Chapter 74

"Lexi, Pumpkin, love, you can put the flower down, you know," I told my girlfriend as we sat down in class.

She was holding on to the rose I had given her in her left hand and putting her things on her desk with her right.

"No, no, I can't," she replied, taking out a book from her school bag, "I can't put it down, I don't want to ruin the petals."

"It's not that fragile."

"Are you sure? Sure, sure, sure?" she asked arranging everything on her desk. "Because if it loses a single petal, I will be very put out and you don't want to make me sad on Valentine's Day, do you?"

"And I'm the one that's apparently dramatic in this relationship?" I snorted. "Am I going to have to hold it while you go to the bathroom too?"

Lexi just glared at me a little, as class started.

I took the flower from her hand, and slipped it in the side pocket of my school bag, making sure it was standing straight and nothing would happen to its precious petals.

"See? Aren't I just a great boyfriend?"

Lexi didn't answer and just pressed a finger to her lips to shush me.

I rolled my eyes, but complied.

The rest of the day was more of that. Lexi freaking out for no reason. Part of me wondered of this was a small preview of how it would be having children with her.

I should have known she would be overprotective like this.

After class I dropped off Lexi and her brother at their house and then went to pick up Anita's picnic at home, I quickly changed and then went back to pick up my girlfriend.

Lexi had changed into a cute red top, very on theme with the celebration.

"So, what's the plan Blakey-Boy?" my Pumpkin asked as I drove away from her house.

"We're going on a picnic my dear," I announced enthusiastically, not giving away all of my plan at once.

"A picnic!"

"Yes, we've got our little feast in the back," I said, and pointed to the basket sitting on the backseat.

"Anita cooked all of this, right?" she asked me, looking a little skeptical.

I chuckled at her expression. "What? Are you disappointed I didn't?"

"No, I'd be scared if you did," she admitted, her tone relieved.

I pressed a hand to my heart. "I'm hurt."

"The kitchen would also be hurt if you cooked," she automatically replied. I laughed at her quick response. "Where are we going anyway?" she asked.

Oh, she was insulting my cooking and now she wanted to know the plans? That was definitely not happening.

"Noooot teeelling," Pumpkin," I said in a sing-song voice to tease her. But I also took her hand in mine and kissed the back of it.

"Come oooon," she whined, impatient as always and then pressed a quick kiss to my shoulder. I smiled contently at the contact.

"Nope."

"Nope? Just nope?"

"Yes. Nope."

"You can tell me!" she pleaded, making an adorable pout. "I swear I won't tell anyone else. It'll be our little secret. I'm great at keeping secrets."

"I don't believe that," I replied, shaking my head.

"I am."

"You're too impatient. You can't keep anything to yourself, you want to share with everyone around you."

She gasped. "That is heresy! I am a very trustworthy secret keeper."

"I've yet to see you keep any secret," I kept going, enjoying the banter a little too much.

"Huh! HELLO. Alex being gay. I kept that for years. Even if everyone, including you, thought he had broken up with me and broken my heart and that I was still pining for him."

"He did break up with you though," I pointed out, ignoring her very valid argument.

"Are you ignoring the very big secret I kept?"

"It doesn't count."

"Why? Why doesn't it count? You're slandering my name."

"Don't tell me you don't at least tell one person when you learn a secret, you might not tell everyone, but you do tell someone," I continued pushing, just because it was a little bit amusing to get my Pumpkin riled up. Her reactions and replies were always entertaining. 

Case in point, she glared at me and said, "I'm gonna push you out of this car."

I snorted a laugh. "So, one second you're kissing the driver, and now you're threatening him?"

She crossed her arms over her chest. "The driver looked for it."

"You still love the driver though."

She scrunched her nose, shaking her head a bit. "Not sure. Still up for debate honestly."

"Well, hopefully this will earn me a few brownie points," I said as I parked in front of the concert hall.

My Pumpkin looked positively confused.

I didn't offer any more information and just stepped out of the car, waiting for my girlfriend to follow me.

The look of complete confusion on Lexi's face was truly priceless. She looked around herself as she got out of the car, like she was trying to find a park of some sort.

We were in the middle of winter. Had she not thought about this when I mentioned a picnic? Did she think I had built an igloo for us to dine in?

