baelmcnt

❝ 𝐇𝐄𝐍𝐑𝐘 𝐉𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐒 𝐁𝐀𝐄𝐋𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐓 〆

The candlelight flickered, throwing golden fractures across the long mahogany table. Polished to perfection. Like everything in this house. Like him. Henry sat straight-backed in the old dining chair, his palms rested flat against the carved arms, his fingers twitching once, barely, and then stilled. He had learned long ago: stillness was control. And control was survival. Across from him, his father sliced into his steak with surgical precision. The boy had once asked, naively perhaps, why they always ate in silence. His father had looked up, not angry, but disappointed. “Speech is the refuge of the undisciplined. A man should learn to command his thoughts before he dares give them voice.” That had been years ago. Or maybe last night. In this house, time was elastic, stretched thin between rituals and punishments. But something was off tonight. His breath hitched. The chair across from him was empty. The plate untouched. The table.. wasn't even real. Just a memory, waiting for him to sit at it again.

❝ 𝐀 𝐒𝐓𝐔𝐃𝐘 𝐈𝐍 ... scars and survival, the anatomy of vengeance, betrayal, the art of control, blood and belief

Has there ever been a friendship more unlikely than ours? The quirky, funny, grin-brighter-than-the-sun surfer with the broody, gruff loner. And yet we have become closer than brothers. But that isn’t what today is about. No. Today is about you. About your sense of loyalty. About the way you bring light into everyone’s life that you touch. And that’s what you do, Kal. You touch others. Not in the inappropriate way (though that is debatable, too), but what I mean is.. you touch their souls. You touch down deep where it hurts and mend something that the person might not even know was broken. I have no clue how you do it, but you just.. do. 

You are exceptional. Not just in your profession - surfing - but in everything you do, really. You are not just there for the light days. You show up when it gets hard. When it gets dark. And not more is needed, because you? You are light itself. Shining bright, guiding the way. I am sure people think that many people are like that, but that isn’t true. Because you? You do that even when life crashes down around you. When it feels like everybody is out to get you, you’re still shining through it. Unfazed. You might think that you don’t help people, especially when you feel down, but that is far from true. You still show up every single day, you drop everything and are just there.

How do you write something for someone that can’t be captured by words? Because you? You are out of their reach. It’s ironic, almost - because you are incredibly good with them. Something that draws me to you on a daily basis. Though you - and everyone else in our closer circle - know that isn’t the only thing, is it? No.. it’s in the way you carry yourself. In your smile. In the way you care, even if it brings me to the edge of insanity on some days. You are a deeply caring person, even when you should stop. You don’t. You never do. 

I have spent entirely too much time thinking about this day. How I can make it special for you, and the problem is that I always come up short. Because anything I think of? It doesn’t seem like it’s enough in any way. You bring a value into my life that I can’t compete with. You’re the reason I smile every single day (yes, even on days where I want to tear everything down and my mood is kissing earth’s core). But once I set my eyes on you? I can forget about it. And that’s all you, baby. That’s what you do. No one else can offer that. A smile, a laugh, a playful kiss, and everything that burdened me is gone. You are a damn miracle walking this earth.

We keep talking about the beginnings. Quite frequently even, I would say. But today? I thought about it a lot. And it made me feel lucky to be here today, wishing you a happy birthday, @milayaprintsessa. Things could have gone differently, but I thoroughly believe by now that.. this was meant to happen. You made me believe that. A cheesy sentence like “We were meant to be” would have never crossed my lips before knowing you. Shit, feeling like this would have never happened before you. Because of you. 

Even if you disagree (and I know that’s what you are doing right now), you are a hell of a woman. You’re my girl, but you, as you are, are one of the strongest, fiercest, smartest women I have ever come across. Your intelligence is stunning, it leaves me at a lack of words more times than I’d like to admit. Despite your rough start in life, you have accumulated an amount of knowledge and experience that is incomparable. But you wouldn’t stop at that, would you? No. You are not just witty, you are actually funny. The word gets thrown around a lot, but you can get me to laugh until my damn stomach hurts. And yes, you are beautiful, but it’s your personality that is truly disarming. You are not just a pretty face. You are the whole damn package, baby. And you’re fucking mine. 

So please.. for the love of god, let us celebrate this day. The damn day you were brought into this world, no matter the circumstances, because you deserve to feel special. You are special. You’re unlike anyone I have ever met. Happy birthday, Yelena. Love of my damn life. My partner in crime. My everything.