Let Me Treasure You

[Reece Morgan]

Reece had planned today for awhile. He knew she was just a friend. She made it perfectly clear that she didn't want anything to do with him other than his friendship and for awhile, he had been okay with that. He even let her continue thinking he had actually been screwing around with Lucy. It helped that Lucy was more than willing to go along with whatever he wanted when they were around Olivia.

But Valentine's Day was coming up and he was getting a little anxious that the window of opportunity for him to ever get Olivia was going to be closed forever. And it wasn't like he even really liked the girl, or so he claimed. So why had he even bothered coming up with what he thought was a perfect Valentine's Day plan?

God knows.

Whatever the answer to that was, Reece had planned it down to a T and no expense was spared. All he needed to do was make sure she wouldn't expect anything. Which is going to be so much easier if she was angry with him. That wasn't going to be hard to do.

Step one was well under way as they had their customary lunch together. "Hasn't Anthony asked you to be his Valentine yet?" Reece asked. It was actually a sour spot for him as well. Ever since the New Year's party, he hadn't actually interacted much with his roommate. He was not jealous. He was just pissed that Olivia knew exactly what that would have done to him.

Double standard? Nooooope.

[Olivia Baker]

Liv stuck a fry into her ketchup before glancing up at Reece. How the boy had convinced her to commit to these lunches was beyond her but they were officially a regular occurrence. She knew better than to spend this much time with him. Time spent with someone alone was enough to cause people to develop feelings. She'd read studies that proved it. People who were forced to stare at each other for long enough developed feelings similar to love based off of that connection. Even if their faux love only lasted a little while that was a scientific fact. So that's what she'd excuse her feelings towards Reece as, a side effect of him insisting she spend so much time with him. All of it was fake, and meant nothing. Plus she'd decided weeks ago that him and her would be friends. Just friends. No matter how she felt in the moment at the end of the day that's all they would be. So why did she have a satisfied smirk stretched onto her face when he asked about Anthony? Pettiness mostly. 

"He hasn't." She was pretty sure Kailin and him would be doing something... she still felt bad about what happened at the New Years party... had she known that Kailin liked him at the time she wouldn't have picked Anthony but rather Rowan or someone else...

"Still upset about the whole New Years Eve thing?" She dug, "Jealous?" Liv winked as she popped the fried potato into her mouth. 

[Reece Morgan]

He didn't miss the smug look on Olivia's face when he mentioned Anthony and the way she responded made him almost regret asking in the first place. But it did open up the possibilities of making his plan work out even better than he had planned it out.

"Upset? Me? Jesus woman. You overestimate your importance in my life." He snorted, feeling a little bitter that he still actually was upset about it.

He stole a handful of her potatoes and dropped them on his plate, eating them one by one. "I'm just surprised he's not here already down on one knee proposing marriage to you, how he was just so all over you that night." He shrugged and gave her a fake grin. "I guess he just wanted you for the night?"

[Olivia Baker]

She watched as his hand dipped into to her french fry reserve, allowing him to take the handful. "Excuse you?" She shot a glare at him shocked he'd actually say that. "So is that what you think of me?" Explained a whole lot. "Some little slut who guys only want for the night?" The words were borrowed from her brother. Slut. He'd been the first one to call her that after getting the hickey from Peyton. Second person was her mother who was so insulted that she'd even bother with the boys at school. Granted the description felt right. She'd had plenty of boys interested long enough to feel her up but not actually stick around, Anthony included now... weirdly enough. 

"Anthony is my friend Reece. Believe it or not he's one of my longest friends from here. I'm sorry if you're a little butt hurt from New Years still but you don't have to be an asshole." She was over reacting... but he'd stricken a chord and she didn't like it. 

[Reece Morgan]

Reece was thick but he knew when he struck a chord and he definitely struck a chord in Olivia. Okay, so that was too much of a pot shot and he now knew he shouldn't have said it. "That's not even what I meant. Jesus. Could you not twist my words so much?" He frowned. While his plan to make Olivia angry was working a lot better than he had expected, this was not the way he wanted her to feel. She looked seriously upset.

"Yeah, didn't look like a friends only dance, him getting all up your business." He tried to keep his anger at the image of that memory at bay but in the end, Olivia was right. He was a little 'butt hurt'. No, a lot 'butt hurt'. Damn it, this was not going according to the proper plan. He didn't know he was going to be this upset. If he did, he wouldn't have led with that.

"Whatever. It's your damn life. Thought I was gonna make sure you were free first before asking you to be my Valentine but you're clearly not in the mood for that." He leaned back on his chair and continued to eat his food, not looking at Olivia.

