Chapter 7: Valentines

When the month of February comes around, many of the Panem high schoolers have visions of romance in their heads and in their hearts. Bonnie and Posy both wait, secretly hoping that Kelley O'Callaghan will ask one of them to go out on the day of love. Some, like Prim and Rory, already have that special someone and are looking for ways to find the perfect gift for them.

And some, like Jason, wish that Valentine's Day would just fuck off already. It's all way to bright and sappy for him. Not that he has much to care for anyways. It was just another normal Sunday just like any other. Maybe tomorrow he and Locke would go after school and get some discount chocolate.

That's why it's a total surprise when Jason answers the door that Sunday and sees Santana there. Damn, she's good at surprising me. He didn't think to get anything for her because he still has no idea what the hell is going on with them!

"Happy Valentine's Day, Sleepy Hollow," she says.

"Er… Hey…" he says, feeling very awkward.

"Can I come in?"

"Oh, uh, please do." He steps aside and lets her in. She goes in and he leads her to the living room.

"Santana." Locke looks surprised.

"Hey," she says. Jason gives Locke a desperate look that screams "Help me!" but Locke can't do anything to help now. Not that he could do anything before.

"I'll go… Do the dishes." A lame excuse, but neither of them really care anyways. Locke leaves and Jason sits, Santana sitting by him.

"Shouldn't you be with Irish John Cena?" Jason asks, sounding bitter though he didn't really mean to.

"We met up and then decided to part and just lie to our parents. He wanted to go find a Valentine's Day fling and I wanted to come here."

"…Oh." Jason has no idea what to say but he feels awkward and his heart is pounding with anticipation, the questions of what they are and how she feels about him on the tip of his tongue, just waiting to come out-

"I know this is really confusing," she says, causing him to snap out of his thoughts. Well, she basically summed it all up, didn't she? "I'm sorry it had to be so… Hazy and weird."

"It's fine…"

"I understand if you want to just make it easy and call it quits. It'd certainly be less stressful for you. It's not fair for me to make your senior year so crazy and confusing."

Oh… Maybe Jason would've decided it was best to just quit a couple years ago. Maybe when he was a junior or a sophomore he would have just said "fuck it" and let her go. It really is the easiest solution. There would be much less stress and pressure on Jason. He wouldn't constantly be left wondering. They can finally go their separate ways and just be friends. Which is what Jason always thought he wanted. Really, this is the best way. It makes the most sense. It's the easier way, the less stressful way.

"No." He surprises even himself. Sure, Jason is used to throwing out logic and acting on his emotions. But usually he acts off of emotions like rage and stress, never emotions like this. This was new and scary, confusing and challenging, but it was a battle Jason was totally willing to fight. Acting off of love like this is something totally new for Jason. And it's frightening. But he's made his decision and he's not changing his mind any time soon. "No. We're going to make this work. If you think I'm just going to let you go back to that asshole, you're wrong."

"Oh…" She wasn't expecting a response like this.

"Look, Santana, I wasn't ready for it when I was a sophomore. I was awkward and still figuring myself out and dependent on others to pull me back to reality. I knew as a sophomore that I wouldn't have been able to treat you right. And as a junior I felt the same way. I still wasn't ready then. But I'm ready now. I've grown a lot, learned a lot… Figured out a lot about myself and the world and relationships. I didn't think you would wait me out this long, I didn't even really think that I deserved for you to. But, you're still here. And I really like you, I think about you… A lot. I'm not going to let this break off and die. Not when I'm finally ready to step up to the plate of committing to a relationship. And even if you don't feel like that about me… You can't keep putting yourself in harm's way with that jackass."

"Oh…" This took a totally different turn than she was expecting. She was expecting for him to break it off, and instead she got this whole deep-ass monologue out of him! Which she isn't really complaining about, but now her stupid heart is going to make her feel all these emotions. "My parents may want me to end up with Diesel. But they're not going to write my future. We might have to keep it kind of on the down-low, but… Even with Diesel pretending to have feelings for me, I never really stopped having feelings for you."

Jason releases a breath that he didn't really know he was holding. It feels like a giant weight's just been lifted off his chest. "So…" What now? Is he expected to make the next move?

"So… Do you wanna do this? For real this time?"

Damn, Jason's heart is pounding, his ears are burning, and this moment almost feels too good to be true. "Yes. I do."

Santana smiles at him. "Good. So… Will you be my official, true-feelings boyfriend?"

Jason feels like he's on fire, practically. "Yeah. T-Totally."

She smiles. "This visit was much easier than I thought it'd be."

"Yeah…"

She kisses his cheek and smiles. "Do you have plans for the rest of today?"

"Not really… But I think I have some now." He turns on the television and she leans against him. Jason's pretty new to cuddling but he does what his instincts tell him to. They watch some show that Jason doesn't even remember, but he does remember the warmth of Santana against him and the smell of her hair and how soft her skin is… Feeling her breathe gently against him, calm and peaceful.

