When Valentine's Day is finally upon them, they have a mostly ordinary day at school. There are definitely couples trying to have as romantic of a day as they can manage despite still having to attend school, and there are hopefuls, trying to confess, but for Byleth, Edelgard, and Hubert, everything remains the same. With their relationship still a secret, there would not be anything they could do to make the school day somehow special, and even if they could, Byleth is not entirely sure they would.
But the day goes on, completely ordinary for them, until the end of their lunch hour. Ferdinand has seemed odd in a way Byleth could not piece together, and she wonders if he is back to feeling awkward about his outburst when Edelgard announced her plans for the future. He seems like there's something he wants to say, and always seems ready to open his mouth to say it, only to back down again, leaving him incredibly quiet in comparison to most days.
That is the first thing that makes their day only mostly ordinary, but what really keeps it from being entirely ordinary is that, at the end of lunch, he finally manages to say something. In a quiet voice, so that no one who might pass by could overhear, he asks, "Do you still not have any plans for tonight?"
"Just the same as always," Hubert replies, giving him a look. He looks ready to ask Ferdinand why he is still so concerned with their Valentine plans, but then, before he does, Ferdinand speaks up again.
"If that's the case, then would it be alright if I came over after school?" he asks. "If you guys already had serious plans, I wouldn't want to intrude, but since that isn't the case...it wouldn't be a problem, would it?"
He wants this to look as though it's a perfectly natural thing to ask, but Byleth still can't help but feel that it's odd. Even if they aren't going out, stuck in because they don't want to expose their relationship or because they don't get much pleasure out of going out anyway, it's still Valentine's Day, and Ferdinand is still inviting himself over, and something seems very deliberate about that.
"That...would be fine," Edelgard replies, likely speaking up before Hubert has the chance to tell him not to. It would have been perfectly understandable for them to turn him down, but Byleth has the feeling that even if Hubert had, it would only have been because he is almost expected to be particularly hard on Ferdinand at this point, and she knows that she would have said it was fine as well.
~X~
They expect Ferdinand to follow them home that afternoon, but when they pull up to Edelgard's house, his car is not behind him. After waiting a few moments, they head inside, certain that he will be along any minute, but an hour passes before they hear anything from Ferdinand. Byleth is just beginning to wonder if he changed his mind and didn't feel the need to tell them when he knocks at the door, and Edelgard goes to let him.
"What do you think you're doing ?" she asks, and quickly, Byleth and Hubert go to join her and see exactly what Ferdinand is doing.
What he is doing turns out to be juggling so much in his arms that Byleth wonders how he was able to knock on the door to begin with. He has three heart-shaped balloons, a large bouquet of flowers, an expensive looking heart-shaped box of candies, and what appears to be a bag of some very fancy coffee beans. Valentine gifts for the three of them, and not the sort that they could even attempt to pass off as platonic gifts, or even peace offerings after the scene he made when school started back. No, Ferdinand's intentions with these gifts are very obvious.
"Can I please come in?" he asks, and Edelgard lets him through so that he can sit the gifts on the table in her living room, the three of them following behind him. The balloons bob where they sit, weighed down by a small sandbag, and Ferdinand stares at them like he's afraid they'll fly away indoors somehow, rather than facing them.
"Is this why you wanted to come over?" Byleth asks, overcoming her surprise enough to voice that question.
"I don't know how else to tell you," he says, finally turning around to face them. "I'm happiest when I'm with you, when I'm with all of you. I never thought it was possible to feel this way, and then...and then seeing that you all understand that and have something like that with each other...you let me be a part of things, but I'm still separate. I don't want to be separate anymore."
So, there it is. And Byleth can't even say that she is surprised by this, because she has watched Ferdinand dance around the subject for weeks now, and she has watched Edelgard, Hubert, even herself, pretend not to notice, and pretend not to think about it and consider it. But now he's brought it up in a way that isn't avoidable, and before they've spoken to each other about it, it is already obvious what the outcome is going to be.
They're in love with each other and Ferdinand is in love with all of them. Ferdinand watches them for a reaction, nervous and expectant, probably bracing himself for rejection, but he has nothing to worry about there. After all, somehow, they've all fallen in love with him, for better or for worse.
~X~
Ferdinand can barely bring himself to leave that night, after what turns out to be a rather eventful Valentine's night in. They attempt to discuss the shift in their relationship, and how he fits into things, only for it to come to their attention that he has already felt like a part of things for a while. The only difference is that, before, they saved any physical affection for after he went home. Now, there's no need for that, and they even spare him some affection as well.
He wants to stay all night, but he still has a family to go home to and they still have school the next day. However, once he's gone, the three of them stay up a little later to discuss this, and talk about when they each started to fall for him.
"Who knows?" Edelgard sighs, sounding defeated. "He's been a thorn in my side since childhood, but here I am...maybe it's always been there."
"I couldn't begin to explain it to you," says Hubert. "He's nothing but a pest, and he had the audacity to try to dance with all of us, and followed us that night, and we haven't been able to shake him since."
"He's been just as much a part of things as either of you have, since the very first day of school," is all Byleth has to say on the subject.
Maybe things should have been more confusing, or maybe they should have had more to talk out, but letting Ferdinand in felt natural, and it's nice to be able to just let it happen, rather than worrying about it.
