The bed dipped and seconds later the sheet was pulled from my body. I groaned and opened my eyed slightly. A blurry figure caught my attention. I blinked rapidly to clear the sleep from my eyes. He bent down and placed something on the bedside table. Seconds later lips gently brushed against my forehead, and then my cheek before moving to my ear.

“Happy birthday baby,” Stephen muttered.

I opened my eyes all the way and blinked up at him. He was already dressed with his hair still slightly wet from his shower. Stephen moved the hair from my face then leaned closer.

“We need to leave in twenty minutes. Do you think you could be ready before that?”

“Where are we going?” I croaked, sitting up.

Stephen handed me the cup he had placed on the bedside table. I sniffed at the coffee and then tentatively took a sip. He hadn’t answered my question. He brushed some hair away from face as his eyes trailed over my face.

“You’re pale,” he frowned. “Are you okay?”

“I have slight headache but I’m fine.”

He nodded, and then got off the bed. “Wear something comfortable but not something you like.”

Before I could ask him what he meant, he walked out of the room. I finished my coffee and then took a quick shower. I wasn’t sure what to wear. After debating on it for at least two minutes, I decided on an old dress and some ballet flats.

The material of the dress was faded but it had pockets for my phone and some money. I tied my hair up into a high ponytail and then made a bun. Just as I grabbed my phone and stuffed some money into the cover, there was a knock on the bedroom door.

It opened a second later to reveal Stephen. I watched silently as he dropped his bag on the unmade bed.

“Grab a pair of spare clothes for tomorrow and a box of condoms.”

“We’re not coming back tonight?”

“No baby. We’ll be back by tomorrow morning.”

“Okay.”

I walked into the bathroom and grabbed a box of condoms from the cabinet. I felt like I was going to explode with excitement as I grabbed a pair of clothes. There was also some apprehension because I didn’t know what Stephen had planned for us. The house was silent when we stepped out of the room, but the moment we descended the stairs I heard the television.

Nathan sat on the couch. It looked like he just woke up and he didn’t look happy about it. Stephen dropped the bag by the door and then turned towards Nathan.

“We should be back by tomorrow morning.”

“Of course,” Nathan muttered. “Just be safe.”

I barely caught the glimpse they shared before I was steered out of the house and into the cool morning air. He led me towards his truck. Stephen dropped the bag on the seat and then helped me inside before walking around the truck to the driver side.

“Ready?”

****

No matter how much I asked him where we were going, Stephen kept refusing to tell me anything. After about an hour on the road we stopped at a Roadhouse for breakfast before moving on. The scenery was beautiful once we left the town. There was nothing but long stretches of open spaces. Nature in its truest form.
My phone pinged and then started ringing.

“Hello?”

“Happy Birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Alia, happy birthday to you.”

I laughed. “Thank you Patrick.”

“How are you? It’s a bummer you aren’t here.”

“Why?”

“I would’ve made sure you couldn’t remember shit about today,” he sobered instantly. “Has anyone else called you yet?”

I glanced at Stephen and then turned to stare out the window.

“I haven’t checked my messages yet, but I’m sure I have some.”

“Check your messages and let me know. I’ll kick their asses if they forgot.”

“Thank you, I’ll remember that.”

“I have to go Alia,” Patrick muttered after a few minutes. “I hope you enjoy your birthday.”

Once the call ended I stared at the screen. There were no message notifications. No missed calls or emails. I swallowed, then locked my phone and pushed it back inside the pocket.

“It’s still early baby,” Stephen said softly. “They are probably still sleeping.”

I nodded, but said nothing. He was trying to cheer me up so I didn’t mention the fact that my parents were probably already up.

“How much further?”

He chuckled. “About half an hour.”

“Since we’re so close...” I trailed off. “Please?”

“I noticed you like music,” he said softly. “I was thinking of buying you the newest CD of your favourite band, but you don’t have one of those.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I went through your phone music to find out which you like the most, but turned out there was too much to choose from.”

“You still haven’t told me where you’re taking me.”

He winked at me then turned to truck onto a bumpy dirt road. Not even twenty minutes later a makeshift parking lot was visible. My mouth fell open as I stared at the thousands of people.

They stood in groups by their cars. Some couples leaned against their cars making out while others walked towards a large building. It took Stephen about thirty minutes to find a parking space that was close to the building.

He parked the truck and then turned towards me.

“This place is dangerous no matter how much security they have. Sometimes things get out of hand and I want you to be prepared. Whatever happens try to stay by my side, but if we get separated, go to the security building and wait there for me. Don’t take any drinks from anyone– even if it’s free.”

