February 14

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"Guess what day it is?" Jack expressed, leaping over the back of the couch and landing beside Katherine who looked up from the laptop in her lap.

Katherine arched an eyebrow, "Wednesday?"

"No," Jack responded in exasperation. "Well, yeah, it is Wednesday but that's not my point. It's the fourteenth of February which also means it's..." Jack trailed off, hoping Katherine would get his point.

"It's halfway through February?" Katherine asked nonchalantly, though she had no idea what Jack was hinting towards.

"My god, Ace!" Jack expressed. "It's Valentine's Day!"

"Oh," Katherine murmured, feeling her face flush with heat. "Well... isn't that nice."

"We should do something," Jack commented, resting his arm on the back of the couch and turning to face Katherine.

It took Katherine all of her willpower to not look Jack in the eyes. She was terrified of what might happen if she did. So she simply suggested something that she knew wouldn't possibly lead to more because they'd done it countless times before, "What if we have a lunch picnic outside?"

Jack nodded, standing from the couch, "I'll meet you down here in thirty minutes."

<><><>

Katherine looked down at the folded piece of paper in her hand, aware of the words that were printed on the inside of the folds. She wasn't sure what to do for Valentine's Day seeing as it was just her and Jack, and their predicament involving a relationship was uncertain. She did the most she could.

She wrote a poem.

When Katherine descended the staircase and stopped in the living room, she found that Jack wasn't there. When she peered out of the windows, however, she noticed Jack was already outside and attempting to put a blanket on the ground despite the fact that wind was catching it and making it impossible to set down.

Katherine shoved the paper into her pocket, stepping outside and suppressing a laugh at the image of Jack struggling with the blanket. "Need help?" She offered, walking closer towards Jack.

"Uh... please?"

When the blanket was finally lowered onto the ground, Katherine sat on one side, withdrawing the stack of cards they usually played with and holding them carefully in her hands. There was a silence that fell between them, and neither one of them knew what to do to break it, so Katherine simply passed out the cards to play a game.

Hesitantly, she asked him, brushing a strand of her hair behind her ear despite the wind, "Do you have any memories from this holiday?"

Jack shook his head, "Each one is the same. You?"

"That's one thing you and I have in common," Katherine answered with a silent sigh. "Valentine's Day has never meant much to me, so I've never understood its purpose. I don't know if I ever will, honestly."

"Don't think like that," Jack began, looking up at Katherine with insistent eyes. "It could become somethin' to you one day."

"I highly doubt it," Katherine mumbled, staring down at the cards in her hand in order to avoid eye contact with Jack.

"Well," Jack began, "I do have something to show ya." Katherine looked up after he said these words, finding that he was setting his cards down and digging into his pocket to withdraw a piece of paper. It reminded Katherine of the paper she had in her very own pocket, but it vanished from her thoughts when he handed it out to her. "Seeing as it's just the two of us here, I decided why not celebrate it anyways?"

Katherine didn't respond, she just took the paper and unfolded it. When it was finally unfolded to the extent that Katherine could see what he had given her, Katherine smiled softly down at the sight. It was a perfectly-drawn sketch of her, to the point where she felt like she was looking into a mirror.

"Jack," she murmured, bringing her eyes up to his, "it's lovely."

"I'm glad you think so."

"But I also have something for you," Katherine said, carefully sliding the sketch into her pocket before withdrawing the paper in her own pocket. "Let's just say... I had the same thoughts as you."

Katherine held out the paper, watching as Jack took it and began to read the poem she had written:

When words run dry,
He does not try, nor do I.
We are on par,
He just is,
I just am,
and we just are

Katherine wasn't sure if Jack would understand the meaning of the poem, but by the look in his eyes, she was certain that he had. "It's one of my favorites," Katherine said. "It's always been one I've remembered."

Something seemed to click on the atmosphere, causing Katherine and Jack to sit there and just examine each other for any trace that the other felt different. However, their differences were indifferent; they felt the exact same.

Which was why what happened next wasn't a result of the Experiment or because they'd been close to each other for nearly two months, it was because both of them simply needed to know if what they felt was true.

Katherine leaned forward, bringing her arms up to wrap around Jack's neck and draw him closer to her. Their lips connected, passionately dancing with each other as if it was the last time they'd have this chance.

But there were still ten months left for them, and who knew what was going to happen in that time range?

Just like that, that holiday was now something special. Yes, it was true that the atmosphere on Valentine's Day changes. Sometimes it was better or worse, but for them it was much better than the previous atmosphere.

There would be no more avoiding the topic of what was happening between them.