Happy Valentines Day! Not my best work, but it sure was hard to write! I was up till 4 writing this. I might go back and edit this but I wanted to get this up for V-day 3

Madeline only got like this twice a year: her piano recitals and the school Valentine's Day dance, and god was it worse when she had a date.

"Hurry up, mon petites!" called her Papa. "It is time to go to the school now!"

The fourteen-year-old twins were in their shared bedroom, taking forever to get ready. Madeline had just finished putting on her new red dress and was now styling her hair, the contents of her makeup kit strewn across her bed.

Her twin brother Alfred rolled his eyes at her.

"C'mon, you look great, let's go already."

"I do not. My eye makeup's lopsided and I still need to do something else important."

"Well, I can't tell, so it's not that bad."

"You wouldn't know the difference between highlighter and foundation if I gave them to you labeled."

He shrugged. "It's just a school dance anyway." He only went himself because their parents liked to have a romantic Valentine's day, and he usually hung out at the table eating all the chocolate covered strawberries.

Madeline silently told him to shut up. He replied with a grin and was about to add something when her phone buzzed on the shelf. Rolling her eyes, she reached over, but after picking it up, she froze. "E-EH?!"

"Hey, what is it?" asked Alfred. Maddie didn't respond, so he grabbed it from her. What immediately worried him was that she let him.

He read the screen and emotionlessly asked his sister, "Do you want me to beat him up for you?"

Her eyes flickered and she nodded. She was trying to come across as angry but Alfred could tell she was close to crying.

"How am I supposed to show my face there when Gilbert just left me for a girl with 'BIGGER BOOBS', eh?!"

Alfred gave her phone back. "What a douche," he growled, "talking to you like that. He'll be going home with a black eye at least."

"GET DOWN HERE AT ONCE!"

The twins jumped at the sound of their mother's angry British yelling. Alfred whispered, "We'll figure things out," as the two ran to their parents' Kia.

"About bloody time, you two. Oh good god Alfred, are you seriously wearing that dusty old jacket?" Alfred was uncharacteristically quiet. The shock was about to wear off, and Maddie was about to either get very dangerous or just start crying.

He slid his hand to hers and squeezed it.

"Oh, Alfie, what am I going to do, eh?" she whispered miserably. "My friends have dates this year! I'm gonna be all alone...and I won't get to dance..." Her indigo blue eyes started to swim with tears, and his heart sank.

Look, Alfred may have been a total asshat at times, but when his twin was actually upset, he couldn't ignore it.

Without thinking, he blurted out, "I'll be your date then." Maddie flushed red, but then her eyes narrowed. "You hate dancing," she reminded him.

"Not enough to let that asshole ruin your night. C'mon Maddie, let me make things better."

There was a brief silence during which Maddie finally let her tears fall, and hugged him.

"My hero."

Alfred couldn't keep himself from smiling at that.

When they made it to the school, her makeup was ruined but she was smiling again. He offered his hand and led her into the school.

Luckily, their Papa sped off before their mom could set them any rules.

On the way to the gym, Alfred kept a possessive arm around his sister. She didn't seem to mind it at all, and was in fact acting a little dazed.

A bubbly upperclassman from the dance committee was fundraising outside the gym. He waved at the twins.

"Ve~welcome! Buy a rose for your date?"

Alfred checked his jacket pocket, then nodded. "How much?"

"Just a dollar!" The boy accepted the money, put it away with a grin and waved them in. "Grazie mille, now pick your favorite and go have fun! Ve~"

Alfred chose a big red one and held it out to Maddie.

"Here, do you like this one?"

"Y-yeah, thanks Alfie." She accepted it, blushing darkly. It was a romantic sort of gift, but he didn't really seem to notice.

The gym was overdecorated to say the least. Fallen streamers and balloons littered the floor, and the walls were covered in pink and red paper lace. A sound system was playing the pop radio station, teenage couples and friend groups dancing to it all over the room. To top it all off, there was a photo booth for couples set up by the bleachers.

The whole thing was pretty cheesy from Alfred's perspective, but Maddie seemed excited, and he quickly found himself being dragged into the middle of things.

"C'mon, Alfie! I wanna dance, eh!" She grinned and wove the rose into her long wavy hair. "You promised we would!"

"I did, didn't I?" he sighed.

It wasn't long before both twins were shaking their asses to some Post Malone crap. Despite not really liking to dance, Alfred had just as much skill as his sister and they looked amazing together.

Song after song went by, and Alfred was even getting into it a little. It was kind of nice to spend time like this, surrounded by people but at the same time alone with Maddie. She was a fun sister.

A slow song eventually came on, and everyone was getting closer. Alfred was about to take her to the bleachers to wait it out when he felt hands on his shoulders.

Maddie told him, "Hands on my hips. This was the part I was excited for this year."

