February 13th
Jemma Simmons was diligently working in the lab. Recently, she had come up with a new idea for a temporary tranquilizer, and couldn’t wait to start. She had texted Fitz earlier, hoping he would come and help but, as the minutes ticked by it became apparent she wasn’t getting any assistance. A dash of this, a bit of that, and the liquid started to come together at last. Only a few more steps and Jemma would be done.
That’s when a monstrous crash sounded in the lab. Everyone looked around frightened, looking for the source of the noise. Scanning the room, it only took a moment to see the spilled utensil cart and a Fitz sprawled on the floor. She sighed and continued her work, ignoring the hint of a smile creeping onto her lips. Her hands continuously poured the correct measures of liquids with practiced precision.
He had quickly gotten up after noticing her, ready to start a conversation about anything that came up. Walking over to her lab counter, he looked around at the many hearts haphazardly hung on the ceilings and smiled. Fitz sat down on a stool in front of her and intently stared at her until she finally looked up. Raising an eyebrow, she sighed once more and set her equipment down, realizing he wanted her full attention.
“Guess what tomorrow is, Simmons!” Fitz bounced excitedly in his seat. She absentmindedly wondered where all his energy came from; he was normally so grumpy and tired.
“The day before chocolate is majorly discounted!” She began to count up all the chocolate bars she would collect and the prices they often are at this time. Fitz gave her a confused look.
“No, it’s- well yes but not just that. It’s Valentine’s Day!”
“Oh, is that it? I need to get back to work,” Jemma walked around to another fridge to look for another sample for her concoction.
Fitz followed her until she finally turned around. “What? Just ‘discounted sweets’? Aren’t you the least bit excited?”
“Well… no, not really…”
She saw his face fall, and immediately regretted her answer. He tried covering up his disappointment, but she saw right through it. She walked back to her table and set her new sample down. Turning around she set a hand gently on his shoulder.
“I’m sorry, I’m just not into that kind of thing.”
“But-but why? It’s an amazing holiday, everyone’s happy, lots of food usually gets made, and you can sing cheesy love songs and no one will judge you.”
“You hate cheesy love songs.” She looked pointedly at him. Taking her hand off his shoulder, she continued with her task of getting the sample ready to use.
“That’s not the point,” he stressed. “The point is there’s no reason to hate Valentine’s Day.”
“Yes, there is.”
“Oh come on, I’m gonna need a better reason than that, Jem.”
She desperately looked at him now. The determination was clear on his face; he wasn’t going to let up anytime soon if she didn’t relent. “Because, Fitz, it’s pointless! It’s all just cheap stuff that people give to each other as jokes while the companies that sell the cards and candy make a huge profit off of it. No one is really in it for the love and happiness, they just want the commercial things.”
He was speechless.
“You know what, this year you are going to absolutely love Valentine’s Day- pun intended. I don’t care what it takes, you will regret ever saying those words.”
At this, Jemma knew she was in for a horrendous day.
Later that night, Jemma went to her dorm to grab her textbooks and notes. She had planned on studying with Fitz, but right as she was about to walk out her door, she felt a buzz in her pocket.
Can’t study tonight, sorry, I’m a bit busy
-From: Leo Fitz
She looked intently at the screen; this wasn’t normal for him. He always studied with her, regardless if he had to study or not. Thinking back to the previous events of the day, she wondered if maybe he’d been acting off and something was wrong.
Then it hit her.
“If he’s ‘busy’ trying to plan something for Valentine’s Day, I may have to give him a piece of my mind,” Jemma quietly threatened. Although, she subconsciously smiled, enjoying the thought that he cared enough to do this. Men had never given her much attention, or at least this much. She’ll admit, there were some guys but none that stuck around after she would talk about her love of science. None of them enjoyed her science talk. But Fitz did.
‘Maybe,’ she thought, ‘tomorrow will be interesting. Annoying, but interesting…’
February 14th
That morning, Jemma woke up to the cool air of her dorm room. She immediately got up to get tea, wondering what she had to do today. Sipping her drink, she peered out the window and saw lots of red. It was then that she remembered that it was Valentine’s Day. She groaned and threw her head back.
‘Another day of cheesy songs and pick-up lines,’ she thought. After getting ready, Jemma prepared herself for her early classes. Chemistry in the morning and Biology III that afternoon; it was a wonderful schedule in her mind, especially since she knew she would pass them with flying colors. Thinking of this, she excitedly walked out to go to her first class, only to come face to face with a bundle of red heart balloons. She whacked them away, only for them to come straight back. A couple of other students walked down the hallway. Some of them smiled adoringly at the gesture, some just laughed at her annoyed look.
