A/N: Okay, good news! I am finally moving along with Chapter 15 of Seven Long Years! However, there is so much going on at school that I don't get a lot of time to write… so hopefully I will find some time this week and post it soon! For now, a little one-shot to hold you all over :)
Reviews are greatly appreciated, your feedback always help me improve!
Disclaimer: I don't own How to Rock, however I have owned David Israel in some twitter "arguments" ;D but I love that man… cool dude, cool dude.
"Happy 21st, baby! Finally an adult," Zander says with a big smile, wrapping his best friend and girlfriend, Stevie, in a big hug. She can feel his arms flex around her a little as he hugs her tightly and she wraps her arms around his waist, hugging back.
"Thank you, Z," she replies, pulling away from the hug—reluctantly—and walking up the driveway with him to his house. "So, you said you have something planned for today?"
"I do," he nods, leading Stevie over to his car. He opens the passenger side door for her and then shuts the door behind her. He walks to the driver's side, gets in, and starts the car up, "It's a surprise for now."
"But, Zander," she pouts, hoping he'll cave. He just shakes his head and pulls out of the driveway. Stevie leans back in her seat, defeated, and tries to think of all the places Zander could possibly be taking her for this special birthday, but nothing seems like something he would do for something as important as her 21st birthday.
"Please tell me where we're going?" she asks after a couple minutes of Zander's quiet humming—why is he so good at keeping surprises? she wonders sourly—she's never really liked surprises. Impatience is a big trait of hers. He laughs and shakes his head again, keeping his eyes on the road.
She leans back in your seat, once again, and then pouts, watching the road. Zander looks over at her, pouting like a child and laughs, "Don't look like a sad puppy, you'll like this, I promise… we're here now anyway."
"We are?" Stevie asks, sitting up a little straighter, looking around. She notices a small bar in between two other buildings and looks over at her boyfriend, confused, "A bar? Zander, you don't even drink…"
"I know that," he laughs.
"But I figured, you're 21, it's traditional to have your first drink on your 21st birthday. I did," he says with a shrug. Before Stevie can ask him when he's ever had a drink, he gets out of the car and walks to her door to open it for her.
"When did you ever drink?" she asks almost immediately as he leads her into the bar.
"My 21st birthday," he laughs as if it's the most obvious answer ever.
"But that was the only time, so I haven't since then. I might tonight though, just while we're here," he says, winking at Stevie. She bites her lip to hide the small blush creeping up her neck—his flirting has always done that to her, no matter how long they've been together now.
"Well, then I need a picture of that Mr. I-Don't-Drink," she jokes, pulling her phone out of her back pocket. He rolls his eyes playfully and takes Stevie's phone out of her hands, slipping it into his back pocket.
"I dare you to grab it," he teases, nudging her with his hip as he walks ahead of her to the bar. He keeps his arm around her waist and leads Stevie to the counter where the stools are. Zander lets her pick where to sit—she chooses to sit closer to the stage where the musicians will be playing later on.
He doesn't move his arm from around her waist, but he does move her stool closer to his. The bartender waits on the other people at the bar first, and finally he reaches the pair of them.
"What can I get the two of you?" he asks, cleaning one of the glasses. He eyes Stevie up and down for a minute, judging if she's old enough, and although she's slightly uncomfortable, Zander speaks up.
"It's this young lady's 21st birthday," he smiles at the man, "Sex on the Beach?"
The bartender nods and starts pulling out several bottles of other drinks and mixes, and you watch amazed at how quickly the man can make a drink. Max chuckles, low and quiet in your ear before kissing you cheek, "Happy 21st, babe."
Stevie laughs, "Sex on the Beach?"
"It's a drink, Steves," he laughs, nudging her slightly, but there's another meaning to it and he knows she's thinking about it.
He smiles at her and the bartender places the drink down in front of her. Stevie doesn't make any sudden movements to reach for it—she's never had a drink before, and she certainly doesn't feel 21 years old.
