Liam looked down at the small man, who was shuffling his feet back and forth. If his diaper had pockets, Liam assumed his hands would be tucked in them. The man’s eyes were nearly frantic, as he continuously moved his gaze from the arrows to Liam’s face.

“Will you just tell me what’s going on?” Liam asked, keeping his eyes on the man. “You’re not gonna kill someone, are you?”

The man groaned. “No, I already told you, kid. It’s nothing like that. Now, shut up and listen. And no talking until I’m finished.”

Liam nodded, folding his arms across his chest.

“Love is not endless. Not the way people think.” The small man looked up at Liam, to make sure he was paying attention. “Earth’s only got a limited amount of love, but up there, up in the sky, love is infinite. You got that?”

Liam nodded and the man continued. “Usually, there’s enough love to go around, but every year, on Valentine’s Day, when everyone is expressing their love all at once, it begins to grow thin. There’s not enough love here on Earth for everyone to feel it at the same time. There’s just not. I’m here to restore the balance. To create love where there is no more.”

When the man finished speaking, Liam took his feet off the arrows, kicking them over to the man. The arrows scattered across the ground, with the ends pointing in all different directions. None of them had broken, but the little man still had a look of concern etched onto his face.

“So you’re saying you’re Cupid?” Liam asked, placing his hands at his sides.

The man shook his head. “Oh, no. I’m just one of his many helpers.”

At that, Liam began laughing, hysterically. His hand slapped across his knee, as he buckled over in a fit of laughter. He had never laughed that hard on Valentine’s Day, not since he was a boy; he was sure of that.

Gripping his sides, Liam looked back up at the man. His diaper hit just below his belly button, and did nothing to cover his hairy chest. He had a few arrows in his fist, and was stuffing the ends into his diaper.

“Man, you are a loon,” Liam said, taking deep breaths to keep from laughing again.

The man groaned. “Go on, kid, laugh all you want, but I can prove it to ya. Take one of my arrows. Use it on someone, and they’ll fall madly in love with you. But be careful, because it will run out 24 hours from the time you use it.”

Liam laughed. “Shouldn’t it expire at midnight on Valentine’s Day?”

The small man shook his head. “Nah, kid. We gotta modify it for the time zones.”

Liam rolled his eyes, and pulled his phone out of his pocket. “I’ve gotta tell the guys about this. This a real hoot.”

With his fingers pressing against his phone, Liam wrote up a text, sending it to all four of his band mates. He hoped for a quick response, but he couldn’t be sure how long it would take for the guys to text back.

When Liam looked back up from his phone, the small man was gone, but a lone arrow stayed lying on the alley floor. Liam whipped his head back and forth, looking up and down the alley for the man. The area was deserted aside from him.

Laughing, Liam picked up the arrow to use as proof to show the guys. It was about time for the Anti-Valentine’s Party to start, and this arrow was the perfect conversation starter.

Making his way back down the alley, Liam stepped back onto the crowded side-street. The people moved quickly around him. A few of them glanced down at his arrow, but most of them didn’t take notice of it.

When he was nearly halfway back to his flat, his phone buzzed. The text written across his screen caused him to laugh again.

Harry Styles: Ask him if he knows where Santa put that dress Zayn asked for.

With one hand in his pocket, and the other on the doorknob, Liam pressed open the wooden door of his flat. Harry and Louis were already there waiting for him. The two of them were sitting on opposite ends of Liam’s sofa, with Xbox controllers in their hands. Louis shouted at the screen, as Harry got the last kill in a game of Black Ops.

Shaking his head, Liam shut the door behind him. The boys turned to him, Louis throwing his controller against the sofa. It bounced off the cushion and landed on the floor, but luckily didn’t break. Harry shot up from the sofa and headed over to Liam.

“Finally, you’re here, mate!” Harry slapped his hand against Liam’s back. “We can’t go to the party with you!”

Laughing, Liam moved towards the stairs. “So you broke into my flat instead of just waiting?”

“You left a keep under the mat!” Louis shouted from the sofa, while playing with his phone.

Rolling his eyes, Liam made his way upstairs to change out of his wet clothes. He threw on a black shirt and some jeans, then headed back down the stairs. Harry and Louis were already waiting at the door, pulling on their coats.

“This is going to be the best Anti-Valentine’s Party to date,” Louis said, slapping Liam on the back.

As much as Liam didn’t believe that it was true, he hoped that they were right. For three years in a row, he’d had a miserable time at the Anti-Valentine’s Party. No matter how much drinking and desperate single girls there were, Liam could never seem to enjoy himself.

Just as they stepped out the door, Liam remembered the arrow the midget had given him. He turned quickly back into the house, grabbing it from the table he hadn’t remembered setting it on. After walking back outside, he shut the door behind him.

This arrow was going to be his ice breaker, and it was going to make this party better than all the others.