I have never liked Valentine's Day.

I used to say it was because it was so commercialised and people shouldn't need a designated day to show that they loved each other. I also liked to bring up the Valentine's Day was originally a day that remember St Valentine, three of them actually, all of whom were martyrs persecuted for their beliefs.

The truth behind why I didn't like Valentine's Day was far simpler than that and had nothing to do with the rest of the world or men that had died many hundreds of years ago. I disliked Valentine's Day because I always thought I would never really celebrate it. No one would want me as their Valentine.

All of that changed this year.

I still wasn't all gooey over the whole thing, as many of the girls at school were, but I enjoyed it more than all the other years. Yesterday, while at Emily's 'working on my Biology assignment', Jared had asked me to be his valentine. I couldn't say no to Jared, and I didn't really want to.

He'd already said that he had something planned for the evening so I couldn't go around there after school. It confused me because he knew that I wouldn't be able to leave the house after dinner without confusing Leah. And I did not want her asking questions. Avoiding certain truths was one thing but having to flat out lie to her... I didn't like that at all.

I was at my locker at the start of lunch, getting rid of my morning textbooks and collecting the ones I'd need for the afternoon. My bag was too heavy when I tried to carry them all, although I had tried when I first started here.

There was a loud bang beside me and I jumped as a shadow flew into my periphery.

"Sorry for scaring you but I figured since it was Valentine's Day I would make some effort."

I closed my locker door and turned to my right, trying my hardest to remain stoic, if not slightly annoyed, "What do you want, Jared?"

"Well, I was going to give you chocolate but I know that you don't like American chocolate. Then I thought I'd give you a rose but I remembered that you don't find roses all that romantic. I settled on giving you a kiss, before realising that you'd probably get Leah to beat me up if I tried. So, I've decided that a smile would suffice. A smile just for you." Jared beamed at me and I wanted to punch him, in the arm, for being so stupid.

I rolled my eyes and made to put the padlock back on my locker, "Keep it, I don't have time for useless junk."

Jared had found a way to make this 'not-in-public' thing interesting. We'd been messing around with it since his first Wednesday back. Role play.

I pretended that I really didn't like Jared and he pretended that he was happy to go through numerous rejections every day. It made for interesting discussions of an afternoon at Emily's, although those afternoons were becoming fewer.

Leah became suspicious on the Tuesday of me going over there because she thought that the project shouldn't take more than an afternoon. Lily came back on the scene as my cover but I started to feel like I was using her, so at least once a week I was actually at Lily's in the afternoon.

Sam and Emily liked the public role play idea and they split up to help us find ways to get at one another. Sam helped Jared come up with stupid pick up lines and come-ons. Emily helped me with witty rebuffs.

"How does it feel to be the prettiest girl in the school?" He asked in a slow drawl.

I really wanted to kiss him. It was the only problem with this role play bullshit, in order to pretend that I didn't want to talk to Jared, I had to be extra careful not to touch him. I just wished Jacob would hurry up and phase already so that I could, in good conscience, tell Jared that I was over this friends crap.

Why did I even suggest it in the first place?

"How does it feel to be the lamest guy in school?" I growled and turned away from my locker, as I turned I saw him slide something into the locker through the horizontal grill in the door.

"Ouch, Sofia. That hurts. I'm not a robot, you know?" he said as he followed me down the hall. I knew the hurt in his voice was faked but I couldn't help but be a little concerned for him.

As I walked through the cafeteria doors I saw Lily and Nina sitting at the usual table and made towards them. Nina glared at Jared, he was enemy number one at our table and I hated pretending that I actually agreed with that. Lily pretended to be annoyed by his presence but I could see the cheer in her eyes.

"Come on, Sofia. I want you." I had made a very bad mistake telling Jared that when he'd said that the first time I had found it quite stirring, because now he brought it up at times when I really wished he wouldn't, like now, "And I know what you want, too?"

I sat down and turned to look at him, "Then why are you still here?"

