"And it took you this long to figure it out?" I asked Andy.

He chuckled.

"Well, not exactly but it hit me in the shower this morning. The conversation we had in Sears in December came back to me about the Secret Santa stuff," Andy confessed.

We were sitting out at a coffee shop. He was sort of in disguise with a baseball cap and kept the collar on his shirt popped. He tried to stifle his accent but it really didn't work.

I looked down at my coffee cup and smiled.

"H-how did that make you remember?" I asked him.

"I went to put my cross necklace on and I kept thinking about it. It still ate at me for 3 months of who it was. Then, somehow it took me back to Sears in December when you were asking for recommendations for the guy you were seeing," he told me.

I smiled again. God damn was I smitten like Violet told me I was?

"I had no idea you would figure it out. I was hoping it would stay a secret," I told him.

He chuckled at my comment.

"Well surprise," he told me.

"Definitely," I replied chuckling.

"So were you ever gonna tell me you did it?" Andy asked me as the waitress came and gave us coffee refreshments.

I shook my head.

"I think secrets are good for the soul like those sort of secrets. Not toxic ones but genuine surprise secrets," I explained after we thanked the waitress for the coffee refill.

He paused and looked at me.

"Just like you did when I was in rehab last year? You know how much that meant to me, right?" he asked.

I sighed.

"Yeah, I know. I wanted to do something good for you. Not because of your stage name. I know what the headlines said and have continued to say about you and it's nasty," I told him.

"You know I think you are the first woman in my life that actually takes all of it into consideration," he explained.

"It's just who I am Andy. I know I don't know you really just what we've learned in the last year but," I explained but he cut me off.

"Hey, hey, hey, you don't have to defend yourself with me," he told me as he put his hand on top of mine.

My heart fluttered at the gesture. I had Violet in the back of my head.

"I've always defended myself with people. It's a force of habit," I told him as he held my hand in his.

He was just a friend. But, I don't want the world to see this. If this gets broken, then I will never be able to let him know who I am anymore.

Andy sighed at my comment.

"I know. That's the world I grew up in myself. I always had to defend myself because when I was younger in grade school I only did well because I was the "Bee Gee's brother." I get it completely," he told me.

I frowned at his remark.

"That's totally unfair and I cannot imagine the pain that's caused you. Even today," I told him.

He took a sigh at what I had said.

"Well yeah, that's one of the things that drove me last year prior to the stay at Betty Ford. I always wanted to be a Bee Gee and well maybe it's not meant to be," he commented.

Our food came about this time so we paused to focus on our food for a few.

I changed the subject to move us from his sad revelation. I couldn't help but try and distract him.

"Anywho what you doing after here?" Andy asked me.

"Probably going home and staring at the four walls," I joked.

He chuckled.

"Well, what if we went and uhm went for a walk at the beach or something? I'm sure you don't go out often 'cause of work," he told me as grabbed a napkin to wipe his mouth.

I paused. Did he want to hang out longer than just breakfast?

"The beach?" I asked him.

"Yeah there's this spot in Malibu I think you'll really love if you've never been there before. Point Dume?" he asked me as he looked at me.

I was eating and couldn't respond for a moment.

After I swallowed, I replied.

"Point Dume?" I asked him.

He nodded his head.

"Yeah, Point Dume. I know it's like an hour's drive but I think it'll be worth it," he told me.

"Sure then I mean I've never been before," I told him before I took another bite of food.

He smiled at me. He had a look of hope in his eyes for the first time in weeks.

His birthday was in 3 days. Mine was in 13 days. I had so many things in the back of my head with the man sitting before me. That's why we went out to breakfast because I'd have to be at work all day on his actual birthday.

We finished up our food and headed out to Point Dume. We went to my house first to drop my car off before going in his car. He took the baseball cap off and fixed his collar. He looked like Andy again now. After the drive out to Point Dume, he'd come back to my house to take home his gifts and the cake that I had made for him. I of course knew his mother would probably do a cake for him. But, something inside me wanted to reach out as usual.

The drive on the freeway was quiet. The hopeless romantic in me wanted to hold his hand but my god he was just a friend.

Andy glanced over after about 15 minutes of the drive. He looked nervous but he sneakily grabbed my hand to hold. My voice got caught in my throat.

I didn't say anything. I just smiled. He sighed in relief when I didn't react foolishly. We didn't say anything for a while.

"You didn't pull away," he commented quietly as we stopped in the bottleneck of traffic.

"N-no I didn't. Why would I?" I asked him as he swiped his thumb across the back of my hand.

"I-I've been wanting to do that all morning. Something this morning told me that things would be different and-," he tried to explain.

