Never Have I Ever...Turned 16

Part 5

Saturday Part 2
12:04 pm
Devi's POV
Devi sat on the curb outside of her next destination with her journal balanced on her knees in front of her.  She hadn't be able to write anything after jumping off the cliffs.  There had been a group of kids she recognized vaguely from school there, and one of them had been filming her.  She may be in a vulnerable place today, but she had enough pride and self-preservation to realize that she probably looked as bad ass as she would ever look in her entire life, and it was time to get the hell out of there before she ruined it.
Crying into a journal would definitely deduct some bad ass points.
Devi pulled out her pen and push clicked it to open.  She began to write.
Dear Dad,
I jumped off the cliffs. I looked pretty cool doing it too, I think you would have enjoyed that. Although you probably wouldn't have been too happy about me borrowing your moped.
But I know we would've worked it out, because I know you would always love me. No matter what I did or said, no matter if you were disappointed or frustrated, I knew you'd always love me.  I'm scared nobody is ever going to feel like that about me again.  I'm scared everyone is going to get fed up and leave.
Love, Devi
Another letter, another heart wrenching reflection, Devi mused, putting her journal and pen into her backpack. It was a bit unnerving how naturally all these admissions were flowing out of her, like they were all sitting just beneath the surface of her skin. They had never been conscious thoughts before, but now they came out of her as easily as breathing.  How much of what she did was driven by these thoughts she didn't even know she had? And how could she get better?  Her dad had been her hero, her confidant, her best friend, her conscience. How could she ever get better without him?
She drug herself up to her feet, feeling like her body weighed a thousand pounds.  She had to get through this day at least.  Maybe this next thing she did from the list would finally provide her with the magical insight that would make her stop screwing things up.
She turned and strode over to the door, opened it, and stepped inside.
12:21 pm
Paxton's POV
Paxton pulled into the parking lot pretty quickly after Ben, turned sharply into a parking space, turned off the ignition, and jumped out.  He could see Ben running toward the only building in the parking lot.  The building and parking lot were heavily isolated, only reachable by a twisting one lane side road. He could see hay bales and wooden walls set up in the fenced off  field behind the building.  The writing on the front wall of the building read. "Combat Zone Paintball."
Great.
Paxton ran after Ben, hoping he could stop him before Devi realized they were here.  He would never forgive himself for ruining this for her.
When he got closer to the door he spotted the same blue moped he had seen in the Instagram video parked in the parking lot.  Devi was definitely here.  He ran faster and burst through the front doors of the building, two seconds behind Ben.
"Gross!" He hissed as he came through the door, "You can't do this! Devi doesn't want this! If you care about her then you won't do this."
"Devi can tell me what she wants for herself," Ben snapped, panting a little from all the exertion. Then he turned to the guy behind the counter, who was regarding the two of them curiously.
"One ticket to paintball, please," Ben said pompously.
"You mean, you want to join a game?" The guy asked.
"Yes!" Ben said impatiently, "Why else would I be here?"
"No!" Paxton yelled. The guy behind the counter took a step back. Paxton lowered his voice and continued. "You can't let him back there. It's important."
The guys brow furrowed. "Well you can't go back there right now anyway, this game is already in session. The next one starts at 1:10."
"I'll give you 200 dollars if you let me join now," Ben said quickly.
Paxton whipped his head toward Ben and watched as he pulled out two one hundred dollar bills from his wallet. Unbelievable.
"Uh...is this some kind of trick? Did Tony send you to test me?" The guy asked slowly. Paxton guessed it wasn't very often that someone tried to bribe their way into paintball.
"No! 300 dollars!" Ben shouted desperately, pulling out another bill. "Just let me back there now!"
"Don't do it!" Paxton insisted.
"Alright," the guy said quickly, holding his hand out toward Ben. He reached under the counter and pulled out two keys."This one will get you through that door, this one will get you into the locker number on the key.  The equipment is-"
"Yeah I got it," Ben snapped, leaping forward and snatching the keys out of the guy's hand. He ran for the door behind the guy, and Paxton, in a last desperate attempt to stop him, reached out and grabbed the back of his shirt as he passed him. The two of them struggled for a moment before Ben managed to shake Paxton off and kick him back, giving Ben enough time to reach the door, use the key to open it, and disappear behind it. Paxton regained his balance in time to see the door slam shut and the lock click closed.
