#im5imagine

I got chu homegirl! Hope you enjoy

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15 Years Ago"Jen!" Someone yells out, knocking on my door. I opened it, looking at the light brown eyes of a boy my age. Cole. "You left your doll at my house." He hands it to me, "Here, I cleaned it for you."I smiled. “Thank you Cole.” We both hugged.The next morning, the sun was shining and the birds chirped. I wore my favorite pink princess pajamas and the doll Cole gave back was sitting next to my desk, waiting for me to play with it. My mom cooks her delicious homemade blueberry pancakes, my favorite."Good morning Jen-bear." Thats the nickname my mom gave me."Good morning mom.""It’s Saturday. What are you planning to do today?"Should I go outside and play with Cole? Or something else? I think to myself “Cole! I want to go play with Cole today.”"I dont think that’s going to happen." Her tone lowers."Why not?" I’m worried. Everytime I ask mom if I can go outside with Cole, she says yes. Why not this time?"Well honey. Cole moved."Without thinking I run outside, only seeing an empty house. How come I didn’t notice? Why didn’t Cole say good-bye?Present dayThat day still makes me upset. I have to admit, I had a little girl crush on Cole. He was my best-friend. At least I thought he was.A couple years ago, I moved to Los Angeles. I still miss Texas, but LA is not as bad as I think it was going to be.On my way to school, I turn on my radio. “Here on 95.3 we have IM5!” The radio-hosts introduces. There’s something in this band that seems weird. “Hey I’m Will, I’m Dana, I’m Gabe, I’m David!” They say one by one."And I’m Cole!" I freeze and stop the car in the middle of the street, turning off my radio. Cole? The cars behind me honk and I continue driving. Could this be the ACTUAL Cole that I spent my 4 years of my childhood with? Is he the Cole that left me?"Shut up Jen. Stop thinking so much." I tell myself. There are thousands of Cole’s in the world. He couldn’t possibly be the one. Plus he doesn’t sing.I arrive at school. My friend Mae and Liz run up to me with good news."JEN! DID YOU HEAR?" Mae exclaims. I give them a confuse look as they wait for me to ask ‘What?’"WELL. IM5 IS GOING TO BE IN TOWN! AND I GOT ALL THREE OF US SOME TICKETS!""I dont really know the band?""Well you’re still going! Plus, it’s TONIGHT" Mae says."Tonight? Bu-""Nope, you’re coming. You need to make up for that thing I did for you." Liz interrupts. "Psh. I even bought you tickets.""Fine." We head out to class and finish the day with AP Calc. Before leaving school Mae tells me the show starts at 7 PM.I have 5 hours to get ready. For the most part. I just take the time to get ready. Usually I don’t do much to get ready but I’m actually excited. Am I doing this for Cole? Or for myself? Why am I excited to go to a concert that I didn’t want to go to in the first place?Mae and Liz comes at 6:00 to pick me up. They said that we had to be there early since there would be a long line. And what do you know? When we arrive there, the line was long.The three of us successfully make our in and find our seat in the front row. “You got front row tickets?”"Hell yea." Liz snaps.The show finally starts and all five boys head out. The crowd is alive. I take a look at all five boys. When my eye’s switched to Cole, I realized it was him. I was in shock.Half way through the show, the boys stop and play some games. “Okay, so who would like to do the Touch Down Dance with us?” Cole questions. Everyone raises their hands, begging to get picked."Okay, you over there!" David points to the right."You!" Dana grabs the girls hand."Hmm. Last one!" Will announces.Cole looks and suddenly locks eyes with me. We stare at each-other for quite some time. “Bro,” Gabe breaks in, nudging him, “Are you gonna pick or what?”"Yeah, totally." Our eyes break away. "You," pointing to someone else. I let out a little sigh, happy that he didn’t pick me. The show went by fine. But Cole looked a little distracted. Did he recognize me?The show ended. “Wasn’t that amazing?” Liz jumps."Yeah, I guess."”Yeah, I guess.” Mae mocks. We head out to Liz’s car."WAIT! WAIT!" A boys voice yells. "JEN!"I turn around. It’s Cole. As he got closer, I can see the light brown eyes I remember seeing from when we were little. “Hi,” he greets, panting. Mae and Liz looked confused and gave me the ‘you know him?’ look."Hey." I say in a monotone voice."Do you um.. remember me? Cole Pendery? House number 586? Texas boy?" I couldn’t speak. I still couldn’t believe it was Cole."Uhm. I gave you back your doll. Oh yeah, I even cleaned it for you.""I remember." I finally speak up."Cole hurry! We have a plane to catch." A women yells from behind."Give me a second Jill!" He turns back to me, "We need to catch up. Here’s my number. Please call?""I will." The two of us hug and say good-bye. He runs back to a van and waves to all three of us."O.M.G! THATS WHY YOU WERE ACTING WEIRD!" Mae yells."BECAUSE SHE KNOWS COLE PENDERY!" Liz finishes. I shake my head and hop into the car.When I got home, I jumped on my bed. Having mixed emotions. I grab my phone and dial the number Cole gave me. I practice saying my ‘Hi’s’ and ‘Hello’s.’ Then finally, he picks up."Jen?""Hey Cole.""Howdy." He says, hearing him smile through the phone.

