A faint knock on the shop door caused Rarity to stop sewing a hem on a spring dress. She grumbled and walked over to the door. “Don’t they know this place is open so you can walk in?” She briefly stopped and laughed. “Oh, that’s right. I didn’t change the sign to 'Open' today.” There was another knock and she continued her pace towards the door. After opening, she gasped in joy at the handsome boy standing at her door, holding a dozen of red roses.
“Happy Valentine’s Day,” said Clyde with a smile. Rarity lunged at him, hugging him and giving him a light, but passionate kiss.
“They’re beautiful!” she gushed. Clyde handed her the bouquet of roses and she glanced at them before bringing them closer to her face. After she could smell the heavenly scent that reminded her of one of her mother’s perfumes, Rarity hugged them closer to her and looked at Clyde. “Thank you, Clyde. You are truly the best boyfriend in the world.”
“Anything to make you happy,” he beamed. “I was planning on giving you those at lunch, but you talked to me last night and said you were still sick. Maybe you shouldn’t kiss me as much when I’m sick next time?” He gave a small laugh.
Rarity pouted. “But Clyde, darling, your kisses are so heavenly. I’d rather get sick with you than being sick of you.”
“Good point. How are you feeling?” he asked, touching her forehead with his hand.
“After spending most of the day sitting on the couch, watching random movies and eating soup, I’m only slightly coughing. It will be gone soon.” Rarity gave him a comforting smile. She noticed he was still standing outside. “You can come in. You know you’re welcomed here anytime.”
“I would, but I need to be at the school in five minutes.”
“Oh, that’s right! The first playoff game is tonight.”
“Yeah, I guess we’ll go somewhere to eat tomorrow night for Valentine’s Day,” said Clyde in a sweet tone.
“That would be wonderful!” She placed her roses on the shelf near the door and grabbed Clyde’s hands with hers. After gazing into his eyes, she smiled at him. “Good luck tonight, darling. I’ll be there rooting for you.” She leaned forward and pecked his lips with hers.
“Hopefully, I don’t get sick again,” he joked with a smile. After seeing Rarity not laugh at it, Clyde blushed and sighed. “Bad joke?”
“You’re lucky I love you.”
Clyde grinned. “I’m kidding, but I love you too. I have to go or Coach will sit me out tonight!” They kissed one more time before Clyde ran to his car and sped off. Rarity closed the door and picked up her bouquet of roses again. She sighed dreamily and ran off to find a vase.
* * * * *
Clyde ran into the school as fast as he could and entered the locker room. The team all did the routine of yelling “Heyo!” when someone on the team entered their sanctuary. Not only was everyone in a good mood for the game, but having Canterlot High’s first home playoff game was special. It was their reward for a perfect season. They knew the crowd would be wild tonight since it was the first time the school made it to playoffs since Magnum led the football team to a championship. Clyde sat down on the bench and immediately saw Tyrone slide down the bench beside him.
“C!” said Tyrone excitedly, “where were you, dawg? You almost didn’t make it.”
“I had to deliver Rarity’s flowers since she didn’t come to school today.” Clyde saw Rainbow Dash look over at him at the sudden mention of Rarity's name.
“That’s cool, dawg. I gave the bae flowers earlier. How about we win tonight?”
“Sounds good.”
Tyrone got up and ran over to talk to Bulk about something, leaving Clyde to change into his jersey. After he put on Rarity’s sleeve and slammed his locker, Rainbow Dash leaned against the locker wall and looked down at him.
“So Rares is alright now?” she asked.
“Yeah, it was just a stomach bug.”
“Weren’t you sick the other day?”
“I was, but it only lasted a day or two. I guess she caught it from me.”
Rainbow Dash laughed. “I guess she really meant it when she says you’re irresistible. Even through sickness, she still wants to kiss you.”
Clyde’s face reddened. “She still talks about me all the time at lunch?”
“Of course! She loves talking about you. From you and her’s nightly phone calls, random dates, anything you both did, she will tell us about it.” She saw Clyde’s face get redder and gave a smirk. “She never, and probably won’t, say anything super personal, so don’t fret.”
“I can’t believe she still talks about me at lunch. I even sit with you girls every other day.”
“Yeah, and don’t get me started on days where you don’t sit with us. I always find her glancing over to your table.” Clyde frowned, but Rainbow Dash coughed to get his attention. “We don’t think it’s annoying. We are Rarity’s best friends so we are happy for her.”
“As long as I’m not annoying–”
“You’re not. Me and the others at the table like you, well, I at least like you. I can't really say for the others, but in the end, we’re all friends due to Rarity. However, you can plainly see I’m a much cooler friend to you than them.” Rainbow Dash laughed again.
Clyde smiled. “Yeah, thanks RD.” He got up and they bumped knuckles. “It’s that teammate bond.”
