After we get done eating at the pizza place, we all end up going back to the hotel. Brendon says he has another surprise... again... I'm scared.
But when I see that we drive straight past the hotel, I'm starting to think that we're driving to the surprise Brendon is oh so excited about.
We drive about 15 minutes out of town. I had put my earbuds in about five minutes in, blasting some Panic! and stared out the window the entire time.
The car abruptly stops and my gaze is broken from the trees passing by. I turn my head to the front of the car to see why we stopped so suddenly. The car was in a line of other cars that were leading up to and under a large sign that reads The Dallas Zoo.
"Oh my gosh!" I gasp. The rest of the group, Brendon and Zack in the front (Zack driving), Sarah and Kenny sitting next to me in the middle row and Dallon and Dan in the back of the rental van. They all look at me with surprise as I haven't spoken the entire ride.
"I have never been to a zoo before!" I exclaim.
"WHAT!!" They all yell in unison.
"So you're telling me," Kenny says sitting up from his slumped position, "you have never been to the zoo?"
"Yes?" I respond more as a question.
"YOU DON'T LIKE COFFEE AND YOU'VE NEVER BEEN TO A ZOO! THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS!" Dallon yells from behind me.
I start to laugh hysterically, the rest of the group joining.
The car starts to move again as everyone starts telling me about how wonderful and fun the zoo is.
We enter through the parking gate and drive around in the parking lot looking for a free spot. Once Zack finally finds a place to park, we all hop out of the van and start walking to the entrance of the actual zoo. Thankfully it is relatively close to where we parked (thanks Zack).
We get to the entrance and pay to get in. The entrance lady hands me a map. Grabbing it, I open it up to a small scale of the zoo. It showing where the elephants, lions, zebras, penguins, reptiles, and other animals are at.
"My personal favorite is the monkeys." Brendon says from beside me.
"Why is that?" I ask, "Because you are one?"
"Rude..." he scoffs playfully. "They're my favorite because they literally get to play all day and not give a damn it the world. Also, they are pretty cute and fun to look at."
I nod and look down at the map, "The monkey exhibit is on the left." I state, looking up from the map at Brendon, "Shall we go there first?" I ask.
"Yes we shall..." He laughs, "ON TO THE MONKEYS!" He shouts, leading the rest of the group who are laughing to the monkeys.
...
We all were at the zoo for 5 hours, covering the entire zoo (Apparently this is a very small zoo compared to others so I'm told).
We finally leave the zoo, the newly bought polar bear stuffed animal in hand. You thought stuffed animals were for children? Bitch, you thought wrong.
Making it to the van, we all hop in getting into the same spots as last time.
"So what was your favorite part?" Brendon asks, turning his body towards me.
"Probably the polar bears." I say holding up my stuffed animal. "They were really cute and I really wanted to cuddle with them." I say cuddling the bear to my chest.
"What did you name it?" Kenny says from beside me.
"Umm.." I think trying to come up with a name. This is mandatory when you buy a stuffed animal so this has to be a good one.
"Chilly!" I say finally coming up with a name.
"Chilly?" Zack says from the driver's seat.
Should I tell them his real name??
"Umm... yea Chilly!" I repeat again, looking down at the ground. That's a stupid name. "I'll probably come up with another better name later." I say quieter.
"Well I think it's a cute name." Sarah says, her pearly white teeth showing as she smiles at me. I nod and give a shy smile in response.
...
"I have one more surprise for you..." Brendon says turning back to me from the passenger seat.
We arrived back in the place of the hotel and we were only a few minutes away from it.
"Wait, really!" I yell excitedly.
"Yep, but..." he throws me a blind fold, "You have to put that on," He smirks at me.
"This is super shady..." I say taking the blind fold and putting it over my eyes and tying it around my head. "I'm going to die aren't I?"
Everyone starts to laugh, "Oh no, why would I want to do that?" I hear Brendon say, the sarcasm and the obvious smirk heard through his voice.
"I don't know," I sass, "why am I wearing this freaking blind fold?"
"Touché..." I hear him chuckle.
A few more minutes the van is moving until it comes to holt and the vehicle shuts off.
I hear doors opening and people shuffling out of the van.
"Uhh guys??" I yell, "I can't exactly see!"
I feel the door beside me open and someone grab my arm.
