I pulled him by the hand, a small smile pulling my lips upwards. "Shut your eyes."

"Okay, they're shut." His voice was muffled as he spoke.

I took a deep breath, reaching over to flick on the light switch. The power made a low humming noise before the lights flickered on one by one, starting from the very back to the front. "Okay. Open your eyes." His eyes slowly opened. He didn't need to say anything. Admiration was evident through the slight part of his lips, the way the muscle in his cheek was no longer tightened.

"April," he breathed, "how the hell did you find this place?"

"Slap's boyfriend used to own it. He told me it was about to shut down due to lack of funds and so I asked if I could give the old thing one last shot. I mean, I thought it'd be pretty fun."

I watched his expression carefully, expecting the worse. "We have it to ourselves?"

"Hmm-hmm."

He finally looked at me, his expression blank. I held my breath. Then, he pulled me forward with one arm and bent down, pressing his lips against mine.

After what felt like an eternity, he pulled away so I was leaning back as though we were in a 70's movie. He smiled at me crookedly, brushing his lips on my cheek and looking completely and utterly breath-taking.

"I love it." He erupted into the smile he was holding back before practically shooting forward and pulling me with him. I stumbled at the sheer speed of it. He looked like a kid in a candy shop. For a few moments, I felt as though I had floated up over my body and was watching us both – two kids: one werewolf, one human having the time of their life.

Arcades were awesome.

He spoke over his shoulder. "You know, kissing you is great and all, but sometimes, it really hurts my back having to bend down so much."

"You're such a jerk. And if that's the case, I won't kiss you anymore."

"Hey, don't say that! You drool all over me April, you wouldn't survive not being able to kiss me!" And so began the petty arguments.

Then, we had a competitive game of ice-hockey, where I annihilated him, much to his irritation – I was way too competitive when it came to things that were nonphysical, aka sports. Then, we played an ancient racing game, where the colour palette on the screen was sepia. Even the chairs and controls were battered.

Finally, glancing at my phone time, I sighed. It had been an hour and a half and the lights were beginning to dim - we had a cap on the amount of electricity that could be used.

"Aiden." He hummed in response, immersed in the game. "We need to go. Our time with the arcade is up."

He tore himself away from the machine as soon as his game began to collapse in on itself, slowly losing power. Stumbling back a few steps, we watched the machines turn to black screens in a muted silence. Then, I made my way around various obstacles, some draped in white cloth and others boxed up, until I reached the door leading out to the street. Glancing back, I shuddered. "I don't want to be here when the lights go. It'll be a graveyard for games. That's creepy."

He rested his head in the crook of my shoulder where my mark tingled vivaciously. "Thank you, April. This was one of the best experiences ever." His lips moved against the skin of my neck and it was with some difficulty that I managed to pull away so I could turn towards him.

I raised an eyebrow. "Surely you didn't think that was all of the surprise, did you?" At his expression I spluttered. "That's not it. Look, the night is still young."

His eyes narrowed. "Really? What's next? You know, Ap, I really didn't want anything for my birthday. It's just another day of this pretty face getting older."

"Shut up, Aiden. Arrogance ages you, you know that?"

"Why Cruella? You love this face, right?" He leaned closer to me, smiling devilishly.

I reclined back, determined not to succumb to his charm. "No. I love that face though, Scar." Pressing my palm on his cheek, I turned his head so he was staring at a giant advertisement for a Leonardo DiCaprio movie. I sighed. "Oh, he's dreamy. Look at that golden hair! Those baby blue eyes. Boy, I could look into them all day."

He scowled at me.

"Nothing compares to Leo's baby blue eyes, Aiden."

"Whatever." He pouted, his ego bruised.

"But," I said, resting my arms on his shoulder, "no-one compares to you at all." I kissed his cheek, smiling. "Period."

* * * * *

We stared up at the entrance to the botanical gardens, the name carved into twisting wrought iron that stood curved in an elegant arch over the entrance. "Let's go." I said, flashing our pre-paid tickets to the man at the door. He looked at us pointedly.

