daisy

Daisy listened with a happy smile on her face. She had her head on Seth's chest, listening to the deep rumble as he read Cinderella word by word. Though a little staggered, she appreciated the effort he put in emphasising his words, making it as dramatic as possible. He also quietly, yet with full confidence, changed his voice to match the characters.

She remembered how thrilled she was to see the brand new book on the shelf in the prison common room. It was a dark, violent version of the classic fairy tale which made it a lot more fitting to be seen in such a place.

Seth was still treating her like a princess and doting on her every need. She didn't think it would be possible that his unique infatuation for her could increase but it did the moment she woke up and he wished her a happy birthday.

While locked away, time wasn't a factor. Maybe for some that were counting down the days but the longer Daisy was in there, the more she couldn't imagine being anywhere else. She would only trade one room with steel bars, for another room with flowered wallpaper.

She pined for the outside - to feel the freedom of walking to the ice cream shop, reading in her regular café and seeing the newly released books herself. But after endless time of wishing for something that wasn't coming for a long time, Daisy gave up and lost the will to leave. She was content and settled for the time being until the next yearning for freedom hit.

On days like her birthday however, she was torn. While the supposedly special day should hold meaning, it never did while she was with her family. It was more of a day she did whatever she liked, everything that made her happy all in one day. She was thankful that Seth was someone that made her abundantly happy and the love that he showed her was a blessing she didn't take for granted. A love like theirs only came once in a person's life, if they were to be so lucky to have that, and for the first time in her life, she truly felt like someone genuinely appreciated her being alive.

As soon as she woke up, he had scattered cut up pieces of pink paper hearts on the floor of their cell and apologised profusely for the lack of balloons and other decorations, claiming his crafting skills had reached their limits with the hearts.

She wondered if that is what had been occupying his time. Seth was recently disappearing more often, taking more phone calls and it made her worry. The change in routine increased her anxiety and made her feel like something bigger was happening.

But, she reasoned that perhaps his leadership was more in demand from the gang. Reluctantly, he'd tell her about the terrifying stories involving murder and drugs and all the things she was never exposed to before. She would force him to tell her once she had wracked up all her courage, treating is like a true crime documentary.

Although, it was still unnerving that her gentle giant Seth was a large part of the horror. Accepting of his gang was one thing but being supportive was something else entirely, something that she hasn't reached as of yet.

"Are you still listening?" He whispered into her hair, followed with a loving kiss.

"Of course? Why? Do you want to stop?" She pouted even though he couldn't see it.

"No, my angel. I just thought you might be bored. I don't know how you read so much so fast. I keep tripping over my words, it's embarrassing," he admitted.

While that was true, Daisy still adored him reading to her, enjoying both the undivided attention he gave her and the story itself. "You like me reading to you though?" she asked in confusion. Usually, he would listen to her read for hours and at the same time it would be all the books she knew he had no real interest in.

"Yeah but I just love your voice and seeing you in your element, you know this."

"Well guess what Sethy?" She asked.

"What, angel?"

She turned her head awkwardly to look up at him and grinned. "It's my birthday. Do you know what that means?" This time he didn't say anything and just looked at her expectedly with his familiar loving expression. In response to his silent question, she sang, "you do what I want! So keep reading mister."

