Archive of Our Own ^beta

Ronan stood in front of the chaotic remains of the red and pink graveyard of the already picked over display of Valentine's Day gifts.

The selection had greatly dwindled, but it being 9:30pm on a Monday night, on the eve of Valentine's day no less, Ronan wasn't really all that surprised.

Usually Ronan avoided all things cute and fluffy and the vomit inducing, sappy everything that related to this day. He was more of a Saint Patrick fan than Saint Valentine, preferring alcohol to chocolate.

It all started earlier that afternoon. Opal had spent the night over at 300 Fox Way and came bounding through the front door and down the steps in flurry of paper heart chains tied around her body & skipping towards Ronan before colliding her little frame to his, hugging him tightly.

"I've missed Kerah" Opal told him, squeezing his sides tighter, burying her face into his shirt.

Squeezing back, Ronan crouched in front of the small urchin.

-"I missed you too brat." Ronan ruffled her hair before speaking again. "But what in the ever loving God is this?" He fingered the heart chain carefully. His touch betraying the harshness of his words.

"Its a love chain, of course!" A teasing voice shouted.

Ronan looked up as Blue bounced from the steps in her frayed denim shorts with patterned multi colored heart patterned leggings beneath them. Her suspenders clipping the fabric of her shorts, criss crossing around her back.

Ronan raised a brow at her ever questionable sense of style.

"Those uh... boots really pull your look together Sargent." Ronan gestured in a circular motion to all oh her as he spoke.

"But can you explain why Opal is wearing this um, love chain again?"

Blue rolled her eyes clearly annoyed.

"You never were one to celebrate Valentine's day were you, Ronan?" Blue sighed out .

"Fucking hell Sargent, don't tell me you filled her head with all that cupid bullshit."

Blue lifted her arms in mock surrender, smiling.

"What can I say Ronan?" She asked ".. and well, I simply supplied her with the info about the day after she saw Persephone and Maura giving a client a Valentine's Day reading."

Blue looked to Opal, waving happily goodbye

"Bye Opal!! You be good and make sure you're the best Valentine Ronan could ever have!!"

Opal pulled away from Ronan before running back to Blue, who bent down so Opal could give her one last hug and a quick kiss on the cheek.

Ronan couldn't be sure but he thought he heard Opal whisper "always" to Blue before she was off scampering to the passenger side of the BMW.

"You might want to stop at the store later Ronan, or else you're going to break a girls heart come tomorrow."

Blue winked at him before heading back inside.

***

"Are you findin' everything alright?" A warm voice, slow like molasses slips into Ronan's thoughts, coating his memory, dissolving away the afternoons events.

Ronan snaps to, unsure of how long he'd been standing and staring into expanse of the empty containers ahead of him. Clearing his throat before he speaks.

"Uh, yeah, Yeah, um I'm good." He turns to the person standing next to him and is a little more pleasantly surprised than he expected to be.

The boy in front of him clearly worked here. The red apron tied behind his narrow waist and name tag attached to it, which read Adam, erased any possible confusion on that matter.

"Are ya sure? I could help ya find somethin' if you're having any trouble." the boy offers.

The drawl of his accent loops around Ronan's chest, squeezing his ribs, trying to find a chink in his armour, to his heart.

Ronan might not want the help but he did want the boy to talk more, a lot more. And if this was the way to make that happen, Ronan figured he'd definitely could use the help.

"You know what?" Ronan turns to face Adam, ".. Actually yeah, I could use some help." Was it his imagination or did he see a slight relaxation in the boys posture, as if letting out an invisible sigh. Ronan tried not to read too much into it.

"Okay, yeah I'd be happy to help you." Adam says smiling happily, brushing some of his sandy hair out of his face. "Who's it for? A friend?" Adam asks and Ronan shakes his head no.

"Girlfriend?" When Adam asks, his voice sounds almost like a surrender of something unknowable. It crawls under Ronan's flesh like icy spiders.

"Oh God, no." Ronan probably spits out too eagerly. Cautiously looking over, Ronan catches a smirk barely lift the corner of Adams mouth and all Ronan can think is a string of expletives along with a somewhat coherent thought that "Shit, shit, shit. If I can feel this from just a twitch of his mouth, I don't know what would happen if he pulled out an unabashed, true and unhindered smile". He then thinks how he is desperately wanting to discover a way for him to find out.

"Hmmm." Adam thinks, rocking back on the heels of his feet. ".. A boyfriend?" Adam's eyebrows shoot up curiously, a smile sneaking onto his lips.

Ronan laughs quietly, nervously but the way Adam asks feels more like a testing of waters to see if A. He really was looking for a gift for his "boyfriend", but mostly like B. "Do you like boys, Ronan Lynch?" Granted Adam didn't even know Ronan's last name, let alone his first. That was besides the point.

"No, no boyfriend either. Unless you're offering ?" Ronan's blunt question causes Adam's eyes to widen exceptionally, allowing Ronan a moment to admire just how blue Adam's eyes are. Ronan laughs before following up with a "Relax, I was just teasing".