He gasped and clutched a hand to his heart, "You sure know how to hurt a man. But every rejection will just make that inevitable acceptance so much sweeter."

"Fuck off, Cameron." Leah snapped as she waltzed up to the table and took her seat between Nina and me.

I really didn't like the way Leah and Nina spoke to Jared but I couldn't ask them to stop, not without making them suspicious. I desperately needed to find a way to get Leah to accept that I liked Jared, and hopefully I could do that before I was too deep in this lie to get back out.

"I know when to step down. But rest assured, sweet Sofia, I will not be giving up on us. Not ever." Jared bowed as he backed away and I felt the urge to laugh at him grow to an almost unbearable level.

"That guy is such a fucking creep." Leah groaned as she picked up the plastic knife and fork to eat her lunch.

Nina turned to me, seemingly torn about saying something, "I know that it's not true but I can't help but ask." She glanced at Leah, "There's a rumour that you're sleeping with the hot-head."

"Who?" I asked as Leah choked on her first mouthful of lunch.

She cleared her throat and glared at Nina, "Who the hell said that?"

"I don't know who started it. I think some people have just seen you walking to that chick's place of an afternoon and assumed that there was something going on." Nina explained with her hands held up as if shielding herself from Leah.

Leah's glare snapped over to Kim, who sat with Lucas' friends a few tables over, "Of course it's not true. Sofia's too smart to fall for that shit."

"Who is the hot-head?" I repeated, looking at Nina to answer.

But Nina didn't answer, Leah did.

"Paul Lahote. The one you're doing the project with." Leah turned back to her tray of food.

I often forgot that everyone else thought Paul was violent because that was not a side to Paul that I ever saw.

Leah continued, "I wouldn't be surprised if Lucas thought it up. You know he told Kim that you made a move on him, right?"

I was too shocked to say anything. I had known that he'd told her something but that... I was repulsed by the thought of Lucas, not that he was ugly or anything, but as Paul had said, he was no Jared. And since I met Jared that first time, I had never been even slightly attracted to anyone but him. The idea of me 'making a move on Lucas' was just disgusting.

"He said what?" Lily gasped, just as shocked as I was.

Leah looked at me, "Apparently the first Monday back after Christmas, you got moved to sit next to him in Calculus and you were flirting with him the whole time."

"That is not what happened. That first Monday back..." then I remembered that Jared had been moved that first Monday, the day Paul pushed Kyle, "Jared was made to sit with Lucas, not me."

"That lying prick." Nina growled and looked over at Lucas, who was telling a story with a massive smile on his face, oblivious to the anger we were feeling towards him.

It explained a lot. About why Kim had lost it with me. And I didn't care. She had made her bed, now she could lie in it. I just hoped that she was happy with Lucas because otherwise it had all been for nothing.

With that revelation finally out in the open, I actually had a far more pleasant afternoon than I thought I would. After Calculus I walked home with Leah and spent the afternoon watching crappy romances with her. Watching romances with someone as generally unromantic as me was quite nice. None of my other friends seemed to notice the stupidity of romances.

Then again, wasn't I currently in a romance? It was almost befitting the silver screen, this crap that I was going through with Jared. Just the thought of him made me smile and if that wasn't a sign of a crappy romance than I didn't know what was.

Thinking of Jared reminded me that he had something planned for this evening. It also reminded me of the note that Jared had put in my locker.

Dear Valentine,

Beautiful eyes, beautiful face,
I'm shy to talk to you.
You're the eagle I must watch
No matter what I do.

You're the beauty, wild and free,
The mistress of my eyes,
Rolling through exultant air,
Alone in pristine skies.

I would take you for my own
Could I but have your wings,
Could I but go where night begins
And frozen sunlight sings.

Could I but have you for my love,
How might we fly together!
But I must watch you from below
And long for you forever.

But I must be the one below
And long for you forever.

Love your American Gizmo

XOXO

P.S.

