Paper Hearts

10 | belle

[ dedicated to vibingly because i saw that she added this story to her reading list and literally almost died in my bed. plus, sam & marley, which i read a long, long time ago (maybe when this account had 50 followers?) was one of my absolute favorite books on this site. now she's got a new story out called above the clouds and i'm dying guys - i'm literally dying to read this book because her writing does wonders on you]

PAPER HEARTS | 10

The first snowflakes on winter were sifted onto the ground as they made their way out of the restaurant and to the hotel across the street. Hints of the night sky bled over the orange-yellow hue of light and the winter breeze snaked into their coats. The shivers rippled along her spine and gooseflesh spotted her naked arms. A gasp tore at her lips when the pads of her fingertips pressed against the palms of his gloved hands. He looked down at her with a knowing look as if to say, I told you it was cold outside. He was right - he had chastised her when she started to leave their apartment in nothing but a dress and a woolen fleece. If it hadn't been for the jacket he'd forced around her shoulders, he would've been waiting an extra hour to reveal his birthday present for her because she'd be thawing before the hotel fireplace.

Mitchell Matthews, Micah's older brother, always arrived in town the week of Christmas to celebrate the eve with Ellie, the day of with his girlfriend, and the day after with Micah. Well - Mitchell didn't necessarily spend Christmas Eve with Ellie, but he made arrangements for Ellie and Micah to waste the day together. The specialty of Christmas day was that Ellie's birthday would the day before and Micah's would be the day after. The specialty of Mitchell's arrival was that with the thousands of dollars he always showed up with, he had plenty of money to go around.

While most birthday celebrations were experienced through lavish presents, Mitchell thought to help Micah make Ellie's twenty-second birthday especially memorable. Micah had spent a lot of time thinking before he approached his brother - he needed a practical, viable reason for wanting to borrow Mitchell's penthouse suite for the night. He knew that if he told his older brother that he was trying to impress Ellie by creating her best daydream, the teases would never end. Or worse - Mitchell would try to get involved and act as Micah's wingman.

It was around his half birthday that Micah began to feel some inkling of attraction towards Ellie and her ways. It was childish of him to accept his emotions as easily as he did, considering Ellie was beginning to show some interest in the McDreamy at the hospital, but that didn't stop Micah from trying. It was his inner friend, as well as his suppressed boyfriend, that was planning Ellie's birthday - not that she knew, of course. A new pendant for her charm bracelet and lunch (anything but dinner was a little unorthodox for Ellie) were the usual; it was everything following that made Ellie gush to her friends about her birthday for the next year.

For her nineteenth, he'd driven her to the his lakeside cabin in Michigan's upper peninsula. For her twentieth, Mitchell had helped him save up enough money to get him and Ellie two tickets to Disneyland; he secretly kept a printed picture of her and Merida in his wallet because he'd never seen anyone look as beautiful, or as happy, around a Disney character. Much to his chagrin, Ellie paid Mitchell back before the new year. Her twenty-first, although it was no vacation, was the first celebration to bring tears to her eyes. He'd bought her diamond earrings which, from that day on, she wore to every party, dinner, or potluck, whether or not the two went together.

Micah intended to up the ante for her twenty-second.

He was going to try to recreate her senior prom.

The bronze accents of the walls, the silver of the lights and the hanging bluebells in the suite made it seem like a ballroom fresh out of her favorite Disney movie. Micah was no beast, though he had intended to ask Mitchell to rough him up a little in order to look like one. But Ellie, in her tulle periwinkle and gold gown, looked like a true Belle - an actual beauty to a wannabe beast.