“Siberia…we’ll leave Canada…for Siberia…” I sang along with the music in my car as I drove to work, my fingers drumming on the steering wheel. The sound of my phone ringing caused me to sigh as I turned the radio down and reached for the phone. “Hello?”

“Hey, you coming to the dinner tonight?”

“Why are you so pleasant every time I talk to you?” I said with a shake of my head pulling into my favorite parking space. “Of course I am, Alan.”

“Just checking. It’s at six.”

“I know, I talked to Tino yesterday about it.”

“Okay, see you then nig.” And with that he hung up.

Shaking my head at his ridiculousness, I climbed out of my car and headed towards the coffee shop dialing a familiar number along the way.

“Hello?”

The sound of his sleepy voice made me smile. I had the perfect visual of him rolling over in his bed to answer his phone. “Happy birthday, doll face!”

“Thanks, Rae” He said with a chuckle.

“How does it feel to be 25, Austin?” I teased.

“Hey, that’s not nice!” He laughed.

“Did I wake you?” I asked even though I already knew.

“Yeah, but it’s okay.” He said with a yawn.

“Mmkay, well I gotta work…but be ready at 5:15 because I’m coming to get you then.”

“Where are we going?” I could hear the smirk in his voice.

“Just dress nice. I’ll see you tonight.”

I hung up and clocked in for my shift. I was really excited about tonight. The guys had had this planned for a few weeks now. We were all going out for a huge dinner at one of Austin’s favorite sushi places. I had enlisted Hannah a few days ago to go shopping for the perfect dress for the evening. I had even texted Maddie to see if she wanted to tag along on our girls day but she never responded. I had laughed it off but I knew eventually I was going to have to ask Alan what the deal was.

I had bought Austin an amazing Gucci watch I knew he was going to love. It had cost way more than I could afford but I knew it was worth it. Work seemed to go by extremely slowly but soon enough it was time for me to head home. I knew I didn’t have much time to get ready.

I flew home and had Hannah help me run a curling iron through my hair as I darkened my makeup and slipped on the tight fitting black dress and the sky-high heels I had bought to match.

“You look so great!” Hannah smiled as I put my phone, money, license, and lipstick into the little silver clutch I had and grabbed Austin’s gift off the counter.

“I’ll text you later and let you know if I’m coming home or not.”

“Okay! Have fun!” Hannah called as she plopped down on the couch and I made my way out the door.

The drive to Austin’s seemed much shorter than usual and before I even realized it, I was pulling into his driveway. I grabbed his gift, preferring to give it to him in private, and marched towards the door heels clicking on the pavement.

“Happy birthday!” I called as I let myself in and made my way into his living room leaving the gift on the counter.

“Hey!” He called thundering down the stairs. He looked great in the suit he had chosen to wear. He pulled me into a warm hug and placed a kiss on my forehead before making his way into the kitchen.

“What’s this?” He asked wiggling the perfectly wrapped box.

“It’s for you!” I said smiling as he looked up at me. “Open it!”

He quickly pulled the ribbon and shredded the paper to confetti. Jiggling the box top off his face lit up
when he saw what was inside.

“Raegan!” He laughed pulling it out and inspecting it. “This is amazing!”

“Do you like it?” I asked suddenly feeling self-conscious about the gift. “I still have the receipt. I can take it back and get you something else.”

“Are you kidding?!” He asked excitedly pulling up his sleeves and trying it on. “I love this! I’m so stoked on it! I was looking at one very similar to this a few weeks ago at the mall. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” I said smiling and feeling better now that he had reassured me. “Now come on, we’re going to be late.”

“Late for what?” He asked with a laugh shutting off some lights and following me.

“Shut up. Come on.” I said taking his hand and pulling him towards the door.

“Wait, take a picture with me.” He said stopping me in front of the mirror that hung next to his door.

We took a few pictures before he found one he liked and followed me out to my car.

“Oh god. I can’t believe I’m letting you drive.” He said with a laugh buckling his seat belt.

“I’m a good driver!” I said with a laugh backing out of his driveway. I looked over to his him uploading the picture of us to Instagram as I put the car in drive and headed off down the street. “You realize people are going to go into a frenzy when they see that picture?”

