"You look nice."

"So do you."

Deborah always tried to dress as nondescriptly as possible, in neutral colors and jeans. And it was hard for Hercules to ditch his workout clothes. But today, she was wearing a red shirt and a skirt and flats, and he had thrown on a white button-up over jeans. Deborah looked at his feet. He was still wearing his usual Adidas. "Bro."

"I know. Some things never change."

"Some things can't be changed. Never change your shoes, bro."

"Thanks, bro. I love your hair. It looks awesome."

"Thanks, Herc! Now close your eyes." Deborah got out the gym card she had gotten for her boyfriend. "Okay. Open them."

"Bro!"

Deborah grinned at how surprised and happy he looked.

"Okay, now you close your eyes, Debbie." Mulligan searched through his bag, finally grasping his present for her. "Okay, open."

"Bro!"

Debbie looked so ecstatic. Mulligan had gotten her old-fashioned steampunk goggles. He tossed them at her, and she pulled them on. "There. Now you're a real hacker."

"Oh, come on. I was always a real hacker."

"Suuure," Mulligan said sarcastically.

Debbie kissed him. "Shut up, bro."

"I love you, bro."

Lafayette couldn't help but feel a bit melancholy on Valentine's Days. He missed France a lot of the time, but that was always dampened by how happy he was in the US. His mother lived in the US with him, and Lafayette didn't care about his father. He had friends back in France, but he had amazing friends in Yonkers, too.

The one thing that America couldn't replace was Adrienne. He knew that they were just teenagers, but they had grown up together, and it seemed almost natural that they would date. They had each tried dating other people, but in the end, Lafayette's thoughts always came back to her. They texted every day and called every week, bt it wasn't the same as being in person. He was happy that they had managed to keep up a relationship over an ocean, and his heart leapt as Adrienne finally opened up her Skype.

"Gilly!"

"Adrienne!"

She made a hugging gesture, and Lafayette did the same. "Happy Valentine's Day!"

"You too!" Lafayette pulled the small teddy bear he had gotten her on screen. "Here's your present. You can have it if you come to America." He waggled his eyebrows at her.

"I'm working on it, Gilly." She pulled a jewelry box onto screen, and opened it to show a simple necklace with a perfectly symmetrical heart dangling from it. "And here's yours."

"I love it." Lafayette traced the place on his neck where the necklace would hang. "It's going to look fabulous on me."

"Everything looks fabulous on you."

"Aw, thanks, hon." Lafayette settled himself into a more comfortable position. "Okay, you said that Louis and Marie were having trouble? Now, tell me everything."

Gossip would always be their mutual true love.

Alex and John sat together in Alex's old, beat-up Volkswagen Beetle. Alex was tracing the veins on John's wrist. John wanted to throw up and kiss Alex at the same time. Well, not throw up while kissing him but he felt sick and in love at the same time—like there were giant moths wrestling in his stomach.

"I told you not to do anything for Valentine's Day."

Alex shrugged. "We're not. We're just going to the library to study." He smiled sweetly at John. "I booked us a study room."

"You know that's where the seniors go to hook up?"

Alex snickered. "I promise I'm not going to try to seduce you."

It was around six when they arrived at the library, the last traces of the sunset lingering in the clouds, turning them candy heart-pink. Alex had pulled his hand out of John's grip, and John missed the warmth more than he thought he would.

"Okay." Alex dumped his bags on the table in the small study room. There was one table and three chairs, with one window half-covered by curtains and a door with a tiny window near the top.

John settled himself into one of the chairs, watching Alex pull various objects out of his bags. A container of sandwiches, store-bought cupcakes, and a bottle of water.

"Classy," John smirked.

"Oh, shut up," Alex laughed, reaching over to grab John's hand. He sat in the chair across from him. "I actually have something for you."

John felt a blush creep across his face. "Oh come on, Alex, I didn't get anything for you."

"No, seriously." Alex took a deep breath. "I just wanted to tell you something."

The silence pressed on John's chest. Was he breaking up with him? That would be shitty. Maybe he was professing his love in some dramatic way. That would be less shitty.

"I just wanted to say that these last few months have been some of the best in my life. Uh—with you. And you really mean a lot to me. I know that it's just sophomore year, but I can see us together for a really long time. And I want you to know that no matter what, I will always stay by your side and be with you. I love you so much. So I wanted to give you this."

Oh fuck, John was going to cry. Was that ring box? Was Alex proposing? Holy shit. Now John really thought he was going to puke.