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THANK YOU SO MUCH! I’m glad you enjoy reading them as much as I love writing them! Message me back if you liked it or if I should fix some parts of my writing!! I dont mind any advice(-:

Btw, this is my third time writing this since I kept pressing the backspace button when I wasn’t typing. Oh gosh. The first draft was amazing. But I hope you enjoy this one!

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**WARNING: THERE ARE A LOT OF FOUL LANGUAGE/SLANG WORDS**

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Not one of us said a word. The car ride heading home was silent. Looking out into the window, I think about why Gabe was acting this way. Why did we have to leave so early? Is he mad at me? I reach in towards the front to turn on the radio. Seconds after I turned it on, Gabe turned it off. 

"What’s is up with you? You won’t talk to me and now you’re being a jerk."

"It’s my car Lia," he reminds me, "Dont question it."

I pull my head back, confused. Is he really going to act like a smart ass? 

"Seriously, why the fuck are you acting like this? Yesterday you were doing fine and today you woke up like a little monster. You didn’t even answer half of the questions I asked you at the party so we can start a conversation."

"I’m super tired okay? We don’t need to discuss this right now." Gabe backs out.

"Ugh. What an asshole," I mumble under my breath.

"What? What did you say?" Gabe asks making sure he knew that what he heard is what I said.

"Nothing." 

We got home. I opened the door and slammed my bag down on the floor and kicked my shoe off. 

Gabe and I didn’t make any eye contact. His eyes were either glued to his phone or at the ceiling. But from the look on his face, he looks more frustrated than ever.

The house was silent. It’s not really a surprise that it is since we just got done with a little argument. Then suddenly, Gabe breaks the silence. “The boys and I are going on another tour..” 

"That’s great." I say sarcastically.

"In Canada.." He adds on.

"Okay? What am I suppose to do about it?" I question. This time, I’m the smart ass.

"On the day of our trip."

“WHAT?! GABE YOU KNOW I WORKED MY ASS OFF FOR THOSE TICKETS. WE ALREADY HAVE EVERYTHING PLANNED OUT. AND NOW YOU’RE JUST GOING TO LEAVE ME ALONE AND THROW ALL OF THAT AWAY?” I yell. My emotions by now are uncontrollable. Why would Gabe do this to me?

The look in his eye’s get more sharp. “WHAT AM I SUPPOSE TO DO? QUIT MY JOB? MY DREAM? SO YOU WANT ME TO KILL IT BECAUSE OF A STUPID LITTLE TRIP? WE CAN DO THAT SOME OTHER TIME. I HATE TO BREAK IT TO YOU BUT YOU CAN BE A SELFISH LITTLE BITCH SOMETIMES. IM TRYING TO BE A GOOD BOYFRIEND BUT I CAN’T ALWAYS HOLD IT IN!” He yells.

I’m frozen. Hurt. Weak. Selfish little bitch, runs through my head. I’m a selfish little bitch, I’m a selfish little bitch, I’m a selfish little bitch. My heart is shattered and broken into pieces by those words. My face starts heating up, along with my ears. Tears start running to my eyes and one by one, they fall down to my lap.

