The whole holiday seemed dumb to me, but it didn't mean that I wouldn't milk it for everything it was worth. The only downside was who I wanted as my Valentine, I couldn't exactly have him.

I continued with my kettlebell swings, feeling the burn as I finished my reps. Lissa had asked me if this particular workout did anything, and I told her that it was great for my ass. She laughed but I don't think she actually believed me.

I set the kettlebell down with a quiet thud and shook my limbs out before moving on to my next workout. It was still early in our day, but late enough that I would need to head to my classes soon. I went through my final exercise quickly when I heard the warning bell ring, and I realized that I was already falling behind!

I left all my equipment where it was and dashed to the locker room to get in a quick shower. It was a record shower and I dressed just as quickly, stumbling out of the locker room and into a broad chest. I groaned and cupped my nose, eyes watering ever so slightly as I looked up at who I ran into.

"Morning?"

"Morning," Dimitri said with a chuckle, "Sorry about your nose."

"It's fine," I said pulling my hands away and checking that my nose wasn't bleeding. I wrinkled my nose a bit.

"I thought you had a meeting this morning and that's why I was all by my lonesome?"

Dimitri laughed. "I did, but when I saw that all of the equipment was out, I realized you were still here," he said. I nodded and realized that the gym was now spotless.

"You put it all away? I was going to do that after my shower."

"Don't worry about it," he said with a smile and tucked a loose strand of my wet hair behind my ear. "Get to class. I'll see you this afternoon," Dimitri said as he opened the door for me, giving me a smile that always made me feel warm inside.

"See you," I said giving him a blushed smile as I walked past. I managed to swing by the cafeteria and grab a handful of granola bars before sliding into my class just in time. I ran to my seat next to Lissa and landed in it with a thud, rocking the table the slightest bit.

"Hi!" I whispered as I unwrapped my breakfast.

"Hey! Why is your hair wet?"

"I lost track of time. I didn't have time to blow dry it," I mumbled around my food. Lissa frowned but shrugged, looking back at the front of the room. Lissa sat quietly beside me for the first few minutes of class before setting a few red foil-wrapped hearts on my desk.

"Happy Valentine's Day," Lissa whispered as she unwrapped one and bit into the chocolate. I smiled at her and picked one up too, unwrapping mine as well and eating it. I made my chocolate last through class before heading to the neck. Lissa left for a moment to run to her locker and met me in the neck class, sliding a little box across the table at me.

I looked at it and sighed quietly. "Where did you get this?"

"I swore Guardian Belikov to secrecy," Lissa said with a sheepish smile, "I know that after Mason, you wouldn't be all gong hoe about today. And I know that you miss this tradition just as much as I do. I know it's not the same cause I'm not my dad, but I thought maybe?"

I lifted the lid off the box and smiled to myself. Every year Eric would buy Lissa and me flowers and a box of chocolates, each one a different flavour truffle. I always got champagne, sea salt, cherry cordial, and mint ones. And looking down at the array of truffles in the box, my outlook for the day brightened.

"I feel bad, I didn't get you anything," I whispered back. Lissa shook her head.

"Don't worry about it. Christian is going to spoil me enough tonight," she said softly. I saved the truffles and stuffed the box into my bag, thinking about how I was going to indulge in them tonight.

Lissa had offered to include me in her Valentine's Day dinner plans, but I bowed out quickly. I didn't want to be a third wheel on their night. Eddie also asked if I wanted to hang out, but I smirked and told him that if he hung out with me, Meredith might feel put out. Eddie looked at me dumbly and I rolled my eyes.

"She's been subtly asking you all week to get together tonight," I said bluntly, "I mean, why else would she asks you about going over to her dorm and watching movies?"

Eddie smirked after a moment. "That would make sense," he chuckled and rubbed his hand over the back of his head.

"Go on, dummy," I urged with a smirk, turning to continue on to the gym. I was just getting out of the main building when someone called out to me.

"Go away, Jesse," I called over my shoulder.

"C'mon, Hathaway. Don't you want someone to be with today? I mean, you haven't even looked at anyone since Ashford," Jesse drawled out, leaning against the wall. I took every fibre of my being to not knock his head against the stone wall, so I set my jaw and turned to look at him.