"Shit!" He yelled, violently throwing both his hands up then down. First of all, it was mortifying to be bested by Ben Gross in a physical altercation.  Second of all, how the hell was he going to be able to get past that door in time?
He turned toward the guy behind the counter, his eyes wild.
"Please, you have to let me back there!"
The guy raised his eyebrows. "Do you have 300 dollars?"
"What? No!" Paxton spat.  He dug out his wallet from his back pocket and opened it. "I have 12 dollars." He took out the money and held it up.
The paintball guy scoffed.  "That's not even enough to get into the session at 1:10."
Paxton rolled his eyes, his patience eroding rapidly the more time Ben was behind that door. Apparently being bribed once had left this guy with really high standards on the kind of bribes acceptable to him. If Paxton was going to get through that door, he would have to convince him using his words, which were not exactly his strong suit.
"Look," Paxton began, "Have you ever been in love?"
"No."
Paxton pressed his lips together and let out a little breath through his nose. "Well," he continued, despite that less than encouraging response, "I'm in love with a girl back there, my girlfriend. And today is a very important day for her, and she wants to be alone. And if that guy  gets to her, he could ruin the whole day for her. And I don't want that, because I love her. So please, give me the key."
"Mmm."
The noncommittal noise was the guy's only response, but it was clear from his facial expression that he was less than impressed by Paxton's impassioned plea.
What would Devi do in this situation?
The thought passed quickly through Paxton's mind, and before he knew it he was saying, "Tony sent me."
"He did?" The guy exclaimed, clearly alarmed.
"Yeah," Paxton said emphatically, warming up to the lie. "He sent me to make sure you didn't let that guy in. And you failed. So if you don't let me back there to clean up the mess you've made, you're gonna be in a shitload of trouble, with Tony, who sent me."
"Damn it! I knew it!" The guy cried out. "Look, please, you can't tell Tony about this. I need this job."
He reached under the counter and pulled out two keys.  "Here you go." Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out the money Ben had given him. "And here's the money back.  You can go back there and do whatever you need to do. Just please don't tell Tony."
Paxton, unable to believe his luck, tried hard to keep his most threatening expression on his face as he reached out to grab the keys and money. "I'll think about it," he said, before stuffing the money into his pocket and turning to sprint to the door, jab the key into the lock, and burst through to the other side.
He was greeted by the sight of a locker room, which he ran through, not bothering to stop and find the locker that matched his key. Ben had already been back here too long. He spotted an open doorway at the back of the locker room, and he could see the fenced in dirt field beyond it. He made a beeline for it and emerged into the sunlit field on the other side. The field was covered in hay bales and wooden walls, and Paxton could
see people in black vests and eye googles, some outlined in red and some outlined in blue, darting between the obstacles, carrying paintball guns in their arms.  All around he could hear the pop of paintball guns unloading. How was he ever supposed to find Ben, or avoid Devi, in this?
Suddenly, Paxton spotted Ben running between two hay bales up ahead. He was suddenly thankful for Ben's purple shirt with obnoxious yellow polka dots and the fact that Ben had obviously also neglected to grab any equipment, seeing that he was also without a vest or gun. He ran after him as fast as he could, leaping into the air when he got close, and tackling Ben behind a wall before he noticed Paxton's approach.
"What the hell, man?!" Ben yelled. "Get off of me! My dad's a lawyer!"
"Fuck you and your dad!" Paxton snarled.  It was probably safe to say that his normally cool, unflappable demeanor had completely snapped.  Paxton grabbed Ben by the collar as he squirmed and turned, trying to get out from under him.  He was going to drag his ass out of here if it killed him.
