Knockknock
I look into the mirror one more time, satisfied with what I see. Having a hair and make-up artist with you on the road is a huge advantage in situations like these. My sides are freshly shaved, nails painted in the same anthracite colour I already tried out before and I'm wearing a light make-up. Not much, just concealer, powder and a hint of eyeliner. Together with the outfit I've chosen, I look perfect for my date with Avi.
I quickly go to the door and open it. "You know you could have just used your keycard" I say with a slight smile on my face. "This is your room as much as it is mine."
"I know, but I thought this would be more fitting for the occasion" Avi returns and steps inside our shared hotel room, taking me into his arms. "Happy Birthday once again." He kisses my lips softly. "I hope you had a nice day so far."
"I had" I return. "But I missed you!"
Avi smiles. "Good to know. But I'm with you now and will be for the rest of the night."
I kiss his lips once more. "I'd love that and I'm ready to head out."
"I can see that. You look beyond amazing" Avi compliments me and I can't help but blush at that. "But before we go, I'd like to give you my present." He goes away from me and to his suitcase.
I'm very curious now, because I don't know what to expect.
"This is for you, my love. I hope you'll like it" he says before handing me a beautifully wrapped present which feels very much like a huge book.
"Thank you, Avi" I say and take the present out of his hand. It's heavy and I can't really make out what it could be. I start unwrapping it almost instantly and am taken aback when I see it.
"A travel guide for Iceland? Thank you, Avi" I say honestly. I didn't know what to expect from him and have to admit that I'll enjoy reading this, planning my own visit which will hopefully come one time.
"We still have some time, maybe you want to start reading?" Avi asks and I look at him questioning. We're about to go out for dinner and he wants me to read a travel guide. But there's a gleam in his eyes telling me to do so.
I carefully open the first page and see the small letter written in Avi's handwriting almost instantly:
Dear Mitch,
I got you this travel guide so you can take some time to look through it on another long ride on the tourbus. Think about what you'd like to see, because I'm taking you there. I've got flights scheduled and a hotel in Reykjavik. Everything else is up to you. You'll just tell me what you'd like to see and we'll figure it out.
I'm already looking forward to our first vacation together!
I love you, my dear.
Avi
I have to read it twice before I actually get the words right. "We're going to Iceland?" I ask him, still not fully believing it.
"Yes, we are" Avi replies fondly. "We've got about ten days after tour to shop for warm clothes and get everything organised and then we'll be off to Iceland."
I quickly turn and lay the book down on the bed before I hug Avi with all that I have. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! That's honestly one of the best presents you could've thought about. I love you so, so much."
"You're welcome, dear" Avi returns and hold me tight until I manage to calm down. "I'm glad that you like it. I wasn't sure what to get you, so I thought about the one thing we both could need: Time. And since you always wanted to go to Iceland and I love everything connected to nature, I figured that it would be great to go there together."
I look at him and it's very hard to not start crying. "It's perfect, thank you!"
"Now come on, I have booked an uber that should be waiting outside any minute. It'll take us to the restaurant" Avi explains once I've calmed down a little bit and am fully capable of understanding him, again.
He takes my hand and together we head outside where an uber is already waiting for us.
The car takes us to a restaurant somewhere in the city which I'm glad for because it's been a while since breakfast and the smoothie I had as a snack doesn't really count that much.
"I hope you like Indian. I know you're an adventurous eater but I wasn't sure about this one" Avi explains as he leads me inside of the restaurant.
"Of course I love this type of food. You know me, I'm actually up for almost everything" I return.
"Great" Avi returns as a waiter walks up to us.
"Good evening, how may I help you?" He asks politely.
"I booked a table for two on Kaplan" Avi explains.
"Kaplan?" he looks into a small book before nodding. "Right, follow me, I'll get you there."
We get seated in a small niche, the table set perfectly for the two of us. And the dinner is simply delicious. We spend our time there with some lighter talk but mainly it's me telling him about my morning with Scott and being enthusiastic about Iceland.
