Valentine's Day

Starsky touched Hutch gently on the cheek. “Hey sleepy wake up; you know what day it is?”
Hutch was not a morning person – especially after the kind of night he'd had – he dragged his eyelids open and stared up at his obscenely chirpy partner.
“Thursday.” He said, closed his eyes and turned over.
“Wake up or I go get a bucket of water.” Hutch groaned. He knew that Starsky was quite capable of giving him his shower in bed and then going out running while his victim stripped the bed and hauled the stuff to the machine in the garage below the house.
He struggled to sit up. It had been a long night. They were staking out until three am and making out until five. He was sore where nice boys from Duluth were not supposed to be sore.
Starsky was grinning at him. His hair was springing back into place from being slicked down in the shower and he had a skimpy little towel around his hips. He was holding what looked suspiciously like a blindfold.
“Starsk it's….” he looked at the clock; shit “ eight o'clock and we are supposed to be in court this morning at ten.”
“This will only take a minute. You still didn't tell me what day it is.”
“Yes I did. Thursday; we have to in court today, Thursday the……”
“The fourteenth of February” Starsky finished with a wry smile. “And I got you a gift.”
Hutch felt bad. Starsky was like a kid for presents; but the nice thing was that he enjoyed giving as much as receiving and put great thought and time into choosing exactly the right gift.
Hutch submitted to the blindfold. “I hope this isn't going to make us late.” He said as he felt Starsky tie the band behind his head.
“Nope.” Soft lips kissed his cheek. “Don't go away.”
He heard Starsky leave the room and then return; he heard a slight thud of something heavy being placed on the floor by the bed.
“Ready?”
“Ready.”
Starsky untied the blindfold “Taradadaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa”
Hutch looked at the big plant pot beside the bed. The plant was beautiful. It had long flat leaves and three fifteen inch long stems stood up straight from the pot. Two of them were topped by huge deep pink flowers but it was the third stem that caught Hutch's eye, and he realized, Starsky's wicked imagination. The third stem was topped by an unopened bud which bore a strong resemblance to …well Hutch was glad that Starsky's wasn't that long!
“It's beautiful,” he said with a giggle.
“I know. It's an amaryllis and I you know what they say about the language of flowers…” Starsky grinned and winked evilly. “Come on Hutch get up and dressed; we'll catch breakfast on the way into court.”

The case was tedious and when the judge announced a two-hour lunch recess everyone in the courtroom seemed to sigh with relief.
One of the DA's assistants came over and invited them to have lunch with her. Starsky grinned – he'd dated her a couple of times and Hutch knew when he wasn't wanted. It didn't bother him that Starsky still saw women…well, hell yes, it did bother him but he didn't want to upset their relationship by saying so!
“I'll take a rain check. Can I borrow the car Starsk? I have an errand to do.”
Starsky looked at him steadily and led him to one side.
“Jealous?”
“No.”
“OK, but listen it doesn't matter that you forgot the date.”
“I didn't forget…I-uh-I-j-just have to go collect something I ordered.”
Starsky flashed his lop-sided grin. “Of course you did. Here.” He handed Hutch the keys to the Torino. “Careful; one scratch and you know what will happen….”
Hutch returned to the court room just in time for the afternoon session. He was smiling to himself. Starsky nudged him and said quietly “I ain't jealous either!”
“Sssh!”

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Starsky opened the driver's door of the Torino and as he slid in behind the wheel he checked over his shoulder. Nothing on the back seat; maybe he put it in the trunk. He turned the key and as usual waited a second for the V8 engine to purr up to its full growl. He gunned the engine and they headed home.
“So what shall we do this evening; go out for dinner someplace romantic or….?”
“Let's stay in. We have plenty of food and wine.” Hutch seemed almost eager not to go out.
“Ok.”

Starsky parked in front of the house and skipped up the stairs. Hutch followed close behind – he didn't open the trunk – he was empty handed.
Starsky decided not to say anything. He wandered into the kitchen and selected a bottle of wine which he uncorked and left to breathe while he changed into sweats. Hutch was relieved to see that Starsky had selected red wine. He didn't want him to open the fridge first.
“Sit down Starsk and I'll bring the wine.”
Starsky stopped to select some music and set his sophisticated stereo system into action. The room filled to the samba rhythms of Santana's guitar.
Hutch came back into the room with two glasses and the bottle. He poured a glass for each of them and handed one to Starsky.
“Hungry?”
“You know me….”
“Close your eyes.”
“Aren't you gonna blindfold me?” Hutch shook his head – he knew how terrifying the idea of being blindfolded was to his friend. “No, I trust you to keep those big blue eyes closed.”
Starsky bit his lower lip and closed his eyes.
“OK.”

Hutch went into the kitchen and opened the fridge. The chocolate guy had done a fantastic job. He pulled plate off the shelf carefully taking care not to topple the structure as he carried it into the other room. He placed his gift on the low driftwood table and said: “you can open them now.”
Starsky opened his eyes and stared at his Valentine's Day candy.
“Is that life-sized? Shit, I don't think I even want to know how…”
He grinned. “So I have to suck it or am I allowed to bite?”
“It's chocolate Starsk – you are allowed to bite it….just don't get carried away with the real thing some time, ok?”

Starsky licked his lips slowly and gave Hutch the full benefit of his big blue eyes as they twinkled with delight. He slid down off his chair and knelt in front of the table and took the chocolate replica into his mouth. As he swallowed the first mouthful he discovered that it was filled with his favorite caramel.
“Hey Hutch, you know what else is special?”
“No.”
“This year is a leap year….will you marry me?”

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