Tattoos Together | An Original

41

Reese

Dominic and I are currently having an afternoon picnic in his backyard. Sage went out with friends for the day, and their parents are working. So, Dominic and I decided to spend the day with an "all-day date" as we like to call it.

We went to the store earlier to get groceries, snacks, drinks, and picnic essentials, and we've set it all up in the backyard. We changed into nice picnic-worthy outfits, and were enjoying the rare sunshine of March in Washington state.

"Thanks for sharing your friends with me. I had fun getting three a.m. pancakes."

Dominic smiles. "You're welcome. They always have fun with you when you're here."

"I hope so. They're so much fun to be around. You really have a great group of people here."

"I do," he says. "You do too. We're a lucky couple of people, huh?"

"Very," I say. "Lucky to have found each other, and to be able to share the love of the people around us."

Damn right," Dominic says. "I love you, baby."

"I love you too," I say, smiling at my boyfriend. I really can't believe how far we've come since we met a little under a year ago now. So much has happened since then, and they've all been such good things.

Dominic leans over to kiss my cheek, before attaching his lips to mine. I rest my hand against his jaw as our kiss grows deeper, his hand landing on my hip to pull me closer. It's a beautiful day outside, and I'm glad we're not letting the sunshine go to waste. It's rare in Washington to have a warm spring day without rain, so we're cherishing it.

We eat our lunch together,before taking some pictures of us. I'm still making a scrapbook of us, so we always take pictures to document the memories we make together. Including three a.m. pancakes with his friends.

"What do you say we spend the night in Portland tonight?" Dominic asks. We're in the house now, snacking on some chopped watermelon from the fridge.

"Sounds fun," I say. "I love little adventures like this."

"Me too," Dominic says. "Let's road trip, baby!"

I laugh as he starts dancing around the kitchen, then pulling me to dance with him. After we take a quick nap, we load up the car and head out for the night. We stop for dinner while we're halfway to Portland, and the rest of the drive goes surprisingly quickly. It's still light outside when we arrive at the hotel.

The hotel has a rooftop bar that also serves non-alcoholic mock tails, which is perfect since I'm not 21 yet. It's nice to sit with Dominic and enjoy the fresh evening air. When we get back to our suite later, we take advantage of our alone time. Since he's usually on tour, we stay in a lot of hotels together. However, being here without a set plan is even more fun. We're not in a rush because I have to go back to school tomorrow or anything like that, so we're taking our time. I love that about this impromptu road trip.

Right now we're laying in bed, Dominic kissing my neck as he teases me with his hands. You know, this usual with us. Even after all this time, Dominic knows just how to make me want to scream for him. He's the best at paying attention to little details, and then using those little details to his advantage. If he does something that he knows made me feel good, he'll do it over and over again until I'm near the edge of release. Then he'll add something else he knows I like into the mix, and it totally makes the Earth shatter. At least that's what it feels like. 

After we clean up in the shower (along with some other festivities in the shower), we lay back down and snuggle up as we start to fall asleep. There's nothing better than truly feeling loved and cherished by someone like this. I've never felt more safe with someone than I feel with Dominic. I never thought I'd be able to find someone who can love me the way my parents love each other, or how Uncle Gray and Aunt Alex love each other. There's a different feeling when it comes to unconditional love versus love that isn't so true. Dominic and I aren't perfect at all times, but we love each other through those times anyway. Good or bad, distance or in-person, we never break promises to each other. We never keep things from each other. We have so much trust in each other, and we built a rock-solid foundation for our communication skills to prosper. 

Everything about this relationship is something I haven't gotten to experience before, and I know it's because there's nothing that can compare to this. Nothing compares to the way Dominic treats me. He's truly a one-of-a-kind boyfriend, and better yet, he's my one-of-a-kind. 

The coffee shop we go to in the morning is the same one we came to last time we were in Portland together. The one Dominic likes to write songs in. They really do have amazing coffee, and Dominic and I stay long enough that I have three cups of coffee. After a bathroom break or two, we start the drive back to Seattle. Tomorrow is Dominic's actual birthday, which we are spending all day with his parents, Sage, and Mark. 

We left Portland around ten in the morning, so it's barely one in the afternoon when we get back to his parents' house in Seattle. Dominic and I end up stopping by Pike Place for a little bit, so we can pick up his grandparents' favorite cookies. He wanted to visit them at some point this week, so that's what we're doing. They're really excited that the both of us came to see them, and we end up spending most of the day at their house. 

Later when Dominic and I are back at his parents' house, I decide to give him one of his presents right at midnight.

"Happy birthday, my love," I say, handing him the first gift. He'll open the rest tomorrow.

The first thing I got him is a bucket-list journal that we can fill out together, of everything we want to do as a couple. It'll give us more things to look forward to together, and of course, to build our relationship even more. I can't wait to see the things that fabricate because of this journal. I know we have a lot of traveling to do this summer, so we can use the journal to figure out more activities we want to do. It'll be a lot of fun.

"Wow," Dominic says. "This is so cool, babe. Thank you."

I smile. "It's for us to do together. We can come up with ideas either of us want to do together, and then we can mark them off as we go. I know we have a full summer together, so it'll make us have something to constantly look forward to as a team."

"That's going to be so much fun, Reese. This is a perfect gift."

"I love you," I say.

"I love you more," Dominic says, kissing my cheek.

"Happy Birthday, Dominic James."

"Thanks, Reese Halston," he says. 

I laugh. I love it when he references the future like this. It makes me realize that this really could be the rest of my life. If that's the case, I must have won the lottery.