The Art of Living

[46] Past Troubles

"What is this?" She asked curiously and showed Brian one of the boxes he had brought earlier.

Brian looked at it for a moment. "That's a stew, vegetarian. Mum made it especially for me because she knows I don't like meat. And that's a vegetarian lasagne. And that's what you had earlier. Pick whatever you want. Or we can make something else."

"Oh.. well.. not really, because I still haven't done any shopping. We really have to do that tomorrow, remember that. But we still have the pizza from yesterday."

"I will try to remember that, but I'm not promising anything," he chuckled and then nodded. "Right, yes, the pizza. Well, it's whatever you prefer."

Ellie nodded a little. "I'm curious about that stew. What about you?"

"Whatever you're having, I like all options." He smiled at her and kissed her cheek quickly before he made the tea.

Ellie chuckled a little and looked at him. "You're adorable, you know that?" She warmed two portions of the stew in a pot, watching Brian while she waited.

"Well, I try," he chuckled softly. "Hey, by the way, I've been meaning to ask you, how come you still have classes?"

"Oh, uhm, well, my professor was ill a lot during February and March, and because we're only four people in the class we agreed to have that course for as long as it's necessary. But actually, after I hand in my project - which I have to finish for Monday, by the way - I'm done too. Finally," she chuckled.

Brian nodded a little. "Alright. Do you need any help with your project? I really wouldn't mind helping you, if you want that."

"You don't have to, really."

"Ellie.." Brian told her off gently.

Immediately she nodded. "Right, yes. Sorry. If you really want to help me, then I guess you could help me glue the photos into the album?"

"That sounds like something I can definitely do, yes." He smiled at her. "And I will very gladly do that."

"Thank you.. I really appreciate that. It means that I'll be done sooner. And actually, you should help me because you distracted me yesterday and today."

Brian laughed softly. "Right, okay, that does sound fair. And I have another question, which I really want to ask you."

"Go ahead.." She looked at him curiously.

"When is your birthday? I don't want to accidentally miss it just because I don't know about it."

Ellie smiled at him, at how thoughtful he was being. "Don't worry, it's still a bit more than three months away. It's October 13th."

"How old are you? I don't even know that... we're completely doing this the wrong way around, aren't we? I've seen you naked but I don't know how old you are..." Brian shook his head, an amused smile on his face.

Ellie laughed a little. "Now that you put it like that, you are right. It is weird. I'm 22, so I'll be turning 23 in October. What about you? When is your birthday, and how old are you?"

"I'm 22 as well, and I'll be turning 23 in... 16 days. On July 19th."

"What? That's really soon.. Wow... well. What is the plan for your birthday? What do you want as present?" She asked and looked at him.

Brian smiled sheepishly and shook his head. "You don't have to get me a present. But if you insist, I'm sure you can find something. And the plan is... to visit my parents, it's a Sunday, so most likely Roger and Freddie will want to do something Saturday night - we have a gig then too - so we can start my birthday 'properly'..."