Joseph didn't go to jail, which wasn't much of a surprise as he was a minor. He was, however, expelled from school. His parents decided to move away almost instantly after the trial, leaving nothing behind but resent. They couldn't help that their son had become a rape attempter, or maybe they could have. I didn't resent them anyway. To be honest I felt kind of sorry for them, I mean their son was a douche, in every way possible.

I returned to school about a week after Eric's confession. Word had gotten out that Eric and I was now dating, and surprisingly with that, my bullies seemed to evaporate. Somehow my life had made an 180 turn. I wasn't sure what to think. But I was happy.

My parents still fussed over me, always worrying. They had even begun to call every night just to check on me. Eric had more or less made our house his second home, being there with me far more than he was at his own house. Not that I complained. He also tended to sleep next to me, like when we were younger. The only difference was that now, he held me tight each and every night and some mornings he would make me a large, fancy breakfast. Which was a nice change.

Summer was quickly approaching. Manfred and the rest had began preparing for the finals, stressing to no end and always running around in a frenzy. It was sad that they would be leaving for university after the break, but at least I knew that they would visit.

Today, was the 14th of February, a Friday. Eric had left me in Manfred's hands as he had something to "take care of". We were sitting in the courtyard, Manfred on top of the wall while I was leaning against it. He swung his legs back and forth, whistling some tune that I didn't recognise. I was absentmindedly fingering on my necklace.

Eric had found the necklace a couple of days ago and had taken it to a gold-smith to repair it. It was only couple of hours ago that I finally had it in my possession again. Somehow it was if it was never gone. I pulled att pendant, tracing the edges with my forefinger and thumb, when a thought that I had forgotten reasurfaced.

"Manfred..." I began, he hummed in response. "You know the necklace I got, the one from Eric? What do these signs mean?"

Manfred didn't answer, instead he jumped down to stand next to me. I flinched in surprise as he suddenly was very close. We were about the same height, but he still seemed to tower over me. He took the necklace between his fingers, smiling softly.

"I'm not sure if it's my place to tell you this, but from what I've seen Eric has already gotten the stick out of his bum and confessed to you," I nodded, it was no secret that we were dating. Manfred continued, "'Aishiteru', japanese. It means: 'I love you'. I've believed for quite some time now that he has been in love with you. Well, the necklace definitely confirmed it."

I had stopped looking at the small jewelry, and was now staring in awe at my friend. He looked past me, smirking.

"Well, school's over, and I have a very important date set this evening. You do too by the way," he stated walking, patting me on my head as he passed me. I turned around, staring as he strutted away. Then I noticed Eric, looking nervous. Manfred slapped him hard, but friendly on his shoulder before disappearing around the corner. Eric reluctantly walked up to me, hands behind his back.

"Happy Valentines," he mumbled, red faced. A large bouquet of red and white flowers were shoved in my hands. Eric looked away, ears bright red. I blushed too. The flowers smelled amazing, sweet and... flowery. I only knew one of the flowers; the red rose. The white flowers was some I had never seen before, or at least never learned the name of.

"What flower are the white ones?" I asked him. His blush deepened.

"It's gardenias... " he mumbled. "They mean something like 'have a history together' or something." As he uttered these words, both of our blushes deepened.

The silence that followed was awkward. But the feeling in my chest was warm. Subtly, I closed in on Eric, close enough to feel his body heat. I leaned forward, resting my head against his shoulder as well as keeping the flowers from being crushed.

"Thank you," I whispered, the box of chocolate that I had in my bag feeling small in compartment to the flowers. Eric put his arms around me, hugging me tightly. The chocolate was forgotten, the flowers too.

The only thing important was Eric and I, together.