āi hope tonight wasnātĀ tooĀ much,āĀ Ā he muses with a hidden smile.Ā Ā carefully,Ā Ā his hand goes to rest onĀ the smallĀ nape of her back.Ā Ā when he lifts his left hand,Ā Ā her rightĀ intertwinesĀ with his.Ā Ā slowly,Ā Ā they begin to dance around his living room as a record whines in the foreground.Ā Ā the lit candles decorated about the place areĀ the only sourceĀ of light guiding their way.Ā Ā āi know how you feel about your birthday,Ā but,āĀ Ā henry pauses.Ā Ā āi simplyĀ couldnātĀ let you go uncelebrated today.āĀ Ā for a moment,Ā Ā the fallen angel goes silent.Ā Ā he recounts the way heĀ scrambledĀ about earlier this afternoon to make everythingĀ perfect.Ā Ā from the dinner he made for her to purchasing her favorite flowersāeach thing was meticulously planned for her special night in.Ā Ā when the feel of her fingers glide along the nape of his neck,Ā Ā henry refocuses his attention on her.Ā Ā āand i knowĀ youĀ said no gifts,āĀ Ā he begins,Ā Ā āhowever,Ā Ā you knowĀ iām not too goodĀ at following the rules.āĀ Ā his lips curl into a sly grin.Ā Ā with that,Ā Ā the burly manĀ moves awayĀ from the woman he loves and retrieves a gift bag from out of the pantry.Ā Ā āthis is for you,āĀ Ā another pause.Ā Ā Ā henry dawns a warm smile before placing a kiss to the bridge of her nose.Ā Ā āhappy birthday,Ā Ā darling.āĀ Ā the harshest part of his british accent appropriately stretches out the word ādarling.āĀ Ā āi hope you like it.āĀ
it's not that she hated her birthday. she just hated the idea of it, the visual conjured up of clamoring people around candles and cake and boisterous singing and a wish made. she's made so many wishes over the years, and none of them came true, so what was the point of lighting up candles if there was no one there to celebrate it ? so in a way, it was too much, but in the best ways it could be. rory's lips press together, smizing while her body fits perfectly against his and they sway together, his grace makes up for her lack of. ā i loved it. all of it. ā she promises as her fingers caress the nape of his neck, twirling some of the short hair around the tips of her fingers. she begins to roll her eyes at his impishness, ā henry ... ā her tone drops a few octaves as she draw out his name, reluctantly letting him disentangle himself from her while she waits with building anticipation for the aforementioned gift. her features scrunch up and cheeks warm and brighten at the brush of his lips on her nose, and that telltale darling that leaves her heart fluttering in her chest, every single time. she tries to look chastising as she takes the gift bag. she could go on and on about why he didn't have to and all she'd be left with is no air to go on, so instead she peers into the bag, and pulls out what's clearly a wrapped book. her brows pull together curiously as her smile turns into a silent inquisition, tearing through the wrapping paper until she reveals the title, and she laughs. caresses the surface reverently. how he found this edition, she had no idea. ā i love it. i absolutely love it. ā