tysm to everyone who wished me a happy birthday! i'm 17 .. as caroline forbes would say is "the filler age" lmao
26| "birthday wishes" part two
"Holy shit, that was insane!" Ashton shouts, as we both stumble off of the wooden platform of the ride and back onto the boardwalk.
His arm is around my shoulder, the other up holding onto his hat and I laugh excitedly. It's late now, and the bright lights of the carnival rides illuminate against his face. He's orange for a second, and then red and blue, and yellow.
Grinning, I nod my head in agreement, and run my hands through my hair before excitedly shouting back, "I know right, talk about a rush!"
Turning around, I tilt my head back and stare up at the extremely tall roller coaster ride. It took Ashton ten minutes of convincing me, and honestly I wasn't so keen on being shot up in the sky and then being dropped down at extremely fast speeds over and over again, but in the end it turned out to be pretty cool.
"Let's do it again!" I laugh, whipping back around to the hazel eyed boy, "C'mon, one more time!"
He shakes his head, dropping his hand from my shoulder, "Nah, I'm good."
"Ashton, don't be a wuss!" I tease.
"Oh, so now I'm the wuss?" He looks down at his stuffed turtle and dramatically shouts, "Do you hear this? I'm the one who had to beg her to get on and now I'm the wuss?"
Punching him lightly in the shoulder, I roll my eyes, "Whatever. I'm thirsty anyway, let's just go get a soda."
"Or, ... we could get a beer."
"Well considering this is a carnival, where do you think the bar would be?" I ask sarcastically, craning my neck to look around, "Between the merry-go-round or the apple bobbing barrels?"
Smiling, he shakes his head and points behind me, "I was actually thinking they'd be by Michael, lets go."
Michael is hanging out next to a tall, blonde haired girl and they're both talking animatedly and eating hot dogs when we approach them. He's sitting on the edge of the picnic table with her leaning inbetween his legs, and with the way he's smiling down at her, his arm around her neck, I can only assume this is his girlfriend.
"Yo, Mike!" Ashton calls.
Michael lazily glances at us, and then smirks, "Well well, we meet again, Annie."
"Hey," I mumble.
Ashton jumps up onto the picnic table, and grabs a small cooler from besides them before popping it open and peering in, "It's Annie's birthday."
Michael looks me up and down and pops the last piece of his hot dog in his mouth. He laughs through a mouthful, "Explains that hideous skirt. How old are you?"
Before I can say anything back, his girlfriend leans up and stares at me for a while before cocking her head, "I've never seen you before. Who are you?"
Her blonde hair is short, like my moms, and she's wearing this bright red lipstick, that makes her pale skin look great. I take a seat on the table, "Annie. Who are you?"
She laughs, "I'm Taylor, do you want a beer?"
"Sure."
Stepping away from Michael, she grabs two from the cooler and twists the tops off before handing one to me. Holding her bottle out, she clinks ours together and smiles, "Happy birthday."
---
I end up hanging out with the three of them for the next two hours, and after riding almost every single ride twice and blowing all of our money on food and the boardwalk games we all head back to the tables.
Michael and Taylor are arguing quietly about something and I laugh to myself, before Ashton grabs my elbow and tugs me away from them.
"What's up?" I ask, smiling.
He takes his hat off and runs his fingers through his hair, before placing it back on his head, "Nothing, I just don't think I can stand another minute of them two."
I laugh, "I don't think I've ever seen Michael smile that much."
"Yeah, Taylor's cool," he nods, "Sometimes she's really obnoxious, but she's Michael's girl, so I learn to tolerate her."
"What about you? Where's your girlfriend?"
Ashton shrugs, "Well there was one girl who I liked. But then she got banned from my workplace, putting any of our future dates on hold."
Laughing, I tuck my hair behind my ear and cock my head, "Oh really? This girl, does she have a name?"
"I think you know," he grins. Then he grabs my hand and tugs me forward, before spinning me around, "Give me a piggy back ride."
I scoff playfully, "Shouldn't you be giving me one? It's my birthday!"
"Alright, just after this," he jumps up and wraps his leg around my waist. He's so heavy and he ends up sliding down; his feet practically touching the ground while he clings to me.
