Fated (A Chris Evans Series)

Finally Twenty

Luca snuck Chris into the apartment- as planned- when he arrived at 7:21AM on a Friday morning, just in time for Denise's twentieth birthday. He had a bouquet of red roses, two envelopes, and a little gift bag from Thomas Sabo with him, as he quietly made his way down the hall and into his fiancée's bedroom. He smiled when he saw her sleeping peacefully.

For the first time, she looked like she didn't have a care in the world, and she didn't because it was summer holidays and she had the day off. Chris knew about the rule she'd developed over years of working on her birthday and having her day ruined by rude customers; she would always ask for a day off on her birthday if she could afford it. And she could afford it, especially now that Chris was her overbearing fiancé who no longer took 'no' for an answer when he wanted to financially support her. She was only still working because- one: she wanted to still have some independence, and two: her mom told Chris she wanted Denise to have a part time job- even if she only worked thrice a week- just to remain grounded. Who was Chris to argue with his future mother-in-law?

Denise's plans had been to: sleep till 9AM, go to brunch at her favorite bistro with her best friend, shop till she dropped, eat ice-cream cake over FaceTime with her fiancé, then head back to her family home to have a home cooked birthday dinner with her parents and older brother- whose birthday was a day before hers. That was before Chris changed it without her knowledge, she was now to spend the day with him.

Chris chuckled as he lowered items he had in his hand on Denise's desk beside her MacBook, where he'd FaceTime her last night while he was packing his bags to surprise her. It was only fair, she'd spent a weekend with him on his birthday- belated, but it still counted, so obviously he couldn't let her spend her birthday without him. That, and he would've given any excuse to come see her even though the last time they were together wasn't that long ago. Independence Day with his family at their holiday cabin, he remembered. What could he say, other than he missed his beloved fiancée? If he could have her with him every day of every second, he would. They'd both probably get annoyed by the lack of space if that actually happened, but it was the thought that counted, and that thought was incredibly sweet and romantic.

Chris carefully crawled into Denise's bed as he didn't want to startle her, he wanted her to wake peacefully knowing it was him and not a murderer. He shuffled his body closer to hers and did what he always did when he wanted her to roll over and enfold herself into his arms. She must've forgotten her fiancé was still away and acted subconsciously because she did as he'd orchestrated, snuggling close to him with her arm draped over his stomach. He smiled and kissed the top of her head, holding her as close as he could. He took a moment to appreciate the bliss coming from the simplicity of the situation before he whispered in a sing song voice, "good morning, sunshine."

Denise stirred. For a second, she forgot it was only August and Chris was still meant to be away filming. She also forgot it was her birthday because all she could think about was Chris' comforting and loving arms around her. She smiled as her eyelids fluttered open, she tipped her head and kissed his jawline, "good morning." It wasn't until he was leaning in to give her a quick peck on her lips that she remembered what day it was. "Holy crap!" She pushed herself away from him and fell out of her bed before he could catch her wrist and pull her back in.

"Shit, Denise," Chris cussed as he leaned over the edge to look at her, laughing when she did. She rubbed her elbow then the back of her head which she may have clipped on the corner of her bedside table on her way down. "Are you okay, baby?" He chuckled, resting his chin on the top of his hands which were placed one above the other. "I tried hard not to scare you, but clearly I needed to try harder."

"Clearly," she giggled as she got to your feet. Chris moved back to his original position when she climbed back into her bed, resting her head against his chest as his arm wrapped around her. "It is so good to see you," she hugged him tightly and he chuckled, rubbing her back. "I thought you said you couldn't come because of filming."