Sanctuary - Side 2

Nearly two-and-a-half months passed and summer was over. Abby and her mom are back on speaking terms and keep in touch every week. Also, her twenty-eighth birthday is tomorrow and I cannot wait to see her face when she sees what I have planned. This morning, I walked down the hall to find Abby eating cereal in the living room.

“Good morning, sleepyhead.”

“Good morning.” I mumbled.

“Come sit.” he said patting the seat beside her.

I did and placed my head on his shoulder.

“Didn’t sleep good last night?”

“Yeah.” I yawned.

“Then, go back to bed. You don’t actually need to be up right now.”

“I want to kiss you before you leave for work.”

“You’re adorable.”

I tend to have a different sleep schedule especially during touring than she does; Abby’s only a morning person except on the weekend.

“If you really want to kiss me before I leave, I’ll be leaving in less than ten minutes.”

I nodded.

A few minutes later, she finished her breakfast and headed to the bathroom to brush her teeth. That’s all I remember because I must’ve fallen asleep. Come two o’clock, I sent a text to Abby; it was a picture of me still wrapped up in a blanket.

Just woke up. Thanks for covering me up. Love you!

Don’t mention it. Love you, too!

When she came home I was as she left me, covered in a blanket.

“Hey.” she said, taking off her shoes.

“Hey. Have a good day?”

“A great day. You get some sleep?”

“Absolutely.”

“I’m gonna change and I’ll be back.”

She changed in record time and came back.

“May I join you?”

“Of course.”

I moved some blanket, so she could get in beside me before I covered her up. She huddled up next to me and wrapped an arm around my waist as she laid her head on my shoulder.

“I hated not kissing you this morning. Sorry for falling asleep this morning.”

“Don’t ever apologize for that. It’s something you needed. Oh, and I hated not kissing you, too, although I did kiss your cheek before I left.”

I smiled.

“How about we-"

She went ahead and kissed me; I kissed her back.

“I interrupted again. I apologize.”

“Another thing that doesn’t need an apology.”

She smiled.

“You’re right.”

“Glad to be home?”

“You have no idea. I’m tired.”

“Wanna head to bed, then?”

“No. I wanna sit here with you.”

I laughed.

“Ok, babe.”

I woke up the following morning with plans to cook breakfast; she was speechless when I walked with her meal.

“Happy Birthday, Abby.”

I sat down a tray of chocolate chip pancakes, bacon and orange juice aka the first meal I ever made her.

“Thank you.” she said before she kissed me.

“My pleasure.”

“This looks delicious. The first meal you ever made me.”

She was so happy and this is how her birthday should always start.

"Good?"

"Yes. Want a bite?"

"Abby, this is your breakfast."

"Alex, I love you. You can have a bite."

"You sure?"

She gave me a knowing look.

"Now, open wide."

Without either one of us laughing, she put a forkful of pancake in my mouth.

"I'm a great cook."

"I know you are. Come sit." she said, patting the space beside me.

I eagerly sat down and kissed her cheek.

"Are you excited about tonight?" I asked.

"Not excited as I should be."

"Why?"

"You know why."

"I don't wanna argue, but that's ridiculous."

"I'm two years from being thirty, Alex."

I rolled my eyes.

"And I'm fourteen months from it. I'm looking forward to my next birthday."

She was silent for a minute and it was beginning to worry me.

"Abby?"

"I know how ridiculous and stupid this may sound, but my mind went back to that horrible night I wish to forget."

She took her meds, then continued to eat her pancakes.

"That is not stupid. Trust me."

"Do you know that I refuse to go to that club tonight? I'm afraid it'll trigger a panic attack although I'm on meds and I'd much rather not have one of those on my birthday."

She sighed and sat her fork down since she finished her breakfast.

"I think that's the real reason behind you not looking forward to your birthday."

"It's bullshit, too."

"I agree."

“I’m gonna stop being so sad. I don’t need that on my birthday.”

“That’s my girl.”

She smiled.

“Ya know how much I love you?” she said.

“I don’t know. How much?”

I laughed.

“If I could stretch my arms out and not hit you in your gorgeous face, you’d know.”

“You’re such a dork.” I said, laughing.

“So are you.”

She turned to kiss me.

“This tray needs to move.” she said.

“Why?”

“You know.” I said, giving me a look.

“Oh.”

I then moved it out of the way and she crawled into my lap.

“Thank you.” she said before kissing me.

"My pleasure." I said, tugging on her shirt.

