AN: Thank you so much for all your support, it means the world to me. This is a little Valentine's Day special for you ;) Special thanks goes to redisthenewblackington for being an awesome beta!

Disclaimer: Check earlier chapters.

My love for you has no boundaries
I give you my heart, I give you everything
All I want is forever
You and I as one, you and I as one

With you I feel inspired
To love for a lifetime
And I'm proud to say
On my wedding day
I do, I do

So with this ring
I commit to you

"I Commit To You" - Chris Gaddy & Pamela Bryant

Chp. 9

Today was the day. It was the first time she would and could actually celebrate this day. It made her heart jump with excitement. Valentine's Day. The day for couples to go all out and celebrate their love. Liz couldn't wait. She and Amy had discussed all kinds of things she could do for Red, she wanted everything to be perfect, to show him just how much she loved him. Her best friend had assisted her with buying what she needed. It was the first time she would try cooking all alone. Red had showed her how to make a few simple things, but he had always been with her, every step of the way, and had coached her into perfection. Now she was on her own, and she was trying to make it a perfect three-course dinner too.

Making her way towards his house, which was at least twice the size of what Liz and her dad were living in now, she awkwardly rang the bell, while she tried not to drop anything. The door swung open only moments later.

"Lizzie, honey, let me help you!"

"Thank you, Helen," the girl answered, gladly handing over some of the bags and following the woman into the kitchen.

After putting the purchases down on the counter, the older women pulled her into a hug. "Hello, honey. How are you?"

Liz loved his mom, she was one of the most wonderful persons she had ever met. "I'm fine. How are you?"

"Splendid," she answered. "Raymond isn't in yet."

"Oh, I know. I was going to... prepare a few things. If that's alright with you."

Helen smiled widely at her. "You kids are so cute. Of course you are more than welcome to do whatever you want to do. I'm sure Ray will be excited."

"I know I already am. Is it alright if I use your kitchen? I was going to try to cook."

The look on the older woman's face was soft and she pulled Liz into another hug, kissing her cheek. "You are way too good to him. Don't let him get used to this kind of treatment," she warned jokingly.

Liz smiled and shook her head at the woman, before she started pulling out several items from the bags she had brought and lined them up. Deciding she could do two things at once, she started her cooking adventure. If everything went according to plan, she would even find the time to clean up his room a little, so she could set a romantic scene for the two of them.

After making sure her pots and pans were fine to be left alone for a while, she let Helen know, just in case, that she would be upstairs in Red's room. She loved his house, his private space even more. Everything smelled like him and it gave Liz a warm feeling in her belly. He wasn't a messy kind of guy, but to prepare everything the way she wanted to, some things just had to be put away. She unpacked one of the bags and placed the contents on his bed. Giving them one last look-over to see if she had everything. Candles, check. Rose petals, check. Framed picture of the two of them from before the dance, check. Months ago, she would have rolled her eyes at herself for being this cheesy, but she loved him. She really did, so very much.

Liz started strewing the petals around the room, before she took the tea lights and placed them in the shape of a heart on his bed. The photo would go on his nightstand. It was a beautiful shot, really. Her dad had a talent alright. Liz wore a dreamy smile, while Red had his arms wound around her middle, his eyelids half-mast and his nose nuzzling her cheek. When she had picked up the shots at her local 1-Hour-Photo, she had been excited to go through them. In not one of the pictures Red had looked at the camera. It seemed that she had been all he could look at. Like she had captured him, drawn him in. Like the flame did with a moth. She hadn't been able to stop grinning at these photos.

Smiling to herself, Liz turned to his desk. She wanted to pull it to the middle of the room, so they could use it as their dining table. Getting to work, Liz started pulling the heavy desk. She probably should have cleared off some of his stuff before though. Well, she could always do that now. Picking up a heavy lamp, she carefully put it on his window sill. Next were his school books, and an envelope caught her eye. It had his nickname on the front, so it wasn't from his mother. The handwriting looked female and it definitely wasn't hers. Before she could talk herself out of it, Liz picked it up and opened it. Taking out the letter inside, she unfolded it and started reading.

Her stomach dropped as the words registered in her brain. The way the girl wrote that he was her 'one and only love' and 'the best she had ever had' almost made Liz throw up. Who was that girl? Was Ray cheating on her? So she wasn't enough for him after all... he had lied. Had lied her in the face and then went behind her back to get what he wanted. She opened the envelope to put the letter back inside, when she noticed a picture inside. Liz took it out and couldn't hold back a choking sob any longer. It was obviously a 'selfie', but that wasn't the worst part. The picture showed a naked and sleeping Red with an unknown-to-her girl in his arms. The girl was grinning at the camera and one of her hands was somewhere under the covers. Where, Liz didn't want to think about. This was just too much. She couldn't handle it anymore.

Dropping the envelope on his desk, Liz took her bag and left his room. Helen was in the kitchen, watching her pots for her. She turned with a smile that transformed to a frown, when she noticed the look on the young girl's face.

"Honey, are you alright?"

She couldn't form any words, so she just shook her head, tears starting to fall from her eyes, as she made her way out of the house. She was done with that, all of it. With him.

