Happy Birthday, Snoopy

Henry and Amber waved their friends goodbye when they left the bar in which they spent all the evening in. They were celebrating Henry’s birthday – only with a few friends, but it was still a really nice evening, and since it was getting late and both Henry and Amber were having schedules on the next day, they should head back to the dorm and find some sleep.

Amber though couldn’t even think of sleeping yet … She still had to give her friend a present for his birthday – well, she did give him a present. A cap. But that was only one part – she still had two more presents, but she just couldn’t find the courage yet to give it to him. Especially not while their – well, mostly his – friends were still with them … And even now when they were finally alone, she just didn’t know how to hand over her present to him.

Ugh, she hated this. She was such an outgoing person, and she knew Henry wouldn’t judge her for anything, so why was she making such a big deal out of it?

“Let’s go home”, he broke the silence as soon as their friends were out of sight. He stretched his arms and smiled at the younger girl before he turned around and started walking along the street, looking over his shoulder to make sure she was following him.

“Yeah”, she mumbled and followed him quickly. “So … Did you like it?”

“Mhm?” Henry crossed his arms casually behind his head while walking and looked at her.

Amber chuckled a bit. “The evening, you idiot. We just celebrated your birthday, remember? You just got one year older, don’t tell me that this already affects your memory.”

“Shush, watch your words!” He playfully poked her side and chuckled as well before he answered her question. “Yeah! It was nice, and relaxing”, he nodded. “I’m glad you guys found some time, considering we’re pretty busy … Especially you.”

The short-haired girl smiled lightly. “Oh come on, you know I’d always find time for you!” Saying this, she laughed and jumped on his back, tightly wrapping her arms around his neck. She just wanted to attack him, like some little child jumping on the other – so she didn’t expect at all that Henry would link his arms around her legs and give her a piggy-back ride, without even saying a word. “H-Hey, let me down, silly”, she chuckled lightly, getting all shy suddenly.

“Why?” Henry turned his face to look at her and raised his eyebrows. “It’s you who jumped on my back, silly”, he said then and grinned. “Such a kid, huh?”

“I didn’t mean to–…” She stopped herself and rolled her eyes then – just to not let him notice that she started to like this. It wasn’t the first time he gave her a piggy-back ride, he did once at one of their SM Town concerts – watched by thousands of fans and cameras. But now, they were all alone … Well, unless someone was watching them from afar. Nothing compared to being on stage in a crowded concert hall though.

“You gained weight, man …” The young man sighed teasingly and continued walking.

“Shut up”, Amber replied with a slight grin on her lips and rested her chin on his shoulder. She was too tired – and too happy – to worry about what he could think of this gesture.

Henry walked a little slower, looking at the girl on his back again. He couldn’t help himself but smile at the face of hers, which was so close to his own now. Of course she didn’t gain any weight at all – or well, even if she did, Henry didn’t notice at all. She was so light, and somehow he really liked carrying her like this … Feeling her warmth on himself, seeing her face so close to his own …

The singer was really looking forward his birthday, because he knew that Amber would come and be with him for the rest of the evening, and that they would be alone on their way back to the dorms. He didn’t know though what to make out of that – now they were alone, yeah, so what? What was he expecting? Nothing would happen, again … He was having feelings for that girl for a quite long time now, but they’ve never been more than just friends. Henry saw how Amber acted with all the other artists and people in general, he wasn’t anything special to her, was he? Well, not more special than a simple friend.

Somehow, he was hoping that this day, this evening, would change something. But what, he didn’t even know. He only knew that he really enjoyed being so close with her, even when she was probably just lazy and didn’t want to walk the rest of their way. At that thought, he couldn’t help himself but chuckle a bit.

“Mhm?” Amber looked at him and tilted her head. “What’s so funny, Snoopy?”

Henry rolled his eyes. He didn’t even witness the creation of his new nickname, but well … Right now, he was interested in other things than this. “Ah, nothing … I don’t really feel like sleeping yet.”

She blinked, still looking at him. A smile appeared on her lips, but she quickly let it disappear again to not seem like a total idiot to him. “Uh, but … What do you wanna do instead? It’s getting late, don’t you have to get –“

“So what?”, he interrupted her and walked to the park.

“Where are we going?” She looked up and frowned a little. The park was pretty dark at this hour … Of course there were lamps, but they didn’t reach the dark hedges around them. “Dude, it’s kind of creepy here …”

“Nah, I’ll protect you.”

Again, a smile appeared on the girl’s lips, and this time she didn’t try to hide it. It was dark around them now anyways – well, not too dark not to see each other, but still. Of course he would protect her, she didn’t doubt that at all – she already was feeling so safe just clinging onto his back, so … “But what are we doing here?”, she asked then, being curious what he was actually planning to do. His answer let her roll her eyes once more though.

“I don’t know really”, Henry answered and laughed lightly. He headed to a bench and slowly let Amber slide down his back before he sat down, patting the place beside him to tell her to sit down as well.

She did, not without letting go a sigh though. She was about to ask him what they were going to do now, but she decided to just enjoy being completely alone with him now – alone in a park at night, with nothing around them but hedges, trees, and some lamps. And somehow, she was getting all nervous again … Which reminded her that she still has to give him the rest of his birthday present. This would actually be the perfect moment …

“I come often here”, he said suddenly.

“What?” Amber turned to him and tilted her head. “Really?”

Henry nodded. “Yeah – well, sometimes. Whenever I find some time, or not”, he chuckled, “like now when we should be sleeping, actually.”

“True”, she grinned a little and shrugged. “It’ll be alright. It’s nice here, somehow … Relaxing.”

