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It's nighttime when Maren wakes up, she feels dazed a bit. She nuzzles into the warmth next to her then she rubs her eyes.
“Lee, what time is it?” She hears a soft sigh next to her.
“11:40.” He wraps an arm around her, pulling her close. “Twenty minutes until your birthday.”
“Really.”
Lee nods.
“Shit, I fell asleep didn’t I. “ She’s been wanting to watch this movie that got from Family Video for weeks.
Lee shrugs, “I fell asleep too, we’ll just start it up again.” He keeps blinking, as his red curls are in his face again.
“Do we have any popcorn?!.”
Lee leaves to get the popcorn meanwhile, Maren sits up and starts the movie over.
Lee comes back with a cupcake on a plate.
“What’s this,” Maren asks, taking the plate from him.
“It’s your birthday present.”
Maren gives him a small smile,
“Lee, you didn’t have to.”
“You have to be a little bit excited,” Lee says, laying down next to Maren. She just shrugs, “Not really.” She hasn’t told him much about her last birthday. Using his lighter, he lights her candle.
He turns off the light. He smiles as Maren’s face is glowing as the light sits in front of her. She gives Lee a fond look before blowing out the candle.
Happy 19th Birthday to her.
“Happy Birthday,” Lee says in a sing-song voice. She blinked back tears a bit before Lee rolls off the bed and turns on the lights. Maren shakes her head, her life for the past year has been anything but ordinary.
But one person has given her more stability and happiness than she can handle. She takes a few bites before putting it on the bedside table. She sits down in front of Lee again, she reaches over and caresses his cheek, then her hand moves to the neckline of his t-shirt, she tugs on it pulling him forward, and their lips crash into one another. A blend of passion and tender skin, Lee quickly gets with the program, slowly pulling Maren into his lap.
She slowly wraps her legs around his waist. Her hands grasp his curls, he rubs her back then slowly moves to the top of her shoulders. She feels him smile against her lips, his mouth moving with hers, his tongue barely peeking out, and wiping the white frosting from her top lip. She pulls away from him, a literal second to nuzzle her nose against his.
Lee, who instantly feels self-conscious about his actions, stares at her for a few seconds but then Maren starts giggling, and cups his face, squeezing his face a bit. She kisses him again, Lee rubs her back, gently moving them so he can lay her down on the bed. She scoots her body up the bed so she lay her head on the pillow. He hums into the kiss, not surprised when he feels her body press up against his. Maren feels Lee's fingers rest underneath her chin, gently lifting it up. The kiss becomes a bit softer. His fingers find themselves in her curls and gently pull, the red hair boy moans in her mouth.
She tugs on his curls again, grasping the back of his neck he pulls away and stares deeply into her eyes. There were so many times she had looked away, looked away from this heaviness… this intensity. But she can’t anymore, she won’t anymore, she leans in closer. She sees the specks of brown, green, and blue in his eyes, a whirlwind of colors, maybe they mimic his soul. Lee’s fingers caress her cheek, rubbing the softness of her dimples, and the curve of her lips.
She wants to kiss him so badly, it’s her birthday for Pete’s sake.
Their lips finally connect and she couldn’t be happier.
Maren wakes up to the blinding sun on her face. She whines, blindly reaching for the blanket. Maren sighs, feeling a warm hand on her body. The hand moved across her shoulder, her other arm slightly bent that was slightly bent than her wrist. She feels fingers draw circles on her wrist, then finally the fingers slowly intertwine with hers. She hears her lover sigh contently behind her, and Maren smiles.
It wasn’t long before she realized that Lee cherished the small things. Making someone laugh, taking long walks in the woods, holding her hand, and of course cuddling. He loved cuddling, more than he’d like to admit. However, she thought it was cute. He never tried to hide his feelings for her, he was already with her before she even knew what that meant.
“Good morning,”
She swallows before saying,
“Morning.” From how high the sun is, it’s almost nine in the morning. Maren feels Lee’s breathing against her neck,
“Any idea on how you want to start your birthday?”
Maren shrugs,
“How about breakfast?” He whispers, and Maren nods. Lee moves to get up, but Maren puts a hand on his arm.
“Stay a minute,” She says. Without a word, Lee goes back to cuddling her, his nose nuzzling the hairs on the back of her neck.
She feels content.
An hour later, they’re in the kitchen. Maren sits at the table watching Lee pour the pancake batter onto the skillet.
Maren insists on helping but Lee brushes her off, “It’s your birthday, you deserve to relax.”
She gives him a look, meanwhile, his back is turned, focusing on flipping.
“Why are birthdays so important to you anyway?”
Now it’s his turn to shrug, “Not sure, just like the concept.”
