***Song: Happy Birthday to You by The New Kids On The Block. And oldy but a goody 😉 ***

Portrush, June 4th 1999

"I want you to satiate that need.......I want you to be my first....My first lover....."

The words were out before I knew it, and Jamie's eyes widened as he registered what I had just said.

I feel my cheeks burning as he examines me, he's trying to see whether I'm playing a joke on him or not. Time to fix my stupidity....

"Gosh! Look at the time!!! I was supposed to be home and wait for Simona's phone call."

I make a move to stand up but Jamie is faster than me and grabs my ankle.

"What are you doing?"

I look down on him and shake my head, - "I just, I need, I have to..."

Jamie smiles and stands up, his figure towering me, his lips a mere distance from mine, - "So this is how you react after dropping a bomb on me? You run away?"

"I'm not running away, I'm just... I'm just..."

Jamie's lips crushed on mine with such force that I gasp in surprise. His kiss is different from the others we have shared, his hands encircle my waist and I bring my hands to his hair, my new favorite part of his body.

Our kiss last for some more seconds until we feel cold water on us.

"Tommy, No Dude!!!! That's just not cool man!"

"Tommy! I swear! Argh!"

My stupid brother has just thrown a bucket of water on us! I push him and it doesn't move him an inch, which makes him laugh even more.

"What's your problem?" – I ask him while he and Jess just grab their stomach and laugh uncontrollably.

"You should have seen your faces love birds! – Jess was wiping the tears falling from her eyes.

I roll my eyes and make my way to the water, I needed to fix my hair which was all plastered against my forehead. Jamie got a hold of my hand and we walked side by side. I sigh at the feeling of his warm hand against mine.

We walk in a comfortable silence, my mind racing with many thoughts: what was he thinking? Why did he kiss me again? Is he thinking about my request? Will he, do it?

Jamie lets go of my hand once we are in the water and I dive in.

Once I come up for some air, Jamie is waiting for me, his hair completely wet and perfectly styled to the back. He grins when he caught me staring at him.

"So, are we going to continue our conversation?" – I look at him and dive my head backwards so I can style it to the back.

When I surface, he catches me by my waist and pulls me towards him for another kiss. We kiss slowly, savoring each other, he tastes salty and his warmth invades me making me thrive for more.

"So, are we talking?" – I free myself from his hold and point at him.

"Stop kissing me, and we can talk!" – Jamie chuckles and nods holding his hands up.

I look around us, the waves are slowly crushing on our waists, people are laying on the sand minding their own business, children are playing on the sand, Jess and Tommy are laying on their towels deep in conversation. I take the courage and speak up.

"Look, Dornan, this is all your fault, ever since we met, you've been playing this dangerous game with me and I can't take it anymore! You either are my friend or..."

"Or...?" - He come closer and as we are about to kiss again, Tommy calls for us.

"Come, come love birds! Time to go back home for some lunch!"

Jamie groans and makes me giggle.

"Come Romeo, let's go."

I hold his hand and make my way towards the shore. He tugs my hand and whispers in my ear.

"This conversation is not over. I still want to know if you're being serious."

I look back and wink. – "Dead serious."

The walk back to the house was like walking the walk of pain. Jess wouldn't stop telling me how excited she was that her baby brother had finally grown some balls to ask me to be his girlfriend, that she was getting bored with this eternal flirting game we had going on, that she wanted to know if I would go to the Methodist College too, or if we would date even though we were in different schools. The questions went on and on but after her question about me changing schools I had stopped listening to start some questioning of my own.

Since this is our last year of high school, we needed to start planning which college to go to and plan our future. Jamie has his future planned already, he's gotten a scholarship to the Methodist College where he will be joining the rugby team, he's not so excited to be changing schools but this is a great opportunity for him, he will be playing games with other schools throughout the UK where he will be watched by the talent scouts of the best universities. Although Jamie's father is a recognized doctor, it's not being easy on him having to pay college for both Jamie's older sisters. So, I am sure Jamie will try to give his best to get a scholarship. Besides, since this "new relationship status" is all new to us, we haven't gotten to that subject, yet.

I watch Jamie exchange some kind of "bro-talk" with my brother and smile at the sight of them. Who was going to guess that I'd ever had the guts to ask Jamie such thing, but the truth is, I'm not doing this because I don't want to be the only virgin in school. I couldn't care less about that. What I really want, is to share with Jamie this special moment, that will be our bond, the one that will keep us together even if we part our ways. And I am certain we won't be seeing each other as much this year, Jamie needs to follow his plans and I, mine.

