Hey guys! Sorry for not updating in almost a week. I forced myself to take a full week break to focus on my studies (I have a lot of tests), and let me tell you, it wasn't easy because I had so many ideas. But now I'm back, so here goes.

Thank you for all your reviews! But funny thing was, you guys kept encouraging me, yet I had almost no suggestions on which ship to do next. As a couple of you wanted a Marina/Nine ship, I decided to do so. The different thing about this story is that they are already dating:) and I have no idea how to combine their names (Marinine? Nirina?) so please suggest what is your ideal 'combination' name, and I'll change it to whichever name gets the most votes.

Enjoy!

Chapter 3

Marina+Nine

Nine POV

I'm eating breakfast, getting ready for school when I receive a text message. "Happy Valentine's Day! Thanks for being my best bro, I love you (as a friend). From John." I roll my eyes and put down my phone. A guy celebrating a mushy and soppy day, sending sentimental text messages to both girls and guys. How cheesy.

Just then, John rings up. "Hey, did you receive my text message?"

"Are you an idiot? After wasting money on a text, you waste more money by ringing me up. Yes. I received it. Horrible text. What do you want?" I snap.

"Someone's being touchy." I can hear the amusement in John's voice and I roll my eyes again. "Has Marina sent you anything?"

"Nah, Valentine's is just a normal day, no biggie." I reply.

"Are you sure, because- okay, never mind. See you in school!" I hang up and continue eating. Valentina's Day. No biggie.

Marina POV

Roses are red, violets are blue, do you love me, because I love you.

Crap.

I make a face and tear the rose-coloured paper, throwing it into the trash along with the other floral note paper I bought but wasted. Why don't I know how to write to Nine? Isn't he my greatest love, someone who always loves and cares for me? We've been together for about three months, much to everyone's surprise. Polar opposites and stuff I guess. I'm surprised myself that I'm in a relationship, let alone with him.

My mobile rings and I see that it's from Him. I pick up eagerly. "Hello?" I ask, try to keep the excitement out of my voice.

"I need your help! SOS!" Nine wails over the phone.

"Yeah?" Maybe it's on what to wear to school. For Valentine's.

"I still don't understand calculus and I have a test today."

Oh. That emergency. "Again, Nine? I taught you that five times."

"Really? Oh. I must have been, er, busy."

Busy sleeping, I think to myself. I started out as being his tutor because his grades were slipping and he needed to pass English in order not to drop out of the basketball team. BUT. No motivation. Not willing to do anything. Sleeping all the time while I'm talking in the library. I've prepped him up for the common test he had to take last week, but I'm still not sure how he did.

"Marina? You still there? I need to pass this test. Can we meet behind the stairs, our secret hideout during break?"

"Why not the library?"

"I wouldn't be caught dead in it." Nine sounded incredulous. "I only went last time because Mr Strickland was spying on us, remember? I don't need any of the girls laughing at me in such a dorky place."

"Just so you know, I work in that dorky place that you are talking about." I snap.

"Oh? Oh yeah! Sorry. Really sorry. What can I do to let you forgive me? Want to go to the Chimera store afterwards? I know how much you love animals. Or-or- I love you." Nine changes his tactic. I sigh. You really can't say no to him.

"Fine. Pay attention. Cya." I hide my disappointment. Just some more tutoring, no gifts or anything for Valentine's Day.

Scene 2

"Happy Valentine's Day, love!" I sing as I hand Nine the present I made.

"Oh, you got me a present? Thank you!" Nine says as he rips open the paper like an eager kid. He holds up a photo frame of me and him smiling on our first date. "You could have chosen a better photo you know, I look like a nerd."

"I thought you liked it. Sorry, I didn't know.." I'm crestfallen.

"No no no, I was just joking!" Nine says, laughing. He holds up the haiku that I managed to successfully write. "I love you! Thank you so much!" He looks sheepish. "Um, I didn't get you anything. I didn't know you celebrated Valentine's Day."

"It's okay," I say, trying not to sound disappointed. I already knew he hadn't gotten me anything, yet I continued hoping. I'm such a fool.

