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"Where are we going?” Pieck asked not for the first time.
“To the place where dreams come true.” Annie reiterated, her voice taking that mysterious tone that Pieck usually loved but now only made her roll her eyes given the particular hour of the day and the particular day of the week.
It was Monday and six in the evening and Pieck was doing her best to voice out loud her desire to be home, in the safety of their bed and sleep until tomorrow morning. However, she had a feeling that Annie wouldn’t listen. So, she merely rested her head against the window and closed her eyes. Wherever they were headed to would take them an hour at least given that it was rush-hour so, she could use the time to doze off.
“So, the place where dreams come true is McDonald's?” Pieck asked, confused.
“Yep.” Annie said simply.
“I thought it was Disneyland's.”
“Nope.”
“Babe,” Pieck sighed, “you do realize we could’ve gone to a drivethru and ate at home.”
“Come on in, the place must be packed.” Annie beckoned her over as she rushed toward the entrance. Just what spell has Annie been put under?
Resigned to her fate, Pieck followed her on her heels begrudgingly. No matter what, she was starting to feel hungry so despite her complaints, food is still food.
“Is there any particular occasion you dragged me here other than you craving McDonald’s?” Pieck asked again while she munched on a fry.
“It’s Valentine Day.” Annie shrugged as if it was the most obvious thing.
“No, it’s not. It’s February fifteenth.” Pieck cocked an eyebrow.
“OK, fine. It's not.” Annie looked contrite, “we missed it because I had a shift yesterday. Sorry about that.”
“Annie, you know I don’t mind these things.” Pieck smiled sympathetically, “so we missed one valentine day, it’s not the end of the world.”
“I know it’s not, it’s just...” She seemed hesitant, as if choosing her next words, “I don’t want us to be that married couple, you know? No longer caring about special events–”
“Valentine day is a capitalist concept I no longer stand behind–”
“–and just be like those couples who just, coexist. I don’t want the, um, 'flames of passion' to be extinguished, not when we’ve only been married for a year and a half.”
“So, you’re fine if the 'flames of passion' was extinguished after ten or twenty years?” Pieck teased and grinned when Annie went tomato red.
“No, I don’t– I, um, you know what I mean!” She grumbled, now slouching in her seat and refusing to meet her gaze. Pieck knew what she was insinuating and quite frankly, she was touched. She felt overwhelmed by an emotion she couldn’t describe, and felt her heart swell with love for her beloved.
“I get it,” Pieck said and watched as relief washed over her wife, “though, I’m still a bit confused as to why you brought us here for our Valentine date.”
“Um,” Annie rubbed her neck sheepishly, “no dishes to wash?”
“Oh my god.” Pieck burst into laughter.
“Pieck, you’re always busy–”
“I cannot believe you.”
“–we both are! We work from day to night, many days of the week we don’t even get to see each other with our opposite working and even sleeping schedules. I– I just thought we could, have some time together since neither of us could afford to go on a, you know, date. With a capital D.”
“You mean like the one Reiner took Bertholdt in last Valentine? And possibly this year too?” Pieck knew she ought to stop teasing Annie but, she was making it way too easy for her.
“They’re gooey romantics and kind of nothing like, well, everyone else, us included. I thought we both agreed on that.” Annie argued, face still pink.
“Yeah, they are.” Pieck made a face.
“Are you mad at me?” Annie asked tentatively.
“What? No!” Pieck shook her head, smiling still, “I’m not mad that the love of my life did her best to steal a few hours, most of which were spent trying to get through the deadliest of traffic–”
“Oh my god, you are mad–” Annie looked horrified now so Pieck reached for both of her hands, doing her best not to grimace at how greasy both of their fingers were.
“Annie, I’m really not.” Pieck said, voice gentle, “if anything, all I can think of is how much I love you.” Pieck tried not to grin when the corner of Annie’s mouth twitched in that familiar way where her partner would try her best not to smile.
“I love you too.” She murmured back.
“This makes me feel nostalgic, you know? Of our first date.” Pieck felt an involuntary smile tug at her lips. It was years ago now.
“Yeah?”
“How you took me on that five-minute date because I was way too busy and could never afford to even give you a chance to ask me out. It was merely ten feet away from my office, but you still insisted we took a cab to get there, sat us outside a pub, we barely ate two spoonful of desert and a sip of coffee while we tried to make small talk before you had to drive me back to work.”
“I cringe every time I think about it.” Annie groaned in embarrassment, “it’s not what you deserve.”
“I never gave you the chance to try and give me more.” Pieck countered, “after you dropped me at work and pecked my cheek– you should’ve kissed me then but you were so nervous, which was adorable– I thought to myself ‘one day, I’m going to marry her.’ And look at us; a year later, I did.” Pieck squeezed Annie’s hand in hers, relishing in seeing the other’s timid yet warm smile, “I’m so happy I did.”
“Me too.”
“There, we just had a very gooey romantic Valentine, despite how hard we tried not to.”
Annie burst into laughter, and Pieck felt her heart skip a beat when hearing that heartfelt sound she just adored.
Frankly, she didn’t care if they spent Valentine day or the day after in a squeaky booth in the far end of a far too crowded McDonald’s or any other place. As long as they had each other, Pieck was happy.