ᴄᴏꜱᴍɪᴄ ᴄᴏɴɴᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ ☾ jimmy page

VII.

we flew into new york city a few days later; our final stop on the tour.

we'd also be celebrating my nineteenth birthday whilst in new york, and I had a feeling that jimmy had something - or a few things - planned.

I woke up in our bed at the drake hotel on a wednesday morning; zeppelin had two days off before their first show in town, which was the following friday, and my birthday was on that saturday.

"good morning, darling."
I looked up at jimmy, who stood by the bed with the telephone receiver held by his ear. "they've got me on hold, I was just ordering our breakfast."

I nodded, lying on my back, still trying to wake up all the way. I heard jimmy finish the room service order and hang up the phone, and when I looked up again, he was at the end of the bed, peeling the blankets back.
"what are you doing, baby?" I asked, stifling a yawn.
"oh, nothing. I just thought I'd spoil you a bit while we wait on breakfast," he said. next thing I knew, he'd pulled me down to the end of the bed and gotten on his knees, and I smiled to myself.

he gently slid my underwear off of me and pressed warm kisses to my inner thighs, slowly working his way inward. I felt his hot breath come closer, raising goosebumps on my skin, and he slowly started making love to me with his tongue and his lips. having never experienced this before, it was a shock to my system.

I let out a low moan, instinctively running my hands through jimmy's dark curls, pulling him further into me. I felt the pressure begin to build up inside of me, and my heart was racing.
"jimmy," I whimpered, nearing my peak. he tightened his grip on my thighs, which only turned me on more.

I released just as the hotel employee with our room service knocked on the door, and jimmy and I quickly composed ourselves. I laid back on the bed pillows, my legs trembling under the blankets, watching as jimmy collected our breakfast and locked the door again.

"I quite enjoyed that," I said, still trying to catch my breath, and he smirked at me.
"oh, I did too. the view was spectacular," he said, chuckling a little. "this week is all about you, angel. I have dinners planned, I'm going to take you shopping. anything you want, darling, it's yours. I want you to enjoy your birthday to the full extent."

"you spoil me," I said, smiling at him.
"that's my goal, love. to love you and spoil you as much as humanly possible."
I reached out for him. "come sit next to me and eat."
he smiled at me and passed me my plate, and he cozied up next to me and we enjoyed our breakfast.

-

"does this look alright? I like it a lot."
jimmy had taken me out shopping. I was trying on a gorgeous blue suede coat with soft shearling trim on the collar and the sleeves, and I was in love with it; I had seen the other groupie girls donning beautiful elaborate coats, and I had been wanting one for myself.

"it looks wonderful on you, sweetheart. the blue really suits your skintone and the color of your hair," jimmy said, and I smiled at him.
"is one-hundred dollars too expensive?" I asked, feeling slightly guilty.
"it could be a million dollars and I'd still get it for you. it's yours, darling," he said, wrapping his arms around my waist from behind and kissing me on the cheek.

I slipped out of the coat and clutched it to my chest as we walked to the cash register, and jimmy paid for it.

he took me to a few other clothing stores where he bought me a black velvet dress and a new pair of shoes.
"I feel like I'm bleeding you dry," I said to jimmy, feeling increasingly guilty.
"daphne, stop it. I wanted to do this for you, and I plan to do more. I wouldn't do it if I didn't want to or didn't have the means," he said, taking my hand in his. "please, just let me spoil you."

I gave him a sad look and he kissed me on my forehead, and we got into a cab.

-

I slowly started to feel depressed throughout the day, and I think jimmy had taken notice.

"what's the matter, darling? aren't you happy with your new things?"
"of course I am, baby. I love them," I assured him.
"then what's the matter?"
"nothing, jimmy. I promise."
"daphne," he said, giving me a stern look, and I shrugged.
"it's just that, the way you've treated me these last few months has been amazing, and I'm so grateful. you've taken care of me and loved me and bought me things, and I'm so appreciative. because this is my first birthday since my parents died that I don't have to be alone," I said, starting to cry. "I just never want to be alone again. please don't ever leave me. please."

"oh, darling," he said, rushing over to me and taking me into his arms. I sobbed into his chest and he held me tight, rubbing my back and whispering sweet things in my ear. "as long as I'm alive, daphne, you'll never be alone again. I promise. I love you so much."
he brought me up onto his lap, and I wrapped my arms around his neck and rested my head on his shoulder, and he held me like this while I quietly cried.

"can I tell you something?" he whispered to me, and I nodded, rubbing my nose and looking at him.
"I'm going to take you home with me, and we're going to fill your closet with beautiful clothes, and I'll feed you wonderful food, and we'll make love every single day. and someday, we'll get married, and we'll have a honeymoon somewhere warm with a beach, and we'll stay there for months if we want to. and then we'll get cozy in a big house by a river, and we'll have lots of babies, and we'll watch them grow up, and then we'll grow old together, and we'll be so happy, daphne. I promise."

he kissed me gently, and I pressed my forehead to his.
"do you mean all that?" I asked him, my voice shaking, and he nodded.
"daphne, I've never loved anyone like I love you. you're smart, and you're kind, and you're thoughtful. I can talk to you for hours and never get bored. and you're beautiful, in every single way. I love you and I never want to be without you."

I threw my arms around him and hugged him again. "I love you."
"I love you too, daphne. so much." he ran his hands up and down my back, letting them come to rest on my waist. "why don't you let me order you a nice lunch, does that sound good?"
I nodded and smiled a little.
"that's my girl," he said, kissing me again, and he reached for the telephone and ordered room service.

-

me, jimmy, and the rest of the boys had a bit of a rager in the hotel bar that night.

I sat on jimmy's lap, nestled in my new blue coat, casually consuming a tray of cosmopolitan jello shots; I'd had five or six of them and I wasn't even tipsy.
"you're just tearing through those aren't you, darling?" robert asked, eyes wide.
I laughed. "I may be little, but I can hold my alcohol just fine."
"she can out-drink me any day of the week," jimmy jested, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"but can she out-drink me?" bonzo piped up.
"I don't know, let's find out." I got up and ordered sixteen shots of whiskey from the barmaid, and bonzo came and stood beside me.
"whoever falls over first is the loser, right?" he asked.
I nodded and smirked at him. "good luck."

I didn't feel a buzz until my third or fourth shot, and bonzo was stumbling by his fifth. jonesy, jimmy and robert were laughing and clapping, and once bonzo's sixth shot touched his lips, he was done for; I caught him under his arms just before he hit the floor.
"you alright, buddy?" I asked him, trying to help him to his feet.
"I'm... I'm fine," he slurred, and I laughed.

jonesy came and helped me get bonzo upright, and he patted him on the back.
"come on, big fella. let's go," he said, walking him out of the bar, and I walked back over to jimmy and robert, and continued with my jello shots.

"well well well, aren't you impressive?" robert asked, sipping on his brandy.
"she is, isn't she?" jimmy said, smiling at me, and I gave a little curtsy.
"thank you, thank you very much," I jested, giggling.