Raise a Glass to Freedom

Valentines Day fluff

Well I thought I should write something cute for Valentine's Day... here goes nothing (I know it's really late)

Alex POV
Yay. It's Valentine's Day and I'm alone. Again. It always seems to end up this way, me writing in my apartment and eating pizza while all my friends are out on dates. Except, Laurens, he's single too. I don't know why I always seem to be alone. Maybe I'm too invested in my work? I don't really know.

The sun was beginning to set out of the view of my bedroom window when I got a text from Laurens. It read,

rainbowturtles: hey man, so I heard you're all alone this valentines day, wanna come over for movie and dinner? You know, just as friends

AngryHamSandwich: yes! yes! that sounds really nice, I'll be over in 15 min. just as friends ;)

rainbowturtles: I'm going to ignore that flirty smiley face you just sent me

AngryHamSandwich: that's probably for the best

rainbowturtles: okay well um

AngryHamSandwich: see u in 15

Ugh, why'd I have have to send that flirty face? I'm always so awkward. I've always had something for Laurens, ever since we met. I was almost obsessed with him when our friendship was new. Whenever I'd see him, I'd get butterflies in my stomach. I admired every aspect of him, the sound of his laugh, his freckles, his curly hair, his witty sense of humor. I loved finding new things to notice about him- the way he tilted his head back to put his hair in a bun, the way he would drum his fingers on the table when he was bored. As time passed, my obsession changed into a deeper, more complicated admiration (and let's face it, I really wanted to kiss him too). I've liked him ever since.

I put on my shoes and walked the 5 minute walk to Lauren's apartment. The air was beginning to cool after a warm day and the shadows of buildings stretched long over the street. I thought about that flirty face. It shouldn't mean anything, it's just an emoji. A flirty emoji. I zipped up my jacket.

"Alex!" John opened the door and pulled me into a warm hug. His apartment smelled like pizza. "Okay," he said, turning to his coffee table which was laden with pizza and soda. "I've got a single dudes Valentine's Day evening planned. We can play Mario Cart and eat pizza and then we can watch Mean Girls." I giggled. "Oh come on," he said, "It's a good movie!" I laughed, "Oh come on."

We played Mario for a while. I was much better at it than him but I let him win. He was too cute not to. Besides, whenever he won, he'd turn and look at me with the most adorable grin ever. His curly hair was beginning to fall from its ponytail. We ate the pizza and drank soda. After about an hour of one handed Mario Cart, John suggested we put the movie on.

"I just don't get why you like it," I laughed. He pretended to ignore me. "Like, it's about a bunch of self absorbed high school girls, why do you like it?" He flopped down onto the couch next to me. "Oh shut up," he said, somewhat flirtatiously putting an arm around my shoulders. The movie stated. I thought it was trash but being able to sit next to John on the couch more than compensated.

"Hey Alex," he said to me after about half an hour. "Yeah?" I said, turning down the volume a little. "Can we talk about that flirty face you sent me?" I blushed, laughing to ease the awkwardness. "I thought you said we wouldn't talk about that!" He giggled. "Well, I just couldn't stop thinking about it!" He turned to face me and muted the movie. "Alex... do you like me?" I blushed. "Do I 'like' you? What are we? Fourth graders?" He faked offense. "No really though, do you like me?" I put my arm around his shoulder. "Yes, John, I do like you." He blushed a deep red. "Well, Alex, I like you too." There was a silence. "Well in that case," I said, "Will you be my valentine?" He looked into my eyes. "Can I," my voice was shook, "Can I kiss you?" He looked up, eyes wide with surprise. "Oh no- I mean- that was way to foreword- I'm so sorry- forget I said-" He cut me off with a powerful kiss. His hands help onto the sides of my face. I pushed my fingers through his hair. "Talk less," he whispered in my ear.

Ugh there's some real life drama happening.

Anyway...

Thanks for reading!! We've reached 100 reads, thank you all so much!!

~Cather