Pay the Sun

Eleven

I insist on planning our first official date, which ends up being the day after my parents got back from San Diego. Today and tomorrow are our last free days until school starts, so I work hard to make this special. I know Robin is stressed about it, so much so that he called me at one in the morning last night so I could talk him down from a panic attack.

I scoured the internet for 'cute first date ideas' for hours, but everything that came up was cheesy stuff. Now, don't get me wrong, I like cheesy, but I like special cheesy. None of those things would be particularly special. So, I sat up late at night, thinking about what I could do for Robin when it hit me: what's something that's important to both of us? What brought us together?

I had to leave Robin early yesterday so I could gather everything I needed. I set everything in place and now I'm waiting. I even canceled my therapy appointment so we wouldn't be interrupted. Earlier, I texted Robin to meet me at the Dupuy house and now the only thing I need to do is wait.

Today is fourth day of us being together in a relationship, the first being the day we kissed, but it feels like much longer. It feels like we've known each other for longer than two months. It feels like I've known him all my life, maybe even before that.

I sit on the porch of the Dupuy house, jittery with excitement. My knee bounces up and down, unable to keep still. I nearly leap up and tackle Robin in a hug when I see him turn the corner, but I manage to restrain myself.

"Hi, Birdy!" I chirp, spreading my arms out for a hug.

Robin instantly goes into my arms, nestling his head into my shoulder. He presses his lips to my neck. He's quiet today, likely still stuck in his head. He's probably still thinking about last night. I squeeze him tightly until he starts letting out breathy laughter.

"Jules!" he protests, giggling. "Let me go. You're going cut off my air supply or snap me in half."

I release my grip on him with a dramatic sigh. "But I missed you."

A little more light floods Robin's eyes. "I missed you, too, baby."

The butterflies in my stomach start fluttering around with a vengeance. I grab Robin's hand, lacing our fingers together.

"Are you feeling any better?" I query.

"Not really," he tells me. "I can't stop thinking about school."

I spent all last night coaxing him into a semi-calm state until he fell asleep. I made him promises that I will do everything in my power to keep. I promised that I'd stay right by his side when school starts, that we're still going to be together. This will work out. All I want is for this to work out.

"Today's our date," I remind him. "I'll distract you."

A smile pulls at Robin's lips. "That sounds good."

I lean forward and quickly peck Robin's lips. His smile widens.

"So, are you ready to see what I have planned?"

Robin nods.

I grin, pulling his hand up so I can kiss it, making him laugh and blush and swat at my hand. I lead him into the Dupuy building, earning a confused look in response.

"You'll see," I say before he can even open his mouth.

I take him up the spiral staircase into the hallway. Instead of going up the next flight of stairs, I stop at a room a few doors down into the hallway. Outside the door is three cardboard boxes of stuff I brought. That's for later.

I open the door and gesture for Robin to go in first. Curiously, he looks around the room. I have the entire floor covered in tarp and the bottom edge taped. Three cans of paint sit in the center of the room, giant paint brushes submerged in each one.

"The stuff outside," I start, "that's for decorating. I thought we should do something special."

Robin grins and tackles me in a hug, peppering kisses all over my cheeks.

"This is going to be so much fun," he says excitedly, eyes twinkling.

It is.

We don't bother to paint nicely or evenly, slathering paint all over the walls. I only brought the primary colors, so we mix the paint on the walls, creating patterns that look like rainbows got stuck in them.

We splatter paint all over each other, smearing it all over each other's faces and kissing in the middle of it all like some cliche scene in a romance movie.

It takes us a couple hours to completely cover all the walls (and the roof) in paint. We end up laying on the tarp, looking up at our masterpiece.

"We did a good job," Robin says.

I grin. "Yeah. All we need to do now is furnish it. I brought battery fairy lights and blankets and stuff, but I was thinking for our second date, we could go thrift shopping for some cheap furniture. I think we could find a couple rugs to cover this gross floor and some chairs."

Robin nods. "We could put pillows all over the place."

"And stuffed animals."

He laughs. "Of course."

I lean over, resting my head on his shoulder. Robin scoots closer to me, lacing our paint covered hands together. I watch the rise and fall of his chest, smiling.

"Are you happy, Robin?"

Robin's eyes flick open and he looks over at me.

"Right now? Yes."

I decide that loving him is like being on the sun.