Ashton is hanging off my back, his arms around my shoulder, and he's laughing and telling me a story about him and Michael's first fight. Attempting to hoist him up my back, I grip his legs tighter, trying not to fall over with laughter.
"You're so heavy! Oh my god," I splutter, giggling.
That's when I spot Luke walking towards us. He still looks upset, his hands are tucked in his jean jacket pocket and he rolls his eyes at me, before saying, "Annie, we're leaving, let's go."
My smile falters slightly, "Wait what?"
"It's time to go," he nods his head in the direction of the parking lot, "Your mom sent me to get you."
"Look, it's the weird guy," Ashton laughs, his mouth too close against my ear. At this point I can't tell if he's a bit drunk or acting a bit too friendly.
Either way, I can't help but laugh and I slowly set him down on the ground, "I gotta go."
"What, why? Is he your dad now?"
Luke scoffs, and I shake my head with a quiet chuckle, "Um no, Ashton. He's definitely not my dad."
"Then you don't have to go, just ignore him." He laughs, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me to him, "Let's just walk away, he won't even notice. Come on, I'll even give you another beer."
I pointedly narrow my eyes at him and subtly nod my head towards Luke, before turning around to him, "It was just one, please don't tell my mom."
Luke huffs and crosses his arms, "Honestly Annie, I couldn't care any less. Can you just say goodbye to this idiot here, and come on."
"You don't have to be rude, Luke." I mutter, annoyed at his attitude. Turning around, I clasp Ashton on both shoulders, "I had a fun time, tonight. So, thanks for that."
He nods, smiling, "Of course."
"So yeah, thanks," I take my giraffe from my where it rests at my side between the hem of skirt and my hip, and I hold it up to him, "for the giraffe, and you know the rides, and all."
"It's fine." Leaning forward, he cups both sides of my face, grinning. "Come to Target tomorrow."
"You got it,"
"Happy birthday," Ashton kisses my cheek, and I blush as he turns and walks away. Letting out a breathy laugh, I call out another 'thanks' to him.
Okay, so now back to Luke. Sighing, I turn back around to face him, but unfortunately he's already walking away from me. "Um, Luke, you could at least wait for me."
Jogging up to him, I playfully nudge him. He looks down at me, "Can you not do that again, please?"
"What's wrong?" I mumble, "Did I do something?"
He doesn't say anything back and we walk in silence all the way back to the car. Andrew is feeding my mom funnel cake and I scrunch my nose up, "Enough with the PDA please."
She smiles, wipes her mouth free of powdered sugar and nods her head toward our car, "Come on, we got to hurry back."
Climbing into the backseat, I wait for Luke to get in and then I turn to him, "Wanna play on my iPad?"
He shakes his head, "No, I'm not really in the mood Annie, so can you just lay off for a few."
I stare at him. What the hell is his damage? Everything was cool earlier, but now it was almost like the first time we met and I absolutely could not stand him. Glaring at him, I turn back to face the window. I didn't know what Luke's problem was, but whatever it was it was certainly not going to mess up the rest of my birthday.
Sitting up between the driver and passenger seats, I flick on the radio, and turn it up loud, "Let's get moving."
--
As soon as we pull into the driveway, Luke jumps out of the car and heads over to his truck, "I'll be back later," he calls out to Andrew, and then as soon as the car starts, he's gone.
Gaping, I stare at his car as it flies down the street. Did he really just .. leave? I can't help but real a little bit upset, my stomach knotting and I turn to my mom, "What is his problem?"
She shrugs, "He said he'll be back later. Come on, I want to show you something before we go inside to eat cake."
Grabbing my hand, she nods to Andrew and we walk up the stairs to stand in front of the door, "Mom? What ... what are you doing?"
"Ssh, just wait. Don't you want to see your present?"
Rolling my eyes, I stand next to her and lean my head back against the door. The adrenaline of being at the carnival is all worn out, and I'm tired and upset with Luke. Honestly, I just want to sleep at this point.
Closing my eyes, I let out a deep sigh and just as I'm about to suggest that my mom show me tomorrow morning, the sound of horn blaring makes me jump.