"Birthday sex?"

"Birthday sex."

I can’t honestly say what kind of sex is better, our usual animalistic sex, makeup sex or birthday sex, but that’s perfectly fine with me. Later on, I saw her talking on the phone via FaceTime with her mom.

“Hi Carol.” I greeted.

“Hi, Alex. How are you?”

“Wonderful. How are you?”

“Great. I heard you made my little girl breakfast.”

Seeing her embarrassed face, I smiled and kissed her cheek.

“Yeah. I couldn’t imagine starting her day out any other day.”

Just add sex to the mix. Breakfast in bed and birthday sex is how anyone in a relationship should start their special day.

“You are too sweet.”

I blushed.

“I try.”

“Well, I’m gonna go let you ladies talk.”

After maybe five minutes, Abby hung up and placed her phone on the table.

“You have no idea how hot you look right now.” she said as I sat down beside me.

We turned to face each other and she touched my hair.

“Look who’s talking.” I said, running a hand through her short hair.

She laughed and pressed her face into my shoulder.

“What’s so funny?”

“I don’t know. I’m just so happy I guess.”

I smiled and kissed her

“That’s what you’re supposed to be.”

"I know." she said in a weird voice.

She began laughing again and had trouble stopping; I hoped this wouldn’t turn into a mood swing like it did a few months ago.Turns out, her bout of laughter was just that, a bout of laughter. When Abby was ready to go hours later, she walked out of our bedroom and toward me.

“Alex?”

She saw me walking back from the hall closet. I dropped my mouth when I saw her.

“Abby.”

“You like?”

“I love. New?”

“Semi. I bought it when my mom was here. I wanted a little sparkle. I am the birthday girl, after all.” she said draping her arms around my neck.

“Well, you are absolutely beautiful.” I said with my arms wrapped around her

“Thank you, Mr. Gaskarth.”

She kissed me with me returning the favor.

“My pleasure, Ms. Shaw.”

“Shall we go to dinner?”

“Yes, we shall.”

She grabbed her purse and off we went.

“You know, this is the same restaurant us girls went to that night?” she said as we walked through the parking lot.

She was so excited that there it made me smile.

“Is it?”

“Yeah, and it’s almost where I took my mom when she came to visit.”

This was when she began swinging our arms back and forth.

“Are you sure that you’re 28?” I asked laughing.

“Pretty sure.” she said laughing.

We walked into a busy restaurant, but that was okay.

“Hi.”

“Do you have a reservation?” the hostess asked.

“Yes. Gaskarth. Party of 10.” I said.

She sat us at our table where we waited for our friends. She always like to be early when she has something planned.

“Would you like anything to drink?” our waitress asked.

“Water, please.” she said.

“Iced tea, please.”

“Just water?” I asked after she left.

“I’m gonna be drinking tonight. I’ll stick to water till then.”

“Can I drink?”

“Of course you can.”

A huge grin appeared on my face like I was a child; she shook her head. Five minutes later, a couple of our favorite people, Miranda and Jack, arrived; she got up immediately and greeted them.

“Happy Birthday, honey.” Miranda said, hugging her.

“Happy Birthday, Abby.” Jack said, hugging her.

“Thank you, guys.”

“Abby, you look gorgeous. When did ya get this dress?” she said.

“When my mom came to visit. I thought this was appropriate, seeing that it’s my birthday.”

“I thought you hated your birthdays.”

“Well, I had a discussion with Alex and found out the real reason why. That is a conversation for another day.”

“Ok. Gotcha. As long as you’re happy, I’m happy.”

Within ten minutes, our six other guests arrived and the night had officially begun. It was so awesome being able to gather my friends who were like our brothers and our friends; the only thing missing was her mom, but the fact that she actually talked to her and saw her today made that okay. That whole dinner, she was itching for a drink and I could tell.

“Want a drink?" I asked taking a sip of my beer.

"You have no idea." she groaned.

"Want some?"

"Why not? From then on, I'm drinking girly drinks."

She grabbed my beer and drank some.

"Thank you, love."

"You're welcome."

About an hour-and-a-half later, she quietly excused myself to the restroom when I touched her arm, startling her.

"Where are you going, birthday girl? We have a surprise for you." Miranda said.

“We?"

"Me and Alex."

She smiled and turned to see me smiling back at her.

"What is she talking about, Alex?"

"Look forward, babe."

She saw a cake being brought in. She was speechless as she sat back down as she heard everybody sing Happy Birthday?

