Chance Encounter ➳ Drew Dirksen

1. presents & stars

a/n: this story is gonna be all fluffy and cute and it's gonna make your heart explode into a billion pieces of glitter and rainbow sprinkles. enjoy x.

"Can I open my eyes now?" Brandi asked her boyfriend, Nate. It was going to be her seventeenth birthday in a few days, but he wanted to give her her present early.

"No. Keep them closed for a little while longer," Nate replied.

She tapped her finger on her knee, impatiently as she heard Nate fumbling with some paper, tape, and what sounded like a box. Of course he would wait until the last minute to actually wrap it.

"You're really cute when you're impatient," Nate said, causing Brandi to crack a smile.

She heard a few more cuts of paper and finally the sound of silence settled upon her and Nate.

"You can open your eyes now."

Brandi excitedly did as she was told, opening her eyes, and she squealed at the sight of the medium-sized gift box that Nate was holding in his hands.

"Happy birthday, baby," he said, pecking her on the lips, before handing her the box.

"So you wrapped this just for me to tear it up again a few minutes later?"

"Pretty much."

Brandi rolled her eyes at the ridiculous boy that she loved to pieces and finally began tearing open her birthday present.

Once all the wrapping paper was torn open, Brandi lifted the lid of the box to see the All Time Low shirt she'd been eyeing online for weeks and she instantly squealed in delight.

"Thank you so much, Nate!" she exclaimed, holding the shirt up to her body.

Nate smiled at his brilliant choice for a present, before puckering his lips and Brandi rolled her eyes.

She leaned into him as he waited for their lips to connect in the middle, but they never did. Due to his lack of patience, Nate decided to just meet her halfway and he smashed their lips together. You could literally see how passionate they were towards each other as their lips molded together and their breathing became heavy and uneven.

After a few more minutes of making out, Brandi finally pulled away and Nate whimpered at the loss of her touch.

"I still have one more gift for you," Nate cooed at her and once again, Brandi was on edge about finding out what other surprises Nate had in store.

"What is it?"

He smirked. "Kiss me like that again and you might just find out."

"You are such a pain," Brandi said, massaging her temples.

Nate pulled her onto his lap and stroked her cheeks gently, creating invisible patterns that expressed his feelings for the beautiful blonde.

"Yes, I am," he admitted, peppering kisses down her neck. "But you love me."

It wasn't like Brandi could deny it so she placed her lips on his once more, but this time it was softer and sweeter and showed more love, rather than pleasure.

Nate smiled at the beautiful girl and finally decided to just end the suspense, by pulling out her second and last gift.

"You're giving me tickets to All Time Low!?" Brandi yelled, covering her mouth from shock.

"Two tickets. One for you and one for me."

Brandi snatched the tickets out of her boyfriend's hand and examined them carefully, just to make sure this wasn't some sort of joke.

"Oh my gosh, Nate! I love you so much!" she yelled, wrapping her arms tightly around the boy's neck.

"I love you too, baby."

"You're literally the best! And that isn't just because you got me tickets to my favorite band of all time."

"What else is there, then?"

"You're sweet. You're funny. You're the most adorable human being who has ever been born on this earth," Brandi gushed and Nate smiled wider with each word that came out of her mouth. "You're perfect."

"I'm pretty sure the guy is supposed to have that line."

"Shut up. I wanted to switch it up a little."

At this point, Nate and Brandi were lying down, side-by-side, on his bed. The space in between them was nonexistent as they both just stared up at Nate's ceiling, which was decorated with colorful glow-in-the-dark stars from when he was five years old.

This is how it has always been and how it's supposed to be, but there was something tugging at Brandi's heart and she had no idea why.

"My grandma used to tell me this story about how stars are made and I used to think that it was the craziest thing in the world, but now that I have you here, right beside me, I'm not so sure anymore," Nate said, turning his head to the side and Brandi could feel his gaze burning into her face.

"Care to share?"

"She used to say that when every piece of someone crashes into every piece of the one they love, a new star appears in the sky."

"Among these stars, which one is ours?" Brandi asked, referring to the ones stuck to his ceiling.

Nate placed a hand on his chin, as if deciding which one was the best. Then, he pointed to a medium-sized one with a rather impressive glow. "That one is our star."

Brandi admired their star for a few more moments, before she heard soft snoring coming from beside her. She wasn't surprised that Nate had fallen asleep. It was around 2 AM and both of them were incredibly exhausted from the day's events.

She shifted her body so that she was facing the boy she loved and she moved a little closer to him, as well, resting her head on his chest and listening to the soothing sound of his steady heartbeats.

Brandi placed a loving kiss on the tip of his nose and from the corner of her eye, she noticed a small smile take over his lips. It's amazing how you can still feel such gentle gestures in your most serene state.

She looked up at the ceiling once more, searching for the brightest out of the dimming stars and she smiled. "That's our star."