RACHEL

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to Rachel!" Everyone sang, cheerfully.

It had been almost a week since Elliot had been discharged from the hospital and we were currently celebrating my 18th birthday. I didn't want a huge celebration, so instead of throwing a huge party, Elliot and I decided take my friends to the cafe Vici used to work at, which we got for ourselves this whole evening.

After opening many gifts, I blew out the candles and cut the three layer chocolate cake while everyone gave me a huge applause and cheered, enthusiastically.

"Happy birthday, Red. I love you so much," Madelaine pulled me into a tight hug.

We weren't just celebrating my birthday, but also the fact that I was staying after graduation. I didn't want to leave. Vici made me realize that, but so did Elliot's letter. Like Hannah said, you just need to find someone who gives you a purpose. Elliot gave me a purpose. He was my purpose. And I loved him so much.

"I love you too, Maddie," I said, returning the hug. She was dressed beautifully in a red dress, complimenting her sunshine blonde hair.

Afterwards, Sky who looked adorable in her white sleeveless dress, hugged me with a shy smile across her face. "Happy birthday, Rachel. I'm very happy that you're staying."

Smiling, I wrapped my arms around her and nodded. "Thank you."

Afterwards, Will came forward and grinned. Dressed in black jeans and a red buttoned shirt, he looked as handsome as always. Vici was standing next to him. She wore a red skirt and a white top and she had brushed her hair, which I by the way noticed she had started doing more frequently after she joined Kingstone academy. She was even happier day by day.

I pulled them both into a bone crushing hug, causing them to chuckle as they hugged me back.

"I love you two so much," I confessed. And I meant it.

"I love you too. Happy birthday," they both said in unison before cracking a short laugh together with me.

Afterwards, everyone busied themselves with eating the cake while I glanced at Elliot who was sitting by the table next to the window. He was dressed in dark jeans and white buttoned shirt, his hair a bit messy while a bright smile made his beautiful brown eyes sparkle in the moonlight.

Even though he was discharged, Elliot could barely walk without cringing of immense pain. His wound was still deep, but he was on the road to recovery. He was never allowed to lie like that again. I hope that punch
taught him a lesson.

I grabbed a plate with a big peace of chocolate cake and sat down next to him and smiled. "What? Why are you staring at me like that?"

"You look really pretty," he said, taking his hand in mine and entwining our fingers.

I was wearing a navy blue dress that Bella gifted to me earlier today. My hair was loosely falling below my chest, but I was thinking of either cutting it or dyeing it. Maybe both. I wanted to start fresh with Elliot. A new path in my life.

"Thanks," I said, feeling the blush creep across my cheeks.

"Here's your cake," I said, grabbing the spoon and feeding him with it.

"In case you forgot, my hands aren't wounded. My stomach is," he reminded, swallowing the chocolate dough in his mouth.

"I know. I just like feeding you." I grinned.

"Hey, those are my words," he said, smirking. I barked a laugh when Elliot snatched the spoon out of my hand and shoved a spoon full of cake into my mouth. I choked while trying to swallow all of it.

Elliot laughed and lightly pinched my cheek before leaning closer to kiss the bridge of my nose. "You're so cute."

"Yeah. I am," I proudly mumbled to myself, causing Elliot to grin widely.

"Can we go to that playground?" He asked, subconsciously playing with my fingers interlaced with his.

"You mean right now?" I asked, slightly surprised.

He nodded. "Yeah."

"Elliot, you can barely walk," I said, hesitatingly.

"You can carry me," he suggests, a playful grin teasing his lip.

"Sure, don't mind me carrying a guy who weighs twice as much as me," I snort, smacking his arm shortly after.

"Come on, Rachel. It's just down the street. We'll figure something out," he insisted, tightening his grip around my hand.

"Fine," I sighed. Elliot's face lit up and I chucked as I helped him up.

"Um, guys," I said, grabbing their attention as our four friends looked in our direction. "We're just heading to the playground for some time."

"Sure, have fun. It's your day, Red," Madelaine said. The rest smiled in agreement.

"Thanks, guys," Elliot said before I wrapped my arm around his waist and threw his arm around my shoulders to keep him balanced on his feet as we headed out of the cafe. When the door closed behind us, the fresh breeze tugged at my hair and I exhaled deeply.

