Love on the Brain

“Happy birthday, sweetheart!” both of her parents announced, as the brunette opened her eyes as the strong light swept over her face.

A bright smile decorated her lips when she saw her parents, both dressed in their robes with morning hair and tired faces. Her father was holding up a plate of cake, and her mother a huge present that was hidden under a peachy box with a satin bow.

“You guys didn’t have to,” their daughter told them, meanwhile she sat up in the bed, the sheets sliding off her body, as her father handed her a plate of his infamous carrot cake, which had always been her favourite.

“Nonsense! Our beautiful daughter is turning seventeen today!” Esther argued, her eyes resting on her daughter, meanwhile she sliced her cake and shoved a great piece into her mouth, loving the taste of her father’s cake.

“It tastes brilliant, dad,” Jade smiled, as her father cupped her face with his large palm.

“Only the best is good enough for you on your big day,” he insured her, before her parents plumped down on the end of her bed, watching as their daughter finished off her delicate breakfast.

“And now,” Esther announced, excitement in her entire face. “We bought you a little something,” she went on.

The older woman soon placed the huge box in her daughter’s lap, allowing the younger brunette to feel the fabric of the nice wrapping, before she untied the bow and unwrapped the wrapping, revealing a box underneath.

Jade soon opened the box and found a delicate boldog jumpsuit in white satin. It almost felt as though the fabric melted in her hands as held it up.

“Oh my God. This is gorgeous,” she mumbled, knowing that her mother had probably gone for something way too expensive.

“We can’t wait to see it on you!” her mother expressed. “It’ll be beautiful,” she added.

“Just like our daughter. Happy birthday, sweetheart,” Javier said, pecking his daughter’s cheek.

Her parents soon left the brunette in order to run a bath for herself and answer the messages that had been arriving during the early morning.

‘Happy birthday, baby! I can’t wait to see u! R u ready for the best birthday ever? Xoxo.'

Jade chuckled, as she noticed that Olivia had been the first to message her on her big day.

'Happy birthday, Jade! Miss u like crazy! Get ur ass down to Scranton!' was the second message she noticed, as it was from Aidan, one of her friends in Pennsylvania that she kept talking to after she moved.

'Happy birthday, u hot mess;-) U r officially the prettiest seventeen year old I know of. See u soon, xxx'

The message from Brian made her heart almost jump inside her body. The brunette soon kicked off her satin sheets and grabbed her rob from the floor, lacing it on her mid-section and paddling towards the bathroom, ready to run herself a nice bath and put on a great facemask for the day.

Jade took her time to apply some oil into her roots, meanwhile she picked up her favourite lotion and ran it over her toned skin. The mirror in her bathroom had turned steamy after the long shower, and she soon wrapped a towel around her hair, before she started massaging her moisturizer into her skin.

After she had showered the brunette spent most of her evening with her parents, who insisted on looking over old baby-pictures and cook her the most fancy meal they had made so far in their new home.

“Okay, I can’t hide it any longer, Javier!” Esther called, as the three of them had been settled in the living room for another good hour. “We just thought that a piece of clothing wouldn’t be enough on your big day,” her mother started, making her daughter grimace, as Jade was more than pleased with the gift they had given her.

“Please don’t tell me that you guys have gone all crazy,” Jade sighed, knowing her mother well enough to know that they probably had done exactly that.

“What your mother is trying to say is that we appreciate you so much. You’re the greatest gift God has ever given us, and we love you so much for all the sacrifices you’ve made for us,” her father said.

“Therefore we wanted to give you this,” he found an envelop that had been hidden under a book on the coffee table.

Jade soon looked at it, somewhat puzzled, as she had no idea what was hidden inside.

“Open up!” Esther said impatiently.

Her daughter giggled, as she unwrapped it and found two plane tickets inside.

“What?” Jade stuttered. “Am I going to Scranton?” she announced, her eyes widening.

Her parents smiled brightly at their child. “Aidan’s been fussing about wanting to see you for months!” Esther announced.

“So we thought this would be a great gift. You can even invite someone to join,” her father added.

“You guys,” Jade exhaled. “I love you so much!” she couldn’t help but feel tears prickle her eyes as this was so much more than what she expected. The brunette instantly got to her feet and hugged both of her parents, all of the three uniting in one big hug.

The sound of the doorbell soon stole her attention, as Jade went to open up, revealing Brian on the other side.

“Happy birthday, sweetie,” he smirked brightly, before he pulled his girlfriend in for a tight and long hug, not wanting to let go as the brunette started giggling for her release.

“Thanks, Bri,” she smiled brightly, bending forward and quickly pecking his lips.

“I decided to buy you something,” he announced, as the two of them sneaked upstairs, avoiding her parents that had settled outside in the garden.

“You didn’t have to,” she sighed. “My parents have already buried me with great gifts,” she insured him.

“I wanted to,” Brian told her, not giving in.

“You crazy man,” Jade shook her head, watching as a he pulled out a little box from his pocket.

“Brian,” Jade sighed, feeling petrified by the size of the box.

“No worries! I’m not gonna propose!” he insured her, making her chuckle, as he handed it over to her.

Jade studied the item for a little time, her eyes fixed upon a small velvet box that really looked as though it could hid a wedding ring inside.