Gabe realizes what he’s done. He kneels before me and pleads for forgiveness. His voice is soft and calm this time. “Baby, look at me. I’m so sorry. I made a huge mistake. Please forgive me. Baby. You know me. I yell at people and even blurt out things I’m not suppose to blurt out. I didn’t mean anything I said.”

He moves up and sits down besides me, wrapping his arms around my frozen, weak body. More tears start pouring. I couldn’t hold in my emotions.

After a good minute, Gabe leaves the room. He’s just going to leave like that? After what he said, he’s going to give up trying to win me back? This makes me even more upset. I sit in the room alone, and shattered.

I hear footsteps walk into the room. It obviously was Gabe. He walked in with a guitar. A guitar? He’s not that good in playing? He starts making simple little strums. I knew what song he was playing. It was one of my favorites.

When you dance When you smile When you laugh I love everything about you How you dress and your style You’re an angel I love everything about you..

Everything about you Is perfect amazing I cant get enough Everything about you Is driving me crazy Girl because I love Everything about you

I cry start crying again. But this time, it was a good cry. “I’m so sorry. I should’ve understood your situation.” I apologize.

“Don’t apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong. I know where you’re coming from. I woud’ve reacted the same way. But this is really important. So is that trip. We can plan it right after the tour. I promise. It will better than what we originally planned. Just know that I would rather fight you, than make love to anyone else. Okay?” He says.

“Okay.” I smile. He leans in for a kiss and for the rest of the night, we have funny conversations about things. It’s like nothing happened.

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“You can’t have a relationship without any fights, but you can make your relationship WORTH the fight.”

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Got chu homegirl! 

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It’s been two weeks since Dana and I have been hanging out. He’s always on tour which is understandable but whenever he has a free day, he decides to hang out with the guys instead of me. Anna you need to calm down there will be days where you’ll have time with Dana, I tell myself.

Cassidy, Cole’s girlfriend, calls me.

"Hey! Wanna go to the movies with Cole and I? Bring Dana, it’ll be a double date!" she says.

"Sure! Can you pick me up? I’ll tell him later to meet up with us at the mall."

"Got ya! Be there in 30 minutes." In that 30 minutes, I put myself together and dress as good as possible. I want to impress Dana. This will probably be the only time we will get time to spend with each other. 

Cass and Cole arrive and I hop into the car. “Should I call Dana right now?”

"Yeah, tell him to hurry, I miss him." Cole smirks.

I dial his number, he picks up. “Hello?” he answers in a weird tone.

"Babe, Cass, Cole and I are gonna go to the theater, meet up with us."

"Seriously Anna? Do you know how exhausted I am?"

I am in shock. My cheeks turn red and my eyes start hurting. “You were hanging out with all your friends all day yesterday, and you tell me you’re EXHAUSTED?”

"Whats going on?" Cole looks back at me, "Are you okay?"

I signal him a finger to wait. Dana scoffs, “Why are you so mad?”

"You know what Dana, NEVERMIND! YOU DONT NEED TO GO. YOU DONT CARE ABOUT ME ANYWAYS." At this moment, Cass and Cole are awkwardly sitting there as I yell at Dana. I’m embarassed, but I cant help myself. "Every time I ask you where you are, you’re with your friends," I remind him, "sometimes I think that you..that..you dont..love me anymore." There was no more room to hold in my emotions. Tears filled my eyes. Cassidy reached my lap and rubbed it to comfort me.

"Babe. I’m sorry, I really am. I love you.  I really do. Sometimes I only think about myself. I’m so sorry for that."

"Forget it." I hang up. 

"Are..you okay Anna?" Cole asks sincerely, "Do you still want to go?"

I nod my head.

When we got to the theater, Cole and Cassidy didn’t hold hands at all. They were thoughtful, knowing that I hate being a third-wheeler. “I’m sorry guys, I ruined this for the both of you. You’re suppose to be holding hands.”

"Dont worry about it Anna. Things always work out at the end." Cole says.

"Pshh. Sure it does." I doubt.

