Melissa's P.O.V.
Dalton had NO idea what I had in store for his birthday. I couldn't quite believe I'd done this. Around 1 PM, Paula picked me up and took me over to Dalton's house. I chose a later time so he could celebrate with his family before I swept him away for the rest of the day.
"Hey, handsome man. How's it feel to be LEGAL?"
He shrugged. Rolling my eyes, I grabbed a handful of his MCR shirt and pulled him outside. I shoved him in the back seat where I joined him.
"Okay, Paula! Let's go!!!!"
"Where are we going, babe?"
"Well, that would just ruin the whole surprise, wouldn't it?"
The first place we went was Hot Topic. A lovely girl with 22 gauges greeted us as we walked up to the store.
"Hi, I'm Natalie! Today, you've got a $300 spending limit. Go crazy! Whatever you want!"
He looked at me with eyes that resembled a child in a candy store after their mother told them they could eat whatever and however much they wanted. As I watched Dalton zip around the store, flitting from this rack to that shelf and back to the clearance section, I realized something: This boy, the one I called mine and who, to my utter shock, called me his...I love him, I thought to myself as my boyfriend reached the checkout counter.
An hour later, we were at Guitar Center. Again, we were greeted by a wonderful young man who told Dalton he had a $1,000 spending limit. Immediately, Dalton dashed to the Schecter guitars.
"My best friend, Hunter, had this guitar, but he had to get rid of it even though he didn't want to. I'm going to get it for him!"
"Dalton, you're supposed to get things YOU want today."
"I want Hunter to be happy. This, in turn, will make me happy."
He cheerfully walked over to the distortion pedals and picked out a POD, which was the exact model used by Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day. Walking up to the counter, he payed for the items and we left.
"This is the best birthday ever," Dalton stated. "I get to spend a bunch of money on things I never thought I'd have the money to get, AND I get to enjoy every bit of this awesomeness with my most favorite girl in the entire world."
He draped his arm around me, kissing me on the forehead.
"Remind me how I got so lucky again?"
I rolled my eyes. I'm the lucky one, I screamed in my head. We arrived at the restaurant where we were walked back to a private room. Before the restaurant host opened the door to the exclusive room, I stepped in front of Dalton.
"Okay, I've saved the best part for last. I don't even think you're ready for this, but here we go. I love you, Dalton. Happy birthday!"
I gave the waiter a nod and he opened the door. Waiting inside for us was David Tennant, the actor who played the Tenth Doctor on Doctor Who, and Matt Smith, who played the eleventh. Dalton dropped to his knees in a crying pile of birthday boy madness.
Hours later, we finally left. Just before we got back into Paula's car to go home, Dalton pulled me aside.
"I don't know how you pulled that all off. That was amazing. Melissa...you're amazing, and today made me see just how much I truly appreciate having you in my life. You're beautiful, intelligent, you listen, and did I mention you're beautiful? I want to take this opportunity to tell you just how much I love you because damnit, I do, a whole lot."
His lips pressed against mine, taking my breath away.
"I'm glad you liked it," I mumbled through the kiss. He pulled me closer.
"Shh. No talking. Just feeling."
"UM...I HAVE TO BE HOME BEFORE 11 PM, GUYS. NOT TO RUSH YOU, BUT I'VE ONLY GOT A LEARNER'S PERMIT," Paula shouted from the car. We giggled, never breaking eye contact as we climbed into the back seats.
"Did you have a happy birthday," I asked him. He pulled me close, holding me as best he could through the seatbelts.
"The best birthday."
