KISS: Casablanca High School

Ch 63: Happy Anniversary (Ace)

I walked over to Paul's car, knocking on the driver's side window until he finally rolled it down, raising an eyebrow. "Can I help you?" he asked with a grin.

"You and Ava have been dating for like two years, right? Did you ever celebrate any little anniversary things?" I asked, hoping desperately he had, in fact, done so. "Oh yeah, I think I did something for our first year anniversary. It feels kind of stupid saying it out loud, not gonna lie. Why?"

"Well cause me and Peter have been dating for six months today and I want to do something for him! But I also...don't know what to do." A huge smile spread across Paul's face. "Awww congrats! Take him out to a nice dinner or something, I dunno. That's what I did for Ava, because she loves that and says I never take her to nice places. But I mean he's your boyfriend. What kind of stuff does he like?"

"Drugs, for one." Paul rolled his eyes, stepping out of his car. "Ok well I don't recommend doing illegal things for your anniversary, so maybe don't take him on a drug trip. Your first date was what, a movie?" I heaved a sigh, shouldering my backpack. "Yeah, and I thought about that, but nothing good's in theaters and besides, it's not like we can have a conversation during a movie. Well I mean we can but we'll just seem like jerks to everyone else and that's not cool. And and I thought about having him over for a movie date like at my house, but neither of our parents know we're gay so like...that probably won't work."

Paul frowned, running a hand through his hair. "Hm...and my parents are home this weekend, otherwise I'd let you use my house. I'd take him out to dinner, maybe get him something nice. I mean I know girls love jewelry but obviously Peter's not a girl. Earrings are a good small gift though, if you wanted to do that!"

"Ooh, good idea! What are some good restaurants though? Like kinda nice but also not super expensive."

Looking around nervously, Paul clapped a hand on my shoulder, pulling me closer. "Look, Talloman's is decent enough food, but if you go there, don't tell Gene. Other than that, there's that Italian place downtown, I've taken Ava there a few times. They give you a free dessert if you tell them it's a date," he said with a grin. I grinned back, nodding. "Sweet, thanks curly, I owe you one! I'll tell him that we're going out and he needs to look nice."

As the bell rang, Paul locked his car and gave me a smile. "Yeah, have fun tonight!"

I waited until the end of the day to walk up to Peter with a nervous smile. "Hey, you free tonight?" I asked casually, getting horrible flashbacks to how nerve-wracking setting up our first date was. At least this time I actually knew he liked me. "Yeah! Why, what'd you have in mind?" My smile grew and I squeezed his hand. "You wanna come out to dinner at 6? Look nice, too. Not like black tie, obviously, but probably a collared shirt." He raised an eyebrow, trying and failing to fight back a smile. "Well alright then! What's the occasion, if I can ask?"

"Mm, no you can't ask. I'll pick you up at like 5:30, how's that sound?" He kissed me on the cheek, eyes twinkling. "Looking forward to it!"

Perfect. That gave me a few hours to get a reservation and a gift. Piece of cake.

I looked in the mirror one last time, smoothing down my hair. "Alright Ace, you can do this," I mumbled, grabbing my keys and the box with Peter's gift in it. "I'm going out to dinner Mom, I'll be back later tonight!" I shouted up the stairs, walking out the front door without bothering to wait to hear her answer. Jojo grinned at me from underneath the table, waving goodbye silently. I gave him a wink before turning around. "Hey Frankie, I think you should see if anyone's hiding in the kitchen!" I called, slipping out the front door before I got involved in the inevitable argument between the two little devils.

Peter was looking like a dream as he slid into my car, brushing snow out of his hair. I leaned across the seat to give him a quick kiss before driving off. "So seriously, what's this all about?" he asked, giving me a look.

I grinned, not taking my eyes off the road. "Nope, I'm not telling! It's a surprise. You like pasta though, right?" Still suspicious, he sat back in the seat. "Alright fine, be all secretive. And yeah, I do like pasta, it's delicious. So Italian then?" Smiling smugly, I pulled into the parking lot, opening the door for him. "Yep. Now come on, our reservation was for ten minutes ago!"

He followed me inside, still trying desperately to get me to tell him what I was planning. Ignoring him with a smile, I walked up to the hostess. "Uh, I had a 6 o'clock reservation for two?" She looked on her screen, scanning the names. "For Ace?" I nodded, and she grabbed some menus, leading us to a perfectly secluded table in the far corner of the restaurant. The waitress took our drink orders and walked off, leaving Peter still squinting at me. "Come on man, spill it! Why are you doing this?"

I gave him a look of mock offense, scanning the menu. "What, I can't take my boyfriend on a date? Come on babe, you hurt me!" He rolled his eyes, smiling, and looked down at his own menu. "Sorry, love. But you're still definitely up to something."

"Yeah, I am. But you don't get to know what it is yet!"

Dinner was perfect. The food was nice, and we just chatted happily the entire meal until at last our dishes had been cleared and I saw the waitress walking over toward us with a plate in hand. I gave Peter a huge smile, grabbing his hand. "So you know what today is?" I asked eagerly. He frowned, racking his brain, before shrugging. "Monday?"

"Well obviously. But it also marks six months of us dating! So uh...happy anniversary I guess!" I said, right as the waitress set down the piece of cake, giving us both a smile. Peter's face absolutely lit up and he leaned across the table to give me a kiss, squeezing my hand. "Dammit you little sneak! I completely forgot what day it was." He looked at the cake, which had 'Congratulations!' written in chocolate sauce across the plate, face glowing. "Damn, I really don't deserve you," he murmured, looking up at me with a soft smile. My own smile only grew and I reached into my coat pocket. "No, you really don't," I teased, tossing the small box at him. He laughed, pulling off the bow. "What is this, a marriage proposal?"

"Aw, that would've been good. But nah, it's been six months, marriage would be taking things quickly, to say the least. I mean come on, you think we're responsible enough for that? Now open it!"

He opened the box, staring at the pair of studded silver cross earrings in silence. Tears slowly started to well up in his eyes and my heart sank. "Here if you don't like it I can just take it back," I said quickly, trying to reach across the table to take it back. He gave me a brilliant smile, tears leaking onto his cheeks. "No shut up they're perfect and I love them and I love you I just...you're so thoughtful it's so sweet and I love you so much! Sorry," he choked, wiping away tears with the back of his hand, still smiling.

I gave a sigh of relief, leaning across the table to kiss him again. "I know, I am a good boyfriend. Now come on, I'm not gonna let this cake go to waste."

I slipped an arm around his waist as we walked out of the restaurant awhile later, stepping outside. It had stopped snowing and the sky was amazingly clear, snow shining silver from the moonlight. Peter rested his head against my shoulder with a happy smile, reaching up to kiss me. "Well, happy anniversary babe," he purred, giving me a wink. Grinning, I kissed him back. "Happy anniversary to you too."