Waking up in Vegas

“Happy birthday!” John said, giving me a kiss on the lips and then enveloping me in a bear hug. When he pulled away he had a huge smile on his face. “I have so much planned for you today you’re going to love it!”

“What are you talking about? I thought Cassie had something planned.”

“Nope. I took over.”

“Okay, so what are we doing?”

“It’s a surprise!” he said with a grin.

“How many times have I told you I don’t like surprises?”

“A lot. Don’t care. They’re fun! And you’re going to love it!”

“Whatever,” I said rolling my eyes. “Can you at least tell me where we’re going so I know what to wear?” I asked with a sweet smile and a kiss on the lips, trying to trick him into telling me his plan.

He just shook his head and went towards my closet. He shuffled through some things and threw a top at me. “Wear this,” he said simply before going to my dresser and grabbing a pair of shorts. “And these.” Guess my plan didn’t work.

“Fine. Are you going to leave so I can get dressed?”

“No, I’m fine here,” he said with a mischievous grin and sat on my bed.

“Pervert,” I said with a giggle and walked into the bathroom to change.

I heard him talking on the phone when I was coming out of the bathroom and I tried to listen in to figure anything out about his plans. But he hung up a couple seconds later and I didn’t really hear anything.

“Ready,” I said, going back into the room.

“Damn you look hot. I should pick out your clothes more often.”

“Shut up. You’re just saying that ‘cause my tits are hanging out,” I said, throwing the t-shirt I had been wearing at him.

“Well yeah, a little.” He grinned and made no attempt to hide the fact that he was staring at them. “And your tattoo looks amazing.”

I looked down at my leg and smiled at the owl there. “It does, doesn’t it?”

He got up from my bed, walked towards me, and wrapped his arms around me. “I’m glad you love it.”

“I’m glad you went with me to get it.”

He grinned and closed the gap between us and kissed me softly on the lips. We got lost in the kiss and were only pulled away when John’s phone beeped, indicating a text message.

“Oh, we gotta go.” He grabbed my hand and started pulling me out the door.

“Wait! I need my stuff. And shoes!”

“Oh, sorry. Well hurry up!”

“Okay, just give me a second.” I grabbed my phone and clutch and threw on some Vans and we made our way out to John’s truck.

After driving for about ten or fifteen minutes, John pulled a bandana out of his pocket. “Ok, put this on, we’re almost there.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I practically shouted. “I’m not wearing that!”

“Come on! You have to! You’ll ruin the surprise.”

“This is ridiculous,” I pouted, crossing my arms over my chest, but when John hit me with his puppy dog eyes I couldn’t say no, and I finally gave in.

I don’t know how much longer we had driven for when we finally stopped, but John made sure to tell me to leave my blindfold on.

“How am I supposed to walk when I can’t see?”

“Not a problem.” I heard his car door close and I was about to take off the bandana when my door opened. He grabbed my hand and helped me down from the truck.

“Okay, hold your arms out straight.” I did as I was told and I felt his shoulders underneath my hands. “Now jump.”

I jumped and felt John’s hands wrap around my legs and I tightened my arms instinctively around his chest. John carried me on his back to where it was we were going. I tried to listen to get some clues but I just heard people chatting and I couldn’t make out what they were saying.

After a couple minutes we stopped and John instructed me to remove the blindfold. When I did I almost fell off of John’s back. Standing in front of me was Austin Carlile, Alan Ashby, Tino Arteaga, Phil Manansala, and Aaron Pauley.

“Holy shit!” I shouted and all the guys laughed.

“Happy birthday Kendall!” Austin said through giggles with his adorable smile.

“Holy shit Austin Carlile knows my name!” I made John put me down and I went straight in for a hug with Austin.

After I had hugged all the guys and made a complete ass out of myself, I turned to John and gave him a hug.

“Thank you so much! This is the best birthday present ever.” I kissed him quickly before turning back to Austin.

I walked with him to the couch in the dressing room and we sat down and started talking.

“You’re like my biggest inspiration in life,” I told him.

“Oh my god, no way, I’m not that special.”

“No seriously. My mom passed away when I was young and your songs and your story with your mom really hit home with me. And seeing how strong you are through it all made me believe that I could do it too. And you’re just so genuinely happy about everything and I want to be that way.”

“You can be,” he said, grabbing my hand. “And I’m glad that you’re being strong and I’m truly sorry about your mom.”

“Thanks,” I said with a smile. “And I’m so glad I got to finally say that to you. I’ve been practicing forever.”

