Mistakes

"David Anthony, I swear to God, stop looking at me like that. I can do this myself," I stubbornly informed my boyfriend. My recent lucky streak had run its course, and I had given myself a 5th metatarsal avulsion fracture. Which was just a really fancy name for the fact that I had twisted her ankle wrong and the tendon had pulled away from the bone, causing a lot of discomfort.

This was not my first 'dancer fracture' but it was the first time David was around for it. He acted like I had blown my leg off, at least in the beginning while I was still getting used to my foot being in the boot.

"Are you sure, Kalel? At least let me give you a hand up," he said, watching me struggle to swing my leg out from under the blankets on our bed.

I had to admit, I was actually having a bit of trouble. My leg had gotten tangled, but my first instincts had always been to be independent. Reluctantly, I let him help me out of the bed. "Thank you," I said, giving David a bit of an apologetic smile.

"You're too stubborn sometimes," he scolded me playfully. "Do you think you could hobble yourself to the car so we can go to breakfast now?"

That earned him a playful little smack, rather than the kiss I was planning on giving him. Cheeky little brat.

-------------------------------------------

I hadn't seen David barely at all today. He had a signing down in Hollywood and I had two classes that day to keep me nice and busy. Bradley and I grabbed a quick lunch in between classes, swinging very quickly by the signing with David's coffee order after getting a very sweet text requesting it.

"How was the signing, baby?" I asked, pressing a kiss to David's smiling mouth.

He caught me around the waist and took the coffee from me. "Thanks, Ellie," he said, giving me another kiss. "And it was great. I'm so stoked the kids are stoked for my stuff." He paused, thinking. "It really helped that I had this today. It's helped me not feel so shitty."

I frowned a little. David was hit with a bit of sadness the past few days, having been thinking about Kyle. The label had been back and forth on what to do about letting everyone know about Kyle's departure. In the end, it was decided that they would make the announcement right before the tour they had planned with Sleeping With Sirens. David would introduce the full live band as well as when their new album was expected to drop. I suspected that David was probably still mourning the loss of his best friend, and it made me sad to see him so upset.

Unable to find something to say, I pressed my lips to his cheek and gave his hand a squeeze. "Well, listen, I should head back to the studio. One last class today for me. I'll make us dinner and we'll have a nice night in. How's that sound?"

"That sounds amazing, baby. I love you," David said, his lips against my hairline. "And remember to stay hydrated, all right? I can't save your ass with Powerade today."

"I promise!" I said, smiling cheekily at him before Bradley pulled me away and out of the Paper Alligator store.

Just like I had told David, I was true to my word. After class, I headed home, showered and changed into my comfy stuff - which was really just a pair of leggings and one of David's shirts. I was boiling the crab and the clams were steaming. When I was feeling adventurous, I dug deep in my Cape Cod roots and made seafood for us. It usually paid off. The way to David's heart was through seafood, and usually really good alcohol.

I had my nose deep in a recipe book, having failed to remember how to cook asparagus, when the front door opened. "It smells so damn good in here, Kalel!" David said appreciatively, and I smiled at him as he came waltzing through the archway to the kitchen, holding a bottle of wine. He wrapped his free arm around me and kissed me, hard. "Do you want to know what I just realized?"

He smelled so good and tasted so delicious that I was left a little breathless. So much so that I actually almost forgot to answer him. "What did you just realize, babe?"

"It's our anniversary," he said quietly and smiled.

"No, it isn't. We haven't even been back together a month, honey," I informed him, laughing softly. Apparently that wasn't good enough for him. He held onto me tightly.

"It's the ninth, Kalel," he reminded me gently.

That made me stop short. I checked my phone just to be sure. It was the ninth. September 9th, 2009 was when David and I officially had started dating exclusively. It was easy to remember. It was all nines. David had gotten the date tattooed in small Roman numerals in between two tattoos on his left arm. My fingers found it, pulling the placement from memory. I used to look at it all the time, laying next to him. IX-IX-IX.

"It's really not our anniversary date anymore, is it?" I asked, looking up at him slowly.

"Not technically, no," he agreed and then shrugged. "We've only missed one anniversary together. As far as I'm concerned, today means we've been dating for four years."

"I don't actually think that's how that works, David," I said, laughing when he bent to kiss me anyway.

"That sucks. David logic trumps actual logic," he decided, giving me a goofy little grin. "Anyway, I bought you a little somethin' somethin' on the way home."

I yelped slightly in protest and shoved at his arm. "David! You know how I feel about surprises!"

"I know. But it's not like it's a fucking diamond or something," he said, smiling playfully. "Here." He pressed the bag into my hands and took a step back.

"Oh, my God, baaaaabe!" I said, peering into the little bag. He had definitely been paying attention when I talked. It was an amazingly touching assortment of Lush products, which was my current new store obsession. I smiled up at David. "Thank you, baby. This is so sweet of you."

"I heard you tell Bradley about them. I called her to make sure I was getting the right things," he said, which earned him a couple extra kisses for going beyond the call of duty.

"Sweet boy. An extra clam for you!" I said sweetly and then got back to work on our dinner.

It was a really nice night in, even though it technically wasn't our anniversary, but it felt like it was. Dinner was perfect, and it was as if David knew what I was up to because the wine he'd gotten tasted perfect with all the seafood. I was curious about my new bath bombs, so I mentioned casually that I was going to try them out. I'd never seen him undress so quickly in his life. He definitely got some ass that night, just for being sweet and romantic like he always was.

The next morning, I awoke to my alarm. Confused at first, I reached over David, who was groaning. I looked at the time and the reminder on my phone and sat up straight, causing David to groan again since he was thrown off my chest by my sudden movement.

"David! We have to get up right now!" I said loudly and then threw myself out of bed. His eye cracked open to look at me. I threw a short and some jeans at his general direction. "Let's go, babe! We have to get to the airport or we'll be late! Hurry!"

That got his attention. He sat up. "Airport? Where are we going, Kalel?"

"There's no time to explain! Come on!" I shouted, pulling a dress on over my head, throwing some shoes on and all but pulling my half-asleep, confused boyfriend out of the bed.

"Can we at least stop for coffee?"

"NO!"

David rushed as quickly as he could through the LA traffic towards the airport, and then I rushed him through the terminals until I found the right one. He was very confused, but I quickly signed through all the paperwork, shielding it from him so he couldn't see what it was for. I handed them back to the clerk at the desk and she left to retrieve what we came for.

"Are you gonna tell me what's going on now?" David asked me.

I smiled at him. "Originally, I bought her because you were feeling sad. But she could not have come at a more perfect time, since it was our anniversary last night."

David gave me a funny look. "What did you do?"

I turned as the woman came back with the pet carrier, soft little mewling coming from inside. "There you go, you two. She's all good to go for you. Shots and all."

I smiled at her. "Thank you so much!" I turned to David. "Weren't expecting that, were you?"

David was speechless. He bent down a little and peered into the carrier. "Oh, my God, it's a kitten!" he said happily. David had this thing about animals, and I thought it was really sweet.

"I figured maybe a puppy would be too much for us right now, so I got a kitten. What do you think?" I asked him, my face flushing slightly as I watched him interact with our new baby, sticking his fingers in front.

"I think you're wonderful, and this is the best gift. Thank you, baby," he said and stole a kiss from my lips.

"We have to think of a name for her," I said, trotting along at David's elbow, since the little girl inside was throwing a fit and would only calm down if David's hand was inside the carrier, stroking her little head.

"What about 'Riot'?" David suggested, seemingly pulling the name out of thin air.

I looked at our kitten thoughtfully and then smiled. "That's perfect. Riot it is."