Sure, this definitely isn't the easy route. Far from it, actually. There are going to be plenty of obstacles in the way. Plenty of embarrassing teasing Jason is going to have to go through, and of course, parents and that jackass Diesel will prove a problem. But Jason doesn't care about those at the moment. Both of them are so headstrong he's convinced that they can take on what stands in their way. He decides that they'll deal with those obstacles when they get there.

But, for now, this just feels so… Right. Everything unfolded and went just according to plan. Even if it didn't seem like it when he was just a sophomore and watched her walk away, it all ended up working out.

Jason closes his eyes and actually smiles.

It all worked out in the end after all.

~.~.

Abri, what do you do if you see a cute guy?

That's the text she receives from Kuzey that afternoon, completely out of the blue with no context. Abri is the kind to be extremely curious, but she bites back the questions and types out a careful response.

Just play it cool.

She wants to ask where he is, who's the guy, she wants the details! But he doesn't help her much.

How do you do that?

Just treat him like you would treat anyone else.

But he's cute?

Abri considers. She's always found it easy to keep her cool around people she deems attractive. She's always been a flirty person, really. It's why having a crush is pretty easy for Abri. She doesn't get all flustered like that.

Just ask him about himself.

Kuzey looks at the text under the table, feeling extremely flustered. He looks back up at said cute guy, who noticed him eating by himself at the café and came over to talk to him. Sure, he had been at that study party last month but Kuzey didn't expect him to recognize him! He was cute when he was wrapped in blankets but he's just unfairly attractive in public, with his light brown hair fixed somewhat neatly, his glasses on straight, his pretty smile not covered by blankets, wearing a collared gray shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows… It isn't fair! Kuzey feels like a mess next to him.

"So… What about yourself?"

Pax looks up. "Hm? Oh. Well, I have an older sister named Marx. She graduated from Liberty when I was a sophomore. She's very smart and she gives me lots of advice. I really like math and science, but especially math. Sometimes I like to draw but I'm not great at it."

"I like to draw!" Kuzey smiles. He's unfairly cute, thinks Pax.

"What else do you like to do?"

"I like to spend time with my friends and family. I'm a drum major for our school's marching band."

"Oh wow! That's awesome!"

Kuzey smiles. "Thanks."

"What's your family like?"

"Oh, I have a big brother. His name is Ori! He goes to college and has two super best friends named Brock and Icarus, who are really nice. He's really nice and he loves me a lot. He's always there to help me."

"I love awesome big siblings," says Pax. Kuzey nods.

"How about friends?"

"Ori, Abri and Jason are my best friends," says Kuzey. "I just met Abri and Jason this year. They're the other two drum majors. They were really nice to me and make me feel happy."

"That's awesome."

The conversation fizzles off again. Kuzey checks his phone under the table.

Now what do I do!?

He receives a text quickly, like Abri was staring at her screen and waiting for an update. Be smooth about it, but ask him if he has a girlfriend.

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

Pax looks up, surprised. "Me? Oh, no, I don't. Do you?"

"No," Kuzey says, his face and ears flushed with embarrassment.

He doesn't. Now what?

Play it cool and ask for his number!

Abri so wants to know the details. Waiting is so frustrating for her!

Kuzey looks at the texts and then glances up at Pax.

"Your number?"

"Hm?"

Kuzey blushes bright red and stares at his food, pushing it around on his plate.

"Are you alright?"

Kuzey nods and blushes harder, staring at his food.

"You mean my cell number?" Pax pulls a pen from his wallet and writes ten digits on a napkin. He hands it to Kuzey. "There you are. I have to go meet my sister now but send me a text!"

He gets up and waves. Kuzey waves back a bit, still bright red and embarrassed as Pax goes out the door.

Kuzey glances at the numbers, put down neatly in black ink. Then he gets out his phone.

Ori I just got a cute guy's number what do I do now?

He puts the napkin gingerly in his bag, puts his plate away in the designated area, puts on his hat and mittens and scarf, and goes back out, starting for home.

When he gets home and hangs up his snowy winter items, his phone starts buzzing like crazy. He looks at the messages and sees a bunch of excited messages from Abri.

Abri is so hyper but she's still a good friend. He texts some calm responses, going up to his room. He uncaps a marker and goes back to the swirly patterns he'd drawn on the wall. He continues the swirls from where he left off, and the uniform motion of drawing is able to calm him down a little. He keeps drawing for a bit until he feels calmer, though Pax hasn't really left his thoughts since he left the café.

He caps the marker again and pulls the napkin out of his backpack. He sees a text from his older brother with advice.

Just say, "Hi, this is Kuzey." That way he knows that number is you.

Kuzey puts the digits into his phone nervously, biting his lip. But, he does what Ori says thankfully, sending a text to the number.