"Andy, don't explain yourself. I understand," I told him.

"But us, our friendship. Or relationship. What if I mess this up and lose you," he commented.

"Regret the dids, not the did not," I told him.

The traffic began to move again. I didn't want to spoil the moment so I stayed quiet. 

Andy did too till we arrived at Point Dume.

When we parked at the little spot, he let go of my hand. Gently, he turned to look at me.

"What?" I asked him as I looked back at him.

"You said not to regret the dids right?" he asked quietly. 

He was still like a little puppy after all these months. He always reminded me of a golden retriever as weird as that sounded. 

"Yes, I did. Why?" I asked him.

"No reason," he remarked.

And so, we got out and hiked up the little way to the spot where he wanted to take me. Point Dume had this little area where the rocks sat perfectly overlooking the ocean.

We settled down on the rocks. I saw the birds flying over and covered my head with my arms and screeched.

"What was that for?" Andy asked chuckling.

"I don't want to ever be pooped on by a bird," I replied back.

He laughed even harder.

"I don't think anyone wants to be pooped on by a bird," Andy told me as he collected his thoughts.

"Well true," I remarked chuckling.

I took in the sun on my face. For early March, spring had really sprung.

For a few, we were quiet staring out to the ocean.

"Isn't the sun healing?" Andy asked after a few.

"Yeah it feels great," I told him.

He smiled at me as we sat there in the sun for the longest time.

After a while, Andy stood up and jumped down off the rocks leaving me by myself.

"Come on," he told me as he held his hand out to me.

"Where are we going?" I asked him.

"Just come on. You trust me, right?" he asked me.

"Yes of course," I told him as I stood up and used his hand for support to climb down from the rocks.

After I was safe on the sand, he continued to hold my hand as we walked. Cute.

"Here," we stood where there was a little dip in the sand. 

There was a spot where the ocean water filled this little dip in the sand. There were some seashells and a little sand crab walking.

"This has been here for as long as I can remember and it always reminded me of something constant in my life sort of like you," he gestured to the beach area.

I smiled at him.

"That's sweet of you to say, Andy," was all I could say.

We stayed at Point Dume for over an hour before heading back to my house.

The drive back to the house was quiet. Andy turned the radio on to an oldie station. I didn't even pay attention to it. I stared out the window. We got back to my house.

"I think today was pretty great," I commented as we walked into my house.

He smiled at me.

"I think so too," he commented as he sat down on the couch.

"Stay here. I have a few things for you," I told him as I disappeared to the kitchen.

I grabbed the cake and candles first. Then I walked to the hall to the closet to grab his birthday bag gift.

I came back to him on the couch.

"Here happy early birthday," I told him. 

Andy's face lit up like a child on Christmas morning.

"You shouldn't have," he told me.

"I wanted to," I told him.

"Even candles?" he asked chuckling.

"Yes you need to make a wish," I told him.

"Why don't I do that now?" he asked me.

"You don't have to," I told him.

He proceeded to open the cake container and handed me the candles.

"You are extra aren't you?" I asked him.

"You are extra," he told me with a smile as he saw the lighter on the coffee table.

I proceeded to put candles on his cake.

He handed me the lighter and I lit every single candle.

"Okay make a wish," I told him.

He blew the candles out.

"Yay," I remarked chuckling.

"Thank you for everything," he told me as I pulled the candles out of the cake to cover the cake back up.

"Of course," I told him.

As we prepared our goodbyes, this time before he left, I decided to hug him.

Andy was taken aback but melted into the hug. Oopsie?

"Have a wonderful birthday," I told him after I pulled from the hug.

He looked at me with a smile.

"I will," he told me as he moved his hands to my lower back.

"By the way, what did you wish for?" I asked him curiously.

"If I say so, it won't come true," he remarked.

"Oh true," I told him as he let go of the embrace.

"Duh," he chuckled.

"See you later," I told him as I started walking away.

"Thanks again for everything," he told me.

I turned back to him. Something came over me. I was impulsive.

"What?" he asked I stood in front of him again.

I kissed him. Why did I do that?

We pulled away. He smiled.

"I didn't think birthday candles worked," he told me with a smile.

I froze. 

"Huh?" I asked him.

He swiped his thumb over my cheek sweetly.

"When I blew the candles out, I wished that you would show me you liked me the way I like you," he told me.

"O-oh," I remarked shocked.

"Yeah," he remarked chuckling.

"Happy Birthday Andy," I told him.

"Indeed it is," he replied as he stared at me.

What we would become only the stars could see. 

Authors Note:

And here we gooooo ladies and gentlemen! The reader and Andy are finally getting together. They are ~together~ but not officially yet. How are we all feeling?