The following day was stormy and the rain lashed down upon pavements and windows. It was the type of weather that caused a person's mood to decrease a considerable amount. It was such wonderful weather for Valentine's Day.

The whole group were all taking refuge within JaVaVu considering it was Saturday and everyone was off from work except Rachel and Kori.

Rachel was sitting with them whilst pretending to clean the coffee table that was surrounded by the big sofa and chairs. They were all talking about their plans for the Valentines evening which consisted of dining out for most. Jenny took a sip of her coffee and scrunched her face up slightly.

"Ugh... This needs a bit of sugar..." Jenny stated. She looked over at Kori who was behind the counter, cleaning coffee mugs rather aggressively. The pink haired girl gulped,

"K-Kori?" She began,

"Yes? What is it, Jennifer?" Kori returned, bitterly. Practically everyone turned to stare at Kori. No one ever used Jenny's proper name... It was just plain weird.

"Um... I was wondering... Could I have a packet of sugar, please?" Jenny asked, cautiously.

Kori closed her eyes and exhaled, irritated. Jenny glanced at the others,

"I'm not kidding; I'm really scared of her right now." She hissed.

Kori marched out from behind the counter and snatched a handful of sugar packets from the box they were in. She stood beside Jenny and handed her all of the packets.

"Uh... Thanks... Now I have some for home too!" Jenny chirped, trying to get Kori to crack a smile. She didn't budge.

The red headed girl turned away and began scrubbing a table. The others honestly had a feeling that she was going to wear the table down. The all exchanged confused glances and eventually all had their eyes on Rachel.

"What?" She mouthed,

Karen pointed to her and then to Kori, "You're her best friend," Karen mouthed back, "You should ask what's wrong!"

Rachel sighed and rolled her eyes. Of course she was concerned for her friend's feelings but she knew how Kori was. She knew she would rant slightly.

"Hey Kori, mind sharing what you're so pissed off about?" Rachel blurted, keeping a straight face. Everyone else had wide eyes and froze on the spot. They all knew only Rachel could be so direct.

Kori spun back around with an angry expression on her face. She threw the cloth down on the table and crossed her arms over her chest with her hipped cocked to one side. Dick kinda hated himself at that moment for thinking for a split second how she looked sexy when she was angry.

"Oh nothing! You know, it is just when people make plans they are supposed to stick to those plans and yet some people feel no remorse for cancelling plans. Oh and of course it does not matter; it is not like Valentine's Day is a very special day or anything. Ugh!" Kori complained, pacing back and forth as she spoke,

"I'm gonna take a shot in the dark here and guess that Xavier cancelled on your guys' plans for tonight?" Wally assumed.

Kori's sour facial expression softened completely. Her shoulders slumped as she exhaled a deep sigh and fell into the seat beside Dick.

"He told me that he simply has too much work to do and will be too tired to see me." Kori recounted,

"What? That's a lousy excuse, girl!" Vic hollered,

"Yeah... No offense but your boyfriend is a bit of a wang." Wally commented,

Kori shrugged and fell victim to another sigh, "It does not matter... I shall simply watch the romantic comedies and consume large quantities of ice cream tonight instead."

"That sounds... fun..." Karen struggled to input enthusiasm into her statement. Kori rolled her eyes and pushed herself to her feet,

"Oh yes... So fun..." Kori deadpanned. She noted someone putting their hand up in the air for her attention. She grabbed her notepad from her apron and wandered over to the customer.

Dick watched her go and bit his lip in concentration. He hated knowing that she was upset. However, Kori's predicament gave him a bright idea. Wally noticed Dick's 'lightbulb' moment and smirked while he took a sip of his tea.

Kori exhaled a big sigh as she pulled her uniform over her head and hurled it to the floor. She swallowed a lump in her throat and fought tears that were waiting to spill. Of course she wanted to cry. Who would ever want to be alone on Valentine's Day?

She found her pyjamas and put them on. She tied her hair up in a messy bun, making sure to leave her bangs and front stray pieces of hair down. She proceeded to slip her feet into her fluffy slippers. With that, she trudged out of her room into the main room whilst grabbing a blanket on the way over to the sofa. She wrapped the blanket around herself and held her unhappy facial expression.

Kori took a seat on her sofa and grabbed the TV remote. She growled as she saw no good movies were on as she flicked through the channels.

Suddenly, Kori heard a knock on her front door. She raised an eyebrow and tilted her head to the side. She wasn't expecting anyone... Unless it was a drunken Xavier come to pay her a visit. She hesitated before getting up at the idea of that.

She shuffled to the door and opened it, cautiously. She was shocked to see the person who stood before her.

Dick stood there, leaning against the wall with a sweet little smile plastered to his face. He cleared his throat and stood up straight,

"Alright, Miss Anders. Now, I know that I'm not your boyfriend but I would still love to make your Valentine's evening less crappy. So, I have a bag full of takeout menus, junk food and movies. What'd you say?" He proposed,

Kori breathed out laugh. His gesture had shocked her immensely, "Richard... You are surprisingly spontaneous, I must say." She commented,

"I didn't like the idea of you spending tonight alone. You deserve better than that." He told her.

Kori smiled, "Thank you," She whispered,

"Oh!" Dick chirped, remembering something. He pulled something from behind his back.

In his hand sat a small white teddy bear that was fluffier than Kori's slippers. It had small black beady eyes and a stitched on smile. It was finished off with a small red bow stitched up by its right ear.

"I thought it'd be nice to get some form of present that's traditional... Or something." Dick explained.

Kori gently took the white teddy bear from Dick's hands and smiled, "Oh! It is so cute!" Kori cooed,

"I'm glad you like it," Dick informed her. Kori took a step forward and threw her arms around Dick's neck in order to give him a heartfelt embrace. Dick smiled and happily returned the hug.

