“…Happy Birthday dear Lance! Happy Birthday to you!”
“Make a wish Lance!” Justin suggested.
Lance leaned forward and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and blew out his candles. Everyone clapped and told him Happy Birthday again.
“Hurry open my present!” Joey screamed.
Lance looked at Joey and said, “You only gave me a card Joey!”
“I know but it’s hot!” Joey said as he chuckled.
Lance opened up the card and it had a girl wearing a bikini on the front. Inside was a gift certificate to Lance’s favorite restaurant. The message printed inside was crossed out and Joey wrote instead Isn’t she hot!? Don’t try to read the message up there! Happy Birthday! Love Joey. P.S. Can I keep the picture on the front of the card? Lance looked at Joey and shook his head as Joey raised his eyebrows at him.
Lance finished opening the other cards and gifts from the rest of the guys. He thanked all of them for the presents and cards. Lance then noticed two presents wrapped in Dr. Seuss paper with cards atop.
Lance opened the first card and read aloud, “To Lance. I love you with all of my heart! I looked long and hard for these gifts, so I know you will love them all! I hope you have a great birthday. Wish I could be there with you! Happy Birthday! Love always, Abbey.”
The rest of the guys awed at Abbey’s message and watched as Lance opened the book set Abbey bought him. “Yes! I’ve been looking all over for these!” Lance told the four other men in the room.
Lance opened the next card. He figured it was from Madelyn because of the identical wrapping paper. Sure enough it was and he read the card aloud. “Happy Birthday Lance! Sorry Abbey and I couldn’t make it down there for your party! But we still love you man! I hope you like what I got you! You better, cause Abbey picked it out, so if you hate it you can blame her and not me! Just kidding! You’ll love all four of my presents! Love you always, Maddie.”
Lance opened the gift and found the Garth Brooks CD he had wanted for a long time and a coffee brew from Starbucks. Around the coffee was a note attached. Lance opened it and read to himself:
Don’t worry I didn’t lie! There is two more presents but I didn’t want you to go all “Chris” on the guys when you saw the big boxes and bows. I FedEx-ed them to JC and Justin so they should be somewhere in the house. Ask one of them for the gifts and call us after you guys are done having fun. Happy Birthday again!
“So where are these presents?” Lance asked with a confused look on his face. He was trying to figure out what in the world Madelyn could have sent that was in big boxes.
“Upstairs in JC’s closet, Lance,” Justin answered.
Lance got up and walked upstairs. He passed Justin’s room still wondering what the gifts were. He got to JC’s room, flicked on the light and walked to JC’s closet.
He opened the door to the closet and turned on the light for it. When it came on he saw Abbey and Madelyn yelling ‘Surprise’ and jumping up to hug him. They both had a bow on their head.
Lance joked, “I would have turned into Chris!” The girls hugged him and told him Happy Birthday.
"This has been the greatest birthday ever! I love all you guys!”
“I’m so happy Abbey and I could be here for it too,” Madelyn answered.
“I’m hungry. Are we ever going to eat?” Chris begged. “When are Abbey and JC coming back with the pizza?”
“Never Chris! Never!” Justin kidded.
“Soon,” Madelyn assured Chris.
About five minutes passed of Chris begging for food when he heard a car pull around the driveway. He jumped up from his seat and ran over to the door. “Finally you’re...” Chris stopped as he noticed it was Wade at the door, “Oh. It’s just you. You don’t have any pizzas with you do you?”
“Well thanks for the warm welcome. No I don’t have any pizzas. Sorry,” Wade answered.
Chris walked back to his seat in the living room and Wade shut the door behind him as he came in. Wade took off his jacket, put it in the closet, and walked to the living room. Everyone was asking Chris who was at the door when Wade walked in the room. Chris just answered, “Not pizza.”
“I was at the door,” Wade said. “Happy Birthday Lance.”
“Hey man! I didn’t know you were gonna be here! Thanks for coming over!” Lance said as Wade hugged him and handed Lance two birthday cards.
“One is from me and the other is from Britney. She couldn’t make it here and I saw here yesterday so she asked me to give this to you,” Wade explained.
Justin winced at Britney’s name hoping no one would ask about their relationship and what was going on. The fact was they didn’t have a relationship anymore and Justin didn’t want to talk about it. The break-up was still fresh and he was still trying to comprehend everything in his head.
Justin got up and walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water. Madelyn got up and followed him into the kitchen area. “I heard about you and Brit, Justin. I just wanted to say I am sorry and I want you to remember I am here for you,” Madelyn said as Justin opened his arms for a hug from her.
“Thanks Maddie. I always know I can count on you,” Justin answered. “Dan is lucky to have you.”
“I guess you don’t know. He was lucky to have me I guess you could say,” Madelyn started. “We got in a big fight the other night and we broke up. I’m glad to be out of it but I am still a little sad.”