12:32 pm
Devi's POV
So far paintball had been going pretty well.  Devi ducked behind a wall and heard a paintball slam into it.  Then she leaned out and shot, catching her blue foe on the shoulder with a splatter of red paint.  She grinned as the guy threw his hands up in the air in anger and flipped her off.  Between the competitiveness of trying to capture the blue flag before they could capture her team's red one, and the inherent violence of getting to shoot her opponents, this game was right up her alley.
Her dad, while a pacifist in many ways, had enjoyed a good victory and follow up gloating.  She liked to think he would have enjoyed paintball with her too.
As the guy she had shot stomped his way over to the dead zone, she ran behind another wall, staying low to the ground as she tried to get closer to where the blue team was keeping their flag. When she cautiously leaned over to check if the coast was clear for her to run to the next wall or hay bale and take cover, a strange sight greeted her.
Two guys were wrestling on the ground in front of the wall ahead of her. Neither one had a vest, goggles, or gun, but they were both covered in the dust from the ground and were throwing punches at each other as they rolled around.  When one of them pulled the other one up in a headlock, she got a clear look at their faces and her jaw dropped.
Paxton and Ben.
Paxton and Ben were wrestling.
Paxton and Ben were wrestling in the middle of a paintball field.
Paxton and Ben were wrestling in the middle of her paintball field.
What the fuck?
Despite the rather obvious display in front of her, her brain was having some trouble processing this information.
What the hell were they doing?
She had never seen either one of them looking so worked up or undignified before.  This was underscored when Devi watched Ben grab Paxton's arm that wasn't holding him in the headlock, bring it to his mouth, and bite him.
"You asshole! You bit me!" Paxton yelled, letting Ben go and launching a kick at him.  Ben caught his foot and Paxton began hopping around, toppling them both over back onto the ground again.
Devi approached them in a daze, half of her wondering if this was some weird dream. She stopped when she was a few feet away from them, but neither boy noticed her. Both of them were too busy trying to get a solid punch in on the other one.
"What the hell are you guys doing?" She whispered, giving voice to her thoughts.
Both boys froze, then shoved away from each other and clambered to their feet.  They both began talking loudly at the same time.
"Devi! I'm so sorry I tried to stop him-"
"Devi! I saw the video of you at the cliffs and-"
"-I know you wanted to be alone and-"
"-why didn't you tell me it was your birthday? I-"
"-then Fabiola had you on iMapp-"
"-I love you, Aneesa and I are over-"
Devi stood there silent, most of their words flying past her.  She tilted her head a little to the side.  It wasn't often, or ever, that she was on this side of a situation where someone was frantically trying to explain their crazy actions.
Was this how she came across to people?
Weird.
Finally, since neither one of them was showing any signs of slowing down, and both of them were increasing in volume, Devi held up both of her hands and said, in her own loud voice, "Okay, okay! Stop!"
Paxton and Ben both fell silent.
"Look," she continued, "Honestly I didn't hear half of what you guys said, I'm still kinda stunned that you're both here and at how completely bad you both are at fighting, but Ben you gotta get out of here. Paxton, you can stay. Maybe it's a good thing that you're here."
"What?" Ben said, sounding outraged, while Paxton shot him a smug look.
"Devi," Ben said in quieter voice, taking a step toward her. "I know this is your first birthday since your dad died, and I know this must be hard for you. I can be here for you, I want to be here for you. I love you, Aneesa and I broke up and-"
"What?" Devi snapped, now sounding outraged herself. "Damn it, Ben! I told you not to do that!"
"She broke up with me!" Ben said defensively.
Devi gave him a look.
"After I told her I love you," he muttered reluctantly.
"Unbelievable," Devi breathed out, momentarily closing her eyes and shaking her head. She opened them again. "Ben, get the hell out of here."
"No." He shot back firmly.
Devi narrowed her eyes at him, then lifted up her paintball gun and shot him in the arm.
"Ow!" Ben yelped. He stumbled back a few steps and glared at her, holding his arm. "What the hell, Devi?"
"Get out of here or I'll shoot you again," she stated calmly. "You know I'll do it."
"Fine!" Ben shouted angrily. "But you're making a mistake, Devi!"
