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Hans rubs his eyes and yawns. It's eight in the morning, and most importantly, it's the 14th of February.
With a quick stretch, he gets up and looks at the calender next to his bed. He circled this day specifically in red. It was how much he anticipated it.
A few weeks before, he kept getting frequent dreams of himself wearing his best suit, smiling, and having French cuisine at a restaurant, a vague silhouette of a man sitting opposite to him.
Finally, today is the day. He just needs to get ready, stop by the flower shop, and get the timing right. Surely, Aldo can't turn down a well-planned date! At least, Hans wouldn't, if Aldo had done the same.
Lucky for him, Aldo is in Nantucket for the month, in a town very near for some social event. It was easy to get information on Aldo's whereabouts, people here are really talkative; with most of them knowing Aldo persnally as well.
It's cold outside, but Hans doesn't really notice it that much when all the time he's been imagining Aldo's reaction, his face and practically everything. It'll be such a surprise, Aldo will definitely be speechless.
He walks in the flower shop, and the bell above the door chimes. There's a wide variety of flowers to choose from; tulips, sunflowers, lillies... But of course, roses are ideal on Valentine's.
Without a second thought, not even looking at the price, he went for a bouquet of around fifty roses. It's expensive, lavish, and the only way Hans intends to prove sincere to Aldo.
The cashier greets him with a smile as he placed down the bouquet.
"That'll be a hundred dollars, sir."
Hans nods, taking out a hundred from his wallet. "Right."
"Thank you," says the cashier, placing the bouquet in a bag. "For the wife, is it?"
"Yes," he grins. "For the wife."
He left pleased, looking down at the bag as he walks more than he has to.
By the time he's back at home, it's nine o'clock. He takes a poster from his desk, the one that lists the restaurant's number, and dials it on the telephone.
"Hello? I'd like to book a table for two at ten pm, please. Put it under the name Hans Landa. Yes, thank you."
He hangs up. Now, the last thing he needs to do is wait until nine pm, and then show up at Aldo's frontdoor.
Hans starts thinking about what he will say to Aldo once he sees him.
" 'Long time no see!' No, that doesn't sound right..."
He takes out the bouquet of roses and looks at himself in the mirror, smiles, and imagines Aldo's face.
" 'These are for you. Only you. Be my Valentine's.' " He instantly frowns. "Sounds sort of corny."
" 'Raine, I know we aren't close... But won't you be my Valentine's, please?' " he clicks his tongue. "Too desperate."
" 'Raine....' " Hans gives up, sighs. "Just be my Valentine's..."
Frustrated, he places the bouquet away, then collapses on his couch. He wants it to be flawless, to impress Aldo so much that all his efforts won't be futile. What are the chances that it'll go well?
They can get together! If only he hadn't met Aldo under such circumstances. He's absolutely smitten.
His eyelids start to feel heavy, and he slowly closes his eyes, the last thing he sees being the bouquet.
"What do you think? You like it here?"
Aldo smiles, staring at him. Past him, there was the shore, the moon. They're at the beach with nobody around.
"I love it," Hans mutters, lacing fingers with Aldo's hand.
Aldo winks. "No one to bother you."
Hans glances around, hearing the waves, feeling the cool air. He inhales contently, before averting his gaze back on Aldo.
"I've waited for so long, Raine. Did you know?"
Aldo caresses Han's hair lovingly, almost too good to be true. "I can see that."
Then, just so suddenly, they're both closing the gap between each other, two inches away, one inch away now, until their lips met.
He wakes up, a bit shocked, but the memory of his dream fades away once he glances at the clock. It's ten past nine in the evening already! Why did he sleep for so long? He only has thirty minutes to prepare before he drives to Aldo's place.
The cologne sprayed yet not too much, the bow on his collar adjusted, the hair combed...
Hans observes his appearance on the mirror again. Is his bow crooked? He combs his hair, adjusts his cuffs, brushing his suit jacket, adjusts his bow again, combs his hair again, repeating everything throughly.
Once he arrives to the motel building Aldo is staying at, he looks around for the number 05. If his neighbour is right, Aldo should be in that room.
He raises his hand to knock on the door, but hesitates, and drops his hand back. Then he tries again, this time actually knocking, forcing the confidence to do its thing.
The door swung open almost immediately, and Aldo, in shorts and a plain t-shirt, locks eyes with Hans, glances at the roses, and back at him.
"What the..? How did you find me?"
"I know some people," Hans replies casually, smiling. "Anyway, don't you want to know why I'm here?"
"Yeah?"
"Raine," he clears his throat, prepared, gesturing with the bouquet. "Will you be my Valentine's?"
Aldo's eyes widens just slightly. "Oh."
Hans pauses, heart racing. "Is that a yes?"
He runs a hand through his own hair. "Well, uh, not really..."
"Just give it a chance," Hans reasons.
"I don't know," Aldo sighs, pinching the corners of his eyes.
"Please?"
"Sorry," Aldo crosses his arms. "Not interested."
