Today is my twenty first birthday and my hair wasn't having it. No matter what I tried, it didn't look right. About an hour ago I gave up and decided to curl it to waves that fell to right below my shoulders. I had just got done with my hair when my cell rang from my bedroom.
I sighed as I unplugged my hair curler and raced for my phone. My bathroom was connected to my bedroom so it wasn't a long race. I picked up the phone and answered it, "Maslow..." I playfully sneered, narrowing my eyes.
"Happy Birthday! I hope we're still on for tonight, because I'm sort of on my way over." James stated.
James and I had been dating for the past few months now, since I got the nerve to tell him I liked him and asked him out, growing tired of how other girls walked all over him for his celebrity when I cared for him; and I must admit it has been wonderful. It was like I had pictured it would be, only better. It was real.
I wasn't much of a drinker, at all really, so James asked if I would rather have a movie marathon instead of going out to a club or to get wasted like others wanted me to. I joyfully accepted and spent all morning figuring out what to wear, how to do my makeup; crazy girly things like that. I still feel the need to impress him, I'll probably always feel that though.
"Of course we're still on." I smiled, "How far away are you?"
"About five minutes. I'll see you when I get there." He answered. I could vision him smiling.
We said our goodbyes and hung up, we hadn't reached the point where we said that we loved each other yet. I was okay with it because when we first started dating, James had told me he wanted to take everything slow to make sure that nobody would be getting hurt. I agreed and we have been together since, but I've been slowly dying with my heart eating away at me. For a few weeks now I've been dying to tell him I love him. It hit me like a ton of bricks when I realized it, but I couldn't risk him feeling like it was moving too fast and scaring him away, so I've been keeping it to myself.
I got down the stairs just as I heard a knock on the door. I smiled and walked through the entryway, reaching for the door. I pulled it open to a smiling James, "You didn't tell me you were bringing someone..." I said leaning into the door frame.
"Well," he paused, "I thought it would be okay since he said he knows you and all." He replied holding Fox up so they were cheek to cheek.
"He's lucky he's cute." I laughed, "Come in."
"Actually," James started as he set Fox down. Fox ran into the house and out of sight as he turned into the kitchen, "we're going out." James finished catching my attention again.
"Oh?" I asked.
"Yeah, not out on the town to drink, but we are going to celebrate your birthday with more than just a movie marathon." He replied.
"Do I need to change?" I asked looking down at my self.
"No, you look beautiful, just grab a jacket. It's getting cold."
I smiled and turned to the coat rack that hung on the wall adjacent to the door, "Fox!" I called for that cute ball of fur. It wasn't too long before I heard his nails on the floor; he poked his head around the corner looking to James and I as he chewed the food I had normally left out for him, "Can you behave while your Daddy and I leave?" I asked slipping on a blue and white varsity jacket.
Fox blinked hard a few times as he swallowed his food and walked away. I laughed and locked the door, closing it behind James and I. He put a hand on the small of my back as he lead me to the car. In the beginning, I had to get use to him opening doors, pulling out chairs, and things like that. I had believed that chivalry had died out among the humans. It was a nice feeling, knowing I could still be treated like a lady.
He closed the car door behind me and walked around to his side as I buckled myself in. Once he got in and buckled his seatbelt, he started the engine and pulled away from the curb of my house.
"So where are we going?" I asked as I looked over to him and away from my window. I knew he wouldn't tell me, he never did. I always asked though, just in case I got lucky that time.
"No." He replied as a small, barely there, smile made way to his face. It wasn't even a proper response to my question, but I guess that is just what his response would lead to. So it was probably better than him going in circles with me.
"Right," I replied as we laughed.
The world outside the car was just on the verge of sunset as James turned onto a back road. As soon as he did I instantly knew where we were going. It only took about five more minutes before we were in a dirt parking lot. "Will you be able to climb the wood planks in those?" He asked pointing down to my heels.
I followed his gaze and looked down to them, this is one of the exact reasons why he should've told me where we were going. The wooden planks acted as stairs up the hill through the grove; it was chilly out but that was all that nature had to offer lately. Nothing had happened to cause any reason for me to sink into a surprise mud patch, "If I stick to the planks I should be fine." I answered as we got out of the car. He locked the car and took my hand in his as we began to climb the wood planks to the top.
The planks had sank into the ground over time, the tops still showing, the next one slightly higher than the last. They branched out and twisted further into the woods, leading whoever walked them all over the woods, something you could easily get lost in,especially with night approaching us. I only walked this area with James anyway, which was hardly ever anymore he was so busy. I was lucky enough that they had today off.
"Next time I'm off for a while, we should really try to get out here more." James said as we stepped up plank by plank, fallen leaves crunched as they collapsed under our feet. Fall was on it's way.
"Indeed, good sir. We could even bring Fox out for a stroll." I agreed, layering my best, which wasn't very good, British accent. I looked up to him and saw the small smile on his face he got whenever my fake accents came out.
Honestly, it was how I knew I loved him. While talking, a few weeks into us seeing each other, an Irish accent flew out of my mouth. I couldn't stop it and instantly worried what he was going to say. I've never been able to control it, it just happened, but it hadn't had happened around James until that night. I remember my eyes going wide while i waited for him to say something about it.
He continued talking like it hadn't even happened. He didn't furrow his brow or make any face to it. It worried me that he hadn't so I asked him why he didn't later, "I'm actually glad you brought it up; because I thought it was adorable." He replied as a smile grew across his face.