"Make a wish, Abby." I said.

I wondered what she wished for. She blew out the candle and sat back.

“What did ya wish for?”

“If I tell you, it’s not gonna come true.”

I made a face, so she shook her head.

“Just kiss me.”

I kissed her and she responded with a kiss.

“Thanks for the cake. It looks delicious.” she said to her two favorite people.

“It’s red velvet with cream cheese icing.” I said.

Her favorite.

“I love you, guys!” she squealed.

The cake was so decadent and one of the best cakes I’ve ever had. Once she finished her piece of cake, she turned to her right which was where Miranda was sitting and had a piece smashed into Abby’s face; that caused everyone to laugh which included her. She then proceeded to smash cake into Miranda's face. As she was grabbing a napkin to wipe her face, I wiped some of the cake and icing off her face and ate it. A lightbulb went off and she decided to kiss me which ended up with cake on my face; I was laughing up a storm as I wiped icing off my face.

"You look so sexy with icing and cake on your face." I said as she cleaned her face.

“So do you.”

“Is everyone ready for the after-party?” Miranda asked.

Every single person was in agreement.

“I can’t wait to get drunk!” she said skipping through the parking lot.

“I can’t wait to see you drunk.”

“You’re going to love it.”

I have seen her drink, but I’ve never seen her wasted and that’s going to happen tonight. Once at the club, we all got carded which made her feel young.

“Sista, what would you like to drink first? It’s on me.”

“Oh wow. What to drink, what to drink. A margarita sounds good.”

“One margarita please for the birthday girl and a mojito for me.”

“Cheers!” she said as we clinked glasses.

Everyone order their own drinks while I ordered my normal beer; as this would be my first really seeing her drink, it would also be the same with her.

“I’ll see you in a little bit. Okay?” I said.

“Okay. Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

We went in opposite directions for some time. I was in the middle of the dancefloor when Abby walked over to me all the while laughing; she tapped my shoulder and immediately got my attention.

“Hey, handsome.”

“Hey, beautiful.”

I pulled her in for the most intense kiss we had since this morning.

“You taste sweet.” I asked as we separated.

“Cherries.” she said licking her lips.

“How am I supposed to last tonight with you being so damn sexy?”

I wanted some of her too, but I figured a couple of hours or so of partying were needed before we had our own fun at home.

“I don’t have an answer for you, Alex. You’re gonna have to figure that out for yourself.” she whispered into my ear.

She began walking away when I pulled her back into me and wrapped my arms around her waist causing her to laugh.

“How many have you had?”

“Three.”

It’s been an hour since we parted.

“Well, I’m gonna go get another drink.” she said.

“Mind if I join you?”

“Not at all.”

She ordered one for herself and ordered a beer for me.

“More cherries?” I asked.

“Yes.” she said, biting off the cherry from the stem.

“You’re killing me, Abby.” I groaned.

She smirked. She was driving me crazy.

“You’ll be fine.”

Ten minutes later, she was done with hers and so was I. She ordered another one and was giggling while pulling on my hand.

“Dance with me, lover boy.”

She ground up against me an kissed me like there was no tomorrow until she heard her name being called.

“I’ll see ya later.” she said blowing me a kisA.

I noticed how wasted she was walking; I caught her before that could even happen. She turned around to see me.

“Hi.” she said connecting her lips to mine.

“You wanna get out of here?”

I was almost as wasted as her.

“What about everybody else?”

“They’ll be fine.”

“Ok. Let’s go.”

I called an Uber and soon we were gone. We stumbled into our house, not disconnecting our lips; Imslammed the door shut and went into our bedroom. I unzipped her dress and it slipped off just like her panties, followed by her practically tearing off my clothes.

“The wall.” she breathed.

I threw her up against the wall with the utmost intensity including the lust you could in my eyes.

Fuck.

She hooked her legs around my waist and wrapped her arms around my neck.

“Now.” she said as I was at her entrance.

I smirked and paused which caused her to growl. She kissed my jaw hoping to change my mind.

“Please. I need you inside me.”

And in I went; what a glorious feeling that was. She moaned and somehow managed to get closer to me.

“Thank you for listening to me.” she said after a rough and passion-filled round of sex.

“My pleasure.” I said as we laid in bed together.

“I had an amazing day and I’d go through it all over again and again if I could.”

I smiled and kissed her.

“And I’m elated that I was part of today. Happy Birthday, Abby.”

Notes