DISCLAIMER: I don't own She's The Man, or any characters therein. They are, I believe, owned by DreamWorks SKG.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
SEQUEL: To Christmas Wishes and Resolutions.
Rose Red
By Obsidian
Viola Hastings had one very simple goal that February 14th - to spend the day with the boyfriend that she loved.
She also had one not terribly simple goal - avoid thinking about Olivia Lennox.
She'd almost managed to achieve both of them, right up until they'd gotten back to her dorm room.
The movie Duke had taken her to had been great, dinner had been wonderful and romantic, the flowers he'd surprised her with beforehand were gorgeous... It had been a perfect Valentine's, really. Right up until he mentioned Olivia.
That, Viola decided, was hardly fair. She'd done her best since New Year's to respect Olivia's wishes, to be nothing but a friend - a good friend, she hoped! - to the other girl. It hadn't been terribly easy at times, likely for both of them, but she'd managed. They had managed.
And then Duke brought her up.
On Valentine's Day.
Duke.
She was briefly tempted to smack him.
To be fair, he probably hadn't thought asking "Hey, has Olivia seemed all right to you, lately?" was that strange of a question. And she supposed it wasn't, really. They were her friends.
But today, of all days...
"What do you mean?" she asked, unconsciously frowning.
"She's just seemed a bit down lately," Duke said with a shrug. "I thought you might know why."
"What made you think of her now?" she asked as she sat down on her bed.
As an answer, Duke merely gestured to the picture of Viola and Olivia from the Halloween Carnival that Viola kept on her desk. Viola had surprised people by not going as Sebastian, but instead as the Wicked Witch of the West (and the green bodypaint had been a bitch to get just right). Olivia had been a somewhat skimpily dressed vampire, and had spent a lot of time hanging around Viola, occasionally creeping up and mock-biting her.
Looking back on it, Viola couldn't quite believe she'd missed Olivia flirting so blatantly with her at the time.
"Oh," she said in response to Duke's unspoken answer. "Well... She is kind of alone, isn't she?" She fought down a wince at that, knowing full well just why it was that Olivia wasn't dating anyone. "And it is that time of the year again, isn't it?"
Personally, Duke thought it had been going on a bit longer than that... but then again, stores did tend to start putting up displays for the next holiday awfully early these days, so Valentine's Day-related items might well have begun appearing as early as December 26th. And he was certain Olivia shopped a lot more then he did.
Because she could hardly shop less.
"I'll bring her some of those flowers you gave me," Viola said, standing abruptly.
Duke nodded. "I wouldn't mind getting her some of her own?"
She smiled at him. "That's sweet, but I wouldn't want her accidentally misinterpreting things. She does know you used to have that little crush on her, after all." She grinned as Duke flushed. "I'm just her friend. If they come from me, she'll know exactly what they mean," she pointed out, not mentioning just what that was.
Because it certainly wouldn't be simple friendship, that was for certain.
"Good point," Duke admitted, oblivious to what his girlfriend was thinking. "I'd say 'give her a kiss for me', but that also might be-"
She laughed. "Oh, I can do that. Promise. Don't worry, you'll be a perfect gentleman."
Olivia didn't quite know what to make of finding Viola knocking on her door on Valentine's Day.
She really didn't know what to make of the flowers in her hand.
Thankfully Maria was out on a date - and might not get back until the next morning - because she'd never have been able to explain.
Viola was supposed to be out on a date with Duke. Well... She surreptitiously checked her watch. Okay, so the date could well be over by now. That still didn't explain-
"Hey, Liv?" Viola said, interrupting Olivia's mental ramblings. "I know I look hot, but aren't you gonna say anything? Invite me in? Slam the door in my face? Blink? Anything?"
She hadn't consciously acknowledged Viola's appearance, and now wished the other girl had never said anything about it. Somehow, someone - Duke or Paul, perhaps - had managed to talk Viola into wearing a dress. It was red, and sleeveless, and low-cut, and oh, damn, why had she looked down there? Now her eyes were stuck on Viola's cleavage. It took a serious effort on her part to tear them away.
Judging by the smirk on Viola's face, she'd noticed.
Cheeks matching Viola's dress, Olivia mumbled, "Come in." She stood back to allow Viola admittance, then shut the door and leaned against it, while Viola sat on her desk.
"You may need to put these in water soon," Viola said, laying the flowers down on the desk. "And they're from Duke, before you say anything."
Olivia blinked. "Why is your boyfriend buying me flowers?"
"Well, technically, he didn't. He bought me some. But he was just fine with me bringing some of them to you."