"I-I booked us a table at a restaurant!" he cries.
"Find someone else to go with."
"But I love you so much, Raine," Hans whines.
Silence took over for a second or two, until Aldo sighs, defeated. Hans managed to be stubborn enough to make Aldo agree.
"Fine. I'll go."
A grin spreads across Hans' face instantly. "Yes? Take this bouquet then, and go prepare!"
"Yeah, yeah," he says, taking the bouquet inside.
All while Aldo gets dressed, Hans leaned on the wall outside, hopeful, constantly checking his watch every few minutes, waiting to see him again.
The door opens and Aldo comes out wearing the same suit he wore the last time Hans saw him, white blazer, black trousers, a small flower on his left... Though Hans swears this time it looks better than ever.
"Let's go," Aldo says, while putting on his watch.
Hans swallows a lump down his throat. "You look, uh.. Great."
Aldo perks an eyebrow. "It's the same thing I wore during that nazi party, don't you remember?"
"Yes, I know," Hans snorts. "I'm just paying you a compliment."
"Can you lead me to your car now?"
Hans gets flustered, though not so visibly. "Right. Absolutely."
It has been so long since Aldo last went to a restaurant like this, usually prefering to dine at casual restaurants, only eating his food, ocaisonally glancing at Hans and saying 'this is good stuff', muffled by the food in his mouth.
On the other hand, Hans acted love-stricken. From the moment they've arrived here, he has been staring at Aldo, smiling, while propping both of his cheek in his hands, and Aldo isn't sure what he should do about it. The jazz music didn't help.
Aldo dabs a napkin to his mouth. "So, uh, you aren't touching your food."
"Hm?" Hans eyes widened, as if he was busy zoning out, and has just noticed the presence of his dish. "Oh, yes, silly me."
Aldo watched Hans eat, almost impatiently, not noticing he's staring as much as Hans did before, like they were taking turns observing one and another.
What's gotten into Hans? Aldo wonders. Did he fall in love when Aldo threatened to carve a nazi symbol on his forehead using a knife? That would be masochistic!
Hans sets his cutlery down. "I think I'm done now. I'll ask for the bill."
Aldo nods. "Sure. Do you want to split the bill?"
"Oh, no," Hans chuckles, waving his hand dismissively. "I'll pay."
"If you insist..."
Grinning at Aldo, Hans calls the waiter over. "Yes, I insist."
At least this time his head isn't in a sandbag. Aldo leaned back in his chair. "You got anything planned after this as well?"
Hans takes out a couple of dollars, hands it to the waiter. "Not really. Why do you ask?"
"I've, uh, got to get going."
Hans frowns, glances at his watch, and back to Aldo. "So early?"
Guilt struck Aldo heavy. "Well, do you want to take a walk together or somethin'?"
Hans smiles again. It was easy to please him. "Would you like to?"
"Sure," Aldo says, sighing.
When they got up and Hans offered his hand to him, expectantly, Aldo reluctantly held hands with him.
They've been walking hand-in-hand by the sidewalk, silently, for a few minutes now. Hans enthusiastically swung their hands, taking in the view around them.
"I've had dreams about you," Hans spoke up out of the blue.
Aldo glances at him. "What kind of dreams?"
"We were dating in every one of them."
"All right," Aldo replies simply.
It grew quiet again. For Hans, he wanted to do this everyday if they could, while Aldo is left confused at every little thing Hans was doing.
Then, Hans makes a bold move, stops in his tracks, and faces Aldo with a shy smile, holding both of Aldo's hands. "Anyway, what do you think, Raine? About the date."
"It's not bad, at least."
Hans snickers. "Would you say... good enough for you to offer me a kiss?"
A short pause. Then, Aldo starts to consider it. "Do you want one?"
Eager, Hans nods instantly.
Aldo gently pulls Hans close, hands on his waist, Hans' on Aldo's face, and, gradually, their lips found each other, just like in Hans' last dream.
After they pull away, Hans was grinning nonstop. "Do you... want me to send you home?"
"Yeah," Aldo mutters. "Send me home."
Hans insisted that he open the car door for Aldo, and as Aldo walks back to his motel, Hans starts missing everything they did, leaning outside of the car just to be aware of how far away Aldo is.
Aldo stops, turning around. "Uh, Hans..."
"Yes?"
He walks up to Hans. "I'm leaving tomorrow. Going back to my actual home. Just wanted to let you know."
"Oh," Hans answers plainly, though disappointed. "Safe travels, then?"
Aldo smiles just slightly. "Thanks. And goodbye."
Hans smiles back. "Goodbye, I suppose."
Without warning, Aldo slowly gives Hans a kiss on the cheek, then pats him on the shoulder. "Have a goodnight."
Aldo walks away again, this time immediately going to his motel, while Hans is touching the place Aldo planted that kiss on, grinning like an idiot.
"Goodnight to you too, Aldo!" Hans shouts, waving.
Back home, Hans noticed that his breastpocket has a small red flower in it, similar to the one on Aldo's suit.