Title::..The Asshole and the Bad Kid
Rating::..PG for mild course language
Genre::..Fluff
Characters::..Jo Calderone and Monica (mrscalderone41)
Dedication::..HAPPY BIRTHDAY MONICA!! I hope this fic was worth the wait and lives up to your expectations. It’s been literally forever since I wrote a birthday fic for someone but I was happy to do this, after all the sweet and supportive comments you left on my fics I feel I would have been rude to not give you a birthday present. Enjoy!
Summary::..It seems Jo has forgotten all about his girlfriend, Monica’s birthday.
Monica was buying into it; Jo almost couldn’t believe how easy it was to fool his girlfriend. He had her convinced he had forgotten her birthday.
She had come to see him after a long day at school. She had started the afternoon off in one of her typical upbeat moods - smiling and cracking jokes.
Then, as the hours ticked by and he continued to not acknowledge the significant day, her smile began to fade. She was deflated, sitting on the couch with her arms folded over her chest; she had stopped making eye contact with him a few hours ago. He could almost feel the frustrated energy radiating off of her body.
He supposed this didn’t say much about her opinion of him. She thought he was such a terrible guy that he would not make any plans for her birthday. She had no faith in him. Luckily it was working in his favour, had it been another occasion he would have been insulted by her attitude. Did she really believe he was this much of an asshole?
He may not have been in the running to receive Boyfriend of the Year. He had more than once left a party without remembering to take her with him. Whenever they ate out he never offered to pay for her. When ordering fast food he didn’t bother asking what she wanted, instead assuming she would be happy with Chinese too. He wasn’t the sentimental type to pay any attention to anniversaries and Valentine’s Day really wasn’t his scene. But there was no way he would ever forget his girl’s birthday.
Her cranky mood was partly her fault as well. If she wasn’t so stubborn she would bring the subject up herself. But she had this warped-chick-mentality that he should remember shit like this on his own. She had an idea of what the perfect boyfriend was and tonight he was failing to live up to such expectations.
He would let her go on believing he was the biggest jerk in the world. He knew how much she loved surprises and thought all of this pouting would be worth it to see the look on her face. He was also looking forward to proving her wrong.
The look currently on her face wasn’t very inspiring. The energetic sparkle had been taken out of her big brown eyes. He thought she was the most hyperactive girl he had ever met - even worse than hanging out with his four-year-old niece when she had a belly full of sugary treats. It seemed there could never be a dull moment with her around and he loved this about her. She always knew how to lift his mood and she could turn a boring day into a fun one. The quiet, dreary moments (like the one she was currently indulging in) were rare, he was confident he could pull her out of it.
She didn’t seem very interested in tonight’s episode of The Walking Dead. It was their shared favourite show - every week they watched it together, sharing in their love of zombies. It had become something of a tradition in their relationship and he looked forward to it. She was determined to give him the cold shoulder tonight and so didn’t join him in any discussions during the commercial breaks.
The episode ended and she got up from the couch with a sigh. “I’m gonna go to bed.” Her voice was very stiff; he could hear the barely-contained aggravation in her tone. “Goodnight.”
“See ya.” He said, biting his lip to keep from spoiling the surprise, instead letting her go into the bedroom on her own.
He didn’t get up off of the couch straight away; he surfed through the channels, forcing himself to wait, at least for a few minutes. He kept himself seated until he was certain she had gotten into the bed they often shared.
From the bed she wouldn’t be able to view the kitchen. He was safe to get up, leaving the living room behind. He kept the light out so as to not draw any attention to his task. She remained out of sight, allowing him to work uninterrupted. He was enjoying being sneaky like this, it was a lot of fun, despite all of her pouting. He produced the plate from the fridge and pulled out a single candle, the lighter coming out of his pocket.
“Hey Sugar-Tits, come out here for a sec’.” He beckoned.
She didn’t appear in the doorway, she just sighed again. “I’m trying to sleep.”
“Come on, five seconds. I want you to see somethin’.” He didn’t want to give away too many details.
Apparently it wasn’t enough to entice her. She remained in the bed, determined to not be interested. She wasn’t willing to be melted yet. “If this is about your conspiracy about spying neighbours, I don’t care.”
“Don’t make me come in there and drag you out of the bed.” And so they had come to threats.
But it worked because she knew he was crazy enough to follow through. With a lot of groaning and complaining she flung the blankets away from her body. He waited rather impatiently, drumming his fingers on the countertop a little.
She appeared in the archway, still unimpressed. “What is it?”
He flicked the lighter on and glanced through the dim light at her unhappy face for the last time, before bringing the naked flame down to the tip of the candle. The cupcake was illuminated for her to see. “Happy Birthday.”
She didn’t have any words at first. Her mouth fell silently open as she slowly stepped into the kitchen. She marvelled at the tiny cake as if she had never seen such a thing before. He didn’t say anything either, not wanting to ruin this moment. He seemed to see all of her earlier frustrations melting off of her and his heart swelled with pride.
“I thought you had forgotten it.” She said in a small, humbled voice.
He scoffed incredulously. “What do you take me for?”
“I’m sorry.” She responded, applying a quick kiss to his shaven cheek. “It looks like a yummy cupcake, I love chocolate frosting.”
“I hope so; I accidentally burnt the rest of the batch.” He admitted.
Her eyes lit up, a large smile appearing on her face. “You made me cupcakes? But you don’t cook!”
“As proved by there only being one cupcake.” He agreed. “I wanted to have fifteen for you, but the rest didn’t turn out so great.”
“I can’t believe you baked for me. That is the sweetest thing.” She cooed, kissing him on the lips this time.
“You deserve it.” He stated. “Blow out the candle.”
She flipped her long brown hair over her shoulder and out of her way as she leant over the cupcake. She looked at the single candle for a little longer, seeming to make her mind up on her wish. Then she closed her eyes and blew.
“Good luck.” He said as she plucked it up from the plate. He was terrified of how it would taste - he had followed the packet instructions, but there was a reason why he didn’t cook. She seemed to be too impressed over the gesture to particularly care about the little details, thankfully.
He held his breath as she peeled back its wrapper. Before she could take her first bite she was distracted by something tumbling out. She looked down to where the diamond ring was sparkling in the moonlight.
The End.