Author's Note: Sorry it's a little late, but I've finally finished the Oswego High School Host Club Valentine's Special! Sure it's a week late, but better late than never! Enjoy. jinxauthor

Section 53: Valentine Part One

"Here."

Regina thrust the red and pink box under Keith's nose. Her face was crimson with embarrassment and she would not look at him. He had expected something like this, it being Valentine's Day and all, but he was still dreading the moment when Regina would present him with a gift. Now here she was, at his house once again, and she had barely stepped through the door before she'd forced the box into his hands. Keith was completely unprepared for this. "I hope you like chocolate. I, um, made them myself."

Keith lifted the lid hesitantly, "You made them?"

"Well, I got some help from Thomas."

Keith nodded and replaced the lid, "Regina, why don't we sit down? There's something I have to tell you."

He started to take Regina's arm, but she pulled away from him, "Wait, Keith! I… There's something I have to tell you too."

Keith blushed. He could imagine what it was Regina had to tell him. He braced himself for the coming humiliation and directed Regina to the couch. They sat next to each other, the distance between them a little wider than was normally their custom. Neither of them spoke for a few moments, although both had reported that they had something to share.

Keith took a deep breath and decided to take the plunge. "Regina," he began, "The thing is… The way I feel about you…"

"I'm so sorry!" Regina blurted before Keith could finish, "I've been leading you on! I know it was wrong… But I really do like you!"

Keith was confused, and his bewilderment only increased when Regina scooted closer to him and took one of his hands in hers. She was agitated, but this wasn't the love confession he'd expected.

"The truth is I was really trying to… like you. But I just can't see you as anything other than a good friend. I don't know what's wrong with me. You're so nice, Keith. Any other girl would love you but… I just… I'm sorry."

Keith struggled to reorient himself to this new situation, "Wait… Are you… Rejecting me?"

Regina threw her arms around Keith's neck, forcing him back into the cushions of the couch.

"I'm sorry! You're so great, Keith. But I like someone else. I know I shouldn't. He's terrible. But I can't help it. Please don't be mad at me!"

"But the chocolates…"

"Oh, they're for you." Regina detached herself from Keith, her attention shifting to the box. For the first time Keith noticed a similar package poking out of Regina's bag nearby.

"Please don't give them back. I really made them just for you. They're… Like a peace offering. I hope we can still be friends."

Keith stared at Regina, still recovering from his shock. Of course everything was starting to fall into place. He could see exactly what must be going through Regina's head right now in the heightened color of her cheeks. He smiled and took Regina's hand.

"I understand, Regina. Thank you."

She blinked at him. She actually looked like she might cry. "You're not mad?"

"I… I'll manage. But I want to be your friend, too. It's okay if you like someone else."

"I should have known you'd be so understanding," Regina said as Keith lifted the lid off of his chocolates. "God, why couldn't I have fallen for you instead of… that guy."

"It's really okay," Keith said hurriedly. He popped a chocolate into his mouth, surprised by how good it tasted, "Thomas helped you with these?"

"Well, I did all of the work. He just showed me how to do everything."

"Right. Well you did a really good job."

Regina squeezed Keith's hand in thanks and then began to gather her things, "I should go now. I only just stopped by to give you your chocolates and apologize… You're sure you're okay?"

"Oh, sure. I'll muddle through. Actually, I can't say I'm surprised." Keith noticed the edge of the other box of chocolates again as Regina lifted her bag, "Kyle's going to love the chocolates, by the way."

Regina blushed, "Who said I was giving chocolate to Kyle? I mean… Why would I give him chocolates to begin with?"

"Regina, please. Don't insult my intelligence."

Her blush faded as Regina looked down at her platform shoes, "The truth is, I'm not sure I even want to give him the chocolates. He'd probably just make fun of me. He always makes fun of me."

"He only does that cause he likes you."

"No. He's pretty much the same to everybody."

Keith laughed and hugged Regina, but he didn't try to deny what she'd said. It was true that Kyle could be a little off-putting, even unfathomable at times, but Keith knew that he liked Regina as much as she liked him. Regina was just going to have to figure that our for herself.

Regina stayed in his embrace for a moment, then pulled away slightly so she could look in his face, "Say, do you still have something to tell me?"

"What? Oh yeah… You know, it isn't even important anymore."

Section 54: Valentine Part Two

"These are for you."

The flowers were forced into Hilary's hands before she even knew what they were. She stared down at the bouquet with little surprise, noting the mixture of pink and yellow roses wrapped in white paper. She counted a dozen individual flowers among the white baby's breath and shook her head at the extravagance. Roses were expensive.

"Henry… You know you shouldn't have."

The phrase was cliché, but her tone carry the usual ironic joy. Hilary was serious. She was disappointed in Henry.

