I woke up the next morning to the sound of my phone ringing “Hi JimJam” I said as I answered the phone, “Happy Birthday Bea!” he shouted into the phone, “I officially can’t tell you what to do anymore!” he joked, “Thanks Jim,” I laughed, “you never told me what to do anyway” “Yeah well, it’s the thought that counts. So when are you coming home? I want to go to the tattoo shop!” He asked excitedly. I looked over at Brian, who was lying next to me with a huge smile on his face, “I’m gonna have breakfast with Bri then I’ll be straight home” I told him. “Okaaaay! I’ll see you soon!” he said as he disconnected. I sat my phone down and shook my head. “Jimmy excited about your birthday?” Brian asked with a chuckle. “Only a little,” I said sarcastically, “he’s extremely excited about going to get tattooed.” I sighed and laid back down next to Brian. “I don’t want to get out of bed yet. It’s my birthday, can’t I sleep in” I whined “Well, it is like eleven, so I think you did sleep in” he chuckled. “Want some birthday pancakes?” he asked with a smile. “Oh yes, I’ve been having these for years.” I grinned. Since my parents died, the guys have always made sure to have a huge ordeal on my birthday. Brian would always make pancakes for breakfast, then we would have a huge birthday party with all my friends and family, and Jimmy would cook whatever I wanted for supper. My best birthday memories have always contained Brian and the guys. We walked downstairs and I sat at the bar, nibbling on grapes while he cooked. “So what’s the plan for today?” He asked curiously. “well, I’m assuming we’ll do lunch then head to the tattoo shop. He said he wanted to spend time with me before all the animals came over” I chuckled. “I know I’m getting my death bat today, and it’s a tradition to have every band member present for that, so I think I might get something before that, just something special between Jim and I.” “Oh he would like that,” Brian said, placing a stack of pancakes in front of me, “eat up, you’ll need lots of food to keep up with the massive amounts of alcohol you’ll be drinking tonight” he chuckled as he sat down next to me and we began to eat. Once we finished breakfast I tried to help him clean up, and he refused to let me “No way” he said “it’s your birthday, you don’t get to clean on your birthday” So I sat down in the floor and played with Pinkly while he cleaned up. I ran upstairs to brush my teeth and change back into my clothes. Once I was ready to leave I wrapped my arms around his neck and said “I’ll see you later, boyfriend, thanks for making the beginning of my birthday amazing” He put his lips to mine an kissed me deeply, “See you later babe.”

Once I got into my car I rolled down all the windows and opened my sunroof. Putting on my aviators, I cranked up the radio, Van Halen blaring out of my speakers. When I pulled up outside of my house Jimmy was standing on the front porch, waving like a child. “Hiii birthday girl!” he said with a grin as I walked up to him and hugged him. “Hey Jim, what are you doing out here?” “Well Brian called and told me his girlfriend was on her way home, so I thought I’d meet you outside” he smirked down at me. “Yeah yeah, give me grief later, we have tattoos to be getting!” I said excitedly. “Oh! Did you decide what you were getting?” he asked as we walked into the house “Yeah, I want us to go by ourselves and get something together, and once we’re finishing up ours we can call the guys so they can watch me get my Death Bat.” I explained, “I just need to shower really quick, I’ll do my hair later tonight” I said. “Sounds good to me. But you’re getting kicked out of the house before the party. Leana wants you to be surprised.” he said as I groaned “Fiiiiiine, I’ll just get dressed with Lily tonight. We’re going shopping after the tattoo parlor anyway.” “Okay, now go get your butt in the shower, I’m too excited about this” Jimmy said, jumping up and down. I grinned at my brother and ran upstairs to shower. I dressed in my favorite ripped denim shorts, a black wife beater, and black flip flops. I piled my hair into a messy bun and ran back downstairs. “Okay JimJam, let’s go get tattooed!” I said, running toward the door.