When Kori released him she beamed up at him, "You are the sweetest person I believe I have ever met." She admitted,

"Thanks," Dick chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck, nervously. Kori stepped to the side to let Dick pass her and she closed the door afterwards, once he was inside.

Kori munched on her second slice of pizza and crossed her legs beneath the thick violet material. She and Dick were seated comfortably on the sofa with Kori's violet blanket draped over their laps. There was a pile of different chocolate bars between them and an extra large pizza on the coffee table. Alongside the pizza, there was a big bowl of popcorn, brownie pieces and a bag of cookies. They had both sat together to watch "27 Dresses".

"I knew it! Dress hoarder!" Dick bellowed at the TV,

"I think that is so nice!" Kori declared,

"To keep a bunch of ugly dresses that will never be worn again?"

"She clearly keeps them all for the memories and does not wish to forget,"

"I guess... But the guy wouldn't have reacted the way that he did,"

"I agree with you on that. I doubt that he would skip past it so very quickly,"

"Right? In reality, he'd probably be like: Oh my god. You're a freak."

Kori giggled with her fingertips against her soft lips.

"Oh look, a montage of her trying on the dresses."

"I like that one... Oh! And that one!"

"Strange, I thought you would have gone with the pink dress,"

"You know, I like more colours than just pink."

"Could have fooled me..."

Kori faked a gasp and lightly shoved him in a playful manner. Dick chuckled at her actions. Kori sighed in apparent content and patted her stomach,

"I believe I have definitely gained an estimated 4 pounds this evening... Success!" Kori announced,

"What was the goal?" Dick chuckled,

"To feel fat and proud!" Kori giggled,

"You'd still look awesome if you were fat," Dick blurted out. He froze as he immediately realised that he had said that out loud. Kori blushed a light pink and brushed some hair behind her ear.

Dick cleared his throat and flicked through the channels on the TV as soon as their movie ended.

"Hey, "The Notebook" is on... That seems like an appropriate movie for Valentine's day." Dick stated, attempting to ease Kori away from the embarrassing moment that occurred a couple of minutes beforehand.

"I always cry at this movie," Kori admitted,

"It is kinda sad..."

"I believe the book is different from the movie."

"Huh... No kidding."

Dick was ready to just jump out of her window. He felt so awkward after saying that out loud. Although... Dick did have an idea on what else he could talk about. He had been meaning to ask Kori something which continuously crossed his mind.

"Kori...?"

"Yes?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course,"

"You argue with Xavier... A lot. Why don't you just break up with him? If you don't mind me asking..."

Kori shook her head and sighed, "Believe me; I have wanted to do the breaking up with him for a very long time... However, every time I have brought it up... Xavier becomes distressed and says that he will harm himself because he cannot be without me..."

"What? That's emotional blackmail, Kori!"

"I am aware... But, what if he is being truthful? I do not wish to feel guilty and responsible for him doing such a thing."

"He doesn't deserve you."

Kori remained quiet and she bowed her head and stared at her hands in her lap, "And yet... He has me..."

"Were any of your other boyfriends ever like Xavier?"

Kori shook her head, "In truth, I have only ever had two boyfriends. My first boyfriend was named Roy Harper. He was not like Xavier and yet he was. He was not possessive or aggressive but he did not put very much effort into our relationship so it did not last very long. However, I met Xavier in the second to last year of High School. He was very sweet and considerate then..."

"What changed?"

"He became friends with some... Very dark people. He began drinking alcohol excessively and he began experimenting with drug use... He became paranoid, angry and confused about so many things, also."

"Kori... Does part of you not want to break up with him because you feel like you'll be giving up on him? I mean... He has so many problems..."

"I suppose I do feel that way, yes... It is difficult... Not knowing how things will go if we were not together..."

"But do you love him anymore?"

Kori slowly shook her head, "Not in the same way as when we were first together... Now I more so dread seeing him rather than look forward to seeing him."

"You should still consider breaking up with him. You deserve someone who makes you properly happy, Kor."

Kori faintly smiled, "Thank you,"

Dick smiled back and leaned forward to take another slice of pizza from the box on the table. Kori bit her lip as she was curious about something,

"What about you, Richard?" Kori asked,

"What'd you mean?" He returned, sitting back,

"Well... We have talked about my encounters with boyfriends..."

Dick chuckled, "So, you wanna know about my ex girlfriends?"

Kori smirked, "Only if you are comfortable talking about the subject."

"Well, I'll be honest with you. I've only ever had one real girlfriend before. Her name was Barbra Gordon and we had known each other since we were like 10 years old? And then when we were about 16 years old we got together and then at 18 we broke up... And we haven't spoken since then."

"That is awful," Kori breathed, her eyes turning sad, "She was your childhood friend also..."

"Yeah well... She's the one who ruined it."

"She was...?"

Dick nodded and sighed, "She was cheating on me for about 4 months which happened to be the last 4 months of our relationship. As soon as I found out; I wanted nothing to do with her."

Kori gasped and softly touched his arm to show her sympathy for him, "I am very sorry, Richard..." She whispered,

Dick shrugged, "It's okay. I mean... She clearly wasn't 'the one' so I didn't lose much, huh?" He told her. They were both silent for a minute until Kori exhaled a breath and sat back against the sofa.

"I believe relationships suck. They never seem to go the way you wish for them to. It is almost not worth it."

"It's probably worth it... If you find the right person that is..." Dick assumed, glancing at Kori.

They stared at each other for a moment before they both turned away with reddened cheeks. They both fought hard to fight the small grins that were threatening the show upon their faces...