It's not cheating to have an alarm in your head.

[Calvin Strong]

Haley had been right, and Cal had been busy that day. The whole night before had been spent downloading recipes, after combing her facebook pictures for old birthday parties and seeing what kinds of cake she had. This, of course, after checking the country music posters on her wall against her MP3 selection on her computer to figure out what autographed goodies to search for on the internet, which had taken a good chunk of the last week, especially arranging fast shipping. And... well, computer or no computer, he didn't have any innate skill with cooking, especially baking, so it'd taken him forever to manage it (by the end, he'd started thinking that maybe he really would have done better to tap out his funds at the moment to buy the cake. But he was committed by then.) All in all a lot of effort, but really, it'd be pretty sad to not have a cake on your birthday. He'd know.

So, reflecting not for the first time on how much he sucked at this and that the cake was kind of a disaster (looking, at least. Recipes were easy to follow, prep instructions not so much. So at least it tasted better than it looked), he knocked on his girlfriend's door.

[Brigid Plunder]

"Just a second!" Brigid called out, her footsteps approaching the door.

Opening it, she looked at Cal. Then looked at him again, blinking.

"...Haley, your boyfriend is totally covered in birthday."

She paused a beat.

"And that's not a euphemism at all."

[Calvin Strong]

Cal shifted uncomfortably, realizing that he should have figured that yes, Brigid could have been in their room, too. "Oh. Um. Hi."

[Haley Crusek]

Haley poked her head around the edge of the bunk bed from where she was sitting at her desk and a huge grin crossed her face.

"Oh. My. Gawd. You are adorable," she squealed hopping up as she grabbed her phone and snapped a picture without missing a beat. It was almost like the phone was just an extension of her own body, really. She rushed over gently grabbed the cake out of his hands and planted a big kiss on the cheek that didn't have frosting on it.

"Best. Boyfriend. Ever!" she said taking the cake and setting it on her desk, and then rushing back to practically tackle him with a hug.

[Brigid Plunder]

"Hey, I'm gonna be scarce for awhile."

She went and put on her shoes, tying them.

"You guys have fun, okay?"

[Haley Crusek]

"Thanks, Roomie," she smiled.

I totally owe you. Thank you. she whispered mentally.

[Calvin Strong]

"It, ah, isn't much, I know," Cal stammered, hugging her back with one arm while holding the present out from getting crushed with the other. "I didn't have much to work with right now."

[Haley Crusek]

"It's amazing," she smiled, squeezing him again and planting a long, hard kiss on his lips.

"Let's try some. I think I've got some paper plates and plastic silverware in here somewhere."

[Calvin Strong]

"Oh. I, uh, should've thought of that. I can go get some if you don't have any," he said, feeling dumb.

[Haley Crusek]

"You're not going anywhere, Mister," she grinned mischievously, the door slowly closing with a nudge from her TK.

[Calvin Strong]

Cal blinked. "I... uh... whatever you say," he said, slowly smiling.

[Haley Crusek]

"So what's in the package?" she asked, sitting down on the edge of her bed.

[Calvin Strong]

"Well, uh, that's kinda why you open presents. To find that out," he said with a smirk.

And inside was a new poster, different from the ones she already had up by her favorite country star, but very conspicuously autographed. It'd taken him a while to track one down, but he hoped he'd done it right.

[Haley Crusek]

Haley screamed like a little kid at Christmas upon seeing the poster.

"Oh my GOD I love it!!!" she squealed. "Thank you so much!!!"

Haley gingerly rolled the poster back into its protective tube and set it down before pouncing on Cal and kissing him hard.

((Fade to very light gray))

[Calvin Strong]

((quite a while later))
"So... yeah... wow... Happy Birthday," Cal panted, catching his breath and figuring that he must not have screwed up this time.

[Haley Crusek]

Haley stood in front of the mirror across the room from the bunk beds, the door now open again, brushing her hair and singing along with the music she'd turned on, still smiling happily.

"You should cut us up some cake. Pretty sure I've got utensils in that bottom desk drawer."

[Calvin Strong]

"Oh, uh, ok, hang on," he said, opening drawers until he found which one it was to get some plates and plasticware out. "All right... I'm sorry in advance before we take a bite of this," he said, cutting a couple pieces of the cake off.

[Haley Crusek]

"Stop apologizing or I'm just gonna start calling you 'Sorry,' instead of Cal," she smirked, setting down her hair brush and planting a kiss on his cheek, taking the piece out of his hands.

[Calvin Strong]

"So I don't like disappointing you. Sue me," Cal countered with a smirk.

[Haley Crusek]

Haley giggled, taking a bite of the cake.

[Calvin Strong]

Cal watched to make sure she didn't seem ready to throw up. When she didn't, he took a bite. "Oh, hey, I guess I didn't screw this up..."

[Haley Crusek]

"Oh my god, Cal," she said her mouth full. "This. Is. Delicious!" she swallowed her bite and took several more before kissing him again. "This is the best birthday I've ever had. Your present is just gonna keep getting better," she grinned mischievously .

[Calvin Strong]

Cal grinned. "My present? You're the birthday girl," he said. "I'm just glad I didn't make a mess of it all."

[Haley Crusek]

"This day couldn't get any better if it tried," she ginned.

[Calvin Strong]

Cal smiled, not believing her for a second. "Well, I'm glad it worked, then. My girl ought to have good birthdays."

[Haley Crusek]

"I like being your girl," she said sappily, flashing him a coy smile. "Hope I'm worth it. Know I'm kinda a handful sometimes."

[Calvin Strong]

"Ah, babe? You aren't the crazy one. You get to complain about having to deal with the handful," he joked.

[Haley Crusek]

"You've got issues. I've got issues. We've all got issues. We get picked on by a dead girl, and I break my room when I have nightmares. Or...well I guess the time I really broke the room was when something actually came into the room for real... but... still. I'm getting the better deal here. You're sexy, you're a really good kisser, and you do nice things for me, and you're like Tony Stark smart."

[Calvin Strong]

"Please. I'm not Tony Stark smart. Tony Stark is ME smart," he joked.

[Haley Crusek]

"He was born before you, so he can't be you smart. So I guess you're just smarter than Tony Stark.

[Calvin Strong]

"Yeah, but then I just sound full of myself. I think I'll just have to stick with 'I have a hotter girlfriend than Tony STark,'" Cal countered.

[Haley Crusek]

"His girlfriend is gorgeous--now you're just talking crazy," she smirked. "But you're sweet."

Haley took another bite of her cake, and then grabbed a dollop of frosting with her finger and dabbed it on the tip of Cal's nose.

"And cute," she giggled.

[Calvin Strong]

Cal smirked, wiping a streak of frosting across her chin. "Well so are you. And you already knew I was crazy, we just went over that."

[Haley Crusek]

Haley tried in vain to clean the frosting off her chin with her tongue, twisting her face up ridiculously.

"Would you still like me if I looked like this?"

[Calvin Strong]

"What, like your chin was tasty?" he teased.

[Haley Crusek]

"Everything about me is tasty, duh. Girls are made of sugar and spice and everything nice."

[Calvin Strong]

"Everything? Don't go tempting me to test that," he teased.

[Haley Crusek]

"I'll tempt you any damn way I please," she grinned