He turned and stormed off the field. Paxton watched him go for a moment, then looked back at Devi, his eyes slightly wary.
"You're not going to shoot me too, are you?" He asked.
"No," Devi sighed and he looked relieved for a moment. Then she continued, "I'm going to break up with you."
Paxton paled. His mouth dropped open.
"Wh-what?" He stammered, "What do you mean? Devi, if this is about today, I'm so sorry, I-I was just trying to stop him, and it j-just got out of hand, and-"
"It's not about today," Devi interrupted. "Well it is, but not because of anything you did, Paxton. It's me. It's...I..." She let out a frustrated sigh, "Today was supposed to be about me processing my grief, and getting better so I could be better, so I could stop fucking things up all the time, but...but all I've done is realize that I'm even more messed up than I thought.  I love you, Paxton, and I don't want to drag you down with me. Which is obviously what I'm doing, since you, Paxton Hall-Yoshida, are covered in dirt because you were just fighting Ben Gross in the dirt of a paintball field." Her voice got significantly more shrill on the last sentence, and she threw her arms out in a wild gesture.
"Devi, that wasn't your fault! And you're not dragging me down!" Paxton said, anger started to infuse his tone.
"Really? Because that has Crazy Devi written all over it! Think about it Paxton, if it weren't for me, would you ever have done something like that?"
"No! But that doesn't make it your fault, Devi! I'm the one who did it! It's on me! And don't call yourself that! I hate that stupid, fucking name! That's my fault too! I'm the one who started that name after your party. I was angry and I called you that because I can make dumb fucking mistakes too, Devi! So don't use that as an excuse to end us!"
"It's not an excuse!" Devi yelled back, tears starting to form in her eyes. "Paxton, do you know what I realized today? I don't think I've ever really laughed or had fun since my dad died. I'm always trying to prove something or get something or keep something. I'm always scared that everyone I love is going to leave me, and then I act like a crazy person to make sure that they do! Does that sound like a girl you want to be with, Paxton! I thought I could start to become a better person, friend, daughter, girlfriend in one fucking day, and instead I realized that I have so much work to do to become any of that...that I don't even know where to begin!"
"Devi," Paxton began furiously, his eyes starting to glisten as well, "You want to do anything you want for yourself, that's fine, you do you. But you don't have to become anything for me, you're already perfect to me!"
Devi froze. "What did you say?" She whispered.
Paxton paused, sensing the change in her, and in a significantly softer voice, asked, "Which part? You can do anything for yourself?"
"No, the last part."
"You're perfect to me." Paxton didn't even phrase it as a question. His eyes never broke contact with hers.
Devi made a sound between a laugh and a sob. "How could that possibly be true?"
"Well," Paxton said, taking a step toward her. "I think about you all the time. I always want to be around you, and when I am around you, all I want to do it kiss you, touch you, talk to you.  I've told you things that I've never told anyone in my life.  I look at you and it feels like I've found my best friend, a best friend that I really, really want to get naked with. I get it that you have a lot of things that you want to work through, and that you're gonna make some mistakes, but so am I. Devi, I love you, so I'll take you anyway I can get you. You is perfect to me."
"Are you sure?" Devi sniffed.
"100 percent," Paxton replied with a half laugh, dashing one hand quickly over his eyes.
"Well then," Devi said, now kicking the dirt a bit awkwardly. "I take back breaking up with you. Can I take it back?"
"Yeah, you better fucking take it back."
"I take it back," Devi stated firmly, starting to smile.
Paxton reached forward and grabbed her by the arms, pulling her close. He leaned down, about to press his lips against hers, when-
SPLAT!
Devi jerked to the side in his grip and let out a curse. They both turned and saw a man in a blue outlined vest pointing his paintball gun at them. The side of Devi's waist covered in blue paint.
"I got you!" The man called. "You're out."
"Are you serious?" Devi shouted, enraged. "Can't you see we're in the middle of something here, pal?! I'm gonna take that gun and-"
"It's fine, it's fine," Paxton laughed, pulling her against him and kissing the top of her head. "We can just play again at the 1:10 session."