“Got it,” I muttered. “Can we go now?”

He chuckled, but opened his door. My eyes widened when he reached under his seat and pulled out a gun. I expected him to take it with him, but instead he locked it inside the glove box.

“Let’s go baby.”

I took his hand and allowed him to help me out of the truck. He locked it then started walking towards the building. I felt a little over dressed as I glanced around. Almost everyone was half naked– men and women. The building was overflowing. There were three rows of people and half of them stood outside the door.

Stephen pulled me in front of him and gripped me hips.
“Keep walking,” he said against my ear.

I followed his instructions and pushed my way through the crowd. A lot of them gave me dirty looks and muttered curses under their breath. When we reached the front, I finally saw why everyone was waiting. They had those things were you had to walk through to look for weapons.

Beyond that was a shack where a man handed over something. Stephen pulled me to a stop next to the machine. The guard that stood there turned to us with a frown.

“Is Johan in?” 

“Who’s asking?”

“Stephen.”

He nodded, then turned and walked over to a door. A minute later he returned with a man behind him.

He was the scariest man I’ve ever seen. He was tall– a little taller than Stephen – and muscular. His head was shaved, and tattoos covered the skin. A jagged scar ran from his temple, across his left eye, down to his chin. Pale blue eyes caught mine briefly before darting behind me.

“Daniels,” he muttered gruffly, “and... girl. Come through to the back.”

He led us past the security guard and down a short hall, straight into a small room.

“You’re lucky,” Johan muttered, as he picked up a box. “Tickets were sold out after the first week.”

“That’s why I called as soon as I heard about it.”

I stood silently by the door as they talked. Johan handed two purple bands and two tickets to Stephen. After some more small talk, we finally walked out of the room. Johan escorted us to the open doors beyond the ticket booths. I sucked in a sharp breath the moment we stepped outside of the building.

Everywhere I looked people were mulling about. It was like a festival. There were games set up, people selling stuff, and rides. Stephen gripped my hand and led me deeper between the stalls. The further we moved, the more I started to understand why the people were had dressed.

“This is only the beginning baby.”

It was hot but the heat did nothing to dampen my excitement. With the purple armbands we were able to go on all the rides without paying. We even played some games but we didn’t succeed in winning anything until later on. Stephen managed to shoot out all the balloons within a few seconds.

The manager wasn’t very happy when he handed me the big blue teddy bear. It was about three o'clock when the fun really started.

The music could probably be heard from miles away. After dropping the bear off at the office, we made our way towards the stage. We got a front row seat of all the action. Someone was spraying water into the crowd while someone else was throwing paint powder.

I laughed as we were hit with pink paint from somewhere behind us. Stephen was standing behind me with his arms on either side of me.  A new song started playing; one I actually knew. I cheered along with the crowd then started singing. All of my problems were pushed away, it was just me and Stephen.

“Lost in your mind, I wanna know am I losing my mind? Never let me go," Stephen sang along, his lips brushing my ear.

I smiled, wrapping my arms around his neck as we moved together.

“If this night is not forever. At least we are together. I know I'm not alone. I know I'm not along. Anywhere, whenever. Apart, but still together. I know I'm not alone."

His hands moved to my hips as his body slowly started moving. My body was starting to heat up the more we moved. The fact that he was also aroused didn’t go unnoticed by me. 

Halfway through the next song, thunder sounded above us, and a second later it started raining. Stephen gripped my hand and tucked me through the crowd towards cover. Most of them didn’t seem to mind the rain, but it started falling harder soon after.

“Let’s go,” he urged, tucking on my hands.

I sucked in a breath, and then we were running through the rain. We picked up my teddy bear and made our way towards the truck. By the time we reached it, we were soaking wet.

“Damn,” Stephen muttered, wiping his hair back from his face.

I giggled, and then started laughing as I saw the look on his face. “We should’ve stayed to dance in the rain,” I said.

“And risk the chance of you getting sick? Not a chance.”

“Where are we going?” I questioned, as the truck slowed to a stop.

Most of the people had decided to leave since the rain was falling harder– which meant we were stuck in traffic.

“To a hotel.”

The rest of the drive was filled in silence. I could barely see anything outside the windows so I knew he was having a hard time driving. It was when it starting haling that he viciously cursed and pulled over. The only sound to be heard was the hail falling on the roof of the truck and against the windows. I was starting to get cold from the wet clothes.

“Stephen?” He looked at me with questioning eyes. “How long do you think we have to stay here?”

“I don’t know, why?”

“I’m starting to get cold,” I whispered.