He follows my gaze at the embracing couples all around us in the hall, people giving each other Valentine's day cards and chocolates. I see their excited faces as they open their romantic presents, see the oh-so- lovely flowers and teddy bears, and kiss each other. Every day's a special day for me and Nine, but still. I wish I had a present too.

"Look, I'm really sorry. I'm gonna get you something tomorrow, okay?" Nine looks so helpless that I force myself to smile. "No really, I don't need a present."

"Then I'll give you this," Nine grins as he bends down and kisses me full on the lips. I blush, well aware that there are people walking to and fro in the hall (I'm still not used to public affection). Yet I don't pull away because the kiss is so amazing and breathtaking, just as good as the other kisses, only it seems to get better and better. I pull myself closer to him and kiss him back. Screw the gaping students, I want this. I want him.

"Nine!" Taken aback, we break away. Mr Strickland is standing there, arms akimbo. "You have to retake your calculus test, and if you don't pass,you're going to have to repeat maths. Now think more about your grades than kissing girls."

"Yes sir," Nine says crossly. As Mr Strickland stomps away, Nine gives him the finger. I giggle and give him a peck on the cheek. "Uh-oh. You better pass. See you during break."

Nine smiles and kisses me again. "See you."

Scene 3

"You don't know the difference between differential and integral calculus?!" I exclaim, trying not to look stunned.

"I don't know shit about this. Math does not make sense." Nine defends himself.

"Course it does. You're just looking at it the wrong way. Look, if you- can you not?" Nine had closed his eyes.

"Mmm, I'm listening." Nine opens his eyes slowly. I start to continue, but suddenly Nine says, "It really matters to you, doesn't it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Valentine's Day." For the first time Nine looks serious. "I saw the way you looked at all the couples today. You want the gifts and romance and the feeling that this day is different from the rest. It doesn't matter to me, but it does to you. I'm sorry I didn't notice that before."

"It's okay.." I try not to blush. Nine actually noticed!

"No it's not. I'll think of something. I'll pick you up at your house at 5pm okay?"

"Thank you," I say, smiling a little. "Now lets continue with calculus."

Nine POV

Oh no, what should I do?

I just agreed to throw Marina a Valentine's Day Special, and I have absolutely no idea what to do. I tried googling 'what to do on Valentine's day' and followed some of them, but the ideas just don't agree with me. I look around at the items I prepared. Guess I don't have a choice. I sigh and arrange everything, then drive to fetch Marina.

Marina steps out on the front porch, wearing a lovely light blue and white summer dress. She looks self-conscious in it, but to me, she looks gorgeous.

"Hey," Marina says shyly, "do you like my dress?"

"You look amazing," I assure her. "Thanks, so do you," Marina smiles. I pass her a bouquet of flowers tied together in a red ribbon. "Your first gift."

"Thank you, but Nine, where are we going?" Marina asks. "It's a surprise," I say, smiling. I switch on my CD player and Taylor Swift's Our Song plays. I actually tried writing her a song, but it was so crap that I gave up. Don't tell anyone though.

"Is this part of the surprise too?" Marina asks, amused. "You wanted romantic, so-" I try not to look embarrassed as I hand her a disc of oldie love songs I burnt specially for her.

"That's so sweet, thank you so much!" Marina says, tears filling up in her eyes.

Is making people cry supposed to be romantic? I don't know. I choose the easier way and stay silent while Marina dabs her eyes with a tissue. She's teary-eyed like that sometimes.

We turn into one of the exotic mountains of Lorien, a common domestic tourist attraction in our planet. Marina looks at me in amazement, as I pass her a large picnic basket and carry two more of my own. "Wait and see," I say, smiling.

We walk past the scenic area where tourists are currently taking photos. Marina stares. "Over here." I grab her by the wrist and pull her to a more deserted area. I duck under the railings that cordon off the area (so tourists cannot trek down the mountains or they'll fall and die, which is what me and Marina are going to do as a matter of fact)

"Nine! We could be fined if they see us!" Marina sounds horrified.

"Don't worry, they can't catch us anyway. Hold on tight." I hold her hand, and step off the cliff...

