Love Is a Bunch of Stupid Decisions

Chapter 1

I'm woken up abruptly, a heavy weight landing on top of me. "CHARLOTTE ANNE SPENCER!"

"Shit, Ben," I laugh, my eyes adjusting to our dark bedroom. He crawls off of me, letting me breathe again without the weight of his body on mine. "What are you doing? What time is it, anyway?"

"It happens to be exactly 12:00, September 12th. The first minute of a very special someone's birthday."

"You are such a cheeseball," I laugh, sitting up in bed to kiss him.

He smiles, his face illuminated by the moonlight through our window. "And you love that about me." I roll my eyes, even though he was right. "Since this is the first of your birthdays that I get to spend with you, I wanted to start it on a good note. Come here, I have something for you."

"Ben," I groan, my feet hitting the cold floor. "What did I tell you about birthday gifts?"

"That you didn't want me to get you any. And what did I tell you?"

"That you were going to get me something anyway," I say, mimicking his tone as I remembered the conversation we'd had. He and I walk down our short hallway to the kitchen, our hands interlocked. Sitting on our kitchen table is a bouquet of roses, a bottle of champagne with two glasses, a bag of caramel corn (my favorite), and a photo album.

I smile up at him, watching the nervousness in his eyes give way to joy. "Ben, this is too adorable!" I say, kissing him quickly.

"You like it?" He asks as I make my way over to the table.

"Like it? Ben, this is the sweetest thing ever!" He makes his way over to the table, hugging me from behind and setting his head on my shoulder. "Did you make this?" I ask, starting to flip through the photo album. In it were various pictures of Ben and I, from our very first date, up to the random road trip adventure we had taken last week to upstate New York.

"Yeah, I figured you would like it," He says, kissing my cheek.

"Man. How did I manage to score the most thoughtful boy in the entire world?" I respond, continuing to flip through the pictures. My heart felt fuller and fuller at each one. If we had so many amazing memories from only about four months together, there was no telling what the future would hold.

Today marked two weeks since I had moved in with Ben, and it was easy to say that they'd been the craziest and best two weeks of my life. Sure, I hadn't landed a good publicity job, like I was hoping to. But at least for now I had a job, even if it was just as a waitress at a breakfast shop a few blocks away. At the same time, I was taking online classes to finish my degree, so life managed to keep me plenty busy. Life wasn't necessarily glamorous, by any means, but getting to have Ben by my side was proving to make it all worth it.

"I still can't believe how embarrassing this was," I laugh, pointing to a picture of him and I sitting on his couch back home in Lorton. His mom had taken it of us the night that I miraculously found my way to their house, begging Ben to take me back after I freaked out and tried to 'jump ship', as him and I refer to it now.

"Oh come on, it wasn't that bad!" Ben adds.

"I don't know, I still feel like I'm doing damage control from that first impression." Even weeks later, I felt my face blush thinking of that night. His family had been incredibly nice and welcoming to me that day, but I still felt like they thought of me as the creepy girlfriend who showed up on their doorstep after breaking their son's heart.

"When am I going to meet your parents?" He asked. His voice was full of caution, like walking on a minefield. He and I both knew that talking about my parents wasn't my favorite thing to do. My parents had been less than pleased with my decision to stay here... and even less than less than pleased that I was moving in with my boyfriend of four months. I had barely talked to them at all since I told them my plans. It made for a rough few weeks emotionally, but it was also ridiculously liberating. As difficult as it was, I knew that this was what I wanted to do, so I did it-- and thank goodness I did. Now I was spending the first moments of my 20th birthday sitting on my boyfriend's lap at our kitchen table, looking through a photo album of us while sipping Champagne. Does it get better than that?

"You can meet my parents whenever I see them next. Which, after the way they reacted to me wanting to stay here, will be approximately... never."

He chuckled, wrapping his arms around my waist. "Oh, they just need some time to process it all. I mean, you're their only daughter. They can't be upset with you forever."

"I guess we'll have to see. But even if they are upset with me forever... I don't regret any of this. Not even a little bit." I say, turning in his lap so I can see him better.

His face melts into a smile, my favorite site in the entire world. I loved it more than I loved the Manhattan skyline, more than caramel corn, and more than my Playbill collection (and that was saying something). His face was lightly freckled from the summer sun, his messy hair desperately in need of a haircut. His eyes gave away how tired he was, and I knew it wouldn't be much longer until we were both asleep.

He reaches his lips up to mine, letting them stay there for a moment before pulling back. "Happy birthday, princess. Here's to a crazy adventure together." 

A/N: Wow i missed u guys so much HI! 

Hit a girl up with a Vote if you're happy to see Ben and Char again ;) *votes for my own chapter*