[Olivia Baker]

She overreacted. She overreacted and she'd been doing that a lot lately. What had gotten into her? This wasn't her and part of Liv was starting to worry that she was losing herself. It'd be easy to blame it on Reece. He'd pushed her. He'd confused the hell out of her. But that was bullshit and she knew it. She was the one who shoved Anthony in Reece's face and she could pretend all she wanted that nothing was there between her and Reece but at this point they both knew that that was utter crap. 

She took a breath. "I'm sorry.... You know... you're right..... It wasn't a just friends dance. I guess I was feeling kind of lonely and honestly I'm the one who lead him on." She admitted sitting back in her seat. She wasn't so hungry anymore.

His note about Valentines day made her stop. He wanted her to be his Valentine? A grin slowly made its way onto her face. "You what?" She couldn't help it. Even if he was mad at her right now this made her feel absolutely over the moon. "I'd.... I'd really like to be your... Valentine." She said feeling like a little school girl, her face turning red and her stomach starting to get butterflies. "Well if you still want me too...." 

[Reece Morgan]

When she started apologising, Reece gaped at her. This was definitely not going according to plan and he needed her angry with him. He had thought she would turn him down and walk off and then find the paper trail...

Shit, he needed to come up with another plan.

But at the same time, at least she was admitting to things. Although things he didn't expect her to. Why would she lead someone else on like that? Especially his roommate? His ego was big enough to think it definitely had something to do with him.

And then...she actually fucking accepted! On the one hand, Reece could have just celebrated right then and there but this was the stupidest idea ever, asking someone to be your Valentine during lunch.

He had to keep up with the charade before he lost all romanticism. Briefly, he wondered why in the hell he was going through all this shit just for a girl he didn't even like that much?

"Not like this." He shook his head and got up before walking out of the room. His heart was beating so fast that he was scared she could actually hear him. He didn't even look back as he ran off to her room to leave the first note that would lead her to the first checkpoint.

If she ended up not being in the mood to do this, he was fucked.

[Olivia Baker]

Liv raised a brow as the boy got up to leave. What? She thought they were having a moment and now it wasn't good enough for him? She rolled her eyes. How typical. She wasn't sure if he wanted her to follow him or not. Judging by the way he got up and waltzed out without even looking back at her suggested the former... but... what?

She could feel her blood starting to boil again. She had just apologized and this was how he responded? By throwing a mini tantrum and running off like a little kid with stage fright? He was unbelievable.

She shoved a couple more fries in her mouth before getting up and tossing out her trey heading back to her dorm, she had homework to do anyway.

Unsurprisingly, the door was unlocked. "Jesus Penelope." She had sworn she'd locked it, but clearly her roommate hadn't. Maybe it was one of the other two though... she didn't peg Penelope as careless, but then again Lucy had managed her way in on more than one occasion.

Then even worse, her bedroom door was wide open. Had they been robbed?

 She rushed in, only to stop dead in her tracks when she spotted an envelope on her pillow with the number #1 written on it with sloppy hand writing. 

"What?" She slipped the note out of the envelope reading 

First clue: You ate ice so hard here

"What?" She read it again her brows furrowing in confusion before a smile stretched onto her face. "the lake." she chuckled, knowing exactly what this clue was referring to. Her hand came down to feel the scar that day had left... easily one of the best and worst days of her life...

She slipped her coat on, grabbed her scarf and went off, clue in hand.

Despite the nice weather the lake was pretty much empty besides a few kids hanging by the big oak tree. Liv scanned the scene, she didn't need to go ask them for a clue right? She sighed flipping the clue over double checking that she wasn't missing something. "Hmmm." She said spotting what seemed to be ice skates by the edge of the ice. 

On the skates was an arrow that pointed to the middle of the lake where she could see a small block of ice. "he's got to be kidding me." she grumbled as she plopped down to lace up the ice skates. She wobbled at first, she hadn't been on skates since her little accident, but it was needed especially when her hunch was affirmed and sure enough there was a small block of ice encasing an envelope that she could see a 2 written on. "Shit" she cursed him under her breath as she picked up the block, skating back to land before slamming it on the ground over and over again. She probably looked nuts to the kids by the oak tree. It took her almost 20 minutes before she finally free'd the paper and then she had to stick it in her coat to warm it up for another ten before she could actually read it.

 

Two: Where your blue jeans made the ultimate sacrifice 

The hospital. She was sure of it. She threw the skates off, slinging them onto her shoulder before heading off to town hoping that this was the furthest he'd send her. At this point she wouldn't be shocked if he had a plane ticket for her waiting to ship her off to Thailand to get the next clue. 
 
Liv's nerves were worked up by the time she got there realizing that she now had to actually talk to people to get the next clue, no doubt there wouldn't be some random letter just sitting on a table at a public place... what if she was wrong... well then she wasted a whole lot of time. But no, it had to be right.