"Hey look!" Cassidy points at someone. Its Dana. He has a bouquet of beautiful flowers. Will, Gabe, and David come out in a line behind him. Then Cole joins in. They start singing an acapella version of Get to Know you and people crowd around us.

All I want to doIs get you all aloneCan I hold you close?Tell me girl cause all I want is youYou and no one elseKeep you to myselfNo time to take it slowGirl let me get to know you

The crowd cheers and claps and there were some girls that noticed that it was IM5. 

Dana walks towards me with the flowers and hands them to me. “I’m so sorry babe. I can’t express to you how lucky I am to have you and how much you mean to me. Please forgive me. I will do my best to be the best boyfriend.”

The frown I had on my face turned back into a really big smile. I was speechless. I jumped to hug him and give him a little kiss on the lips. Everyone aw’s and the guys start teasing us.

"Get a room," yelled Gabe.

"GUYS, THERE’S AN 8 YEAR OLD OVER HERE..*cough* Will *cough*" David laughs.

"Shut up. I’m a  grown man," Will defends.

I look back at Dana. “I’m so sorry.”

"Shhh.." he lays his index finger on top of my lips, "We have a movie to catch, c’mon my treat."

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So this is my first imagine and i may have written a fricken novel? Ahahaha hope you enjoy :P ~Katelynn xx

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“Hey babe, you wanna play Mario Kart?” You and your boyfriend, David, were planning on going to 6Flags but it had started to rain. The two of you were now stuck inside, bored as ever. “Sure, why not?” David replied as he grabbed a remote and sat beside you on the couch. While you were choosing your players, he quickly added, “Loser has to kiss the winner.” You gave him a look. “Oh really?” He smiled innocently. “You’re on Scarzone” you said, and the races begun.

By the second last race, you were tied. “Okay, because this is the last race, i’ll let you choose the course.” you told David. He smiled at you sarcastically and you laughed. You had beat him at the last race, which made him not too happy. “Mushroom Gorge.” He said finally. “Okay,” you answered and selected the course. “But are you ready to lose?” you asked teasingly. “I should be asking you that babe; i’m gunna get that kiss.” David said. You shook your head in response. “Yeah, right.”

The race was on and the third lap was in place. You were in first, David close behind in second. “Yes! I’m going to win this!” You yelled excitedly while standing. David groaned. You were close to the finish line when you heard it; the sound of a shell approaching you. “No. NO!” You exclaimed at the same time David yelled “Yes!” And started cheering. You were both standing up now, but the blue shell hit you and you plopped back down on the couch. David passed you, coming in first and you dropped down to sixth. “You have got to be kidding me.” You said in defeat. “Yes! I win!” David did a fist pump and you threw a pillow at him. “So, where’s my kiss?” David asked. You rolled your eyes at your boyfriend, leaned in and kissed his cheek. “Hey!” David did a pouty face. “You said ‘Loser has to Kiss the Winner’, but you didn’t say where.” You smirked and walked off to the kitchen to get a drink. David went after you. He grabbed you by the waist and pinned you to the counter. “What if I wanted a kiss on the lips?” He asked, still holding you tightly. “What if I didn’t want to kiss you on the lips?” You asked back and did the same pouty face he did. “Then, you’re lying.” David answered and with that his lips crashes onto yours. You kissed back, unable to resist but soon parted. “I want a re-match.” You said. “Seriously?” David whined and tried to kiss you again. You turned your head so he kissed your cheek, managed to get out of his arms and then made your way back to the couch. “You’re lucky I love you.” David said while getting his remote. “I love you too, but you’re so going to lose this time.”