"We're closing soon. In fact, my shift is finishing..." He glanced at his watch irately. "Now."

"Oh," I replied, "Well that's fine. Have fun doing whatever you're going to do." I gave him a smile and the guard gestured for us to pass. Aiden glanced down at me curiously now. "A botanical garden." He stated, tasting the words in his mouth.

"With a twist." I smiled secretively at him.

As soon as we stepped inside, the aroma of pollen plants hit us. Jagged plants, cacti, flowers, arrays of calla lilies rose around us. Colour adorned every inch of the greenhouse gardens; ivy crept up wooden trellises, a palm tree arose from the centre of the garden with huge banana leaves branching out elsewhere.

Glancing at Aiden, I watched his expression carefully. His face was lit as though moonlight and sunlight combined streamed from behind him; his eyes shone green and grey, a queer combination that matched him so well. "April, this is –" he broke off, spluttering for words.

"Beautiful, mesmerizing, captivating, amazing, divine, tropical, sensational, extravagant?" I offered.

Looking down at me, his smile was so crooked, so bright and familiar that I felt my heart squeeze. "All of those words."

Glancing around me, I found there was no-one around where we were standing meaning our escape and final stage of his surprise was complete. Hissing at him to follow me, I moved quickly, like I was something out of a James Bond movie, throwing one last look behind me to make sure no-one was watching before I made a dash for it.

* * * * *

Reclining back on the makeshift ledge, I stretched out my legs, throwing a glance at the escape hatch. Looking out over the miniature tower blocks and coiling roads, primed hedges and specks of people, a sudden sense of déjà vu washed over me.

The day I'd woken up – from the coma – and had wished to go outside and let the sun kiss my skin after 6 months of being a comatose. Aiden had taken me to the hospital roof and had granted my wish. It was one of the best memories I had – the feeling of being able to be free after months of powerlessness against the hands of death.

This area was out-of-bounds area to the public - well, at least that's what the sign said on our way up. A dome shaped glass roof arched over us to protect the plants from whatever the weather had to throw and in that moment, thousands of sunlight diamonds balanced against the glass in a brilliant haze.

"Ap, how did you know about this place?"

"I did my research. Plus, these botanical gardens are small – it wasn't hard to find the garden up here on the roof."

"What if we get caught? This garden is off limits. Maybe some of the plants up here are dangerous."

I stood up, stretching out my arms. "None of these plants are dangerous. I just checked the labels. I think they're just storage plants. The ones that don't get shown to public because there's no space for them."

"April," he said lowly again, "What if we get caught by the people who own this place? I don't want you to get in trouble – and I mean serious trouble for this."

I pretended to think. "What if? I remember you said that to me once upon a time." He knew what time I was talking about; when we were on St Mary's Hospital roof, I'd asked the same question – repeatedly – and he'd assured me that we weren't going to be caught.

"Geez, you're really taking this 'be a rebel' attitude to heart, aren't you?"

"I don't try to be." I corrected, "I'm just plain awesome. Plus, it's not like we're stealing. If they didn't want anyone to come up here, why leave the door unlocked. It's practically inviting us to enter."

Two strong arms wrapped around my waist from behind so he was hugging me in our semi-cold embrace. Sharp chin resting in the crook of my neck, lips brushing against the side of my neck, near my ear. I felt myself wanting to run my hands through his hair again and kiss him until I was breathless. Never in a million years did I think that me and Aiden would ever be compatible let alone be able to stand each other in the same room; but how wrong I was.

After that, we spent some time making out, even though the term creeped me out. When we finally pulled away, he groaned at me, eyes squeezed shut. "Damn it, April. Kissing you makes me feel crazy."

I frowned and sat down on the wide stone ledge, staring at him. "What?"

Groaning again, he slumped down next to me, looking utterly dazed. "You have no idea how long I wanted to do that for again."

Leaning my head against his, I sighed softly. "Man, I can't believe summer's nearly over. That means I'm going back to school to finish senior year whilst Nina and Kay are going to college." I said gently. "I'm such a sucker."

