I'm not sure if they're call something different in other countries, so I thought I'd make a note of it here.

An observatory = a place with telescopes used for looking at astronomy, usually for research. Here the open them to the public fairly regularly, but I'm not sure if this is done everywhere or not, so please excuse the inaccuracy if this isn't the case elsewhere.

.

.

He still hadn't told me where we were going when we got in the car, but I was growing increasing curious as we drove out into the country. As the streetlights faded into the distance, and we pulled into a dirt road, I couldn't resist asking.

"Where are we going?" I asked for the millionth time that hour, placing my hand on his thigh as he drove.

"Five minutes; we're almost there," he promised, unable to repress a small smile.

I was practically twitching in anticipation but the time I saw the sign. "The observatory? What?"

His cheeks heated a little and he reached for my hand as we got out of the car, leading me toward the building. "Your mother told me you and Eleazar used to come here when you were kids?"

I nodded my head and squeezed his fingers. "…yeah…dad used to…" Stopping him at the door, I wrapped my arms around him and kissed him firmly. I hadn't been up here in so long I'd forgotten this place had existed; my father used to take my brother and I up here all the time when we were younger, and I'd never quite been able to squash my love for it. The whole experiences was emotion-logged.

"Is this okay?" he asked hesitantly.

"It's perfect, Carlisle," I mumbled into his shoulder, suddenly almost tearful; the nostalgia was a little strong. It wasn't a bad thing, though, just overwhelming. "I love you."

"I love you too." His fingers stayed locked around mine as we went inside. He paid our entry fee, and we made our way up the unfortunate amount of stairs to get up to the top floor.

Nothing had changed since I'd last been here, almost twenty years ago, and we were pretty much alone, bar a few other people mulling around and a couple of staff members. Thankfully, the weather was clear, so we a perfect view of the sky. The stars seemed brighter than when I was younger and we sat for a while in the dim lighting under the large panel in the ceiling, watching the night sky.

I was finding it hard to concentrate on the stars, though; watching Carlisle was far more tempting. I reached for him again, brushing his hair back off his face and smiling when he did. "Have you been up here before?" I asked, keeping my voice low as not to disturb the peace.

He shook his head but didn't look over at me, transfixed on the sky. "No…I didn't know it existed until your mother mentioned it…it's pretty, though."

"Come, it gets better." I got up, pulling him up after me and over to one of the telescopes. Looking through the lens, it was just as magical as I remembered it, and it instantly brought a smile to my face. I stepped back after a few minutes, tearing my eyes away from it and nudging Carlisle forward. His face lit up immediately, and I slipped my arm around his waist.

We stayed for a while longer, until the staff were itching for us to leave so they could go home. On the drive home, we stopped to get takeaways; I hadn't eaten a proper meal all day, but I didn't think my boyfriend was actually hungry, and he was just humouring me.

He seemed extra 'clingy' tonight as we lay together in bed a few hours later. We were both exhausted from a long day, despite my nap, and it was quite late now. Carlisle had quite literally wrapped himself around me, and I really wasn't complaining, still feeling a little emotionally fragile after the episode at my parents.

"I'm sorry your birthday was shit, Garrett," he murmured to me, squeezing me extra tightly for a second.

I wrapped my arm around him so he could rest his head against my shoulder, and I had an excuse to kiss him. "It wasn't. Not the time I spent with you, anyway. It's the best one I've had in a long time, bar my parents…thank you for tonight; it really means a lot."

He sighed, and I couldn't decipher whether the expression on his face was frustration or disappointment. "I just wish today could have been special for you; your mother didn't tell me that there would be so many people there, but I took you there even after I promised I wouldn't throw you in the deep end the other day. I'm sorry." Definitely frustration.

Rolling over so that I was on top of him, I pinned his hands against the bed. "Listen, you. What we did tonight meant a hell of a lot to me, and we can just forget about what happened at my parents from now; mum just thinks I'm sick, and I'll deal with the truth later." I leaned down to kiss him. "We are going to have to tell her that I'm fine now though. I don't want her to freak out and get over-protective."

His cheeks flushed a very light shade of pink and he trained his eyes on the ceiling. "…I've spoken to her already…she knows you're okay. I told her that you were tired – which wasn't a lie, by the way, because you were asleep – and she said that she'd call you tomorrow to see how you were…" he admitted, guilty and shy.

"Even better, then," I murmured, releasing his hands so he could wrap his arms around my neck.

"…you don't mind me talking to her, do you?" he asked quietly, glancing up to meet my eyes.

"No, of course not. I love that you can do that. I might have something to say if you start conspiring with my brother, though," I grinned at him. "There's going to be trouble if you two start picking on me."

Laughing, he shoved me sideways so he could cuddle into my side again. "Only as long as you don't side with Alistair."

"I'm not making any promises," I teased.

He rolled his eyes at me, playfully slapping my chest. "You wouldn't."

"You know that I would. I'm sure there's much he could tell me about you and Edward-"

He pressed his hand over my mouth. "Shut up and go to sleep. It may be your birthday, but it's only your birthday for another few hours, and after that I can smother you with a clean conscious." Pulling his hand away again, he kissed me gently, resting his cheek on my chest.

"Whatever you say, Carlisle."

.

.

It was still dark when I woke up, and I wasn't immediately sure why I was awake in the first place. It was just after 5AM when I glanced at my alarm clock. All was revealed when I tried to shift; the way Carlisle was lying on me was fucking uncomfortable. Somehow, he'd managed to get his arm underneath me so that he could hug me tightly, leaving me both unable to lie flat, and unable to breathe properly with him squeezing me.

I carefully tried to pull away from him without waking up, but, being the light sleeper he was, he was awake the instant I tried to move him. Apparently being woken up far too early didn't damper his love for the morning though; he sat up to grab his phone and look at the time.