“I know, they’re all going to think we’re back together.” He said with a laugh and I felt my heart sink when he admitted we weren’t. “Where are we going? Seriously?” “It’s a surprise! I can’t give it away!”

“It’s my birthday!”

“Doesn’t matter!”

He sighed and got lost in his own thought for a moment before saying, “Thank you so much for this watch. I absolutely love it.”

“You’re welcome.” I said with a big cheesy grin.

The dinner was loud, rambunctious, and full of love. Austin couldn’t believe we had rented out a section of the restaurant and had invited a bunch of his friends to be there. I finally met Tino and
Aaron’s girlfriends who were both so sweet. Aaron’s girlfriend Amanda and I hit it off almost instantaneously.

“Are you driving me home?” Austin whispered in my ear as I packed up the presents he had received and made sure everything was organized so we didn’t leave anything behind.

“Do you want me to?”

“Yeah.” He said with a sloppy grin which I returned.

We all piled out of the restaurant. Austin made sure he said goodbye and thank you to everyone and invited people back to his house.

“Thanks guys.” I said with a huff as Alan and Maddie placed some of the gifts in the trunk of my car.
Austin was still by the door of the resutarnt saying goodbye to people, his laughter ringing through the parking lot.

“No problem, Rae.” Alan said with a happy grin.

“You guys coming back with us?” Austin yelled towards us as he made his way over. “I need some
Cashby time on my birthday!”

“Austin, come on!” I laughed walking towards the driver’s door of my car.

“I ship us Alan!” Austin laughed standing next to my car and yelling over the roof towards Alan who was parked a few spaces away.

“I’ll see you in a few fucker!” Alan called back.

Austin climbed in next to me with a smile. “Best birthday ever.”

“Oh yeah?” I asked starting the car and letting it warm up, Asking Alexandria playing softly through the speakers.

Austin didn’t answer and I looked over to see his eyes traveling the length of my body a small smile placed on his lips.

“Can I help you?” I asked with a laugh.

Licking his lips he leaned over, grabbing my face in his hands and kissing me hard.

He pulled away; my lips stood open, frozen from the sudden shock of the kiss ending. “Sorry,” he whispered with a chuckle. “You just looked really, really good tonight.”

“It’s fine.” I mumbled feeling the heat rise to my cheeks. “We should probably head back though. We don’t want people waiting outside.”

“So true!” He said with a laugh falling back in his seat and I put the car in reverse. “I didn’t know you liked Asking Alexandria!” He said playing with the CD player.

“Yeah, I saw them in concert not too long ago. They’re great!”

“They’re good friends of ours. I’ll have to introduce you to them.”

“Really!”

“Yeah, we’re playing Mayhem Fest in November and they’ll be there. You should come!”

“What else is on your schedule the next few months?”

“Uh, we leave in a few days for our headliner in Europe.”

“What! That’s so exciting!”

“I know. We’re doing England, and Germany and other places. I’m so stoked. Every show is sold out.”

I looked over he had a huge smile on his face as he watched the passing scenery in the dark. I knew how proud he was of the band and all they had been able to accomplish in a few short years. They were all living out their dreams and so happy with life.

“How long will you be gone for?” I asked bracing myself for his answer.

“The whole month.” He sighed.

“Good thing you love being on tour…”

“Yeah, but I’ll miss home…and you.”

There I went blushing again. We were close to his house now. I suddenly remember I had to text
Hannah and let her know what I was doing.

“Maybe I’ll visit you guys.”

“You should! Rae, I will so fly you out!”

“We’ll talk about it when the time comes, okay?”

“Deal!”

We pulled into his driveway, both of us unbuckling quickly and climbing out. Austin ran around to the back like a little kid and grabbed his presents from the trunk making me giggle. I followed him to the front door just as Alan’s car pulled in behind mine in the driveway.

“I’m going to get some stuff out of the kitchen, will you take these upstairs?” He asked handing me the gifts. I nodded and bounced my way up the stairs as Alan came in followed by more people.