“I’m sorry about that. But you aren’t alone. I feel the same way,” Justin said. “We can be each other’s support and when we need someone else we’ll call on Abbey and JC.”
Madelyn hugged Justin again when Abbey walked in the kitchen, “Sorry to interrupt this hugging moment guys but Maddie your phone is ringing,” Abbey said to Madelyn as she waved Madelyn’s phone in the air as it rang once again.
“Thanks Abbey,” Madelyn said. She walked out of the kitchen and toward the sliding door to the backyard. Justin followed Madelyn out of the kitchen and sat in a stool at the bar.
As they walked out Chris was inhaling pizza and talking in between bites saying things like ‘I was going to die!’, ‘I’m so glad you finally got here!’, and ‘We almost went on a man-hunt for you two cause it took so long!’
Madelyn said hello and the voice on the other end spoke, “Madelyn, please don’t hang up, just listen to me. This is Dan. I don’t know if I can live another day without you. I need you in my life Madelyn. I would give anything to be back with you.”
“No! Why are you saying this? You make my life a living hell. I was stressed every time we talked. I couldn’t take it before and I won’t be able to take it again.”
“I’ll change. We won’t fight anymore, I promise. I’ll do anything to be with you again. I love you Madelyn. I love you.”
“You don’t understand! It won’t change and it never will. I went to bed every night crying, just hoping that we wouldn’t fight anymore, but it was never true. We fought every day. Any time we talked. I can’t handle it! I just can’t…” Madelyn said as tears ran down her cheeks.
Justin could see Madelyn from the kitchen. She was pacing around outside with her hand continuously pressing against her forehead. He got up and walked to the door. He hesitated to open it and walked out onto the patio. He looked at Madelyn with concern when he heard her sniffle.
Justin walked over to Madelyn knowing something was wrong. He touched her shoulder and she jumped when she felt his hand on her. She turned around and lightly smiled as she looked up at him. Justin saw that her eyes were red and there were tearstains on her cheeks.
“Madelyn I want you back. Please, come back to me. All I want is for you to be happy. And I want to be happy with you. More than you will ever know. I love you,” Dan spoke to her.
“No, I would never be happy with you again. I never was. I don’t love you Dan! Stop throwing around those words because you aren’t true to them!” Madelyn cried harder and Justin took the phone away from her ear.
“Look Dan. She doesn’t love you. You hurt her so much. I’ve seen her go through so much pain from you. You don’t deserve to even know Madelyn. I know she doesn’t want to get back with you,” Justin paused. “I never, ever want you to see or talk to her again. If I find out that you have been around her I will make sure that your life is a living hell.”
Justin hung up the phone and reached out to hug Madelyn. She fell into his arms and cried. Justin stood there with Madelyn in his arms telling her that everything would be ok and promising her she wouldn’t have to worry about Dan again.
“Thank you Justin,” Madelyn said as Justin kissed the top of her head.
Madelyn looked up at him and Justin said, “I’m glad you’re here.”
Madelyn smiled and said, “Me too Justin. Me too.” Justin took his thumb and ran it across her cheek near her eye wiping away a tear.
They both stood gazing into each other’s eyes in the middle of the backyard. What was actually a short period of time, lasted forever in both their minds. Justin was taken in by Madelyn’s beauty and he couldn’t help but notice how much the moonlight had accented her face that very night. Madelyn was also taken in by Justin’s appearance, especially his eyes. There was a slight sparkle in them that Madelyn couldn’t resist. She hoped she would never break eye contact with him.
Through the silence someone spoke, “Hey you guys.. oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt any important conversations. I just wanted to see where Maddie was, and I’ll leave you two alone now, because I can see my comments aren’t even making it close to your ears.”
Abbey had walked out to find out who had called Madelyn. Instead she found Justin and Madelyn staring into each other’s eyes. Neither Madelyn nor Justin moved when Abbey had spoken. As Abbey walked back inside she sat down at the bar that had a view through the sliding glass door to the backyard.
Abbey hoped to catch a glimpse of Madelyn and Justin showing some sort of affection. All she wanted was for Madelyn to find a guy who could sweep her off her feet and protect her. A guy who would let Madelyn relax and have fun while she could fall in love.
JC walked over to Abbey sitting at the bar and asked, “Are you a spy now?”
“No, I just can’t wait for the moment sparks fly and I want front row seats for it. Would you care to join me, I have an extra seat?”
JC laughed at Abbey and answered, “Sure, I’d love to become an experienced love show spy.” JC pulled up a chair next to Abbey and began to sit down when he got an idea. “I’m going to go to the kitchen and get something.”
Abbey nodded as she relaxed back in her chair.
Justin and Madelyn still stood gazing into each other’s eyes after Abbey had gone back inside. Madelyn was the first to break the silence but not the stare, “Justin, I want to thank you again. You don’t know how much that meant to me.”