LizzingtonLizzingtonLizzington

When Red walked into his house, he went straight to his room. He had been out with his friends and his ex had showed up. It was somewhat weird at first, but she hadn't been coming on to him, so he figured that if she was fine with being friends, then so was he. Now he really wanted to call his Lizzie. He hadn't talked to her that day and he already missed her. He was a goner when it came to her, but he didn't want it any other way. Taking two steps at a time, Red finally reached his room and pushed the door open.

He stopped in his tracks at what greeted him inside. His floor was a sea of rose petals, and so was his bed. There were candles and tea lights everywhere. Why, he had no idea, but he was pretty sure that Liz had done this for him. He noticed the framed picture on his mattress and smiled widely when he looked at it. Oh, how beautiful she was. Where was she anyway? Putting the frame on his nightstand, he turned to take another look around his room. He bet that she wasn't done here yet, but where was she? Exiting his room, he walked back downstairs, only now noticing the wonderful smell of freshly cooked food. So his mother was supposed to be home as well. He walked towards the kitchen, where he finally found the older woman.

"Honey, you're home."

"Hello, mother," he greeted, kissing her cheek. "Where's Lizzie? I saw she's left something in my room," he said with a smile.

"She's left. About two hours ago. Honey..."

The smile had left his face already. "Why? What happened?"

"Lester was here..."

He was too anxious to call his mother out on naming his ex-girlfriend like that again. "Leslie was here? While Lizzie was here? When was that?!" Leslie had been with him and his buddies earlier. Just what had happened?

"No, before that. I told her you weren't there, but Lizzie... I don't know what happened. She looked like she was hurting. There were tears in her eyes. She didn't say anything when she left." Red didn't like that one bit. "Raymond, was there something that -"

"I don't know, Mom," he interrupted. "I have no idea what happened. Shit..." He dropped his head. If she didn't walk into Leslie, then why did she react like that? "I'm gonna go talk to her."

Before his mother could form a reply, he was gone again.

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Sam let him into the house, though he was frowning at the younger man. After assuring her father that he had no idea what was wrong and that he hadn't even seen Lizzie that day, he was finally free to walk up the flight of stairs. Gently knocking on the door, he waited a beat before opening it to walk inside.

She was sitting on a big chest in front of her window, staring out at the backyard and obviously lost in thought.

"Lizzie?"

Her head spun around and he could see the evidence of tears on her cheeks. "What are you doing here?!"

"Sweetheart, what's wrong? What happened?"

"You've got to be kidding me! Just leave."

She had to give him credit though. He looked genuinely confused at the moment. What a great actor he was. "Talk to me, sweetheart," he said, stepping closer to her.

"Can you please just leave?" She really didn't want to cry in front of him again. It was getting old. "Do you have any idea what day it is?" He furrowed his eyebrows, not sure where she was going with that, and shook his head. "Valentine's Day, you idiot!"

He frowned at that, both the date and what she had called him. "That's what this is about? Some made up day with unreal expectations and you're mad at me again?"

"What?!"

"Lizzie, I don't give a damn about some commercial organizations telling me when to love someone. It's a date to spur on the economy, nothing else."

"Did you even consider that it might matter to me?!"

"I didn't, okay? I honestly didn't. Because it's a hoax anyway. If people need a certain date to remember that they're supposed to love their partner, then that isn't love at all!" His voice was raised now as well. If he had the intention of hurting her with his words, he had succeeded. "And you know what the problem is? You never tell me when there's something that's bothering you. I won't know what it is until you decide it's time to be mad at me again. I'm getting sick of this!"

She stood up from the chest, her eyes blazing with anger. "Then why don't you just leave like I told you to?"

"You know what? I will. Because I'm sick of his childish crap!" He shook his and started walking away.

"Yeah, why don't you just go fuck her instead?! I'm sure she'd very much appreciate it!"

Red turned and looked at her again. "What? What are you talking about?"

"Did you only take pictures, or do you have videos as well? I'm sure you were having a blast." She walked up to him and threw her arms around his neck, pulling him against her and kissing him hard. Red tried pulling away, not liking where this was going, but her grip around him was too tight. She moved her mouth over his jaw and towards his neck, sucking and biting the soft skin there and he couldn't keep his eyes open at the beautiful feeling. "Isn't that what you want? Get it out of your system."

His eyes snapped open at that and he gripped her shoulders tightly, pushing her from him. "What has gotten into you?!"

"Not you, obviously," she shot back, pressing herself against him again.

He was taken aback by the way she was acting. "Lizzie... what are you doing?"

"Why don't you just fuck me? I know you want to."

She was pulling his earlobe into her mouth and Red could hardly keep in a moan. He was just a man after all. "Lizzie, stop. Stop!" Pushing her back by her shoulder, he tightened his grip.

"So now I'm not even good enough for that?"

"Listen to me here, we both know you're not ready for that and we agreed to wait for as long as you needed."

"I'm ready now," she breathed out.

"You're not," he told her immediately. "And I wouldn't want it to be like that anyway. I love you, Lizzie. And I refuse to believe that whatever it is you're doing right now is who you really are." He could tell the moment her whole demeanor shifted. Her shoulders slumped and she dropped her head. "Lizzie."

