What Goes Up

Full of Surprises

Wren

"Okay babe, open..." Kilian says.

I open my eyes to see the old tire swing covered with ribbons and flowers. There are little candles all around the yard.

"Kilian! It's so pretty."

He puts his hands on my shoulders and pivots me toward the gazebo, he has food set up and more candles and flowers there as well. I let out a gasp, I'm not sure what else to do, no one has ever done anything this thoughtful for me.

"It'll be better in about a half-hour when it's dark but I thought you would want to watch the sunset..." Kilian says nervously rubbing the back of his neck. 

I turn to him and kiss him deeply before I break away and say, "Babe, this is so sweet, it's perfect."

"Well, that's not all, come see your cake."

He takes my hand and leads me to the gazebo. He has my favorite pizza there, but my cake looks even better.

"Are those...?"

"Snowballs, yeah, I actually made it so if it's terrible I'm sorry."

"Kil, you really outdid yourself."

"Come eat, we get to have our little date time but you know the guys weren't going to miss your eighteenth birthday... they will be here in about an hour and a half."

"Thank you, this is so special, you are special, I'm so lucky I have you..."

"I'm just trying to be good enough for you," he says before he kisses me again, I can feel how much he loves me, and my skin tingles.

"Let's go, baby, your pizza is going to get cold."

I sit with him and watch the sunset and eat my favorite pizza then he lights a candle on my cake and sings to me all by his sweet little self and it's amazing.

"Kil, you never sang for me before your voice, it's beautiful."

"I don't know, it was just Happy Birthday," he blushes.

"No, you're going to do songs with me, if you want me to pursue it then I want you to at least try too."

"Okay Wrenny, you know I can't say no to you," he smiles at me in the way that melts my knees. "Now, let's see if this monstrosity is good, I adapted a recipe for a Twinkies cake from Pinterest... but I used snowballs instead."

"I'm sure it's great and to think, a few weeks ago you didn't know what a casserole pan was."

"Hey, that's why you're good for me, you teach me new things."

"Oh, is that all?"

"No silly girl, but it's just one of the reasons I love you."

He serves me a piece of cake and after I take the first bite I realize that it's actually surprisingly good, "Kil, this is awesome! I didn't know snowballs could get any better."

"At least you know that Gael isn't going to show up and eat the whole thing..."

"Maybe not but it is cake... so you never know."

"Come on, let me push you on the swing before they get here."

"Okay, but not too crazy, you just stuffed me full of food."

He leads me over to the tire swing but before I can climb on he picks me up and lifts me onto it.

"Okay, Mr. Chivalry, I'll remember this for later, your brownie points bank is full," I tease.

He smiles and then pulls me back on the swing and lets me fly. He just knows me so well, nothing makes me feel alive like the wind in my hair. I'm laughing and I can tell he's smiling even though I only catch quick glimpses of his face. 

He spins the tire and I careen through the air, "Too high! Too high!" I shriek and he just laughs in that lighter than air way he's picked up over the last week.

"I got you baby," he chuckles as he catches the swing and slows it down.

I can't stop laughing and even though I can feel him just staring at me.

"Wren, I wish I could freeze that moment in my mind forever, I always thought you looked so pretty when you were on the tire swing but I felt guilty for looking. This time I really just got to take you all the way in, you're a dream."

He grabs my face and kisses me passionately, my heart is racing. I thought kissing couldn't get any better but he just keeps outdoing himself.

"Hey, love birds! Break it up," Declan shouts from the side of the yard.

"Hey, I'm supposed to get like eighteen kisses for my birthday or something right...?" I tease.

"No babe, that's spankings," Kilian says as he taps my ass.

"Whoa! You want us to leave?" Gael chimes in.

"Shut it. Come here and give me a hug!" I demand.

"Happy Birthday Wrenny," Declan says before hugging me tightly.

"Yeah, Happy Birthday, Wren," Gael hugs me too.

"Ugh! I just realized I'm the old lady now!"

"You always have been..." Gael starts but I cut him off.

"I said shut it." 

"But now you're the cool old lady because you can buy us smokes and dirty magazines," Gael continues anyway.

"Speaking of, we have to go do all your firsts, you get to buy a lottery ticket and cigarettes..." Kilian explains.

"You mean, we don't have to steal them from Nolan?" I giggle.

"No, our thieving days are behind us now!" Kilian grins. 

"So, you guys, we got you a birthday present but it's for both of you. Do you want it now or should we wait for Kilian's birthday?" Declan asks.

"Don't make us choose..." I say.

"My birthday is no big deal, give it to Wren," Kilian insists and before I can argue Declan pulls out an envelope and hands it to me.

"You guys didn't have to get us anything," I say.

"What if we wanted to?" Gael smirks. 

I smile, suddenly reminded how amazing my friends are. I slip my finger under the flap of the envelope then hand it to Killian, "You should help, it's your present too."

He helps me rip the envelope open and I slide out two tickets...to Bang Out of Order.

"Holy shit! Really? Oh my God!" I scream.

Gael and Declan laugh and smile.

"You guys, this is really amazing, thank you," Kilian beams.

"Yeah yeah, just try not to get jealous of Wren oogling her man the whole time," Gael teases.

"You guys, seriously, this is so cool, thank you so much," I say before I turn to Kil, "...and don't worry babe, I'm sure I won't even notice Liam if I'm standing next to you."

"Bleh! Party foul, too sweet," Declan mocks.

"So what are we doing tonight?" I say changing the subject.

"We're going so you can buy a lottery ticket and smokes and then we're going to Cedarwood Lake to hang out," Kilian explains.

"I brought the beer," Gael adds.

"You guys! You know me so well, I made Quin go there with me earlier but I would love to go back."

We all pile into Gael's truck, Declan and I shove into the back, Declan's poor legs are bent up to his chest but he's used to it at this point. We get to the closest convenience store and all go inside, they help me pick out which scratch off tickets to buy and I happily show my ID to the clerk to get my cigarettes. They ring a bell for me because it's my birthday, it's thoroughly embarrassing so I get out as quickly as I can and get back into the truck.