With a confident smile, Bixlow stands up and walks to the front of the room. Blowing a kiss to the class, he leaves to go pick a rose out of a hat. I wonder how many girls in our class actually gave their rose to him. Suddenly, I remember what I said to Gajeel.

"Maybe he slipped them in his roommate's bag?" I whisper out loud. Minutes later, the loudspeaker turns on again.

"Bixlow has picked his Valentine's Date! One lucky... Lisanna Strauss!!! Come on down to the office little lady!"

All eyes and chairs turn to look at Lisanna at the back of the room. She hides her face in her hands, so I can't tell if she's blushing or not. Some girls give her looks as if she was the luckiest person ever. Shyly, she pushes her books into her bag and stands up. When she passes my desk she seems to pause for a second, but I don't look at her. Then she's gone.

"I thought she gave her rose to you, Natsu," Gray thinks aloud.

"I guess not," I shrug back. I'm not upset or anything, just curious how Lisanna gave her flower to someone like Bixlow. "Did he trick her? Or blackmail her? Is he going to do something horrible? Did he steal her rose?"

Gray laughs, "or maybe she gave him her rose of her own will, Natsu."

"Well, I heard that Bixlow was aiming to get the most roses. I can just picture him going around trying to seduce random girls." I shiver.

"Oh yeah, I heard that too. Bixlow was really intent on beating you this year," Gray says casually.

"Why didn't you tell me!? And why?" I turn in my chair to face him and accidentally knock a book down.

From the front of the classroom, the teacher clears her throat. "I know it's all so exciting, but if you could pay attention up here, there are still fifteen minutes of class left." So she keeps teaching during those fifteen minutes, but my mind is as far away from the class as it could be. What reason could Bixlow have to want to beat me? I've literally never spoken to him...

"Natsu... Natsu!" Gray nudges me again. "Class is over, man. We get let out a little early today, remember?" I shake myself out of my thoughts and pick up the book on the floor. I sling my backpack over one shoulder and follow Gray out. "You driving home today? Or are you gonna chill with us?"

I look up at the clock. "I guess I can hang out for a while. It's still a holiday, technically."

~

Gray, Cana, Juvia, Erza, Lucy, and I all stand by the front gates of the campus, shivering in our boots. Well, Gray isn't shivering, but then again his body is cold normally. Light, powdery snow falls around us, melting as it hits the ground, or turning into slush.

"Why can't we go to Love & Lucky today again?" Cana asks, her teeth chattering.

Lucy pouts, "because Aries and Loke went on some dumb cruise to some warm island and she didn't give me the keys." We all groan.

"Can we just go to Natsu's place?" Gray volunteers me. I shrug.

"If my Aunt is there, you're not going to want to stay." Not caring, everyone walks over to the parking lot, where we split up into Gray's car or my car. Erza takes shotgun next to me, and Lucy sits in the back, resting her head against the window. I turn on the heat as soon as I can, and watch the defrosters melt the ice on my windshield. As we drive, the car warms off. Pulling into my driveway, I see that Gray already parked on the sidewalk.

"Thank god for car heaters," Cana growls as she enters the freezing cold air again. With numb fingers, I quickly unlock my front door, and we file in.

"Aunt Porlyusica? She's not home, ok good," I breathe. I watch as my friends disperse in my large house, Cana and Juvia sitting on the couch, watching as Gray starts a fire in the fireplace. Erza looks at a bookshelf, while Lucy plops herself down at the bar, resting her head in her arms, occasionally checking her phone. I grab a snack from the fridge and sit in one of the chairs near the fireplace. "Hey Lucy, Erza. Come join us." Slowly, Erza picks out a book and Lucy picks herself up, and they stretch out on the rug at our feet. Cana pulls out her phone and typically begins to DJ for us. Surprisingly, it's a relaxed, indie-feel song: What It Takes, by Ed Prosek.

