when the ride ends, the adrenaline tells me to go for round two. however, toby looks as if he's going to throw up, george's face is insanely pale, and my hand is starting to get numb from tommy squeezing it so hard.

"i'd say you owe me two cotton candies since it looked like YOU were about to cry," i tell tommy as we get off the ride.

"i'll get you five if that means we don't go on that again," tommy replies.

"aww, come on. it was fun."

"yeah yeah, it was alright. come on, you want your cotton candy now?" i nod enthusiastically.

"pictures first," i say as i run towards the picture area.

i look at all the pictures, tommy trailing far behind me. i grin as i see everyone's pictures. toby and nick are smiling and laughing, clay looks like he's having the time of his life while george looks like he's going to pass out, but i like mine and tommy's best.

our hands are interlocked, and i have a big smile on my face while laughing, but tommy is screaming and looks like he's seen a ghost. i quickly run over to buy our pictures and meet tommy at the front. i was going to grab toby earlier to bring him with us, but he stayed on the ride for round two because niki and wilbur got on the ride after us.

so here we are now, tommy and i alone, going to get cotton candy.

"pink or blue?" tommy asks as we get to the front of the line.

"pink," i say. he nods and pays for the cotton candy, handing it to me. i eat a bit, and then look over at tommy. he looks back and i move the cotton candy towards him.

"what are you-" he starts.

"i'm offering you some," i say.

"but i lost the bet."

"who cares?" tommy smiles and rips off a handful of cotton candy. we share the rest and eventually finish, and as soon as we do we find a photo booth. we both turn towards each other, grin, and run towards it.

"jesus christ this thing is CRAMPED!" i say. "how much is it?"

"five pounds," tommy replies. "i'm putting money in right now." sure enough, the screen lights up and tommy gets inside the booth. we choose a classic 4 strip of photos, and two copies.

"shit, we have to do poses," tommy says as a countdown starts. "start pogging." tommy does his pogchamp face, and i only have time to laugh when the photo is taken.

"damn it," i say. "i wasn't ready."

"well, get ready! the countdown never stops!" tommy puts his arm around me and we both smile. the camera goes off a second time.

"that one might actually be good," i say.

"do something funny," tommy says. i stick out my tongue and he does a weird cross between a shocked face and confused face.

the countdown starts for the last photo, and i put both my arms around tommy and pull him into a hug. he wraps his arms around me as well and pulls me into his chest. my eyes close as i smile, and i'm sure my cheeks are pink. i can hear tommy's heart beating insanely fast.

"that was a bit stressful," tommy says.

"tell me about it," i say as we both climb out of the booth. the photos come out really cute, and in the last photo tommy is looking down at me with a look of... admiration?

"i like these," i say under my breath. tommy nods and puts his in his pocket, so i do the same.

"time?" tommy asks. i pull out my phone.

"6:17... and wilbur just texted me."

"what'd he say?"

"he's asking if we want to have dinner with him, niki, and toby."

"say yes, but ask where." i text wilbur and he responds immediately.

"it's a little restaurant near that big ride we went on earlier."

"sounds good. but uhh..." tommy rubs the back of his head awkwardly and his face suddenly flushes a bright red.

"are you... okay?" i ask.

"i wanted to ask if you... ya know... since it's valentine's day... if you... wanted to uhh..."

i bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from smiling. i've never seen tommy so nervous.

"you know... if you wanted to be... um..."

"i'd love to be your valentine," i say. his face lights up.

"how did you-"

"mentioning valentine's day was the big hint for me." tommy smiles his big, perfect smile that i adore so much.

"wow. i have a valentine." i smile softly.

"you have a valentine, tommyinnit." we both blush as we start to walk to the restaurant. tommy slowly extends his hand to me and we interlock fingers, walking hand in hand to our friends.