The Cheap Bouquet

Since the second Anna had awoke, everything had gone perfect. Which, oddly enough, made her afraid. Whenever anything went right for her, it seemed like something horrible was yet to come. As if fate was giving her a bit of pity before it tore her apart.

"Are you sure you don't want anyone else to come? You must have other friends you'd like to be around. Come on, Anna! It's your twenty-first birthday!" Mike exclaimed, sitting on the edge of the bed, watching as Annabella pulled out several different articles of clothing.

She shook her head. "Nope, no one. There's Emmeline, Andy, and Zak - though I highly doubt Zak will even show up. And of coarse you guys. But other than that," she shrugged, before going back into the closet and biting her lip.

Mike chuckled softly. He knew that Anna had been at countless parties and raves, but the day she's finally allowed to drink, she'd rather have a small get together with the people she see's almost every day? That just didn't make sense to him. "Fine," he huffed, touching the beer bottle to his lips.

But, before he could take the smallest sip, the front door opened and closed, startling him. "Who's h-?"

Anna ran out of the room, and down the stairs - completely ignoring Mike's question. "Emmeline!" She exclaimed, throwing her arms around the older girls' neck, and pulling her into a tight embrace. "Ohmygod, I've missed you so much!" She said, trying to get out her words so fast that some of them were slurred.

Laughing, Emmeline hugged back. "Easy, killer. You'll crush me," she said, a grin on her face. Once Anna pulled away, a small smile found it's way onto her lips. "I've missed you too," she said.

"I'm so proud of you, d'you know that?" Anna asked, grabbing Emmeline's hand and pulling her up the stairs, into the bedroom where Mike was still sat, doing something on his phone.

Emmeline nodded. "Yeah, you've told me a million times," she replied, giggling. She glanced at Mike for a second, before turning back to Anna.

Annabella chuckled. "Well, now a million and one," she said, attempting to push Mike towards the door. "I need to talk to her, without a babysitter," Anna added, becoming winded from the amount of effort she was putting into moving the much larger guy.

Mike laughed. "Fine, fine. But I've still gotta stay here. I promised Tony that I'd keep you here until they've got things ready," he replied, walking into the hallway and shutting the door behind him.

I didn't take very long for both Anna and Emmeline to begin going through all of Anna's clothes, and choosing which Anna should wear for the party. The both of them talked about a lot of things; sobriety, a few bands that they should exchange listens to, Emmeline's plans for the future, Tony, Zak, Andy, and that was when Mike had interrupted their conversation, telling the two that it was time for them to head over to Jaime's place, where the party was being held.

"Who'd you invite?" Emmeline asked when all three were in Mike's car.

Mike laughed before Anna could respond. "Not as many people as you'd expect," he answered for her, shaking his head.

"Shut up," Anna said, chuckling softly. "Just you, Andy, and Zak. Along with the other Pierce guys. I didn't want a bunch of people, ya know?"

Emmeline nodded. "Which is understandable," she said. "I wasn't sure if you were going to invite Zak or not."

Shrugging, Anna sighed. "You don't think that he'd bring anything, do you?" Anna asked. She didn't believe that he would, but Emmeline knew him better than anyone. They had grown up like brother and sister.

"Anna, no. He respects the people that mean something to him. Which probably means he's sober for the time being," she answered, honestly. She knew for a fact that he wouldn't be coked out. But, Zak had been known to irritate and even disappoint. But he also had feeling for Anna, which canceled everything out.

By the time the three had arrived at Jaime's, all three were laughing at a few comments that one another had made. Tony was the first to walk outside, closing the door quickly behind him. He pulled her into an embrace, his hands leaving a fiery touch, even after they had left Anna's skin. "Hang on," he said, pulling something out of his back pocket.

He placed the blindfold over Anna's eyes, and began tying it carefully when she spoke up. "This is a little cheesy, don't you think?" she asked, giggling.

Tony shrugged, but then realized that Anna wouldn't have known. "Deal with it," he said, chuckling. Once he had finished tying the blindfold, he held Anna's face gently between his hands, and kissed her softly. "Happy birthday, love," he whispered, letting one of his hands fall to his side. The other tangled itself within Anna's fingers, as if on instinct.

Pulling Anna into the house, Tony held the door open for Emmeline and Mike. When they had finally gotten inside, he pulled the blindfold off of Anna, and she opened her eyes.

