LGBT Oneshots ✅

Roses and Red Paint

Written for RaeKitano's prompt: how do your characters express love?

Alice has a problem.

There are a dozen red roses on her bed and she's sitting on the duvet with her gift bag, trying to work out if the chocolates or the bath bombs should go in first because it's clear she's bought far too much. Maybe it's a little excessive but it's the first time she's spending Valentine's day in a relationship and she thinks she should go all out. It wasn't something she'd meant to do but she couldn't help thinking that the lace dress in the window looked nice and that the card was so cute and didn't that perfume smell good?

"Do you think I got her too much?" she asks, frowning at her collection.

Natasha, her roommate, looks over from where she's sitting, "I don't know, I think it's sweet of you but it does depend on whether she got you anything back. It's not a big deal but, if it happened to me, I'd feel like I cared more."

"Yeah, Lacy said that she didn't really like Valentine's, thought that it was stupid that people were falling for a commercial holiday."

"Wow, that sounds romantic."

"No," Alice says quickly, because she feels like she said it wrong, "she is a romantic but she thinks that you should show your love every day, rather than on just one day of the year."

Natasha tilts her head in consideration, "I can understand her thinking but I don't think it's like that for every couple. Valentine's is just another opportunity to demonstrate your love, it's not the only one."

"So do you think she'd be mad if I gave her gifts?"

"Hm, maybe just give her the flowers and the card and then play it from there. You can always save the rest for another time, right?"

"Thanks, Tash, you're the best."

She smiles at her, "I know."

Natasha's confidence and easy acceptance of compliments had surprised Alice the first time she met her but she'd quickly learnt that she liked it. University was refreshing in the people she met, because no one was quite like Natasha at home, and she hadn't missed a beat when Alice casually mentioned she was a lesbian. It was something that she'd worried about, moving away from home for the first time and having to share her private space with another girl, but it was all for nothing and she wasn't sure why she'd been scared in the first place.

"What are you doing for Valentine's day?" Alice asks.

"I'm volunteering on campus and playing Cupid. For the princely sum of a pound, we're delivering cupcakes and short messages to the students and it's all in the name of charity."

"That sounds like fun."

"Yeah, I only have two lectures that day and I thought it'd be a good thing to take part in. Maybe not as exciting as your day with Lacy but I love it."