STAY

≫ ──── ≪
20th May 2020
≫ ──── ≪

──"OH MY- daniel what is this?" dahlia held her hand over her mouth, the feeling of daniels hands on her shoulders giving her a squeeze making her smile.

since having walked downstairs with daniel, dahlia had noticed her boyfriend struggling to hide his excitement before directing her into the living room where her birthday present was situated.

there before dahlia and daniel was two balloons, with numbers, two and one to make up dahlias age she was turning today- twenty one.

alongside the balloons were a few presents, and then a basket to which dahlia assumed it was like a hamper due to seeing the bath bombs, face masks and other things situated inside the box.

"i thought i said don't spend money on me daniel james seavey." dahlia commented, colliding her hand with daniels chest to who rolled his eyes before pulling the girl into his arms.

"it's not everyday you turn twenty-one love." daniel mumbled, placing a kiss against dahlias temple, the girl leaning into his touch as the smile on her face grew larger.

"so are you going to open the presents or what?" daniel gave dahlia a squeeze before removing his arms from around her to allow her to advance towards the presents he had brought into her home.

before letting dahlia open her presents, daniel quickly asked his girlfriend if she wanted a coffee, to which dahlia responded immediately with a 'yes' as having a coffee was an essential for dahlia always.

during the time daniel was in her kitchen making the two of them coffee's, dahlia spent that time responding to the texts from the group chat as well individual texts the members of the group had sent. she had also received texts from her family, the girl of course saying thank you but she was a little upset that they hadn't bothered coming to see her,

especially her parents who insisted on staying over in england for a holiday, even though they had finished the business work they had to do.

dahlia's siblings however did say they would come over and see their sister sometime today- to which she was ecstatic for- but she didn't want to get herself too excited incase they wouldn't turn up therefore it making her disappointed.

"uh no- you are not frowning your birthday. no no no."

dahlia laughed as daniel reappeared in her living room, the steam from the freshly brewed cups of coffee catching dahlias attention as daniel held a tight grip on the mugs.

when he noticed that dahlia's frown was still visible on her face no matter how hard she tried to hide it, daniel placed the cups of coffee down on the table before directing his attention onto his girlfriend who was sat on the sofa beside him.

"what's on your mind? and if you say nothing i will be going and getting a spoon to hit you with it."

"oh I'm so scared." dahlia teased, waving her hands in fake surrender, daniel rolling his eyes at his girlfriend.

"you should be." daniel teased back, the couple exchanging glances- both of them initiating a staring contest before daniel broke out into laughter.

"now explain."

"i will later- right now i wanna spend my birthday happy and with you." daniel looked at dahlia, before nodding his head as he knew that dahlia would explain it all later to him tonight.

after saying that, daniel leaned back on the sofa, a smile on his face as dahlia moved her attention onto the presents daniel had displayed beside the balloons.

daniel was always one to spoil someone for their birthday, especially the girl sat beside him who held a large and contagious smile on her face. even though he had spoiled her and was excited for her reaction- daniel was still anxious to bow she would actually react to it all.

dahlia was the type of girl whom hated getting presents for her birthday, in fact she hated getting any type of attention on her birthday as it was just another day for her. daniel could recall the multiple times dahlia would either hide her face away or showcase a fake smile due to being embarrassed by being sung happy birthday by family members and or friends.

the amount of times daniel has told the restaurant waiters that it was dahlia's birthday just to see her embarrassed would make him laugh. the way she would shy away into his arm- daniel knowing that is the only time dahlia would ever get shy in a situation. however, that shyness would not last long as daniel would know due to him receiving glares from his girlfriend, her eyebrows furrowing, making the lines on her head become visible to the blonde boy.

"-ow! what was that for?" daniel exclaimed, rubbing his hand against his head since having felt a sharp pain in his head thanks to the girl smiling beside him.

"whoops- wake up dolly daydream."

"did you just quote peter from narnia to me?"

"you bet i did- and the fact you mentioned narnia now makes me want to watch it-"

"lia you literally watched it yesterday."