He noticed her apprehension and bristled defensively, "Now don't get all uptight about it. I said I'd back off and I have. But you can't expect me to just ignore you on Valentine's day. Besides, friends can give valentines to friends."

Hilary looked at the flowers again and smiled. Henry did have a point, even if it was twisted to suit his own purposes.

"Then thank you Henry. They're very beautiful."

Henry grinned with pride, then checked himself before getting too excited. "So, have you gotten any other valentines?"

"Tom gave me a rose and some chocolate today."

She immediately regretted telling him when she saw how Henry's face darkened at the news, but she wasn't going to lie to a direct question. Still, she couldn't help but try to make him feel a little better.

"Don't worry," she said, "He gave the same thing to Kyle. He does this every year, it doesn't mean anything to him." She knew it was true as soon as she said it, but it still hurt to admit that a gift that meant so much to her was just another sign of friendship to Thomas. He never treated anyone better or worse than anybody else. In some ways, Hilary thought that was more cruel than it would be to forget about her entirely on Valentine's Day. At least she'd be receiving differential treatment.

Maybe Henry sensed her feelings or maybe he was just too caught up in his own thoughts, but he didn't press the subject. They continued walking down the halls of the school in silence, Hilary cradling her bouquet and drawing jealous looks from the other female students.

"Henry! Wait up!"

They both stopped at the familiar voice calling out to them. Hilary made a conscious effort to keep her expression the same, but she couldn't think of a worse time for Thomas to burst upon them, especially with the gift he bore.

Indeed, Thomas was carrying not a single bouquet, but scores of white roses. The bunch of them was so large that other students were giving him a wide berth in the already crowded halls. He extracted one of these roses from the group and handed it to Henry along with a small box of chocolate.

"I've been looking all over for you. I found Keith this morning but you weren't with him. He said I'd probably find you with Hilary." Thomas looked at the girl in question with a smile, then he noticed the roses in her arms. "You've got more flowers!"

"Yes… They're from Henry."

Thomas raised his brows in surprise, "Well that's nice. They're quite beautiful."

"We're just friends of course," Hilary said quickly, not wanting to give Thomas the wrong impression, "It's really nothing."

"Or maybe it's something." Henry said, glaring at Thomas. Thomas and Hilary both gaped at him. For her part, Hilary was horrified. Was Henry already going back on his promise to back off for awhile?

Thomas had recovered from his confusion enough to say, "Okay. Well, I'll see you guys later. I have more of these flowers to deliver before next period. Happy Valentine's Day."

He moved away from them, parting the crowd with the massive bouquet, occasionally plucking a flower from the bunch to hand to a passing female, faculty and student alike. Henry watched him go with disgust.

"I told you he treated everyone the same," Hilary said with a sad smile. She inclined her head in the direction of Henry's gift.

"It's not right, him acting that way." Henry said.

"It is if he doesn't have any particular girl in mind," Hilary countered calmly, "It would be different if he actually had a girl he liked. So I guess I should be happy that I still have a chance."

"I'm so not eating these," Henry said abruptly. He handed the chocolate and rose to Hilary. "You have them. Add it to your bouquet."

Hilary shook her head, "Don't get angry on my account, Henry. You should at least enjoy the chocolate. I'm sure he made them himself."

"It's not about you. I just can't stand that guy. But if you won't take them, then fine," he dropped both flower and chocolate to the floor and lifted his foot as if to crush them, then thought better of it. His foot returned to the floor without inflicting any damage. "I'll see you later, okay? Class is going to start soon."

"Okay." Hilary said as he turned away. She was about to leave too. The flowers would need to be stored in her locker during class to avoid any more curious stares. But before she hurried away, she knelt to the ground. Balancing her books and bouquet in one arm she carefully picked up the rose Henry had left behind. She added it to her dozen other roses and smiled. The white petals of Thomas's rose stood out sharply against the yellow and pink of Henry's gift.

Section 55: Valentine Part Three

"Please stop coming to see me at school."

"But I had to! It's Valentine's Day and I wanted to give you your gift!"

"Then wait till I get home!" Freya shouted.

"And miss an opportunity to walk there with you? Never."

Freya glanced around and sighed. She noted the hostile looks of the St. Lawrence students leaving school for the day. Those who weren't openly glaring at her were whispering in groups. She had no doubt they were talking about her and Thomas.

"You're trying to get me killed aren't you?"

"What?"

"Never mind. What's this gift you brought me?"

"Well you see…" Thomas began a little shyly, "I was going to give you a rose as part of your gift, but I underestimated the amount I'd need. I'm afraid I gave the last one to Regina just now."

"Oh… Well that's fine. I don't really like cut flowers anyway. They just die in a couple days."