"I guess," Devi grumbled, still glaring over at the man, who had wisely started to jog away. Finally she shrugged, "I did schedule in a little leeway time in case something went long, so we could do the 1:10, finish the list, and still get back to my house by 6 if everything else goes smoothly."
They began to walk toward the dead zone together, hand in hand.
"And when you say we," Paxton said, glancing at her as they walked. "You're okay with me doing the rest of the list with you?"
"Yeah, I'm okay with that," Devi replied, shooting him a smile. "Except the last one, I'm doing that with my family for dinner tonight. But the rest, yeah, I think you're stuck with me."
"Good," Paxton stated. Then he pulled her into the dead zone and against his chest, happy to finally kiss her without any interruptions.
2:26 pm
Devi's POV
Huh, apparently Paxton Hall-Yoshida is deathly afraid of heights.
And pretty good at paintball. Their team had won the 1:10 session 30 minutes in when Paxton had snatched the blue flag while Devi covered him and shot down any blue idiots that dared to try to shoot the perfect specimen that was his body. Then he had done a touchdown victory dance while Devi jumped around him yelling, "In your face! In your face!"
Now they were at Scandia, a mini-golf course slash mini amusement park, in line for The Screamer, a 165 foot tall windmill ride, that flipped its riders upside down in a cage while they swung in the 165 foot vertical circle. And Paxton was looking a little green.
"You don't have to do this, you know," Devi said tentatively.  "It's ok if you just want to hang out while I ride it, it doesn't change anything we said earlier."
"No, I'm doing it," Paxton stated firmly, taking ahold of her hand. "We're doing it."
2:45 pm
Paxton's POV
Paxton retched into the trash can.  Then he stood up shakily and took a breath.  There, that should be it.  God, he hated that stupid ride.
At least he had been able to hold Devi's hand throughout it, to start to prove to her that he meant every word he had said to her in that paintball field. 
He made his way back to where he had left her on slightly unsteady legs. But as soon as he caught sight of her on the bench near the exit of the ride, he started to feel better, started to regain his equilibrium.  Paxton wouldn't have thought it was possible, but his feelings for her were actually stronger now.  Gazing into her eyes and knowing that there were no lies, no guarding, no hesitation between them made him feel breathless and giddy.  Like they were at the start of something amazing.
She was sitting cross legged on the bench with her backpack on the ground in front of her and a journal in her lap, pen in her hand as she wrote in it. He sat down next to her, and when she smiled at him, he wanted to pull her under him and start making out, hard, right on this bench. He was stopped partially by the fact that this was a very public place with lots of onlookers and partially because after what he had just been doing, he was aware that his breath probably wasn't the best right now.
Still, he mused, they had been in way too public of places since declaring their love for each other. Sure, it had been nice riding on the back of the moped and holding Devi closely from behind, but what they needed was a nice, private place where he could fully demonstrate how he felt about her.
"What are you writing?" He asked.
"A letter. To my dad." Devi held up the journal and Paxton recognized it as the one she had thrown across the room the night before. "I've been writing them to him all throughout the day today."
After a moment, Devi asked, "Do you want to see?"
Warmth rising in his chest, Paxton gulped and nodded, honored that he was the one Devi trusted with this. "Sure," he croaked.
She handed the journal to him and he took it carefully, like she was handing him a priceless antique. He set it in his lap and began to read silently.
Dear Dad,
I played paintball and rode The Screamer at Scandia. I didn't have time to write to you after paintball because there was a bit of a delay, but I'm not alone now.
I think you'd like Paxton. He always makes me smile and when he holds me, I know he takes me exactly as I am. I'm still scared that one day I'm going to lose him, and I'm still a little sad because I miss you dad, but it's nice to be able to talk about it with Paxton. It's nice not to hide.
Love, Devi
Paxton looked up at Devi, who was looking at him a bit apprehensively.
"God, I want to kiss you right now," he breathed out.
"That can be arranged," Devi said teasingly as she leaned forward.
