It's a warm morning in LA and Anthony is just waking up to the sun sneaking its way through the blinds. "Happy birthday, Anthony!" Miel shouts, jumping onto Anthony's stomach. The man grunts and smiles at her.

"Hey, Miel," he replies. He pushes her off of him and she falls to the floor in laughter. Anthony sits up, his bare chest exposed.

"Ian called," she says after her laughing fit is through. "He's coming over today."

Anthony rolls his eyes playfully. Ian always finds an excuse to come over. "He just can't stay away, can he?" He says, mostly kidding.

Anthony has always felt a connection with Ian, as if they were brothers lost at birth. In high school, they were dating for a bit, but it all felt strange to Anthony. It's kind of like dating your foster brother. It just doesn't work. That's why he didn't say yes to Miel, because she's more of a sister to him.

Miel giggles a little. "So what do you want to do today?" She asks, sitting Indian style on Anthony's bed.

He shrugs. "How about we start with breakfast?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ian arrives a little after Anthony has taken a shower and gotten dressed. "Happy birthday, Anthony!" He greets at the door.

Anthony grins. "Thanks, man." Ian stares at Anthony for a moment or two before Anthony breaks the silence. "Uh, Miel and I were just about to go out for breakfast. You interested?"

Ian grins. "Sure. Where we goin?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ian had insisted that he drive instead of Anthony, even though Anthony didn't want to feel helpless.

"It's your birthday, Anthony. You don't have to drive. Take a day off. You work too much anyway."

"I can drive, Ian. It's not a big deal."

"Well it is to me. Let me drive. Please?" Ian uses his puppy pout face, which never ceases to make Anthony give in.

Anthony sighed. "Fine."

Along the way, Ian kept pointing out monuments in the city that they could go to.

"Ian, I told you, I've already been to everything," he said. Miel pursed her lips.

"Well there's no harm in going there again."

"Ian, it's fine, really. Let's just go eat."

When they finally reached the restaurant, things felt a bit awkward between Ian and Anthony. Anthony didn't understand why Ian cared so much about making his birthday special. He's never acted like this before, and it was a bit embarrassing.

"Bill's on me," Ian says, without even ordering his food yet.

"No that's okay, Ian. Anthony and I can split it," Miel says.

Ian shakes his head. "Nope, order what you want. I'm buying." This makes Anthony blush.

It's so sweet of Ian to do something like this, and though it's a bit weird, Anthony also finds it extremely adorable. "You know," Anthony says in a shy voice. "We celebrated last night. You really don't have to do this. I can just work, I don't really care."

Ian shakes his head. "Nope! I'm gonna make sure that this is the best birthday you'll ever have."

Anthony looks to Miel, who shrugs, and they go on, ordering whatever they want.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey, Miel," Ian says, pulling Miel over for a private talk right after breakfast. "Do you think Anthony and I could hang out alone for a bit? It's nothing against you, I just wanted to do something with him and him alone, ya know?"

She nods, but cocks her head at Ian. "What's been up with you today?" She asks. "You're being really sweet. It's kinda weird," she giggles.

Ian blushes and shrugs. "I guess you'll see," he says.

They walk back to the table and Miel speaks up. "Hey, Anthony, I'm gonna go. You spend some time with Ian. If you need anything, call me." She walks away before Anthony can protest.

Ian smiles at his friend. "So I guess it's just you and me, huh?"

Anthony groans a bit. "You've been acting weird today. Everything ok?"

The blush returns to Ian's face and he nods. "Uhh yeah. Come on, I'm gonna take you somewhere."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An hour later, Anthony finds himself with Ian on an empty beach. "Why isn't anyone here?" He asks.

Ian smiles. "I reserved it."

This surprises Anthony. "What do you mean you reserved it?" It must have cost a fortune to reserve an entire beach!

Ian turns to look at Anthony directly in his eyes. "I reserved a whole beach for you, Anthony," he says, his voice barely more than a whisper.

It's then that Anthony realized why Ian has been so nice today. Today is the day that Ian tells him the truth, that he has always, always been in love with Anthony. "Ian," Anthony whispers, shaking his head. It can't be. His best friend, who's been dating Pam for over a year now. His best friend, who had a girlfriend for over seven years. A girlfriend. It's overwhelming.

"Anthony Padilla, I'm in love with you," Ian says. Anthony feels a tear fall from his face. "I know it's not a mutual feeling, but I do. I loved you at a distance in middle school and the first half of high school, but when we became close, I knew that you were the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with."

Anthony shakes his head, his heart beating out of his chest. "Ian, I think I've always loved you, too. I thought it was just a brotherly love, but I think my heart wanted more." Anthony looks up at Ian's teary eyes and impish grin. "Ian Andrew Hecox, I think I'm in love with you."

So there the two sat, crying happily into each other's arms on a deserted beach.

"Anthony!" Ian says. "Let's get married, while we still can. I want this moment to last forever."

Anthony stops crying and looks at Ian. "...Did you just ask me to marry you? We just started dating, I think," he says, laughing a little.

Ian grins and gets down on one knee. "Anthony Padilla, yada yada, mushy stuff, will you make me the happiest man in the world and become my husband?"

Anthony laughs, mumbling, "This is insane." Then, he looks into Ian's eyes, and says, "Yes. I will marry you."