"Really? I'm sorry to hear that, because when I ran out of flowers I ran to the store and picked these up on the way here."

Thomas pulled the bouquet of flowers out from behind his back, a dozen pink roses. These and a small box of chocolate were forced into Freya's hands.

"Oh god," Freya said before she could help it, then she quickly corrected herself, "I mean, thank you Tom."

"Do you like them? I thought pink would suit you."

"Er… Yeah, they're nice."

"Great!" Thomas said as they started walking. Freya wanted to get away from the school as soon as possible, especially now that she was the embarrassed bearer of an over-the-top bouquet of roses.

"You know," Thomas continued, "Strictly speaking I love Valentine's Day. It's my favorite holiday next to Christmas. But I wish we did it more like the Japanese do."

"Really? How's that?"

"Well you know how in America there's this huge pressure put on the guy to get the girl something nice for Valentine's Day? Jewelry, chocolate, whatever… Well, in Japan the couples do that, but it's also common for girls to give chocolate to the guy they like on that day. Then on White Day, the guys have the opportunity to return their gift with something of their own."

"White Day?"

"March fourteenth. A month after Valentine's Day."

"Got it. So you're saying you want something from me on White Day?"

"What? No! That's not what I meant at all! I…"

"It's okay. I was just kidding."

Thomas stared at Freya. She didn't look like she was kidding. She looked completely serious when she asked. Something about that made him the corners of lips slowly form into a smile.

"Do you like Valentine's Day Freya?"

Freya considered this for a second, then said carefully, "Ever since mom left, Dad has taken me out for dinner every year on Valentine's Day. I never really thought about it before, but I guess I like that tradition."

Thomas froze at the mention of Freya's mother. He'd never heard Freya mention her before. While the curiosity was eating at him, he was never sure if it was appropriate to ask. Even now when Freya had brought it up herself, it just didn't seem appropriate to pry. He remained silent.

"We'll be at the convention on White Day, won't we?" Freya asked after a considerable amount of silence.

"Yes," Thomas replied after some thought, "That Saturday I think."

"Right." Freya said with a determined nod, "I'll remember that."

Section 56: Valentine Part Four

Michael carefully selected another chocolate and popped it into his mouth with relish. He allowed the candy to melt on his tongue, enjoying the flavor the way a wine connoisseur enjoyed a fine vintage. A person shouldn't rush their enjoyment of good chocolate, was Michael's thought, and he'd really done well for himself this Valentine's.

He didn't particularly like the attention he got from the girl's at school. Most of them were too silly or too dull to be worth attending to. And then some of them were way to persistent. Even a crabby attitude like Michael's wasn't enough to keep them away. But on rare occasions they had their uses. Valentine's Day was one such occasion.

"Jeez, I thought you weren't into sweets."

Michael looked up with surprise to see Tyler standing behind the couch. Feeling embarrassed at being caught enjoying his guilty pleasure, Michael was immediately grouchy.

"Don't you ever knock?"

"No."

"This isn't your house. You shouldn't just walk in."

"Then you shouldn't leave your door unlocked. I swear, sometimes I just walk in when you aren't home. I rearrange the furniture in the living room and hide things in your room to see if you'll notice."

"That's you? My parents are going to get a new home security system because of that!"

"It's not like I'm stealing anything," Tyler said as he vaulted over the back of the couch and landed next to Michael. He grabbed one of the chocolates and popped it into his mouth, munching it quickly without properly enjoying it. "So what's the deal with all the candy?"

"I never said I didn't like chocolate. I just don't really care for cake and stuff like that. Chocolate is different."

"So you go out and buy yourself Valentine's chocolate every year? That's sad, bro."

"No. It's given to me. It's not like I even ask for it. But girls like to give me the stuff."

Tyler stared at Michael with amused astonishment. "Never thought you'd be such a lady killer."

"I don't know what their problem is. I don't like any of them."

"So you take chocolate from girls with no intention of accepting their feelings."

"Don't make it sound like I'm a bad guy."

"If it sounds that way to you, maybe it's because you are kind of a bad guy."

He said it with a smile, but Michael took him seriously. "Well what else should I do? Tell them to take their chocolate and shove it? That'd be worse."

Tyler chuckled, "Yeah, you're right."

Michael handed him another piece of candy, one which he knew carried a less-than-desirable filling, "What about you? Did you get anything for Freya?"

Tyler shook his head, "Too soon. Besides, I saw her walking home with Thomas today. She was carrying this massive bouquet. I can only assume he got it for her. I'd rather wait and see how that turns out."

"You must not like her too much then, if you're willing to let Thomas get to her first."

Tyler said nothing. He'd popped the chocolate into his mouth and chewed on it thoughtfully. "Mike, did you give me the toothpaste-filled one on purpose?"

"Absolutely."