“Open up, Jesus Christ!” Brian chuckled, nudging his girlfriend, who soon unwrapped her gift and found a pair of diamound rose golden earrings.

“Brian, you’re crazy. This is way too much,” her jaw dropped as she studied the stud earrings. The crystals were glowing under the chandelier in her ceiling, and they carried a sight of feminine beauty to it that she had never seen before.

“Nothing is too much for you on this day,” he shrugged nonchalantly.

“You’re a cheesy jerk!” she giggled, this time she being the one to nudge him. “Did you seriously pick them out all by yourself?” she had to ask, as she knew he was not the kind to shop expensive earrings on his spare time.

Brian only shrugged back. “Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t,”

“Don’t be so secretly!” Jade whined. “I wanna try them on,” she told him, as she walked over to her bathroom in order to change her earrings.

Brian got up from the floor as well, glancing over at his girlfriend from the entrance of the door.

“Look, you really need to get ready. We’re leaving in twenty,” he told her, taking her by surprise as he hadn’t told her anything about going anywhere.

“What? Why? I don’t have any plans,” she confessed, eyeing her reflection in the mirror as she looked at how gorgeous the earrings were on.

“You don’t, but I have,” he announced, smirking, before he walked over and kissed her rather tenderly.

Jade soon linked her arms around his neck, pulling him closer, as she could feel his lips linger to hers.

He pressed his lips firmly against hers, soon letting his tongue glide into her mouth and battle for dominance with hers.

A moan soon rolled out from her vibrating lips, feeling as though she could never get enough of him. Brian smirked against her mouth, knowing how he made her feel.

“How much time did we have?” she said after a while, her forehead resting against his.

“Not too long. Get ready,” he said, stealing one last kiss, before he left the bathroom and paddled downstairs in order to not make her parents too suspicious.

What did I do to deserve a guy like him?

It felt as though she had butterflies in her stomach. She had never felt this way about a person before, which could’ve been because she was constantly on the move and hadn’t got the chance to fully get to know others like she now knew Brian.

Jade realized that she felt genuine joy for the first time in a week. Ever since the fight with Michelle she had been constantly anxious, and especially when she was around Brian. When they finally got the time alone, she realized how good he was with her and how hard it was to hide their relationship when everything she wanted to do was to tell the entire world how happy she was.

The thoughts followed Jade around the house as she stepped into her new satin jumpsuit and buttoned it up, before returning to her bathroom and applying perfume and more gloss to her lips. She then grabbed her leather loafers and her phone, and then climbed down the stairs, only to find Brian in her garden with her parents.

“It looks stunning!” Esther claimed, getting up from her chair and walking over to her daughter. “Don’t you agree, Brian?” the older woman asked, glancing at the boy, who looked swept away by the sight of Jade.

“It looks really good,” he told her, making warmth creep towards Jade’s cheeks.

“Thank you,” she smiled, trying to act as normal as she could, considering she still hadn’t told her parents about the two of them.

“I believe you kids ought to go?” her father said, looking down on his golden watch that was tugged around his wrist.

“Do we?” Jade looked over at Brian, realizing that he had probably told her parents about whatever he had planned for her.

“Yeah, we do,” Brian smirked.

“You know when she has to be home, Brian!” her mother called, as her father companied Esther into the kitchen, meanwhile the younger boy confirmed.

“Come on,” Brian said, lacing their fingers together as he dragged her out of the house and towards his car.

“My parents know what we’re doing and I don’t?” Jade cocked her eyebrows, as she climbed inside the car and buckled her seatbelt.

“What do you want to listen to?” Brian asked, completely avoiding the glare she sent him, as he made her dig through his CD-collection.

“Spice Girls? Seriously?” Jade asked, holding up the CD, meanwhile Brian’s eyes were resting on the road in front of him.

“That’s my mom’s,” he responded.

“Sure thing,” Jade giggled, avoiding the nasty glare he sent her.

The two of them drove for a while, as the sound of the radio kept the silence away and Jade’s curious eyes explored the landscape that swept away from her eyes.

“Where exactly are we?” she asked after a while, growing impatient, as she had no idea Brian could be this secretly.

“You’ll see,” he insured her, sending her the same cheeky grin as earlier.

Jade rolled his eyes at him, turning up the radio and letting her mind trail off to the sound of The Beatles, meanwhile the two kept driving for another ten minutes.

Brian soon stopped in front of a familiar driveway, as Jade soon realized where they were.

“This is your place?” she said, somewhat unsure as she had only been there one time before. The brunette unbuckled her seatbelt and then climbed out of the car.

“Well observed,” he chuckled, as he grabbed his keys. “Come on. We should sneak in the driveway. I think my parents have visitors,” he confessed, even though Jade couldn’t see a car waiting in the driveway aside from Brian’s.

“Okay,” Jade muffled, not completely sold, as she followed her boyfriend towards the garage, soon noticing that both of them were walking in utter darkness.

“As the gentleman I am, I’ll say ladies first,” Brian smirked, holding the door for her, meanwhile Jade rolled her eyes.

“You’re such a gentleman,” she said rather dryly to her boyfriend, before she stepped inside the house, no idea where she had emerged now.

The brunette was soon greeted by a strong light that was turned on, revealing a group of people she had seen a lot of times in her life.

“SURPRISE!”