It began to get warmer out after January had past. Even so, Collins and I would still snuggle at night as if the world would freeze over. However, I was left cold and alone one morning. I woke up, rather cranky that the first thing in the morning I didn't see was Collins's face. I was also hungry, very hungry. I didn't eat the night before…I'd rather not discuss why, it was completely voluntary, and Collins was all for it. I'll leave it at that.

So, I wake up, and looked at the lonely pillowcase next to me. He's not there. Where could he have gone? Not to work, not this early, no he only helped out after school. He would have woken me if he had to go anyway. Wasn't it Saturday? I don't even know what day it is. My mind just figured he had to go to the bathroom. I sat up and stretched, rubbing my eyes, and looked around my room. I looked back at the pillowcase he was sleeping on last night, and my eyes widened. A single white rose lay against his pillow. That was what made me want to get up. I threw the blankets off myself, and put a long t-shirt on, covering my knees. It wasn't mine. I ran to the sheet to go to the big room, which Collins calls it, but before I could, my lover immediately halted me into a deep kiss. Found him. He wrapped his arms around me. It scared me, but that feeling only lasted for a second. He must have been waiting there for a long time. I just kissed him back. Why was he acting like this? I wasn't complaining, I just didn't know where this was coming from.

Did I do something last night? Oh, now I know. I didn't make him use a condom. That doesn't make any sense though. All this for a condom? They weren't that expensive. Did he know something I didn't? Oh my God. I'm pregnant aren't I-Angel seriously, shut up.

I opened my eyes almost immediately after I felt his hands creeping up the shirt I wore to my behind. Sorry baby, I just woke up. I broke his kiss, and nonetheless, he smiled at me happily, and nuzzled up to my face. That cute goofy smile on his face. I giggled, I couldn't help it.

"Tom, baby, what's gotten into you this morning?" I asked him, and giggled happily as his fingers lightly touched my thigh. I'm too ticklish, or so he says.

"I thought out of all people you would know." He said, and kissed my ear, making me laugh again, and I hit his chest.

"Stop that." I told him, and he shook his head. "Baby, what's going on?" I asked him again, and he looked at me.

"Surely at least Mimi would have told you." He told me, and I thought about it. I gasped.

"I'm not pregnant am I?" I asked him, almost horrified. He proceeded to laugh louder than I've ever heard him. He let go of me, and held his knees.

"Angel cake!" He almost shouted. Angel cake, that's what he called me. I liked it, but I ignored it for now. I wanted to know what was so funny.

"What?" I whined, and pouted. He looked up at me, and laughed again, standing up. He looked at me curiously, and held me again.

"Angel…sweetie, are you kidding?" He asked, and I sighed.

"Collins! Not that. I meant what's gotten into you." I told him, getting annoyed, and he sensed it immediately, and kissed my jaw, and whispered in my ear.

"Happy Valentine's Day my Angel cake." He told me softly, and I squealed happily, and kissed him with everything I could muster. Valentine's Day, no wonder I forgot. I hadn't played Valentine since I was a kid. I just kind of gave up on it, thought it was stupid, but now I have someone to share it with. It is a meaningless, Hallmark, mainstream holiday. But if it gives me an excuse to make out with Collins in public, I'm fine with it. He let go of me, and kissed my nose. "Now, I made you some breakfast. We'll eat, and I want you to get dressed and prettied up for today, okay?" He asked me, and I giggled.

"Okay." I said, and he walked me over to the couch, and sat me down. I watched him go to the kitchen nook and bring over a plate of pancakes. You know, the kind with strawberries and whipped cream. My heart melted. We never ate like this, last time we did was the first time he was over. I looked at him pathetically. He set the plate down, and looked into my eyes.

"Don't give me that look Angel. You scare me sometimes when I watch you eat." He told me sternly. "You'll eat every bite of this." He said, and I went right to the pout. "Hey! Bad Angel. I want you to be nice and fat for me." He told me, and my eyes got all big. No, bad COLLINS. I am not getting fat. No, none of that madness. He chuckled, and leaned up to me. "Don't worry, I'll make sure you burn it off." He said in a low voice. I smiled at him, and kissed him sweetly, and he took it for a few seconds. "Now eat sweetheart." He said, and handed me a plate.