“That’s why I like it. You know, just a few moments ago we were on the streets and now we sit here, not seeing or even hearing the streets anymore. – Probably because it’s late”, he added then and laughed quietly.

Amber chuckled, nodding slowly. “Probably …” Come on, now or never. She took a deep breath and turned a little to face her friend, which was now looking up at the stars in the sky. “H-Henry, about my present for you …”

“Mhm? Oh, the cap?” He moved the cap on his head a little and gave her a smirk. “I love it, thanks a lot.”

She smiled widely and bit her lips a bit, being glad that he liked his new cap. “I’m glad to hear that, but … Well, to be honest, there’s more.” Her last words were only mumbled, so she had to repeat them when she saw the confused expression on her friend’s face.

Henry leant forwards a bit, resting his elbows on his thighs, and looked at the younger girl. “More? What do you mean?”

Amber wasn’t sure anymore if it was a good idea with this present, but … Oh well, they are friends, aren’t they? No need to be so shy. Just do it, idiot.

He watched her curiously as she shoved her hands into her jeans pocket and slowly pulled out a necklace which shimmered silvery in the moonlight. Henry gasped a little and a smile flashed over his lips when he saw the pendant of the chain, which was an H.

“I know it’s kind of girly”, she mumbled and bit her lips. Yeah, it was girly, and it usually didn’t fit her. She was a girl of course, but it also wasn’t a secret that she still didn’t do things which were typical for a girl. She wouldn’t even wear any make-up if she wouldn’t be in that music business and all popular. To be honest, it was Krystal who suggested her buying that kind of chain for him. Well … Actually she even wanted her to give him a chain with an A, for her own name obviously, but that was too much of a good thing.

“Probably”, Henry chuckled lightly and shook his head. “Since when are you getting so shy, Am? I don’t know you like this”, he added then, making her feel even more shy – especially when he suddenly reached out to her cheek.

Yeah, now she felt awkward. “I’m n-not.” She grabbed his other hand and put the chain into it, hoping he wouldn’t feel the warmth which was suddenly filling her cheeks.

“No, of course not.” He grinned lightly and slowly pulled his hand back so he could take a better look at his second birthday present he got from her. He loved it. Of course it was girly, and knowing that Amber usually didn’t do this kind of things, he somehow felt special in a weird way. Special, and happy. “Mind closing the clasp of it?”, he asked her then and turned his back to her before she could even answer.

Amber blinked confused – that meant he liked it? He would even wear it? … She would have been extremely disappointed if not, but she still was surprised, and happy. “Sure”, she smiled and leant closer, closing the clasp of the necklace after he put it around his neck.

Henry turned back at her, smiling, and looked at the H which was now laying above his chest. “So? How do I look with it?”

“Awesome”, she chuckled and shrugged then. “But I didn’t expect anything else, it’s my present, so.”

“Oh look who’s being modest again”, he said and flicked her nose with his finger.

Amber laughed lightly, rubbing her nose. “As if you weren’t, huh? – Oh!”

Henry blinked and tilted his head. “What oh?”

“I totally forgot to tweet the photo of your birthday”, she answered, taking out her cell phone and going on Twitter.

The young man laughed lightly and leant back. “Hurry.”

“Mhm?” She grinned a little while she typed in a text for her new tweet. “Why? Do you wanna go home?”

“No, I want to kiss you.”

“Oh, okay.” Amber waited for the photo to load, not paying that much attention to what he just said – well, not in the first moment. When his words finally reached her mind, she almost dropped her phone and held her breath. No … No, he didn’t just say that. It was getting late, she was tired – yep, that’s it. So she just bit her lips and tried not to let him notice how nervous she suddenly was.

Henry did notice it though, and it was hard for him not to laugh. He didn’t want to destroy this moment by laughing now, and … He just really wanted to do what he just said, he wanted to do this for such a long time, so when would be the perfect moment for just doing so? He shouldn’t keep waiting for that moment – it was now, no need to wait any longer. He just hoped he wouldn’t do any mistake, but he would never find out if he just kept waiting for the right moment … “Thanks again.”

Amber kept staring on the display of her cell phone, even after she was done with posting her new tweet. “For what?” She tried hard to sound as casually as possible, but she failed pretty much.

Henry leant forwards again and chuckled softly. “Finding time for me.”

Now she had to smile again and turned her face to him. “Man, I told I would alwa–“

She wasn’t even able to finish her sentence, because the next thing she felt were his lips on her own. The world around them stood still for a moment, there was nothing anymore but the two of them, and their lips meeting each other. Amber didn’t know what to do, she felt like an idiot – the only thing she realized in this moment was that she was still incredibly nervous, but in a good way. If that made any sense … She never would have thought that Henry’s lips would feel that good, and that thought made her blush. Luckily it was dark …

… but of course Henry had to cup her face now. For a moment, Amber wanted to back off – just so she wouldn’t embarrass herself with her blushed cheeks. But then she realized that this was just stupid, and that kiss just felt too good to break it. Since Henry was patiently waiting for her to take the next step, she took all her courage and leant closer to him, wrapped her arms around his waist, and pressed her lips a bit more onto his.

When she felt how a soft smile appeared on his lips, she smiled into the kiss as well – and suddenly, all the worry and shyness was gone and Amber just felt incredibly happy to be with Henry. Well, to hold onto him like this. To kiss him like this …

“Is it okay?”, he mumbled very low against her lips.

Amber nodded lightly. “Happy birthday, Snoopy”, she said then and gave him a long, sweet kiss – her third birthday present.