"You're not, Ap. Trust me, you'll be fine, you're a little fighter." He said, kissing the top of my hair.

"Thanks, Aid. I guess things will work out. What about you?" I looked up at him, frowning. Aiden never spoke about his future plans or any plans at all. I suspected he just rolled through life as it came.

He shrugged, avoiding my gaze. "I'm 19 now. I really need to sort myself out."

"And you will. Do you want to go to college? Get a job?"

He looked down at me sheepishly, eyes dark and reflecting the small rim of gold and red of the sun in the distance, slowly sinking away. The sunlight showed me the inner turmoil he hid so well and made him look utterly ethereal . The moonlight made him come alive.

"I – I applied to college."

I recoiled. "You applied to a college? What?" I was stunned by his confession.

He held up both palms in surrender quickly. "But I swear I was going to tell you. I got the letter saying I was accepted today and I thought it was the right opportunity to tell you. Don't be pissed." He broke in before I could speak.

My expression remained serious. Then, I leaned over menacingly and whispered: "You idiot. I'm happy for you!"

He leaned away, brow furrowed. "I thought you'd be angry I kept it from you."

"Hey, that's your choice. I'm just happy you decided to tell me. What college is it? What course are you going to do? Where are you going?" I blathered on excitedly.

"Astrophysics." He said proudly, his expression a mask of utter adorableness.

I let out a noise of appreciation. "Wow. Astrophysics? That's amazing. And it suits you." I retorted, reaching out excitedly to throw my arms around his neck, practically strangling him in my animation.

"Yeah, well physics, maths and astronomy are three of my strongest points. Kaden advised me to do something I was going to like and be good at; he gave me the suggestion and I said why not. The only reason I didn't tell anyone was because I wanted to see if I was accepted first."

He pouted at me, his naturally pink lips turning up – he seemed quite pleased with the attention I was raining down on him. "But astrophysics? That's freaking amazing."

"Maybe I'll become an astronaut." He looked at me in a daze.

Winking at him, I whispered: "If you do, take a picture up in space for me, will you?" Then, my eyes widened. "Wait, how far is your college from here?"

"Not too far. I'll probably live out but I won't lose contact. Weekends, weekdays – whenever. You can visit." He waggled his eyebrows teasingly. "I'll have a bedroom to myself, you know... or it might be shared. Either way, my bed's always open to you," he winked at me suggestively and I felt my stomach knot in embarrassment.

"Things will be different next year. Nina and Kayla will be off to college. You'll be becoming this great astrophysicist. Kaden will be Alpha. I'll be retaking my final year. Diego, Beau and Daniel too. They'll all be off to college."

He hummed in agreement.

"And –" he broke off, glancing down at me as he chewed on his lower lip. "Thank you. For all of this. The arcade, the gardens – this." He pointed upwards at the darkening sky. "I know I tell you that none of this was necessary, that my birthday isn't something that matters to me. But every time I say that, you end up hitting me, so I won't say that." He assured me, grinning. "I've had a good time. And I don't think I've had a good time in a long time. Not like this anyway. So thank you, April Evans aka Cruella DeEvans. Because you," he tipped his head towards me, smiling crookedly. "Have made my life."

If I could blush, my cheeks would have been a bright scarlet. Instead, I kissed him on the cheek. "I'm glad you like it, Scar aka the absolute jerk who kidnapped me."

"Hey, you said that was the best thing that had ever happened to you!"

"Eh, maybe I lied."

He narrowed his eyes playfully. "You wouldn't."

I raised my eyebrows. "Or would I?"

He leaned forward in what he probably believed to be an intimidating stance. Instinctively, I went back, still smiling like a goof. He leaned down and pressed his lips against my own. It felt like rocket fuel was running through my veins and I could feel his heart beat against my own.

He broke away, sighing. "As much as I love kissing you, I feel I should confess something. I may as well say something I rarely say, only because I know you know I do, but Diego said that girls care about this type of crap and want to hear it..." He trailed off, half-smiling in the semi-darkness.