Marina screams...

When she realises that she's still alive.

"How? What? But-but-" she stutters.

"My anti-gravity legacy, remember?" I grin.

"Right." Marina looks like she's about to faint.

"I'm transferring my legacies to you, so don't let go of me." I say. Cautiously, Marina tiptoes down the cliff and I try not to laugh at her. Why people get scared when they are not standing at 180 degrees flat ground is beyond me.

"Come on," I pull her hand impatiently. Marina looks as though she's about to cry again. Oh no. "Wait, I got an idea. Let's run!"

Marina drops her fearful look to scowl at me. "And fall and die? Very funny."

"No seriously, we both have advanced super speed, let's go!" Without waiting for her reply, I sprint off, pulling a screaming Marina along with me (thankfully I had the wits to continue holding her hand).

As we run, I feel more relaxed in the fresh mountain air and start laughing. Soon, Marina lets down her guard and laughs too. I'm almost sorry when we reach our destination, a small area of horizontal mountain ground overlooking the ocean and the open sky. On the ground, there's a picnic mat with red and white rose petals scattered all over it, red and blue twinkling fairy lights, with two umbrellas for shade.

"Wow, Nine, this is-this is amazing." Marina says. She clutches her hand to her heart and opens her jaw wide. Personally I thought she was over doing it, but I'm happy that she's happy. "Nah, no big deal. I roam around this place quite a lot." I say as we set down our picnic basket.

Marina sighs contentedly. "This place is so beautiful."

Glad she likes it. I grin, holding a bottle of champagne. "To us," I grin and open the cork. Unfortunately, the champagne overflows and goes all over the picnic mat, staining the rose petals and making it turn yellow. I stare at it, dismayed, while Marina laughs.

"It's fine! It still looks beautiful anyway." Marina smiles and I reach into the basket, only to find with dismay that I haven't brought any glasses. I look at Marina helplessly and she shrugs and takes a sip from the bottle. I still feel bad though. I couldn't even remember to bring glasses.

"I'm hungry, let's eat," Marina quickly says and bites into one of the sandwiches I made. She grimaces, then stares at it for a long time. "Nine, what is this?"

"Salad and egg, why?" I ask.

Marina looks up and gives me a weird look. "This isn't salad," she finally says, and opens the bread. Inside, I can see the contents distinctively- green peas and mustard.

Yuck! What was I doing? "Um. Must have gotten the wrong food," I mumble, cursing myself silently. Stupid, stupid. I put away the sandwiches and take out the other food. "I'm so sorry, let's eat."

Unfortunately, it goes from bad to worse. The plates I brought were Dora the Explorer (my cousin's plates were the only non fragile ones I could find), the cutlery didn't match, the tongue I made tasted disgusting, the chicken was half cooked, the pasta was over cooked. Even the cupcakes I made were burnt and the icing came off. I watched as Marina are the food slowly but patiently, hiding her emotions and even praising the food. I, however, felt terrible. This is supposed to be Marina's special day. How could I have ruined it like that?

"I'm so sorry," I say apologetically to her. "I'm a horrible cook."

"No, no it's okay," Marina gulps down the last of the cupcake quickly and smiles at me, making me feel better. But only just.

I take out a chocolate cake, Marina's favourite, which thankfully is store-bought. I requested the shop owner to add a heart shape on it and write: To Marina, Love Nine. Happy Valentine's Day! Marina stares at the cake. "Where did you get such a nice cake? It looks delicious!"

"I know right?" I grin and light the candles on the cake. "Happy Valentine's Day!" Without thinking, I thrust the cake at her, and the candles comes in contact with her dress, setting the bottom of her dress on fire.

"Ah no! I'm so sorry!" I yell as I throw the only liquid I have in my hand- champagne- on her dress. Thankfully, that stops the fire. I hand her a tissue and watch helplessly as she tries to wipe off the ashes and champagne from her dress. Though she's not hurt, the bottom of her dress is charred.

"That was my favourite dress," Marina says dolefully. "Sorry.." I say for the millionth time and get up to give her a hug, when Marina screams again. I panic. What now?

