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After a day chock full of avoiding eye contact with any roses, stray hearts, or sickeningly sappy cards, Liam finally settles into the idea of spending another Valentine’s Day at home. He can curl up on the couch with Robin, the two of them under her favorite faux fur blanket, watching Barbie’s Swan Lake for the bazillionth time. Though they won’t even have a spare piece of heart-shaped candy to munch on because he’d been too lazy to pick anything up from the store. (He couldn’t face the idea of the ridiculous foot traffic that would inevitably be there, frantic men and women racing through the supermarket for the perfect gift for their significant others--one that didn’t somehow look like they’d just bought it an hour before.)
Until Robin comes into the kitchen with a sniffle, a small hand wiping at her nose, spreading snot all over her face. Eyes catching on the not-yet-dried tears, he automatically frowns as he runs into the other room to grab some tissues. “My darling,” he calls back as he does so. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
He bends down to gently wipe the stray snot off her face, also going for the tear stains at the same time. Grateful for the many tissues he’d pulled out of the box, he stretches his arm out to set the wad on the table, but not before he leaves a couple behind for this immediate emergency. “Blow, Ro,” he says, placing one up to her nose and squeezing lightly. Her nose crinkles just a bit at her nickname before she does what he asks. Still, her frown doesn’t budge, even as she blows hard into the Kleenex.
“I made…” She starts, voice low and almost unintelligible. “A really special card for Mr. Malik,” she sobs as her pout deepens. “And I…” She tears up again, voice raising as she starts to reach hysterical levels, stomping her foot on the floor in anger. “I forgot to give it to him, Daddy.” These last words seem to come from somewhere deep inside her throat. She lets out another cry before asking sadly, “Cupid’s going to put me on the naughty list, isn’t he?” And it’s so endearing, and yet so heartbreaking, the way that she seems to fully believe in this hybrid version of Valentine’s Day and Christmas, that Liam shakes his head fervently.
Instead of dealing with that little problem, though, he instead focuses on the main issue at hand. “No, no, my love. Not at all.” He pulls her close for a big bear hug, his arms and entire body feeling entirely too large in comparison to her small, dainty frame. “I’ll fix it, okay? We can go deliver it to him. I’ll be Cupid’s messenger today.”
Knowing he’s not talking to the right audience for it, he bites down the words that want to follow next: but where are my winged shoes?
Her face brightens immediately at that. “Really?” She asks, smile forming as she sounds suddenly much more hopeful. “Oh, please, Dad!” She begs, burrowing her face into Liam’s chest.
“Promise,” he replies, giving her a light kiss on top of her head. “I love you, you know. I’d do anything for you.” He presses one more gentle kiss, this time on her forehead, before saying, “Now, go get your shoes on, and we can head out in just a couple of minutes, alright?”
She scrambles down the hallway to find her shoes, so giddy that Liam can hardly stand it. Watching her slide around the corner in just her socks, Liam smiles before he chugs the rest of his still fairly hot tea (ah, the things he does for love).
He hadn’t even been home long enough to take off his shoes, so he sets out to check up on Robin, pretty much already ready himself. “Do you have your valentine, too, Robin?” He yells as he heads towards the entry way.
She nods as she beams, holding the valentine close to her heart. She’s slipped on her shoes and she springs up with a bundle of energy that Liam wishes he had, too.
He does his best to fake it.
“Alright, well, let’s go save the day.” He scoops her up, watching her squirm and giggle as he tickles her stomach. “For Cupid!” He cries, raising one arm up as if the two of them are about to go into battle.
She doesn’t get it, of course, but she smiles bigger all the same.
After making sure she’s settled into the car seat right and has her seat belt on, Liam wastes no time in heading out. It takes them less than ten minutes to get back to the school, Liam’s foot a bit heavy on the petal.
Even as he does his best not to worry about it, his eyes keep glancing at the clock. He really has absolutely no idea if her teacher will still be there, but it’s Valentine’s Day, and it deserves a shot, right?
Valentine’s Day is all about taking chances for love, after all, so here he is, for Robin.
And he’s strangely nervous, his throat a bit tight and his thoughts racing. He’s not sure why this feels so pressing, but it does--like maybe arriving one minute earlier or later will actually affect if this teacher is there or not. As if he was doing this for himself for Valentine’s Day, not just delivering a forgotten valentine to a teacher.
He scans the map on the bulletin board when he first walks in, searching for the right name. When he finds it, he lifts Robin up again so he can run through the almost deserted building.
Right before he’s about ten feet away from the door, Robin starts squirming in his arms. “Can you put me down, Daddy?” She asks quietly, sounding suddenly shy.
He looks down at her, eyebrows furrowed, but does as she asks.
“Of course, hon.” He studies her, trying to understand this sudden shift in behavior.
“Do it for me, Dad?” She says after a moment, holding out the valentine. Her eyes are wide and blinking quickly, as if she knows that this will do the job.
It does.
He lets out a small sigh, but he nods all the same as he bends down to take the slightly crumpled valentine from her hand. “Are you sure?”
He waits for her to nod, taking one step back as she avoids eye contact with him.
“Is there anything you want me to say when I give it to him?” He asks gently, grabbing her hand and squeezing it gently.
She shrugs, retreating back a bit into herself as her shyness continues to take over. “Happy Valentine’s Day?”
Liam smiles at the total innocence that is his daughter, the one who is always so kind and sweet without fault.
