by, and as fate would have it, Valentine's Day was approaching. Imogen couldn't help but think about surprising Fiona with something, but she wasn't sure if she should take the risk or not.
The two ended up decided to hang out on Valentines Day, as friends, considering neither of them had any dates lined up. Fiona had an evening class that went until 7, but they planned on meeting at Fiona's condo, where they would spend most of their weekends anyway (Fiona wasn't exactly loving her dorm room, surprise surprise). The day before, Imogen had decided that she would take a chance. She planned on getting to the condo early on V-Day to set up a romantic dinner. This would be her final grand gesture, a take-it-or-leave-it type of thing, in hopes that Fiona hadn't really gotten over her either.
Imogen snuck into the condo around 5 and began to decorate the open area with all kinds of cute decorations, which included hearts and lots of red, pink and white. The table was set for two and included a nice bottle of sparkling cider in place of champagne, as well as several candles. Imogen was in the kitchen cooking, hoping that she wasn't screwing up her old family recipes. She was rehearsing the speech she had planned out loud, trying to perfect the flow of it while not forgetting any of the important details. She was wearing a simple black dress and had her hair down, because although Fiona would never admit to it, she knew the other girl had always liked when Imogen's hair was down instead of up in some crazy bun. On Fiona's bed there was a small package, expertly wrapped, which contained a handmade gift that Imogen had spent hours on and next to it was a dozen red roses. Even though Imogen knew it was fairly cliché, she knew that Fiona loved flowers, and after all, it was Valentine's Day. As the clock began to creep closer to 7, Imogen had dinner on the table and was nervously pacing, hoping that the night would end how she wanted.
As the clock struck 7, Imogen's phone beeped. She opened it to find a text from Fiona: "Have to cancel tonight. Girl from class asked me out to dinner! Wish me luck. Call you after? Sorry!"
Slowly, Imogen walked over to the dinner table and blew out the candles. She gathered her bag and walked out of the loft, not bothering to clean up a single thing.