"What the he-", and then I see it. It's a four door, navy blue, Nissan and before Andrew even pulls it to a stop, I'm barreling down the stairs and racing towards it.
"This is mine?!" I shout, as Andrew pulls it up to the curb. Inside he nods, and then I turn around to stare open-mouthed at my mom, "Seriously?"
She nods, grinning, her arms crossed over her chest.
"No way!" I walk around the car, feeling the smooth surface underneath my fingertips, and then I carefully pull the door open and climb in.
The feel of the cotton seats are smooth and warm against my palm, it smells like lemon air freshener inside and it's almost as if the car was never used, "Oh my gosh, this is perfect."
"You like it?" Andrew asks besides me.
"I love it!" Leaning over, I hug him tight and then I jump out of the car and race up the walkway to throw my arms around my mom's neck, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"Happy birthday, Annie doll. You can't drive it until you get your permit, but you can check it out for a few. Luke wants you to press play on the CD player, whenever you want."
"CD player?" I repeat. My mom nods, and then she calls Andrew to come in, "Don't stay outside too late, come in in a few minutes, alright. Make sure the windows are rolled up and the doors are locked."
I hug her again and then I head back to the car, climbing into the drivers seat. When I'm all alone, I run my hands down the steering wheel and over the hand brake and I adjust my mirror, trying not explode with giddiness.
My own car! With a deep sigh, I press eject on the player and I watch as a simple white, CD slides from it. Staring down at it, I narrow my eyes.
On it, scrawled in black marker is Luke's messy handwriting that says, "You wanted a mix tape." I bite my lip to keep from grinning, and I slide it back in and press play. Closing my eyes, I lean back against my headrest and wait.
The radio buzzes, its quiet again, and then Luke's smooth voice streams from the speakers, "Alright Annie, this one's for you. Happy birthday."
--
I try to stay up and wait for Luke to get home so that I can say thanks to him, but after midnight and three slices of Andrew's incredibly good chocolate cake, I end up passing out on the couch.
Unfortunately, Luke doesn't get back until after three in the morning, and the sound of him coming in the door wakes me. Sitting up, I sleepily peer over the couch at him and watch as he leans his head back against the door, his eyes closed.
After a long silent minute, he sighs and pulls his phone out of his pocket. Sliding his thumb against the glass, he hesitantly holds it up to ear and sighs, "Yeah, Calum, she's fine."
Who? I scrunch my eyebrows and lean forward.
"I didn't think this would happen again. I really can't afford any of this shit, man." Luke hunches forward, his hand on his knee and he groans, "Fuck, this sucks."
I can't hear what Calum is saying, but whatever it is I'm guessing it can't be any good. He groans, and then tells him that he'll call him tomorrow, and I hurriedly fall back onto the couch and close my eyes; pretending to be asleep.
I can hear him walking, and then suddenly he stops. Peeking an eye open, I watch as he moves over to me, and I close my eyes again; trying to steady my breath. Luke slowly runs the the pad of his finger across my cheek, across my lips, and down to the base of my throat, and it takes everything in me not to sigh.
"Happy birthday, Anastasia," he whispers.
I keep my eyes shut. There's a small 'pop' sound, then a slight tinkling that fills my ears and then Luke gently takes hold of my hand. Lifting my hand, he presses his lips against the back of it, and then something cool clasps around my wrist.
It's quiet after that and Luke sets my hand down and stands up, walking over to the stairs. I keep my eyes closed for another second and I wait until I hear his bedroom door close, before I peel them open to look down.
A single silver bracelet is on my wrist, and on it are three charms. Delicately lifting my arm, I stare at it. There's an 'A', a guitar, and a heart. "Wow," I whisper.
--
AN -
Alrighttt, I'm sorry this chapter seriously sucked.
So guys, I wanted you all to check out one of hood_irwin_15's books, it's called Memories, and it's honestly a really good read. It's a Luke fanfiction, so yeah all you Luke girls go check it out :D
Alsoooo, while I'm at it please recommend me some good 5sos books. Even if they're yours, leave a comment below, I'm gonna check them all out!
Thanks for reading this crappy chapter, and please vote and comment if ya want! Love you all x