Where are you taking me?

"So, where are you taking me this late? I mean, we need the headlamps to even see the road," Walter said as he turned his face toward Nicole, who focused a little too much on the road. Her lack of expertise was obvious due to her stiff shoulders and overstretched neck as she drove.

"Are you scared?" she asked, turning to look at him briefly before turning back to the road.

"C'mmon, I'm never scared," he replied, nestling himself in his seat.

"Don't worry, it's a surprise. I mean" she chuckled, "it's not a surprise if you know where we're going." She said just before taking a rough right turn, another indication of her need for more driving lessons.

"Come to think of it, have you ever left Birmingham?" She asked, taking another sharp glance at his face before re-concentrating on the road once again.

"Actually, when our family got here, we —" the jolt caused by the car's non deceleration over a speed bump interrupted his speech.

She then made another quick glance at him, chuckling as she said, "You were saying?"

After an hour of Nicole's very bumpy ride, they got to a hidden location on the edge of Birmingham, Coventry was just up ahead. There was a funfair Nicole had paid for, the Dream house.

Dream house was seated on an elevated plane where they could see the top of the whole city in all its beauty.

"Shall we?" She asked, extending her hand towards him with a warm smile on her face.

Walter was stunned and kept wondering how much she must've spent on the place. The vibrant lights, the unique infrastructure, the rides, the advertised food, basically everything about the place left him astonished.

"How much did you sp–"

"Shhhhhh!" She said while placing her finger on his lips, interrupting his question. "Let's go have fun" she continued, pulling him by the hand onto the ride.

They rode a horse together. On the sturdy back of a horse, it walked them a few meters under the gentle lightning of the moon. Even though it was chilly that night Walter was nervous and sweaty. He had never ridden a horse before. However, Nicole was calm, a sign that she was familiar with it.

As they rode together, anytime the horse playfully reared, a gush of both excitement and fear would rush through their veins. However, Walter was clearly more anxious. He released his anxiety through an awkward series of laughter.

"Calm down, would ya?." Nicole said, sensing his unease.

"What are you talking about? I'm calm. The Lord is good." He replied with a quivering voice and a tight grip that portrayed how nervous.

After their equine adventure, they were slated for an underground roller coaster. Its design was scary; images that portrayed the underworld.

"This one's creepy," Walter said, pointing to a picture on the wall across their ride. It had an ape-like appearance, however, with more fur, and with unusually longer arms than usual.

Nicole turned to take a look, "Nah, it's cute actually. Look, it's even got wings!" she said as she began laughing.

"You need help," Walter crackled, joining her because her laugh was contagious.

While the ride was about to begin, Walter didn't take his eyes off Nicole for a minute, watching her get ready for the ride as she struggled to properly strap her seat belt across her.

"By the way, I got you these very cool blue contact lenses." she said, "they'll protect your eyes, and…well…make them blue. If you care about me, you'll not ever take them off…ever."

"You know I do care about you, I'll never take them off." he said as he hurriedly took them and put them on. When he was done, different emotions flooded his mind as he looked at her even more.

How can someone so pretty even fall for me? He thought to himself. I don't deserve her. I don't want to ever lose her.

As she finally strapped the safety belt across her, and placed her hands on the safety bar of the ride, "you're an angel" he said.

She turned sharply, "What was that?"

"Never mind," He said, "the ride is about to begin."

The ride started going deeper and deeper slowly into the dimly lit tunnel. Walter was so nervous about what was about to happen, that his heart raced as the vehicle kept creeping along the narrow trail.

Suddenly, the slow ride jerked, as the trail slid them into a very sharp descent, before propelling them upwards. It did this multiple times that they both firmly clenched onto the safety bars so much that their palms began paling. In the breathtaking ride, everywhere outside the ride became blurry as they moved, through the twists and turns of the fleeting ride.

As the ride made its final ascent, Walter felt nauseous. Nicole turned to Walter, "Are you okay?", she asked. He nodded his head while pressing one hand against his mouth, in an attempt to re-swallow his ingesta. His eyes were watery, but the queasy feeling remained, right then the ride got to the summit and catapulted them down one last time.