"No. In fact, I have plans," I said shortly, brushing past Jesse. He, nor anyone else, needed to know that my only plans for tonight were training with Dimitri and a quiet night in.

"Like what?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" I said as I continued to walk towards the gym, shifting my bag higher on my shoulder. I didn't care what Jesse thought, I just didn't want to listen to his monotonous voice.

"How many beds will you be crawling into? I heard that Adrian Ivashkov was on campus, I heard he's a two-in-sack kind of guy," Jesse called out. I bit my tongue and continued on, despite wanting to turn around and punch him in the throat.

I got to the gym in a foul mood, which was not a mood I wanted to be in when I only got limited time with Dimitri today. But fate was a fickle queen and loved to play tricks and games with me. I tied my hair back aggressively and sighed, resting my hands on my hips as I waited.

I chewed on my lip as Dimitri came in and I noted his surprised expression when he saw that I was early. I notice that he wasn't dressed in exercise clothes too.

"What? Am I doing this all by myself again?"

"No," Dimitri said with a small smile, "I figured we could skip today."

I raised my brows at him and my shoulders fell. "What?"

"You did well this morning, and I think you deserve the break," he said. I could see that he thought that giving me the night off was a kind gesture, but now I was just disappointed.

"Oh," I said deflating a bit and toying with the ends of my hair, "Okay. I guess I'll go change."

I gave him a small smile and walked back into the change room, taking my time to get changed back into my clothes. Now I was spending Valentine's Day alone completely. Super! I stuffed my things back into the locker and wandered back out to the gym feeling the slightest bit sorry for myself when I stopped in my track. I figured Dimitri would have gone back to doing whatever he had planned for the night, but he was standing where I left him, except he was leaning against the wall now.

"You're still here?"

Dimitri laughed a little and nodded. "I said we could skip practice today; I didn't say you had to go back to your room."

"Did you have something in mind?" I asked perking up a little bit.

Dimitri nodded and canted his head to the side and we left the gym. I was curious as to where we were going but kept my mouth shut so that my unbridled excitement didn't show through either. We were heading into a part of the school that I wasn't familiar with and waited as Dimitri unlocked the door to a room.

"You aren't bringing me here to kill me, are you?" I joked looking into the dark room. Dimitri chuckled and shook his head, flicking on the light. The room was large, a large screen on the back wall and a few chairs and couches.

"What is this?"

"Guardians usually use it for training seminars, but Alberta said that I could use it today."

I nodded and walked into the room, dropping my bag on the floor beside the door and walking into the center. It was clean and warm, and the couches in the room looked worn but comfortable. I sunk onto one of them with a sigh, leaning back in the soft cushions.

"We're watching a movie," I piped up as Dimitri set a few DVD cases on the arm of the couch.

"Yeah. Pick whichever one you want to watch first," he said before turning back to the cabinet at the back of the room. I flipped through the titles and read the back of the cases. A few I had seen and a few had piqued my interest.

"Which do you prefer; Doctor Strange, Tenet, or Truth or Dare?" I asked holding up the three I liked from the stack. I looked up at smiled at him as sat down next to me with a plastic bag filled with snacks – snacks we couldn't get on campus. I grinned at him as I pulled the colourful packages out of the bag. I could see some 'healthier' snacks in the bag like nuts and such, but I was excited. It had been too long since I had sour cream rings and pretzel M&M's.

"Whichever. We can watch all of them," Dimitri said taking the bag from me once it was empty.

"You mean we can watch all of them?"

"We have the room until curfew," Dimitri said softly and I grinned even more at him. I had five hours with him! I stood up and put Truth or Dare in first before scuttling back to the couch and curling up with the bag of rings in my lap. About ten minutes in Dimitri plucked the bag from my fingers with a smirk and took a handful. I was glad for the dimmed lights so I could hide the blush on my face. I hadn't spent Valentine's day with someone before, and this was kind of perfect.