"Don't worry, we'll lead you." I hear Brendon say from beside me.
I slowly get out of the car, Brendon and Kenny leading me the way to where ever I'm going.
Goddamn it anxiety calm the fuck down.
We walk a few more feet until I feel myself enter a building. It feeling much cooler than the outside, which was very hot and humid.
Soft pop music plays in the background, it sounding like it's coming from another room. I walk further into the room, the music coming closer every step.
I walk a few more feet until the two men pull me to a sudden stop.
Ohmygod this better not be a prank, please don't be a prank I'm far to young to die. I have some serious trust issues calm down everything is fine. Just breathe...
I take a deep breath as the blindfold is untied from around my head.
"SURPRISE!!!"
Panic!, Fall Out Boy, and the other two bands were standing out in front of me standing around a big table with some presents and glasses on it.
"OH MY GOSH, GUYS!" I yell covering my smile with my hand.
"Happy Birthday B." Brendon says coming up to me and giving me a tight hug. He places a kiss on top of my head before letting go.
Where even are we? The room has other tables, smaller compared to the one with the presents on top. The walls a tan color with brown trim and the light coming from a low chandelier. What doesn't make any sense is that the music in the background, which is some pop/techno type music, doesn't fit this aesthetic at all.
"Where are we?" I end up asking Brendon who was talking to Dallon.
He looks to me and chuckles, "Here I'll show you..."
He starts leading out of the room and to the entrance. He takes me out of the room and goes left down a hallway. The hallway ends to a room full of different arcade games. There's also a bar and some other high tables with chairs around them. I look over and see a sign that says Dave and Buster's in white font in a orange circle.
"Ohhhh..." I say out loud. "I've heard of this place but I've actually never been to one."
"Damn," Brendon says with a chuckle, "You really don't get out much huh?"
"Well, I didn't really have a childhood. I had to grow up pretty quick, become my own parent." I say adding a chuckle to the end to brighten the mood of my statement. It felt out of place but I figured this wasn't the time to make this moment depressing.
He quickly frowns, his demeanor quickly changing to sadness. "I understand..." he says quietly.
"But hey," He says, his frown turning into a slight smile. "At least I get to give this to you, I get to experience your happiness." He wraps his arms around me into a hug.
"I would give anything to see you happy."
He squeezes me tight and plants a kiss on my forehead. He lets go a bit and gives me eye contact.
"Are you happy?" He asks, his face serious but caring.
"Yes I am." I say giving him the biggest smile to ever be on my face. "This is the most wonderful and genuine thing anyone could have ever given me. Thank you so freaking much." I say pulling him back into a hug.
"You're very welcome B." He says kissing me on the top of my head before pulling away.
We walk back to the dining room where everyone is sitting around the table with menus in their hands talking amongst themselves.
We both sit down next to each other on the side of the table next to Sarah, Pete, Patrick, Kenny, and Joe. The others further around the table.
"Where'd you two go?" Pete asks sitting next to me.
"Oh we just went and saw the arcade room. Saw the games that I wanted to play and are gonna beat your ass in." I say in a serious voice, picking up the menu.
"Oh really?" He says asserting his position to where is entire body is directly towards me.
"Yup." I say confidently, putting down my menu and looking him straight in the eye.
"Oh when we get done eating, it's so on." He challenges.
We both went back to looking at the menu acting like nothing happened. I don't care if it's Pete Wentz, but I am going to beat his ass in some arcade games if it's the last thing I do.
————————————————————————————————
After we get done eating our food, me and Pete race out to the arcade games with our power cards and start playing random two-player games.
Once in a while I'll stop and play with Brendon or some other band members or even play some games on my own.
...
"HOW DID YOU BEAT ME?!?!" Pete screams after I check my card for the amount of tickets I earned on it.
"I'm just better at video games than you I guess." I shrug, making it sound like this wasn't a huge deal. Which it really shouldn't but my fan girl side couldn't help but go HOLY SHIT YOU JUST FUCKING DID THAT TO PETE WENTZ.
"THIS ISN'T FAIR!!" He yells out in anger.
"Too bad, Wentz, too bad." I pat him on the shoulder and leave him to go watch the others who still are playing.
"I just got beat in video games by a fourteen year old girl." I hear him mutter under his breath. I turn back to him and smirk. I turn and walk away, leaving him speechless.