It was Alfred's turn to blush. He didn't like how his hands felt on her hips: they felt fine, and that was the problem.

The twins made eye contact every now and then as they slow dance, every now and then exchanging a little smile. They felt close, intimate, and even though it felt wrong, it also felt nice and they couldn't deny it.

When the song ended, they stood there staring at each other as everyone started kissing.

Eventually, Alfred cleared his throat. "Uhh, so, let's take a break and head to the food table, yeah?" Maddie quickly nodded, albeit with a small frown.

When they were there, Maddie's hand stiffened in Alfred's. He turned around to see a smirking Gilbert on the other side of the table, waving at her, a rather voluptuous senior on his arm. Alfred fought to stay calm.

"I'll take care of this real quick, okay?"

"Just don't get hurt..." Maddie trailed off in confusion when he disappeared in the exact opposite direction of the problem.

It got boring fast for her once he was gone. All she did was stand there, people-watching while munching on barbecue chips and Walmart cupcakes.

When Alfred returned, he was out of breath but sporting a huge grin.

"He's gonna regret everything."

"Alfie, tell me you didn't go report him to a teacher..." Maddie groaned.

"Worse." His smile widened. "I told Ivan Braginsky that some pervert's going out with his sister just because of her breast size."

Ivan was one of his friends, a big tall Russian who enjoyed assaulting people with a faucet pipe he carried around.

Maddie's jaw dropped. "That was Ivan's sister?"

"Yep."

"And you told him?"

"Mmhm."

"Isn't that a bit extreme?"

"He had the nerve to throw my sister out like trash, he can deal with the consequences."

She laughed diabolically. "I like that. Let's go, I wanna dance some more, eh!"

Alfred didn't mind this time.

The twins danced together for about another hour before they got tired and went to go hang out in the bleachers.

"Y'know, Alfie," said Madeline thoughtfully, "I'm glad that asshole ditched me. This is really fun, eh."

"I'm having a good time too, even when we're dancing."

Maddie bit her lip. "I want to go with you again next year, too."

Alfred laughed nervously. His sister had been acting differently for a while, and he really didn't want to have that conversation."C'mon Mads, you'll find someone new by then."

"What if I don't want to?" she replied timidly.

"H-Hey, um..." He scanned around for an emergency diversion. "Wanna go get pictures? There's no line."

Her eyes lit up. "Let's go!"

As soon as they got there, Alfred regretted it. They were ushered into the booth by an upperclassman with an annoying habit of valley-girl speak.

"Come in, come in, oh my God, you are, like, such a cute little couple! Like, what're your names?"

Alfred spoke up, "I'm Alfred, this is Maddie, and actually, she's my-"

"Like, thanks Alfred. Okay, so, like, go stand over there, both of you, and I need you to, like, follow my directions, okay?"

The twins did as told, although Alfred was a little annoyed that he was interrupted.

"Perfect! So, like, for this one, just smile for me, okay?"

He relaxed and beamed at the camera.

"3-2-1-perfect, so, okay now, like, same thing, just look at each other this time."

Maddie's smile was beautiful. She was practically glowing. Alfred couldn't help smiling back at that gorgeous face.

"Love it! Alright, like, give each other a kiss for the camera!"

Alfred went to protest, but before he could say anything, there were soft lips pressed against his and slender arms pulling him closer. It felt good, but he wouldn't let himself like it.

"Awww, like, lovely! Great job, you two! All right, so, like, time for funny faces, okay?"

Maddie broke the kiss to pull a cute little tongue-out eyes-rolled face, while her brother just stood there with a look of shock.

"Alfred, I seriously have, like, never seen such a flawless Hank Hill impression, like, oh my God." The photographer giggled. "Prints are only, like, five dollars. You were, like, seriously good subjects."

Recoiling slightly at the insult?, Alfred rummaged for a five and handed it to the guy. Maddie picked up the prints.

On the way out, her brother tapped her shoulder.

"We need to talk."

She nodded and took him out into the hallway, past the Italian boy from before who waved at them happily as they went.

Alfred started, "I'm your twin brother. We can't do things like that."

"Why not?"

He took a deep breath. "Because I'm your twin brother, Maddie! It's wrong!"

"If it's so wrong, why do I love you like this, eh? I know you love me more than a sister, too."

"But we can't!"

"Who's going to stop us, Alfie? It's what's in both of our hearts, eh."

Alfred looked around them uncertainly, then sighed. "I guess...as long as we don't get caught..."

She smiles softly. "I love you."

Their lips met for the second time, and this time, sparks flew. Alfred could never hide the way he felt about his sister forever, and it felt good to show her at last.

They jumped apart when they heard clapping from down the hall, but it was just the Italian again. "Ve~That was beautiful!" he called tearfully. "Your love is strong, like my love for pasta!"

The twins just smiled at each other. They had a long night ahead of them~