"It's a promise ring, don't worry," Alex reassured John. Shit, had he looked as sick as John felt. Alex passed the box to John so he could open it himself.

John's hands were kind of shaking as he opened the box. It was a pretty simple ring, a plain silver band. Well shit, now he was crying,

"You don't have to wear it. I know how your dad is. But—"

He was interrupted by John's mouth on his.

"I love you so much." John whispered.

"I love you too. Oh my god. I love you too." Alex was kind of laughing against John, "I love you I love you I love you."

Aaron looked over the board. His time was running out. He took the rook and moved it to a position where it threatened Theodosia's queen.

Theodosia smirked. "Your mistake." She moved a knight to take the rook.

"No, yours." Aaron slid a bishop across the board, knocking the knight out of play. Knights were more useful in the beginning of the game, yes, and they were getting to the end, but it still felt good to make an offensive play against Theodosia. So often, their games were him desperately trying to defend himself from her cold, calculated attacks. Though Aaron didn't look it, he had never been the best at chess. Monopoly, though...that was where he should be feared. He not only had a natural talent at the game, but excelled at finding law-related reasons that he should be given extra money.

"You are a fool, my dear Aaron."

Aaron realized that he had left his king undefended from the side, and Theodosia took advantage of it, threatening the king with a rook. Biting his lip, Aaron moved the king out of danger, but Theodosia moved in her queen. "Check."

He moved the king again.

"Check."

He brought in a knight to block the threat of her rook.

Theodosia took the knight. "Check."

King to A-3.

"Check and mate."

Aaron flicked his king, knocking it over. "You win again."

"Bartow sixty-three, Burr eleven."

"You were keeping count?"

"Come now, my dear, I'm sure that you have a notebook somewhere documenting all of your horrendous losses."

"Now, now, that's just your own insecurity speaking. I have more pride than that."

"Do you? Do you really?"

Without his eyes leaving her face, Aaron picked up a pawn and threw it at her. It lightly hit her shoulder, falling down. Aaron gave her a rare smile. "My pride speaks for itself."

She reached forward, squishing his cheeks together. "You know, I love you."

"Please don't do that."

"Oh, does that also offend your pride, my beautiful Aaron? I'm sorry, I thought that someone as amazing as you could take this. After all—"

Aaron removed her hands from his facing, kissing each one of them. He looked at the clock. "Oh, shit. We had reservations."

Theodosia snorted. "Let's not worry about those now. I'd much rather be here. Just you, me—"

"And the cliche that is our lives." Aaron pulled out a necklace. "Happy Valentine's Day."

Theodosia rolled her eyes and grinned. "You big sap." She gently took the necklace from his hands and looked at it. It was simple, a silver chain with a square diamond. She turned the diamond over and on the back there were initials—TB and AB.

She turned red and was embarrassed to realize she was kind of crying. She sniffled a little bit.

"Oh, you're crying? I'm the most romantic person in the world, I know. You can thank me—"

"It's not you. It's just…" Theodosia was reaching for an excuse. She hated crying in front of people. "I didn't realize that my initials stood for tuberculosis until now."

"Sure."

"Can you put in on?"

Burr took the necklace from her and clasped it around her neck, taking a deep breath.

"Oh no, I know that face," Theo teased. "Are you going to give me a speech?"

Burr smiled. "Just a little one."

Theo rolled her eyes, fiddling with the pendant. "Go on."

"We've been through some shit. I won't go into it—" They both snickered "—but it's been worth it. For me, at least. I would do it all again and again, just to be standing with you here. I love you so much, Theodosia."

Theodosia was silent.

"Uh … Theodosia?"

"I love you too, Aaron, but now it's my turn for the speech." Theo smiled down at him, "Like you said, we've been through some shit. Unlike you, I wouldn't go through it again. I wish it could have been easy from the get-go, that we could have always been that insufferably cheesy couple from our first date. But I think all the drama that we went through made our relationship stronger now. I wouldn't trade you for the world, my Aaron Burr."

Happy Valentine's Day, y'all!"You look nice."

"So do you."

Deborah always tried to dress as nondescriptly as possible, in neutral colors and jeans. And it was hard for Hercules to ditch his workout clothes. But today, she was wearing a red shirt and a skirt and flats, and he had thrown on a white button-up over jeans. Deborah looked at his feet. He was still wearing his usual Adidas. "Bro."

"I know. Some things never change."

"Some things can't be changed. Never change your shoes, bro."

"Thanks, bro. I love your hair. It looks awesome."