...
Everyone eventually runs out of tokens and we all head to the prize room, which has tons of stuffed animals, cool electronics, some nerdy stuff that I find very interested in, and other cool shit inside.
I pick out everything I want that was in my ticket range and took it to the checkout desk. I gave the man there my card and he puts all of my prizes in a bag and gives it to me. I thank him and put my bag in the dining room on the table which had the still wrapped gifts on top. I leave and go back to the prize room and followed other people around, watching them pick out their prizes. What?, I was bored...
...
"...HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!"
Me and Pete blow out our candles on our birthday cake and clap with the rest of the group.
After we got our prizes, we went back to the dining room area and Pete and I opened our gifts. And then two employees came in with a huge white and blue birthday cake that had "Happy Birthday Brooklyn and Pete" on the top in cursive.
"What'd you wish for?" Pete whispers in my ear.
"For one, I can't tell you but if I did, I would tell you that I didn't wish for anything." I say with some sass at the beginning.
"Why not?" He asks again, still whispering.
"Because," I pause showcasing the room with my hand, "This is all I could've wished for."
"Aww, come here you little cheater." He says pulling me into a hug.
"I did not cheat! How many times do I have to tell you?!" I yell into his shoulder.
"That's what all cheaters say." He says letting me go.
I grumble as an employee comes over and starts cutting the cake for everyone. They start putting it on plates and I grab one with a chocolate piece and start eating it. Goddamn it this is some good cake. I think taking another bite.
———————————————————————————————
We finally leave the Dave and Buster's and go back to the hotel. Me, Brendon, and Sarah go to our hotel room and start to get ready for bed.
I'm all cuddled up in my blankets and the comforter of the bed. I hold my polar bear stuffed animal to my chest. I yawn at the thought of sleep, it desperately wanting to take me away.
Brendon looks over at me from his bed and hops off of it. He walks over to mine and jumps, literally jumps, into it on the other side of me.
I turn my body to face him and make myself comfortable in this new position. I look up at him as he looks down at me.
"So how was your birthday?" He says cuddling into the other pillow I wasn't using beside me.
"It was-" I'm cut off with my own yawn, "amazing." I blink lazily. If I close my eyes for to long, I might just fall asleep.
"Well I'm glad, I hope you had fun." He smiles at me.
"I did!" I raise my voice a bit, the tiredness obvious in my voice.
"I know you did, do you have Chilly?" He asks. I pull my polar bear up to show him.
He nods when he sees it, "Can I tell you a secret?" I ask quietly.
"Sure, what's your secret?" He leans forward, our faces only a few inches away from each other to make sure Sarah can't hear it.
"Chilly isn't really his name..." I say, breaking eye contact with him. Goddamn it I can't believe I'm doing this, I'm such a loser.
"What's his name then?" He asks.
I pause for dramatic effect, "Patrick..."
"Like Patrick Stump?" He asks, a gentle smile on his face.
I give a slight nod, still not giving him eye contact. This was a dumb idea.
"Well I like that name even more, very much suits him." He says, looking down at the stuffed polar bear. It's head still peaking out over the blanket.
"Really?" I ask with disbelief. I thought he would make fun of me.
"Yes, Patrick Stump is a fucking amazing dude, he would be honored to have your polar bear be named after him." I give a lazy giggle at the end, he joins in chuckling a bit.
My giggle slowly turns into a big yawn, my eyes wanting to shut so badly.
"All right now, get some sleep." His chuckles stop afterward.
"Happy Birthday B." He says before leaning down and giving me a kiss on the forehead. "Good night."
"Good night." I respond, my eyes dropping and unable to be opened again.
I feel the space where he was laying leave and the bed move from his weight lifted off of it.
And just like that....
I'm out like a birthday candle.
~
Well that was cute and adorable...
(I almost cried writing that sappy part in the middle don't jUDGE)
Anyways I should probably warn you that in the next coming chapters things are going to get pretty... dark. Oops.
The real conflict will be here in a few chapters, just one more tiny side plot and things will get going.
But yea, thank you guys sm for 500 reads! That's so fucking amazing! I love each and every one of you guys and I love reading your comments so if ya don't mind leaving some I would absolutely love it :))
So yea, thanks for reading lovelies!!
~brooke 💞