My plans are very simple, I've always had this idea about my future that I don't intend to change for anything. I've been planning my future for so long that I'm not just going to blow it over a boy. So, as soon as I finish high school, I'll travel to London where I am going to attend The College of Fine Arts to try to become an actress.

We got home and Jamie asks me to wait for him at the door. Jess gives me an over-excited smile and disappears inside the house while Tommy threatens Jamie to ask my dad to come get us if we take any longer than necessary.

Jamie comes closer and fixes a string of hair behind my ear, then he looks at me in the eyes, his beautiful blue eyes that hypnotize me. He then smiles. – "Can you meet me in an hour, by the dock? I have something for you."

I nod trying to breath in and out without passing out from the acceleration of my heartbeats. I'm in trouble if my body is going to react like this every time he comes closer to me.

"Ok birthday girl, go get pretty, I'll see you in an hour." – He then kisses me on my cheek dangerously close to my lips and I suppress a sigh.

An hour later, I was staring at my reflection in front of my mirror, I had to take a quick shower because it took me fifteen minutes talking to Simona on the phone, she was bored already in her hometown in Romania, I had to promise her that next summer I'll join her and visit Sibiu, she got excited and said that she had bought me something very special and she was going to give it to me as soon as she was back in Belfast.

My outfit is simple but cute, I am wearing some jeans coverall shorts, a white tank top underneath and my black converse.

I let my hair down in waves on my shoulders and apply some mascara and lipstick. As I make my way downstairs, my stomach growls, I haven't eaten since early in the morning and since I was getting ready for this "date" I didn't have lunch with the rest of the family. I walk into the kitchen to grab an apple to eat on my way to the dock but my mom stops me. – "Jamie is waiting for you at the dock, I wouldn't eat anything, if I were you." She then winks at me and resume her task doing the dishes.

I smile and exit the kitchen. The dock is not very far from the house, is actually a nice walk towards the lake.  I smile at the sight of my best friend who is sitting on the dock on a picnic mat, with tons of food around him and some wine. He's gone through all this for me.

As I get closer I take in his looks, he's so handsome, he's sporting a beautiful tan that contrasts his white shirt and light blue striped shorts, his hair is perfectly styled, overall, he looks yummy! 

"Are you hungry?" – He kisses me on the cheek as I stand next to him.

"Famish!" – He smiles and helps me to sit down. He has set the picnic perfectly, there were sandwiches, fruits, muffins, bottles of water, and a bottle of Rosé, a wine we've started drinking, our parents are allowing us to drink some, as long as we don't exaggerate nor we do it hidden from them.

Jamie passes me a paper plate with a sandwich and some chips, I grab a napkin and set it on my lap.

"This is lovely Jamie, thank you!"

"This is just the beginning of what I've planned for your birthday!" – He states proudly.

"Really? What else is there in stall for us?"

"This lunch, then I have to take you home where you're going to pretend being surprised by your mom's surprise party..."

"Which I totally knew was happening."

"Correct! And then, well. That depends on you."

I tilt my head to the side, curious of what he's trying to say. – "How come?"

He looks at me with a serious demeanor. - "I want to know how serious you were at the beach."

I choke on my water, which makes him grin.

"Here, here." – He gives some pads on my back and I try to recompose while running something to tell him in return.

Once I'm fully recovered, Jamie holds my hand and brings it to his lips.

"I think I'm not doing this correctly, first I should ask you what I've been dying to ask you since the day we kissed in my basement... Mills, do you want to be my girlfriend?"

I stop breathing for a second. Wait! Did he really say the G-word??

His smile disappears and now he looks concerned.

"Shit! I thought..."

I put my plate to the side and jump on his lap capturing his lips on mine. He responds to my kiss immediately wrapping his strong arms around me.

"Is that a yes?" - He lifts me a little so he can look into my eyes.

"Of course, you dork! I'd love to be your girlfriend!"

He kisses me again and I feel like I am the luckiest girl in the world. What a birthday present!

*** Hello my lovely readers! Thank you so much for not abandoning me or this story, which is very close to my heart! Although my writing time is very little lately, I've just started college again, and having 2 young boys and a full-time job doesn't help but I'm trying hard to update as often as I can, ok? Don't forget to leave me your comments and votes which I really love! Thank you for being there! Special thanks to Anthony from www.jamie-dornan.org for granting me the pics :) Xoxo-Z***