when allie woke up the next morning beside her footballer boyfriend who was already awake, she gave him a soft kiss. she wasn't bothered about morning breathe because it was his twenty fourth birthday and he deserved the very best.

"happy birthday, my love." allie whispered as it was still pretty early. she had stayed the night at harry's so they didn't need to be quiet but it felt too early to be talking at a normal volume.

"morning." harry groaned and pulled his girlfriend closer to him so that he could cuddle her better.

harry was now twenty four years of age and he didn't want allie to make a big fuss about his birthday. it was probably because he was nervous to be playing manchester city later on in the day but all he wanted was to be with his girlfriend.

"here." allie got up from the bed briefly and opened his wardrobe to pull out a perfectly wrapped gift.

"allie, i said-" the footballer started to protest as he sat up in his bed and watched his girlfriend. allie was walking back towards him wearing a pair of her pyjama shorts and one of his t-shirts.

"i know. you said not to spend any money on you which is why i didn't." the blonde girl gave him a smug smile as she sat down on the bed next to him and handed him the present.

harry simply sighed and smiled at his girlfriend. he had to. she had found a way around his rule and really, harry should have known that she would have done that. allie was a big fan of finding loopholes.

the footballer started to unwrap the neatly wrapped gift and when all of the paper had been removed, he found a jar with pieces of paper inside of it.

"pick one out then." allie prompted him as he sat in confusion and with a dopey smile on his face. it was cute. his hair was fluffy as it hadn't yet been styled and it was sticking out all over the place.

harry opened the jar and pulled out a piece of paper. they were small squares that were folded up and when he unfolded it, he smiled at what he saw. on one side, allie had written one of the many things that she loved about him and the other side was a miniature version of one of the many pictures that they had taken together.

"what do you think?" allie anxiously waited for her boyfriend to respond. she had put a lot of time and effort into it and she hoped that he would like it.

"you're amazing." those were the only words that harry could utter out. he had told his girlfriend not to make a bug fuss out of his birthday and in the most low-key way possible, she had made him feel so incredibly special.

***
"you should have seen her, harry!" monique exclaimed excitedly.

harry was currently walking out of the stadium after a victory over manchester city. he had his arm slung over his girlfriend's shoulder and allie was leaning into him.

monique was telling her ex boyfriend about allie's reaction to harry being fouled by zinchenko when he was on the break. it was what was called a 'tactical' foul and the guy was sent off after receiving two yellow cards. allie was fuming when she watched the guy wearing black take out her boyfriend. it wasn't necessarily a bad foul but she was still annoyed. as far as allie was concerned, her boyfriend was untouchable.

"so you enjoyed the game then?" harry asked monique, knowing full well that allie had had a good time from the big smile that she greeted him with when he found her in the tunnel.

"you were great out there, winkle." monique teased harry with the nickname that she knew that he hated but today, he didn't bother. he didn't bother because he had the love of his life beside him and he had just beaten a team that were always difficult to play against.

"i'll see you tomorrow." monique said goodbye to her best friend who was going to be heading out for dinner with harry in celebration of his birthday and his win.

allie had waited for all of the players to leave and harry had allowed her to use the players changing room to change out of her many layers and into something more appropriate for dinner. it was much better than getting changed in the cold toilets.

allie had made reservations at toni macaroni's. harry didn't want anything special so they settled on one of allie's favourite restaurants. she didn't come from money but she was definitely more priveleged than a lot of other people. it meant that it didn't take a lot to please her. she appreciated how lucky she was and harry did too. he was living his dream and not many people got to say that.

"thank you. you've made today so special without going all out and i really appreciate that." harry spoke across the table after they had both finished their meals. he couldn't believe how perfect his birthday had been and it was mostly down to allie.

"carly used to always say to me to never fall in love with someone who doesn't make you feel special." allie smiled as she laced her slender fingers through his.

"you deserve it, harry. after all that you do for me and continue to do for me." the blonde girl was appreciative of her boyfriend. he was always by her side and showed her that romance wasn't dead.

"move in with me." the footballer blurted out and allie had no idea how to respond to that.

"after your contract ends, of course." harry added and that made allie feel more at ease. she was ready to move in with her boyfriend but she had to wait until the end of the month because of the rental contract that her and monique were bound to.

"of course." those two words were what completed harry's day. twenty four was going to be his year.

a/n: this chapter is so dreamy to me. it's definitely a favourite of mine.

we only have two chapters left of 'honeymoon fades' :( it makes me really sad but i'm excited about what's coming next, even if it was a pain to write.

when i wrote this, i didn't realise that tony macaroni's is a scottish restaurant chain and i didn't know that england doesn't have them. you guys are missing out but thank you harrywinksxx for telling me! i don't know what to change it too so i'll leave it as it is at the moment and i'll change it at a later date.

fun fact: livingston fc are sponsored by tony macaroni's and so their stadium is called the tony macaroni arena or the spaghettihad but that's a joke obviously.

what team would you pick to support if you couldn't have the one you currently support?
- i would pick dunfermline athletic (if you know why, please keep it to yourself for now) but if i were to pick a premiership team, motherwell are alright or ross county? i don't know. hopefully dunfermline get promoted and i don't have to pick.

enjoy and stay safe!

lots of love, e x