(Sorry for not being here for like a trillion years. I got the sudden inspiration to write again at about 11 PM on a Thursday night, which isn't unusual for me. I hope this is intelligible.)
Almost immediately after posting their love story on YouTube, Joey and Daniel had to part ways.
They shared a few more kisses, and some rushed I love you's, but then they had to get to work on preparing the Valentine's Day festivities.
Joey hurried off to Michael's. He had a very vague idea of what he wanted to make for Daniel, but he was nowhere near as prepared as he should have been. He'd printed off a bunch of photos a few days prior to Valentine's Day, and he knew he wanted to put them into some type of scrapbook or album or something, but he still had no idea how he was going to go about doing so.
Joey vlogged the trip, knowing it would make him feel less worried about picking out every single perfect thing if he had the camera to talk to. Vlogging seemed to inexplicably make things easier.
Michael's seemed to have an endless variety of different types of photo albums and it made Joey's head hurt. He found a pretty nice one, but then found himself second-guessing about whether or not it would be big enough, and whether he should get a scrapbook, and about a million other things. After a lot more consideration, and his vlogging camera running out of memory, he came to a decision and bought what he needed, pretty sure he made the right decisions. Of course, he knew Daniel wasn't really the type to care about how perfect the gift was, he would definitely like it no matter what, but that didn't mean Joey wasn't going to worry about it.
Outside, a sky writer was making a heart, and Joey decided it was a sign that this Valentine's Day would be the best he and Daniel had ever had.
***
As Joey was out, gathering what he needed to make Daniel's present, Daniel was busy getting everything he'd need ready to set up for his Valentine's Day date with Joey. He, too, was slightly obsessed with making everything perfect, checking everything three times, just to make sure he was completely prepared.
He'd decided to recreate his first date with Joey, the picnic on the mountain. It had been the best date, in his opinion, and he hoped it was bound to be just as fantastic the second time around.
He got finished before Joey had even checked out at Michael's, so Daniel headed off to pick up Joey's roses.
He felt like a pretty accomplished boyfriend.
***
When Joey returned, he only shared a few more moments with Daniel, vlogging for a moment, realizing that the air purifier had once again turned orange, giving Daniel a few more rushed kisses, before he had to go upstairs to work on Daniel's present once again.
He laid out all the photos, arranging them so they'd look a bit more tidy, and putting them in the book he'd picked out. He started to calm down, finally realizing that he didn't have to be so worried about everything.
***
Daniel came up to get him a little while later, holding his hands over his eyes as he walked into the room, even though Joey could tell he was definitely trying to peek at his present. Joey shooed him out of the room and they left for their date.
The car ride there was full of Joey trying to guess where they were going, and protesting that it wasn't fair that Joey didn't get to know, and that he knew his rights.
Each of Joey's guesses and arguments was met with a simple "You'll see what it is when we get there," from Daniel.
Daniel made Joey close his eyes just before they arrived at their location. Joey tried to complain about this, but Daniel insisted. And, he warned, if Joey peeked, he wouldn't get any kisses from Daniel. That was enough to guarantee that Joey definitely wouldn't be peeking any time soon.
Daniel parked the car and helped Joey out, like the gentleman he was. He walked with Joey for a little while, instructing him to keep his eyes closed until Daniel said he could open them. Joey obliged, wishing he could open his eyes to roll them at Daniel, lovingly, of course.
"Okay..open," Daniel finally said after they'd stopped walking.
Joey uncovered his eyes, looking up at a mountain.
The mountain.
"Oh my God, Daniel," Joey's arms were immediately around Daniel. "I love you, so much," he whispered into Daniel's ear, closing his eyes.
They pulled away after at least two and a half minutes of I love you's back and forth, and Joey was wearing a smile that could only be matched by Daniel's.
"I'm going to go make sure everything's ready," Daniel told Joey, still holding his hand. "You stay here for ten minutes."
"Just like the last time," Joey shook his head, laughing just a little.
Daniel shrugged lightly, chuckling as well. He hesitantly let go of Joey's hand, starting to make his way up the mountain.
Joey couldn't believe this. Daniel had to be the best boyfriend, like, ever. Joey would have never thought to recreate their first date like this.
He vlogged for a few minutes, listened to some Harry Potter, but those ten minutes felt like the second longest ten minutes of his life, right next to the ten minutes he'd endured on their first date.
When the ten minutes were up, Joey once again resisted the urge to sprint up the mountain, taking his time and vlogging a little more.
Joey reached Daniel's surprise, which wasn't quite to the top of the mountain (that was closed), but it didn't matter, because it was incredibly amazing either way.
There were rose petals everywhere, and a gorgeous view, and candles, and cupcakes, and his beautiful Daniel right in the middle, perched on a blanket that had room for two.
Joey sat down next to him, just like he had the first time, and all the feelings he'd felt then came rushing back. He did some minimal vlogging, not wanting to focus on anything other than his boyfriend. They held hands, looking out at the ocean, and at all the surrounding mountains, and they both realized, in the same moment, how lucky they were to have each other.
