Be My Valentine

Somehow, through these past few years, I, Cammie the Chameleon, was slowly become more and more un-chameleon-y.

I was used to wander around the halls of the Gallagher Academy unseen, unnoticed, by my sisters. And I like that. I proudly live up to my title.

But being a girl whose:

Mom was the headmistress of your school, and/or,

Aunt was the hottest – and coolest – teacher who was teaching everyone's favorite subject, and/or,

Ex-boyfriend was a civilian, and you had to constantly snuck out of the school grounds to see him (a feat that is considered simply impossible, but you totally pulled it off), and/or,

Some really bad people wanted to kill, and/or

Boyfriend was the only (hot) boy in an all-girls school, and your sisters had a tendency to stare (or drool) at him as he walked by,

had the tendency to draw attention to herself.

And it really didn't help with the whole being-unnoticed thing when said boyfriend slid onto the seat beside you one morning in the Grand Hall, kissed you on the cheek, pressed a bunch of roses into your hands, and said, "Happy Valentine's Day, Gallagher Girl."

Now, technically, every girl in the room was a Gallagher Girl, but when Zach said that, everyone knew he only meant me. And that's really sweet, by the way, to be his one and only Gallagher Girl.

One of the downfalls going to an all-girls school was, for obvious reasons, we never celebrated Valentine's day.

So I had to sit there, genuinely shocked, and trying to remember what date it was.

"Umm…" I stuttered. "Happy Valentine to you, too."

Very attractive. NOT!

Thankfully, Zach just laughed, and said, "Want to hang out tonight?"

I couldn't help but smile, "Are you asking me out?"

"I don't know, Gallagher Girl, you tell me," he smirked. "I'll pick you up at eight?"

I laughed. "You know, when you say it like that, it's as if you're going to drive over to my house, not just walking upstairs."

"Trust me, I'm going to do much more than just walking upstairs," Zach said, but he was laughing, too. "So?"

"Okay."

He grinned cheekily. "I'll see you on COW?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Why? What are you going to do now?"

Zach, being Zach, just pointed to himself and said, "Spy."

~*:*:*:*~

"Sooo…" Bex drawl on, picking up my roses and checked it out, once Zach had left. "A date, huh?"

"Not just any date, Bex. Valentine's date," Macey smiled.

"You know, I bet most of the girls here are so jealous right now. You may be the only Gallagher Girl in history who ever had a Valentine's Day date here!" Bex grinned.

"Well, Zach is the only Gallagher Boy in history, so of course you're right!" Liz chimed.

"It's weird, hearing that. Gallagher Boy," Macey mussed.

"Totally," I agreed. "I prefer Blackthorne Boy, still."

"Duh. It's more… macho, I think. 'Gallagher Boy' sounds like a girlish boy," Bex commented. "And Zach's nowhere near the term 'girly'."

Macey shrugged, and grinned at me, "Make sure you're at our dorm at 6:30, sharp."

"Macey, it's too early!" I complained, but of course she wouldn't budge.

"Fashion emergency."

~*:*:*:*~

"Where's he taking you?" Macey asked that evening.

"No idea."

We're all in our dorm ready for the make-Cammie-beautiful mission (Macey's words, not mine!) I'm currently sprawled on my bed. Macey was standing in front of her drawer, pulling out a curling iron. Liz was typing God-knows-what on her laptop, and Bex was going through my laptop.

"But this is important!" Macey insisted. "Destination is numero uno. You can't wear a sundress if you're going to hike. You can't wear sweaters if you're going to the beach, you get my idea!"

"Mace, I don't think he'll take me out of the grounds. We're both targets, remember? Zach wouldn't do that," I reassure her.

"Still, where are you going?"

"He wouldn't tell me?"

Bex gave an exasperated sigh. "Fine. I'll ask him. And he'd better tell me, Cam, or your date is canceled."

And she left us laughing in our room.

~*:*:*:*~

Bex knocked on Zach's door, and to her relief, he opened immediately. She quickly walked in, not wanting to stand in front of his room for too long (his room is in the teacher's wing, so no one can really blame her).

"Bex?"

"Where are you taking her?" Bex fired, not wanting to beat around the bush.

He smirked. "Classified."

"Oh, for goodness' sake!" Bex exclaimed. "I won't tell her. I know you want it to be a surprise, but we need to know where you're taking her so we can make her look stunning!"

Zach laughed. "No need to torture her. She'll fit in everywhere."

"Goode," Bex threatened. "You better tell me."

Rebecca Baxter could be a very fearsome girl. No one wanted to get on her bad side. Partially because Bex made an awesome friend, and partially because she was a kick-ass fighter, and she could beat anyone to the ground. So Zach quickly told her.

~*:*:*:*~

"There's a wide range of activity, so wear there," Bex said, handing me a very sexy bra and panties.

My eyes widened. "Oh my God! Don't tell me he's planning to... you know… see that?"

She rolled her eyes. "Chill, Cam. He valued his life. He knew your Mom, Abby, Joe and us are going to kill him if he did anything funny."

