Tina spent the next day dreaming about Kevin. She already listened to the Jonas Brothers’ CD almost constantly, but now it was up louder than ever, and she listened to “Hello Beautiful” so many times she heard it even when the disc wasn’t playing. She couldn’t help but daydream, could she? How many girls got to kiss Kevin Jonas?
Yet, in the moments when she was out of dream world, she felt a heavy disappointment settling in her stomach. She missed Kevin. How strange was that, to miss someone she had only really known for a few hours? She knew she should realize she hadn’t meant that much to him. She was just a girl he crushed on that night and had shared a few kisses and cuddles with. How much had she really expected it to mean?
By the time she went into work on Monday, she had convinced herself that it was okay, that she should just be happy with what she had: the memories of a kiss and his momentary affection. When her coworkers asked her how her birthday was, she smiled secretly and said, “The best ever. Oh, you should have seen it.”
The day drug on slowly, especially as she had to sensor what felt like a thousand Webkinz. As she bent over a troublesome little pony, something dropped lightly onto the counter next to her. She glanced over and stopped moving. It was a beautiful red rose, fully opened, with a ribbon tied around the stem. Tina set down the toy, picked up the rose, and turned around.
She nearly ran into him. He was standing behind her, hoodie pulled close around his face, but those sparkling eyes tracked with her every move. “Hi,” he said softly.
She tried to find words, but failed. Every defense, every part of her that had worked to convince her it was okay if he never came back, fled in the face of the fact that he was standing in front of her, smile beaming and eyes alight. After several unsuccessful attempts to find something to say, she simply threw her arms around his neck and clung to him. She breathed in his scent, drank in every little thing that made him who he was.
He wrapped his arms around her and picked her up off the floor, spinning her around before letting her feet touch the floor again. He laughed. “Can you believe it’s been barely forty-eight hours since I last saw you, and I missed you so much I couldn’t stand it?”
Tina finally found something to say. “You came back.”
He pulled back from her slightly, smiling, to look in her eyes. “Did you--Did you think I wouldn’t?” When she didn’t answer, his face morphed into shock. “You really thought I wouldn’t want to see you again. Oh, man.”
“You--you didn’t get my number or anything, just… left. How did you know to come here?”
Kevin grinned and shook his head. “You had told me where you worked, and that you were working today.” He glanced around the store, confirmed that there was no one around, and ducked his head to hers. Just inches from her mouth, he whispered, “I’ll always find you.” His lips met hers sweetly, softly. “I’ll always come back to you.” Then, hurriedly, he stepped back and said, “Speaking of finding…”
“Tina,” the other girl working that day called, coming out of the back of the store, “did you finish those Webkinz?”
Tina swallowed, her mouth tingling, and turned around to call back, “I-Not yet. I’m doing them now.”
“Okay.”
Kevin’s hands danced down her back and over her sides, tickling her until she laughed and grabbed his hands, pulling them around her waist. He looked down at her from behind. “So, when’s your lunch break?”
“Twenty minutes.”
“I’ll meet you in the food court in twenty, then.” He kissed her temple softly, rubbed her shoulder, and strode out of the store, pulling his hoodie closer as he went. Tina stared after him in shock. There, then gone again. Was he even there? Was she dreaming?
As she turned back to the Webkinz, she saw the rose lying on the counter. Not a dream. He had been there. She finished with the rest of the toys in record time and glanced at the clock. Lunch break! She almost forgot to clock out on her way out the door. Nearly dizzy with excitement, she hurried to the food court and looked around for him. There weren’t many people there, not on a Monday afternoon, and she didn’t see anyone in his hoodie and snug jeans. She wandered around, looking at all the people in the lines, scanning the customers sitting at the tables, but no one reacted to her, and no one looked like him. After she had circled the food court several times, she sat down on a bench and sighed. It was five minutes past the time they had agreed on. Where was he? He couldn’t have forgotten about her… could he?
Another two minutes passed, and she stood up. She needed to get something to eat, and it didn’t look like he was going to come. Her heart hurt and her eyes welled with tears. She turned around. “Tina!” She stopped short and turned slowly. There he was, jogging towards her, arms hung with bags. She stood in surprise, realizing she really had given up on his showing up, until he got right up to her. He didn’t say anything, but swept her up in his arms, shopping bags crinkling around her, and kissed her happily. “Hey! I’m really, really sorry I’m late. It’s just, this lady at the one store, she took, like, three days to wrap this one little thing--I could have done it faster and made it look just as good. But whatever. So I’m sorry…” He trailed off as he saw tears running down Tina’s cheeks. “Whoa, what’s wrong?”
