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Ed hated Valentine's Day.
The artifice, the seemingly obligatory nature of the affection just never sat well with him. Why did one day out of the year need to exist to show your love? If it wasn’t real 364 days out of the year, one day wouldn’t change that. But he hadn’t always felt that way.
It all started in primary school. He had tried to fit in once—a very long time ago. He obediently used the provided glue sticks and colored paper to create little heart-shaped cards. He always gave them out but never received any, until one day he did.
She walked up to his desk as he scribbled little love poems in his notepad. He remembered clearly her white socks with pink bows sticking out above her black patent leather shoes. He knew those shoes; it was Samantha Pine, with her pink lip-gloss and blond curly pigtails.
Last year he skipped a grade and joined her class; ever since, he found thoughts of her to be irrepressible. The two of them were the brightest in the class; half of the time she knew the answer almost as fast as he did. Not only was she a vision of pink cotton candy, but she was brilliant, too. She was perfect for him. He just wished he knew how to show her that, and his crumpled sweaty paper heart valentine didn't seem quite enough. Now she was standing at his desk, thrusting her much better prepared glittery heart his way! Could it be?!
"Here." Samantha stood with one hand on her hip and the other flapping the paper heart in his face. "Well, come on, take it. I have other desks to get to."
Ed couldn’t quite believe his luck! "Uhh, well, here, this is for you." He held out his heart to her and she wrinkled her pert little nose before using a single finger and thumb to take his moist offering.
"Yeah, thanks." She abruptly turned on the toe of her patent leather shoes and headed over to her desk to deposit his carefully written love note.
He spent the rest of the afternoon watching her from behind his notebook, hoping she would finally sit back down and read his note. But instead she flitted from desk to desk, depositing more hearts to the remaining class. There was a little niggle in the back of his mind.
You idiot, she's giving them to everyone. You are not special.
Shut up! I am. She came to my desk first. She'll love the riddle and then really see how great we could be.
The riddles in the valentine he gave he were far superior to what he'd written for her before. In honor of Valentine’s Day, they were all love themed. He knew they were both young, at a mere 10 years of age, but he liked to believe the saying that you never know when true love will strike . So he waited for her to come back to him. To notice him.
It never happened.
When the day was over and the bell rang, she shoved all the gifts together into a bag and headed out with the rest of the class, without a single glance in his direction. But, but!
He quickly gathered his school supplies and headed after her.
"Edward," Ms. Miller, one of the newer teachers at the school, said from behind her desk. "Could you wait for moment? I need to speak with you." Edward didn’t mind her. She seemed to like teaching, although her subjects and handle of the material were a little pedantic. She was at least kind and tried to encourage him to study and read, which he liked.
He continued inching towards the door. "Ms. Miller, I really must-"
"Also, I thought you might like your remaining gifts." She held out a paper bag half-filled with more paper hearts and glitter.
He stopped. "I don't understand. I only received one gift, from Samantha."
"No, Edward. In our class we were all assigned to give one to everyone. Don't you remember?" she asked gently.
He shook his head. Honestly, sometimes her voice became background noise as he worked on his puzzles or riddles, so he might have missed that. But in any case, he wouldn't have wasted his time when Samantha was the only one he wanted to impress.
"Wait, if I was supposed to get more, why didn't I? Why do you have them?"
Ms. Miller set the bag down on her desk. "Well dear, you can be a tad, oh, how should I put this..." she trailed off, seeming to think for a second. "You have an intensity to you that makes some of the children shy around you."
"Shy?" Why did that word not seem right? She was lying! Shy wasn't what the other children were. "Shouldn't you just say what you mean? You mean 'scared,' don't you?'
She cringed "No, Edward..." she stopped and sighed, seeming to come to a decision. "You are right, Edward, some of the girls mentioned you staring at Samantha. I hope you know that isn't appropriate." She bent closer to him and lowered her voice, "Is everything okay at home? If there is anything you need to tell me, I'm here for you."
Ed started piecing together the events of the day. It was just an assignment, to give everyone in class a gift, including him. But his gifts were given to their teacher instead so they wouldn’t need to interact with him. Everything in the bag was worthless to him. Samantha was the only one that mattered. His brave, selfless, beautiful Samantha.
"But Samantha, she's not scared! She really likes me."
"Well, that I can't say, I certainly hope so. It would be good for you to have a friend. But that doesn't excuse your behavior, plus, you didn't finish the assignment."
"You can't assign love, Ms. Miller!"
"Well, I suppose not, but-"
"Ms. Miller, thank you! I now understand what I need to do! See you tomorrow." Edward left the clueless teacher and the bag of worthless gifts behind and headed off to find his true love.
