Chapter 13

"We have fifteen minutes until the surprise."

After we drove off me and Caden went to the arcade in town Centre, we played for an hour and then we went to the restaurant there. We went to McDonalds and we both ordered together, Caden still wouldn't let me pay. He is so stubborn but I'm no better. It was so good, I had chicken nuggets and he got a burger, I always stick with the same order when I am here. I put the order number in my phone case as a memento of our time together. Is that creepy?

Anyway, after that we are now walking on the beach, as it is darker now I should feel scared but if anything I am excited and I have the most safe feeling I've ever gotten being with Caden. The ocean is so beautiful, the way the moon reflects onto the water, hearing the ocean crash in delicate waves touching my toes.

"Okay, so what is the surprise because you have kept me in suspense for two hours now." Smiling at him he starts to give a smile but then it goes back to a worried expression I saw earlier. So I take his hand and give him a look to say 'I'm here.'

He closes his eyes and lets out a breathe, he runs his free hand through his brunette curls, his green eyes focus on mine, he bites his lip and gets something from his pocket looking down as he does. He pulls out what looks to me as tickets for something.

"I didn't know if I would get this far, or that you would even agree to come with me. I bought these a while ago when you said you liked it." What does he mean 'liked it'…liked what? 

I grab the tickets from his hands and take a closer look at what the tickets are. I can't believe it!

"Green Day tickets!?" I beam at him with a massive smile. He lets out another breathe of relief happy I did like it. "But why would you-"he cuts me off with his shaking voice, clearly still nervous. "You gave me the CD for them and I listened to them straight away, you told me listening to the lyrics helped you.

Why not watch and rock out to the people that helped you through the tough times" his hand is rubbing behind his neck, and he looks down again. But I am too stunned to speak, and I can tell he is scared to know my reaction, I do the only thing I could think of to show him how much I love it. So I jump on him. "I love it! I love it! I love it!" he laughs and holds me against him.

"You really didn't have to." still smiling at him.

"Just think of it as my birthday party just a few days earlier if that's easier." he laughs so its clear he is joking but I take it seriously.

Oh yeah! His birthday reminds me. He starts to head to the place where the show is being held and I grab his hand to keep him where I want him.

Caden looks at me questioningly. "Since your birthday is on Saturday I got you a present." he goes to protest but I give him a look to not argue with me and he stays quiet.

I unzip my cardigan and get out the small box with a red ribbon attached and give it to him. He looks at me not wanting to accept it so I beat him to it.

"It's not just your present, it will mean a lot more to you once you open it and I hope you like it, so happy nineteenth birthday!" he takes it and he undoes the ribbon and I take it from him and I wrap it around his wrist for fun. He smiles slightly bigger than before because of my action.

He opens it and he looks at me in happiness and looks down, "I got you silver rose earrings. I figured you could have a part of her on you at all times and not only in your heart." His smile faults and I start to get scared.

He still doesn't look at me. "…and when you look in the mirror you can see the rose earrings and think of her." He still hasn't said anything for a while, he just keeps staring at them. After what seems like an eternity he looks back to me with watering eyes.

"Nobody has ever given me a gift like this, much less an emotional one." he looks as if he is breaking the walls around him. A tear escapes and I reach up and brush it with my thumb against his smooth skin, his hand comes to rest on my own holding it to his face. He leans into it and closes his eyes once more and when he opens them again, whatever he is thinking I can tell he is more certain than I've ever seen him.

He starts to lean in and this time there is no interruption, he stops before our lips touch just in case I want to back out so I pull the back of his head towards me and I lean in and we both meet in the middle and our lips collide. Its filled with so much passion, his hand moves from my hand to my waist, he pulls me as close as he possibly can.

The fireworks and fire burns between us, my heart is racing a million miles per second, I grab hold of his hair and weave my fingers through it. I'm not sure about most things but I know that it feels so right to be kissing Caden. For once my heart and head agree with each other. We continue to kiss until our lips are numb and I love every second of it.

We pull away and I open my eyes first while his are still shut savouring the moment. We are still incredibly close to each other, I keep running my fingers through his hair and his left hand is still on my waist, his fingers creating circles and his right hand is holding my face to his. He opens his eyes and I lose my oxygen. He looks so beautiful with the moonlight hitting his forest green eyes, I can't believe we finally kissed! My body is in overdrive! He is the one to speak first.

"It was better." I look at him confused. He just smiles and says "Kissing you, it was better than anything I imagined." I think I just melted into a puddle.