"Actually," Paxton said, reluctantly holding out a hand to stop her, "I was just throwing up."
"Oh," Devi said, stopping short. "Well maybe just a handshake instead." She held out a hand.
Paxton rolled his eyes at her and stood up, taking her outstretched hand and using it to pull her into a tight hug. "I love you," he murmured into her hair. They stood like that for a moment, then Paxton stepped back and handed the journal to Devi.
"So, what's next on this list? Swimming with sharks? Walking over hot coals?"
Devi snorted. "No," she said, "We can save that stuff for my 17th birthday. The only thing left before I have to get back home is to go to an R rated movie."
"Really?" Paxton asked, "Any R rated movie?"
"Yep. I'm a simple girl, Paxton."
"That's not even close to true. But you don't mind if it's a bad movie? With bad reviews, and bad sales? Even if we're the only ones in the room? As long as it's R rated?"
"No, I don't mind," Devi replied, her brow starting to crinkle a little. "Why are you being weird?"
Paxton grinned. "No reason."
3:17 pm
Devi's POV
Devi stood out of sight while Paxton ordered the tickets at the box office using his fake ID. Having her boyfriend along came with many perks, one of which was not having to beg or manipulate a stranger into buying her a ticket like she had originally planned.
Even though Devi was out of sight, she was still within earshot of Paxton and the theater employee, which is why she was able to hear Paxton when he asked, "Which of your movies is the worst one? I mean, nobody's buying tickets, you're playing the movie to an empty theater. Which one?"
Sounding a little taken aback, the girl behind the counter gave him the name of a movie.
"Ok thanks. And that's rated R right? Is there a showing within the next 10 minutes?"
The girl confirmed that it was rated R and that a showing had started just three minutes ago at 3:15.
"Perfect, that's even better.  I'll take two tickets to the 3:15, please."
As Paxton returned to her, Devi started to ask, "Paxton, wha-"
But Paxton had already grabbed her by the hand and marched her inside the theater. He thrust their tickets at the employee waiting by the entrance, pausing briefly as he ripped them and handed them back, then began to pull her down the hall. He stopped again in front of the men's restroom, offered her a curt, "Wait here," and ran inside. Within two minutes he was back out and grabbing her hand again without a word, walking so fast down the hall that Devi had to jog just to keep up. They found their theater and Paxton yanked open the door and pulled them both inside. Once they made it down the short hallway and could see the seats, Devi noticed it was already dark and the previews were playing, and she could see by the light of the screen that there was only one middle aged couple sitting toward the front of the theater. Paxton pulled her up the steps and into the back corner of the theater. He plopped down in a seat and Devi was about to sit down set to him, but she never got the chance.
Paxton grabbed her roughly by the waist and lifted her onto his lap, then grabbed both of her thighs from the back and yanked them apart so that she was straddling him. His mouth was on hers in a flash, hot and needy, his tongue pushing deep into her mouth.
Suddenly his weirdness about the movie made sense, along with his insistence they stop at a gas station on the way so he could buy some mouthwash. Devi hadn't minded that at the time, she needed to buy a gas can anyway, and she definitely didn't mind now.
"Tell me you love me," Paxton pulled away to growl in her ear.
"I love you," Devi whispered back, panting a little.
Paxton's mouth caught hers again and he thrust up against her.
Devi never did find out what the movie they watched was about.
5:43 pm
Devi's POV
Devi's grinned when she heard the marching band's drums and trumpets.  Right on time.
She started the moped and rode around the corner and down her street, where she could see the entire Sherman Oaks marching band in her front yard, playing loudly.  She spotted her mom in front of the front steps arguing emphatically with Eric, and, as planned, facing away from the driveway and garage. She turned into her driveway, turned off the moped, and hopped off.  She quickly lifted the garage door and pulled the moped inside, switched it with the wooden one, and filled the tank with the gas can she had bought at the gas station.  She covered the moped, replaced her dad's helmet on the shelf, stuffed the empty gas can in her backpack, and dragged the wooden moped outside.  She shut the garage door, took a quick glance at her mom to confirm that she had not noticed her, and began to drag the wooden moped around the side of the house into the backyard.  Once she was satisfied that the wooden moped was safely hidden, she ran back out to the front yard and began to approach her house from the sidewalk, coming up the walkway and making her way through the still playing marching band.