The doors opened and the receptionist grinned holding out the envelope. Liv approached, skeptically. "He's cute." The receptionist winked. Liv nodded uncomfortably. "Uh huh.." Before eagerly ripping open the third clue. 

Three: BE MORE SEXUAL!

Liv's face turned red as she read the clue. "What's it say?" The receptionist asked leaning over to catch a glimpse and Liv quickly shoved it in her pocket. "Nothing!" Liv blurted as she bolted out the door on her way to... what? Be more sexual? What kind of bogus clue was that? She groaned as she headed downtown. Sexual.... oh... oh no... it made sense, it was so close to the hospital and staring her in the face. The one shop she swore she'd never go in... the one her parents would disown her for... the resident town sex shop. With her head hung low she entered, avoiding eye contact. The owner just chuckled and handed her the letter, but this one had a little wrapped present attached... edible underwear.... "uhm... thanks." She said to the man before exiting quickly, stuffing the "gift" into her jacket pocket, her face permanently red and now absolutely terrified of what he had planned to do with that. Part of her wanted to stop there... that was out of line and inappropriate but the letter stared back up at her and she couldn't resist....

Four: rose are red violets are blue flowers are dumb just figure it out

This one was easy, the flower shop. She was so thankful it was a flower shop. Flowers were nice, and flowers didn't have anything overtly sexual about them to make her feel like she was going to throw up and die. 

Liv glanced down at her phone. It was getting late already and the sun was starting to go down.

Inside the shop an older woman with graying hair was waiting for her holding a huge bouquet of peonies, her favorite. Her heart swam as she was presented them with the letter. "Wow..." She grinned before the woman reached back behind the counter and pulled out one last thing, a stunning red dress and a letter that read:

Five: I'm out of ideas, this much is fact, by the end of the night, your dress better not be intact. When you get up here, the stars will be bright, the table is ready for you, the breeze will be slight. Get back to your dorm, then go three stories up, at the door to the roof just give one big thump. I'll be waiting for you, probably freezing but don't worry, you can warm me up quick if you just you know, hurry. It's Valentine's Day, I'm a douche and I'm sorry. But Livvy, this wouldn't have worked if I wasn't a dummy. So just come up here, I'm probably frozen, probably blue, but I'm willing to wait the whole night for you.

The dress fit perfectly, and when she looked in the mirror she hardly recognized herself. It hugged in all the right places, and made her look hot... and she felt, sexy and for some reason part of her felt guilty for feeling that way. She wasn't used to looking at herself like this, or feeling loved.  No one had ever done anything this nice for her and she didn't know how to respond. 

She slipped on a pair of black heels and some makeup, before following the final instructions climbing the stairs to the roof and giving the door a big THUD. Her heart was pounding so fast that she felt like her chest was going to explode. 

[Reece Morgan]

Reece. Was. Freezing.

He knew he shouldn't have made it too hard for Olivia, especially the adult toy shop clue. She must have struggled with that the hardest.

But yeah, his folly was now probably his undoing. Olivia might not have done it at all and his staying here would have been in vain.

It was his third time lighting up the candle and checking with dinner to see if it hadn't frozen up in his heating bag.

He was about to blow out the candle when he heard a thud. "Ho shit balls!" He exclaimed before straightening his coat and the blazer underneath. Rushing over to the door, he swung it open and his breath stuck in his throat when he saw Olivia in the dress he had picked out. It fit her perfectly.

"Fuck...you're gorgeous." His hand reached up to the back of his neck and rubbed it lightly. "I knew the dress would look amazing on you but...wow..."

[Olivia Baker]

Somehow, when the door swung open she was surprised to see him. A small part of her doubted that any of this was real and if it was it was part of some big joke or something. But there he was, in that blazer, with that tie, on the roof with a candle lit and dinner waiting for her like his note promised. "Thank you." She blushed, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Thank you for.... everything." She looked up at him. For the first time in a long time she felt like the tension had faded. All the bullcrap that had flooded their life the past two months didn't matter to her because for this moment, even if it was just tonight, she was with Reece and only him. 

"No one's ever done something this incredible for me.... I don't know what to say." She said sheepishly, she was holding her coat despite it being so cold out, she wanted him to see it. "All of it was amazing... well... except for the sex shop." She chuckled as she stepped onto the roof looking out. She'd never been up here and the view was so incredible that she felt her breath get caught in her throat, unable to escape for fear of somehow ruining it. 

[Reece Morgan]

How long ago would it have to have been for Olivia's thoughts to be true? Reece couldn't have changed that much ever since they met, could he? Hadn't he started out just being a douche who was immune to emotions and all this romantic crap? He was dangerously teetering over the line he had drawn for himself. One he hadn't even meant to toe with Olivia.