"Alright," He stopped us as we were a few steps away from the top, "You're going to have to piggyback the rest of the way, because you ARE going to close your eyes and the last thing I want is for you to fall and break your neck in those things." He said pointing to my heels for the second time.
"I...okay." I gave in; it would only end up that way.
He turned, his back facing me, as he crouched down for me to climb on his back. I did as told, wrapping my arms around his neck while he held onto my legs, "Eyes closed," He demanded as he stood up.
"I'll be too tempted to look." I laughed.
"WOMAN, we're not going until those peepers are shut!" He chuckled.
"How about this," I asked resting my forehead in the curve of his neck.
"That'll work. That way I'll be able to feel if you're peeking." He said as he finished climbing the last of the planks.
I knew we had reached the top once his walking evened out; after a few more feet of walking he stepped one last step up. We had to be in the gazebo now; it had been there for a while from what James and I could tell from just looking at it. It sat in the clearing of the hill top, the wood on it looked like it had been saturated with water year round not matter what was happening outside and it splintered in some areas.
"Okay, you can look." James said as he sighed happily.
I lifted my head, I was right we were in the middle of the gazebo, but it had been arranged for a picnic for two; blanket and basket and all. In the corner was an ipod dock, which meant there was at least one more thing to come out of this tonight.
"You didn't have to do this, James." I smiled as he gently let go of my legs, setting me on the floor.
"I didn't have to, I wanted to. Your birthday means more than just movies and popcorn." He stated as he turned to face me, wrapping his arms around my waist, pulling me closer to him. I placed my hands on his chest as I smiled up at him and he leaned in. Our lips met catching me in a subtle warmth that took over the chill of the air.
We broke the kiss, I wrapped my arms around him, pulling him closer to me. I buried my head in his chest and he held me while gently rubbing my back, "Let's eat before it get's too cold." James spoke before planting a kiss on the top of my head.
I agreed as we sat on the blanket.
It was the best birthday surprise any boyfriend had ever given me. James told me stories from behind the scenes of the show, I told him everything that had been going on with me since he was going through another busy spell, we laughed. He moved closer to me when he caught me in a shiver and wrapped an arm around my waist.
"It's getting late, should we head back?" i asked as we finished eating.
The sun had nearly set, casting a pink-orange glow over everything. Some fire flies began to light up areas around us, "Not just yet." James replied as he stood up, "We're going to count down the sunset." He said as he held out his hand for me.
I arched a brow as a grin slipped to my face, "I've always wanted to watch the sunset...with SpongeBob." I laughed taking his hand.
He smiled while pulling me up, with little effort, and held me as I footed myself to the gazebo floor, "Exactly. You can see it better from outside the gazebo." He explained taking my hand in his, lacing our fingers.
He pulled me a few feet away from the gazebo and stopped, standing behind me, snaking his arms around my waist. I laid my hands on top of his and I felt his chin rest on my shoulder. I sighed happily; it wasn't weird transitioning from 'friends' to being in a relationship. There weren't any awkward moments, it just felt right.
The sun slowly descended behind the line of the trees. I smiled as James began counting down, saying each number just above a whisper. He closed in on the countdown, "Three, two, one..." He paused as the world went dark, "Here...we...go..." He whispered as a light caught my eye.
I jumped and turned my head to it, a tree had lit up with white lights, and slowly, one by one, every tree after it in line lit up with the same white lights until we were completely enclosed by them. My jaw dropped to the glow of the lights, I turned to face James, he smiled down at me, "What do you think?" He asked, his hands meeting behind my back.
"I...I love it. When did you do all this?" I asked looking back and forth from him to the trees.
"Yesterday, I had some help though." He replied reaching into his coat pocket, and pulled out a small remote. He pointed it to the ipod dock and clicked a button, before putting it back in his pocket.
'Can I Have This Dance' from HSM3, our song, played from all around us. He must've set up speakers throughout the trees. I couldn't help the tears that found their way to my eyes. I hadn't been treated like this from a boyfriend in a long time, "You're amazing." I smiled and laughed lightly as I stood on my toes to kiss him.
He met my lips, I could feel him smile through the kiss, "There it is..." He whispered, breaking the kiss. He rested his forehead on mine.
"What?" I asked wrapping my arms around his neck.
"The moment." He replied placing his hands on my waist as we started to sway to the music.
I laughed, "What moment?"
His lips jerked into a smile, "The moment that I needed to know that I love you."
My heart jumped, "What?" I asked with a nearly panicked tone that I didn't mean to let escape.
"I love you, Jessica." He repeated.
I smiled widely, "That's good, because I've loved you for a while now. I've just been afraid to say it, because I didn't want to scare you off." I laughed.
"Well, I'm glad we chose now." He murmured softly into my ear.
"What made you chose now?" I was curious.
"You think I'm amazing for doing something simple like this. Picnicking on your birthday. I've had other relationships where they expected so much more for no reason at all. They didn't appreciate the simple things. You do. That makes me want to give you the world." He said before holding my waist tightly and picking me up, causing me to squeal, as he spun us in a quick circle before putting me back on the ground.
I smiled widely, "Say it again."
He laughed loudly, "I love you, Jessica!" He yelled; it echoed from all around us.
"I love you, James!" I yelled in return as his lips crashed to mine.
This was for the Semi-Official Big Time Rush One Shot Day! So glad I knew about it! The leading lady in this story is named after Jessica Ramos! Not based on her though...I have no idea how she actually acts. Lol. Hope you like it though, Jessica! If you guys could PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review. This is my first one shot. I would love to know how I did. :)