"Thanks, Herc! Now close your eyes." Deborah got out the gym card she had gotten for her boyfriend. "Okay. Open them."

"Bro!"

Deborah grinned at how surprised and happy he looked.

"Okay, now you close your eyes, Debbie." Mulligan searched through his bag, finally grasping his present for her. "Okay, open."

"Bro!"

Debbie looked so ecstatic. Mulligan had gotten her old-fashioned steampunk goggles. He tossed them at her, and she pulled them on. "There. Now you're a real hacker."

"Oh, come on. I was always a real hacker."

"Suuure," Mulligan said sarcastically.

Debbie kissed him. "Shut up, bro."

"I love you, bro."

Lafayette couldn't help but feel a bit melancholy on Valentine's Days. He missed France a lot of the time, but that was always dampened by how happy he was in the US. His mother lived in the US with him, and Lafayette didn't care about his father. He had friends back in France, but he had amazing friends in Yonkers, too.

The one thing that America couldn't replace was Adrienne. He knew that they were just teenagers, but they had grown up together, and it seemed almost natural that they would date. They had each tried dating other people, but in the end, Lafayette's thoughts always came back to her. They texted every day and called every week, bt it wasn't the same as being in person. He was happy that they had managed to keep up a relationship over an ocean, and his heart leapt as Adrienne finally opened up her Skype.

"Gilly!"

"Adrienne!"

She made a hugging gesture, and Lafayette did the same. "Happy Valentine's Day!"

"You too!" Lafayette pulled the small teddy bear he had gotten her on screen. "Here's your present. You can have it if you come to America." He waggled his eyebrows at her.

"I'm working on it, Gilly." She pulled a jewelry box onto screen, and opened it to show a simple necklace with a perfectly symmetrical heart dangling from it. "And here's yours."

"I love it." Lafayette traced the place on his neck where the necklace would hang. "It's going to look fabulous on me."

"Everything looks fabulous on you."

"Aw, thanks, hon." Lafayette settled himself into a more comfortable position. "Okay, you said that Louis and Marie were having trouble? Now, tell me everything."

Gossip would always be their mutual true love.

Alex and John sat together in Alex's old, beat-up Volkswagen Beetle. Alex was tracing the veins on John's wrist. John wanted to throw up and kiss Alex at the same time. Well, not throw up while kissing him but he felt sick and in love at the same time—like there were giant moths wrestling in his stomach.

"I told you not to do anything for Valentine's Day."

Alex shrugged. "We're not. We're just going to the library to study." He smiled sweetly at John. "I booked us a study room."

"You know that's where the seniors go to hook up?"

Alex snickered. "I promise I'm not going to try to seduce you."

It was around six when they arrived at the library, the last traces of the sunset lingering in the clouds, turning them candy heart-pink. Alex had pulled his hand out of John's grip, and John missed the warmth more than he thought he would.

"Okay." Alex dumped his bags on the table in the small study room. There was one table and three chairs, with one window half-covered by curtains and a door with a tiny window near the top.

John settled himself into one of the chairs, watching Alex pull various objects out of his bags. A container of sandwiches, store-bought cupcakes, and a bottle of water.

"Classy," John smirked.

"Oh, shut up," Alex laughed, reaching over to grab John's hand. He sat in the chair across from him. "I actually have something for you."

John felt a blush creep across his face. "Oh come on, Alex, I didn't get anything for you."

"No, seriously." Alex took a deep breath. "I just wanted to tell you something."

The silence pressed on John's chest. Was he breaking up with him? That would be shitty. Maybe he was professing his love in some dramatic way. That would be less shitty.

"I just wanted to say that these last few months have been some of the best in my life. Uh—with you. And you really mean a lot to me. I know that it's just sophomore year, but I can see us together for a really long time. And I want you to know that no matter what, I will always stay by your side and be with you. I love you so much. So I wanted to give you this."

Oh fuck, John was going to cry. Was that ring box? Was Alex proposing? Holy shit. Now John really thought he was going to puke.

"It's a promise ring, don't worry," Alex reassured John. Shit, had he looked as sick as John felt. Alex passed the box to John so he could open it himself.

John's hands were kind of shaking as he opened the box. It was a pretty simple ring, a plain silver band. Well shit, now he was crying,

"You don't have to wear it. I know how your dad is. But—"

He was interrupted by John's mouth on his.

"I love you so much." John whispered.

"I love you too. Oh my god. I love you too." Alex was kind of laughing against John, "I love you I love you I love you."