H.B. and Gypsy

I hated celebrating my birthday. It was some lame excuse for everyone to pay attention to me all day and for me getting awkward phone calls from distant family members who are acting like they actually give a shit its my birthday. I told my mom I didnt want a party or anything this year. I just wasnt feeling up to it. She agreed, but insisted that she, my dad, and me had a 'birthday breakfast'. I agreed and that seemed to make her happy enough.

After spending some time with my family; opening presents, the off-set birthday breakfast and the whole 'you're growing up so fast' nonsense with my parents, I finally head over to Landons house. I knew he had something for me, but I wasnt sure what it could be. I still feel bad about him doing something for me, because honestly, I dont really deserve anything that much. I feel like hanging out with him all day would be good enough for me.

I walked up to his door and knocked, hoping it wasnt too early. I didnt want to wake him up or anything. He answered in less than a second, jumping on me and throwing his arms around my neck with a giggle. "Happy b-birthday, Ever!" He beams and places a kiss on my lips. I stumbled back a little, and held his legs around my waist a little tighter. "Why, thank you!" I laugh and walk inside the house, shutting the door with my foot, and carrying him into the kitchen where Mrs.Lee happened to be.

"Hey birthday boy!" She smiles and walks over to me and Landon. I set him down and hug her.

"I made you some of those cookies you love." She grins and hands them to me in a cute little package with cellophane and a bow.

"Oh, awesome!" I grin and immediately open the package, stuffing one in my mouth. She laughed and walked over to the fridge, getting out the milk for me, pouring me a glass, and setting it in front of me. "Thanks.

"I h-hope you like your p-present..." Landon blushes and grabs my hand.

"You didnt have to get me anything." I smile. "But Im sure whatever it is, its perfect."

He kisses my cheek and pulls my hand. "Lets g-go see it th-then..." He urges me.

"Ok, fine." I laugh and set my milk down. "Thanks for the cookies." I smile at Mrs.Lee. She nods and puts my dish in the sink. Landon drags me upstairs to his bedroom and timidly shuts his door.

"Before y-you see i-it, I want to l-let you know th-that you dont h-have to like i-it, ok? Its ok i-if you d-dont..." He blushes a deep shade of red and places me on his bed. I just softly smile at him and shake my head.

"Im sure i'll love it."

He whispers "I h-hope so..." and makes his way to his closet. He turned back to me, "C-close your eyes."

I do as i'm told and wait. I hear landon bringing something out of his closet and set it out in front of me. I heard him take a deep breath and then finally say to me "O-open."

I slowly open my eyes and was met with something I never expected.

It was so unbelievably beautiful, I could quite process that it was for me.

A Painting. It was a whole bunch of beautiful colors flowing together around one big black willow tree in the middle of the canvas, with its branches free in the winds of color. It was big too. About 3 ft by 3ft. Upon gaping at it, I realize that he had painted some words as the bottom of the flawless picture. It said "I will be the one who listens."

When, I read that...I started to cry. That was one of the lines from my poem I had written him a while ago and he remembered it. I covered my mouth that was now hanging open and took a deep breath, only took to look at Landon who was nervously standing next to it. "I-is it ok...?" He whimpered at my expression, that probably looked just downright strange by now. I just nodded my head as tears were now falling freely down my cheeks. I couldnt talk right now.

Landon hurried over to me and held my face in his hands. "I d-didnt mean to m-make you cry, Im s-sorry. I th-thought you w-would like i-it..." He worries and wipes the tears from my eyes.

"No, love..." I whimper and kiss his lips. "Its the best present I have ever been given, thank you so, so much." I held his waist close to me and nuzzled my face into his neck. I heard him give a shy giggle.

"R-really? You're w-welcome, E..." He smiled at me.

I pull my face away from his neck and stare at him.

"Wh-what?" He tilts his head. All I do is tuck some hair behind his ear and pull his jaw to mine, kissing him. I needed to show him how much I love him for doing this for me.

Landon responded by wrapping his arms around my neck and pulling me closer, quickly parting his lips for me. I got up off the bed and lifted landon up, curling his legs up around my waist and quickly backing him up against his bedroom wall. Landon sighed and pulled me closer. I slid one of my hands down his side and eventually rested it on his upper thigh, pushing myself closer to him. He whimpered and pulled away from my mouth, catching his breath while I worked on his neck and soon sloppily connected his mouth with mine again. I felt him groan and place his hand on my lower back.