That might be a good idea for another year though.

"Wait, I thought you said picnic?" she asked, while I took her hand and headed towards the entrance.

I opened the door with a key card, and walked inside. I saw a stage director I knew and a janitor, and said hello in passing.

Dad had sent a notice to everyone about this so no one would be surprised.

"This is a picnic! I have a basket," I replied, lifting the basket a little higher in emphasis.

She now looked positively giddy. "You're adorable. How did you manage this?"

"I asked my father. I thought you'd want to hear me play piano with good acoustic," I explained.

Hopefully, I wouldn't completely screw this up. I'd been kind of tooting my own horn about my piano playing skills. I'd played for her a little, but nothing to serious. Not in a concert hall.

I needed to play well enough to not feel like a fraud for playing here. 

My girlfriend came to a stop, halting me in my steps too while holding on to my hand. "Wait, you're serious?"

I grinned at her. "Yep."

It was really a sight to see, when my Pumpkin was overjoyed. It melted my heart. 'Come on," I said, and kept walking, bringing her backstage to get to the actual stage.

Lexi was just looking around everywhere, seeming mighty please to be giving access to the behind-the-scenes.

But the closer I was getting to the piano now, the more I was getting anxious.

I decided to put off the playing for a little bit and start with the first part of her present. I took it out of my pocket. 

"So... before I play you a beautiful concerto and before we eat, this is your actual present and I feel like a weirdo giving it to you, but yeah. When I moved here, the first year, I wrote you a Valentine's Day card."

Lexi had definitely not predicted this. "You did not."

"I did. Here," I said, and handed her the card.

While giving her the childish Valentine's Day card, it felt a little foolish. Maybe I should have just thrown it out. Maybe I didn't need to keep every single momento because I thought it would be all I could have connecting me to her.

She was my girlfriend now. I wanted to build a future with her, not think about our past all the time.

I was kind of fidgeting, but at least my girlfriend was grinning more than usual, which was quite a feat in itself. "Are you romantic or are you a hoarder, I seriously can't tell anymore," she teased me.

I automatically let out a pained sound. "Shut up," I whined.

"I love you, you little hoarder," Pumpkin chuckled, ignoring my pain, and wrapped her arms around me, giving me a hug.

"I hate you," I grumbled, face buried in the crook of her neck.

"Oh, how the tables have turned!" she exclaimed, like she had won this round, which she definitely did.

I couldn't help the grin, as I looked at her, keeping my arms around her. "Hate you."

"I love you too."

"Now, come on, we're here for a reason," I told her and dropped my arms, heading for the piano.

I figured I should play my piece, and then we could eat.

"Should I go sit off the stage?"

"It's up to you. The sound might be better. But then you'd be soooo far away from me," I whined, reaching out to her, while she just stepped away from my hands.

"Maybe it's better that I don't distract you," she teased me and the hopped off the stage before we could argue about it.

She sat in the third row, right in the middle, the grin never leaving her face.

I looked at her, feeling a little worried, but then I cleared my throat, grabbed the music sheet from my picnic basket and sat at the piano.

I looked at the keys, hoping this wouldn't be a total fail. I wanted to give Lexi a good memory. But then again, maybe humiliating myself would just amuse her.

Either way, I reminded myself that Lexi loved me. She wasn't going to stop loving me if I was a shitting piano player.

With that thought, I took a deep breath and started to play.

And managed to not make a total fool of myself.

_______________________
Happy Monday my little Pumpkins! <3

And happy Easter to those who celebrate it! Sorry if the post came in a little late. I was in the middle of the forest with my family for the weekend. It was my step-dad's birthday, so we all went to our house in the woods to throw him his party. He was gone to boil his maple water to make maple syrup for most of it though.  And I was entertaining my demon nephew and niece (who were only demons because I gave them too much chocolate for Easter, so I only have myself to blame.)

I might move around my uploading schedule a bit. I'm trying to figure out what will be the most effective. Also, this week I really need to have my extra chapters up on Patreon. I need to have this done. I CAN DO IT. Aaaaaaaaah.

Alright. I have laundry to do and more writing to cram in there.

Love you guys! See you all next week! :D