Wednesday, January 31st.

The final day of an incredibly stressful, yet quick month. It's been full of lots of homework and filling out college applications. I definitely regret signing up for every advanced class possible at the beginning of the year. I'm literally drowning over here in homework. Other than that though, things with Harry and I are still great. Ever since the whole Ethan thing he's been extra protective, a bit suffocating at times, but I know he just wants to keep me safe. And I love him for that.

Tomorrow is my man's birthday and I'm excited to spend some time with him and not be studying or sitting in a class room like we have been all month.

---

"So, what do you want to do for your birthday tomorrow?" I ask as as we sit in my room and do homework.

"Nothing." He replies, not looking up from his notebook. I had a feeling that's what he would say.

"Nothing?"

"Nope. Well I mean we have that physics test friday, so I'll probably study for that."

"Boring! I have a different idea" I smile.

"No Aubrey, I don't do birthdays" He says rather monotonous. Damn. We have to change that.

"Well you are now. My house tomorrow at six, dress your best Mr. Styles."

"No, can't we just hang out?"

"Not happening, it's your birthday Harry" Why is he so reluctant about this, I mean I just want to take him to a nice dinner, it's not that big of a deal.

"Fine," He groans. "But only if you wear that blue dress" He looks at me and smiles. "I like that dress"

I blush and nod before standing up and walking over to him.

"I like you." I wink and kiss him as I sit on his lap.

"Well I love you." My heart flutters.

---

Today's the day, my man's birthday. I woke up early this morning to make him breakfast in bed, well, my bed, but you get the point. Since we have school today, it hasn't been so special, but I hope tonight will be perfect. I decided to make reservations at his favorite restaurant and not make a big deal of the night upon Harry's request. It will still be a good time, it always is with him.

"Aubrey, you're wanted in the office." Ms. Hanson says after she hangs up the phone. Thankfully her tone is light, so I hope I'm not in trouble...

I stand up, shoving my binder and pencil in my backpack while I hear everyone in class tease, "Oooh" and "Aubrey's in troubleeee"

I shoot Harry a confused look as Ms. Hanson proceeds with class and mouth "My house at six" to remind him. He nods and I make my way to the office, here goes nothing I suppose.

"Hello, Aubrey, why don't you go take a seat in my office, I'll be with you in a minute" Principle Thomson smiles and gestures towards his office. I have done nothing to get myself in trouble, have I? I ask myself.

I take a seat in front of the large oak desk and knot my fingers together anxiously waiting for him to come back. I have never gotten a detention, let alone been in here before!

"Sorry for keeping you waiting, so how are you Ms. Flynn? Enjoying senior year?" Principle Thomson asks as be enters the room.

"Yeah." I say nervously. Fuck, just put me out if my misery.

"So I bet you're wondering why I called you in here..." He smiles, obviously noticing my apprehensive state. I nod in reply and seem to calm down with his demeanor. He's not angry, so that's good, right?

"Well, I received a call from Stanford this morning. I was told it is your first choice for university next fall?"

I nod. Where is he going with this.

"Well the head of admissions would like to speak to you today, in person."

"Oh?"

"He said as soon as you can get to his office, would be best. He is only about an hour away, so I am dismissing you from school for the rest of the day to go meet him. Aubrey, in my many years as a principle, I have not seen the head of admissions wanting to meet personally with a student. With your grades and involvement, I'm sure it's good news." He smiles and I let out a breath of air I didn't know I was holding. What?

"Here is the address of the office, make us proud, Ms. Flynn!" He smiles and hands me a piece of paper.

"Uh, thank you, sir"

"Let me know how it goes tomorrow!" He smiles and leads me out of his office.

I walk out to my car and sit there a second before letting out the loudest scream I can manage. Am I going to get into Stanford?! He wants to meet with me? Holy fuck. I need to get there!

I drive out of the lot after entering the address into my GPS. About an hour later, I'm outside a large office building. I feel my heart beat faster with anticipation as I walk through the front doors and a skinny blonde woman greets me from behind a desk.

"Hi, I'm Aubrey Flynn... Ummm" I stutter and look at the paper to see this guys name. "I'm here to see Mr. Ware?"

"Oh yes, he's been waiting for you. Take the elevator to the sixteenth floor, and his office is the first on the right, Ms. Flynn." She smiles a bright grin and I thank her.

