Happy Anniversary

"Happy anniversary, Lexy!" I exclaimed as my boyfriend finally dragged his lazy ass out of our bedroom and into the kitchen.

I'd been up for no more than an hour and a half, but I'd been bored out of my fucking mind. I would've done something to help pass the time a bit quicker, such as cook us some breakfast or something, but there are two problems with that: one, I can't cook, and two, Alex always brings me out on our anniversary.

His still sleep-clouded eyes looked up to meet my face as his eyebrows drew together in confusion. "It's our anniversary?" he asked slowly, his voice heavy with his tiredness and under use. It would've been extraordinarily sexy had I not felt so hurt; it felt like I'd just been hit by a fucking train.

My face fell and a lump formed in my throat as I nodded. "Four years today, Alex; how could you forget?" I finally managed to choke out. It took everything in my power to push the tears, which were threatening to flood from my eyes, away.

He took another few steps closer and I backed away from him. My lower back was now pressed against the counter and he was only a few feet away. I wish I would've thought my whole moving thing through a bit more because now I was trapped.

Closing the remaining distance between us, he wrapped his arms tightly around my waist, pressing himself as firmly against me as he could with my arms crossed over my chest. He leaned up to try and connect our lips, but I turned my head away from him, simply opting to stare at the wall on my left. Of course, I couldn't do anything when he started kissing along my neck; he's stronger than I am.

I felt a little childish for crying over him forgetting our anniversary, which only succeeded in making me impossibly more upset. A few tears escaped my eyes and raced down my cheek, splashing onto Alex's face.

He pulled away to look at me, and out of my peripherals, I saw his eyes widen and his mouth fell open.

"Baby! Relax, baby, it's okay, I didn't forget, I promise! I was only kidding, I swear! I didn't mean to make you so upset, fuck, I'm sorry, baby!" he rushed, sounding like he was close to having a panic attack.

I shut my eyes and took a deep, shaky breath before I turned to look at him. He reached out slowly and wiped my face dry before he leaned forward to connect our lips. I kissed back, mainly because I couldn't not kiss back, and when he pulled away, it was only slightly.

"You know me better than that," he mumbled into my lips. "You should already know that I'd never forget today. I've been planning for this ever since last year."

"Well now I feel stupid," I said with a pout as I leaned our foreheads together, our noses practically touching.

He laughed slightly and shook his head as best he could, "You graduated with a higher GPA than I did."

"And why is that?" I pushed, a small smirk spreading across my face.

"It's not my fault that I couldn't help but stare at you instead of pay attention to shit I don't care about," he answered with a casual shrug, as if what he'd done every day since before he even started talking to me was normal. "I didn't know how I should talk to your sexy face, and then I was scared I'd be shunned; I had to think of something to get you to like me.”

"Well it worked,” I said with a slight smile.

“And I'm damn glad it did,” he remarked before leaning in to give me a chaste kiss. He backed away after that, moving to slip his hand onto as far down my back as he could with it pressed against the counter and nudged me towards the bedroom. “Now go get ready; we have a lot to do today.”

I grinned and walked away without another word, deciding a quick shower wouldn't hurt. To my slight disappointment, Alex didn't join me, but when I got out of the shower, he was wearing one of my favorite outfits for him: a pair of dark, stone washed skinny jeans, a black beanie, which sat perfectly over his straightened hair, his perhaps just a bit-too-old combat boots and a red and black checkered shirt, a plain white shirt underneath and the sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

He grinned upon seeing me and closed the distance, not even caring that I was still naked and dripping wet. A small peck was placed on my lips before he moved from in front of me, allowing me access to the rest of the room. I began to walk towards the closet as his hand slapped my ass through the towel wrapped around my waist. Gasping in shock, I turned to glare halfheartedly at him before I continued on my way.

I slipped into a pair of black skinnies as well as a light grey V-neck and my black Nikes, before doing my hair and deciding it wasn't quite as good as Alex's look, but it would do. When I walked out of the bedroom, he was sitting at the island in the kitchen, typing away at his phone. He seemed nervous, but I figured it was just because it was our anniversary. I didn't want to ask, however, knowing that if he wanted to tell me, he would.

He looked up and saw me, smiling easily as he put his phone in his back pocket and walked over to me, linking our hands together.

“Ready to go, babe?” he asked, to which I nodded.

We exited the apartment together and walked down the hall to the elevator. Nothing was said until we got in the car and began driving, when I turned in my seat to face him. “You know, I think since after what you put me through this morning, you should tell me what you've got planned for today,” I said a little hopefully, biting my lip as if that would increase my chances of getting things my way.

He glanced over to me quickly before refocusing on the road. “That would really ruin the whole 'surprise' of it,” he replied slowly, thoughtfully.

“I think I got enough of a 'surprise' earlier,” I scoffed, rolling my eyes playfully.

“Well, first we're gonna go to breakfast and then we're gonna do some other things,” he answered vaguely after a few minutes, nodding to himself as though to confirm his story. I sighed and turned back in my seat, knowing that'd be all I'd be getting from him any time soon. “Aw, don't be like that, babe,” he said with a pout. “I promise, none of my other surprises are bad and you'll love each of them.”

“I better,” I muttered before leaning over the center console to kiss his cheek. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

------

My day with Alex was probably one of the best we've ever spent together. The first thing we did was go to this little, unpopular diner just on the outskirts of town, which is where he took me on our first anniversary together. I don't quite understand why it isn't more of a well-known place, but it's definitely a secret worth keeping.