“You know it. I’m glad I decided to play with the boys this year. This is way more fun and we are a really good team.” The small buzzer in the locker room went off to signal the game was about to start.
“YEAH!” screamed Bulk, running by both of them towards the exit. Tyrone smirked and ran after him. Clyde, Rainbow Dash, and the rest of the team, all walked towards the door to the gymnasium to join them. Tyrone got out of line to look at Clyde.
“Alright, C. This is it. Time to blow away the first team.”
“Don’t say that,” warned Clyde. “It’s the playoffs. Anything can happen. All it takes is one lost and our season is over.”
Tyrone laughed. “Yeah, good one. We are the best seed! We are playing a team that barely made it in. There’s no way we can lose.” The door to Iron Will’s small office slammed open and the team ran out to the large and hollering gymnasium.
~ ~ ~
“I can’t believe we’re losing,” said Tyrone through some pants during the timeout.
“You jinxed us!” yelled Thunderlane.
“Don’t put the blame on me! These dudes are really putting the defense on us.”
“Quiet!” thundered Iron Will. He looked at the team and snorted. “Iron Will refuses to let his team and himself lose the very first night! There’s still time!”
“Yeah, but down ten with only two minutes left?” said Thunderlane devoid of hope. “There’s little chance we have.”
“You can’t think like that!” retorted Rainbow Dash. “That’s plenty of time!”
“Exactly! We need to score fast while playing stellar defense!” Iron Will looked at Bulk and Thunderlane. “Let the other three score, unless you can grab the miss and put it back in quickly.” The two of them nodded and Iron Will looked at Clyde, Rainbow, and Tyrone. “Either draw fouls or pass into open threes. We need to play aggressive and get the crowd back into the game!” They nodded as the buzzer went off.
Clyde and the team walked back on the court. While Bulk and Thunderlane stayed near the basket, Tyrone and Clyde walked to the opposite end to inbound it. Clyde looked at the crowd and saw the energy from when the game started was gone. The fans were so used to winning, nobody expected the Wondercolts being down by ten at any point of the game, or any game. Tyrone bounced the ball to Clyde and quickly ran down the court.
As soon as the ball reached his hands, Clyde sprinted down the court, fighting off the defender on him. He quickly halted at the three-point line and completed the pull-up jumper. The crowd cheered. Clyde worked on the three-pointers all season, and with a clutch shot like that, he felt confident to do it again.
On defense, the opposing team tried to hold the ball to drain some precious time, so Clyde and Tyrone ran up to him to see if they could cause a travel. In trying to throw the ball to a teammate, Rainbow Dash intercepted it and began charging down the court along with Tyrone and Clyde. She passed it forward to Clyde, who thought about another pull-up, but instead passed the ball behind his back to the incoming Tyrone who dunked it. Tyrone and Clyde gave each other a high-five as the crowd began cheering louder. Scoring that quickly to lower the other team’s lead was one thing, but getting the crowd pumped up again was even more crucial.
During the next defensive stance for the Wondercolts, the opposing team whittled the time to under one minute before shooting a three. The ball bounced off the rim and Bulk grabbed it down. He tossed it to Rainbow Dash who sped down the court. After a crazy crossover and spin through two people, Rainbow Dash laid the ball in the hoop. The fans began chanting as their team was now only three points down.
The away team called a timeout and Canterlot walked towards the bench in higher spirits than earlier. With around forty seconds left, there was plenty of time for a defensive stop and a chance to tie it, or even win it if they were lucky. Iron Will told them the defensive positions and the buzzer quickly went off.
Due to the defense, the Wondercolts were able to take the ball back with around fifteen seconds left. Iron Will called his last time out to draw up the play.
It was a simple play. Clyde would pass to Tyrone, who would swing out to Rainbow on the corner while Bulk and Thunderlane set up screens in the paint to cause confusion. If she was open, she would take the three. Due to the randomness of the screens, it was a good last resort play, and with only fifteen seconds left, the condition was perfect.
Clyde and the rest of the team walked to their spots in silence as the opponents set up their defense. The crowd gave its last few hollers before calming down to witness Canterlot’s last effort. When the referee blew into his whistle and handed the ball to Tyrone, Clyde quickly dashed across the half-court line. Tyrone threw the ball in front of him and ran to his spot on the floor.
Since there was little time to act, Clyde threw the ball to Tyrone and ran to his spot. Instead of following Clyde, his defender stayed on Tyrone, causing him to blindly toss the ball to Rainbow Dash in the corner. Most of the defenders dodged the screens and Rainbow Dash hesitated on the shot. Clyde looked at the shot clock and jumped in the air to get her attention. She threw it across the floor to him as a last resort. As the closest defender ran towards him, Clyde fumbled with the catch, but released his shot at the apex of his jump. He felt the hands of the defender slam against his sternum, knocking the wind out of him and making him fall to the floor. The whistle blew and as he slammed hard to the floor, Clyde saw the ball sail into the basket and the crowd go wild.