"Thank you so much baby." I told him, and took a bite of pancake, and smiled. He was really good at these. I saw him make them last time. He adds vanilla and chocolate extract to the mix. He's too cute. He wrapped an arm around me, and held me close as he ate.

"You're welcome." He said softly, his mouth full of food. I giggled, and took another bite.

"You're a pig." I told him, and realized I still had food in my mouth while I was talking too. He laughed.

"Oh really?" He asked me, and in retaliation, I wiped some of my whipped cream on his nose. He laughed again, and I giggled, licking it off of him. He gave me a smirk, his arm held me closer. He took my plate and put it on the table, and his went in his lap. He put a strawberry on his fork, and fed it to me. This is exactly how I pictured Valentine's Day to be. I loved him so much. He was trying to help me when I didn't need it. I almost couldn't wait to see what he did when I did need help.

When breakfast was over, which took close to an hour and a half, but we don't play by those silly rules, Collins told me to go in the shower. I smiled at him, and walked to the bathroom after stealing one of the hundreds I stole from him that morning. I shut the door, and turned on the water, hoping it would warm up once I got my pajamas off. When I stepped in, I was lucky. It was pretty warm. I would have to be quick because it might not stay that way. I soaped myself up, and reached for my shampoo, and while I did, I pricked my finger. I jumped, and placed the hurt finger in my mouth, and opened my eyes. I looked on the little sill that held my shampoo, and there was an orange rose there. My heart melted, but came back to life when the water got cold, cold very fast.

I quick shampooed and rinsed my body off. I grabbed a wet and soapy washcloth to shave my legs with after I turned the water off. I doubt there was a reason I was shaving. I did last night, and I was going to be wearing at least tights all day. I knew I had to shave my face. Worst part of the day, shaving my face. It was okay shaving my legs, you know, because normal women did that. Normal women didn't shave their faces. Girls didn't have facial hair, with the few exceptions of course. But, they don't have a few other things I have. Collins doesn't complain about that.

I walked out of the bathroom, a towel around my hair, and a bathrobe on. Collins was doing dishes, and I walked into the bedroom. I grabbed a few things from my closet. I took my bathrobe off, and put on a pair of underwear and hot pink tights, then another pair of underwear. It's been a habit of mine since I was little. On went a red skirt, and a white sweater. Even that couldn't be warm enough. I put on pink legwarmers to match my tights, and white Mary-Jane's. I took the towel off my head, and dried my hair, and pulled it back in a net, and sat myself down in front of my mirror, and opened a big box of make-up. Cover-up first, then rogue and red lipstick, then I played around with shades of pink and red on my eyelashes, and heavy mascara. I figured my face was absolutely perfect, so I moved to the last bit, and opened my closet again, and took out a head mannequin with my black bob wig on it. I brushed it out carefully, and placed a little red heart barrette in it. I smiled, and placed it on my head carefully, and placed in necessary bobbypins. I stood, did a little twirl for the mirror, and walked out for Collins, who had now moved to the windowsill, smoking. He was looking out the window, which was open. He didn't want me to inhale the smoke. I thought that was just too cute. I walked over to him, and sat behind him, and began to massage his shoulders, kissing his jaw.

"I'm ready baby." I told him softly, and he turned to face me, getting a nice kiss. He let go, and stood up. I sat back on the sill and smiled up at him. He stared at me, and took my hand gently, standing me up.

"Turn around for me girl." He told me, and I did a little spin, and he stopped with his hands when my back was to him. "That's my favorite." He said, and I turned my head to look at him, but I felt a pressure on my behind again, and I jumped.

"Collins!" I said, and faced him, grinning. "You're very fresh mister man." I said, and he grabbed me, holding me tight, lifting me off the ground a bit. I held on for my dear life, even though I knew he couldn't drop me. I cracked up, his hair tickling my neck. "Hey! Put me down!" I shouted, laughing. He lifted me up higher, until I was about two feet off the ground, and looking down at him, holding his arms for support. "I've got a nice shot of you if I wanna hurt you." I threatened, squeezing his arms, freaking out. He gave me a look.

"But you wouldn't." He said smirking, and I lifted on of my feet back, ready to kick.