She slumped against him with a sob. "Why, Red, why?"

Not wasting any time, he wrapped his arms around her shaking form and pulling her into his chest. "Why what, sweetheart?" He asked softly.

"The letter... I... why?"

Her hot tears were soaking through to his skin by now. "What letter, Lizzie? Sweetheart, I don't follow."

She pulled her head back and looked at him and seeing her this hurt made his heart clench painfully in his chest. "The letter... the photo." He just shook his head. "Leslie."

Recognition shone in his eyes. "A letter from Leslie." She nodded, unsure just what was happening right now. Red looked off to the side and his jaw clenched in anger. "Leslie is my ex-girlfriend," he told her. "And I swear to you, Lizzie, there's absolutely nothing going on between her and me. I don't have anything that's hers."

"But... it's on your desk, Red."

"Lizzie, I promise you, when I left the house this morning, there was not one single item from her anywhere. She never even wrote me a letter. Not when we were together and that was over a year ago..." He trailed off, thinking back to what her mother had told him. "She was at my house today... my Mom told me before I came here, but she didn't mention a letter. I need to talk to her."

"Ray..." Lizzie whispered brokenly.

"I know, sweetheart. Come here." He pulled her back to him and tucked her head under his chin. "I'm sorry, Lizzie. I didn't even think about how this might affect you. Honestly, I forgot about today. To me there's no special day to love you, because I love you every day. I should have remembered though... I loved what you did to my room by the way," he said, nuzzling her hair with his nose.

"Really?"

"Mhm... especially that photo. I put it on my nightstand." She couldn't help but smile at that.

"I even cooked..."

"You cooked? For me?" She nodded and felt his arm tighten around her. "That's what smelled so good. I thought that my mom had made dinner. That was all you?"

"Yes," she replied.

"You're the best," he told her softly. "Let me make this right, sweetheart. I'll talk to my mom and try calling Leslie. And then I would really love to see you." She snuggled deeper into his chest and released a sigh. "Can I see you tonight, Lizzie? Make it up to you?"

"I would love that."

He pulled back a little to look at her with a smile on his face. "Thank you," he said, giving her a sweet kiss. "I love you, Lizzie."

"I love you, too."

Red gently brushed some tears from her cheeks and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Will you be okay for a short while? I'll take care of this and then I'm all yours."

"Okay."

"Why don't you lay down for a few? You look tired. I blame myself for this. I'm sorry for hurting you."

She hugged him tightly for a moment. "I'm sorry for being a bitch."

"You're not. And you had every right to be angry. I guess I really am an idiot. I promise to do better," he said, kissing the shell of her ear.

"Hurry?"

He grinned. "You won't even know I'm gone." With a last kiss he was out of the door.

After talking to his mother, he found out that his ex-girlfriend, or Lester (as his mother liked to call her), had indeed left a letter, but she hadn't thought anything of it. The older woman had apologized, but Red couldn't really be angry at her anyway. How was she supposed to know that this would happen? He quickly showered and dressed and packed up the food Lizzie had prepared. He couldn't help noting how well she had done, and all on her own, according to his mother. He had also tried reaching Leslie, but only managed to catch her answering machine. He left her a message and let her know that he was not interested in getting back with her and that she was to leave him alone. He was out of the door not even an hour after entering.

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Lizzie walked down the flight of stairs. It smelled wonderfully and her stomach was already protesting against not eating anything. "Daddy? Did you cook after all?" The house was dark, but there was a soft light coming from the dining room. "Dad?" She stopped short when she saw her boyfriend standing next to the table that was now holding the food she had cooked for them as well as several lit candles. He was all dressed up, even wearing a bowtie and he was holding a bouquet of red roses in front of him.

"I realize that the food isn't my doing, but I could hardly let something that smelled so wonderful go to waste." He smiled.

In a matter of seconds he had his arms full of his girlfriend and he had barely the time to keep the roses from being crushed in the process. Chuckling softly, he put his arms around her and held her close. "I got you something."

"Ray..."

"I refuse to say it's a Valentine's gift though. Let's say it's a 'I'm-sorry-I'm-such-an-idiot-sometimes' gift." He kissed her cheek before handing it to her.

"A rabbit?" She grinned, holding the stuffed animal to her.

"Teddy bears are overrated," he said dryly, making her laugh. "I also got you this."

Liz's eyes widened at the sight of a small velvet box. "Ray?" She asked softly.

He smiled and opened the box, holding it out for her to see. "It's a promise ring. To signify my commitment to you. I'm sure it fits, but you can also wear it around a necklace. Your dad was so nice to -" Before he could even finish his sentence, his lips were sealed with hers, kissing him with everything she had. "He also said, 'no romancing'," he got out between kisses.

"I'm sure a little romancing is fine," Liz said, her eyes shimmering with tears. Happy tears this time.

Taking the ring out of the box, Red took her hand in his and gently slipped it onto her finger. It was a perfect fit indeed. "I commit to you, Elizabeth. I will be yours for as long as you'll have me."