the doorman » a.i au

twelve; "thirty three cards for thirty three different emotions."

"I got a feeling," Ashton mumbled against my hair.

"About what?"

"That tonight's gonna be a good night."

Tilting my head up slightly to look directly at him, I chuckled. "Did you just quote The Black Eyed Peas?"

"No, I'm kidding. Well, not really. I'm gonna take you out tonight so it is going to be a good night. But I meant this," he absentmindedly traced shapes on my stomach, "I've always had a feeling about us."

I smiled and intertwined our hands. We had been lying in my bed for the past half an hour doing absolutely nothing besides cuddling. And well, a little kissing here and there.

"So you're a fortune teller, huh? I'll make sure to consult you first before sitting in for my next exam."

He rolled his eyes. "Speaking of exams, doesn't school start in another hour for you?"

"I hate college," I groaned and unwillingly got up.

"I'll drive you, I have to get to work anyway."

"Thanks, you're the best," I grinned, pecking him on the cheek.

"And by the way, happy birthday, babe!" he chimed.

That was the highlight of my day. I didn't think he would remember. It wasn't as if my birthday was a subject that had come up multiple times. In fact, we only spoke about it once in the course of time we've known each other - it was when we played 20 questions for the first time.

As I entered the bathroom, I swear all my organs - not just my heart - failed momentarily. I was greeted by about thirty helium balloons stuck to my ceiling, all of them having something in common - a rectangular card tied on each of their ends.

"Thirty three cards for thirty three different emotions and situations. For example, this one. It's titled..." he pauses and hands me a pale pink card with embossed hearts and words written on both sides, "'For when you're sad and I'm not near you'. Pretty self-explanatory, really - just read it when you're feeling so. I've written things that I hope will be deemed as useful when the situation calls for it."

I was speechless. Although the monetary value of these was nowhere close to the Michael Kors bags Alec used to give me for my birthdays, those letters and balloons were definitely some gifts I'd never forget. Trillions of butterflies swarmed my stomach as I thought of how much time he had spent on this. Whatever I had in mind for his birthday could never match up to them and I should feel a tad upset about that but I didn't; I was far too happy and touched to feel any negative emotion.

"D-do you not like them?" he scratched his neck, observing me.

I almost laughed but instead, simply shook my head. I really had the best boyfriend and I couldn't ask for anyone better.

-

"Are you on crack?! Edward Cullen isn't the best vampire out there, he's too emotion-ridden for his own good."

We were sitting at a booth of a diner, completely immersed in a conversation regarding the best vampire in Hollywood. It was a little strange that Ashton had taken me here instead of a fancy restaurant. Not that I minded, though. It's just that I was used to being pampered (very excessively, now that I actually thought about it.) - and by that I mean taken to different clubs or fine dining restaurants - but this... this was actually a nice change. With Alec, I used to stomp around whenever he took me to a less than posh restaurant or cafe. With Ashton, however, it didn't seem to matter where we went. I knew I'd always have tons of fun and the day would end up with a good note.

"And Elena Gilbert spent what seemed like a millennium trying to get her shit straight. Clearly, she doesn't deserve that title," I leaned in, squinting my eyes, and so did he, "I bet you're just glorifying her because she's hot. And for the record, Edward isn't emotion-ridden. He's just... lovesick."

"That's not true! I-I... fine, she's hot, she's my favourite. But Edward is definitely not the best vampire in Hollywood, Kare. This argument is over," he leaned back, fixing his imaginary collar. I laughed at the sight of him trying to seem professional because in reality, he was a geek.

"You're just saying that because you ran out of comebacks."

He chuckled then reached over and put my hands in his. "I hope this has been a good birthday. I know I didn't spend a lot of money but I just thought you'd like something more heartfelt, hence the cards. A-and for this dinner date, I wasn't sure if you were sick of restaurants that serve miniscule food portions on humongous white plates so I figured I could take you somewhere more... humane?"

He was rambling which I found cute. He did that whenever he got anxious, I noticed.

"Stop," I laughed, "Everything's perfect. I seriously couldn't have asked for a better birthday and I will definitely remember this one for the rest of my life - unless, well, I wake up with amnesia or something. Not once have I gotten a card for my birthday, you know. So thank you."

"Wait, are you being serious? You've never gotten any card on your past birthdays?" his mouth was agape with incredulity.

I shook my head.

"Not even from your parents?"

I fidgeted in my seat at the mention of my parents. My hands became clammy and suddenly, a million thoughts ran through my mind. I hadn't seen them - more specifically, my father - for about three years now and it pained me to even think of him. My heart clenched at the different possibilities of how they were at that point of time. Ashton seemed to notice that because moments later, he squeezed my hand and sat beside me.

"Did I say something wrong?" he rubbed my back softly and kissed my bare shoulder.

And then it occurred to me that I never told him about my parents. I never told him about how strained my relationship with them was. I never told him about my past.

Forcefully, I shook my head again with much more determination this time and smiled before starting a conversation about his college plans.

But I guess there was really nothing I could hide from Ashton. Especially not after how puzzled he was, seeing me just freeze right outside my door when we got back to my place that night. On my doorstep were a bouquet of flowers and a letter. It had been years but I couldn't mistake the handwriting for anyone else's even if I wanted to. And the flowers, they were peonies. No one else knew about how much I loved peonies besides two people. So that definitely helped me figure everything out. The peonies and letter were from none other than my parents.

-

hey

i think writer's block is an absolute dick i spent like two days trying to finish up this chapter and all i have now is.... tHIS

i hope you guys liked this tho )):