That's when Zander reaches for the drink and puts the straw between his lips, taking a small sip from it. He swallows and places the glass back down, making an airy, dramatic, "Ahh!"
Stevie laughs and nudges him with her shoulder, "That's my drink!"
"Well, you weren't even making a move for it," he argues, laughing. He pushes the glass closer to her and says, "Go on. Try it, it won't kill you. It's really good."
"And you're sure you 'don't drink'?" she jokes, raising an eyebrow. He rolls his eyes, laughing, and gestures for her to finally take a sip. She slowly reaches for the glass and brings it up to your lips, wrapping her mouth around the straw, and it smells sweet, she notices.
"Come on, Steves," he laughs, "Just take a drink!"
"I feel like you did something to it, you keep egging me on," she laughs, shaking her head.
"I didn't do anything to it, just drink!"
She sucks through the straw until finally the drink touches her tongue, and she notices that it's very fruity. She likes the taste a lot though, and ends up sipping more through the straw, but Zander chuckles and pulls the glass away.
"Slow sips, love. You don't want to get drunk too quickly," he says.
"You seem like the pro," Stevie comments, frowning slightly as Zander puts the glass back down on the counter. She wants to drink some more of it, but Z's is right… it wouldn't be good getting drunk so early—not that she really plans to get drunk at all.
"Are you going to order anything?" she asks him, slowly reaching for her glass again. Zander's dark brown eyes watch her hand inch closer and closer to the glass, but he doesn't move to swat it away. Instead, he lets her take another sip from the glass.
"Maybe in a little while," he shrugs, looking over at the musicians on stage. "Wish I brought my ukulele, I could perform a song for you."
"Since when do you not have your ukulele?" she teases, raising her eyebrows. Zander almost always has his ukulele, but a bar seems like the last place he would want to bring one of his. He ignores the gibe and watches the musicians. Stevie continues to sip on her Sex on the Beach, the cup emptying more and more every couple of sips she takes. By the time she's finished with the first one, Zander's already ordered one himself.
"Would you like another one?" he chuckles, gesturing to Stevie's empty glass.
She nods her head eagerly and leans into him more as he tightens his arm around her waist—eventually she'll need the support. He gets the bartender's attention and orders a second drink for her, and eventually it becomes a third drink, and by then she's past being giggly—in fact she might be drunk.
Zander is completely sober though, and he laughs at her silly, slurry comments and random thoughts she can't help but say aloud. The bartender eventually asks the pair to leave as it's past midnight, and Zander hasn't ordered anything else—after all, he is the one driving home.
He helps Stevie out to the car in the deserted parking lot and buckles the giggly birthday girl into her seat, laughing as she plays with his hands, making buckling her seatbelt a difficult task. He kisses her forehead once he's got her strapped in and says, "Sit still for a minute, okay?"
She nods and continues to play with the seatbelt as he gets into the driver's side and starts the car up.
"Where are we going?" she slurs, giggling. She leans over to run her fingers through Zander's hair and he just laughs and keeps his eyes ahead out the windshield, focusing on getting them home.
"We are going back to our house," he replies casually, and after what only feels like a couple of seconds, he's pulling into the driveway. He shuts the car off and gets out, helping Stevie out of her seatbelt.
Not trusting her to walk, he scoops his drunk girlfriend up into his arms and whispers, "I have one more way we can celebrate this 21st birthday of yours, Steves." His teeth gently graze her earlobe and she tilts her head to the side, pushing him away because it tickles.
"Happy birthday to me," she giggles, biting her lip and playing with the small curls of hair on the back of his neck. He smiles and nods and gently presses his lips to hers, kicking the bedroom door shut behind them.
A/N: So… yeah… that's that. Hope you enjoyed this little one-shot. I'm really just throwing this out there right now to make up for the lack of updates on my actual stories, so please don't hate me! I'm not procrastinating! I just have all honors classes this year, and there's so much work already!
Let me know what you thought? Reviews are greatly appreciated, darlings!
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