I nodded, my cheeks still burning. I was only half reassured, and her next words didn't help matters.

"But just in case…"

"BEX!"

~*:*:*:*~

In the end, I ended up with a casual purple top and jeans, and sneakers. My mind reeled. This outfit is too casual. He could be taking my anywhere, which, I admit, was the point of my outfit.

At 8:00 Zach knocked on our door, and Bex pushed me to open it. So I did, and his eyes lit up as he looked at me, as they always did. Suddenly my worries evaporated.

"Hey," Zach smiled at me.

"Hey yourself," I smiled right back.

"Ready?" he offered his arm, and I took it graciously, remembering the ball at sophomore year, when I wanted to throw him down the stairs.

The urge to throw him had long gone. In fact, now I'm determined to keep him close.

~*:*:*:*~

We strolled around, talking, joking, and basically enjoying ourselves. Right now, we're playing our version of 20 questions. I started by asking a question, and he answered. Then I'll answer my own question before he asked me another.

"Dream pet?" he asked.

"Dogs. Siberian Husky. You?"

"Anything but cats. I'm allergic."

"Really?"

"Yup," he said, popping the 'p'. "Favorite candy?"

"M&M's."

"Mine, too."

I could hear his smile. We continued on the favorites questions until I decided to be more serious. "Life dream?"

"Have a normal family," he said quietly.

"Be a top CIA agent."

"Figures," he smiled. "Regrets?"

My heart contracted. "My dad."

He nodded. "My mom."

I laughed sadly. We sounded so dysfunctional. "Worst fears?"

"Losing everyone I love."

"That's deep. Same, I think."

"We're here," he announced.

"Zach!" I exclaimed as I took in the view.

He'd taken me to the pigeons' place. Someone (and I can guess who) had cleaned up the place, and set up a candlelight dinner on a wooden table. Tiny lights decorated the walls.

"Wow. Who knew you can be romantic?" I asked jokingly as he pulled my chair for me.

"I'm a lot of things," was his – smirking – reply.

"True," I said, frowning. "Let me guess, you cook all this?"

He laughed. "Unfortunately, no. Chef Louis wouldn't let me anywhere near his precious kitchen. So as a compromise he cooked all this."

"Yummm!" I was practically drooling.

All my favorite foods were there on the table, tempting me to eat all of them at once. But then I thought of Madame Dabney, and what she would say if I stuff all these heavenly foods into my mouth at once, and shuddered.

So we ate, and we continued our game.

"My turn," I announced. "Best memories?"

"Hmm… That's a tough one," he thought about it a few minutes, before saying. "Maybe when I was about 3, before I knew all this things, before I knew who she really is."

I knew 'she' meant 'my mom'.

"She took me on a vacation to Disneyland once, and she bought me candies and balloons, and, for once, she took me somewhere just to have fun."

I was silent for a moment, not sure what to say. "My dad used to place me on his shoulders, and running around the house with me hanging on for dear life, bouncing me up and down, and telling me I'm his little girl."

He smiled ruefully. "Worst moments?"

I took a deep breath. We've promised to be honest to each other, but what I was about to tell him would surely upset him. But I said it anyways, "When I was captured."

Sure enough, his expression turned stormy. "Cammie…"

"You okay?"

My question seemed to take him aback. "Am I okay? Cam, I'm not the one who was tortured."

I sighed. "Yeah, but I know you're blaming yourself for all this mess."

"How can I not blame myself?" he whispered. "I'm the one who gave the idea to you. I couldn't find you. She's my mother…"

I quickly shut him up with a kiss, a trick I've often found useful to cheer him up. And it worked. We sat there for a moment, just kissing. He tasted like Chef Louis' lasagna.

"Zach, you're not your mother."

He looked at me, and for once, he let his walls down. I could see the vulnerability behind those emerald orbs, as he said insecurely, "How can I know that? Blood is thicker than water, they say. I know I never want to hurt you, but what if I can't help myself?"

"You wouldn't hurt me," I declared with finality.

"You didn't know that."

"I do. Sometimes, you just need to believe, Zach. I know you think I would think of you differently once I found out about your mother. Remember when we stood here, and you asked me to run away with you?"

He nodded, his eyes darkening. "Instead you run out on your own."

I sighed. "Remember when I asked you why you didn't tell me sooner, and you said…"

"I couldn't lose the only person who didn't see her when they look at me," he sighed.

"Look at me, Zach," I whispered.

That was completely unnecessary. We were already staring into each other's eyes, as cheesy as that sounds. But I had to say it.

"Do you lose that?" I asked him softly.

His eyes softened as he smiled, gently, kissing me soft and slow, and when he pulled back he told me, "No."

~*:*:*:*~

[AN : Now, I know that Valentine is still a loooong way to go, but suddenly I had this inspiration, and a crazy urge to write it down, so here it is… I know the ending wasn't very good, but I didn't want it to be so fluffy, so… yeah.

Hope you like it! Review?

Link to Cam's outfit can be seen on my profile.]