I get on the elevator and brace myself as I ride up sixteen floors. Thankfully I'm alone to contain myself. This is my dream, to get into Stanford. I've always imagined the day I got the letter with their insignia stamped on the front, and reading the congratulations, you've been accepted to Stanford University.

My thoughts are ceased as the door glides open and I have to find his office.

"Hello, you must be Ms. Flynn, I'm Chad Ware, head of admissions at Stanford." He shakes my hand and smiles. He's quite young, and has nice teeth. You're getting distracted Aubrey. "Have a seat." He says and closes the door to his office. I oblige and take a deep breath. Here we go..

"Hi, it's nice to meet you." I say shyly and give him a warm smile, which he returns.

"It's very nice to meet you as well, Ms. Flynn." He says as he pulls a folder from the end of his desk and opens it. "So you're obviously interested in our university, and I've recently looked over your application."

"Yes, it's my first choice, sir."

"Well I won't keep you on edge... Myself and the others in the admissions office would like to accept you into our school."

"Mr. Ware, I can't thank you enough!" I smile and try to contain my excitement. I feel like I'm going to burst with happiness. "Um, if you don't mind me asking, why did you have me come here, to your office to tell me?"

"I thought you may be curious. Well you obviously had a stellar application to get accepted into Stanford, but it was one of the best we've seen. You're GPA is almost perfect, and that's near impossible with you taking all advanced placement courses. I was quite impressed, Ms. Flynn! You also caught my eye when I saw that you participate in school sports and clubs, and those teacher recommendations. You've got a bright future ahead of you"

"Oh, thank you sir." I thank him, although I'm still not understanding why I came all the way here.

"You're certainly welcome. So pre-med, yeah?"

"Yes sir, I would love to be a pediatrician in the future." I smile. I've wanted to be a doctor since, damn, forever now.

"That's wonderful, Ms. Flynn." He gives me a warm smile and I can't wipe the grin off my face. I can't believe I just made it into Stanford!

"Well, the reason I invited you here was to offer you a full scholarship to our pre-med program at Stanford. We see great potential in you, Ms. Flynn, and would love to have you at our university."

"Wow." Is all I can spit out. "Are you serious?" I have to ask.

"Yes," He chuckles. "The work you've done in and out of school has been extraordinary, and you are exactly what we are looking for."

"I don't know what to say!"

"Say yes!" He chuckles again. I like this man. "Well, I'll give you some time to think, of course. But Ms. Flynn, it is a wonderful opportunity, and we would be honored to have you in Stanford."

Mr. Ware and I talk for another hour or so about the school and my personal life before I leave. I'm on cloud nine walking out of the office building to my car. I can't believe this... I made it into my dream school and they offered me a full scholarship?! I have to pinch myself to realize this is truly happening. I need to call my parents!

I practically skip with glee to my car and dial my mom's number. They're going to be so proud of me, I can't wait to tell them!

"Hey Aubs! How are you sweetie?" My mom answers and I smile with the sound of her voice.

"Mom... You'll never believe what just happened."

"What! Good or bad?"

"Amazing. Mom, I just got accepted into Stanford." I say quietly. It sounds so weird, yet so good to say out loud.

"Shut up! Shut up! You're kidding?" She yells.

"No mom, I'm not kidding" I laugh.

"Oh my God! Austin!" I hear her yell to my dad on the phone. "Aubrey, this is fantastic! I'm so proud of you!"

"Thanks mom"

"What are you yelling about?" I hear my dad ask my mom before she hands the phone to him. "Hey Aubs, what have you got your mother screaming about now?" He chuckles over the phone.

"This girl got into Stanford!"

"No way! Sweetie that's great!"

"Will you put the phone on speakerphone?" I ask so I can talk to both of them, and he follows my request.

"So did you get the letter today?" My mom asks.

"No, the head of admissions actually invited me to see him so he could tell me"

"Really?!"

"Well, he offered me a full scholarship to the pre-med program.. He said they only give out two a year."

"Oh Aubrey, that's fantastic!" I hear my mom say, her voice quivering. Oh god, please don't make me cry. "We are so proud of you, we'll celebrate next time we're there, okay?" My dad steps in and says.

"Alright dad, well I have to drive now, I just wanted to let you guys know. I love you"

"We love you so much, call us later!" My dad speaks before we hang up.

