Anthony's P.O.V.
The entire day, from the moment I woke up to the moment I went to sleep, I was excited and nervous. I knew so certainly that I wanted to, at the very least, impress Owen on Valentines Day, but I didn't know how. I wondered if maybe I should make something for him, but I'm not that great at making things, though I still try. I considered asking Milly to make something, but that seemed like it would be inconsiderate.

I figured that whatever I did, maybe it'd be best to just do it spontaneously. When night came and it was almost time to leave, I threw on my tuxedo and rushed out of my room to find Milly so we could hurry up and get to the party. I happily knocked on her door a little after seven, hoping that she was ready to go.

"Mil?" I yelled. "Are you ready to go?" There was silence for about ten seconds, then the door opened and Milly stepped out. She sniffled and locked arms with me, but just as she was going to teleport us away, I stopped her.

"You alright?" I asked. She looked at me angrily.

"Why does everyone keep asking that?" she asked annoyedly. "I'm fine, I swear. I just have artist's block, I want some time alone, and I don't want to be bombarded with questions from every single person I know!" I had unlocked our arms and was standing back from her. She took a few deep breaths, then looked at herself, seemingly in horror.

"I'm.. Im so—"

"No, no, it's okay Mil," I said, running back over to her and grabbing her hand. "Go on, take a quick moment to get yourself together."

"No, I'm alright, I just.. I just need to get this party over with."

"Why?" She looked at me with pained eyes, telling me silently that she wouldn't be answering my question any time soon.

"Okay," I said. "I get it, we're not talking about this now. That's fine, but you're gonna have to talk to someone eventually. Not specifically me, but someone, please. Can you do that?" There was a tense moment of silence before Milly hugged me tightly.

"I will, Ant, I will."

~time skip~

The party moved far too slow for me, as I just wanted the partner dances to hurry up and start. But, I saw my chance when nine o'clock rolled around and Owen stood up to dance. I followed him, but he went to go dance with Camille. I sighed, but happily began to dance with Milly.

"Hey," she said. "I'm sorry about earlier, I've just got a lot bottled up, you know?"

"Oh, yeah, no, it's fine, Milly, it's fine." The two of us danced awkwardly for a couple minutes before slowly we mixed in with Owen and Camille. I tried my best for the next ten minutes or so to casually get Owen to dance with me, but to no avail. I knew I was guaranteed one dance with him in the partner dance, but I wanted to savor the moments I had. As confident as I was, I still had this selfish, sneaking thought in the back of my mind. Even if I never have a chance with the guy I like, even if I screw everything up during the first dance, I at least want to know that I tried.

But my thoughts snuck away when I saw Milly and Camille slowly moving farther and farther away, leaving me and Owen alone amongst a sea of people. For the next however long, the two of us danced together. We were about two or three feet apart for the entire dance, but somehow I felt closer to him than ever.

When Roman and Virgil went up to initiate the partner dances, I sat on the edge of my seat, ready to spring up and run to Owen when the first song ended. It was, at least, entertaining to see Roman and Virgil dance with each other. The playful banter and the flirty remarks, it made me wonder what it felt like to be so deeply in love. When the first song ended, I practically fell over trying to get to Owen as fast as possible.

"Care to dance?" I asked as smoothly as possible.

"Of course, silly!" Owen replied enthusiastically. "But, I have to tell you.. I don't know how to waltz."

"Oh, well, that's fine. I don't think we have to waltz, it's just a bit more proper for royal parties. We can do a simplified version, if you want." Owen nodded and we walked a bit farther away from the table.

"Alright," I said. "I'll just do this.." I wrapped my arm hesitantly around his waist. "And you put your arm around my neck. No, other one. Great, now grab my hand, and we can just kinda, step side to side and sway." And that's exactly what we did. For three whole minutes, we held on to each other, stepping side to side and swaying.

"I like the simplified waltz." Owen said plainly before the song ended.

"Yeah, I do too." I smiled at him, and he smiled at me. Then it was over. All of it, the dance, the smiling, the hand holding, was over. Before I knew it, Owen had let go of me, waved goodbye, and sat back down at our table. I missed my chance, I thought. How did I miss my chance? The night moved on, I tried a few more times to get Owen to dance with me, but he seemed tired. No, not today, not on Valentines Day, am I going to let this day end just like every other.

So I did the most casual thing I could think of: I offered to take him home. He agreed, I told Milly we were leaving so that at least one person knew where we were, and then I took Owen home.

"Hey," I said as soon as we got there. "Could I talk to you for just a quick moment?" Owen nodded. I lead him outside the front door, onto the porch which stood between the Mind Palace and the void of the open Mind plane. The emptiness matched the night sky exactly, making it appear as an endless universe of shimmering stars. I sighed, mustering up every bit of courage I had as I stared up at the stars.

"Owen, I like you." I said simply. Silence fell over us as I waited for a response.