"Come on, lets go," he said, thrilled. He looked extremely excited for some reason. I wondered what was going on in his mind.

"Promise me you'll tell me when it hurts too much," I demanded.

He nodded. "I will. I promise."

We started walking down the street. I was careful to not walk too fast and tried matching his pace.

"Um, Rachel," he said after we had walked for a few minutes.

I rapidly glanced at him, scanning his face for any sign of pain. "What? What's wrong? Is it hurting?"

For a brief moment, Elliot stared at me in silence before he burst out laughing. He laughed so hard that tears formed in his eyes and he had to wrap an arm around his stomach.

Puzzled and slightly annoyed, I raised an eyebrow at him and with a cold voice asked, "what?"

"You're acting like as if I'm a nine months pregnant woman in labor," he laughed, immense amusement reigning in his voice.

"Well, excuse me for worrying about my boyfriend," I snapped, grumpily.

Elliot's laugh instantly died and his widened eyes snapped to me, shock painted across his whole face. And then all at once, his cheeks flushed extremely red.

Exactly during that moment, it was my time to burst out laughing, my stomach tickling wildly. "Oh, my God! Your face is so red!"

"W-Whatever," he muttered, wiping his face with his palm, but the red color never faded.

Smiling of amusement, I stood on my tippy toes and leaned closer before pecking his cheek, tenderly. "You're so adorable, Elliot Waters."

Elliot grinned, shyly.

"But, seriously. Are you okay?" I asked, my arm still firmly wrapped around his waist.

"Walking is a bit harder than I thought," he chuckled, scratching the back of his head.

"Stupid shithead. Come on, get on my back," I said, gently letting go of him and standing with my back against him. Elliot jumped up on my back, slightly hissing of pain.

"Oh, my God! You're so heavy!" I shrieked, almost losing my footing as I staggered forward.

Elliot laughed. "You're so strong!"

"Thank you, but you still owe me one for this. I swear a bone just cracked," I I informed, staggering down the street as I tried to not lose my balance or drop Elliot.

Smiling with eyes closed, Elliot nestled his head against the space between my shoulder and neck. His warm breath caused goosebumps to spring up upon my skin while I groaned by his heavy weight on my back.

"We're here," I said after walking for a few minutes. I pulled my last piece of strength together and dragged Elliot towards the center of the playground where I helped him sit down on the ground. Breathless, I sat down in front him with legs crossed and tipped my head back, exhaling a deep breath.

"Carrying you literally took all of my strength," I said, breathlessly.

"Don't worry about it. You got more strength hidden somewhere. You're so strong. The strongest," he complimented, truthfully

"Why are you complimenting me so much today?" I asked, chuckling.

"It's your birthday," he answered, smiling.

"So that's why you haven't called me a redhead snake or mocked me all day? If this is how it's going to work, then it should be my birthday everyday," I admitted.

Elliot rolled his eyes and smacked me. I smacked him back and we both eventually burst out laughing.

"I want to ask you something?"

I looked at him, curiously.

"I want us to go on our first date. Would you like to go on a date with me?" He asked, slightly biting his lip as he looked at me through his gentle brown eyes.

For a moment, I sat still and stared at him. And then I reached for Elliot's hand and gave it a small squeeze, a small smile appearing on my face.

"Of course. I would love to," I said, softly.

Elliot's face lit up all over again like a Christmas tree, making me grin.

"You know you could've asked me this in the cafe, right?"

Elliot interlaced our fingers with each other before replying, "I know, but I wanted to mend our broken pieces the same place it all crumpled."

I froze. Swallowing hard, I looked at him and his softened expression. I knew I hurt him that day. And even though he was trying hard to not show it, I could see a glint of sorrow within his eyes.

My heart dropped and I climbed onto his lap, hugging him tightly. I pressed my face against his shoulder while mumbling, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. It doesn't matter anyway, because you're with me now, you're okay and you want to stay. That's what matters," he whispered, his arms locked around me.

"Do you really miss cutting?" He asked after a moment of silence.

Reluctantly, I nodded. "Sometimes, yeah. Especially when the guilt returns."