She laughed, dashed her tears away, and said, “I really thought you weren’t coming. Twice in one day I’ve thought you wouldn’t show up, and you did. I feel stupid.”
He pouted at her. “Don’t feel stupid. You’re brilliant compared to me, and if you call yourself stupid, what does that make me?”
“A caveman?” she guessed, and they both laughed.
“Nice. Alright, just have some faith in me, baby. If I say I’ll come, I’ll come. Well, you know, there are special circumstances, but hey.”
Tina blushed. He called her ‘baby’. Then she asked curiously, “Now, what on earth were you shopping for? You did all this in half an hour?”
“Twenty minutes,” he corrected. “It was that giftwrapping lady who took so long. And I was shopping for you. I get a little carried away when I shop.”
“For me?”
“Well, duh. I didn’t get you a birthday present yet!”
“But--you didn’t have to buy me anything.”
“I know that. I wanted to! And don’t worry, it’s not all for you. There was a sale on guys’ skinny jeans.” He glanced in the bags, looked at her, and said, “Let’s eat first.”
Tina gaped. “You can’t tell me you bought me presents, then not give them to me!”
“Yet,” he laughed, standing and kissing her nose. “You don’t get them yet.”
Tina pouted, fluttering her eyelashes and stroking a hand down his arm. “Please?”
“Don’t look at me like that! No!” Her puppy eyes locked on him, and he groaned. “Fine, you win. One now, the rest later.”
“Yay! But--gosh, how many are there?”
He shrugged. “I like shopping.” Rummaging in the bags, he pulled out a little box wrapped in a gold paper and handed it to her. “Happy birthday.”
If there was one way to get Tina to act like a kindergartener, this was it. She giggled and pulled at the wrapping. As the paper fell to the floor, her laughter stopped and she smiled softly.
“Do you like it?” he asked nervously.
Tina grazed he fingers over the clear plastic box. Inside lay a necklace of silver and sparkly crystals, so finely strung it looked almost like a spider web laced with dew. She looked up at Kevin’s hopeful face. “I love it,” she replied honestly. “It’s so beautiful.”
“I know it’s a little fancy for work clothes,” Kevin admitted, “But would you put it on?”
Tina grinned and held it out to him. “How about you put it on for me?”
He set down his bags and took it, nodding. Smiling, he gently clasped the chain around Tina’s neck. The skin on the back of her neck tingled where his hands touched her tenderly, and she took his hand as she turned around. “Did you choose the right one?”
He looked at her appreciatively and nodded. “Gorgeous. OK, time to eat before you run out of lunch break, princess.” He gathered up his bags.
They bought lunch and ate quickly, then Kevin gave Tina the rest of her gifts. He bought her a CD by a band he remembered her saying she liked, a purse he said made him think of her, and a couple other pieces of jewelry. She thanked him profusely for every one, overwhelmed by his kindness and affection. Finally, he handed her one last gift. It was a simple white envelope, with a single slip of paper in it. He slid his arm around her as she read it.
I saw you and my life got suddenly brighter, and since then I can’t get you off my mind or out of my heart. I still can’t believe someone like you could like someone like me, but I’m taking my chances because I don’t want to miss this chance with you. Tina--please be mine?
She dabbed the tears from her eyes and turned to him. He started to say something, but she silenced him with a strong, lingering kiss. “Yes,” she breathed when they broke apart. “Of course.”
*Fast-forward three years*
“Happy birthday, Tina,” Kevin whispered as they ended a drawn-out kiss. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” Tina said, eyes sparkling, cheeks flushed.
“I have one more thing for you.” He held out an envelope.
She opened it and read the note inside, eyes riveted on the paper. Three years ago you made my world a better place. Over that time, you’ve become my everything. I told you I would always find you, always come back to you, and it’s been true: you’ve been there at the end of every tunnel I suffered through, and I’ve found you as a light in every dark place I’ve ever been. I still can’t believe you would love me, but I know you do. So tonight, my love, I’m going to ask you again: please be mine?
Tina looked up from reading to find Kevin kneeling on one knee before her, tears in his eyes and a ring sparkling from the box in his hands. “Please be mine,” he said tenderly.
Tina’s tears streamed unchecked down her face as she nodded. “Of course,” she said in a voice quaking with joy. “Yours… forever.”