“Oh, you just like presents.”
“Who doesn’t Mare?”
He puts the pancakes on the plate and slides them in front of her. She nods in thanks, her fingers twirling around her fork.
“What is your favorite gift,” Maren asks.
“My mom got me this teddy bear, it had this little green bow tie, I carried it around for months, and slept with it every night.”
“Sounds adorable.” She teases, “Is that why you like to cuddle me so much.”
Lee sits down in the chair across from her, “Don’t act like you don’t like me giving you chills on the back of your neck.”
Maren huffs, “Sure, I prefer that over your snoring.”
“Hmm, he says, reaching over and grabbing the syrup, “I guess I’ll be sleeping on the couch if my snoring is that bad.”
Maren rolls her eyes, “you are so dramatic.”
He laughs, “You’ll miss my cuddles.”
“Shut up.” She says with no heat in her voice.
Maren and Lee's eyes meet for a few moments, and neither wants to look away.
After the sun goes down, Maren suggests they go to the park and stargaze. Lee is excited as hdd we haven’t done it in a long time. Their lives have been quite busy since they started living in the apartment. But it was nice to have a few moments to slow down and relax.
The sky has started to turn from orange to blue to dark purple. Maren loves seeing the sky change.
They lay down on the blanket.
“We’re lucky tonight,” Lee says, “The sky has been cloudy for days.”
She looks up at the stars full of golden gas and mystery.
“They’re so pretty.”
“Yeah, back at my old house, I would sneak out and go to the park. I’d have a flashlight and a book and stay there until the sun came up. It would be so peaceful just looking up at the stars at night.”
“You and your dad never went stargazing ?”
Maren shakes her head, “No, No, she whispers, “He didn’t understand most of the things I was into. He tried for the most part but, Maren sighs, she can feel pressure on her chest.
“We mostly drifted apart toward the end.” She was quiet after that, Lee turned to face her, but she kept her eyes glued to the sky. The intensity of his stares pokes at the sides.
“You’ve been amazing today, really, and it’s not that I don’t appreciate what you’re doing, because I do.” She hates she’s about to cry, she stops again.
“Maren… She hears Lee begin, he’s not even touching her, but she can see his warmth on her regardless.
“Maren, you can tell me.” His voice is quiet.
She looks at him for a second before turning to look at the sky again.
“The morning after my birthday, I woke up to an empty house. The only thing he left for me was my birth certificate, a cassette player and some money. He wanted me out of his life and he didn’t even say goodbye.”
Maren wipes her eyes, “Maybe it was for the best, I was just dragging him down,”
“Hey, don’t say that.”
“I could have hurt him and won’t even know it until it was too late.”
“Not your fault, you didn’t know.”
Maren sniffles, Lee reaches over and uses his thumb to wipe her tears, “I’m sorry Maren.”
She gives him a small smile, and she knows that sorry means more than one thing. Lee gets a little closer, they are quiet again.
“So, since you can’t go to the stars, if there was anywhere you wanted to go, where would it be?”
“Hmm”, she thinks for a moment then says,
“The beach.”
Lee nods, pleased with her answer. She looks at him, her lips curling in a small way again.
“What.”
He chuckles, “Nothing, sweetheart.”
Maren snuggles up to him, her face gently pressed up against his arm.
“Thanks, Lee.” She feels a soft kiss on the top of her head,
“Since you forgot to tell me it was your birthday a few days ago, I’m going to buy you whatever you want,” Raven says.
Maren smiles, “It slipped my mind, plus it’s not a big deal.”
It was Wednesday, and Raven and Maren were committed to their usual routine. Buy a bus ticket to the next town over and go to the mall. They’d shop a little bit, grab some dinner at the food court and then maybe catch a movie.
They stop in The Gap, finishing through the fluffy dresses, pastel skirts, and sparkly bows. Maren had come to find herself falling in love with overalls. She sees some in the back corner. Reaching, she grabs one plain and one with giant sunflowers on them. She swipes up some black boots.
“I’m going to paint these,” Maren says as she meets Raven near the swimsuits.
Raven smiles, That’s a good idea”. Raven has a stack of swimsuits in her arms, blue, orange, yellow, and pink bikinis, and one piece. Raven hands her the pink one.
“This would look great on you.”
Maren just looks at her, “I don’t know, where would I go swimming.”
“The beach is about two hours away, you never know.”
Raven puts the bikini in her hand, Maren gently squeezes the fabric, it’s soft but sturdy.
“I guess it wouldn’t hurt to try it on.”
So she goes to the dressing room and tries it on.
A few minutes later she got a knock on the door,
“What do you think?”