"Ahh, the wood is cold," Lucy mutters, wiggling on her back until her toes are also on the rug. I smile a little bit, watching her. Gray stands up from tending the fire and sits in the chair across from me.

We all sit there for who knows how long. The relaxation I feel is immeasurable right now, even with the fire next to me. Right now, all it stands for is warmth and peace. My friends here with me, all of us relaxing together, keeping warm and keeping each other company. Occasionally, I would look towards the fireplace. The red and orange flames licking at the wood, the red bricks that line the outside, the black metal... gate thing that keeps sparks from hitting us. We've always had a fireplace and chimney, but out of respect (and yes, I'll admit, my fear) we rarely lit it. Porlyusica would keep firewood just in case, but if they ever used it, I wasn't there. When I was younger, I would use the poker as a cane, until Porlyusica freaked out about the floor.

But right now, as I look into the fire, all of those memories wash away. I think of more recent ones. Winter break, for example. Wendy caught me staring into candles a couple of times. She never said anything, but I know she saw. Those tiny, fragile lights could spark an entire disaster. Hell, I've been in a disaster sparked by a fragile flame. However, in the second that the terror of that day hit me, so did the other memories of that night. As they did every time I trained myself to look into candles. It developed a calming effect over me. Now every time I look into a candle, rather than think of the disaster, I think of the heroics. The way I dove into the depths of the fire and risked my life for Luce. The look on her face when I lifted the speaker off her, and when I let her go first. The desperation in her voice as she told people I was still stuck. I survived then. We survived that fire, because of me.

That's what I'll remember every time I look into a fire now.

Looking down, I also see Lucy's calm expression, her eyes closed, lips slightly parted. I blush, also remembering the feeling of those lips. I'm glad I said something then, but it feels like the fire died down since then. Literally. Sighing, I glance around again at my friends. Gray is still sitting in his chair, and smiles when he sees me looking at him. What's new is that Juvia is crammed into the chair with him, snuggled up against his body. I can't imagine if that's keeping her warm, Gray is usually cold. Erza is leaning against the couch where Juvia's feet used to be, reading whatever book she picked out. Cana had fallen asleep, her head lolled over on the armrest, mouth open. The blanket that is usually draped over the back of the couch is pulled up to her chin. I feel like I'm on the verge of falling asleep myself, so I close my eyes. This is the way to spend any chilly, Winter night. I almost forgot what today is supposed to signify. Almost.

~

My eyes slowly blink open as someone nudges my shoulder. "Go away, Gray..." I mumble, thinking he was waking me up for school.

"At least you got the right person. But I'm just waking you up because we should probably get going."

My eyes shoot open. "Dang, how long was I asleep?"

"Not even half an hour. I'm going to drive everyone back, you obviously can stay here if you want. I'll see you back at school," says Gray. He pulls me to standing and gives me a hug with a thump on the back.

"Where's everyone else?" I ask groggily. Looking around, I see the girls putting on their boots, which were drying on the heater. I walk over to them and give them each a hug goodbye, and wish them a safe drive home.

"Bye Natsu!" They chorus as they walk out my door. When I see Gray's headlights turn on, I close the door and wrap my arms around myself. The fire had gone out while I was asleep, so I grab the blanket and wrap myself up. Now, after all that, it feels a little lonely here. I grab my backpack and do some school work until Wendy and Aunt Porlyusica come home. We eat dinner, and get ready for bed. I stumble around in my pjs, falling into bed, until I realize something devastating. The heater in my room is broken. Sleepy and upset, I grab my blanket and drag it with me into Grandeeny's room, where I plop down in the dark and fall asleep. If I hadn't, I would have missed the little note and gift I found on the bedside table in the morning.

A single plastic rose, with the name tag cut off, and the leaves ripped to bits.

Here's to your anti-keepsake, Natsu. Sleep well.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Hope you loved it! A little relaxing chapter to end V-day :) Can you guess what's coming up next?

Xo Shadow