"I like you too." Owen replied. Then, he leaned over and kissed me on the side of my cheek. I smiled so wide that my face hurt, and Owen grabbed my hand.

"Happy Valentines Day." Owen said.

"Happy Valentines Day." I replied. And just like that, Owen left. Happy Valentines Day indeed.

Logan's P.O.V.
When Patton walked down the grand stairs with Thomas, I thought my eyes had deceived me. I took my glasses off to clean them, and when I put them back on and saw the same thing, I knew it was true what I saw. Patton was wearing a stunning blue dress with bold blue and white eyeshadow. I knew Patton was rather fond of dresses and makeup, and that he wouldn't mind wearing either, but I never thought he'd wear them both to a royal party.

He walked to stand directly in front of me, his eyes fearful yet hopeful. I wanted to compliment him, but I simply couldn't. I knew that whatever I said would not be enough to describe how beautiful he looked and how proud of him I was. I couldn't just say nothing, though, so I tried to compliment him but ended up stammering through the first two words of a failed attempt at a meaningful sentence.

"Is it too much?" Patton asked, turning to look from me to everyone else. "I shouldn't've worn a dress, should I?" Milly quickly stood up and patted at her tuxedo.

"You look absolutely beautiful, Patton. There's no need to be nervous." This made Patton smile widely, then he turned back to face me.

"Logan?" he questioned. For just a moment, it seemed that everything had gone quiet and slowed to a stop, that the only things left in the world were me and Patton. I reached down to grab his hand gently, then gave him a short kiss.

"I'm utterly speechless, love." I whispered in his ear. The party continued on, and the time came that Roman was to give his opening speech. He gave it, then walked to our table. As he approached, I saw hesitation in between his steps, just the slightest bit of a pause. I knew he wasn't judging Patton or Milly or anyone else—he cares far more for fashion and appeal than societal normalities—but I still shot him a warning glare, daring him to pause again or say one negative word.

The others at the table made small talk, and I noticed some of them exchanging gifts. I glanced at Patton, realizing that I had been so busy trying to think of a date that I didn't get him anything. I hoped that he wouldn't mind, and also that he would like the date that we were going on in a few hours. The chefs came around with food and drinks, and I noticed that Virgil had gotten himself a decently large glass of dark red wine, while Roman, Thomas, and I—the only other people who were allowed or wanted to drink—had only gotten the traditional thin, tall, sparkling glasses of champagne.

The night continued on, and the partner dances ensued. For the first song, Patton and I silently danced together. For the second song, Patton left to dance with a seemingly sad Camille, and I sat back down at the table with Roman, who explained to me that he was not dancing because Virgil was with Milly, Anthony was with Owen, and Thomas was conversing with Yolanda and Landon. We sat in silence, and were joined after the second song by the others, who were strangely quiet. I wondered, for one solitary moment that I chose to let my bought wander, why everyone was so quiet. It was understandable for Virgil, Patton, and I, but why any of the others were silent was a mystery to me. A temporary mystery, of course.

Very slowly, eleven o'clock drew nearer. At 10:50, I asked Virgil if I could speak to him alone, and we excused ourselves from the table. We left for the castle's northern turret, but I took one glance at everyone else before we left. Roman, as I just barely noticed, was watching Virgil and I's every step. Somehow, along with the unusual silence, there was a strange tension between Roman and I.

As Virgil and I reached the top of the turret, I stared up jubilantly the stars—I've always been entranced by stars. We propped ourselves against the stone wall and silently looked up at the night sky together for about a minute.

"Thank you, Virgil," I began. "For letting me and Patton have Tranquility tonight. I understand that was an allowance which took great trust in me."

"You're welcome," Virgil replied. "Oh, and by the way, I did a little fixing up there. The water's not colored anymore, but its still got the same functions as always. I added a lot more flowers too. Some of them are a bit poisonous, but I made them without it, so no worries. Also, take a horse to the Forest, otherwise you'll be too slow and you might get caught. You good with all that?"

"Absolutely, but it's pronounced 'are you good with that.'"

"Whatever, teacher." Virgil chuckled and wrapped his arm around my shoulders and neck. "Now, go get Patton and run away with him to Tranquility." He grabbed my hand and gave it one quick, minor compression, then disappeared down the steps and back to the ballroom. I followed him, but far enough behind that I didn't catch up until I reached everyone at the table.

"Are you ready to go, Patton?" I asked. He nodded and took my hand to help him stand.

"Bye everyone!" he exclaimed while waving at our fellow Sides. As we were about to walk through the doors of the ballroom, I spared yet another glance at everyone at our table. Roman and Virgil were standing up, the former looking tense and the latter appearing nervous. I would have taken a moment to further observe the situation, but before I was even aware of it I had left the ballroom and was making my way with Patton to the stables.

~time skip~

"Alright Patton, close your eyes and keep them shut until I say you can open them once more. Understand?"