Tonight was almost like any other date night. You got dressed up in your favorite black dress with lacey sleeves, that was both alluring and modest, and paired it with your deep purple suede heels. A touch of makeup, a little perfume, and you were ready for tonight’s date. He came to pick you up like normal, but tonight something was different, tonight your boyfriend seemed a little on edge. “Hey, look at me for a sec?” you stop walking and turn to face your boyfriend, “It’s just dinner,” you tell him as you’re now face to face. He heaves in a sigh, “I know it’s dinner with your family, but it’s not just them, it’s your stepmom’s entire GREEK family too! I’ve seen the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding, I know what they expect and how they are when you want to…” he can’t finish his thoughts out loud. He breaths deeply again; taking your other hand into his, he gives them a soft squeeze,  then he looks you up and down and cracks a little side smile, “Julia, did I already tell you how ravishing you look tonight?” he smoothly transitions his little freakout to a topic change. You blush at his compliment, you can’t help it! It’s been over two years now that you guys have been dating, but those warm fuzzy feelings haven’t faded one bit. “No, you didn’t mention that Mr. Rapattoni…you look pretty handsome yourself,” you smile cheekily at him while swinging your clasped hands side to side. He laughs, the nerves slowly melting away as his smile broadens. You’re glad he’s relaxing, he needn’t be worried about having a date night dinner with your family. It’s not like he hasn’t met some of them before. He bends down to give you a soft kiss, then breaks away slowly. You both smile at each other, and with that new comfort you both continue hand in hand down the sidewalk to your family’s favorite restaurant.

Stepping into the cozy place, the hostess greets you guys with a smile and gestures towards the tables near the back where your family is all sitting. Sneaking a glace at your boyfriend, you give him an encouraging smile before pulling him along to meet the fam. “Dad!” you shout out over the loud chit chat of your Greek family. When he notices you he waves his hand and gestures to a couple of seats right by his side. Giving your dad a kiss on the cheek in greeting, Dalton then shakes his hand and you both take your seats. Immediately as you sit down, Bella and Arin, your two sisters, begin to gush about your dress and how you wear it too much, and about how you guys should all go on a sisterly bonding trip to the mall. As your attention is occupied by the girls, Scott and Jeo are talking to Dalton about whatever boys make small talk about, it’d been a while since your brothers got to see Dalton in person since the last time they saw him was when they were photo-bombing your snapchats like weirdo little 14 year old brothers do. Suddenly your step-mom clears her throat and looks at you expectantly. “Oh, right…uhm,” you fail at trying to apologize for not acknowledging her, but she just smiles, accepting your apology. “Darling, Julia, can I see your hand?” your step-mom asks. It’s a weird request, but you pass your manicured hand over the table to her outstretched palm. “Not that hand, your other one,” she chides. Feeling embarrassed you switch arms, how were you suppose to know which hand she wanted to see?? Dalton smiles at your awkwardness, but goes right back to talking about music with your little brothers. After a quick survey of your hand, your step-mom clucks her tongue and states, “Yup, just as I thought,” then she does something so unlike her. She slips her wedding ring off and slides it onto your left hand’s ring finger. Your mouth jaw must have dropped a little because she started laughing at you out loud, “Isn’t she darling? Look at it honey,” she tells your father, snuggling up to his arm and looking at you and Dalton elatedly like she could already picture planning your wedding.

You can’t help but admire the diamond, nothing huge and flashy, but just simple and elegant as it sparkles in the candlelight provided on the tables. Your sisters were just as surprised as you were about your step-mom letting you wear her ring, but once the shock was over they begin bubbling excitedly about being bridesmaids and then the whole other side of the family table explodes in a frenzy of wedding ideas. As a Greek family, everyone is loud and shouting, you start sliding down a little, trying to hide from them behind your dad. Dalton finally takes notice of the noise and looks over to the other side of the table. They look back at him like they’re noticing him for the first time. Then all the questions start flying your way, “Who is that Julia, Why didn’t you introduce him sooner, What is his name, He has pretty eyes (not a question), Why is he wearing all that black-wait you too what’s with the black???” Dalton smiles nervously, then takes your hand under the table for a sense of comfort as you both begin explaining to them who your boyfriend is and trying to answer their questions as it keeps coming. Then someone’s voice rings out over everyone else, of course it was your step-mom’s voice, “So Dalton, are you gonna marry our sweet Julia anytime in the future??” You almost immediately turn as red as a beat, not like you hadn’t been thinking about Dalton when you admired the ring on your finger, but hearing someone say it out in the open just made you feel super self conscious. How would he answer? Does he even think about marrying you? Oh why am I wearing this ring?? You think to yourself.