I let myself into Austin’s bedroom and shut the door quietly behind me. I placed the bags of gifts on a chair that was placed in the corner. I placed my clutch on his dresser and fixed my hair and makeup in his mirror. I took off my heels and lined them up against the wall next to a pair of his Toms. I pulled out my phone and sat down on his bed dialing Hannah’s number. I crossed my legs as I toyed with the scrapes of paper on his bedside table that he had been jotting lyrics down onto.

“Hello?”

“Hey, I was just touching base with you.” I said with a smile as I opened his bedside table drawer.

“How’s things going!” She asked excitedly, munching on what sounded like popcorn.

“Great! He’s having a great time, we’re back at his place now…everyone’s having drinks…Hannah…he
kissed me earlier.”

“Shut. Up!”

“I’m not kidding.” I said with a laugh as I noticed a picture frame towards the back of the drawer. My
eyebrows knitted together as I reached in and pulled it out slowly feeling my face drop in recognition.

It was a framed picture of us from Warped Tour. We were sitting in the front lounge, I had a huge drunken smile slapped on my face and Austin was leaning over kissing my cheek, sloppily holding my face still with his right hand. Adam had taken it one night in a drunken stupor; I could barely remember him taking it, but Austin had had it hanging in his bunk most of tour.

“Hello!” Hannah’s voice brought my back to reality with a shake of my head. I placed the picture back where I had found it and closed the drawer.

“Hi, sorry.”

“Are you staying there?” She asked with a laugh.

“I’m not sure. I’m going to say probably, but who knows. I’ll text you though.”

“Okay! Have fun!” Hannah called as I hung up and made my way back downstairs.

Lots of people had shown up by then and were mingling through Austin’s living room and back porch
area.

“There you are, I made you a drink.” Austin said handing me a solo cup.

“What is it?” I asked with a smile as I took a sip.

“Rum and coke.” He laughed. “I know how much you like it.”

I shook my head with a smile. He knew rum and coke was a deadly drink to me. I was a lightweight as it was and hard alcohol got me drunk even faster.

“Hope you’re letting me spend the night…” I mumbled not thinking he heard me as I took a sip.

He leaned in close with a smirk and whispered, “What kind of birthday would it be if I didn’t?” as he brushed past me and made his way out of the kitchen.

I stood biting my lip and feeling my stomach knotting.

I helped Austin entertain his guests for the next few hours. Austin made sure everyone who was driving home was okay to drive before handing them their keys. I always found it hilarious how responsible he was, even when he was drunk himself.

Finally the last of the guests left and I started cleaning up the kitchen as Austin walked them outside.

“What are you doing?”

I turned to see him beaming in the doorway.

“You know I can’t stand a mess.” I said seriously. My head was fuzzy with alcohol and the world around me felt incredibly slow. I knew I had to go to bed soon.

“Get it in the morning.” He said closing in on me and pushing me against the counter. He licked his lips and leaned down placing them on mine kissing me deeply. My hands soon found their way up his shirt, running my fingers along his tattooed abdomen. His hands reached down yanking my dress up around my thighs. He grabbed ahold of my legs and lifted me up placing me on the counter, making sure our lips never parted.

“Austin…” I mumbled pulling my head away in an attempt to stop him. He instead took it upon himself to kiss his way down my neck. “Let’s go upstairs.” I managed to get out.

He pulled away and looked me in the eye with a lusty smile he picked me up off the counter. He started kissing me again as he carried me up the stairs and threw me down on his bed.

Being in a warm bed with someone else was a happy way to wake up. I slowly opened my eyes and memories of last night flooded back to me. The dinner, the party, the crazy, all-night sex. I rolled over slowly and smiled at a yawning Austin.

“Mornin’” He said shaking his head slightly.

“Hi,” I said with a giggle.

“I forgot how cute you are in the morning.” He said placing a kiss on my forehead and pulling me into
him.

I smiled into his chest feeling my heart slowly sink as I thought of how he’d be gone for a month in Europe.

“I’m going to miss you…” I mumbled against his scar.

“I’ll miss you too, Rae. You’re my best friend. Of course I’m going to miss you.”

I glanced up returning his smile but suddenly feeling as though getting back together with him officially might be entirely hopeless.