“It’s um.” She turns around, it looks nice. She spins around, it fits her curves and she adores the color.
The door of the changing room opens, “I’ll take it.”
“Did you two find everything?”
The cashier asks as Maren and Raven place their clothes on the counter.
“Yes, they say, and Maren digs into her pockets for her money,
“I got it,” Raven exclaims, pulling out some cash. Her friend beams at her, “Happy birthday.”
Maren smiles so brightly, “Thank you.” Maren reaches over and squeezes her arm. The waves of gratitude practically overwhelm her. Till the point she has to look away for a few seconds, holding back tears, she is so lucky to have a friend like Raven in her life.
Once the girls leave, they swing their bags back and forth, happy with their items. walking over to the food court. It’s quite crowded for a Wednesday afternoon, but they realize that there are cinnamon pretzels samples. They ended up grabbing some hot dogs and sharing fries.
Maren pays for their dinner as a thank-you for a birthday present. On their way back home on the bus, Maren feels better than she’s had in days. To be honest, she has been feeling guilty about receiving all these nice things but still harboring the pain of her last birthday.
But she’s tired of it, she wants to move on. She’s nineteen now, a brand new girl with a brand new life. When she comes home, she has a big smile on her face. Lee comes into the hallway from the bedroom,
“Hi.” Lee’s in his pajamas already, his hair slightly ruffed. Adorable as ever,
“Hey, she stands there against the wall for a few moments. Then she walks over to Lee and wraps her arms around his waist. Maren feels Lee recuperate the hug, his hands rubbing her back. They stay in this embrace for a few minutes,
“You okay, “ Lee asks, his voice soft in her hair.
“Yeah, she clears her throat, “Yeah, I’m okay.”
“I’m happy,” Maren says, Lee squeezes her tightly. He pulls her closer, practically lifting her off the ground. She nuzzles into his neck, planting a soft kiss there.
“You are.” She pulls away from him, their faces still close. She gently rubs her nose against his,
“Hmmm.” He slowly does it back,
“Good.” Maren looks at him a few moments before saying,
“How was your day?”
“It was alright, you wanna see the new drawing I came up with?.”
“Sure.”
When Saturday rolls around, Maren gets up early. Lee must have had the same idea because he’s gone too. She calls down to Raven’s apartment but has no one answer.
“What happened?” Lee comes back inside the apartment with some fruit.
“Raven’s not answering,”
“Maybe she went home for the weekend.”
“I guess, but I feel like she would’ve told me.”
Lee puts the fruit down on the table. He gently grabs her arms, “She’s fine Mare, he brushes her curls from her face. She huffs and Lee smiles, “You’re adorable you know that.”
“Shut up, she says then sticks her tongue out.
“How about me and you go to the swimming pool.”
Maren takes her chin, “Hmmm, I don’t know.” She gets on her tippy toes until their noses brush, “Sure.”
They both smile.
They pack their bag for the day, some extra clothes, her new swimsuit and his swim trunks, sunscreen, sunhats, towels, and blankets. They ride in their truck with the windows down, they’ve been lucky it hasn’t been scorching hot. They make their way down the road but Lee stops at the grocery store.
“Be right back.” Maren nods,
Fifteen minutes later, Lee comes back to the truck with a brown bag. She checks the bag, ham, turkey, and tuna sandwiches, potato chips, a pack of soda, graham crackers, marshmallows, and packs of Hershey's chocolate.
“You got a lot of stuff,” Maren says giving Lee a look.
“It’s all the essentials.”
Lee bumps her shoulders, “C’mon it’s an adventure.”
“Everything is an adventure with you.”
Maren sees Lee's freckled cheeks turn red.
She loves seeing him blush.
However, Maren gets suspicious when they pass the swimming pool parking lot.
“Lee.”
“Yes, honey.”
“Where are we going.”
“You trust me”?
“Yeah.”
“Then you have nothing to worry about.” She looks at him and then shakes her head.
‘You’re so weird.”
An hour later, they weave their way through the countryside, the cows and horses going about their day. Then they ride through small towns and a few suburbs. Then they reach a town called Emerald Coast. Maren sees various plants and flowers, sand-filled flip-flops, kids running with kites, and a group of teens sitting in a cafe, chatting over a pan of pepperoni pizza. Then she sees it.
Water.
It’s light blue and the waves are gently crashing against the sand. There are people up and down the coast, cluttered with a variety of umbrellas, sand buckets, and sand castles.
Maren loves it.