I have a surprise for you tonight

Your room, 11 o'clock, don't be late

It was one of the longest notes I had ever gotten, but definitely one of the best.

Jared had been playing with my phone one afternoon and found that I had listed his number under Gizmo. He'd been surprisingly happy when he found that and then decided he liked to be called the American Gizmo, by me anyway.

Paul laughed at him and calls him Butterfly instead, because Gizmo is a Papillon, or Butterfly Dog. Paul thought he was smart when he thought it up. Who was I to take that from him?

All I had to do was wait until a reasonable hour to say I was tired and head off. Even I couldn't fuck that one up.

And I didn't.

At eleven o'clock, exactly, there was a clatter from somewhere in my room. It sounded like someone knocking on a door but somehow not. I sat up and looked around, to find Jared staring at me from the other side of the window.

I jumped off the bed and unlocked the window. Jared could open it himself but I needed to get the computer monitor off the desk so that he could get in. I pulled it off the edge of the desk and held it as he clambered in, with masterful silence.

The weight of the monitor and the bite of the sharp plastic that was digging into my hand made it feel like he was going a little slower than necessary. It was a welcomed relief to my now sore fingers when I was able to put it back on the desk and turned to Jared.

He was only wearing shorts, like usual, but he carried several things in his hands. One was a bouquet of flowers, which seemed romantically trite to me but regained some of the romance when I realised they weren't roses. It was the only thing I could actually make out because of its size.

The bouquet consisted of a collection of familiar flowers, with leaves of subtle rustic greens. I could smell them from where I stood; I imagined that it was like a former alcoholic noticing the aroma of their favourite beverage from three feet away. They were Australian Natives. Banksias, Kangaroo Paws and Leucadendrons. It was home in a bunch.

He offered it to me and I took it gratefully, in both hands. I held the bouquet up to my face and took a deep breath. There was nothing like the smell of the Australian bush and I felt instantly homesick at the scent. Although it was a nice sort of homesick.

Without a single word he went over to my CD player and opened the lid, taking out the Yunupingu CD and replacing it with the one he had brought with him. He closed the lid and pressed play, I knew the song the second it started. Thankfully the volume was low enough so as not to wake anyone else in the house, but easily loud enough for me to hear.

Sideways, by Citizen Cope featuring Santana. I'd recommended the CD it was from to Jared, saying it was one of my favourites. I looked at him and he smiled.

"I listened to the CD. This song made me think of you. They're all songs that make me think of you. It's your CD." He whispered as he took the bouquet from my hands and placed it on the desk. As he did so he grabbed the last object from the desk and passed it to me.

It was a photo, in a beautiful wooden frame. I stroked the glass of the frame as my eyes scanned the picture. It was a photo of forest that surrounds La Push and, lying amongst the bright green foliage of the ground cover, was a handsome brown wolf. I looked up at Jared. It wasn't just any wolf, it was Jared.

"It's a recycled wood frame and I figured that this way no one would be suspicious of you having a photo of me. And..." Jared stepped right up in front of me, taking the photo in a manner similar to how he took the bouquet, but putting it on my bedside table.

He was so close to me that I was staring at his chiselled chest when I looked straight ahead. I could feel the fantastic heat of his beautiful body and found myself wondering how I had gotten this lucky. Jared used a single gentle finger to lift my chin so that I was looking up at me.

He looked like he was going to say something, but thought better of it. Instead, he leant down and kissed me.

I flung my arms around his neck, desperate to deepen the kiss. It had been way too long since we'd done this. And I don't think we'd ever done this without a werewolf being within one hundred feet, which had always held us back some. Now, we didn't have to hold back, or at least not as much as we did around the others.

Jared grabbed my thighs and heaved me up onto his hips. I wrapped my legs around his waist, thankful that he was so strong because no other guy could stand with me like this. He walked us to the bed and lowered me slowly backwards, before crawling onto the bed to stand on all fours over me.

Author's Note:

Sorry, ending here.

If you want to see the bouquet that I think fits the best with what I was thinking than go to this address