"...but somehow I am still in love with life."

"I’m from Texas, and I would love to do an old-fashioned gun-slinging western." 

She doesn’t wait for his response, it only really hurts when her mind stays in one place, keep pacing, she thinks. The whole world must watch this sad, comic display. Pulling herself from the depth of her mind, she snaps her attention back to him. She forces a large smile on her face, hrr lips stretching to accommodate the girth of her smile. “This is perfect,” she fakely insists, and it’s not quite, but it’s the closest they’ll ever get. “Cut the bullshit, though, Mr. Romance. What are your intentions?”

He paces back and forth in front of her, a grin on his face as he thinks of their future together, "Remember when we were fighting, and I rambled on about how I want to live with you in Italy or anywhere really, and how I want to travel the world together with you, and get married to you if you would grant me the divine honor of being your husband, and we would have kids and conceive them on a rolling field near your home?" His feet stopped abruptly and he dropped to one knee. "Well, we conceived the kid somewhere in our cabin instead and we're traveling the world right now and I'd really like to spend the rest of my life with you. I think I knew that since the moment I saw you," Tanner pulled the velvet box from his pocket, opening it for her to see the ring. "So, what do you say?"

She spots him, resting, and she sighs for a moment, eyes sweeping over him. His physical appearance much more burly and strong than her, but she has always had the sensed fragility to him. She was his to protect, she she was his. He was her delicate china plate. One wrong step, it could shatter. She has to be strong now and puts on a brace face. “What’s this?”

He picked up the remote, and clicked start, the projector flickering to life. Tanner watched Odette’s expression during the video he made, the images made by the dream beam reflecting in her clear eyes, though her emotions were cloudy and hard to read. It finished, the song still playing as he kissed her neck that smelled of sweet perfume, and he pulled her locket out of his pocket, his fingertips grazing the velvety box that held her ring. “You forgot this today. What picture do you have in there?”

My birthday is never really a highlight of the year, so I can’t say I hold the same belief.

It's rarely the highlight of anyones year, but you should at least be able to say "The year I turned ___ was the best birthday ever", and I'm getting the impression you don't have a best birthday.

My sister is constantly at work, but no surprise there. And my brother seems to be out of town. I can only imagine what my dad’s up to. And I really don’t need a party. I’m good.

I have a strong personal belief that a person shouldn't be alone backslash not having fun on their birthday.

What a birthday.

...What's your idea of a party anyway?