"Mitch, how about we take dessert elsewhere?" Avi then asks after we've finished our main course.
I raise an eyebrow. "Have something special in mind?" I want to know.
"Yes, I have and no, I won't tell you, you'll find out once we've get there." He smiles at me and empties his wine glass. "You'll like it though, trust me on this one."
"I won't doubt that" I return and smile at him brightly. "I'll just go to the bathroom and fresh up." I stand up and leave the table to go to the bathroom and attend my business. Afterwards I quickly check myself in the mirror and head back to Avi who's already paying the bill.
"Hey, Babe, are you ready to head out?" He asks me.
"Yeah, of course. Are we on a tight schedule?" I mean that a little bit jokingly, but Avi nods anyway.
"Kind of, actually. I want you to get the most out of the evening. You'll understand, soon." As before, Avi says those words with his usual, calm voice. Even if I wanted to I couldn't make out any evidence for what else would be happening tonight.
"Great, then let's go" I say. We get our jackets and Avi actually helps me get into it just like a true gentleman would. "Thank you" I whisper and lean in for a quick kiss.
Avi takes my hand once again and we go out to where the uber is already waiting for us.
Avi doesn't give him a direction this time, he just greets him kindly and holds my hand, softly caressing the back of it with his thumb as we drive through the dark city.
"Here we are" the driver says as he stops the car in front of the arena we'd be performing at tomorrow.
"Thank you" Avi returns and gets out, helping me in doing so afterwards.
"What are we doing here? That's not the place to have dessert" I point out.
"I asked you to trust me, didn't I?" Avi looks at me with a smile on his face. "I want to show you something, but first... Would you be willing to put this on?" He holds up a sleep mask. "Please?"
My first thought is to snap at him, because I hate not being able to see where I'm going. But this situation reminds me so much of the one we had on our last date before tour, the one where we went to the cliff. I thought I would hate that, too but ended up loving it. So why not give it a try?
"Okay, Lovebeard. Just be careful, alright? Don't let me run into a wall." I take the mask out of his hands and put it on, closing my eyes in the process.
Avi chuckles. "I won't. I'll take care of you, don't worry. He puts an arm around me and takes my hand into his free hand. We start walking into what seems nothingness to me. I just notice that we're going inside and cross a few doors until Avi stops me. "We're there. Just don't put the mask down yet, I'll help you in a moment." His grip on my waist loosens and he steps behind me. "Ready?"
I nod. "Yes, come on, show me already!"
He carefully lifts the mask from my face and my eyes flutter open to the sound of champagne bottles being popped and people cheering loudly.
A party. Avi has organised a party for me.
I don't know what to say, I just slap my hands in front of my mouth and do the first thing that comes to my mind. Hug Avi, who's still standing next to me. "Thank you, Avi!"
"You're still welcome, Babe" Avi returns. "But now go on, take care of your guests."
I beam at him and then turn towards the small crowd of people, seeing their faces for the first time. There are only about fifteen people, first and foremost the band and our team, Judy and another woman, probably her wife and... my parents.
"Mum? Dad?" I almost run the few steps over to them and let myself be hugged and kissed.
"What are you doing here?" I ask with wide eyes.
"Celebrating our son's birthday" Dad returns. "Avi invited us and we just couldn't say 'no' so we jumped on the next plane and came here."
"You did, Avi? Thank you for being here, oh my god, I can't believe this is happening." I hug both of them once more just as Kirstie comes around to hand each of us a glass of champagne.
I look around quickly to make sure that everyone has a glass of champagne in front of them before I raise my voice. "Wow, thank you all for coming here. And to those who helped Avi organise all this, thank you even more. I am actually speechless and will just start babbling, so yeah... thank you once more."
"To Mitchie" Scott chimes in.
"To Mitchie!"
Everyone drinks a sip of their drinks and I start to mingle right away, hugging people, getting presents and making small talk. It's not what I've thought I'd be doing tonight, but I'm not complaining at all, especially not when I feel a pat on my back while I'm talking to Judy and her wife, because when I turn around I look at Kelly.