It’s almost impossible for a Greek family to settle down quietly, but apparently they all wanted to hear the answer to that question as well, so all eyes were focused your way. Dalton squeezes your hand to let you know he was still with you. Taking a quick glance at your boyfriend, you can see Dalton smiling confidently at your family. “I hope to marry miss Julia whenever she is ready to be mine.” Dalton’s eyes shift to stare at you, “Whenever you’re ready, if you still want to be with me, I am here…I love you more than anything Julia, and I will do whatever it takes to make sure we have a happy life together. The only things is, I don’t think there can be any happiness in my life without you.” He gives you a kiss to seal his words in, and your entire family erupts in cheers. Even your dad doesn’t seem to want to crush your boyfriend for kissing you in front of him, but maybe that’s because your father knows how much Dalton loves and respects you and your family. “Is that a proposal?” your step-mom asks eagerly. Dalton looks at her, “Not yet…” then he looks back at you and places his forehead against yours, “But it is a promise.”

­Today was your boyfriend’s birthday, and you had something totally special all planned out for this special day… “Irin,  come on, the suspense is killing me!!” Cole begs with his warm brown puppy-dog eyes. You giggle at his attempt, “Nope! You’re not getting it out of me Cole, you’ll just have to wait and see,” you say while walking away from him. He jogs to catch up; when he’s walking by your side again, he matches your strides to his and takes up your hand. “But today’s my birthday, don’t I get whatever I want?” he wiggles his eyebrows at you as he pulls you closer to his side. Turning your head to his, he smiles down at you and gives you a soft kiss in means of persuasion. You fight your hardest not to fall for his charm, but it’s really hard to pretend Cole’s words and touch don’t affect you much. After pulling away, he stares into your eyes…He can tell you want to break and tell him everything, but in a last minute attempt to keep your secret plans a surprise, you let go of his hand and bolt down the sidewalk, “You’ll have to catch me!” you taunt over your shoulder, then you keep sprinting forward. Your brick red Thoms thud against the paved path beat after beat, and soon you develop a rhythmic run that keeps driving you forward. Your flowy cream skirt dances in the wind behind you, and your long brunette hair follows as well. One quick glance over your shoulder confirms that Cole is still hot on your heels, he has the biggest smile on his face as he’s running after you, “I’M COMING FOR YOU IRIN, DON’T THINK YOU CAN OUTRUN ME!” he shouts. Then, it happened so suddenly you almost missed it, but Cole was on the ground.

Luckily he had fallen sideways on the grass, but that didn’t change the fact that your boyfriend just got beamed with a Frisbee. “COLE!!” you yell out, screeching to a halt and staring back at him. Your heart pounds for a few seconds before you start running even harder than you already were back to him, “COLE, ANSWER ME!?” you call out, but he isn’t moving. Rushing up to his side, you fall to your knees and lean over him. His heart is steadily beating and his chest shows that he’s still breathing, you sigh in relief to see that he’s okay, at least the Frisbee didn’t knock him in the head…though the fall might have. “Cole? Honey, can you hear me?” you ask softly, lifting his head onto your lap. He mumbles something, “Huh? I didn’t catch that?” you urge him to try again. “I said,” Cole’s eyes open, and he quickly turns the tables on you, “that it really hurts everywhere, but I’ll be alright.” Now you’re on your back in the grass with Cole lingering above you, you play scowl up at him, but inside you’re just relieved that he’s alright. “You sure?” you hesitantly reach up for his cheek, not wanting to cause him anymore pain, “Yeah, I’ll be fine…” he looks down at you, and dipping down, gives you a kiss that sets off every nerve in your body; sparks fly and fireworks appear, the moment was perfect. “Cole?” you say, “Yes Irin?” he answers, “I’m still not telling you the surprise yet,” your grin widens and he just gapes at you. “Do you think that kiss was just about the surprise?” he raises his eyebrows in disbelief, “No no no of course not, I love you Cole don’t be upset, but I just really worked hard for this surprise for you, and I don’t wana blow it by flat out telling you what it is!” He pouts at you a little, but then straightens his shoulders and smiles, “Fine, shall we continue on?” you nod your head as he holds out his hand to help you up.

