“Aw, you sentimental baby. Okay—I’ll come right up.” We say ourgoodbyes.
I look around the apartment: the banner hanging in the living room, the fairy lights, the blue and purple balloons, the confetti. It’s all done. Even the snack table is done up. I turn off all the lights except for the hall light and direct Felix on when to turn the living room lights on. Everyone will jump out from different places—behind the couch, the hall to our bedroom, the kitchen.
It’ll be great.
I’m waiting by the front door when Benjamin comes up, and he looks startled by my being there.
“Hey there, puppy—waiting for me at the door all day?” He asks, giving me a cute little laugh. He’s wearing a pair of his high-waisted dress pants and flowy shirt tucked in—a combo that always makes him look like a fucking prince. His little dimples are tempting me. I lean down and kiss one.
“Of course. What else would I do while you’re gone?”
“Um—the laundry?” I laugh at him, grabbing his hand and pulling him to walk next to me.
“You’re so funny today, Button.”
“And you’re being super—”
“SURPRISE!” Everyone jumps out—lights come on, poppers go off. Benjamin screams.
“Aaron!” He’s tucked himself into me. “What is it? Fix it—get it, Aaron.” There’s this hot ball of pride that grows inside of me as everyone stares at us.Yeah, I’ll save you, baby.
“Button, turn around.” He looks up at me, startled and confused.
“What?” He turns and screams again. “What the fuck is this?!” Everyone laughs at him now and he flushes a deep red. I lean him back against me.
“Bear—it’s a surprise party. For your birthday.” Felix says, pointing to the banner. Benjamin looks between the banner and Felix—then one by one to each of our smiling friends. He tilts his head back and looks up at me now—eyes full of tears that make my heart tight and hot.
“For me?”Aw fuck. He sounds so shocked, so overwhelmed by the happiness and attention. Clearly, he’s never been in this position before.
“Yes, Benjamin. All for you.” He looks back at the room—takes it all in and turns around to shove his face into the crook of my neck—crying softly. I’m grinning at our friends like I’ve won the lottery. Darian makes kissy faces at me.
“Cake! CAKE! Cake!” Cammie cheers, causing Benjamin to choke on his tears when he laughs. I pull him off of me and hold his face as our friends begin to discuss what we should do first.
“Hey—” I say, so softly as I wipe tears with my thumbs. “You’re okay.”
“Sorry I’m ruining it. I just don’t know where to put these feelings or how to feel them.” My fucking heart!
“You aren’t ruining anything—this is your party. You can do whatever you want. Which includes crying.” He cracks a smile, bringing out the dimples once more.
“I am very happy. You did this—didn’t you?” I shrug, grinning down at him. “I’ve never… I’ve never really had much of a birthday party before. Definitely never a surprise one. I thought we were getting fucking robbed.” He shakes his head. “Thank you, Aaron. Really. This—this really means more to me than you think.” I pull him against me, wrapping him up tightly and burying my face into his golden hair.
“I love you more than any single thing—any single being in this world.” I whisper to him and he presses himself closer to me.
“Then let’s just merge as one. One of us will have to sacrifice our skin, but it’ll be fine.” This startles another laugh out of me as I pull him back to stare at his mischievous smile.
“You little demon.”
“CAKE!” Cammie screams yet again, and we finally head into the living room where the lights are dimmed and the 22 is lit and placed on the cake Darian had made for him. I put Benjamin at the center and leteveryone circle around him.
When he looks down at the cake he laughs so loud everyone else in the room starts laughing too. I made the mistake of leaving design up to Darian, the one trusted guy friend I have. He had a picture of the two of us shirtless and flexing at the gym blown up and printed onto the white frosting.
“Oh my God—” Benjamin says. “This is fucking perfect. But you guys do realize this means you can’t eat this cake, right?” Cammie slams a hand onto the table.
“What?! What kind of fucked-up rule is that?!” Benjamin shrugs.
“No one’s allowed to eat Aaron. Look at him. He’s all half-naked. I’ll have to keep the whole thing.” He sighs like this is a huge inconvenience for him.
“What if I only eat from the Darian side?” Cammie negotiates—leaning in hopefully.