Despite his resolve not to throw up, he couldn't hold it in. He threw up all over the cart. After the ride had become stationary, Walter still felt nauseous on getting down. He staggered so Nicole offered a shoulder as they walked.

"What type of beef is from Vorm?" She asked, whilst supporting Walter.

"What was that?" Walter asked. He wasn't sure he had heard correctly.

"What type of beef is from Vorm?" She repeated, looking at him.

"I don't know. You tell me." He said with a frustrated intonation.

"Vorm-meat" she said, bursting into laughter on their way

"Haha, very funny,"

They made their way to a tall building up ahead, they got to the stairs at the back of the building and kept going higher and higher.

"Where are we going? Aren't we going back?" Walter asked, "It's pretty late."

"No, we're not." She said calmly.

"Huh? What do you mean 'we're not', look at the time and your parents are looking for you, aren't they?"

"Exactly my point" Nicole responded as they both reached the end of the stairs, "it's too late to drive, except you want us to crash. I got us a room to spend the night," she said as she unwrapped herself from his arm to knock on a door before re-entwining herself in his arms again.

She had barely repositioned herself when the door slowly creaked open, revealing a tall and very muscular man who had shades on and a very large scar on his chest that he left unbuttoned. His size filled the entrance completely, he casted a shadow on them cause he was tall and big.

"Is he the pri–"

"161" Nicole interrupted, showing him an ID card before stuffing it back to her side pocket.

The man scanned Walter from head to toes twice. He then signaled by sharply twisting his head towards the door while he stepped aside from the door. They both walked in, their arms still around each other, and walked past the man as he shut the door behind them while they kept walking.

Who wears shades by this time of the night? Walter thought.

"This way," Nicole said as they turned towards another staircase to their left. However, this staircase whirled and was much more decorated. It was also illuminated with many dim candlesticks.

"There should be an elevator for this kind of height," Walter commented.

"You're right, but there are eyes everywhere, and I'm trying to stay out of sight," Nicole said.

Finally, they reached a floor that had many doors. It was a beautiful, intricate building that was well illuminated with expensive bulbs, beautiful paintings and classy music. The scent of barbecue was everywhere, however, they didn't see anyone on that very extensive floor as they walked to the front of one of the doors.

"Have you been here before?" Walter asked while Nicole hastily unlocked the door.

"I came here to prepare it for us," she said as she motioned with her hand for him to get in.

As Walter stepped in, the aura of the room enveloped him. The room was decorated with roses and was heavily perfumed. It had a wide television with a Netflix subscription. It was also connected to a play station, promising them more time to have fun, either way. There were so many fascinating things about the room, but the pièce de résistance of the room was the balcony. The balcony offered an extensive panorama of the whole city below. The beautiful illumination of the city lights was a breathtaking scenery that left Walter's mouth ajar. Everything about the room was very well calculated. Specifically meant to create memories.

Walter turned to Nicole who had her hands hidden behind her body, eager to hear what he had to say. Tears pooled in the corners of his eyes,

"Nicole…" he called her name with a quivering voice.

"Yeah?," she answered, taking slow steps towards him.

She stood in front of him, looking directly into his eyes. He could see the reflection of the moon through her emotion filled beautiful dark eyes as she concentrated deep into his.

"This is the best birthday gift I have ever had," he said, tears slowly rolled down his cheeks. She sent a silent invitation for a hug by extending her arms. Immediately, Walter returned the gesture . They hugged tightly, but gently.

Suddenly, a vibration resonated through them, breaking their embrace. Walter reached for his pocket.

"Mom's calling." He said

"Aren't you going to pick it up?"

"No, I'll leave her a message later to let her know I'm fine,"

"Okay," Nicole responded. Thinking of what to say, she asked, "Are you hungry?"

"Yeah, I'm starving, actually," He responded while still typing his message. "Done!" He said, sliding his phone back into his pocket.

At the corner of the room, there were lots of barbecued delicacies and a selection of wine. They ate together, savoring every bite with their wine as they watched movies, played games and finally, adoring the city below them. They did this until they both fell asleep.