“AND ONE!” yelled the crowd. Tyrone and Thunderlane ran to pick Clyde up and gave him pats on the back and head on the rare, and very thrilling, four-point play. He felt slight pain on his back and chest, but he ignored it in the heat of the moment and walked to the line. The game was all tied now with only five seconds remaining. This free throw would give them the lead for the first time in the game. The crowd fell silent as Clyde stared at the hoop. After receiving the ball from the referee, he bounced it on the wooden floor and took a deep breath. He went with his motion and smiled when the ball swished into the basket.
The crowd cheered and the student section began stomping on the bleachers, but the game wasn’t over quite yet. The other team didn’t have any timeouts, so they quickly inbounded the ball and ran forward. As the crowd was chanting down the shot clock, the opposing point guard tossed it to their forward who was already running towards the paint. He went for a simple lay-up, tossing the ball off the backboard. Bulk jumped into the air and slammed it against it, blocking the ball’s momentum from going in, as the final buzzer went off. The crowd went crazy at Bulk’s game-winning block. However, whistles broke the cheers.
“The basket counts!” yelled the referee, signaling with his hands at the goaltend. The opposing team began jumping in joy as the gymnasium fell silent again. Iron Will ran over to the referees and starting yelling at them, but they ignored him and walked off the court, Iron Will close behind.
Clyde sat down on the court and shook his head. Not only was it the biggest upset in the history of the surrounding area, they were that close from moving on and continuing the awesome season. He looked at the fans and saw them leaving in sadness, rage, shock, and every other emotion.
Clyde watched Bulk sob and sadly walk back to the locker room along with most of the team. Tyrone laid on the court, body sprawled out, with his hands on his head in astonishment and Rainbow Dash had her hands over her face.
Clyde sighed and looked at the crowd one last time. He saw Rarity sitting in an empty section on the bleachers with a saddened smile on her face. She waved at him, causing him to laugh and feel happier, like she always made him feel when he saw her. He quickly stood up and walked over to her. As he sat down, she gave him a hug. “I’m still sweaty," said Clyde.
“I don’t care.”
“Sorry to make you come out here and watch us lose, especially on Valentine’s Day,” apologized Clyde. Rarity shook her head at him.
“Clyde, I didn’t waste my time nor did it matter what day it was. I love watching you play. You had a wonderful game! It’s simply unfortunate that you guys lost, but it was a tremendous comeback effort that you started!”
“At least my biggest fan thinks I did good,” he said with a smile.
“I will always think that,” she smiled back for a quick moment before turning her face serious, “unless you don’t do anything. I can’t root for you then.”
“I’ll try not be that bad,” laughed Clyde. He saw Tyrone finally get up and trudged slowly back to the locker room. Rainbow Dash looked at Clyde and Rarity and waved at them before following Tyrone. “What time did you want me to pick you up tomorrow for dinner?”
“Why don’t we talk about that tomorrow?” asked Rarity sweetly, “the night is still young. We can still spend Valentine’s Day together.”
“What did you have in mind?”
“Well, it’s my turn to spend the night at your house. We can watch movies?”
Clyde nodded. “Sounds good. I need to take a shower first.”
“Perfect! That will give me enough time to decide on which movie I should bring!” Rarity gave him another hug. “I’ll see you soon, darling.”
Clyde helped her down the bleachers and smiled before running back to the locker room. The team was silent and everyone changed out of their jerseys for the last time that season. Clyde kept to himself and looked at the jersey on his lap. He felt disheartened that the season was over. After he waved goodbye to Tyrone, Rainbow, and the others, he quickly left the school in his car and made his way back home.
During the drive, Clyde reminisced on the season. Playing for the school not only made him a better player, but he enjoyed it more than street ball. There was something appealing to him about making an open shot in front of the fans and hearing them cheer in excitement. In street ball, he never felt adrenaline like that. At least he had next year to try to win for the school, along with Tyrone and the team.
Upon reaching his home, Clyde quickly ran inside and headed for the shower. Getting a shower after every game was a routine so that he didn’t feel dirty as he slept. It also made him feel refreshed to relax more that night, whether it be music or Rarity related.
After his quick rinse, Clyde ran back to his room to get into lounge pants and a black shirt. He looked in the mirror, shook some water out of his thick hair, and grinned. He opened up Rarity’s conversation on his phone and texted her that he was ready and clean. Her reply was swift, sending only a simple “;)”. Clyde smiled and began his descend down the stairs. When he reached the bottom he looked in the living room and gasped.