"Yup!" I led Patton forwards through the barrier, through the surrounding trees, and finally into the glorious oasis that is Tranquility. There were lit candles in multiple places throughout the clearing, something that Virgil had not mentioned adding. The water was a brilliant teal, and brightly reflected the candlelight in shimmering golden spheres. There certainly were much more flowers, especially blue ones. Orchids, hellebores, roses, lilies, chrysanthemums, Arabian jasmines, and malva moschatas lined the water and the trees and sprouted randomly in the grass as well.

"Alright, you can open your eyes now." I whispered to Patton. He immediately gasped, looked around, then sat down on the ground. He ran his hands through the grass and gazed happily at the flowers.

"It's beautiful.." he marveled, his voice laced with awe. "What is this place?"

"Tranquility," I replied, kneeling to sit next to Patton. "A place designed by Virgil to ease and organize thoughts and emotions."

"It's so beautiful," Patton stated once more. "Almost as beautiful as you." I smiled at his compliment, and he gently slid his hand into mine.

"I got you something, lovey," he whispered, revealing a small white box. He opened it and pulled out a bracelet. It was decorated with sapphire gems shaped like leaves, all connected by a silver chain.

"Do you want to try it on?" Patton asked. I nodded and held out my right arm. He carefully hooked the bracelet around my wrist and allowed me a moment to inspect it. I turned my wrist and spun the bracelet around, wanting to see every part of it.

"This is gorgeous, Patton," I complimented. "Thank you. And I'm sorry I did not get you anything, as all of my time was engulfed in trying to get this date planned and prepared.

"Oh no, that's alright!" Patton assured me. "I guess a date's kinda better than a gift anyway." I tilted my head in confusion.

"How so?" I asked.

"Oh, well.." Patton began, trailing off in thought. "A gift would remind me of you, but a date lets me spend time with you. If I had to pick between a reminder of you and the real you, I'd pick the real you in a heartbeat." He grabbed my hand once more.

"You know, the water here is very special. Would you like to see?" Patton nodded, and I led him by the hand to the water. Carefully, I stepped in, and he gave me a confused and cautious look.

"It's alright Patton," I told him. "Just follow me, even though this does seem rather queer."

"Well aren't we rather queer?" Patton questioned with a giggle. I smiled and continued to lead him into the water.

"Again, this is very abnormal," I whispered. "Just keep breathing." He nodded awkwardly and stepped into the water, farther and farther until we reached the middle and sat down. Once we were under water, Patton kept his eyes shut. I reached out to tap his shoulder with my free hand, and his eyes snapped open. I motioned for him to breathe, and he took a few deep breaths. He appeared to talk, but no sound reached me.

How is it possible, I wondered, that Patton's smile, and even himself, can shine even through the darkness of the water? Does everyone see his light, or is it by chance only me? A couple minutes passed before we stood back up and left the water.

"That's amazing," Patton said. "How do we not get water on us?"

"I'm not sure," I answered. "I haven't been here for enough time to test the mechanics of how the 'water' does what it does." We both moved to sit back down on the grass and stare up at the stars.

"You know," Patton began. "I was talking with Thomas yesterday after lunch, and we came up on a certain topic, and it got me thinking."

"What was the topic?"

"We were wondering if all of us Sides have the same LGBT experiences. We obviously know everyone's at least a little queer, but what about everyone's exact identity? What do you think? Do you think it's the same for all of us?" I thought about his question, and I thought about Thomas in comparison to all of his Sides.

"Well, I, personally, don't focus much on sexual or romantic orientation and gender identity. At least, not for means of myself, but solely for learning more about the LGBT community and its members. So, yes, I guess this is a little different for everyone, considering that some of us seem to dive more into the topic and others merely stand within it. Besides, it appears that a large portion of the Fanders believe Roman is bisexual and Virgil is asexual, and actually have rather interesting and impressive proof to back up their claims. In fact, a few even believe you are pansexual."

"Huh, I guess all of that kinda makes sense. Thanks, Logan. But, I think I know exactly what my identity is."

"And that would be?"

"Loromantic." I turned questioningly from the night sky to Patton.

"I have yet to hear of 'loromantic,' what is it?"

"It means I'm romantically attracted to Logan Sanders." Patton turned to face me and smiled, planting a short kiss to my lips. I smiled and chuckled, then responded, while clapping very quietly for every syllable, "I get it, you're adorable."

The night passed by much faster than I imagined it would, and very soon midnight was upon us. I explained to Patton that we couldn't be there for more than an hour and agreed to take him home, since he was tired in the first place. We reached the house to find that all the kids were in their rooms, so we tried to be quiet in case they were asleep.

"Goodnight lovey." Patton whispered. "Thanks for the date."

"You're welcome, love, goodnight." He gave me a kiss on the side of my cheek, and happily disappeared into his room.