A surge of pride wells up deep within him before he says firmly, “I will. Be right back.” He stands up before pointing at the floor. “Stay here.” He gives her a stern look, making sure she nods before he huffs over to the still open doorway.
And, well, maybe he had been right to hurry. The man who he supposes is Mr. Malik is currently packing up his things, giving the documents a sour look before stuffing them inside his briefcase. It takes him a second to realize someone else is there, but when he does, he looks up with a sort of deer in the headlights look, finding Liam lingering in the doorway.
“Can I help you?” The teacher asks politely, and it should be a easy response, of course, simply handing over the homemade valentine with a smile and saying “Happy Valentine’s Day,” as Robin had asked.
But this man doesn’t make anything that simple. He has absolutely no business having such sharp cheekbones or long eyelashes, hair still styled perfectly into a quiff even after what Liam is sure was a wild day herding second graders.
But that doesn’t stop him from looking that way, anyway.
He can’t find it in himself to say anything, only noticing the suddenly loud beat of his heart, pounding in his ears. It takes him a couple more seconds before he’s finally able to stumble, “I have a valentine for you.” Holding out his hand that has the heart-shaped colored paper inside, he cringes as he realizes how that sounds. “Uhh, from my daughter.”
The man takes it, eyes aglow with amusement as he just watches Liam, not saying a word.
Liam can’t stop himself before he’s clearing his throat to add, “Not from me.” He can’t seem to keep his feet still, shifting his weight back and forth from one foot to the other.
Mr. Malik still doesn’t say anything, just reads the note, taking it in before slowly lifting his gaze to look Liam up and down carefully, eyes squinting as he tries to figure something out.
“Robin’s dad?” He asks after a moment, after having studied Liam’s eyes and the way the wrinkles form around them.
“Y--yeah,” Liam gets out with a gulp. “That’s it.”
The man lets out a long laugh, looking between the note and Liam. “You two have the same brilliant eyes." He stops to think. "And the same shifting of your feet.”
There's a moment of silence as he seemingly tries to decide what to say next. “Well, as I'm sure you already know, Robin is my secret admirator.”
Liam blinks at this, trying to figure out if he’s heard him wrong. “Sorry?”
Mr. Malik lowers the card so that Liam can see it, too.
And sure enough, there it is. Dear Mr. Malik, I’m your secret admirator is written in true, sloppy, 7-year-old handwriting, surrounded by little stick figures that have been drawn with pink highlighters.
“It’s adorable,” he says happily, patting it gently before sticking it in one of the outside pockets of his briefcase. “Maybe we need to work on her spelling, though.” He grins, tongue sticking out just barely from between his teeth as his nose crinkles up in delight. “Please tell her thank you.”
Liam ignores his sudden need to say “You’re adorable,” and instead smiles, taking a few steps backwards so that he can stick his head out the door and into the hallway. Sure enough, as he’d expected, she’d tiptoed closer to the door, only right out of the line of sight but within earshot.
“Come on, Ro,” Liam coaxes gently, grabbing her hand and gently leading her into the room with him.
She follows, though a bit hesitantly, keeping her eyes on the floor.
“Thank you, Robin,” the man says as he bends down to her level, and it sounds so sincere, so genuine, that Liam could hug the man.
Solely because he's made sure that his daughter is comfortable and not embarrassed, of course.
“I’ll keep it safe, I promise,” he adds as he gives her a light pat on the head. There’s a small pause as he looks between Liam and Robin, suddenly quieting down before he continues on. “I love it very much, and you’re wonderful, too." He glances up at Liam, looking specifically at his... hand? He thinks? He doesn't understand it, until--
"But do you mind if I see if your dad here wants to do something with me this evening? You and I get so much time here in class already, and he doesn’t get any time at all with me.”
At this, Robin’s eyes light up and she nods enthusiastically, almost bouncing on her feet, as if she couldn’t have thought of a better idea herself.
Liam, on the other hand, wants to pass out at this sudden turn of events, this new information that he doesn’t know quite what to do with. A ring, he thinks incredulously. He was looking for a ring.
Before he’s able to truly process it, though, Mr. Malik is standing up again and heading right to Liam, giving him a small smile. “Your daughter seems alright with us maybe spending some time together this evening.” He bites on his lip. “How would you feel about it, though, uhh…?” He trails off, realizing he doesn’t actually know this man’s name.
Liam hums, trying to get any words at all to surface. “It’s Liam,” he finally gets out, and it doesn’t seem too enthusiastic so he tries again. “And yeah, that’d be great.” He forces himself to smile, even though he's so nervous he feel like he could throw up at any second.
Before Liam can think to do anything else, the man's pulling out a sticky note to write down his number, along with his first name. Zayn. “Send me a message in a bit, and we’ll figure out what we want to do.”
Liam nods very seriously, his body feeling very stiff all of a sudden. Still, he takes the note, making sure to tack on an “I will” for good measure. Catching Zayn’s eye then, his lips upturn slowly at the same time as him, making his stomach flip.
Bending down to pick up an in-awe and ecstatic Robin, he heads back to the door before turning around and giving Zayn one last glance. “Can’t wait, Zayn,” he says, voice coming out smooth as he tries out the name. It feels nice on his lips--though, to be fair, there’s certainly something nice to be said about Mr. Malik, too.
Zayn nods before smirking, “Just so you know, I’m definitely going to tell all of my friends that you were my secret admirator.”
“Maybe I was,” Liam replies with a wink before he’s back in the hallway. He calls behind him, “Even if I didn’t know it.”