"So, what do you want for your special birthday breakfast?"
Wilbur grins at me as he locks his watch around his wrist. "I just had breakfast."
I hit his arm with my hairbrush. "I don't count! What do you want? I can go pick you up some pancakes or biscuits or whatever."
"Can we just go to a random, small cafe where no one will recognize us?"
"Whatever you want." I take his face in my hands and kiss him. "Your headache feeling better? Mine isn't,"
"You helped a bit," Wilbur follows me into the kitchen and grabs his car keys. "But medicine will help more."
I roll my eyes and pretend to be pissed. "If medicine is so great and beautiful and hilarious, you can just date it instead of me."
He leans against the front door and smirks at me as I take some pain killer. "But darling, you're already the drug I'm addicted to."
"Ooh, good answer," I giggle and tie my hair into a bun as we walk out of the house, locking it behind us. We get in Wilbur's car and look at places to go, deciding on one just ten minutes away.
As Wilbur parks near the cafe, we see from the outside that it's pretty packed. I give him a glance and he just shrugs. "It's noon, every cafe will be busy." He puts on a pair of sunglasses, even though I'm sure people will still be able to recognize him.
He wraps his arm around my waist as we walk in and stand in line. The line goes by pretty fast, the time spent staring at the overhead menu and deciding what we want. As Wilbur orders and pays, I find us one of the few empty tables. He joins me soon after and tilts his sunglasses on top of his head.
"I wrote a song I think you'll like." I tell him with a grin, resting my hands under my chin.
"Really?" He breaks into a smile and leans forward.
"It's goofy and I don't think I'll ever wanna release it, but it's cute. It's called 'London Boy'."
Wilbur frowns. "Is it about Blair?"
I bite my lip as I laugh. "Yes, absolutely."
"Well, I can't wait to hear it." His phone starts ringing, but he immediately clicks it off. I smile at the gesture, yet it starts ringing again. He sighs and checks the screen, reading the contact name. "Oh, it's the land lord. Guess I should answer it."
I draw circles in the wooden table with my nail and watch as Wilbur mumbles into the phone, just saying 'yes' a bunch of times. Suddenly, his shoulder drops, and he says 'I'll be there soon' before hanging up.
"My apartment caught fire." He whispers, his voice cracking.
"Oh, fuck." My eyes widen and I immediately stand up. "Jesus Christ,"
Forgetting about our drinks, Will and I rush out to his car. He goes to the driver's seat but I beat him to it, grabbing the handle.
"You're not driving."
"I'm fine, Eve."
"Maybe, but you won't be in a bit. I don't need you freaking out while we're on the road."
"Be fucking serious, Eve." Wilbur says harshly.
I stare at him, wanting to cause an argument, but I know it'll make this whole day worse for him. "Fine."
We get to the house quickly, Wilbur speeding, of course. He already goes well above the speed limit normally, so of course he's faster when he's upset and in a rush to get back to the city. We quickly pack up our stuff at the house and I put the key back in it's hiding spot, sad that we have to leave this place so soon. Maybe another time, I guess.
"Could you please slow down?" I tell him as he drives us home, trying my best to not get too frustrated. It's hard not to, though, when he's going nearly 100 miles on the highway. He just ignores me, and I feel my anxiety begin to work up. My heart is racing and my breathing feels heavy, my hands twitching in my lap.
"Calm down, Eve, it's fine. I do this all the time."
I grind my teeth together, not comforted at all by his words. Flashing blue and red lights in his rear view catch my attention. Wilbur curses and punches the steering wheel before finally slowing down and stopping on the side of the road. He grabs his wallet from his pocket and sets it on his lap, his face red with anger.
An officer approaches and I keep my eyes on Wilbur, praying he doesn't get into too much trouble.
"License and registration, please."
Wilbur hands him both and he examines them for about a minute.
"Sir, were you aware of the speed you were going?"
He nods. "We live in the city and I got a call that my apartment caught fire. I knew I was going a bit faster than usual, but didn't notice quite how fast until I saw your lights."
"Speeding won't turn back time, will it?"
Wilbur sighs and I see his hand tighten into a fist, obviously struggling to not say something rude back to him. "No, sir."
"I see it's your 21st birthday. Have either of you been drinking?"
We quickly shake both of our heads.
"Where you two coming from?"
I take my turn to speak. "Just half an hour up north. My family's log cabin is on the lake and we were visiting for his birthday."
The cop looks from me to Wilbur and lowers his eyebrows. "You're putting your girlfriend's life in danger by driving around like this. You realize that, right?"
Wilbur just nods.
"I'm gonna run your stuff through the system. Stay here,"
We watch as the cop walks back to his car and Wilbur brings his hands to his face, scratching at his hair. "I need to fucking break something."
I stay silent, resisting the urge to get angry with him. Soon enough, the cop returns and hands Wilbur his stuff back.
"Since this seems to be your first time being pulled over, I'm gonna let you go with just a ticket today. And with the huge audience you have watching you, I would think twice before pulling a stunt like this again."
Will just nods and rolls his window up as the cop leaves again and eventually drives past us. He shoves his ticket into his pocket and starts the car back up, his knuckles white as he grips the steering wheel.
"You gonna fucking talk, or what?" He asks after a few minutes. "I know you have something to say. You always do."
I snap my head towards him, nearly slapping him. "Don't speak to me like that."
"But I'm right, aren't I?" He throws one hand up, leaving the other on the wheel. "Just say something! Tell me how I'm stupid and should listen to you, how I'm lucky I didn't get arrested, whatever annoying comment you want to make."
I could throw up at his attitude. We've had such a great nearly two weeks of being together, I even took us to my mother's super nice cabin on the lake. And now he decides to act like his old self? "Could you not be an asshole right now? I'm obviously not comfortable with you insanely speeding on a busy highway, William. I know I haven't opened up to you about my dad at all yet, so I don't expect you to know this or whatever, but he would always speed with me and Ryan in the car and it freaked us out. He nearly hit cars all the fucking time. So yeah, I'm gonna get scared when you're doing the exact same fucking thing that the person I hate most did."
Will's face softens and he hits his head back against his seat. I expect him to apologize, but he just stays quiet, and we sit in silence the rest of the ride home.
What a wonderful way to spend his birthday.
