Choose Your Own Adventure

You know how I said I am exceptionally good at fucking up my own life? Well, I seem to have finally gotten past my streak of bad luck. In fact, I am almost tempted to say my life has been going rather well. Knock on wood. I haven't been hit by any stray cars lately, i've even been working on a contract with my new manager and a record label to make an album. Also, there is the whole Vic coming along and being the most perfect human on the planet thing. He's probably the biggest reason my life has been so wonderful as of late.

Our third anniversary is just around the corner, which kind of still blows my mind. I really don't know where all that time went, one minute we were on our first date and then suddenly I was moving all my stuff into Vic's apartment. Recently I've been spending my nights on Skype with Vic while he's in LA. He's been in LA for over a month now, recording with his band for their new album and while I was beyond proud of them, I kind of just want him home already. We'd fallen so quickly into our own routine as a couple, and no matter how many times he left to go and record or tour it continued to be a shock to the system not waking up to him every morning for months on end. That's why I ended up giving in and working a few extra shifts at the coffee shop so I would be able to fly out and spend our anniversary together. Recently I quit working at the bar, I still played most weekends but with the record deal soon to be finalized and sharing the costs of rent and everything else with Vic I hadn't really needed both jobs. Of course, I may have been working longer shifts at the café, not that Vic was aware of this fact. I may have been saving for a certain, rather expensive anniversary gift. In the form of a ring. I'd finally gone and picked it out a few weeks ago and since then I have been spending hours trying to work out the best way to pop the question and I think, with Maud's help, I have finally come up with the perfect plan. Now I just needed to find a Cadillac, and hope like hell our anniversary is a warm, clear night.

~

I am so late, after spending a majority of the night tossing and turning in excitement and nervousness I had finally managed to get to sleep a few hours before my alarm went off. At least, when it was supposed to have gone off, because it certainly never did. Thankfully i'd woken up just in time to hurriedly pull on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and grab my suitcase. Then of course I had to impatiently get through the hectic traffic, which included every red light imaginable. I'm kind of breathless by the time I finally get into the airport terminal, weaving my way through a crowd of people who had just got in, hoping like hell I haven't already missed my flight. I almost trip over myself though when an all too familiar face catches my eye. I came to an abrupt halt, my eyebrows knitting together as I stare at him in confusion.
"Vic?" I question loud enough for him to hear as he chats on his phone, suitcase by his side. His eyes momentarily flash with recognition at the sound of my voice before his eyes land on me, going wide as we look at each other.
"Kellin? Where are you going?"
"I was going to see you!" I say, neither of us moving as we stare at each other still completely confused and kind of lost.
"But– I was coming to surprise you." As he says it I hear the last boarding call for my for my flight, meaning I well and truly missed it, not that it mattered now I suppose. Vic is standing not six feet away from me. A sudden grin breaks out onto Vic's face and he says something into his phone that's still pressed against his ear before he slips it into his pocket and rushes forward to meet me. I'm overcome with excitement suddenly, excitement and also stress. All my anniversary plans were completely out the window now. But then Vic is wrapping his arms around my tightly and a grin spreads across my own face and I can't even worry anymore because it feels so good to have him by my side again.
"You're here. Holy shit." I say, realizing just how much I truly missed him.
"I'm here." He says, nuzzling his face into my neck and I kind of never want to let go of him. "Happy anniversary, Kel."
"Happy anniversary, baby." I say, kissing him softly for the first time in what felt like an age.

"I'll have to ring a few people when we get home, cancel my plans for the day in LA." I tell him as I drive us home, my mind still trying to catch up with the fact that Vic is sitting in the car next to me, in San Diego, and that my proposal plans are kind of ruined now.
"I'm sorry, I can't believe this happened."
"It's okay, I guess we both have the same idea."
"What were your plans?" I shake my head, smiling over at him.
"Not telling, I can use it at a later date. How about you, did you have plans or what?"
"I was planning on going home and making some cupcakes and a nice big dinner in time for you to get home from work, but you obviously aren't at work."
"Well, we could do it together, that'd be nice, right?" He placed his hand over my hand that's resting on the gearstick, running his thumb over my knuckles softly.
"Yeah, that sounds very nice. Then I figured we could just spend the night watch a film or something, nothing too over the top, I just wanted to be with you."
When we stopped at the lights I lent over and kissed him softly, loving having him back at home, and getting to see that smile again as I pulled away.
"I love you." He said as he continued to smile at me.
"I love you too, sweetheart."

We spent the day baking cupcakes, dancing around and singing along to our favorite albums. We made quite the mess as we did so but it was fun, to just mess about and spending time with Vic, forgetting about every lonely night over the past month we spent apart. I couldn't have asked for a better day. Okay, it may not have all been so innocent, there may, possibly been have a few blow jobs against the kitchen counter while we waited for the cupcakes to bake. I mean it had been a long time, what could you expect from two men?
"I've been so stressed over the past week, and I was starting to worry that I wasn't enjoying it, the whole band thing, but I think I just missed you."
"Why didn't you tell me you were stressed?"
"I didn't want you to worry."
"Oh, Vic."
"I think, this is exactly what I needed though, just a simple day at home, with you." I pulled him against my chest, rubbing my nose against his.
"Maybe next month I can try get some time off work and come see you in LA, since it didn't work out this time, and we can just spend a few days being together." He squeezed my sides, nodding his head just as the timer for the cupcakes went off. Vic kissed the tip of my nose once before spinning around to pull the cupcakes out.
"Perfection." He said.
"Just like you."