"Why are there ants here?!" Marina yells. Ants? I open my mouth to reply when I feel something biting my leg. Oh gosh. I've chosen to sit on an ant nest. "I'm so sorry!" I shout. I motion her to move away and desperately try to fend off the ants.

Marina stands up and brushes away the insects from her clothes and legs. She takes a few steps back, and suddenly, she falls..off the cliff.

I realise too late that we had been sitting on the very edge of the cliff, and because we're on one of the only horizontal grounds of the rocky mountains..lets say it'll be quite a drop.

"AAAHHH!" Hearing Marina's screams bring me back to my senses. I look over the edge, seeing her swiftly dropping down and down and down. (Like Alice going down the rabbit hole) Recovering my senses, I quickly use telekinesis to stop her fall. Being paralyzed in the air, Marina screams even louder.

Slowly, I use my mind to pull her back up. Somehow, I manage to do it. I watch silently as Marina walks slowly to a rock and sit on it, not looking at me. Uh-oh. She must be really pissed. And who can blame her? I ruined all the rose petals, poisoned her with my food, destroyed her dress, chosen an ant-infested place to sit at, and caused her to nearly fall off the cliff. Way to plan a Valentine's Day, Nine.

Marina POV

"Marina? I'm- I'm sorry. Really." Nine walk towards me, but I don't say anything. I'm still trying to comprehend what had just happened. At first, although touched by Nine's actions, I was slightly annoyed. Not to sound like a spoilt brat, but, couldn't he have looked at a cookbook or something? And who even makes a sandwich wrongly? When he burnt my dress, I was trying hard not to explode at him, which is saying a lot for me (I'm normally quite gentle). And when I was falling down the mountains, this close to knocking my head, having a head concussion and dying- well, I was shocked, beyond shocked. I still am, which is why I'm not really in the mood to talk to Nine.

"I really tried to make this a special day for you, because I love you. Sorry that I ruined it, but all these were good intentions and I didn't mean it. I hope you're okay and even if you want to break up with me it's-it's fine. I just hope you can forgive me, because I didn't mean to put your life in danger." Nine says softly. I'm struck by how genuine Nine sounds. He really does love and care for me, and all this just about proves it. I know that Valentine's Day didn't matter to Nine, yet he organized all this for me. And what did I do? Complain inwardly and get angry with him. What an ungrateful cow I am.

Nine bends his head and start to walk away. Wait, don't leave me. I put my hand on his shoulder. He stops and turns to look at me.

I'm is crying, but amidst my tears, my eyes are bright and I'm smiling. "No, Nine. Thank you for this wonderful date. I know you've tried, and you've made everything so romantic and beautiful. The mistakes you made only made this day even more perfect, because it shows how much thought and effort you put towards making this day special. By going through all these lengths to making me happy, I know that you truly love me, and I love you too. This day is the most memorable day I've ever had, and it's all thanks to you."

Nine stares at me, mouth agape. "You aren't angry? After ruining your dress? Making you fall down that cliff?"

"Those were all accidents," I say gently. "I know you are sorry, but you don't have to be. I love you." I lean over to kiss him, and the moment feels more magical than ever. At this moment, I know that no matter what happens and what mistakes we make, we'll always be together.

When the moment ends, Nine remembers something. "Oh, last surprise!" He pulls a piece of paper out of the basket. "I passed my calculus test!"

I look at the crumpled piece of paper with Nine's scrawny handwriting, with red streaks all over the place. On the top right hand corner, it reads "C-" I try not to smile as I remember myself getting an A+ for the same test on the first try. I look up at Nine, who is beaming with pride, clearly thinking this score as a huge feat. "Congrats." I say and Nine beams even wider. "Great present, isn't it?"

"The best," I reply, and I mean it. I look at the ocean just ahead of us and raise my hands. The water rises and parts to form a heart shape. Nine sits beside me puts an arm around me. I lean on his shoulder and we sit silently, seeing the beautiful mountains, watching the gentle waves, together.

i hope you liked it! Sorry if this story went overboard, but I found it pretty funny(: so yup, suggest a pairing name, write which ship you want and please review! Thank you!