After glaring at the balloons for a solid minute, a tall girl came up to Jemma. She noticed it was one of her partners from English class, Marie. Marie walked closer with a smirk slowly showing on her face.
“So, Jemma, having a good day?” she asked, laughing to herself. “It seems to have started pretty awesomely.”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Jemma sighed. Finally picking up the bouquet of balloons, she quickly shoved them back into her dorm, but a hand stopped her.
“Do you even know who they’re from?”
Jemma considered this. ‘Could it be from Fitz? Or maybe someone else…oh that’s silly, no one would do this but him,’ she thought to herself. She immediately shook away the thought, turning to respond to Marie.
“I have an idea, but it’s not important. What is important is getting to class on time, so I will see you later, yeah?” Jemma turned and walked away, but Marie, the ever-questioning Marie, caught up to her.
“So I’m assuming that I’m right. It actually is from your little Fitz-y? I knew it!”
“It’s not like that, Marie. He’s just trying to raise my spirit for the holiday, I’ve never quite liked this day so he’s just being a good friend by trying to make it better.”
Marie glanced at her almost sadly. She could sense the denial in Jemma’s tone, whether Jemma realized herself or not. The two continued to walk along to Jemma’s class in comfortable silence. Finally Jemma broke it.
“What if it is like that? I’m so confused! I never thought of it like that until yesterday when he suggested it and I don’t understand. Is it because no one else does this kind of thing for me? Is that why I’m so lost? I mean…I don’t know,” she admitted quickly, so quick that Marie wasn’t sure if she heard right. She stopped and put her hands on Jemma’s shoulders.
“Jemma, it’s fine, you’re fine. If it is like that then great, but if it’s not then so what?” She looked into her friend’s sad, puppy-like eyes, so full of confusion. “Personally, I always thought this would happen, but that’s not the point.”
“Marie!”
“I know, I know, now listen. Go to your class, learn like usual, and if anything else happens then just go with it. Okay?”
Jemma nodded and went to thank her, but she was already walking away. She turned to continue on her way to class. Walking by herself gave her time to think about her confession. Was it like that? Was it not?
Did she want it to be like that?
The whole thing was becoming stressful for her; she decided to listen to Marie and just go with it. It wasn’t her thing, she liked being prepared and having plans, but she was willing to risk it this one time.
It was around lunch time and Fitz was nowhere to be found. It was weird because she also hadn’t gotten any more surprises. She was secretly pleased, hoping he maybe gave up; she supposed that he finally understood her reasoning. Wandering into the cafeteria, Jemma expected that he would be there and they could have lunch together at least. Sadly, he was nowhere in sight. She went ahead and got her lunch and sat down.
She looked around and observed the couples that decided to play it cheap and eat the cafeteria food in place of a romantic lunch. They seemed happy, but why? Why was this any different than any other day? Jemma couldn’t understand; shouldn’t you always be this happy with your partner? She had lots of questions running through her head. She blocked them out, electing to ignore them in favor of her lunch.
Almost done, Jemma looked up and saw Fitz. He was turned around and seemed to be talking to someone. She was about to go approach him, but as she got up, both Fitz and the mystery person had disappeared. It was a strange occurrence, but one that she decided to brush off.
It had been a long day; many of Jemma’s classes decided to have a free day due to the holiday. Walking back she thought, ‘This is college, not high school. There shouldn’t be free days or cheesy movies instead of work and learning!’ She continued complaining silently, but when she reached her door, something shiny caught her eye. Looking up, she saw a sparkly, red envelope taped to her door. She grabbed it and turned it over a few times. There was no name on it, so she cautiously opened it, prepared for the worst.
What she saw was the last thing expected: a cartoon teddy bear holding a heart with the words ‘Happy Valentine’s Day!’ It was so ridiculous she started laughing so hard that she had to lean on her door. Another student walked by with a weird look on their face.
“Having fun there?” the boy asked. She had never seen him before, but decided to be polite and answer anyway.
“Oh, yes, just laughing at a friend’s cheesy antics.” She gestured to the card and shrugged. The guy laughed again, and walked closer.
“Well, I’m gonna join in on this, you like pick-up lines?”
Jemma nodded curiously, wondering what he was getting at.
“Well, here’s one for you: you have acute face. Get it? It’s a geometry one…angles...” She just stared at the boy, faces don’t look like angles, it was impossible. He saw her confusion and sighed, “Just forget about it, it’s not important.”
Waving his hand, the stranger left. Jemma slightly raised her hand in a pathetic attempt at a wave. Going back to the card, she decided to open it. Inside it read:
“Happy V-day, Jem! I know you hate it and all, but hopefully you’re changing your mind. You just deserved to at least be happy and be told how amazing you are. I’m really lucky I got to know you and become friends, and I hope this shows how much I appreciate you being in my life. I also hope this wasn’t too cheesy…sorry about that. I guess I’ll stop rambling now, enjoy the rest of your day!”