“You are welcome. I promise Dan won’t bug you again. If he does try anything he will have to deal with me.”
Madelyn had decided to break the trance for a much-needed hug. When Justin felt Madelyn collapse into him, his stomach turned over inside him. He knew then that he needed Madelyn and nothing was going to get in his way.
Madelyn pulled away from Justin and she started to speak again, “Do you want to go back inside or stay out here and talk for awhile?” Justin was silent. “Justin?”
“I’m sorry. We can stay out here and talk if you would like to,” Justin finally answered.
“Ok,” Madelyn answered back as she walked towards a spot in the grass and sat down.
Justin followed Madelyn and asked as he sat down, “When do you guys fly back home?”
“I don’t know for sure,” Madelyn started. “We didn’t have round trip tickets so I figured Abbey and I will buy tickets when we leave, but I don’t want to leave for awhile.”
Justin smiled at Madelyn’s remark and JC’s slyness. As Justin laid himself down on the grass, he figured out JC had bought one way tickets hoping to keep the girls around a few extra days on their visit.
Madelyn followed Justin by lying next to him, “I love it in Florida. Sometimes I wish I lived here. It’s always so beautiful.”
You are telling me it’s beautiful, Justin thought as he turned his head and looked Madelyn up and down. “Yeah, it sure is.”
Justin noticed that Madelyn’s hand was lying next to his so he decided to hold her hand. He didn’t know how Madelyn would feel about it but he decided to do it anyways. Justin reached his hand over and clasped it around hers. Madelyn didn’t jump or fidget from his hand and Justin was relieved. In fact, Madelyn had turned her head and smiled at Justin.
Back inside JC had come already come back from the kitchen with popcorn and some water that he and Abbey were both eating and drinking now. He told her that this wouldn’t be a real love show without the snacks.
JC was eating a few pieces of popcorn when Abbey spied Justin taking Madelyn’s hand. Abbey turned and looked at JC and shouted, “Yes! We’ve got the hands!”
JC looked a little confused but then he realized what Abbey meant. “Oh yeah!” he shouted as he reached up his hand for Abbey to slap.
Abbey high-fived JC and he said, “One down, one more to go.”
Abbey was a little confused by JC’s statement. She didn’t know if JC meant Justin and Madelyn were holding hands and a kiss was in the running or if Justin and Madelyn were going to get together and now it was his and her turn.
Madelyn and Justin laid in silence once again when Madelyn started to become cold. “Justin?”
“Yes Maddie?”
Madelyn loved it when Justin called her Maddie. The sound of his voice saying her name was the most wonderful thing in the world to her. “Can I wear your sweatshirt? I’m getting a little chilly.”
“Of course,” Justin answered. Justin then pulled off his gray GAP sweatshirt and handed it to Madelyn.
As Madelyn put it on, Justin turned his body around so he was facing Madelyn. “Thanks Justin,” she said as she got chills down her spine from the smell of Justin’s cologne in the hooded sweatshirt.
“Anytime sweetie,” Justin slipped in.
Madelyn looked at Justin and asked him, “Justin, do you remember in Model Behavior when you kissed Janine, rather Alex, under the stars?”
“Yes I remember…”
“Have you ever been kissed under the stars in a romantic moment like that?”
“Well I guess you couldn’t count that moment in the movie, so no. I haven’t been kissed like that, at least not yet. Have you?” Justin continued.
Justin looked at Madelyn again and she stared back at him. "No," Madelyn replied. Both turned their heads to look up at the stars hoping a shooting star would fly through the sky. Justin got an idea. “Why don’t you close your eyes and make a wish for it to come true?”
“But I didn’t see a shooting star…”
“That doesn’t mean you can’t wish upon a star,” Justin said. “I’ll make a wish with you.”
Madelyn looked into the sky to find the brightest star. When she spotted it she closed her eyes and made a wish for her perfect shooting-star night.
Justin quietly moved closer to Madelyn waiting for her to open her eyes. When she did open her eyes she stared back into Justin’s sparkling eyes that she loved so much. He cupped her cheek and slowly moved his head closer to hers, tilting his head slightly as he closed his eyes.
Madelyn closed her eyes and anticipated Justin’s lips touching hers. When his lips finally touched hers she was engulfed by his kiss. Although it was the softest kiss she had ever experienced, it was the most wonderful feeling in her life.
Madelyn nor Justin wanted to pull away from the kiss but Justin did and opened his eyes waiting for her reaction. Madelyn slowly opened her eyes and an unexplainable expression crossed her face. She had just experienced the greatest moment of her life. When he kissed her she felt something more, something in the kiss. The kiss was full of passion and Madelyn loved it.
Justin knew that Madelyn was happy when a tiny grin spread across her face and by the way she looked him in the eyes at that very moment. Justin looked back and forth into her eyes and Madelyn said, “I’ve waited for that moment my whole life.”
“Me too.”