Knowing she was the only person in the world to give Seth orders and him not follow with a negative, aggressive response, she rubbed her head on his stubble fondly and closed her eyes, awaiting the continuation of her new favourite book.

~~~

"I put a tenner on Messi doing a hat-trick after half time," announced a large man sat in front of one of the screens. The entire room shook with men pushing in front of each other to achieve a better view than possible in prison and at competing volume levels, yelled excitedly what their counter bets were.

Every few weeks, the football would be the most frightening time Daisy experienced while incarcerated and she dreaded it. It was like the world was mocking her when they dated the biggest football event of the year on her birthday.

She jumped out of her skin and further into Seth's every time there was a near goal. She suspiciously felt him pull her closer every time, making her feel he was enjoying it.

Although he would find a quiet place for her whenever she asked, Daisy didn't want to pull him away from the rowdy atmosphere. He hadn't spent time with Nate and Levi in a while in his attempt to make things up with her. She was worried they'd drift apart because of this and after experiencing what it was like to have no friends, she couldn't think of anything worse. When she expressed her concerns to Seth however, he only laughed at her silliness saying, "true friends stick with you no matter how much time passes."

Seth nudged her out of her thoughts. Being stuck in her head was better than experiencing the overstimulating ruckus around her. Even the prison guards were getting involved. "What are you thinking, my angel?" he asked softly.

"Nothing."

"You are thinking it's your birthday and Valentine's Day so why are you watching crummy football with a load of sweaty men," he stated smoothly in her ear, causing Daisy to giggle.

She saw one of said men scowl at her from the corner of her eye. "No I'm not!"

A deep chuckle came from his throat as he continued playfully, "and you're thinking you would much rather be with your handsome, handsome boyfriend on a special date celebrating your special day."

She just hummed in agreement, knowing he wasn't wrong but it was sad to acknowledge because the dates she dreamed of all consisted of things outside of prison. While Seth would continually make the effort to change their routine and create small activities for them to do, their options were very limited.

She wondered why he'd bring up something quite sad to think about. However, from the cunning smirk on Seth's face, he clearly had something up his sleeve. With ease, he lifted her out of the comfortable position she had in his lap and onto her feet.

Nate looked giddy, a smile from ear to ear stretched across his face. "Ooo is it time? Have fun!"

"Yeah have a good birthday thing Daisy," Levi added.

Perplexed, he looked at her boyfriend's still smirking face. "Birthday thing?" Seth shushed her playfully and wrapped his muscled arm around her waist leading her out of the common room. "Where are we going? I don't think we're supposed to leave," she said and chewed on the sleeve of her sweatshirt nervously.

"You really think I'd have to be there if I didn't want to be there? Silly girl." He laughed at her shrug and then her head shake in response. She would never understand why he was even in prison, positive that Seth could probably talk his way out of anything if he wanted.

They walked silently around the empty halls, past multiple wings. Everyone but them were preoccupied with the football and those that weren't, like Mrs Patel, were given the day off to spend time with family.

She let herself be ushered, knowing she didn't know her way around the prison at all despite it being months since she arrived. Seth was her own personal guide so she never needed to figure out the maze of stone walls, but she was happy with that especially when it led to surprises.

They turned a corner and stopped in front of a utility cupboard - a suspicious utility cupboard. "Are we going to make out?" She assumed that would be the most possible reason they were stood outside the private room as her boyfriend looked a little too excited to be mopping the floors.

"Hahaha. Possibly," he flashed his pearly teeth and winked. "But that's not all we're going to do, my adorable birthday girl."

Slowly and dramatically, he opened the door to reveal an explosion of fairy lights strung on the walls of a larger room than a utility cupboard. It appeared to be a small break room with a sofa, a table and some kitchen appliances. Those however, were easily overlooked by the pillows scattered on a large patterned blanket in the middle of the room.

The dimmed room was ethereal. Although, it very quickly blurred with tears as she looked at the dreamy scene in front of her. "I- I've not seen fairy lights in so long, Sethy."

He rubbed her back affectionately and pushed her to the thick blanket, much thicker and prettier than any blanket she had ever seen in the prison. "I knew you'd like them," he said with pride. "I got the guards to lend us one of their break rooms for a few hours. I also asked people outside to send me the most beautiful cosy things and the governor approved them for your birthday. Of course, not as beautiful as you. Sorry to disappoint."

"It's definitely cosy," Daisy whispered in awe. She sat down cross legged on the floor, feeling the soft, colourful fabrics beneath her with her astonished eyes never leaving the twinkling lights. It was better than any date she could dream of. "Thank you."

"That's not all!" Beneath one of the strategically placed pillows, Seth retrieved a DVD player. It looked extremely old, which wasn't surprising because she didn't know they still existed. "Ok, don't judge, I see you judging. Their tv is broken but luckily Dave, the old geezer, had this somewhere. I thought we could watch..." after another pillow and another dramatic pause, he presented Cinderella. "This! It's not a gory one like the book but I thought you'd like it anyway."

She would've physically swooned if she wasn't already sat down but internally, every sort of happy emotion inflamed her heart. "I love you."

Seth cupped her face in his hand and kissed her as if he was forcing love into her. She felt it. Every bit of love he had to give, she felt it and it filled her whole self with disbelief. Disbelief in having been so lucky to meet the light of her life in a place built for darkness, just like the fairy lights in the dim room they were cuddling in.

"I love you, my angel. You are my world. I am so happy you exist and you're in my life. My funny, clever, kind, loving girl," he pecked her between each word, making her emotionally giggle against his lips. "Now let's watch this film while I get the cake!"

"There's cake?!"

~~~

Thank you for reading!

When's your birthday? Mine is the 1st January.

WORD COUNT: 2011

Much love <3

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