"Mom?" She called. "What's going on?"
"Devi! This boy," her mom began, infusing an impressive amount of venom into that one word as she gestured at Eric. "Is convinced that marching band door to door caroling is a good idea!"
"What?" Devi asked.
"Our creativity will not be stifled!" Eric declared.
"Well it will be today!" Devi yelled, "Get the hell out of here or we're calling the cops!"
She turned toward Eric and gave him a wink that her mom couldn't see.
"Fine!" Eric cried, feigning anger. "But it's your loss.  Let's go guys!"
The marching band began to move down the street, playing as they walked.
"What is happening to this neighborhood?" Her mom asked, shaking her head.
"Nothing good. What a bunch of weirdos," Devi replied.  Then she continued.  "I'm gonna run up and change, mom.  Then we can head to dinner."
"Fine, fine," her mom murmured, staring after the receding marching band.
Devi hurried past her and into the house, smiling slightly.
6:30 pm
Devi's POV
"It's a sensory experience, ma'am," the host explained to Devi's mom.  "The restaurant is pitch black but all the waiters have night vision goggles to assist you.  Removing your sense of sight will ignite your sense of taste."
"Devi, what nonsense is this?" Her mom asked, turning toward Devi.
"Actually, it was dad's idea," Devi said.
"What?" Her mom asked, sounding taken aback.
"Yeah, he read an article about this place, a little after my last birthday, actually, and said we should come here for the next one." It had been the only thing on the list in Devi's handwriting. She had added it to the list after her dad had suggested it.
"I thought it might be kind of nice," Devi continued, "And since it's so dark, maybe we could kinda, I don't know, kinda just pretend he's there with us."
Her mom's eyes were unusually bright as she swallowed and nodded.  "Yes," she whispered, "I think that could be nice." She pulled Devi over to her and dropped a kiss on her head.
Devi, her mom, Pati, and Kamala headed inside the restaurant.
10:08 pm
Devi's POV
Devi lay on her stomach on her bed in her pajamas, her hair still slightly damp from the shower. Her journal was in front of her. She began to write.
Dear Dad,
My birthday is almost over. It was definitely different without you, but it wasn't a bad birthday. Dinner went well, I think you would have laughed at how much mom and Pati enjoyed it. They were even in a good enough mood to be nice to Kamala tonight. I miss you dad, sometimes I miss you so much it's hard to think about anything else, but I want to appreciate the people in my life the way you would have wanted me to. The way you always did. Maybe the best thing I can do to remember you is to love people the way you loved me. I'm going to try my best.
Love, Devi
Devi finished her letter just as she heard a knock on her window. She closed it and looked up to see Paxton climbing through.
"Hey," Devi said, starting to sit up so she could slide off the bed to greet him, but Paxton shook his head.
"Don't get up," he ordered, moving toward her quickly. "That's exactly where I want you."
Devi laughed as Paxton pounced on her pressing her back against the mattress.
"I've been thinking about this all day," he murmured into her neck as he began kissing his way down it.
"We've only been apart a few hours."
"Even so."
"So Uber got you to your car okay after the movies?" Devi asked, although Paxton clearly wasn't in a conversational mood.
"Yep," he confirmed in a distracted voice as he sucked on her earlobe and his hands moved to the bottom hem of her shirt and began to creep under it.
His hands moved up and Devi had to remember how to breathe.
Paxton surprised her by saying, "One day you're going to have to tell me how you got the moped back into the garage without your mom noticing."
"Oh yeah, about that, " Devi mumbled, more focused on the interesting things Paxton's hands were doing under her shirt than what they were talking about. "On Monday I might need some of your help. I gotta start selling a shitload of candy bars for the marching band."
"You got it," Paxton whispered without hesitation, before starting to kiss her. He pulled away for a moment and whispered, "I love you," against her lips.
"I love you too."