A thriller probably wasn't the best idea for a movie, but it did give me an excuse to sit closer to him. I was getting sucked in on the plot, leaning forward in my seat. Oliva was making her way up the stairs toward her room and I knew the homeless guy was going to be waiting there.

"Truth or dare," Dimitri whispered in my ear making me jump, sending M&M's flying in the air. I scowled at him but laughed a little, leaning into his side.

"Not funny," I grumbled as Dimitri wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

"I thought it was," he laughed. I rolled my eyes and turned my attention back to the screen when I felt movement against the hair on the side of my head. I didn't want to think too much off it, but I wanted to believe that it was a kiss.

"Next year I hope to be able to take you out for dinner, or even make you dinner," Dimitri said quietly, and I wasn't sure if he meant to say it or if he just spoke the thought out loud without noticing.

"Yeah?" I asked looking at him. Dimitri smiled at me with a smile he reserved for me. One side of his mouth was higher than the other and his eyes crinkled at the side. It was a real smile and I loved being the one to bring it out.

"Yeah," he said brushing his finger over my cheek. I smiled at him and leaned towards him, giving him the opportunity to pull away if he wanted to. He didn't and leaned in, pressing his lips against mine softly. I sighed against his lips and pressed my lips firmer against his, leaning into the kiss. I was mindful that anyone could unlock the door, but I also didn't want to stop.

But there was nothing wrong with a normal make-out.

A scream on the screen made us both jump apart. I laughed at myself when I realized that it was just the movie, and I licked my lip while getting back into my spot next to him on the couch. I could still feel the tinge of his hand on my waist, and how warm his lips felt against mine. Maybe there was something to Lissa's sappy romance novels. Maybe the stolen kisses were worth it all.

I blinked away and sat up abruptly, wiping my hand over my mouth. The end of Doctor Strange was rolling on the screen. Crap, did I sleep through the whole thing. I looked at Dimitri and found that he looked pretty comfortable reclined on the couch, and it took me a moment to realize why he was partly laying down on the couch.

"Please tell me I didn't fall asleep on you," I asked with a slight cringe. Dimitri smirked at me but didn't respond, just gently pulled my arm so I laid back down. I smirked to myself and got comfortable against him again, resting my hand under my cheek.

"You have the cutest snore."

My eye widened and I looked up at him in pure horror. "No, I don't! I don't snore!" I squealed.

Dimitri shrugged but I could tell he was trying to hide his amusement. Lissa used to tease me that I snored, but I never believed her… now I did. I groaned and buried my face in his chest while his laughter vibrated under me.

"I think it's quite endearing. Really, it's like listening to a cat purr."

"Stop!" I groaned into his chest, but he just kept laughing. I grumbled to myself and watched the end of the movie, pinching his side while he kept laughing.

"You're mean," I whined but Dimitri just wrapped his arms around my waist.

"It's okay. I snore too."

I looked at him with a hard glare and I giggled as he tried to hold in his laughter. I rolled my eyes at him when he stretched his neck up and kissed the tip of my nose.

"It's almost curfew," he said and I nodded sadly. I knew it was coming but I didn't want our night to end. I stood up and stretched my arms over my head, groaning quietly. Dimitri stood up too and started collecting our things, tucking the leftover candy into my gym back. I smirked at him and followed him out of the room once everything was cleaned up.

We walked close as we walked towards my dorm, our hands brushing every so often. I couldn't help but smile as we walked, his finger wrapping around one of mine when we got to the dorm.

"Thank you for helping Lissa, by the way," I said quietly with a smile, "I'm really looking forward to those truffles."

Dimitri smiled and laughed quietly. "I'm glad. They looked delicious."

I nodded and sighed quietly. "So do we count this as a first date?"

Dimitri smirked. "I guess we could."

I grinned and blushed, looking down at my shoes for a moment before looking up at him again. Dimitri's smile was soft as he brushed a few strands of hair behind my ear. His hand cupped my cheek gently and he leaned down, pecking my lips softly.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Roza," Dimitri whispered.

I bit my lip and grinned. "Happy Valentine's Day, comrade," I whispered as I unlocked my door and slipped in, a grin on my face as I got ready for bed.

Happy Valentine's Day! 3