SimpleMinded

The Best Birthday Present.

Haven POV

"Haven!! Haven!! Stop!! What happened?!" Jay stops running and I look up at him. "Kiss." We sit down at a picnic table, "Kiss? What about kissing?"

I look at my hands, "I kissed Niall on the lips." His eyes widen and I look at him, "You did what?! When?! Just then?!" I nod my head slowly, "I-I didn't mean to."

My tears start falling and Jay wraps his arms around me. "He's mad at me, I don't want to go back."

Jay POV

I rub her back as she cries on my chest, "Calm down, it's okay." I doubt Niall was upset, he was probably just shocked and didn't know how to react.

"How about we get us some ice cream? We can stay out for a little bit." She wipes her tears and slowly nods her head. We walk to an ice cream truck and order ice cream. "Now, why was such a young, beautiful lady crying?" The old Asian man asks us in a strong accent, "Having some problems. Ice cream can cheer us up a little bit." I tell him with a smile.

I hand him some money and he waves his hand, "On the house. I can't a charge a woman who's upset." I hand Haven her ice cream and give the man a ten dollar tip. We walk to a nearby park and sit on the ground under a tree.

I lean against the tree and she sits in front of me. "I saw people kiss like that on tv." Haven sniffles and take a bite of her ice cream, "What was his reaction? How did he look?" She looks down and I notice her eyes filling up with tears, "He just stared at me with wide eyes. What happens if he sends me away?"

I shake my head, "He's not going to do that, so stop saying that. Niall would never do that." She wipes her face and looks at me, "Sorry for pulling you with me." I let out a soft laugh, "It's okay, rather you do that than run out by yourself." We eat our ice cream in silence.

I pull my phone out and secretly text Niall our location. "What do you want to do?" She shrugs her shoulders, "I want to go walking." She stands up and I stand up after her, "Let's walk."

She smiles up at me as we walk to the sidewalk. "Why are you smiling?" She shrugs her shoulders, "Thank you." I look ahead and laugh, "Why are you thanking me? I didn't do anything."

"You and everyone else don't look at me weirdly when they're around me." A few ducks come up to her and she bends down to pet them. I watch as she pets the ducks, "If we were to look at you weirdly, Niall would beat all us guys up to a pulp and he would have the women work in the mailroom."

I try to pet the ducks, but they quack angrily at me. "Ah!! What the hell?!" Haven lets out a soft laugh and I roll my eyes, "Come on, I don't like the ducks."

"I ruined Niall's birthday." I quickly shake my head, "No, you didn't. Everything will be alright as soon as you and Niall talk it out." She looks at me and then straight ahead, "I don't want to talk. I want to stay out here until night." My eyes widen, "Until night?! Haven, we have to cook for Niall. You can't avoid him forever."

She grabs my arm, "There's a festival, let's go." She drags me to the festival and I text Niall our new location. She goes over to the cotton candy stand, "I want one, I'll give you some money when we get back home." I hand the man some money and laugh, "You do not have to pay me back. What else do you want to do?" She looks around as she eats her cotton candy, "Haunted house."

I shake my head, "No, Niall will kill me if I take you in there." She pouts and looks around again, "Shooting game." We walk over to the stand and she picks up a gun. I pay the man and Haven starts shooting. I watch her with wide eyes as she hits every target. "How did you learn how to shoot?"

She claps her hands and laughs, "I watched Niall last time we came here." She learned from that one time? How is that even possible? "Jay!" I look at Haven, "Are you okay? I called you three times."

I shake my head and smile, "Nothing, I was just thinking. Pick out what you want." She looks at the prizes and points at a chain. "A chain? You know you could get any necklace you want if you just ask Niall, right?" The man hands her the chain with a smile, "Niall needs a chain for his ring. I can make up with him with this, right?" I let out a long sigh, "How many times do I have to say this? I doubt Niall is upset with you or anything. He was probably just shocked."

Niall should be showing up any time now. I look at Haven and see her looking at her feet, "You're tired of me, aren't you?" My mouth drop and I quickly shake my head, "No, not at all! Where did you get that from?!" She points at my watch, "You keep looking at your watch and keep looking around. Just a little bit longer and then can we go home?" I rub my face and peek from my fingers.

"Do you not want to see Niall?" She quickly shakes her head, "I'm scared." From the corner of my eye, I see Niall running towards us. I scratch the back of my head, "Hopefully you'll forgive me for giving you away." She looks at me with confusion all over her face.

Niall grabs her arm, "Haven." Haven eyes widen and she tries to pull out of Niall grasp, "J-Jay, please. I-I'm scared." I feel my heart being squeezed as I watch her tears fall. Is she that scared? Niall would never send her away. He cares too deeply for her.

"Haven, stop struggling and let's just talk."

Niall POV

Jay walks away and Haven falls to the ground. I pick her up not caring about the people staring at us. I go to the closest hotel, which is only a three-minute walk. I get a room and ten minutes later we're in the room with Haven sitting on the bed.

"I-I'm sorry." Haven breaks our six minutes of silence with an apology. "Why are you apologizing? You did nothing wrong." She keeps her head down, "Nothing happened."

I look at her with an arch eyebrow, "What did you say?" She fiddles with her fingers, "Nothing happened, let's pretend nothing happened." I lean against the wall and cross my arms, "You really want to do that? You want to pretend nothing happened. Why did you kiss me, Haven?" Her tears start to fall and she quickly tries to wipe them away, "B-Because."

I run my fingers through my hair, "Haven, kissing is for someone you like or love. The like you have for me is a friendly like." She shakes her head, "No, it's not. I-I like you more than a friend." Now it's my turn to shake my head, "Yes, it is. You've never been with anybody but me. Once you get out in the world you will find someone yourself."

She stands up and clenches her fists, "No!! Only you!! I only want you!!" I push myself off the wall, "Didn't you say you wanted to pretend this didn't happen?! I'm telling you this so we don't have to pretend again in the future! It can save us a lot of time!" She covers her ears and I walk up to her, "Listen to me, Haven! I'm pretending! Isn't this what you wanted?!"

SLAP!

I touch the place where it burns at on my face and I glare at her. "I'm doing what you asked me to do! Pretend! Pretend! Pretend!" She pushes me away and starts hitting me on my chest, "I don't want to pretend! But I don't want you to get rid of me." She whispers out the last part and fall to the floor while holding on to my pants legs, "I'm scared."

I bend down in front of her and grab her hands, "I'm sorry, I wanted you to express your real feelings." I put my hand on the back of her head and force her head on my chest. She continues to cry, "I'm not mad about the kiss, I'm just shocked." She looks up at me and I kiss her forehead, her eyes, her nose, her cheeks, and her ears.

"Just once. Just once on the lips." I cup her face with both of my hands and wipe her tears away. "Anything for you." I say as lean down and slowly kiss her on the lips. Other than the saltiness, her lips are soft and they fit so well with my own lips. She opens her mouth without me even asking and I push my tongue in her mouth. I explore her mouth and taste the sweetness from the cotton candy she had earlier. Seconds later I pull away and show her a small smile.

She looks up at me with a dazed look. I give her a lingering kiss on her forehead, "This was the best birthday present you ever gave me."