I turn on the radio, and turn the volume up as I pull on the the high way and make my way back home. I am in such a great mood. This is perfect. The whole drive back I imagine what life at Stanford will be like. Where am I going to live? Will I make new friends? Is it going to be hard?

I get so lost in my thoughts I'm home before I know it, pulling into my driveway. My heart drops to my stomach as I see the familiar black car in my driveway. I quick glance at the clock to see eight pm on the radio screen. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck!

I got so carried away I haven't even thought about Tonight, Harry's birthday. I practically begged him to let me take him to dinner, and then I stand him up? Fuck me! I want to punch myself in the face as I sprint up the steps to the house, unlocking the door to find Harry sitting on the couch in my living room.

"Harry, I-"

"Well look who decided to show up." He cuts me off and stands up, grabbing his jacket that was next to him.

"I'm so sorry, please don't be mad I just-"

"Forgot. You forgot." He snaps.

"No, well, I was carried away, I'm so sorry."

"Where the hell were you? You wouldn't answer any of my calls or texts! I was worried about you!" He yells. Shit, he's mad.

I pull out my phone to see he isn't lying, he's been trying to call me since I told him to be here, two hours ago.

"I met with someone from Stanford."

"And you didn't have the decency to tell me you would be late? I fucking waited for two fucking hours."

"Harry I'm sorry, I was distracted." I try to apologize, but I don't think he's giving in soon. Maybe if I tell him my good news he'll just be happy for me. "I got into Stanford."

He furrows his eyebrows and looks at me with out saying anything for a minute.

"I met with the head of admissions, I'm sorry, I should have called you, but I was-"

"You were distracted, yeah, I get it. Well it's getting late, I should go." He says emotionless.

"What? No, stay, we can still go out to dinner. Please stay, I'm so sorry."

"Yeah, everyone's always sorry. This is why I don't do birthdays, because everyone fucking forgets. Goodnight Aubrey." He practically screams as he trudges towards the doors. I am confused beyond hell.

"What are you talking about?"

"You, my parents, everyone. No one remembers. I should have known. I'm used to it by now."

"Harry, I didn't forget, I was caught up in something important. I should have called you. Don't do this, please."

"It's fine." He opens the door. What the fuck!

"Your parents forgot?" I ask, hoping it will make him stay.

"Hah! They haven't remembered in years!" He says like I should already know this.

"Harry, I'm really sorry, please.." I walk over and shut the door that he's opened, and surprisingly he didn't stop me. "Happy birthday, babe." I give him a smile. I do feel terrible, but he's overreacting.

"Thanks."

"So will you stay?"

He sighs and shuts his eyes.

"If we don't go anywhere."

"Deal." I smile and wrap my arms around his neck, closing the space in between us. "I'm so sorry, can you forgive me?" I whisper in his ear before kissing the spot behind it where I know he likes. Yes this is my way of saying sorry. Even though I still feel like a bitch about being late.

"Yeah, I'm sorry I blew up on you, I just, I'm so used to it from everyone... Except you." He says and my heart breaks.

"I didn't mean to, you know that right?"

"I do now."

"Harry, I would never intentionally hurt you, please understand that."

"I know, I know." He pulls me closer to him. "So you really got into Stanford?" He looks down at me and I nod with a ear-to-ear grin on my face.

"Congrats, baby, I knew you would though." He kisses my forehead and lifts me up to hug me.

"You're not mad?" I ask and he shakes his head.

"Well, I'm mad we're going to be 5,000 miles away from each other, but I'm proud of you." He admits.

"Harry, can we not talk about this. I don't want to ruin your birthday anymore than I already have."

"Fine." He sighs. I'm glad because I know our conversations of college always end up with me in tears. I hate talking about it. I don't want to unless it's absolutely necessary, and right now the only thing that is necessary is making the rest of this night special for Harry.

"I think you owe me though, for being late..." Harry grins and I know what he's thinking as I feel his prominent bulge pressing against my hip as we stand in a tight embrace.

"And what's that, birthday boy?" I tease, biting my lip.

"Oh I think you know." He winks and throws me over his shoulder, running up the stairs.

Well, he's easy to distract.

Notes

Ahh guys I'm sorry about not updating a few days... I have school and then after I tutor someone and have a shit ton of homework every night!

I'm going to the Blake Shelton concert tomorrow night (ahhhh :D) so I will try to update before I go, but only if you all comment like crazy! It will motivate me to write ;)

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