But there she was, standing in front of him in that red dress, looking as shy as he was starting to feel.

No, the red in his cheeks were from the cold.

And then she started to speak and Reece was just a bundle of nerves. How could he have thought this was a joke? She clearly didn't see it as so.

Even though the New Year's party was still fresh in his mind, what with Olivia having been the object of affection of his roommate, he couldn't just stand there and deny that there was something there.

Had it been any other time, he would have laughed at her remark but all he could do was stare at her as she came out on to the roof.

It was then that he remembered the most essential part of his plan to be out on the roof on a cold night. Turning to the fire manipulator he had sought after for the night, he nodded and their table was surrounded by fire, along with a small path leading from the door to the table.

He took Olivia's hand and pulled her away from the fire and close to him. It didn't take long for him to feel warm enough that he could discard his coat on the chair he had propped near the door so they couldn't lock themselves out.

"So uh...Liv...about earlier." He started with a small chuckle. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to...I uh...I hope you understand that."

[Olivia Baker]

Liv moved her body against his as the fire illuminated the roof, sending a wave of warmth over them them.  A gasp managed to escaping from her mouth. She was used to the idea of fire manipulators, but never quite got used to the fire itself, especially when it seemed to come out of no where. The flames dulled down illuminating a pathway leading to the candlelit table looking over the Vermont skyline. The snow covered mountains kissed the stars as the Aurora Borealis danced across the sky in a stunning display. 

It was hard for her to tear her eyes off the site and turn her attention back to the boy who had driven her straight mad for the past couple months. She met his chuckle with a sheepish smile, "No... I uh.." she said at the same time stopping to let him finish. "I understand." 

She let him lead her towards the table, her hand still in his as her thumb gently caressed the back of his hand absentmindedly. "I'm sorry that... Well..." Why were words coming so difficult? It was only Reece... She blushed, "I'm sorry I've been acting so weird lately..." She admitted. "I didn't deserve all of this...." She sighed heavily, "This is all... Wow."

[Reece Morgan]

"You're fine, you're fine." Reece reassured Olivia with a small chuckle when she gasped in surprise. His hands wrapped around her protectively before letting it loose when she started moving.

His smile softened when she said she understood. This was slowly turning into something he wasn't used to but he tried hard not to let his fear show.

Feeling her thumb stroking his hand, Reece looked down and gave the contact a small smile. He liked this. And who was he kidding, he liked her too. Why, he didn't quite know how to articulate just yet, but he knew he felt a huge amount of attraction towards the tall brunette.

"It's okay," Reece responded to her apology. He knew he didn't quite help matters any by being an asshole half the time. "I think you do. I've been a jackass to you the past few months and I just wanted you to know that well...you do deserve all this."

He led her to the table and pulled out the chair before taking out the food and serving it. It was a simple dish from the cafeteria that he was aware Olivia ordered plenty of sometimes. His was a simple chicken dish with a side of veggies and mashed potatoes. The candle was burning bright and everything was warm. He mentally patted himself on the back for a job well done.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Livvy."

[Olivia Baker]

When he pulled her into his arms, comforting her when she got nervous her heart swelled, skipping a beat as he walked her over to the table and pulled out her chair like a perfect gentleman. "You were kind of a jackass weren't you?" She winked, jesting lightly with him as he pulled out the chair. She didn't want to spend anymore time apologizing. 

"I had no idea you had such refined manners." She chuckled. "Happy Valentines Day Reece... I'm sorry I didn't get you anything."  She bit her lower lip as a pang of guilt overcame her. Even the dish he'd gotten her was her favorite. Had he really been paying this much attention the whole time? She was so blown away and here she was without anything to offer him and feeling like she still didn't know a thing about him other than that he was attractive, and he made her feel different than anyone else in the world had ever made her feel before. He challenged her and drove her insane and made her laugh and made her happy and pissed off and so many other things that at the end of the day, when he wasn't there, her heart ached missing him. Not that she'd admit that. 

There was no denying it. The attraction was there, and she was in deep. She was in serious like with Reece Morgan and this night made her wonder if perhaps... he was in like with her too. 

[Reece Morgan]

"I kinda was, yeah." He responded, the laugh afterwards could not be helped. Her feelings were doubly mutual in Reece, even though he had a lot to apologise to. He actually found himself just wanting to spend the whole time talking about Olivia.

Reece chuckled at her thinly-veiled insult before shaking his head at her apology. "Doesn't matter. I wasn't expecting anything." He shrugged and gestured to the food. "Dig in." He said before getting into his.

As he chewed on his chicken, he looked around at his handiwork and then at Olivia with a smile. Things had started out rough but everything worked out in the end. Perfectly.

He forced the smile to stay on as he cleared his throat. "So...um, why are you not somebody else's Valentine already?"