"Happy Birthday, Mitch!" She says fondly and hugs me. "Sorry for being late, I needed so get the little one back to sleep."
"Don't worry, thank you for coming anyway" I say, completely overwhelmed with her being at my birthday party.
"Of course I am here. Your boyfriend invited me and I just couldn't say 'no'" she explains. "I can only stay for an hour or so, because of the little one but I wanted to at least give you your present. She rummages through her purse and hands me an envelope. "Happy Birthday, Mitch."
"You didn't need to... But thank you." I take the envelope out of her hand and carefully open it, gasping at what I see. "Are you kidding me? Thank you!" I take the two tickets to see Bjork in Reykjavik out of the envelope.
Kelly giggles. "No, I'm not. I talked to Avi and he said he'd take you to Iceland. And I heard that you love Bjork and she's giving a concert while you're there so I thought you'd like to see her" Kelly says.
"I'd love to see her, thank you very much" I hug her once more and put the envelope away.
"You're welcome, Mitch. Now I don't want to keep you from spending time with the rest of your guests. I'll just mingle a little bit" she smiles at me once more and turns to my parents.
I look around. Everyone is talking, my parents are with Kelly, Avi and Kevin are standing with Judy and her wife, Alex is talking to Kirstie. There's music, there are drinks, it's just the perfect birthday celebration.
I turn to Scott, the only one I haven't really talked to since the beginning of the party.
"Do you like your party?" He asks.
I nod happily. "Very much. Whose idea was that?"
"Well it was Avi's idea. He had quite a few helping hands but in the end it all comes back to him" Scott explains to me. "He's trying so hard to make you happy, he loves you oh so much."
I glance over to him, smile and nod. "I know. But actually I want to make him happy, too. It just feels good to be with him. And I can't wait to be on vacation with him. Just him and me in Iceland. It's going to be amazing."
Scott smiles. "It's going to be great for the two of you. I'm glad that you finally found someone to go there with."
"I am, too" I say with a bright smile on my face. "Anyway, let's cut all the talk and feels and everything, it's my birthday and I want to celebrate!"
The rest of the night is filled with music, dancing, and my friends and family. When Avi and I make our way into our hotel room, I'm exhausted but happy.
"This has been the best birthday of my whole life" I say as I drop down on the mattress wearing only my briefs, already ready to go to bed. "Thank you. I probably have told you this about a million times today but I really appreciate all the work you put into everything."
"You're welcome. I know that birthdays on the road suck so I wanted to make this one special for you." Avi comes out of the bathroom, he smiles and sits down next to me. "I'm glad that you liked it" he says with a smile.
"Mmhm I surely did and... you know what would make it even better?" I look deep into his eyes and smirk suggestively.
"You're probably going to tell me" Avi returns and the fact tht his gaze is flickering down to my lips is a sign that shows me that we have the same idea.
"You know what? I'd rather show you." I pull him closer and connect our lips in a slow but heated kiss, pulling him down with me so that he's hovering above me.
"Mmhm, I think I know now what you mean" Avi whispers, the breath tickling my neck, making me shiver. We make love and it's both passionate, but deliciously slow. There are a lot of kisses, sweet kisses and sloppier ones. It really is the perfect way to end such a perfect day.
But what is even more precious to me is to be inside of his arms afterwards, almost asleep hen I hear him whisper softly: "I love you, Queen. Good night." I'll probably never get tired of hearing him declare his love for me and of our nightly ritual, so I complete it for him:
"I love you too, Lovebeard. Good night."
~~~~~~~~~
A/N: This part might be almost twice as long as usual but it kind of wrote itself, especially the beginning. Usually when I write on the way to university, I manage to do about 500 words and this time it was almost 900. So, yeah, you're welcome.
Anyway, who's watching the livestream?
I just checked time again and it's at 3 am (here where I live). But I think it's going to be worth it :). I'm going to take a quick nap right now, get up for the concert and then take another nap.