"He knows? That you're bringing me flowers, I mean? He's okay with that?"
"Why wouldn't he be?" Viola asked innocently. "We're your friends, after all. And since he'd noticed that you seemed a bit down in the dumps lately... Well, we didn't want you to think you were alone, especially not today."
Her eyes prickled, but she fought back any tears. "Well, thank you. And thank him for me, will you?"
"Of course." Viola's expression turned mischievous. "You should know, I also promised to give you a kiss for him."
Olivia started as Viola rose from the desk. "Vi," she began warningly, but Viola simply snickered as she drew closer and closer...
...and planted a chaste kiss on Olivia's cheek.
Olivia reminded herself to breathe. "That's it?" she asked, sounding disappointed despite herself.
"That's your kiss from him," Viola said simply. Before Olivia could process that fully, Viola's lips had found her own again after nearly a month and a half of separation, and she moaned.
Then she did something that was probably very stupid.
She pulled Viola closer, intensifying the kiss until it reached a fever pitch, her tongue darting into Viola's mouth when she opened it, as if to say something, and now it was Viola who was moaning.
That sound simply snapped what was left of Olivia's fragile self-control, and gleefully lost herself in the dizzying sensation of kissing Viola Hastings.
Surprisingly, given that Olivia was the one who had insisted nothing could happen between them while Viola was dating Duke, it was Viola herself that managed to come to her senses. Breaking the kiss, she gasped out, "Liv, we- we can't..."
"Shut up," Olivia growled, making Viola shiver. Her argument also might have been a bit more convincing if her hands hadn't been on Olivia's ass. "The only words I want to hear from you are 'yes', 'please', 'God', 'Olivia', 'I'm yours', 'fuck me', 'shit', and 'now'." She removed her shirt so quickly that it almost seemed to teleport off of her. And again, as with New Year's Eve, she wore no bra.
Viola stared for a long moment, then managed to summon up enough coherent thought to say, "God... Shit, yes please, Olivia, fuck me now, I'm yours."
"All mine," Olivia said in a voice several octaves below her normal tone as she backed Viola towards her bed. The sweatpants she'd been wearing since she'd just planned on staying in and vegging that night came off on the way, leaving her wearing nothing but a pear of small, lacy red panties that had been her only concession to the holiday.
"All yours," Viola repeated, mesmerized.
"Do you want me?"
"God, yes."
"Do you want me to fuck you?"
"More then anything." Viola stopped as she reached the bed.
Olivia's hand rested on the zipper for her dress. "More than Duke?" It was risky, perhaps, bringing him up right then, but she wasn't thinking about that, couldn't think about anything more then Viola.
She didn't hesitate. "Yes," she whispered, putting her hand on top of Olivia's and lowering the zipper. Her dress hit the floor, and Olivia wasted little time all but pouncing on Viola, taking them both onto the bed.
"Then that's what you're going to get."
Idly, Olivia hoped her neighbors hadn't heard that. At least, not clearly.
It would have been pretty well impossible for anyone around to hear nothing, after all.
Viola, as it turned out, could make some noise when she wanted to.
She didn't care. Viola was there, she was right there, in her bed. She didn't care that she was likely grinning like an idiot, either.
She didn't even care (much) that it wasn't going to last. Right there, right then, Viola had chosen her.
She kissed Viola's jaw gently. "Thanks for the flowers, by the way."
Viola laughed. "Well, if I'd known they'd get that kind of reaction, I would have brought you some sooner."
"Would you really?" Olivia challenged.
Viola thought about that... for all of two seconds. "Definitely. But given what you said after the last time..."
She hadn't much wanted to think about that, had been enjoying just laying under the covers with Viola. But she supposed she had to. "I meant what I said... I still do, really... But..."
"But what?" Viola prompted after several moments of silence.
"But... just give me tonight. I know tomorrow you'll be his again, but stay with me tonight." To her credit, she managed not to plead.
"I can do that," Viola promised, not wanting to think about tomorrow much, herself.
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it." She paused, then grinned. "So... All night, hmm?"
Olivia hadn't thought she'd rested enough from the last time, yet, but her body abruptly decided otherwise. "That's what I said."
Viola's grin widened, and Olivia simply had to kiss her again. There was no other choice.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Baby," Viola told her while she could still think straight.
And Olivia, for that one night, at least, relished being Viola's Baby. "Happy Valentine's Day," she replied.
And they ended up surprising the hell out of Maria in the morning, but true to her word, Viola stayed the night.
And neither of them would ever think of Valentine's Day as a greeting card holiday ever again.
The End