This was great news! What started off awful had now turned into the best news ever! Samantha cared enough about him to give him her heart personally! She loved him!
He went in search of her, hoping she hadn't left the school grounds yet. Kids were wandering all over; friends hugged each other and exchanged gifts. He had never had a friend. Not one person to give a gift to him in exchange, until today. With her!
He intensified the search, asking others if they've seen her. He got pointed to the end of the hallway, near the exit. She was getting ready to head home, shuffling the items in her book bag, trying to find room for all her new Valentine’s Day gifts. He couldn’t wait to see her reaction to his!
He came up behind her. "Hi Samantha!"
She spun around. "Oh! You scared me." She had her little hand clutched to her chest with a crumpled ripped paper heart in it and a scowl on her face. "What do you want?"
"Have you read my poem yet? I know you will just love it. It's all about you and..." he trailed off as he noticed her eyes quickly dart downward, down to the trashcan beside her and the tattered paper hearts in it. Those were meant as gifts for her and she was throwing them away! And right on top, with the other trash and discarded gifts, was his.
"But..." he couldn’t process this; he stumbled through thoughts and words, not forming anything coherent. "I thought..." he shook his head. Didn't she care at all?
You dummy. I told you.
To her credit, she looked at least slightly embarrassed. "It was just a class project. I got 10 points of extra credit for giving one to everyone. You knew that, right?"
In a move so quick he didn’t realize he'd done it, he snatched up his lovelorn gift from the trash and ripped it into pieces, frantically, until he couldn’t get it into anything smaller. He distantly heard a squeak and looked up to see Samantha run out into the bright light of the afternoon sun. He let the residual of his love for her fall out his fingers and back into the trash, where it belonged.
At that moment, looking down into the trash and discarded waste, he swore to himself he would never mistake obligation for love again. Never again would he ever get sucked in.
He now hated Valentine's Day and everything it stood for.
Which was why when he arrived at his desk today, ready for another day of working as chief of staff, and found a bright red card sitting on the desk, he had no idea what it could be about. It took him a moment to even realize what day it was. Just another Tuesday, as far as he was concerned.
But yet, the same could not be said for Oswald. He had been practically floating from room to room the last few days, his smile as large as Ed had ever seen it. He was sure Oswald was in such a pleasant mood due to his recent success. He’d only been in office a few weeks, but crime, as far as the citizens were aware, was down. Business was booming. Everything was coming up roses for Ed and Oswald. And now, a rose sat on his desk with a red card addressed to him attached. Could the two be connected?
He looked around the room, light streaming in from the iron-leaded glass casting long, eerie shadows across his desk in the early morning light. They must have been left here last night. There was no indication of who left it, though.
Using his letter opener, he slid the blade along the top, wondering if anything would pop out. It was not unheard of for rival families to send death in the form of powder through the mail. He thought Oswald had brought everyone under his wings, but maybe there was an outlier. You couldn't be too careful.
Using a pair of long handled tweezers in his desk, for such events, he slowly pulled out the card. Ed gave a sigh of relief.
It's just a card, calm down.
Yeah, right. It's never just a card.
And he was right—the card was heavier than anticipated.
Opening it revealed a silver key with an opulent filigree handle as well as an elegant cursive poem handwritten inside.
The rose is red, the violet's blue,
The honey's sweet, and so are you.
Thou art my friend and I am thine;
I drew thee to my Valentine:
The lot was cast and then I drew,
And Fortune said it should be you.
There was no signature. No one but Oswald sprang to mind as to the potential sender. He had been proven to be the sentimental sort. But all this? What could it mean?
"Ah! I see you've found your gift!" Oswald hurried into the room with a locked box in hand. It was still early morning but Oswald was dressed as if he was about to attend an upscale event rather than everyday business. His jet black hair was perfectly coiffed into its unique style and his purple accented suit was impeccable. Oswald always cut a striking figure and made it look effortless.
"I was hoping to deliver everything together, but had to make some last minute arrangements." Without a moment's hesitation he held the box out to Ed. It had the same silver filigree surrounding the corners and the keyhole.
Ed was stunned. He wasn’t sure he understood. "Oswald, what is this about?"
"Ed, you must know!" Oswald looked expectant but Ed simply didn’t have an answer. “It's Valentine's Day!”
Ed couldn't believe a day he loathed with every inch of him could bring a look of such joy to his friend’s face. Surely this was all in jest.
"You like Valentine’s Day? Why? It's nothing but falsehoods and obligations."
