TITLE: Roses, Candy, and Champagne
AUTHOR: Jillian
SUMMARY: Zach and Ronnie salvage Valentine's Day with just an hour left.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the mentioned characters. They belong to DEK, FOX, and a number of people luckier than I am. No copyright infringement intended, and I'm not making any money off of them.
AUTHORS NOTES: I wrote this last night (Valentine's Day) after a date with my boyfriend, at like one in the morning. I actually watched the episode for the second time last night with him before we went out, because he had missed it on Monday. Anyway, I hope everyone's Valentine's Day was as wonderful as mine. Enjoy the fic! Feedback is cherished!
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Ronnie looked up at Zach, pressing close to him. Briefly, she noticed Kimberly Woods head for the door. She'd miss her, but that didn't matter now. It mattered that it was Valentine's Day, and she was dancing with Zach. That she wasn't going to follow their damn "rules" anymore. She was going to let herself fall for him, regardless of his age, or what other people thought of them.
She'd been unfair to him, but he didn't honestly expect their relationship to truly be over. The feeling he had for her was strong--it was why he was so hurt when she didn't want to let herself have feelings for him. It was because he *did* have feelings about her, regardless of any rules they had set up. He had to say what he said to her; he couldn't handle her pretending that they weren't together every time someone glanced at them. He wanted to shout it out to the world: he was falling in love with Ronnie Cook.
Ronnie Cook was falling in love with him, too.
She could barely admit it to herself. When she let herself love Harry, it all fell apart. That was another reason she felt she shouldn't commit to Zach. She couldn't deal with losing someone all over again. Part of her said he was too young, that it'd never work. She'd want to settle down while he'd still be in his dating prime. Another part of her, however, shouted out that it didn't matter. Age was just a number.
She started out her agreement with Zach because he "worked her up." He was good looking, she knew that much right away. More importantly, he was fun to be with. She remembered what Harry was like in college, before his world became so jaded. Even before the stabbing things were different. By the end of their relationship, he didn't know how to have fun. More than that, he wasn't himself. He was scaring her, and she realized she didn't love him anymore.
So Zach was a welcome change. He wanted to go out and see stupid movies. He wanted to laugh. He wanted to joke around with her, to tease her, to make her smile. He was what she always knew she wanted; what she once had in Harry.
But he was so young! It would look bad for her to be dating him, and people would talk. Could she deal with that? Would it affect her career? These were the thoughts that had made her agree to see him only under their set of "rules." She couldn't get a chance. At any time, he could leave her, so she couldn't love him. He was just someone she could have a good time with. It may seem to someone on the outside of their relationship that she was using him for the sex, but she wasn't. She was using him for the companionship.
Until she began to fall for him. She didn't mean to hurt him, but she knew that she had. Ronnie didn't realize how much Zach meant to her until he broke off their arrangement. Suddenly, she realized how important to her Zach was. She couldn't stand to think of what she had done to him, that she'd hurt him. So she had to fix things, to apologize. To show him she didn't care *who* was watching them. Silently she looked to him and met his eyes as they danced.
"You wanna get out of here?" He asked.
"Sure." She smiled, and they broke their hold to get their coats. They said quick goodbyes to their friends and colleagues before heading out into the cold Boston winter.
They walked through the snow hand in hand, smiling. Zach was finally *really* happy. She'd admitted it, she didn't say as much but her willingness to be a couple in front of everyone admitted it; she was falling for him. He looked over to her and their gaze met.
"You know, I kinda wanted to celebrate Valentine's Day with you." Zach said.
"Well," Ronnie replied, looking down at her watch, "We've got an hour of Valentine's Day left. I have a pretty good idea of how we can celebrate." she grinned.
"No, I want to get you chocolates, and roses, and champagne." he said.
"Well, you've got an hour to find those things on Valentine's night in Boston." she replied.
"I'm up for the challenge," he said, grinning.
"You've got to be kidding." she laughed back.
"Uh-uh, c'mon, I'll find you all three. And I'll do you one better, I *won't* buy any of them at a gas station."
"Now *that* is thoughtful." Ronnie said.
Her heart fluttered at the typical Zach behavior. It was romantic, (and believe or not, Zach was romantic) playful, light-hearted, and fun. Only Zach could make running around Boston to find chocolates, roses, and champagne with an hour left to Valentine's day fun. Now, he was proposing that he would buy her gifts right in front of her, at the last minute, desperately trying to salvage a bad decision they'd made. So what made that romantic?
The fact that Ronnie fell asleep in Zach's arms, brown paper wrappers in a heart shaped candy box on a bedside table, beside an empty bottle of champagne, and that there were rose petals scattered about the bed.