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It’s Valentine’s Day and the school is covered with pink, red, and white paper hearts on the walls, equally hued balloons and roses and candies for significant others and friends.
Steven watches Chantel give Ashly a teddy bear and a rose across from him at their lunch table. Ashly presses a kiss to Chantal’s cheek. It’s all really sweet, and he loves seeing so much love going around, but he kinda hoped he had someone. By someone he meant his partner in all things but love, his best friend Andrew.
He knows that will never be a thing that happens. Andrew doesn’t like him that way. He makes a point of always pointing out his attraction to women and often rejecting Steven’s affection. And yeah, Steven knows they’re best friends, they do everything together. But sometimes he catches Andrew’s lingering eyes on him before he turns away and Steven thinks… maybe. But he quashes that hope down. Better to stay friends right?
Steven watches Andrew cooly walking over to their lunch table, backpack slung over his shoulder, lunchbox in hand. He looks really good, more so than he usually does, wearing a deep red button down with cuffed tan corduroys, hair groomed into place and face clean shaven. Steven could feel his heartbeat pounding heavily. What a jerk.
Andrew places his backpack on the seat next to Steven, Adam on the other side, how they usually sit.
“Hey,” Steven acknowledges.
Andrew ignores Steven briefly. He places his lunch on the table and opening up his backpack, pulling out a cream envelope, handing it to Steven.
“Here.” Andrew says, straight faced. He moves his backpack to the floor, taking a seat, waiting for Steven to open the card.
Steven can feel himself blushing. He knows it won’t be what he wants it to be, so he prepares the aww thanks Andrew! in his head.
He opens the envelope to find a flat vintage card of a hot dog with a face and yellow mustard hair saying, “ Hot dog! Frankly I like you!” Steven’s face cracks into a grin, shaking his head fondly. Of course Andrew found a way to merge Steven’s love of hot dogs and Andrew’s love of puns. Even the vintage card was just so Andrew.
Steven looks up to see Andrew smiling at him. Steven feels warm. It could be so easy. Steven pushes down the sad thought. “This is so dorky. I love it, thanks buddy.”
Andrew’s smile falters. He sees Adam’s head fall into his hands out of the corner of his eye. Steven feels the eyes of the entire table on both of them. Was that the wrong thing to say?
“What? What’s wrong?” Steven asks.
Andrew huffs, “Steven I–” he sighs, “I like you!”
“I like you too… We’ve gone over this before.” Steven is so confused. He can’t mean that he likes him in the same way Steven does, there is no way. His heart won’t stop beating in his ears. It’s almost a sick joke, but Andrew can’t know he’s hurting him.
Andrew groans, head looking skyward. He looks back down to Steven, shaking his head, “Ah, fuck it.”
Then Steven feels Andrew’s hands cup his face and Andrew’s lips on his.
Andrew pulls away and Steven can feel his lips tingling. It couldn’t have been for more than a second but Steven felt as if time froze, everything falling silent aside from high pitched noise. He opens his eyes to a desperate look on Andrew’s face. A seed of happiness blooms in Steven’s chest.
“Now! Now do you get it?”
Steven grins even bigger than before.
Andrew likes him. Andrew got him a goofy card for Valentine’s. Andrew kissed him.
The corner of Andrew’s mouth lifts, he sighs, “Steven, will you be my Valentine?”
Steven laughs, nodding, “Yeah.”
The whole table and the surrounding tables begin to cheer and clap. Steven hears a “Finally!” from the crowd.
Yeah. Steven takes Andrew’s hand in his. Finally.