Oswald shook his head. "No, no, my dear Ed, you have it all wrong! Nothing else matters today but showing one another how much we appreciate each other."
Ed stayed dumbfounded as Oswald continued. "My mother used to say to me, ‘Oswald, Valentine’s Day is the one day where everything else falls away and all that matters is being with the ones you love.’ She'd keep me home from school and we'd dance and sing all day long. We didn't have much, as you know, so there were very few gifts, but spending time together was our gift to each other."
And with that something clicked.
Wow, she really did a number on him.
Shut it.
Keeping him all to herself actually saved the little guy the same humiliation we suffered.
And it also meant that Oswald wasn't joking. He actually was trying to give Ed a Valentine’s Day gift.
"Oswald, this is quite thoughtful, but I can't accept. You’ve already given me so much."
"Nonsense! Here, I insist." He thrust the box into Ed's hands and spun to the other side of the room. Even with his limp he could move faster than most when he was excited. And right now, that certainly qualified. He stopped in the doorway and motioned for someone in the hall. "Bring it now, now!" A burly man in overalls wheeled in a large object covered by a black drape. Oswald directed him to push it into the corner, then shoved some cash into his hands and shooed him away. "Look what I have found for us!" Oswald clutched the black fabric, waited a beat, and then with a flourish revealed Ed’s old piano.
Ed couldn’t help but gasp and walk towards it, running his hands over the smooth wood finish. It was beautiful, and not just because of the fine woodworking, but also the memories it brought with it. They were few, but the moments he had with Oswald back in his loft were cherished. And now, Oswald wanted to create more memories. On Valentine's Day, no less.
"I don't know what to say." His chest felt tight and he was sure he looked a fool, running his fingers over the piano’s surface, lost in his thoughts.
"Say you'll stay here and sing with me today. I haven’t had a chance to enjoy this day in far too long.” Ed met Oswald’s eyes at that. His friend was always so expressive. Fear, pain, hope, and happiness; they all mingled into one. Oswald raised his head, suddenly standing taller and with renewed purpose. “Everything at City Hall can wait until tomorrow. This is Gotham. Surely, the city isn't going to burn down all in one day,” he laughed.
Ed had his doubts about that. But he so desperately wanted to stay with Oswald, he didn’t think he'd care if it did. The significance of this day for his friend was now so clear. How Ed had become this important to him, he had no idea, but he was ready to embrace it.
"I'd be delighted to enjoy the day with you, Oswald." Ed's head was swimming. To think after all these years he finally found a friend, someone who wanted to spend time with him, doing what they both loved to do. It was astounding.
"Oh! Your other gift!" Oswald retrieved the forgotten box and handed it to Edward.
"Oswald, this is truly too much. The piano alone—"
"Ed," he threw up a hand, "Just open it." Ed was becoming accustomed to Oswald's very unique way of silencing him. It was almost second nature now, to accept it, and know Oswald meant no offense. When his mind would start to spin, he even appreciated the gesture.
Ed set the box down and slotted the key inside. A simple twist revealed a plush purple velvet interior and nestled in the middle was an antique lapel pin and tie clip with chain. Beautiful etchings adorned the silver rods and curls with elegant diamonds perfectly placed within.
The beautiful craftsmanship alone would have taken his breath away but it was the shape of the accessories that really did him in.
Question marks.
"Oswald," he gasped.
He would usually try to tell Oswald that he shouldn’t accept anything so grand but the words were caught in his throat. Oswald mistook his silence for reluctance.
"Ed, we have been over this. As my chief of staff, you must look as regal as I. These are the perfect accompaniments for you. They are antiques; I had to search all over the city for just the perfect set!" He waved his hands at the box, indicating Ed should try one on.
His hands were almost shaking as he did just that. He went to the mirror in the opposite corner and set the pin just right, the diamonds reflecting the morning light.
“Excellent!” Oswald was beaming as he turned back to the piano. “Let me find that sheet music. I have just the perfect song for us to start on.”
Ed stared at himself in the mirror, wondering how he came to be here, in this moment, with this man. Who obviously cared for him a great deal. That was undeniable now.
In the mirror, he watched Oswald as he searched to find the song he wanted.
Diamonds instead of glitter.
Fondness instead of revulsion.
Desire instead of obligation.
Ed never thought he’d find a true friend, much less one as magnificent as Oswald Cobblepot.
Ed had always hated this day, but now, maybe with this new friendship...maybe he could start to see Valentine’s Day in a new light.
Oh, is that all it is. Just friendship? You sure about that?
No, he wasn’t. The world seemed to shift around him.
Perhaps that old saying was true. You never know when true love will strike.
Maybe it already had.