Oh, god.

As soon as he did that, something in me clicked. I couldnt help it. I slowly started to roll my hips against his. Landon closed his eyes and rested his head on my shoulder and soon started to do the same. He started to kiss me inbetween his breaths and curl his fingers in my hair. Soon, I felt his legs curling tighter around me and he began to gasp. With a strangled whimper he choked out, "B-bed..."

I didnt waste any time. I took us over to his bed and laid us down, never stopping our movements once. I fit neatly inbetween his legs and continued what we started, making landon let out a low groan and curled his head back, his hands tangled in my hair and pulling me down to kiss him. Our breathing was becoming exceedingly ragged. I knew I wasnt going to last much longer. This friction was too perfect, I had to pull away from his lips and catch my breath against his chest.

It all happened so quickly, yet I remember every second of what his beautiful face looked like when it finally hit him. He looked at me in amazement with uneven breathes, and finally closed his eyes tightly, rolled his hips up a last time before slowly coming to a stop with a choked whimper. I followed soon after, hiding my face in his neck as my eyes rolled back and I saw shooting colors. My Hips soon came to a slow stop.

All you could hear was our breathing.

I rested my head on his chest and he ran his hand down my back as we attempted to steady our breath. I got a glimpse of Landons face and he has never, in the whole time of me knowing him, looked this at peace or this happy. I leaned up and slowly kissed him one more time. "Thank you."

"You're..." He caught his breath, "v-very welcome." He smiled. "Thank y-you for that, E. That w-was...perfect." He blushed and hid his face in my neck.

"Its was." I alway pictured Landon and I's first time being intimate to be amazing, but this...this was better then I could have hoped. I cant believe it took us this long to do this...

"We should do that more often." I laugh. I just heard him giggle and felt him nod into my shoulder. We laid there for another good five minutes in silence.

"Hey E-e?" He whispered.

"Yeah?"

"We should p-probably change our p-pants." He blushed and pointed down. Oh, yeah.

"You're right." I laugh and sat up, taking his hand and helping him off the bed as well. "Do you still have those boxers of mine from that one night I used your washing machine?"

He nodded and walked over to his dresser, grabbing a pair for him and throwing mine at me. "Thanks." I went into his bathroom, cleaned myself off, and switched out my boxers for my clean ones, and walked back into landons room to find him in a pair of pajama pants and no shirt on. I walked over to him and kissed his cheek. "You s-still have a-another part t-to your present, y-you know." He smiled.

"Oh, do I?" I smirk. He nods.

"I w-was going to g-give it to you after th-the first one, b-but we got...d-distracted." He giggled and went to grab a bag that he had stuffed with tissue and a card for me. He handed it to me and sat down next to me on his bed. I look up at him, wondering if he wants me to open it now. "O-open it, silly." He smiles.

I reach inside, throwing the tissue out, and grab my card. Of couse, Landon drew it for me and left an amazingly heartfelt sweet something for me on the inside of it. I gave him a kiss after reading the card and let him hold it whole I reached inside and found what he had gotten me. I held it in my hands and a smile grew on my face.

A Camera.

"I cant believe it..." I gasp and stare at it. I had been telling him how I wanted to try photography for a while now. I cant believe he bought me a fucking camera. "Look at me." I smile. Landon gives me his usual lopsided smile and I take a quick snapshot of him. "Thank you so much, babe." I gush and hug him close to me.

"W-welcome." He blushes.

"Gimme a kiss." I laugh and he leans in. I connected our lips, snapped a photo and pulled away.

"Give m-me a copy of th-that one." He laughed.

"Will do." I beamed. "What time is it?" I randomly blurt out, noticing that I had completely lost track of time. Landon turns around and looks at his alarm clock.

"Uh..a-about 12:00" He informs me. Geez, I usually slept in this late. Its still so early in the day...

"What the heck are we going to do all day?" I groan.

"Whatever y-you want, its y-your birthday."Landon reminds me. I sit and think about it. Honestly, Im not up for anything extravagant. Come to think of it, I really want to use this camera now. I turned to Landon and smirked at him. He raises an eyebrow and smiles at me.