"Why're we awake?" he asked, far too chirpy for the hour.

"Because you're sleeping like an asshole," I teased to the best of my sleepy ability. "My surprised you can still feel your fingers."

He clenched and released his hand a few times, trying to get the blood flow back. "Sorry," he mumbled sheepishly. "Since we're awake, do you wanna go for a walk? We can watch the sun rise?"

What part of 5AM made him want to fucking exercise, of all things, I'd never understand. I must have frowned, because he laughed.

"We can make coffee and take it with us?" he tempted.

"And I can go back to bed when we get back?" I asked sceptically.

He rolled his eyes. "Yes, Garrett, then you can go back to bed."

Reluctantly, I agreed, groaning as I pulled on the closest pair of pants and jacket I could. He was dressed far too quickly, in a hoodie and jeans before I'd even stood up off the bed. "Why are we doing this exactly?" I grumbled at him.

"Because it's pretty, and it's good for your health, Gar," he teased.

"Sleep is also good for my health," I muttered. "But you don't seem worried about that aspect."

"Enough grumbling, hurry up and put your shoes on; I'll make us coffee."

.

.

'Coffee' turned into a damn picnic, and I was sure my boyfriend's motive of bringing food was to shut me up as we walked. It worked, too; I couldn't complain when my mouth was full. My body wasn't too happy about the hill he'd decided to take us up, insisting that the view would be nicer up there. I couldn't have given less of a fuck about the view, but it made him happy so I humoured him.

I cringed as I sat down on the grass, only to find that it was wet their morning dew. Instantly the backs of my pants were damp, but Carlisle didn't listen to my whining about it. He handed me my flask of coffee and promptly told me to shut up instead.

"This better be as magical as you promised," I muttered as the first streaks of light started to peak through the clouds.

"Hey, you liked the stars, so you may as well see the other side of it," he pointed out.

I playfully hit his leg, and he folded his fingers around mine. In reality, I shouldn't have been complaining about watching a sun rise with a cute boy next to me, but I couldn't help it. It was so damn early. I slowly demolished my breakfast while I kept an eye on the sky, watching the colour shift from grey to orange. He was right; it was gorgeous. Enough so that I pulled out my phone to take a few pictures of it, planning on showing them to Kate next time I saw her; she liked this fairy-tale shit.

Carlisle caught me out halfway through the process, repressing a smirk. "Happy you came out?"

"Yeah," I admitted. "I can see why you like it."

"Alistair and I use to do this all the time; I kind of miss it. And, the rain stopped for us this morning, so it's even more perfect."

"There was no hand-holding with Alistair, I hope," I teased, squeezing his fingers.

"Without the hand-holding," he confirmed, laughing. "Without the breakfast and the coffee too; he didn't need as much incentive as you do to get up in the morning."

"God, two morning people in one house," I groaned, chuckling. "Does Randal have to do this too?"

"I don't think so; Allie not as cruel as I am." He leaned up to kiss my cheek, feigning innocence. "I'm sure he's allowed to stay in bed."

I shrugged. "I think I'm still better off; he may not be sleep deprived, but he also doesn't get to spend time with you." Wrapping my arms around him as he laughed, I pulled him into my lap, giving him a tight squeeze. "And, he also misses out on coffee, which is basically a crime in itself."

"I'm glad you value our relationship as much as you do caffeine." He rolled his eyes at me.

"You'll always share my heart with coffee, don't worry." I kissed him as he couldn't resist a smile.

After sitting on the hill for another half an hour or so, the novelty of watching the morning sky was quickly wearing off, and I was getting cranky like an over-tired toddler. Carlisle called me out on it. "You're worse than Kate when she doesn't get enough sleep," he told me. He, on the other hand, didn't care about the time and was happy as usual.

"That's because we both know what's good for us."

"Please, you'd sleep all day if you could," he laughed.

"Yeah, but I wouldn't ever be grumpy," I pointed out, frowning as I tried to suppress a yawn.

"Fine. Come on, drama queen, let's go home if being outside if that terrible." Still amused, he stood up, offering me his hand to pull myself up on. The back of my pants was very damp now, from the grass, but I was a little happier holding his hand.

After all my complaining, I didn't go back to bed when we got home. I had to go to work instead, and spent the entire day yawning and struggling to keep my eyes open. My boy made me lunch though, so I couldn't be mad at him, and I had decided I'd pick up takeaways on the way home since it was my night to cook and I didn't feel like it. I knew Carlisle wouldn't complain; nobody complains about pizza.

He wasn't home yet when I arrived, but I was starving and dished up our food anyway. I put his plate in the microwave, and took mine to sit in front of the TV, flicking through the channel to find something half-decent to watch while I waited for him.

"Pizza night?" he asked once he had the door open and saw the boxes on the table, not bothering to greet me first.

Laughing, I rolled my eyes. "In the microwave, Carlisle."

That was all the incentive he needed, and he was beside me again within a few minutes. "You know, we had takeaways last night too," he pointed out, folding his legs underneath himself. "We do this far too much."

"Yeah, and I'm the only one gaining weight," I accused, chuckling to myself. "I never did this before I started spending so much time with you, by the way. I used to eat meals like a normal human."

He shrugged, finishing his meal and then setting the plate on the table. I didn't need to glance over at him to know he was going to lean on me, and I subtly shifted in anticipation so that neither of us would be uncomfortable. Sure enough, he slid his arms around my waist, resting his head on my shoulder as I ran my hand down his back. "How was work?"

"Fine, when I get to come home to you."

Laughing quietly, he kissed my neck. "I'm glad."

I repressed a smile; for all it's ups and downs, life was fucking perfect.