How Could This Be Real?

29. Happy Birthday Angel

I woke to David stroking my hair. I turned my face to him and smiled, "Morning."

He brushed his lips against my forehead, "Happy birthday."

I sat up and stretched, "What's the plan for today?"

"Oh, I've got a few things up my sleeve."

I hopped out of bed and put my shirt back on, "Sounds good."

"What's the rush? Can't we just, hang out for a while?"

I turned to him, "I suppose. What were you thinking?" He picked up his phone and a song started playing. He stood and I smiled, recognizing it. "The slow song from the club, nice. Is this our song now or something?"

He walked over to me, took my hands, and started swaying. "If you want it to be."

I put my head on his shoulder and we danced around the room. I quietly sang along and after a while, he joined me. His voice wasn't amazing, but I still enjoyed it. When the song was over, I gave him a quick kiss and threw his shirt at him playfully.

"Now can we go?"

"Oh, alright."

When we walked outside, the scene was like something out of a storybook. The sun was making the fresh snow sparkle, the trees looked like they'd been covered in vanilla frosting, and sitting right in front of us, was a one horse open sleigh.

"This wouldn't happen to be for us, would it?" I asked hopefully.

"Nope, sorry."

I deflated a little in disappointment, "Oh."

He shook his head and chuckled, "You're so gullible. Of course it's for us!" I rolled my eyes at him and he helped me get in. We snuggled under a blanket in the back seat and the driver cracked the reins. Neither of us said anything for a while, just took in the scenery and each other.

Eventually I said, "Can I ask you some things?"

"Of course. If I can ask them back to you."

"I guess you can if you want."

"Then fire away."

I tilted my head, "When did you start liking me?"

He looked into the distance, pondering. "Well when I first saw you, I could tell you were special. I just didn't know why. Then I talked to you and you were so real and down to earth." He paused and I could almost see him remembering. "I think I started to feel this way when you were looking out the window at Ricky's. The light was hitting you just right and the look in your eyes was... well, I don't know how to describe it. You just seemed so serene and I felt drawn to you. My mind was fighting with itself that whole time, half telling me that you were too young, that those thoughts weren't okay. But the other half just told it to shut up and for me to go with my gut. When our eyes met, yours sparkled with all the stars in the sky and that's when I knew. I knew that I had to spend more time with you, had to get to know you."

"Wow," I breathed. "That early on, huh?"

He nodded and asked, "What about you?"

I thought about how I should explain it, where I should start. Finally I began, "It was very back and forth for me. After seeing a few of your early videos, I started to get a crush on your voice, if that's even possible. I think the first time I saw your face was your new house vlog and I was just like, 'Oh god, that's him? Not okay.' I looked through the comments and saw ones like, 'Oh my gosh, he's so cute,' and I didn't understand. I thought you were really ugly."