It was signed in Fitz’s scratchy handwriting. Smiling, Jemma tucked the card back into the envelope and sat for a moment. She thought about the words written in the card, also glad they were in each other’s lives. She didn’t know what she would do without him; he was the only one that understood her, or at least tried to.
She briefly closed her eyes, and then opened them so she could unlock her door. Turning the handle, she discovered that it was already unlocked. Frightened, Jemma clutched her phone, ready to call the campus police if needed. The lights were off in her dorm, but she saw a glow casting shadows across the walls in front of her. Slowly, she walked further in. Upon seeing movement, Jemma screamed.
The lights flickered on. She immediately saw the intruder was Fitz, so she took her books and whacked him repeatedly.
“Jemma! Jemma, stop! It’s just me!” he yelled, shielding himself from the oncoming assault of textbooks.
“I. Know. It’s. You!”, she punctuated every word with another hit, “This is what you get for scaring me half to death." Hopefully getting her point across, Jemma set her books on a nearby table and turned to glare at Fitz. “What are you even doing in my dorm anyway?”
“Well if you would look, then you’d see.” He gestured toward the far end of the room where a table was set up with candles, flowers, and plates. Jemma’s mouth dropped slightly, amazed at his effort. It was actually for her. But it didn’t change anything, she still didn’t like Valentine’s Day. Or at least she thought she didn’t.
“Fitz, I told you it’s pointless. You’re just wasting your time.” His face dramatically fell.
“Just go with it Jemma, you might see that maybe it’s not that bad. Did you get the balloons earlier?”
“Yes, but-”
“And the card?”
“Yes Fitz, but-”
“No. No buts. You’re going to sit down, eat your favorite takeout that I got for you, and you will enjoy yourself. No arguing. By the end of today you are going to realize I was right, and you’ll finally get over your unreasonable hatred for a happy holiday.” He spoke sternly, so much that Jemma was speechless.
She knew he wasn’t being rude in any way, but it was still shocking to hear that. Deciding to humor him, she grumpily walked to the table, seeing the takeout as promised. She sat and waited for him to sit with her. When he did, she raised her eyebrow at the flowers. Seeing this he hesitated.
“Ah, it was Marie’s idea. She came and talked to me, saying she saw the balloons and wanted to help with something. If they’re too much I can always get rid of them,” Fitz admitted. He went to pick them up, but Jemma’s hand stopped him. She gently smiled at him, deciding to accept her fate and enjoy the dinner.
“Go ahead and leave them, they are my favorite.” His face perked up at this.
“Really? Well I was just guessing, but then I remembered you always smelled these and looked at them more than the others, so I sort of thought that maybe you liked them.” He looked like he was about to say something else, but stopped himself. Jemma’s smile got even bigger. She would never admit it, but all of the little gestures were finally getting to her. They had begun to tear the wall of hatred down.
They ate dinner and chatted quietly, enjoying each other’s company mostly. Around the end of the evening, Jemma decided to bring up the card.
“So about what you said in the card…” she began.
“I meant every word of it,” he responded quietly. She immediately looked up at him, feeling her face get warm. He was looking down at his food and playing with it. She knew he meant it, but there was something in his confession that she couldn’t quite understand. It was as if there was something she was missing. She opened her mouth to respond, but he beat her to it.
“I have something to confess.” He looked up at her with an almost scared look on her face. She nodded encouragingly at him.
“This wasn’t just to get you to enjoy Valentine’s Day in general, it was a more selfish reason, I guess. I had been wanting to do something or say something for a while now but I’ve just been afraid to. I guess that this was my weird way of trying to show you - unsuccessfully it seems- that I care for you… a lot.” He looked down at his hands.
“Fitz, I know, I care for you, too.”
“No, Jemma, I mean more than that. I mean that every time I see you I get nervous and-and I just, I really like you, Jem. You honestly don’t have to say anything; I know I’m just hoping for nothing, it’s fine.”
He got out of his chair, beginning to walk to the door. Jemma quickly got up and caught his arm. He turned around about to say something to her, but she stopped him with a hand over his mouth.
“You didn’t even let me talk, how would you have ever known what I thought, silly?” She laughed at his confused look.
Stepping closer to him, she reached up on her toes and kissed him. He was shocked at first, not registering what was happening. After a moment, he finally kissed back, realizing that she wasn’t going anywhere or tricking him. They continued for a minute until, finally, Jemma pulled back. They both had huge grins on their faces.
“So Fitz, be my Valentine?” He laughed and kissed her again.