"You wanna bet?" I asked him, and his facial expression changed.

"Okay." He said, sighing, and set me up on his shoulders. I screamed, and held onto his head, and he grabbed my legs. "You aren't going anywhere cake." He told me, and pushed my skirt up so it wasn't covering up his face.

"That's what you think." I muttered, and swung my legs, hitting his chest which my heels lightly.

"Don't be so grumpy Ang'." He said, and walked over to the couch. Before he could sit, I grabbed a hold of a pipe coming from the ceiling, and held myself up that way. He sat down, but I didn't go with him. I turned around on the pipe so I sort of faced him. He looked up at me, and raised an eyebrow. "Now, how are you getting down baby?" He asked me, and I smiled. Now he was going to get it. I let go of the pipe, and fell into his lap like a rag doll. I laughed as his body jumped and his arms caught me. I had done it before, I wouldn't hurt myself, but he just made my life.

"I'm a big girl, I can do it myself." I told him, and kissed his nose.

"You're a big girl who's going to earn herself a concussion soon." He told me, and I rolled my eyes.

"No." I told him, and he stood up, keeping me up, my legs wrapped around his waist. He held my thighs, and nuzzled my nose, and nodded his head. I shook mine, and we continued our nose war for a while until he kicked the apartment door open with his foot. I slid off of him as we left the room. "Where are we going?" I asked him, and he just looked towards the stairs.

"Outside." He told me, and I huffed out.

"Smart ass." I muttered, and he pinched my behind, causing me to squeal, and jump a bit. I rubbed my behind, and looked at him. "No, seriously, where are we going?" I asked him, and he just shrugged. I groaned dramatically. "Cooolllliiiinnnnsss…" I moaned, and he chuckled, holding me tight as we walked out of the building.

"What? You just need to be patient young lady." He told me, and I pouted again. I knew I wasn't going to get my way. "You'll love it cake, just wait." He told me, and I sighed.

"I had better, or I'll kill you." I muttered, and he laughed.

"Now, first place we need to be is the loft." He said, and pulled be down the street toward Mark and Roger's. I looked at him funny, and looked up at him.

"Why?" I asked, wondering how those two would help on Valentine's Day.

"You'll see when we get there." He said, and I groaned again.

"Just shoot me with a horse tranquilizer and wake me up when you're ready." I mumbled, and he sighed.

"Angel cake, it's going to be worth it. Now stop being such a scutch." He told me.

"I can't help it." I mumbled, walking funny now, I was so anxious. "I've never done this sort of thing before." I admitted. He looked down at me.

"Seriously?" he asked, as we entered the depths of the staircase of Mark and Roger's loft.

"Yeah, seriously." I said, and sighed. I really didn't want to talk about my lack of experience with my current lover. Permanent lover.

"That's a bit shocking." He said, and held me tighter, rubbing my arm.

"Yeah, and I do not want to talk about it." I told him, and he shrugged.

"Fine, I understand." He said, and laid a kiss on my head. He knocked on Roger and Mark's door, and opened it. "Where are ya, crazy crackers?" He shouted, and I laughed.

"Oh Collins." I mumbled, and he kissed me sweetly. I kissed him back, and hands on his arm, and we heard a cough. We let go of each other, and looked to where the cough came from. Both Mark and Roger stood in front of us.

"Having a good time?" Roger asked, and lifted an eyebrow. I blushed, and giggled.

"Jealous Roger?" I asked him, and winked. He took a step back. I walked over to Roger, and gave him a hug, and kissed his cheek. He tensed up immediately, and I laughed. "Oh sweetie, it's alright. You won't catch my gay or anything." I told him, and Collins snorted. I looked at Mark, who stood there, like Mark always did. Poor sweetie. I walked over to him, and did the same routine, and whispered gently into his ear, "Happy Valentine's Day Markie." I heard him laugh faintly, and I grinned at him. Those wild blue eyes always made my day, no matter how sad or down he was.

"Thanks Angel." He replied and showed me a bit of a smile. "You too." He added, and I laughed. Roger cleared his throat and took Collins by the arm and walked him into the hallway. My eyes followed them, and I began to walk, wondering where they were going, but Mark grabbed my arm, keeping my back. I could have gotten out of his grip, but there wasn't any need. I looked at him, and sighed, walking over to the couch. He followed me, and sat next to me, but kept a small distance. He was so cute.