Elliot didn't say anything for a while nor did I. Instead, we just stayed like this for a while, doing nothing, but enjoying  the smother of silence around us. The only sound that reached our ears was the exhilarating breeze dancing past us.

"I got you a gift," Elliot informed, gently drawing back, but kept me in his lap and his arm remained around my waist.

Surprised, I raised my brows. "Really?"

Elliot nodded and with his free hand, pulled out a small, silver box from his jeans pocket and placed it in my palm where it fitted perfectly.

Immense curiosity caused me to quickly open it and when I did, I was left both breathless and speechless. With a slightly shaky hand, I gently picked up a silver and sparkly charm bracelet. The bracelet had three hearts attached to it with tiny diamond stones engraved into them. The whole bracelet radiated enchantingly under the moonlight. It truly was one of the most precious things I had received.

"Elliot! It's beautiful!" I exclaimed, amazed.

"Yeah? Mom helped me pick it out," he said, smiling widely. I nodded, happily. Satisfied, Elliot tied it around my wrist.

"Now turn the three hearts around."

Curiously, I turned them around one by one. Surprised by the words written on them, I chuckled.

My shithead
My dork
My Elliot

Grinning, I looked at him and Elliot smiled. "It's a reminder that I'm always yours. Even when you're super depressed and literally can't stand any human interaction, I want you to remember that I'll be there whenever you need me."

After staring at Elliot for a few seconds, I pressed my lips against his, kissing him with desiring passion. Elliot's lips formed into a grin against mine and he placed his palm on my cheek before kissing me back. My hands automatically tangled in his hair while the kiss was deepened.

"Thank you. Thank you so much," I whispered, breathlessly. We had drawn back, but rested our foreheads against each other's.

A beautiful smile appeared on his face, his brown eyes sparkling as the moonlight mirrored in them. "I'm glad you like it."

~

A few hours later, I knock on the door to Elliot's dorm room. I was left quite worried when Elliot texted me to come to his dorm. I wonder if his wound was hurting.

After waiting impatiently for a few minutes, Elliot finally opened his door. The second he appeared in front of my eyes, I rapidly studied his face and body posture to look for any sign of pain.

However, Elliot was dressed in gray sweatpants and a white t-shirt as he stood before me with a thrilled smile across his face. He looked far from pained. He looked okay and extremely excited.

"What is it?" I asked, not quite able to figure out the reason behind his excitement.

With a wide grin, Elliot stepped aside to let me in.

The first thing that caught my attention were the fairy lights illuminating the darkness in the room. They were decorated everywhere on the sheets that hung in a way that built a fortress, almost a magical path to an enchanting destination. Big, fluffy pillows were lying here and there and I resisted the urge to collapse on them. To sum up, I was speechlessly dumbfounded by the sight before me.

When our eyes met, Elliot smiled. "Welcome to our first official date."

Wordlessly surprised, I stood still and stared at him. Slowly, a smile appeared on my face and my heart warmed of immense happiness.

"Elliot," I whispered, amazed. "This is...beautiful."

Grinning, he held his hand out to me. I placed my hand in his before offering a smile of my own. He leaded us through the magical path while I continued to be amazed by the beautiful fairy lights. Eventually, we sat down on the comfy pillows, facing each other.

While I continued to look around with fascination, Elliot cracked a short, but amused laugh. "You've never seen anything more beautiful, have you?"

"Well, I've been to Paris, but this definitely tops Paris and pretty much every other beautiful place in the whole wide world," I genuinely admitted. 

Elliot smiled of satisfaction before opening a white box and gently taking out a red velvet cupcake with creamy white frosting on it. He grabbed a lighter and enlightened the candle on top of the cupcake.

He smiled. "I know you blew out the candles on that chocolate cake and made a wish and everything, but you're really amazing so you deserve two wishes on your 18th birthday,"

I giggled and took the cupcake out of his hands before closing my eyes. I smiled as I made the same wish I made a few hours ago in the cafe when I blew out the candles on that chocolate.

I wish Elliot gets all the happiness in the whole world.

And then I blew out the candle. When I opened my eyes again, Elliot cupped my face in hands and kissed me, tenderly.

"Happy birthday" he whispered.

I smiled. "Thanks."