Pink and black balloons decorated the setting, along with matching streamers. Vic and Jaime stood next to a small table with assorted foods, no alcohol - as requested (seeing as Emmeline had just gotten out of rehab). And, the best surprise of all, would simply be the ginger haired girl standing in Mike's arms, a grin on her face.

"Maya!" Anna then pulled away from Tony, flinging herself into Maya's arms excitedly. This had been the one thing that Anna had wanted, though she didn't expect this at all. Maya had flown back over to Europe, where she had resided with Asking Alexandria. Anna wasn't sure exactly where she'd gone, but she'd talked to her often between times. The subject hadn't ever come up.

"Miss me?" Maya asked, laughing and returning the embrace. She then let Anna go, in order to let her take in the rest of the atmosphere around her.

Anna then noticed Andy, who was standing next to a very fidgety Zak - who was clearly under a lot of pressure.

"Before we start, could I talk to you and Tony outside for a second?" Zak asked, biting his pierced lip in nervousness.

When Anna nodded, she dropped back somewhat and grabbed Tony's hand, casting a reassuring glance up at him.

When they had gotten outside, Tony and Anna stared at the nervous Zak, waiting for an explanation. He sighed, before finally talking. "I know that I've been a jerk lately. And I'm sorry for that. I guess it just took me a while to realize that Tony's as in love with you as you are with him. And I just want you to be happy. Even if it isn't with me. So, if you are happy, I'll let you be. I won't cause any more trouble, as long as you invite me to your wedding," he said, chuckling softly.

Anna laughed, and nodded. "If that does happen, you'll be the first to know," she said, her voice somewhat sarcastic. Once she had composed herself, she looked at Zak. "Thank you," she said, nodding. "I really do appreciate this, you know."

"I just want you to be happy, as I've said before," Zak responded, a small smile on his lips.

Tony returned the smile, but still didn't say anything. Even if he knew about Anna's "big secret" now, he could tell that they both had secrets entwined in their friendship, ones that they'd never tell anyone. And Tony was actually okay with that. He trusted Anna.

The three then walked back inside, and that's when everyone began talking and listening to the music playing in the background. Everyone had an alright time, mostly talking to either Maya or Andy or Zak, asking questions about how their life was and whatnot. It had just gotten to be eleven thirty, and almost everyone had gone home. Vic, Mike, and Maya were the only three left, and that's when Tony insisted that he had to give Anna one more surprise before the night had ended.

"No more surprises after this," Anna insisted, shaking her had as she and Tony walked up the stairs and into the shared bedroom.

Tony laughed softly, but nodded. "Okay, last one. I promise," he reassured. 'Stay right here, okay? Close your eyes and don't move."

Anna giggled, but did as told. She could hear Tony walking down the stairs, before walking back up them. She then felt his lips on hers, once again leaving that fiery touch as his skin left hers. "Okay, open them," he said, sitting next to her.

When she did, she couldn't help but grin from ear to ear as she saw the bouquet of white roses, though the petals had been painted red.

"I know you love Alice In Wonderland. And, you were wearing your Alice tank top when we first met," he said, shrugging.

Throwing her arms around his neck, Anna nearly crushed the bouquet. She pulled away, and slowly took the the roses from Tony's hands, breathing in the aroma. "They're perfect," she said, smiling. "Come put them into a vase with me," she said, grabbing Tony's hand, and pulling him into the kitchen - where she found a vase under the sink.

Once she had filled it with water, she placed the flowers inside and sat them on the counter, smiling at the way they looked.

Tony wrapped his arms around her waist, and smiled as she relaxed into his embrace. "Promise me something?" The question sounded almost odd coming out of his mouth; usually it was Anna who always asked that.

Anna noticed how odd it sounded, but nodded anyways. "Anything."

"Stay with me. Forever, and ever, and ever, and ever," he continued whispering, his lips ghosting over Anna's neck.

Giggling, Anna turned in his embrace and stood on her tip toes to kiss him. "I promise," she replied, grinning as she pulled away.

And, in this moment, Anna realized that things would be okay. She realized that happiness isn't for everyone but her, that love isn't useless, that sobriety isn't as bad as she once imagined it to be, that she could get over the grudge she felt against herself for Cody. In time, anyways. She was happy. And happiness is one thing that she highly doubted that she'd ever be able to feel again. But she did, and it was all because of some guy that she met at a bar.