"You have any plans today?" I asked him, and he sighed, fiddling with his hands.

"I did about four months ago." He said, and looked at me, smirking. He needed someone, he really did. Not Maureen, I love the girl, but honestly, she wasn't right for him, or anyone who didn't want their heart broken.

"You just wait sweet thing, you'll have your chance." I told him, and rubbed his arm. He looked up at me, and smiled awkwardly, or like Mark always would when he didn't know what to say. He looked me over, like he often did. I didn't find it weird, usually, it as just him adjusting to my outfits. Today, mine was pretty modest though.

"You look nice today." He said, and I giggled, holding his hand and squeezing it.

"Thanks baby!" I squealed, and kissed him lightly on the lips. I would do that from time to time with Mark. Of course, I would only save my real kisses for Collins. He never expected them though, you could tell, because his eyes were always really wide when I looked back at him, and he went from Caucasian to this Cabaret type of red. Just as we parted, or at least, until I let him go, Collins and Roger emerged, Collins carrying a bag with him. I stood up.

"Come on baby let's go..." He said, looking at me, and down at Mark. Seeing his face, Collins frowned. "Something wrong? You look sick." Collins asked, and I giggled. Mark's face was still really red.

"No...no..." Mark muttered nervously. "Just...yeah...there's nothing wrong. Don't worry about it." He said, and Collins sighed.

"Alright then." He said, and began to walk, but took my hand first. "You two be good, and thanks again!" He said, and saluted them good-bye. He walked me out of the loft after I quickly waved to the two boys. After he closed the door, I looked at Collins with my arms crossed. "What?" He asked me.

"What's in that bag?" I asked him, and poked his stomach. He winced, and rubbed where I hurt him.

"You'll see baby." He told me, and yanked my arm to make me follow, but I stood my ground. He turned to looked into my eyes, and he gave me the face. That puppy dog sexy persuasive dark look that always got his way. I groaned.

"Nooo..." I whined, and he chuckled, knowing I was caving in.

"Come on lovely." He told me and kissed me sweetly. After, he looked into my eyes, and I sighed.

"Only if I can have another kiss." I said, and he grinned, kissing me again, holding the small of my back. We stood there for a bit, and the loft door opened. I turned quickly, Collins's lips still attached to my face. Roger stood there, a face of annoyance painted on.

"I honestly hate the both of you." He grumbled and walked past us. Collins and I looked at each other, and laughed, and he took me by the hand and began to walk outside, to wherever he seemed like it was such a good place to go, when I was just fine snuggling on the couch with Chinese food. I really was. Maybe a necklace, but that's it. Really, that's all.

But here he was, trying to impress me, going out of his way to make me feel happy, make me love him. He didn't need any help in that department. I didn't need him to show off for me, and buy me things. I'm fine with him. And that necklace.

He led me outside and he waved at a taxi, and we climbed in. Okay, a taxi? Ew, no thank you, I'd really rather not Collins. He pulled me in however, and I sighed, shutting the door.

"To the train station please." Collins requested, and the taxi started back up again. I looked at Collins.

"The TRAIN?" I asked him, and made a face. "Baby, why are we going on the train?" I asked. Maybe he meant the subway and said train on accident. He shrugged at me, and smiled. He snaked an arm around my waist, and kissed my neck sweetly, and I couldn't help but laugh, and smack at one of his hands, which rested on my hip. "Collins, stop, we are in a taxi."

"I'm pretty sure he's seen worse." Collins whispered to me in a gruff voice. "Just let me have my fun baby." He muttered, and continued with my neck. I squirmed, not because I didn't enjoy it of course, I was having a pretty good time really, I just didn't feel that making out was something you did in a taxi. "Oh come on Angel." Collins said, and looked up at me. Oh I have seen that face before, it was the exact same face he used before while he was...well...nevermind. I'd rather not talk about Collins's sex faces right now. This one killed me. He looked up at me seriously, a bit of a pout in his eyes. I sighed at him.

