This chapter is super short, because I couldn't decide whether I wanted to finish in this chapter or the next. I opted for the next chapter. Enjoy!

CHAPTER TEN

Dahlia's POV

It was my birthday.

19 years old, time to grow up-it was my last teen year. Not that it mattered-I was considered an adult the minute I turned 18 anyway. It was going to be a small birthday this year, with only my parents and David, and I was happy with it that way. I had hoped that I'd have had the money to go to South Park and spend with everyone, but jobs just hadn't panned out for me in the last month and I hadn't yet had an interview. I had been a good girl, taken my piercings out to look for jobs, but I wasn't stupid enough to let them grow back-I loved my jewelry and that's what made me...y'know...me.

So imagine my face when, just as I'm blowing out the number 19 candle on the half-sheet cake they'd gotten me, Kenny comes waltzing in my front door like he owned the place and grabbed me from behind, hugging me so hard I couldn't breathe and whispering things in my ear that would have had my mother bitching at him had she heard. I let out a little half-assed yelp and turned around just for him to kiss me like there was no tomorrow, making my parents laugh in amusement, albeit a little uncomfortably. It took me a full minute to realize, yes, this was my boyfriend in my house, kissing me with promises to never let me go again. I smiled at him, throwing my arms around him.

"Mom, Dad, this is Kenny," I said after the initial shock was over and I could think properly. "He's my...well...boyfriend, I guess."

"Nice to meet you," he said politely, which is the most polite I'd ever heard the lecherous blond. "Your daughter is somethin' else, let me tell you…I was head over fu-" He noticed David there, so changed his wording. "Fricking heels for this girl from the moment I met her."

"She loves you too," My mother said, further embarrassing me. "She's not been the same since she left South Park."

Kenny laughed. "Is that right?"

"Hush," I groaned, hiding my face in my hands.

"Well, if it's okay with the two-ahem, three-of you, I'd like to take this gorgeous lady home with me. I'll take good care of her," he said, and I didn't miss the underlying innuendo there. My parents, however, did, and I was so relieved.

"Well, you know that's our daughter," my dad said. "Are you going to be staying in the same house?"

Kenny held his hands up. "We're rooming with someone else-Dahlia's friend Clover. We've discussed rooming and I think Dahlia's staying with Clover in her room."

My dad looked at Kenny hard after that for a long while and finally nodded. "I'll trust you for now, boy. If I find out anything happens to my daughter, your blood will be on my hands."

I winced, knowing what my dad said was the truth. Even knowing that Kenny couldn't really die didn't help anything-my dad would kill him over and over and over again. It was something that I didn't exactly want to live through so many times, so I'd definitely make Kenny be a good boy. He took it well, smiling and nodding. "I wouldn't let anything happen to her-she means a lot to me." He looked at me then, patting my back. "You wanna go grab the stuff you need? I mean to take you back with me tonight."

I stared at him for a moment in dumbfounded silence and nodded before racing to my room to grab the essentials-phone charger, wallet, that kind of thing. My heart was racing and I could barely keep my hands from shaking. This, by far, was the best birthday I'd ever had. I couldn't wait to be back in South Park, and so I tried to hurry.

"Come on, slowpoke," My dad called teasingly. I picked up a couple of duffel bags and stuffed what clothes I could in them-mostly winter clothes, cause I knew it got freezing-ass-cold up in Colorado, and it was the middle of November. I may have been excited but I wasn't stupid and needed to grab what warm clothes I could manage to pack. After a moment or two of that, Kenny walked into my room, knocking on the doorframe as he passed by and flopping down on my bed.

"So this is what your room looks like," he said thoughtfully, looking at the ceiling. "Never thought I'd be seein' the inside of this place. Not after…" He let the sentence trail. "Well, you know."

I shrugged, looking up from the bag I was packing. "My room's nothing special. And for the record, it was really hard to stay mad at you. You're a great serenader." I laughed a little.

"If you think that shitty singing was good, you should have heard me at the gigs with Clover. I had women asking for autographs," he drawled.

"You lie," I said, narrowing my eyes at him.

He sat up, raising his hands in mock innocence. "They did! Honest!"

I rolled my eyes, zipping the bag I was packing and throwing it at him. "Well, I hope that's all they asked for."

"I've been a good boy," he said. "I told them I had you. And so did Clover. And then she threatened my balls."

I busted out laughing. "That sounds like her."

"So are you gonna get ready or are you gonna just sit here and talk to me all night?" he asked, then laughed when I flipped him off. I picked up the first duffel bag and my necessities and walked downstairs as he followed me with the other two I'd haphazardly packed.

My mom was holding the cake out to me, smiling. "Here, you take this with you. It's yours, after all. Celebrate with your friends."

"Are you sure?" I asked. "Get some for you guys and David, at least."

She laughed, shaking her head. "Nope, David doesn't need any sugar tonight, and if you're planning on being on the road tonight, you need to get going." I could tell she was trying not to cry. "Be safe."

"You know I will, Mom," I said with a smile of my own. I gave her a hug and took the cake from her hands. David about tackled my legs and I hugged him tightly. "Be good, squirt. I'll see you."

"Oookay," he said with a frown.

My dad walked us out to the car and after a slightly tearful goodbye on both our ends, I was on my way back to South Park. Albeit a little sad, this was by far the best birthday I'd ever had, and I wouldn't change it for the world. Who knew that what started as a World of Warcraft friendship would turn into this? I looked at Kenny and smiled, putting my hand into his. I was going to a place that felt more like home than my actual home...and I couldn't wait to get there.

The next chapter will hopefully be up soon! I don't have a lot of time to write lately-I have 2 tiny humans to tend to, and that takes up most of my time. But don't worry-I'm working on it when I have the chance, even if it is just a paragraph at a time! :) I hope you like it! Thank you for reading 3!