I broke the cupcake in two and gave the other half to Elliot. We ate up together and I moaned softly as the most delicious cupcake dough was swallowed down my throat after spreading a sweet taste in my mouth.

"This is so good," I admitted, licking my lips.

"I have a lot more so eat as much as you want," he said, gesturing at the tray filled with red velvet cupcakes, another tray with pizza and the last tray consisting of four glasses of strawberry milkshakes.

Smiling excitingly, I was about to grab another cupcake, but Elliot closed his fingers around my wrist, stopping me. I looked at him, inquiringly.

Grabbing his blue hoodie, he smirked while offering it to me. "First put on my hoodie."

Slightly surprised, I raised my brows while taking it. "Um, okay, but why?"

"Because I want you to," he simply answered.

Lightly chuckling, I pulled his hoodie over my head. It was quite baggy and I could only see the tip of my pajama shorts underneath. As I wrapped my arms around my torso, I inhaled the scent of the hoodie. Happiness and...Elliot.

"So pretty," he said, quickly drawing me closer, onto his lap and gently pulling my hair out of the hoodie.

Chuckling, I grinned before pushing his hair out of his eyes and pecking his cheek, earning a proud smile from h. Afterwards, we spend some time shoving delicious pizza and cupcakes into our mouths and sipping strawberry milkshakes.

I picked up the the cherry on top of my milkshake and put it in my mouth. Surprised, Elliot raised his brows, hope igniting within his stunning eyes.

"Did you like it?" After chewing the juicy cherry, I swallowed it and looked at Elliot.

"It wasn't that bad," I mumbled, grabbing the one on top of his milkshake too and eating it up.  We both laughed before I rested my head against his chest, listening to his beautiful heartbeat.

"These cupcakes are delicious," I said, now eating my third one.

"Mom made them. It's the best recipe ever," he said, subconsciously stroking my arm.

"Well, then we have one thing confirmed. Lucy makes the best cupcakes," I said, eating up the cupcake in my hands.

Elliot rested his chin on top of my head and nodded while playing with my hair. Soon, I lost myself in the way he was running his fingers through my red curls that I was caught completely off guard when he gently pushed me off his lap and climbed to his feet.

Flustered, I tipped my face up to look at him. "What's wrong?"

A playful grin teased his lips as he bent down a little and extended his hand to me, his brown eyes blazing of...love.

"Let's dance."

I chuckled as I placed my hand in his and let him pull me up on my feet. Stepping closer towards me, he circled his arms around my waist and I wrapped mine around the back of his neck.

"But, Elliot, there's no music," I said.

"Of course it is. Don't you hear it?" He asked, smiling.

"No, I don't," I replied, confused.

Elliot pulled me even closer and rested his forehead on mine, his warm breath tickling on my face. "Listen carefully. You'll here it."

I tried to listen even more carefully this time. For a few seconds, it was nothing but silence, but suddenly I heard it. It was very faint and far away in the background. However, it was still there. The same song we slow danced to at the school dance. As it reached my ears, I smiled. 

"Do you hear it?" Elliot whispered.

"Yeah," I whispered back.

As we slowly swayed to the rhythm of the music, for an instant second, it felt like we were soaring through the twilight with the fairy lights everywhere around us, enlightening our world.

Elliot's lips gently met mine and we kissed softly. His breath filled my mouth and eventually my whole body was enlightened by the passionate kiss. My fingers got tangled up in his hair while Elliot's arms were locked tightly around my waist.

We kissed for a few seconds more until the mischief within me awakened and I pushed him away and ran off.

"Rachel - No!" Elliot started chasing me in the fortress while I laughed hard of immense amusement. Despite his wound, Elliot was able to run after me, but he was quite slow. I was a bit worried, but when I noticed Elliot wasn't in any pain at all, I knew the medication and the long naps were helping and he was getting better quicker than doctor James assumed he would.

My stomach tickling crazily, I ran around in the small fortress until Elliot finally caught up to me and grabbed my arm. However, we both slipped on the bedsheets covering the floor and lost our footing. We crash landed on the floor while tickling each other and our laughs filling the room with joy.

"Ouch!" Elliot hissed and I immediately froze. He cringed of sudden pain and my palm quickly flew to his cheek as I studied his slightly pale face.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" I asked, panicked.