"I hate you so much." I muttered, and leaned back against the door of the taxi. Collins laughed, and leaned down to kiss me, and I took it. Okay, come on, were you surprised? I wrapped my arms around his neck, and continued our little party in the backseat of a taxi. We didn't changed our position once until the taxi stopped. Well, besides the groping, nothing about it changed really. Collins immediately lets go of me, and I laugh my head off. What was going on in his head that made him do the kinds of things he did. He paid the driver, and got out of the taxi with his things, raced to my side, and opened the door for me. I smiled at him as he took my hand. I stood up, and he shut the door, and we walked into the station hand in hand. "So...why the train?" I asked him.

"Because I don't have a car." He said simply, and kissed my cheek. I thought about giving up on asking him where we were going, and then I realized that's not like me at all. And he very well knew that much.

So, he buys us two tickets, but makes me stand a bit away from him so I can't hear the destination. He comes back, tickets in his hand, and I try to snatch them away, but he taps my hands lightly, and shoves them into his front pockets. I grumble, knowing there is no sneaky way to go at grabbing anything from those pockets.

"Come on you lovely little thing you." He says and walks me to wherever our train is supposed to be. We get to the tracks, and a spot on a bench is open. He takes his coat off and lays it down on the bench, and sits me down. Okay, so have you ever seen a ridiculously romantic movie, and the guy does something that makes you get all lumpy in the throat? Yeah, well, picture that times ten. That's how I felt at that moment. I pouted because he had nowhere to sit, someone had already taken space on the other side.

"Where are you going to sit?" I asked him softly, and took his hand. He just laughed.

"I'm going to stand." He told me, and squeezed my hand as I took his. I shook my head at him. Like hell he was going to stand. I stood up.

"Now, you sit, and I'll sit on your lap." I told him, and he laughed, sitting on his coat, and he quickly pulled me by the waist, and pulled me into his lap. His big arms wrapped around me like they had since we met. Those were my big strong arms, and I knew it. I loved this feeling so much. The only sound that mattered was his heart beating against his chest. That was until I heard a whistle of the train a few minutes later. I opened my eyes and watched as the train came towards our stop. I poked Collins lightly to wake him. It took him ten seconds to fall asleep. He grumbled, and looked down at me, smiling.

"Good morning." He mumbled and laughed, standing me up slowly before he got himself up. I stayed close to him, sort of sleepy after that, and I'm sure he was too. We got on the train, and I sat at the window when we found a seat. As Collins slept, like he would a lot, I figured it would amuse me to watch the landscape go by, and so Collins wouldn't have to sleep on a window. So, I sit down, he follows and sits next to me, placing my hand in his lap for his own amusement. I take my jacket off, and place it between me and the window, cushioning it if I want to doze off. Collins watched me, and pulled me close.

"Hey, I am not your pillow." I said, and laughed at him. He chuckled, and kissed the top of my head.

"Well, I'm your pillow. You can't tell me that the window is more comfortable than me." Collins said, and I giggled.

"No, can't say that I could." I told him, and let myself close my eyes in his arms. Couldn't say I remember much past that because I fell asleep. I don't know how long I was asleep, few hours, because when I woke up, the sun was setting. Collins had got a large meal, and two drinks. I yawned, and sat up, listening to Collins munch on a piece of toast. I rubbed my eyes, and stretched, looking at him. He smiled.

"Well, hello there sleepy head." He said, and kissed me sweetly, and I kissed him back, looking at his food.

"How long've I been sleeping?" I asked him, and took a piece of toast from his plate.

"'Bout four hours." He said, and grinned. "I went to sleep for a while too, but they woke me up to order some food." He told me, and kissed my cheek, squishing my face. I laughed and turned my face to kiss his lips. He quickly licked my lips. "Mmm...buttered Angel." He muttered, and we both laughed. "We should be stopping soon." He told me, and I tilted my head.

"Where would that be?" I asked, seeing if he was tired enough to let one slip, but he wasn't. He never was.

"We're still in America honey, don't worry." He said, and I smiled.

"HA! That only leaves forty-nine unspecific destinations!" I said, and then thought. "Oh...wait...make that forty-eight." I added, and he laughed.

"What?" He asked me.