Which causes Adam to shove Ronan roughly in the shoulder, brushing it all off as the joke that it was and yet wasn't.

"It's for... A family member." Ronan tells Adam. "It's her first Valentine's and well expectations and all that."

"Ahhh so you're looking to make it special then?" Adam asks, hooking his thumbs into the straps of his apron.

Ronan nods thoughtfully to Adam, "Shouldn't all first times be special?" Ronan asks before realizing another meaning his words could hold. Blushing, and clearly wishing he could pluck the words from the air and eat them back into oblivion. He clears his throat again before turning his attention back to the cards.

The next 10 minutes are spent with Adam picking up cards and offering them to Ronan to read. Truth was though, Ronan knew it didn't matter what card or what gift he picked up for Opal, he knew he'd still be the one to eat the chocolates while she sat next to him chewing on the paper of the card or the box the chocolates came in.
But with each suggestion of cards Adam offered and each brush of fingertips between the two, Ronan was ready for it to be Valentine's Day everyday if it meant touching this boys hands. He'd love to spend a lot more time studying those hands if given the opportunity.

Finally settling on a card with a bright eyed bird on it that read: "I'd be raven mad not to ask you to be my Valentine.", along with a tiny stuffed pink bird and a small heart shaped box of chocolates with colorful cartoon printed woodland creatures, Ronan carries the items up to the checkout.

Scanning the items, Adam looks between his screen and Ronan as he rings up the purchase.

"I really think she's going to like this." Adam smiles, tilting the stuffed pink bird side to side.

"As long as she doesn't try to eat it first." Ronan replies a touch too low for Adam to hear.

" I'm sorry, what ?" Adam asks Ronan, trying to get him to repeat what he'd said.

Ronan waves a "never mind" motion before thanking Adam for his assistance.

"Ah nothing, don't worry about it, but thanks again for your help with this." Ronan lifts the bag filled with Opals gifts. "You didn't have to spend so much time helping me."

Adam's smile is genuine when he answers. "It's not a problem at all, I'm always willing to help out a customer, it's just a bonus when they're cute like you."

Ronan's too busy turning over the "not a problem" coming out like " naah a problem" with that accent of his. The molasses seeping back into his thoughts before he realizes the rest of Adams words.

"Did you just fucking call me cute?" Ronan spits out almost unbelievably.

"Mhmm" Adam hums, eyes playful.

Ronan leans his body closer to the counter, his hips brushing the top. "Listen here, -
Ronan makes a point to look to Adams name tag before continuing. " --Adam. I may be a lot of things but cute does NOT register as any of them. I am terrifying!" Ronan pauses "..FIERCE!" He grabs the front of Adam's red apron, his fingers twisting the material, knotting in his hand.
"Badass even!" Ronan hears his own words shriek out, almost shrill. "Hell, I'm- FUCK!!"

Ronan lets go of his grip on Adam and lightly shoves him back.

Agitated, Ronan grabs his bag of goods and heads towards the sliding glass doors.

Adam's voice follows him out as he leaves.

"Just adorable."

Ronan doesn't even have to turn around to hear the smile in Adam's voice.

When Ronan reaches the BMW, he swings open the door and tosses the bag in the passenger seat before sliding into the driver side.

He sits for a few minutes contemplating the whole scenario tonight. Yeah Adam was cute. Cute as hell if he were honest. If that boy asked him to set a fire, he'd probably burn down an entire city just for the chance to be near him again.

Rubbing the back of his head, hands sliding down his face, Ronan thinks of the things he bought Opal. She really would love his gifts. She loves anything anyone gives her, Ronan thinks to himself as he silently sorts through the items.

He notices that there seem to be 2 cards instead of 1 and at first thinks somehow the card he bought had another one attached or stuck to it but when he pulls it out, it's sealed, and with words scrawled along the front.

Lifting it up, he flips it over, reading the words written in red ink against the eggshell colored envelope.

"To the boy with the smile made for war"

"What the fuck?" Confused, Ronan tears the paper, ripping the side of it open. The card slipping effortlessly out.

A white card, small in size with a simple image of a honeybee in the center. Ronan opens the card, reading the inside.

"Won't you BEE my Valentine?"

The red ink spilled in hastily written words near the bottom.

"Don't judge me for this card, I didn't have much time or a huge selection as you know. Or the time to think of an equally witty message to write before you'd see.

But what I mean to say is, when I asked you about having a boyfriend, well.. maybe I was offering before."

The card was signed Adam Parrish. A phone number beneath his signature, along with a

"Ps. Call me and let me know how said family member likes the gifts."

Ronan closes the card, looking back to the store one last time. A ghost of a smile haunting his lips before rolling his eyes, shaking his head lightly and starting the engine, heading back towards the Barns.

It was true Ronan wasn't really a fan of Saint Valentine's day, but he started to feel like this year could definitely be the start to him possibly disliking it a little less. All he needed was a little assistance.