“Hello, darling!” said a jubilant Rarity, sitting on the couch. Clyde took notice of her attire, composed of one of his hoodies that was extremely big on her and leggings, the normal outfit she wore when she wanted to lay around or cuddle with him. In her lap was a small bag, embedded with a blue diamond.
“H-How–”
“Oh, you forgot to lock your door,” laughed Rarity elegantly, “I thought I told you about locking your phone, but now your door, too?”
Clyde shrugged. “Oh well.” He walked over to couch and sat down beside her. After sharing some smiles, Clyde looked at her bag. “What movie did you bring?”
“Well,” began Rarity with a frown, “there wasn’t really a movie that called out to me that we would both enjoy. I just picked some romantic movie.”
“Oh. Well, I’m pretty tired anyway. I was probably going to fall asleep during it.”
Rarity smirked. “That’s exactly why I picked it.”
Clyde laughed and smiled. “I see now.” Rarity got off the couch to put in the movie as Clyde laid on his back on the couch. After moving the pillow to help his neck, Rarity came back and flopped down on top of him, kissing him and hugging him as she adjusted herself on the couch next to him. After a few moments, she moved herself where she was between the back cushions of the couch and Clyde and rested her head on his shoulder. She also used one of her legs to wrap it over and under his.
Since Rarity was laying on his left arm, Clyde planned on using his right to hug her from her side. Before they got too comfortable, Clyde pulled the blanket under his head on the arm of the couch, and wrapped her and him with it, before wrapping his arm around her side. Rarity responded with a loving sigh, a kiss, and snuggling her head into his shoulder some more. When the movie began playing, Rarity looked up at him.
“I posted your flowers today on my social media account.”
“What for?” he asked, even though he knew the answer. She always posted pictures of his gifts or a picture of them together.
“I wanted to show my friends how amazing you are,” she cooed. “Even my mother liked your gift and thought they were beautiful when she saw them on the kitchen table! Father never gives her flowers anymore.”
“I knew you would have been extremely disappointed if I didn’t get you anything. I figured you didn’t want chocolate, though, because I never see you eating any.”
“You know why, I don’t want to get fat,” she said solemnly.
“I doubt you’ll get fat with some chocolate,” said Clyde, “it’s when you keep eating it without stopping.”
“That’s exactly what would happen, too! I would have eaten all the chocolate you gave me, but still crave for more! I would turn into a disgusting slob, searching the house and stores for chocolate!”
Clyde looked at her face of worry and laughed. Her dramatic personality always kept him in a good mood. She pouted at him, but he continued. “Don’t you think I would have stopped you from going that far?”
Rarity smiled. “I know you would have.” It took her a few seconds, but she slyly looked at Clyde. “Unless, it helped make a certain part of me bigger.”
Clyde blushed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about...”
Rarity giggled. “All boys are like that, I’m only teasing.”
“Besides, I’ve grown fond of yours over the past few months so it doesn’t matter to me as much anymore,” said Clyde smoothly.
“Clyde!” giggled Rarity again, “I didn’t know you had such a naughty side of you!”
Clyde smirked. “Everyone does.”
Rarity stared at him silently before giving one last smile about the topic. “I suppose you’re right.” She returned her head on his chest and sighed dreamily. Barely two seconds passed before she shot her head back up. She pulled out her phone for the pocket on her–that was Clyde’s–hoodie and lifted it into the air. Clyde saw she was trying to take a picture of them. “Clyde, I only need one picture to cap off the night. Just stay like that, but pretend you’re sleeping.”
“What?”
“Please...” He saw her pout through the phone.
Clyde sighed and closed his eyes. He felt her head move around on his chest. When he heard the small click, he opened his eyes to see Rarity smiling about it. “Was it a good picture?”
“Of course! We always have good pictures!” She turned her head to show him a picture of her resting her head on his chest while he was “sleeping”. She bore a beautiful smile while Clyde saw a faint smirk on his face. He thought it was a good picture of them and so did she. Once Clyde, nodded at it, Rarity turned around to begin posting it on her social media wall.
“What are you putting with that?” he asked through a yawn.
“Just: “Spending the rest of Valentine’s Day with my love.” I think this picture turned out amazingly cute!”
“Yeah...” Clyde closed his eyes. “Did you forget about the movie?”
Rarity giggled. “I guess I did.” He felt her lips come into contact with his. “Goodnight and sleep well, my love. I love you very much.”
Clyde opened his eyes for a moment, just to see her eyes before he fell asleep. “Everlong?”
“What?”
“It’s a song. It’s not really a word, but since it’s such an awesome song, people made it mean everlasting or forever. I always think of you when I hear it.”
Rarity nodded and smiled. “Then I guess I love you "everlong".”
He tightened his hug and closed his eyes, feeling her head rest against his head and shoulder. With a smile, he whispered to her. “I love you, too.” She kissed him gently one more time before turning her attention towards the TV. It wasn’t long until he fell asleep.