We both smile the biggest smiles at each other and I notice him lean in again but this time it was on my forehead. His warm lips creating a fire in my heart, a fire I don't want to turn to ashes anytime soon.

He notices me shiver since my cardigan isn't too warm so he takes his leather jacket off from when he switched it for the blazer in the car. I put my arms through and he tugs a bit to make sure its wrapped around me enough, full of his body heat, he holds onto the collar by my neck and he pulls me in by it and once more and kisses me on the lips.

All I know is that our night is far from over, and I can't wait for what's coming next in the future for us.

We start to head back and he holds me close to him almost afraid I will vanish. We get outside the arena and I lean into him behind me and he wraps his arms around me while we wait for the doors to open and my adrenaline is so high I just want to scream from how happy I am.

Every now and then because of the crowd me and Caden place hidden kisses on each other. I lift his hand up and place my lips against it, he kisses my head and nuzzles his head in my neck. I think he is slightly struggling because of our height difference. Find it cute and funny. He is almost six foot one I think he mentioned a while ago while I am stuck being five foot two. So I am a mouse compared to him.

We suddenly hear screams and we are brought out of our blissful moment, and I start to realise I am actually about to see one of my favourite bands of all time. Caden looks at me when he comes into my eye line. He still has the smile from our kiss.

"Excited?"

"You have no idea, are you?" Caden nods and pulls me in for another hug with my head resting on his chest.

Another few minutes of waiting we are finally in and Caden must have spent a fortune on where we are, almost the front row of seats. "I can't believe I am finally seeing them live!" Caden laughs and replies, it's hard to hear since everyone is screaming over him. "I'm glad you're happy."

"And you? Aren't you happy?" I say slightly worried.

"The happiest" His eyes say it all.

Then we hear a guitar and then the arena goes absolutely crazy as do I. I'm so caught up in the song 'Holiday' and dancing I don't realise that Caden is watching me instead of the band with a goofy smile on his face. I get embarrassed but all he does is move the hair from my face and kisses me lightly on the cheek.

For the next hour and a half my feet are tired but my heart and mind are far from saying goodnight. The arena starts to disperse and then me and Caden are one of the last ones out since we both don't like crowds.

We start to head out and Caden says he needs the bathroom so we both agree to meet outside the arena. I go to the bathroom and I look in the mirror, I am red and sweaty.

What a pleasant sight for Caden to see!

Once I step outside the doors and I feel a gust of wind and it feels so refreshing, I look down the street to my left and see the lights, lighting up the buildings, making me feel even more alive.

I feel hands go on my waist and then I turn around frightened and I notice Caden, he pecks my cheek one last time and pulls back keeping me at arm's length. His hands haven't left my body. Almost like he is mapping out my curves and where they are and how they feel.

I look at his face and they wonder over his ears and I notice he put in the rose earrings I bought him.

"They look so good on you!" I reach and feel the earring against his ears, I must look ridiculous because of the height difference, but who cares!

"You think?"

"I know!" 

I start to walk with him back to his car to head home but I don't want the night to end and I have a feeling he doesn't either but we have no choice. Mothers orders, "…be home before midnight." its eleven thirty. It took us half an hour to get here. Its so bittersweet but rules are rules.

As we are walking closer to the car park, I feel his hand brushing against mine, as I am not pulling away he grabs it and doesn't let it go until we are in the car. But once we are out of the car park and on the main road he takes my hand again and I rest our hands on my thigh, we sit in comfortable silence for the rest of the ride.

We start getting closer to my house and I start to realise that the night has come to an end. Overall this has been the best day of my life, and I will never forget it.

Caden pulls up outside of my house and we both get out and start to walk closer to the door.

"It's midnight, I better get in." Caden checks his phone.

"It's eleven fifty eight, so technically you still have a minute until you are presumably late." he says it in such a cheeky way I laugh instantly. I climb up on the step that is outside my front door and now I am more level with him.

"I had the best night ever, thank you so much." I put my hand up to his hair and stroke it backwards. His hair is so silky I just want to touch it forever.

"You made my night worth it. And I enjoyed it a lot, one night I won't forget for a long time" he grabs my face and pulls me towards him much more confidently than when I first met him.

Caden looks in my eyes for permission and I grant it, we kiss for the last time. Our lips locked together for as long as possible, we then say our goodbyes and I head through my door and don't shut it until I watch him drive off. I touch my lips and I replay the kisses all throughout the night in my head. I head to bed and I have the best sleep of my whole existence.