To the First of Forever

Street scrubbed at his face when he walked into his house, trying to fight the exhaustion from a tough shift. His stomach had been rumbling louder than the engine of his motorcycle, so he walked into the kitchen and opened his fridge to find a few bottles of beer and a bag of kale. Just when he pulled out his phone to order something, he saw someone walk inside from the back door.

"Hi," Chris greeted and stepped over to give him a quick kiss.

"After the day I've had, I need more than that," he grinned a little and leaned back in for a proper kiss, which she happily gave him.

"Bad day, huh?" She asked and wrapped her arms around his neck to keep him close.

"It was long...wait, what are you doing here?"

"Can't I just come over and see you?"

"Well yeah, but you told me you were busy until Friday, which is when we have our first date scheduled. I made reservations and everything."

"Oh, we're still going out on Friday, but I just couldn't wait," she bit her lip to hide the smile expanding across her face.

"What did you do?" He asked curiously.

"Close your eyes," she directed and watched him trying to squint. "Seriously, Street? CLOSE 'EM!" She chuckled.

With now shut eyes, she turned his body towards the back door. "We're gonna go outside for a second," she said. Reaching up to cover his eyes and ensure he wasn't peeking, she walked behind him while he stepped gingerly out the back door and into his backyard. "Okay, one second," she needed him to wait for her to find the two ends of the plugs and connect them.

Brightness burned through his closed eyes, but Street barely flinched. He was going to wait for directions from his girlfriend.

"Alright, now you can open your eyes," she said sounding far away.

Light shine down on him, and it took a second to take it all in. Bright white bulbs were strung across the top of the entire backyard and made it more radiant than daylight.

She looked up to admire the tight zigzag patterns that took over an hour to perfect, but it was worth it to watch the look of wonder on her boyfriend's face as those hundreds of bulbs illuminated him.

"Chris," is all he could say as he admired the view.

"You like it?" She asked nervously.

"I love it," he replied breathlessly.

"That's not even the best part," she pointed to the picnic table that had plates of food on it.

The sight made Street's very empty stomach growl in anticipation. "Wait, is this a date?" He asked, piecing together the setup plus the meal.

She reached down and took his hand in hers. While watching the way their fingers fit together, she explained, "I know our journey to get here has been a little messy. This was where we had our first kiss, and I know it was complicated, but I just thought by making a happy memory together..."

"We could write over the messy and complicated kiss," he finished for her.

She nodded with her lips pursed together.

Street used his free hand to cradle her cheek. "We have the rest of our lives to make happy memories, but for the record, I wouldn't change any moment of our journey, because look where we are now. Together."

Of course, she smiled at that. "You're right."

"Did you say that I'm right about something? Are you sure I'm not dreaming?"