𝘗𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘳 ~ [𝘋𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘥 𝘹 𝘖𝘊]

⇒ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴏɴᴇ

"Happy birthday." The redhead beamed. I returned the quirk of my lips, clinking my glass of wine with his water. I was more than glad Gwen had convinced David not to make a big thing of my birthday, especially after the party that was my two years working at camp. He'd been really classy about it actually, and the two of us had just ended up going for dinner at a modest restaurant in town. The food was decent and the overall atmosphere nice, but casual.

"Twenty-three years old... Wow." I commented, taking a sip of my drink.

"Well I think you still look great!" David complimented. I rolled my eyes playfully.

"I'm not even that old, jeez." I bit back a laugh, watching his face twist to rectify what he'd just said, making me chuckle a bit more.

"Oh, well I didn't mean-" He stuttered a bit.

"I know, chill out, Davey." I assured him. I thought for a second. "This must be our first proper date, huh?" I realised.

"I would have considered it your dad's wedding, but I suppose so." I frowned, wrinkling my brow.

"The wedding? Some date, we spent a solid five minutes assuring each other we were just friends." I pointed out, a faint smile on my face at the memory. David also grinned a little.

"In my defence, I was in denial." He said, picking at a few stray bits of lettuce with his fork.

"Why would you be in denial about liking me, I'm amazing!" I joked, obviously not really thinking that. But I wasn't exactly low on self esteem, I knew my flaws and I was accepting of them.

"You really are..." The turquoise eyed man's tone was utterly serious for a moment, staring at me intently.

"Oh." I felt a blush spread across my face, and busied myself taking the last few bites of my pasta. I really needed to start getting used to being borderline idolised by the redhead. Honestly, I think he idolised everyone, but only really voiced it to me. I'd come to find in the past few weeks that back when he claimed to be a hopeless romantic, he hadn't been joking.

There'd been many times where I'd been utterly blown away by just how thoughtful and kind he was (to the point I was beginning to worry I wasn't putting nearly as much into the relationship, but then I realised it was just David being David). It could be spontaneous picnics on weekends when we weren't required to look after the kids, or bursting into the cabin randomly with freshly picked wildflowers. I could safely say I was well and truly happy.

"Are you finished with your meal?" The waiter who'd been serving us all evening had reappeared at our table.

"Yes, thank you." I replied, placing my cutlery on my plate as he removed it.

"And can I get you both anything else?" he inquired.

"Just the bill please." David requested, already digging out his wallet. The waiter nodded and walked off with our finished plates of food.

"You better not be thinking of paying." I confronted my co-counsellor.

"It's your birthday, my treat." He grinned.

"It's your treat seemingly everyday." I chuckled in response.

"And can't I spoil my partner, Avery?" I sighed, this was an argument I wasn't going to win.

"One day, when you stop convincing me with your adorableness, I will take a stand on this." I threatened jokingly, standing up and tucking my chair under the table as the tall man handed over enough to cover the cost of the meal. I grabbed my jacket, hearing my phone vibrate.

Chat: Gwen

Got a surprise for
you and David when
you get back :)