Elliot tried a painful expression, but eventually burst out laughing, dropping the fake mask. As I realized he had just been faking the pain, I smacked his arm really hard of anger before trying to get up. However, Elliot laughed and pulled me back.

I tried pushing him away, but eventually gave up when he locked his arms tightly around my waist, making it impossible for me to break out of his embrace. Equally breathless, our laughs turned into light chuckling while he rested is forehead on mine.

"You little redhead snake. You're not going anywhere this time," Elliot mumbled, grinning.

I was only able to give a short laugh before his body hovered over mine and he slipped between my legs, his lips crashing on mine. This time, the kiss put my whole body on fire and my heart danced of immense happiness. His body was pressed so closely against mine that I could feel his heat radiate off of him and onto me.

We kissed again and again and again till it was the lack of oxygen that pulled us apart. While breathing heavily, Elliot lovingly stroked my cheek and whispered, "I love you so much. You mean so much to me."

As a smile tugged on my lips and my heart continued to dance, I pushed Elliot onto the floor and hovered my body over his. He placed his hands on my waist while I pushed his hair out of his eyes and smiled softly.

"I love you too. You mean a lot to me too. You have no idea how important you are to me," I confessed, wholeheartedly.

It was amazing how those words made Elliot's whole face brightened as he stared at me through his sparkly brown eyes.

I kissed the bridge of his nose before turning my body around so I was lying with the back of head resting on his chest. While Elliot wrapped his one arm around my stomach while his other hand was curled around mine. I stared up at the fairy lights everywhere around us, even above our heads while Elliot played with my fingers entwined with his.

"So what was Paris like?" He asked, curiously.

"Well, it is the city of love so it was pretty much what I expected it to be. Beautiful, magical and romantic," I replied.

Elliot nodded. "It sounds great."

"What about you? Have you been to any magical places around the world?" I questioned, looking at him.

Elliot smiled sheepishly. "The longest trip I've been to throughout my entire life was the two hour car drive from my apartment to Kingstone academy."

"What?! Seriously?" I was completely shocked. "Haven't you ever wanted to see more of the world?"

"Of course. But you need money and time for that, which mom and I never had much of."

Of course. The cycle.

We were so close that when Elliot talked, his voice gently vibrated through me. "Mom had always wanted to go to Paris. So back when I was sixteen, I had a decent job that payed good money and I saved up enough money for two tickets to Paris. But after mom lost her job and struggled to find another one, everything started falling apart and we ended up returning the tickets and using the money to pay our apartment's rent. I was really sad and I knew mom was too, but she cheered us up by baking red velvet cupcakes with me. Eventually, it became a tradition for us to bake red velvet cupcakes together every Sunday. We ate so many of them," he chuckled by the memory.

I smiled. "Well, even though you had to give up on the chance to go to Paris, at least something good came out of it. These extremely delicious cupcakes."

"Yeah. You're right," Elliot chuckled, still playing with my fingers.

"Hey, Elliot?"

"Yeah?"

"I'll take you to Paris one day. You and your mom. We'll go together."

Surprised, Elliot looked down at me with eyes slightly widened. "Yeah? You'd do that?"

I nodded. "Of course. It's the least I can do after you made me feel golden again."

Elliot shook his head. "You've always been golden, Rachel. You just lost your radiance for some time. There's nothing wrong with that."

It was crazily amazing. Elliot made me feel alive by his words, his touch, his presence and pretty much his entire existence.

"And thanks, Rachel. I can't wait till that day comes." I smiled and Elliot kissed my scalp.

"Rachel?"

"Yeah?"

"I wanted to scare your demons away. All of them," he confessed, quietly.

Smiling, I gazed at the enchanting fortress we were in. "Good, because you definitely did."

Elliot smiled, happily. However, I wanted one more thing. Something that was inevitable, but perhaps not during this moment.

"I don't want this date to ever end. I don't want this night to come to an end. I just want time to stop so I can stay like this, here with you in this beautiful place," I confessed.

Elliot nodded and that's exactly what happened. We stayed like this in this magical fortress surrounded by enchanting fairy lights. Tomorrow was inevitable, but this one and only moment was forevermore.

*****

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