"What?" I frowned.

"That I love you Cruella DeEvans."

A smile made my lips tug upwards and my heart squeezed at those words. No matter how many times I would hear them, whether it was from my family or my friends, having Aiden say it never failed to make me feel... it was unexplainable.

"I don't need to hear it all the time. But I know you do, Aiden." I grinned, "I mean, who wouldn't love me." I flicked my hair over my shoulder jokingly.

Aiden leaned back, lips parting instinctively as though he was exhaling smoke as he watched me; it was a habit I don't think would leave, but at least there's wasn't an actual cigarette balanced between his lips.

My mind wondered in the small and comfortable silence we shared. I knew I'd never be someone who made a huge difference in the world. I knew that. But I'd like to at least leave small impression on those who I love. Even if that impression dies with them. At least I'll know I made a difference to someone. Glancing at the boy sitting next to me, I sat still, listening to his steady breathing.

"I'm not going to keep messing up, Ap. I'm going to get my life on track; college is just the beginning of that." He broke off, voice strained. "I'm not a kid anymore. I can't act like one, especially after everything I've put you through. I need to make my dad, Kaden, my mom, Diego... you. Proud. And I'm –" he broke off again, evidently frustrated at himself. His lips parted and closed as though he were struggling to translate his thoughts into speech. "I'm scared I'm going to let you all down again."

"It's okay to mess up. And it's perfectly fine to let people down." He stared at me, confounded.

Breathing hard, I continued. "Perfect people don't make mistakes. But we're not perfect. We're – well, human and werewolf, but you get the point. We're not programmed to achieve perfection and so things aren't always going to be crystal clear to us like they are to heroes and heroines. Authors and script writers put tonnes of effort into making that character likable and smart. We're not them. We're just... us."

"April, it's different –"

"No. It's really not. If we didn't make mistakes then we wouldn't be very real. We're still young and we're still finding our way... Plus, I'm pretty sure we've done the most stupidest things we'll ever do, so I think we've hit rock bottom. All that's left to do is to rocket to the moon." I waggled my eyebrows at my space reference.

He rolled his eyes. "Geez, way to be subtle."

"Have you told Antonio about your acceptance into college?"

He shook his head, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "Not yet." He grinned sheepishly, "I was going to tell him and Lisa together."

My heart did a double take. "Lisa?"

He shrugged, rubbing the back of his hair distractedly. "Growing up means stopping my petty grudge against her. She didn't kill my mom and it's not fair to hate her for making my dad happy. Without her... I wouldn't have a dad either. It'll take time but little by little I'm sure we can ease into it. And boy was I a dick to her. I actually feel bad about it."

My eyebrows rose of their own accord. "Wow. Aiden Knight is really growing up, isn't he?" Shutting my eyes, I swallowed. "I agree. Oh, and I forgot." I paused. "I love you too."

"April! I thought we said no more soppy stuff. Geez, girl, you really know how to turn your back on a deal." He huffed. "But before you hit me again, I guess... I love you too." He pulled a face as he spoke, smirking.

Scowling, my eyes flew open and I elbowed him in the ribs. "Idiot." I grumbled under my breath.

He pricked his ear, smirking devilishly. "What was that again?"

"You're an idiot." I said loudly, pulling a face at him.

"Quit staring, you creep."

"I'm the creep?" I shot back quickly, pleased with how fast an insult had formed in my head. "You were the one who freaking kidnapped me."

"You liked it."

"Not at the time."

"Without that, you wouldn't be enjoying this sexy hunk of a man."

I looked out at the distance, squinting. "Where?"

And so the petty arguments began; it was nothing like before, nothing serious and sombre, but small and playful like it had been when he had me falling for him – or more precisely, I had him falling for me. Ah, cockiness doesn't suit me very well.

I secretly loved our arguments. In fact, I had learnt things about myself because of him and the other friends I'd made; I learnt that I had a voice and backbone. A hidden determination and tendency to always make the wrong decisions. But that was okay, because I had a good track record of rectifying them after.