Lee parks the truck and Maren can barely hold her excitement. She gets out and races down the sanded pathway, almost losing her shoe. Rebalancing herself she makes her way to the beach. She tosses her shoes to the side and steps into the water. She instantly feels cool, and wiggles her toes to keep warm. Maren splashes around a bit,
Maren turns to see Lee putting their towels on the sand. Lee’s heart melts when he sees a big smile form on her face. He sees the brightness of her teeth and races over to him, practically tackling him to the ground. Then she’s laughing, it’s loud and it’s beautiful. Lee is in awe of her.
“You mind if we join you.” Maren looks over and barely believes what she is seeing.
Raven and Daniel are walking toward them. She quickly gets off Lee and hugs her friend tight. They spin around excitedly.
"I can't believe you here," Maren says excitedly, "Was this your idea?"
Jasmine smiles, "Well, it was both of our ideas." She nods at Lee.
Tears fill up in Maren's eyes, "I can't believe this."
"Well, believe it," Daniel speaks up. She didn't know Daniel too well. But she had the sudden urge to hug him,
"Thank you, she says, "This means a lot."
Daniel brushes his ash brown hair away from his face and his dark brown eyes remind Maren of autumn leaves. A big smile forms on his face,
"It wasn't too hard to convince us, Lee’s crazy about you.”
Maren looks over at Lee and she feels this overwhelming love for him.
Raven says, “Let’s party.”
The girls change into their swimsuits Raven (Orange) and Maren (Pink) and spend most of their time building sand castles and diving head-first into the water. They go back and forth, their feet leaving deep prints in the sand. They come back in and eat the food that Lee bought, Raven even surprises Maren with a cake. A chocolate cake covered in blue frosting. It was delicious.
Soon after this Maren goes off on her own to grab seashells, there are so many near the water, and makes a seashell bracelet for each person.
Maren watches as Raven and Daniel play volleyball with other beachgoers. She sits down next to Lee,
“Who’s winning.” She asks,
“the other team but Raven & Dan are making a comeback.
“Oh, “Maren grabs her bag and digs in it. She pulls out a bracelet and carefully placed it in Lee’s hands.
”This is for you, I know it’s not a lot but-.”
”I love it.”
“But you’ve barely even looked at it.”
“But it’s a gift from you so….”
Maren chuckles, “Okay, I picked these shells because some are green like your eyes and the other ones remind me of your necklace,
“And look at this one, this red one is really big like your heart so I wanted to include that one too.”
He leans over and kisses her forehead,
“You know me so well baby.”
“I do.” She says proudly.
Lee grabs her hands, "I didn't bring your gift but I got you an art book, it's a bit old but I remembered you wanted to paint your overalls, and there are these books, then he stops,
"Mare, what's wrong." Maren feels tears running down her cheeks, but she doesn't wipe them away.
"You are the most overwhelming person I have ever met, you know," Maren whispers, "You came into my life so unexpectedly, a time when I didn't know what to do." She says.”
“I felt so alone, and when you came into my life, I didn’t feel alone anymore.”
“You helped me so learn so many things, and was so patient and kind about it.” She whispers, “I’ve never had anyone in my life that before.”
Lee grabs her hands and squeezes them. He moves closer to her, she lets off a huff. Her shoulders are slumping over and it’s not in I’m tired way, it’s a like huge weight has been lifted off her shoulders. She closes her eyes giving herself a moment, her fingers slowly grasp and ungrasp the sand, and she hears a wave crash against the sand. She feels in touch with the earth.
Then she feels a hand on her face.
Lee’s hand.
His softness against her face, his thumb rubbing against her cheek. He’s so delicate.
There are millions of people on this beach but all she can think about is Lee’s hand on her face. She melts against his hand, her nose brushing against the palm of his hand. Lee pulls his hand away just for a moment to away for a moment to tuck some hair behind her ear. He leans forward, not hesitating to press a kiss against her forehead, and nose, and a long kiss to her lips. His beautiful girl. She’s so strong and beautiful. Her vulnerability is so intense, it makes him weak every single time. He presses his forehead against hers,
“Don’t think that this is a one-way street because it isn’t.” He says with a shaky breath,
“Maren, you are my favorite person.” They bump foreheads, “There’s nobody else I would rather wake up to, make breakfast with, cuddle with, talk for hours with than you.”
Maren nods, “We met in that store for a reason, we just fit you know.”
“Like a puzzle piece.”
“Exactly.”
The two lovers now turn their attention to the sky, slowly watching as the sky becomes a pinkish tangerine before a thick blanket of navy blue engulfs all remaining colors. This past year had made her appreciate little things, and how the simplest touch, kiss, or hug can change your whole. How something simple as a swimsuit can make her cry.
Maren rests her head on Lee’s shoulder, feeling him press a kiss to the side of her head. She doesn’t know what the future holds but knows the people she loves will help her along the way.