"Wh-why do I have a-a feeling th-that I wont like wh-what you're about t-to say..." He laughs and crosses his arms.

"Well..." I begin and crawl closer to him, "Because it is my birthday, and you just happen to be my boyfriend..."

"Oh g-geez..." He sighs and rolls his eyes letting out another laugh. I smile and lay him down.

"I would really like to take some beautiful pictures of you." I finish and kiss his neck once, before getting up and looking at him.

"You w-want to take p-pictures of me? L-like this?" He begins to get nervous, covering up his torso and furrowing his brow.

"Yes." I smile and stand there, trying to figure out a good angle to start with. He sits up and blushes.

"B-but I'm not e-even dressed, and I-I dont even l-look good..." He anxiously rambles, covering up his body, painfully shy. I sigh and go over to him.

"Love..." I say seriously and hold his hand. "The only person who will ever see these pictures is me, and I just happen to think that you look perfect every moment of the day."

He blushes and looks down.

"I mean it." I lift his face up with my finger. He timidly smiles and takes his arms away from his torso. "Ok?" I ask him. He nods his head. "Good." I smile and give his lips a kiss.

He sighed and laid back down on his back, looking at me. "W-where do y-you want me?" He asks innocently.

"Actually, where you are is great. Stay right there." I say quickly, looking through the lense in the camera. Landon looked so self conscious laying there, staring at me with glossy eyes. I took the camera away from my eyes, and looked at him. "Whats the matter, doll?" He shook his head. He looked so shy and uncomfortable. I went and walked over to the bed, leaning over him and brushing some hair away from his face. "Are you ok?"

His gold eyes stare up at mine. "I j-just...Im s-sorry, E..." He sighed and covered his blushing face.

"Hey..." I say softly and pull his hands away from his face. "Its ok. Tell me whats wrong, babe."

"I've n-never liked p-people taking pictures o-of me..." He whispers to me. I furrow my brow.

"Why, love?"

He sighs. "I never l-look good i-in them...", he started to play with my fingers, "...and I j-just feel v-very exposed l-like this in f-front of you, Ever..." He whimpered.

"I've seen you with your shirt off a million times, though, sugar." I run my thumb down his cheek with a curious face. "I mean, just 20 minutes ago we-"

"I kn-know..." He cuts me off with a shy smile. I smile down at him.

"I'll tell you this." I say to him. "If you let me take some pictures of you, I'll let you do that sketch of my body you've been wanting to do. Fair?"

He raised his eyebrows and blushed. "F-full figure?"

I laughed and blushed to myself, looking down at him. "Yes. My full figure."

Even though the thought of Landon staring at my whole uncovered body for a couple hours completely mortifies me, Im willing to do that just for a chance to capture him on film, if that was even possible.

Landon stared up at me for a couple seconds, and then finally nodded with a shy smile. I kissed him and stood up. "Now..." I look at him and he lays his head on a pillow, looking at me with a slow sigh. He's sexy without even trying. "I want this to look really natural, so pretend im not even here, love." I explain to him.

"Wh-what am I s-suppose to do?" He blushes.

"Just do what you do right before you fall asleep. Relax yourself."

"B-but I always k-kiss you right before I-I fall as-asleep." He giggles.

"And I just kissed you not even two seconds ago!" I laugh. "Just breath." I smiled softly at him. He listens and with a sigh, he closes his eyes and sinks into the mattress, trying to relax. I raised my camera and snapped the first picture. As he was laying there, his face reminded me of that time I walked in on him dancing in his room to that song he likes. He looked to into it when he had his music on. Hey, that gives me an idea...

"Babe." I comment and he snaps his eyes open.

"Whats w-wrong? Am I d-doing alright?" He worries. I smile.

"You're doing great, but I have an idea."

"What i-is it?"

"What was that music you were listening to when I saw you in your room that one day?" I ask, insanely curious. He furrows his eyebrows and thinks. Eventually he remembers.

"Oh, i-its was D-deftones." He smiled.

"Where can i find it?"

"Um...I-in my c-cd rack." He pointed to the corner of his room next to his stereo system. I went and looked through them, finally coming across the CD I was looking for and popped it into his system. As soon as the music started playing, Landon laid down and got comfortable with a sigh.

