Emergen-C {Avi Kaplan}

Chapter Nineteen

After the long flight, we spend a couple of free days in London to adjust to the time difference. One morning, I wake up to loud knocking on the door. Avi stirs, blinking groggily. "What's going on?" he murmurs.

"I don't know," I answer, snuggling closer to him. "Maybe they'll go away if we don't answer." It's a good effort, but the knocking only gets louder and more insistent, so finally I sigh, pulling my robe on and going to open it. When I do, the rest of the group spills into the room with a wave of noise. "Happy birthday!" They shout, rushing in to hug me tightly.

I turn to Avi, who's sitting up in bed, puzzled. "You told them?!"

He shakes his head. "No, I didn't say anything! They must've found out on their own."

"You're damn right we found out. I can't believe you weren't going to tell us it's your birthday!" Mitch says.

"I just didn't want to make a big deal out of it," I insist. "We were just going to go to dinner later."

"And you still are," Scott interrupts. "But until then, we're stealing you for a while so we can celebrate. You might want to put some clothes on."

I sigh, but they don't seem to be going anywhere, so I start finding clothes to put on. "Where are we going?" Avi asks.

"Well, we are going out to explore. And you are going to hang out with Kevin."

Avi pouts. "No fairrrr," he whines. "She's my girlfriend. I should get to hang out with her on her birthday."

"And you will," Kirstie answers. "Tonight. I promise we'll have her back in plenty of time for your date. But she's ours for now."

Once I finish getting dressed, I barely have a moment to say goodbye to Avi before Scott, Mitch, and Kirstie are pulling me out of the room. I wait until we get into the elevator to look over at them. "So, you think he bought it?"

"Oh yeah," Kirstie laughs. "He doesn't suspect a thing, I'm sure of it."

"Good," I answer. "I really hope he's going to like this."

__________________________________________________________________

I get changed in Kirstie's room and go downstairs to meet Avi in the lobby. He doesn't see me at first, but when he does he freezes, his eyes wide. I laugh as I reach him, leaning up to kiss him softly. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

He shakes his head a little to clear it. "No, I just...you look...hi."

"Hi."

"You look beautiful." He smiles, wrapping an arm around my waist and kissing me again. "Happy birthday. Are you ready to go?"

I nod, threading my arm through his as we go to dinner. After dinner, we decide to walk back, enjoying the sights along the way. When I look over, I find him staring at me. "What?" I ask.

"Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about how lucky I am," he grins.

I laugh, shoving his shoulder lightly. "You big doofus."

"I'm serious!" he insists. "You're the best thing that ever happened to me. I love you. And I really missed you today, you know."

I smile, pressing close to him. "I love you too. And I missed you. But you know, there is something we can do about that..." He raises an eyebrow at me, and I laugh. "I think you should get me back to the hotel."

Avi grins, pulling me along faster. "I couldn't agree more." We barely make it into the room before I'm in Avi's arms, kissing him softly. His hands move to the zipper of my dress, undoing it and slowly pushing it down. When his fingers brush against the edge of the bandage on my side he frowns, pulling back a little to look at it. "What's that? What happened?"

I feel myself blush, shuffling a little. "Well...when I was out with Mitch and Scott and Kirstie, I may have done something..." I can feel his worried gaze on me, and I stay still as he carefully pulls the bandage off. He gasps softly when he sees it, and I squeeze my eyes shut, unable to bring myself to see his reaction. "Do you hate it?" I ask cautiously.

He's quiet for a minute, and then he chuckles softly. "No, I don't hate it at all. It's beautiful." I open my eyes to find him grinning as he looks down at the tattoo. In the music staff, complete with a bass clef, the lines turn into heartbeats. Avi's fingers move lightly around the edges. "Is the bass clef for me?"

"Of course it is," I chuckle, hugging him tightly. "I'm glad you like it. I was worried you wouldn't."

"Of course I like it," he answers. "Did it hurt?"

I shrug. "A bit. But it was worth it. It's a birthday present to myself."

He smiles, kissing me softly. "Well it's going to make my birthday present seem lame now!"

I laugh, shaking my head. "You got me a birthday present? You didn't have to do that."

"Of course I did!" he insists. He walks over to the dresser and picks up a small box with a bow on top. "I hope you like it."

I open it carefully to find a silver necklace with a bass clef charm hanging from it. "It looks like we had the same thought," I grin.

Avi smiles sheepishly, fidgeting nervously. "Do you like it?"

"I love it," I answer. "It's perfect. Thank you."

He sighs in relief, nodding. "I'm glad. So, how does it feel now? Still sore?"

"A little. But I'll survive."

He nods, gently replacing the bandage. "Well then I'll be gentle with it, I promise."

I smirk, looking up at him. "You will, will you? Does that mean you have some plans for the rest of our night?"

Avi chuckles, shrugging. "Well, I have been known to have a good plan or two up my sleeve..." He pulls me against him, one hand coming up to cup my cheek as he leans down to kiss me again.

I grin, threading my fingers into his hair. "Good. I always love your plans."

"Funny. So do I."

___________________________________________________________________

Woohoo! I've loved reading all of your reviews. Please keep it up!For anyone wondering, the tattoo looks a little like this: http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxirg1ez2f1qc7opko1_500.jpg

Thank you so much for reading!

Love,

Fly