“We are going to the…zoo?” Cole wonders aloud as you guys round the corner, “Yep, but that’s not the surprise part!” you bounce up and down eagerly. “Come on! We don’t wanna be late!” you say excitedly while dragging Cole along  behind you through the gates. The gift shop is the first place on your agenda, so you spot it near the entrance and book towards it with Cole in toll. “Irin, don’t we normally do the shopping afterwards?” you can tell that Cole’s mind is racing to try and figure you out, but you won’t let him. “We need some things, let’s go,” you bound off into the store.  When the cashier sees you, she winks and puts a shopping back on the counter for you. “Thank you!” you chirp, then twirling around you grab Cole by the hand and start heading back out of the store, “Whoa wait, that was quick, when did you even?” you laugh at his confusion, “Ah buh buh, nope, stop trying to figure out your surprise and just go with the flow Cole!” Arriving at the nearest bathroom, you shove Cole in and give him the bag, “Okay now change!” He looks at you dubiously, “Uhm…?” You suppress a giggle as you shut the door. A few seconds later, Cole comes out looking like he’s ready to go on a safari with the shorts tucked in with a belt, binoculars, and even that funny looking hat. “Ohmigods!” you squeal, dying of laughter, “Ha-ha very funny, do I really have to wear this?” Cole complains. “Yes, yes you do…” you can’t help it, you snap a picture with your phone, “Irin come on, if I have to wear this, can you please tell me what you’re up to?” You smile coyly at him, “Oh Cole, that defeats the purpose of a surprise!” He rolls his eyes at you, “You’re lucky I love you enough to wear this,” he grumbles. “I know you love me,” you say, tippy toing to plant a kiss on his cheek, “and you’ll love me even more soon, come on let’s keep moving!”

With your boyfriend all dressed up at your side, you walk around with a proud little smile on your face as you both walk through the zoo hand in hand. Some little kids stare up at Cole and laugh, others run up to him and ask to take a picture. He’s so good with little kids, it’s really cute. By the time you reach the destination, Cole started to enjoy himself just walking around in his safari getup. You pull him into an animal exhibit house that is dark except for the warm lamp lights up ahead. Instead of going towards the lamplights, you turn left and take him down some stairs towards a hallway that has one little light above the door at the very end. Cole looks at you curiously as you knock on the door with a funny pattern. To his amazement, the door swings open to reveal a warm orange-lit room with trees that reach towards the ceiling. “Hello Irin, this must be the birthday boy?” the nice zookeeper who opened the door greets you both. “Yes Aunty Tanya, this is my boyfriend Cole,” you introduce him to the zookeeper. “Nice to meet you, and happy birthday!” your aunt smiles at Cole, oddly enough they’re about the same height. “It’s a pleasure ma’am, would you mind telling me what I’m doing here?” he asks, looking up again to notice the windows that lined the upper walls of the room you guys were in. “Sure I can, you are in the Koala Room, “ she gestures around. “And because my niece has expressed your love for these little creatures to me about a thousand times, you get to help me take  care of some today.” Cole’s face is totally priceless, his jaw kind of drops, then she slowly turns to you with a gleam of excitement in his eyes, “Are you serious??” he begins to jump up and down, “No friggen way, that’s awesome man!” you can’t help but smile at his excitement, his huge grin was contagious.

For the rest of the afternoon, Cole got to help feed baby Koalas green eucalyptus goop (which it’s best not to tell him where it came from) as well as hold and pet some Koalas. You assigned yourself to be the photographer with his phone, taking loads of pictures and videos of your boyfriend having the time of his life caring for these cute little grey and white marsupials. You even snuck in a few selfies with him in the background. “Hey, Irin?” Cole whispers to you as he rocks a little baby Koala in his arms, “Yeah Cole?” you answer. He gestures for you to come closer, then when you are in reach, he gives you a soft kiss on the cheek, “Thank you so much for the best birthday ever,” he says genuinely, “Anything for you Cole,” you tell him, nuzzling your nose to his cheek, “Anything for you,” he replies. Then he gives you a quick peck on the nose and continues to rock the baby koala back and forth.