After we ate and paid for our meal – which I'd insisted on paying at least half for, but Alex took the check and handed his credit card to the waitress before I could do anything about it – we arrived back in the car, this time heading back towards town.

As before, he wouldn't tell me where exactly we were headed, but I didn't have to wait long to find out. The next parking lot we pulled into was the zoo, which is one of the places he took me on our second anniversary. We were the only couple who didn't have kids, but it was fucking awesome. Animals never fail to amaze me.

I think one of my favorite parts about the zoo is the whole everglades sections. Yes, the zoo we have is split into sections. The everglades in South Florida, Africa, South America, Asia and Australia are the different themes. Anyway, I liked the everglades part because when you first enter, you step on a bridge above a small lake. It's separated underneath by a chain link fence, and on one side there are alligators with crocodiles on the other. You're only a few feet above them, and when they lay on the banks right next to the walkway, you can see them up close and in perfect detail.

Seriously, those mother fuckers are huge.

Of course, Alex also took me into the bird exhibit located in Australia, which was also pretty cool. I saw two birds try and have sex, but another bird tried to join in. When it didn't work out, he pushed the top bird off and strutted away like he'd just won some big battle. I don't think I've ever laughed harder in my life, which earned me quite a few glares from parents and confused looks from young children.

We left soon after that, and since it was so late, he brought me out to dinner. He says he didn't have it planned, but I know he's a fucking liar; he took me to the restaurant that he took me out to on our last anniversary. I was starting to notice a slight pattern, but didn't say anything about it. It was just cute and I loved that he remembered each of our anniversaries so well.

We ate and paid, and now we're driving off to yet another destination. Alex has gotten a little more fidget-y in his seat, but he refuses to tell me why. I let it drop and decided to just gaze out my window and try to guess where we were headed next. I didn't recognize our surroundings any longer, nothing but trees in my line of vision.

I zoned out slightly, thoughts no longer in my mind. I only came to again when Alex opened my car door, frightening me just a bit. How long had we been driving? The sun was low in the sky and we were on a little cliff that overlooked the city, the lights from the buildings illuminating the town even though it wasn't fully dark yet.

He offered his hand with a shy smile, which I took in my own. After I was out of the car and the door was closed behind me, he laced his fingers with mine and began walking. He stopped about ten feet from the edge and plopped on the ground, tugging on my hand to get me to follow. I did so and he laid back, pulling me with him so that I was cuddled into his chest. We watched the sun go down and then simply gazed up at the stars.

“This place is amazing, Alex. How did you even find it?” I asked quietly, not wanting to talk above a whisper so that I didn't shatter the moment.

“I can keep a secret,” he answered, and I could hear the slight smirk.

“If you can keep me guessing,” I replied, deciding to just play along. I guess I'd never get an answer, but whatever. I'm just glad he decided to share this with me. What an amazing boyfriend I have.

The quiet returned, but it wasn't there for long when Alex let out a shaky sigh beneath me. He sat up and I moved from his chest, turning to face him in the dim light from the full moon.

“You okay, babe?” I asked worriedly, hoping he wasn't feeling sick or something. That would just really fucking blow.

“Yeah, I'm fine, I just.. Jack.. These past four years with you have quite literally been the best of my entire fucking life. I love you, you know that, right? I would do absolutely anything for you, and I'd never hurt you. Okay, minus the little incident this morning, which I'm still so sorry about, I'd never hurt you. I want to be with you forever, and I want people to know that you're taken; I want people to know that you're mine. I know that we're only twenty-two, and I know that's kind of young to be thinking about something like this, and if you don't feel ready, just say so, don't think you have to do this or anything, but its really all I want. I was considering using this as a promise ring, but if you're ready then so am I. I want to be Mr. Alex Barakat. Unless you'd prefer to be Jack Gaskarth. Or we could mix our names, like Jack and Alex Barakarth or something, I mean, it's up to you, I don't care, I just want to be yours until the end of time. So, basically, what I'm trying to say is, Jack, will you make me the happiest man alive and marry me?” He pulled a silver wedding band from his jeans' back pocket and held it up for me to see, his eyes wide and his teeth pressed into his bottom lip.

I sat in a stunned silence for a few moments, just taking in the entire situation completely before tears sprang into my eyes. I nodded vigorously as I lunged at him, knocking him flat on his back as I connected our lips. He relaxed yet pushed back with as much force as he could muster, his hands sliding to pull me closer by the small of my back.

I didn't want to pull away, but I soon started feeling a little light headed and it became necessary to breathe again. The tears only seemed to come faster as we sat up so he could slip the ring onto my finger, the reality of the situation hitting me full force.

“Why is my fiancée crying?” Alex asked softly, reaching out to tilt my face up to his to stop me from admiring the silver band wrapped securely around my left ring finger. His eyes were full of worry, so I leaned in to kiss him quickly, hoping that would ease whatever fears he was having.

“I just really fucking love you,” I choked out between my sobs, though I'm not quite sure he understood me.

I barely saw him smile in the darkness before he was laying back down on the ground and pulling me into him. I snuggled impossibly further into his chest than I had the last time we were laying like this, breathing in his scent before I tilted my head to bury my face in his neck.

“I love you so fucking much, Alex Gaskarth,” I repeated, and this time it didn't sound nearly as muffled or impossible to decipher.

He turned to press his lips into my hair as he replied, “I love you too, Jack Barakat; you're my only one.”