"Well, we can't very well ride a train to Hawaii, now can we baby?" I asked him, all proud of myself that I knew Hawaii wasn't part of the mainland. You have to give me props, I didn't even finish high school. He laughed, and kissed my cheek.

"No, no you can't." He said, and smiled, resting his face on my cheek where he laid his kiss.

"You might as well tell me now honey. I mean, you've narrowed it down SO much. You might as well." I told him and he continued to laugh into my cheek. I knew he was about to say something, but was interrupted when the intercom of the train went off. Or, at least I assume that's what it was. All I heard was this monotone voice that was muffled from bad wire connections and lack of sleep. I had no idea what was being said, but Collins heard every god damn word. He sat up as the train began to slow down. He grabbed the backpack he had from the loft and stood up. I stood with him, and the train came to a halt.

"I guess you'll just have to find out in a minute." He said, and walked infront of me off the train. When we were off, he stepped to the side, letting me see a large green traffic sign on the highway.

"Welcome to Boston, Massachusetts?" I read, and looked at him curiously. He looked so proud of himself. It cracked me up, but seriously, Massachusetts? What the hell was here that wasn't in New York? He nodded, and took my hand, and lead my into the city.

"Ever been here?" He asked me, and I shook my head.

"No...but...what's this all about?" I asked him, he squeezed my hand.

"First night we were together, you told me something." He started to explain, but didn't go any further. Wow, that was an understatement. I don't think I shut up once at all that night.

"Along with a few others...?" I asked, trying to move him along.

"You told me something that shocked me, and I don't think that it's right at all." He continued as we walked down the dark blocks of Massachusetts. I saw Asian stores, a lot of them. I couldn't help but think that where we were wasn't where I wanted to be. Asian S&M stores aren't my thing, you know?

"What was it?" I asked him, keeping my attention on him and not the creepy porn movie stores.

"You'll see baby, now stop it." He said, "It's too late in the game for me to give up." He said as we crossed a less than busy street. Two way traffic. Um, okay, that's dangerous. I almost died because I didn't look both ways. Was Collins trying to kill me? We made it to the other side of the road, and I swear I could have squeezed his arm off if I had a tighter grip. He held a hand over mine to try and get me off. I looked up at him and let go. He took that hand in his, and I looked around as we walked. It was a park, like central park, but less homeless. Infact, there were very few. I could hear crickets, comforting sounds of silent cars. The park was full of little gardens and tall statues of war heroes, graves of veterans, we even passed a statue of Washington on his horse. It was beautiful. No neon lights, no extra razzle dazzle everywhere, just calm serenity. Collins stopped and dropped his bag. I looked down at him, watching him as he took out two large blankets. I tilted me head as I watched him curiously.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"Come here and sit." He told me as he laid out the first blanket, and I sat like he said. "Now, close your eyes baby girl." He whispered, and I followed his orders. I didn't think twice about it, until he took my shoes off.

"Hey!" I shouted, and he kissed me.

"Shh...it's alright baby. I'll let you open them in a second." He said, and I could feel him next to me. "Lay down." He said, and I laid back on a comfortable mound of fabric and cotton. It was pretty comfy and warm. I felt his arms around me, and I snuggled up close to him, making sure he was there right next to me. "Now open your eyes baby." He whispered, and I did. I saw his face and, unlike usual, he wasn't looking at me. His eyes pointed up, and mine followed. I looked up at the sky, and gasped.

"Oh my God..." I muttered, and sat up. The sky was as dark as anything I've ever seen. The only thing keeping it from darkening the rest of the world were tiny little bright pin points, stars. I was so taken aback that he took what I had said to heart. I didn't lie, I had never seen stars before, and I've always tried to. These little things weren't a night on the town, or a fancy dinner, or a diamond necklace, they were real. They were always there. They were priceless, the most beautiful things in the world, and among the moons, and glowing planets, Collins gave them to me.

I laid back in his arms, and kissed him lovingly. As he kissed me back, I realized how well he knew me. How well her cared for me. Buying a necklace was easy, cheap, and a quick way for sex. Collins wasn't out for that for me. I had necklaces, I had gone out to eat, I have had sex. Collins knew that. Collins also knew that I hadn't seen the stars, because he listened, no matter how drunk he was that night. And that couldn't hold a candle to all the riches in the world.