“You’re so adorable!” He said with a huge smile and a giggle. And I couldn’t help but smile back; Austin Carlile just called me adorable. Best birthday ever.

I got to hang out with them backstage until it was time for them to go onstage. It was fun seeing what kinds of things they did to get pumped up for a show. And of course there was alcohol, so I was feeling pretty nice and buzzed.

When it was time for them to go on I walked towards the stage with them and I was getting so excited. When we got close to the stage I started wondering where I would stand during their set. But I was soon answered when John quickly pushed me out on the stage and I spotted my best friends on barricade. He helped me down and I squeezed in between Cassie and Mallory. After that he went back to stand backstage and I definitely understood why. I heard people going crazy over John and I saw tons of cameras flashing and I couldn’t help but laugh. Especially when I heard people talking about how much they loved him and how they wanted to marry him. If only they knew…

When the band came out on stage the crowd went absolutely insane and I swooned (again) when Austin pointed and winked at me. He was one of my favorite people in the world.

They played all of my favorite songs and Austin even made everyone in the crowd sing happy birthday to me. The last song they sand was Second & Sebring and Austin gave a little speech. At the end of his speech, right before they started playing Austin looked me right in the eyes as he spoke.

“Now since this is such a special song I want to dedicate it to a very special birthday girl I just met, because it means a lot to her. This one’s for you, Kendall!”

I smiled and tears welled up in my eyes. This song really did mean a lot to me and it meant even more that Austin would dedicate it to me. It was definitely the best birthday ever.

I sang along with every word and cheered my ass off when they were done. The guys gave me a few guitar picks and a drumstick and the night just kept getting better. I stood there in a daze until one of the security guards called out my name. He told me that my friends and I were supposed to stay put and wait for John. I guess he wanted the crowd to disperse a bit before he came out again.

We met up with him and hung out with the guys in Of Mice & Men for a little while longer before they had to leave for the next stop on their tour. I said goodbye to the girls in favor of spending the night with John. We had already made plans to all go out together the next night to continue with the birthday celebrations.

On the way back to John’s apartment I couldn’t stop talking about how perfect my birthday had been and how John was the one to thank for all of it.

“There’s more,” he said when he could finally get a word in.

“John, are you kidding me? That was seriously all I could have ever asked for. There really doesn’t need to be more.”

“Yeah, well it’s already done. So you really don’t have a say in this.” He leaned over and kissed me before I could say anything else.

We pulled up to his apartment and he hurried around to open the door for me. I rolled my eyes, but it really was sweet.

“So,” he started as he took my hand and led me to the door. “I remember you telling me about how much you love cats and about that little kitten you had when you lived with your mom still.” I smiled at the mention of Whiskers. He was the best kitten ever. And he was mine and my mom’s; something that we had shared. “But you said your dad was allergic so you couldn’t have one now.” I nodded, because yes, it was still true and it still kind of bummed me out. I really wondered where John was going with all of this.

He unlocked his door and turned around to kiss me again before he turned the doorknob to open it.

“Surprise,” he said softly as an adorable little kitten was staring up at me from just inside the door.

“John? What?” I couldn’t even form complete sentences.

“He’s yours. He can stay here since your dad can’t be around him. And I’ll take care of him for the most part, but you can come over whenever you want to play with him and hang out. And you have to promise that you’ll take good care of him when I’m away on tour and stuff. I haven’t been able to have a pet for a long time since I’m gone so much. But I figure this is a win-win for us.”

“Are you serious right now? A kitten? You got me a freaking kitten?!” I leaned down to scoop the little guy up in my arms and scratched behind his ears.

“Do you like it?” he asked, with an almost scared expression on his face.

“Of course I like it! I just can’t believe you got me a freaking kitten! This is kind of ridiculous.” I was seriously in shock. John had bought me, us, a kitten. This seemed like a really big step in our relationship. Or maybe I was just overanalyzing things. I didn’t know. I just knew that I had a freaking kitten.

“Good ridiculous though right?”

“Of course. What’s his name?” I asked, smiling as he continued purring in my arms.

“Well, he doesn’t have one yet. You get to name him.”

“Seriously?” I asked, even though I should have known. John was just perfect; there was no other way to put it.

“Of course. He’s yours.”

“James P. Sullivan, or Sully for short,” I informed John.

“Oh my god, kitty! That’s so clever!”

“You actually get it?!” That was almost as exciting as getting the cat.

“I love Monsters, Inc.,” John said with a smile.

“Me too. And I freaking love this birthday!”