That night, we sat in bed watching a film and cuddling and just generally pretending that Vic wasn't going back to LA tomorrow for another two months.
"I have something for you." Vic muttered nervously as he crawled back into the bed after turning the television off. He lent over and pulled out three envelopes from his bedside table.
"Happy anniversary." He said, leaning forward to kiss me softly for a moment before sitting back and letting me open his presents.
I opened the first envelope curiously, pulling out a handful of papers that seemed to were a contract. I quirked an eyebrow at Vic as I scanned over them, still unsure of what exactly it was.
"This is me, well us, offering for you to open for us on our headlining tour. I understand if you say no, if you would find it weird or something but–"
"I would love that so much, Vic, you have no idea. Shit, are you for real?"
"Completely. Partly it's because i've missed having you around, I wasn't sure I could keep it up."
"I'm so happy baby, thank you so much!"
"That's not all though." He said, nudging the other two envelopes towards me excitedly. "The first one kind of depends on how you feel about the second one, but I want that one to be last." I nodded, not having a clue what he was talking about but tearing the envelope anyway, my mind still kind of stuck on the fact that I was going to be on tour with Vic. I wouldn't have to spend more months away from again after they'd finished recording their album. Opening the envelope I pulled out two plane tickets to New York for just after new years.
"I thought we could go on a holiday, of sorts."
"Fuck, Vic. I don't even know what to say." He shook his head, crawling over to me and resting his head on my shoulder as I stared down at the tickets. I was kind of overwhelmed by everything that he was doing for me, for us.
"You don't have to say anything."
"Thank you so much, for everything." I told him, unsure how to convey how truly happy I was. I wrapped my arm around his waist, wondering what I ever did to deserve him in my life.
"You haven't opened the most exciting one yet."
"Oh jeez, I don't know if my heart can handle all of this at once." I told him, even though I was already opening the final envelope. This one was bigger than the last two and when I pulled out what was inside I understood why, it was a hand-made book. On the cover was a little drawing of Vic and I holding hands and the title 'Love At First Milkshake' scrawled across the top. I giggled, smiling over at Vic who had a blush on his olive cheeks. I flipped the book open and I soon realized it was a little story, our story, with illustrations of each scene and everything. When I got a few pages in however my excitement hit an all time high when I realized it wasn't just any story, it was a Choose Your Own Adventure story. There were two options, 'invite cute Mexican boy to show' or 'continue to love him from afar'. Of course I already know how this story goes, so instead I pick the other option and flick to the correct page and taking over the page is a drawing of Vic with a pout on his lips and big puppy dog eyes. 'I know you can't resist', it says simply and I chuckle, nudging Vic and flipping back to the page I had previously been on.
"This is kind of the cutest thing ever." I told him as it came to the final page, flipping it over my heart skipped a beat and then started beating rapidly against my ribcage. That was not at all what I had expected.The illustration was of us, in almost the exact position we were in now, in bed, reading the little hand-made book. Underneath the illustration it read, 'will you marry me?'.
"How do you want this adventure to go?" He questioned me, an obvious nervous edge to his voice and I looked over at him, not being able to stop the tears that pricked at my eyes.
"I want the rest of my adventure to be with you." I tell him, squeezing his side and kissing him softly as tears of complete joy leak from my eyes. When we pull away he's grinning with tears in his own eyes and he's holding a little red box in his hands.
"You just made me the happiest man alive." He told me as he grabbed my hand, slipping the simple gold band onto my ring finger. I stared at it in utter disbelief, my heart still going crazy in my chest. I pushed all the envelopes out of my laptop and grabbed his hips, lifting him up and placing him in my lap, kissing him forcefully.
"You just made me the happiest man alive." I tell him, kissing him again.
"So that's what the flights were, I figured if you said yes, since we can't get married here, we could have a ceremony here and then go to New York to make it official."
"Fuck Vic, a Choose Your Own Adventure hand-made book of our relationship."
"It was pretty good, right?"
"My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard, literally." He snorts, rolling his eyes as he snuggles into my chest, my arms around him.
"Hey, Vic?"
"Hmm?" He hummed into my chest.
"You bet me to the punchline but I have something for you." I told him, wriggling around a bit and leaning over to the bedside table on my side, pulling out a small jewelry box of my own. "I was going to ask you in LA." I tell him as I open the box and he lifts himself off my chest, sitting in my lap again and staring down at the box wide eyed. He covered his mouth.
"I ruined your plans."
"It's okay."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be, today was perfect, better than anything. It only made me realize just how much I want this, us." He bit his lip as I took his hand, slipping the ring onto his finger.
"Best. Day. Ever."

The End