The Moment

Chapter Eleven

My feet touched the cold floor of my house and all I wanted to do was run back to my warm, comfy bed but his hand held onto mine as he guided me through the house. We walked in silence but I was strangely okay with it. It was comforting. Even in the dark and with my eyes half open, I knew where we were going.

Stepping onto the balcony, I was instantly in awe at my surroundings. Rose petals and lantern lights lined the ground of the balcony along with a blanket and pillows placed neatly in the corner.

"But-"

"I borrowed Tayler's key...I figured this would be a nice spot to be when the clock strikes 3:14." He had a way of knowing exactly what i was going to say before I said it. "I asked Casey what time you were born. I had a feeling if anyone knew it'd be her."

Continuing to be speechless, I stepped onto the blanket and leaned my back against the wall, watching as he did the same. It was silent, neither one of us wanting to ruin the stillness of the moment. It just seemed...right.

"I'm sorry I didn't say anything to you, you know...after we kissed. I just um...was planning to do something like this for you for a while now and I knew if I talked to you beforehand I'd let something slip and completely ruin it."

"You've been planning this?" I asked, looking over at him. His face was lit up by the lanterns just enough so I could see the main features of his face.

"Yeah...I wanted to do something for you, obviously for your birthday...but before the party, I was going to make it a little less romantic." He said, letting out an awkward laugh. He played with his fingers as he looked down, almost as if he didn't really know what to say. "And then I kissed you and...here we are."

"Here we are." I repeated, not taking my eyes off him. "We don't have to talk about it, you know?" Sure, acknowledgement of the kiss is nice but it was one moment...in the bathroom during a party, I'd hardly call that a moment that needs to be followed up by a talk. "We don't entirely have to talk at all." Looking away, I cursed myself for saying that but if we just sat in silence, that'd be fine or if he took it...another way...that'd be fine as well.

Feeling his hand wrap around my waist, I looked back towards him and was immediately met with his lips on mine. His free hand moved to the back of my neck, pulling me closer to him so I adjusted my body to fully face him. The kiss was soft but not scared, we took our time but teased each other just enough. Parting our lips, he rested his forehead against mine as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out his phone.

"Happy birthday, Regan." Looking down at the dimly lit phone, I read 3:16am. I've been 19 for two minutes now and it's already the best year of my life. Pulling me over to him so I was now in between his legs, I rested my back against his chest as his arms wrapped tightly around my waist.

"Thank you." I whispered, placing my arms over his and closing my eyes.

---

I'm a ray of sunshine, I fuckin' love life-

Rolling over, I began searching for my phone that had been ringing for the last hour and all I could think about was how I was going to kill her. The ringtone belonged to one person and one person only and in this moment, she was not a ray of sunshine to me.

"Where the hell are you?" Casey asked, the second I answered the phone. "I'm standing in your room and it seriously looks like you just got up and left."

"Well you're not wrong." I said, looking over at Noah, whose face began to twitch as he woke up. "I'll be down in a second. Will you make me a coffee?" I asked, getting up from the blanket and beginning to gather myself.

"Fine, you better not take long." Hanging up before I could say anything, I assumed Casey was now heading downstairs and towards the kitchen. Looking over at a dazed Noah, which by the way is the cutest thing ever, I wondered how I was going to explain his presence.

"Let the day begin." I said, shrugging my shoulders as Noah stood up in front of me. Letting out a laugh, he placed his hand on my cheek before pressing a soft kiss against my forehead.

---

"Ah, I smell coffee." The world's greatest smell, any other opinion is wrong.

"And I see boy." Casey said, raising her eyebrows as Noah followed behind me into the kitchen.

"Uh, yeah, Noah just stopped by, just before you got here, actually." I lied, grabbing my mug from the counter.

"Well that was sweet of you." She said and I already knew she didn't believe a word I just said. "Moving on, go fix...this," She said, motioning towards the mess I was currently looking like. "And that." Now motioning towards Noah. "You guys look like you slept outside all night." Taking a sip of my coffee to avoid making a face that would tell all my dirty little secrets, I turned around and began heading out of the kitchen. "Oh and Regs...Happy birthday."