I knew this would work.

"Better?" I smirk at him. He keeps his eyes closed and nods. "M-mhm.."

I swear, as soon as I turned that CD on, magic started to happen. Landon would peer over at me in certain moments and I swear he was trying to tell me something. Something nobody else would understand. He would roll over and run his hand down his ribs with a sigh and look at me. In that moment, I would make sure to snap a picture a soon as possible. He looked so at ease. It was sexy.

Landon stretched and arched his back up with a whimper.

Snap

He curls his neck back and laid his hand on his chest.

Snap

He looked at me with half lidded eyes and smiled.

Snap.

Thats it. I need him now. I put my camera down on top of his dresser and set the timer on it so it took a new picture every 15 seconds. I slipped my shirt off and went over to him. He heard me walking over to him and blinked his eyes open. "I-is everything a-alright?" He asked me quietly. I smiled and laid on the bed with him, pulling his waist to me.

"Perfect." I smiled and gave him a slow kiss.

Snap.

He blushed and laid a hand on my chest. "Did y-you get any g-good pictures?" He asked into the skin of my chest. I laughed.

"H-huh?" He whimpered, confused. I just shook my head.

"You d-didnt?" He winced and pulled away form my chest. "S-see? I knew I-I..."

"Are you kidding, Landon?" I gasp and hold his face in my hands.

"Wh-what?" His eyes were looking at me nervously.

"I've never seen you look so sexy." I say to him. "I got more beautiful pictures of you than I can handle." I smile and run my hand down his side.

Snap.

"Im n-not sexy..." Landon blushes into my hand.

"Oh, yes you are." I pull him closer to me. "Just wait till you see these pictures."

"Is the c-camera still g-going?" He asks quietly and kisses my collarbone.

Snap.

"Yeah. Its on a timer." I sigh and snuggle into his side, becoming quickly relaxed. Afternoon naps were me and Landons favorite time together. Landon ran his hand through my hair and cuddled up to me. I dont know how long we laid there, but it didnt matter. I soon fell asleep in his little arms, while, he for once, stayed wide awake, mumbling sweet things into my ear.

The last thing I heard from him was "Happy Birthday, Ever Brenin."

Snap.

_______________________________________________________________________

Landon really made my birthday special for me. Even with us just laying around in his bed all day,taking pictures of ourselves and watching scary movies together it was an absolutely perfect day for me and him. We also ended up taking things where they ended up earlier on his bed...I guess now that we finally crossed that bridge, its like this new fun thing we get to explore with, and we both loved it. Im surprised Landons mom didnt hear us, to be honest, the second time, we got a little loud. Oh, well.

The day ended with a dinner made by Mrs.Lee, which was wonderful, and Me and Landon finally curled up in bed. The perfect end to a perfect day.

That would be the last day like that for a while.

Landon has been at the gallery so much lately, getting ready for this new display they're going to premier in two weeks, that I hardly get to see him at all. He would occasionally stop by my house after work and give me a quick kiss or two and head back home to sleep.

He was always so tired after work. That was another thing. He didnt have much energy to really do anything once we actually did see eachother. He would always apologize and tell me he would have his life back soon after this display had started. I would tell him its ok and kiss him none the less, even though, as each day went by, I felt my heart breaking a little bit more each time we didnt see eachother.

After a week or two, I didnt quite know what to do with myself anymore. I had grown tired of writing so much and soon became exhausted with the thought of trying to even pick up my violin again. This was causing me to become increasingly irritable and moody. Landon seemed to be the only one who could calm me down in my moments of either rage or sadness. And when he wasnt there...bad things would happen. I would yell and throw shit around my room, eventually doing something I regret like ripping up a new poem I was writing or breaking one of my Cd's. It was becoming too much for me to handle..and I didnt have anyone to help me.

So, this brings me here. Sitting in my livingroom, staring at an old photo album from when I was about 9 years old. I was scanning each page over and over again, trying to find me smiling in a picture but I failed every time. I could guess why. I mean, I don't even have to say it. I eventually slammed the album shut and slouch back on the couch, crossing my arms across my chest, staring out the window.

I miss my fucking Boyfriend.