He cursed again then opened his door slightly. “Stay here.”

He was out off the truck before I could say anything. The longer he stayed away, the more I started to worry. I was just about to climb out and search for him when the door opened. Stephen climbed in and slammed the door shut.

He was shivering– his lips slightly blue. Stephen rubbed his hands together, and then started the truck.

“I- is your seatbelt on?”

“Yes.”

“Good.”

I clung to the seat and he made a U-turn and sped down the way we came. We only drove for about four minutes before he stopped again. He switched off the truck then turned towards me slightly.

“We’re not going to make it to our next destination with the rain. It doesn’t look like it’s going to let up anytime soon,” he paused, sucking in a breath. “I’m going to go and find out if they have room for us and then come get you. Lock the doors when I’m out.”

“Why can’t I come with you?”

“Because I don’t want you to run around in the rain. I’ll be back soon baby.”

Half an hour passed before he returned. Stephen knocked on my window then pulled open the door as soon as I unlocked it. He held an umbrella in one hand.

“Grab the bag,” he yelled to be heard over the rain.

I grabbed the bag from beneath the seat and the keys from the ignition. The hotel was small– it was more like a B and B. An elderly woman smiled at us when we stepped inside. Stephen handed over the umbrella after closing it.

“There’s a dinner just around the corner. They have some amazing food.”

“Thank you,” Stephen smiled. “We will go get some once we are settled.”

“Have a good night!”

He led me down a hall and up a set of stairs to the second floor. A minute later we stepped into a clean and cosy-looking room. It was small with the walls painted a light pink. A white carpet decorated the floor. To the left was a wardrobe that stood beneath a window.

A double bed sat in the middle of the room. My eyes were drawn to the wooden headboard above it. Someone had carved flowers and other shapes into it.

“Why don’t you go take a shower while I go get us some food.”

“You’re going out into the rain again?” I dropped the bag on the floor by the bed before turning. “I’m not really hungry so you don’t have to go, that is unless you’re hungry?”

“Not really.” He glanced around the room. “It’s going to be dark soon and I’d rather get us food now.”

He wanted to escape from me. I nodded, and then gave him a small smile. Stephen pressed a kiss against my forehead before disappearing. I bit my lip as my eyes filled with tears.

I could barely remember anything after we drank the shots last night. Did I do anything wrong? I tried to remember, but every time I get to the shots, everything beyond that was blank.

I shook my head and made my way into the bathroom. My eyes were drawn to the bath. It looked like one of those old ones you would find in historical buildings. I bypassed it and made my way over to the shower. I quickly pulled off my wet clothes and dropped them into the faucet. 

My phone was thankfully still working. I didn’t bother to check it, I just placed it down on the counter. It took a while for the water to heat, but when it did, I moaned in pleasure. Grabbing one of the sample shampoo bottles, I washed my hair. I wasn’t sure for how long I stayed in the shower, but eventually I had to get out. Before I could however, the shower door opened which startled me. I gasped, and almost slipped but managed to catch myself before I could.

“You startled me,” I whispered, pressing my hand against my chest.

“Didn’t you hear me come in?” Stephen asked as he closed the shower door.

I shook my head. He frowned but didn’t say anything as he stepped under the water with his back to me.

“Stephen? Did I do something wrong?”

“No,” he glanced at me over his shoulder. “Why?”

“I feel like you don’t want to be here with me.”

“I don’t.”

I winced. Pain and rejection flashed through me. Blinking back the tears, I reached for the shower door. A hand gripped my wrist before I could push it open. Stephen turned me and then wrapped his arms around my waist to pull me against him.

“I don’t want to be here with you, but not in the way you think. I want to be with you in the other room I booked for us. The one right at the beach with a great view of the ocean. Where a bunch of candles had been set around the room and a trail of roses that led to the bed.”

I stared up at him in shock. Did I hear correctly? Roses and candles?

“You wanted it to be special even if you said you didn’t,” he whispered. “I wanted to make it special for you because I knew how important it could be.”

“Stephen...” I trailed off not sure what to say.

He gave me a small smile, and then leaned down to brush his lips against mine. Stephen stepped back so both of us stood under the water. One of his hands trailed up my back and then down to grip my ass. I moaned, pressing myself tighter against him.

“Say the words baby,” he whispered against my neck.

“I want you to take me. I want you to make me yours.”

His lips found mine again. I moaned as his hand slipped between my legs. Stephen stepped forward and pressed me against the wall. He stepped away all of a sudden and his hands disappeared from my body.

“There’s something on the bed for you to wear. I’ll give you five minutes before I’ll join you.”