"i don't care." dahlia hit back at daniels words, him scoffing before pulling the girl into his arms- giving her a squeeze. wiggling herself out of his grip, dahlia gave daniel a quick peck- the girl watching daniel grow shocked at the sudden affectionate gesture.

dahlia went back to opening her presents, daniels heart rate increasing so much so that he felt it beating in his stomach, that just confirming his theory that he was anxious to see how dahlia would react.

as time went on, daniel anxiety flew away, him no longer feeling the effects of being nervous- the clamminess of his hands having disappeared, his heart rate having grown back to beating at a steadier rate. inside some of the presents clothes- this already winning dahlia as even though she had not asked for these, she was appreciative that daniel had even noticed that she had been debating to buy the clothes that were before her.

there was also some shoes present, the ones dahlia had grown to love the most already were her air jordan 1's in the sky blue colour. daniel was being showered with affection each time dahlia opened a present- him of course not being annoyed at all from the affectionate gestures he was receiving.

astonished at how much daniel had actually spent scared dahlia. she was never one to spend the most money or wanting to make a competition about who would spend the most money- unlike some people she knew- as what was most important to her was the quality of the present instead of quantity and price.

so when there was only two small boxes left after dahlia having received a blue polaroid- after she had cried to daniel about having lost her over one a month or two back. the two left were small square boxes, that only fueling dahlia's curiosity as to what it was.

"i swear daniel if this is something expensive i will hit you- you have gone extremely overboard this year."

"i had to make up for being a dick the last few months."

"don't be stupid you doofus- you made up for it already." dahlia commented, daniel sticking his tongue out at her to which only made dahlia reciprocate the same action. watching daniel flick his hand in her direction to hurry up in opening the presents only made dahlia raise her eyebrows before taking extra time and caution in opening one of the boxes she was holding.

waiting for her to open it, daniel rested his head on dahlia's shoulder. he was quick to smile even more when he felt a kiss on his head before feeling dahlia's own head lean on top his own. he noticed dahlia's hands shaking slightly, this always being a common thing when dahlia was being watched doing something, daniel knowing that her hands would also tremble a lot more when she was receiving presents.

a dark green velvet box was now visible to the couples eyes- well that was before dahlia scrunched up the wrapping paper to throw it in daniels face. he glanced up at dahlia, to see her facial expressions once she opened the box in front of her.

"you didn't."

"oh but i did."

"daniel."

"dahlia."

"how the fuck do you get the same one?"

"a magician never reveals his secrets." dahlia scoffed, giving daniels head a flick before bringing her hands to lift up the golden necklace that was situated nice and centre in the box. it was a plain necklace with a tiny golden cherry hanging on the middle of it. dahlia smiled as it was the one daniel had gotten her when they first met.

dahlia was surprised to see a necklace was literally identical to the one he had brought all those years back- it having been one of dahlia's favourite necklaces until she had lost it during one of the pairs dates around christmas time a few years back and since then, dahlia had never been able to forgive herself for losing it.

but here she was, with a new and improved version.

"do you like it?"

"no daniel i hate it." dahlia responded in a deadpan tone, daniel lifting his head off her shoulder to look at his girlfriend. he waited for her to break character, awaiting for a smile to break through and crack the blank expression dahlia had going on,

but nothing.

"what because you love it instead?" daniel joked, him holding back a laugh as he scanned dahlia's face when he noticed her nose flaring slightly- that being the sign she was about to crack. and she did. the laugh he had always loved was heard before daniel was pulled into a kiss from dahlia- his overall mood skyrocketing.

"you stole my line."

"terribly sorry."

dahlia put on a frown, daniel pulling the girl into his arms giving her another squeeze. he then picked up the necklace from her hands, twirling his finger around that being his way of telling dahlia to turn around to which would allow him to place the necklace around her neck.

"happy birthday my love."

AUTHORS NOTE
welp- this reminded me how single i am lol🥰

if it's a bit weird in places tell me- i was writing this when i was half asleep before going for a nap lmao

ANYWAY
please stay safe, stay hydrated & go eat something if you haven't already🥺
i love you 3000