I growled into my hands and stood up, heading towards my kitchen. I dont even know why Im walking in there, but I am. As soon as I get into the doorway, I see that my dad was left something open. I walk over to it with a sigh and put my hand on the cubboard door to close it...but then I see it.

Dont.

My dads alcohol.

I shouldnt...

I stood there, my pulse starting to race, staring at it. "Fuck..." I sigh and run my hands through my hair before grabbing it and holding it in my palms. I balanced the weight back and forth as I contemplated. Then, thoughts started running through my head. Thoughts that were doing doing but convincing me this was the only way to make myself feel better at this very moment. With a fed up growl, I twist the bottle open and press the bottle to my lips, tilting my head back, and taking to gulps of it.

"Shit..." I blink and heavily set it down. I held my quickly spinning head in my hands and stood there for a second, getting used to the feeling.

All the sudden...I didnt feel so shitty anymore. I dont even remember why I was so upset in the first place. Nothing fucking matters.

I hiccupped and smiled to myself, bring the bottle to my lips again, taking another couple gulps. Whatever this was...it was strong. Because, after only drinking it a couple times, I feel my fingertips start to numb out...as well as my worries.

Everything seemed so simple right now.

I ran my hands through my hair and sighed, getting used to the swaying of world at the moment. I somehow got the bottle back onto the shelf, closed the door and made it up to my room. I missed a couple steps on the stairs on my way up, and stumbled into my room, closing my door, and laying on my bed, watching my ceiling dance. I was blinking rapidly and occasionally laughing to myself with a sigh. I was completely lost in some kind of world where nothing seemed to affect me anymore. All until I heard something that snapped me out of my thoughts. I turned my head towards my nightstand and squinted my eyes, trying to make out a steady image or what I was looking at.

My phone was ringing.

I reached my hand over and grabbed it, pressing "Answer" and holding it to my ear.

"Hel-",Hiccup," Hello?" I attempt to not sound so messy with my words.

"E?" I hear a sweet whisper come from the other line. I smile to myself and close my eyes.

"Ohhey my..." I laugh, "...my sw-sweet boyfriend...I mess, I mean I missyou-so much..." I slur and let out another laugh.

"Are y-you ok?" He sounded worried. I let out another.

"Immsoogood..." I slur together and turn over on my bed. I heard nothing on his side of the line for a couple second, but hardly noticed. I was too busy trying to not fall off my bed with the way gravity was fucking pulling me everywhere at this point. I dont know how long I was holding the phone up to my ear, but all the sudden, I hear a frantic voice on the other line.

"Th-thats it, Im coming o-over!" He tells me with a raised voice.

"Wait-wha?" I breath into my phone to him.

"What h-has gotten into y-you ever?" He sounded frightened. "I've been t-trying to g-get a response out o-of you for f-five minutes..." He whimpered.

"I didnthereanything..." I sigh and hold my head in my hands. I'm beginning to feel sick.

"I'll be th-there in t-two seconds." He says quietly. I dont even respond, I just hang up and throw my phone at my desk with a whimper, holding my stomach.

Oh, fuck...I have to throw up.

I stayed on my bed, curled up in a ball, whimpering to myself for god knows how long. I'm beginning to feel like complete shit.

All the sudden, a loud noise makes me snap my eyes open and hold my head in pain. I wince into my hands.

"E-ever..." Landon whimpers and hurried over to me. I slowly blink my eyes open.

"My l-love." I whimper and reach out to him. "Gimme' kiss..." I attempt to smile and reach out for him. He looks so worried.

"Whats w-wrong with y-you? Why a-are you a-acting so weird...?" He whispers, getting close to me and brushing some hair out of my face.

"I don' feel good, " Hiccup,"Babe...not a' all." I shake my head and hold my face in my hands.

"What d-did you d-do?" He worries and hold my face in his hands. I shook my head and held my stomach.

"Im sor-sorry..." I sigh and attempt to sit up, but only end up falling on the ground. "Fuck..." I wince and curl up in a ball on the carpet, completely helpless.

"Im s-sorry love..." I breath into the ground.

The last thing I saw was Landons face.

He looked like he didnt even know me. So scared of what I might have done to get in this state.

"God..." I wince and finally...

I black out.