Once we got to the tattoo parlor I told Jimmy what I wanted us to get together. I wanted us to both have a puzzle piece, with Jimmy‘s colored in and mine just the outline. I also wanted to get FICTION tattooed down my left side, like he has on his chest. “Oh man Bea, that’s gonna look awesome” He said excitedly. First we got our puzzle piece tattoos, which are on our right hips. “I feel like such a chick” Jimmy chuckled “Well, you’re kinda running out of canvas space JimJam” I laughed. Next was my FICTION tattoo. It hurt like hell on my ribs, but was totally worth it. The tattoo artist was finishing up the shading when the guys came in. “Oh shit Bean, that looks awesome.” Matt said. “look guys, I got a little girly tattoo” Jimmy joked, “Oh whatever JimJam, you love it.” I said. “Of course I love it, you picked it out” Once my side tattoo was finished it was time for the Death Bat. Jimmy pulled a picture out of his pocket and showed it to me. It was the best Death Bat I had ever seen. It had highlights of pink and purple in the wings, and a big bow on the skull. “Jim that looks awesome!” I said excitedly. “Thanks Bea, where do you want it?” “Right here” I said, pointing in between my shoulder blades. While the artist was tracing the death bat, I went and looked at my FICTION tattoo in the mirror. “Man that’s awesome” I grinned, turning around to look at the guys. “What do you think?” “I think it looks great babe.” Brian said, kissing my head. “Now you’ll always have a piece of me wherever you go” Jimmy said with a smile as I sat down to get my Death Bat. A few hours later he was finished, and handed me a handheld mirror so I could go check it out. “oh my god.” I breathed, “it’s amazing, thank you so much” I said, tearing up. “Hey why the tears B?” Zack asked, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and hugging me to him. “Nothing, it just means so much to me. Thank you guys for being here with me.” I said “There’s nowhere else I would rather be Bea. You know that.” Jimmy said softly as he hugged me. Once my tattoo was covered and I had my clothes situated I rode to Matt and Val’s house with Matt so I could go shopping with Lily. I haven’t gotten to talk to her much with everyone around us, so one on one time was much needed. Once I got to their house I got a “happy birthday” and a big hug from Val, then Lil and I headed to the mall.

“So” Lily started once we got into the car, “I heard you stayed at Syn’s house last night. What happened?” “Well, he took me to dinner, gave me a gorgeous bracelet, we had a movie marathon, and as soon as I was ‘officially’ 18 he asked me to be his girlfriend.” I explained “And?” “And what?” “Oh come on B, you know what I mean” Lily said “Oh yeah, I said yes.” I smiled. “I KNEW IT!” she shouted, slamming a fist on her steering wheel “Whoa, easy there killer” I laughed, “Sorry, I’m just so excited! We can double date with the boys now!” She said excitedly “Oh that would be fun!” I agreed, “They would have no idea what to do with us.” I chuckled. We got to the mall and went straight to Forever 21 to pick out something amazing to wear. After trying on countless dresses I finally found one I loved. It was a one-shoulder bandage dress in black. “Oh Lil, this is totally the one” I said from inside my dressing room, “Well let’s see it! I think I found the perfect one too” Lily said excitedly. I exited my dressing room and came face to face with my best friend, who looked amazing in a turquoise sequined tube dress. “holy shit Lil” I said, looking at her dress “that looks amazing.” “Thanks, your dress looks super hot too” she said, moving over so I could look at my reflection in the mirror. “Wanna go buy shoes next? Or are you just going to wear a pair that you already have?” she asked. “I’m wearing my pink heels, but I can always take a new pair of shoes” I chuckled. We changed back into our clothes, paid for our purchases and headed toward the shoe store. After trying on a million pairs of shoes, I finally settled on a new pair of black strappy sandals, while Lily got a pair of black suede wedges. After grabbing a pretzel and an icee, we realized that it was getting late, so we decided to head back to Lily’s house to start getting ready for my birthday party.