I think I've developed a fetish for torturing Blake when it comes to romance. I blame it all on the I Love Lothor episode.
Blake/Tori
"Maybe planned romance just isn't your thing."
" ... You think?"
They stared at the remains of the table in front of them. Originally the tiny, circular table had been covered with a beautiful lace tablecloth in a shade of pale blue he'd probably never be able to find again in his life. The place settings hadn't been china, but the simple white plastic plates and clear silverware looked elegant enough. And in the center, a vase full of specially ordered blue-tinted roses, with white candles on either side carefully placed in tall, faux - crystal holders.
Now only a rough three - quarters of the the tablecloth remained, with a large black crescent to show at what point the fire had finally gone out. The table itself was charred, and the all the plates and silverware had partially melted. The roses had found themselves 'dried' faster than the way either of them would have preferred, and were now blacker than even the tablecloth. The candles had left wax on everything, and the whole disaster was both soaking wet and covered in white foam from the fire extinguisher.
Blake bit down on his lower lip to keep it from trembling as he fought desperately not to cry.
This was the first Valentine's Day he'd ever spent with a real girlfriend, let alone one he adored as much as Tori, so he wanted to make it special for her. He'd come up with an entire grand scheme to sweep her off her feet, labled 'The Fourteen Days of Valentine's'. Rather than spending just a single day to tell her how much he lo - cared about her, he'd give her all the days leading up to Valentine's, beginning on the first of the month. He'd made plans, hoarded paychecks as well as he could, and carefully thought out each detail.
It was all downhill from there.
On the first day of the month, he sent her a traditional Valentine's Day card through the mail. Somehow between the mailbox and her house, it had been thoroughly soaked to the point that all the ink ran. Even he couldn't read the message now.
The second day he'd sent candy. No one had ever bothered to tell him she was allergic to nuts. Which meant a very large, very useless box of chocolates that she couldn't eat. Dustin and Hunter were thrilled when she finally left them at Storm Chargers.
Day Three, the roses were send to the wrong address. On Day Four, the soft, white teddy bear clutching a red satin heart bearing the words 'Be Mine' was set flying into a mud puddle when Shane and Dustin had been roughhousing a little too close for comfort. Day Five he learned that she hated chocolates with any sort of fruit filling - he'd nearly punched Dustin and Shane for the muffled cheer he heard coming from the store room. He tried to make up for it on Day Six with a large box of fudge truffles, but Dustin saw them sitting out on the counter yet again while he was working, and happily helped himself. The second teddy bear for Day Seven, this time brown with big, sad eyes and a rose in one paw, had been shredded - literally - in a battle with some Kelzaks. For Day Eight, the second attempt at flowers were somehow mangled during the delivery until they had hardly any petals left. Day Nine he'd almost been arrested for the brawl he'd gotten into with the florist over both yesterday's flowers and the ones he'd tried to get for that day - Hunter had lectured him on that one for hours, the hypocrite. Then there was the little girl he'd met on Day Ten who'd broken her arm roller skating. She was frantic and in tears, so he'd given her the newest teddy bear attempt to try and calm her, telling her it was big enough to hug her back when she felt sad. For Day Eleven he'd gotten serious, choosing a delicate silver ring with a tiny blue topaz heart to give her. Kelly had happened to see him fussing with the ring box and had gently informed him that four months of dating was a little soon for giving rings, and that a ring wasn't the best choice for a surfer to begin with. By Day Twelve he was so frustrated he'd decided he didn't care if it was inappropriate or not; he was giving her the stupid ring anyway. He was ambushed by another group of Kelzaks when he left the jewelry store, and the chain he'd picked out to make sure she wouldn't lose it while she was surfing had been horribly mangled during the fight. And of course, the chain snapped when he tried to untangle it. Yesterday, Day Thirteen, he'd nearly been at the end of his rope ... and the nice, safe, simple e-card never made it to her e-mail address.
And now today, Day Fourteen, the 'official' day, he'd lit the tablecloth for their candlelit dinner on fire when he accidentally knocked over one of the candles.
"Blake ... ?" Tori asked tentatively, reaching out to carefully touch his arm.
He blinked rapidly, swallowing the scream that threatened to tear itself from his throat. "Yeah?"
"Why did you do all this? I mean, I appreciate it, but you didn't have to."
"Because it was better than the motocross tools?" he sighed, rubbing at his forehead. "I'm sorry. It's just ... I wanted to show you how much I ... care about you. Make you feel special for once, not just like one of the guys, you know?"
He debated, then decided he really didn't care anymore if it was the wrong thing to do or not. He dug into his pocket for a moment, pulled out the ring box, and just sort of shoved it at her. "Here. I ... I thought you might like it. If you don't ... " He tried to tell her not to feel guilty if she didn't want it, but he was too frustrated and upset to do it. Instead he sort of waved vaguely in her direction. "Just ... yeah."
There was a sudden soft gasp, and silence.
He closed his eyes and fought back a groan. This was officially, without a doubt, the worst Valentine's Day ever. Lothor should just send down a monster right now and put him out of his misery.
A hand gently brushed his jaw. "Blake?"
He opened an eye warily, afraid of what he'd see. "Yeah?"
Tori's smile was warm, and tears sparkled in her eyes as she reached out with her other hand to cup his face. The ring sparkled merrily on her left hand. "Next time, just get the motocross tools." she murmured, leaning in for a kiss.