The Story of Y(our) Life - Chris Evans x Reader
written as a birthday gift for my lovely friend @theycallmebecca Thank you to @mrs-captain-evans for the read through.
You woke up on the morning of your birthday and paused, taking a moment to make your first wish of the day. It was tradition, something that your parents had started when you were little. They would wake you up gently and tell you to make your biggest wish right there and then so that it had time to come true.
They’d cheated, of course. There were always questions before your birthday that they would ask in order to figure out what your wish would be and secure whatever it was. As you grew older, the wishes didn’t always come true. Kind of hard for them to find your favorite boy band member to come and marry you, after all. It was okay, though. Some wishes weren’t meant to come true. The important thing was the feeling of magic you captured by continuing the ritual.
This year, you put extra hope into your wish. It was for something you wanted from the bottom of your heart. Something you’d secretly been praying would happen for a long time.
You got up, dressed, and made your way out of the bedroom. The smell of coffee and breakfast being made lured you into the kitchen. Your boyfriend, Chris, was at the stove and almost done making your favorite, Cinnamon French Toast.
“Hey there Birthday Girl!” he sang, turning his face and pushing his lips out, waiting for a smooch. After you came by to give him one, he turned his attention back to the skillet and flipped the bread out and onto a dish that was already piled high.
Chris picked up the dish with one hand and gestured towards the table with his other. “Perfect timing, my love. Breakfast is served.”
After you’d taken your seat, he poured you a cup of coffee and then took a seat beside you.
“Did you make your morning wish?” Chris asked, well aware of your ritual.
“You bet I did,” you replied, trying to hide the smile that wanted to take over your face as you thought about it.
He hid a smile of his own with a coffee cup as he said, “I hope it comes true.”
You noticed that he was bouncy, like he was full of energy. He was also biting the inside of his cheek, a habit that you knew meant he was a little anxious.
“You’re up to something, Chris. I know that smirk. Spill it.”
Playing coy and innocent, he put down his coffee and threw his hands up in the air in defeat. “Just excited to give you my present, I swear. Nothing else. But eat first, though, before it gets cold.”
“Seriously? You expect me to eat after you tease me like that?”
He reached over to your plate and cut a piece of the french toast. “What can I say? I’m evil like that,” he said, holding the fork full of bread up to feed you the first bite. It was delicious. The perfect amount of cinnamon and nutmeg, balanced with vanilla extract for flavor. You knew resistance was futile, so you took the fork from him and dug in.
Over breakfast you made plans for the day. Part of those plans included a big family dinner with both families, since they were neighbors and close friends. Your parents moved in right after Chris’s parents had their first child. Not too long after, both mom’s got pregnant and you were born just a few months after Chris came into this world.
You’d literally known each other for your entire lives.
After you were both done eating, he picked up the dirty dishes and placed them in the sink, then snuck into another room and came back with a wrapped box.
“Ooooh, presents! I looooove presents!!” you sang, excitedly, earning a large smile from him.
He appeared a bit nervous as he sat down. Chris’s eyes were bright and alert and his body was tense. You could see the rise and fall of his chest as his breathing became rapid while waiting for you to rip the paper. Normally you’d be tearing into it, but something about his energy kept your attention on him instead.
“Well…. Open it!”
It was too good of an opportunity to pass up. You had to torture him a little.
Ever so carefully, you peeled open the corners, one piece of tape at a time. A quick side glance at Chris showed him about to lose his mind because of it. Whatever was inside of the box really must be special. Your curiosity now outweighed your desire to bust his balls and you tore off the rest in two quick rips.
Chris sat back in his chair and grinned, exclaiming, “Now that’s the girl I know and love!”
With moisture already springing into your eyes, you pulled the book that was inside of the box out and laid it on the table. Running your hand over the cover, lovingly, you asked, “Oh…Chris! What did you do?”
Before you was a scrapbook with the title, “The Story of Y(our) Life”. It was written above side by side photos of you and Chris as babies and a more recent photo.
He was now leaning forward on the table, resting on his arms with his fingers steepled. Watching you intently, he said in a deep voice that was just above a whisper, “Why don’t you open it an find out?”
You smiled at him and bit your lip, then did as he suggested.
The title wasn’t kidding. Chris had created a scrapbook that chronicalled every year of your lives together. He began with your first year of life, including photographs of the two of you. Each photo across the pages had small handwritten little stories and anecdotes for each one. The book was thick enough for you to know that he’d done so for every year, right up to the current one. You started to flip to the back to see if your hunch was correct, but he quickly stopped you by taking hold of your hands.
“Uh-uh. Back to the beginning with you! It’s never fun to ruin a book’s ending. There was a journey to go through first.”
“Agreed. Now, let’s see what we’ve got here.”
He’d started with your baby photos. There was one of you hitting him in the head with your rattle, fury clear upon your face. Chris had written how his mom told him the story behind the moment. Apparently, he had thrown his own off the chair and decided to try to take yours. You were not having any part of that nonsense. His mom recalled watching you snatch it away and bash him with it.
Unfortunately, Chris had to learn things the hard way. You could remember many times that you’d bashed him with things that he tried to take from you when you were kids. It made you wonder how many of those got captured on film.
The book took a long time to go through. With each photo and comment there came reminiscing and more stories about the past. Things were embellished upon, some tales led to others. You laughed to tears and shed tears as people in the photos who were loved and gone came into your hearts. These pictures were like a magic portal to the past.
It always amazed you that this man, you so deeply loved and cherished now, had truly been someone who had been your world forever. How it took you so long to realize he was the love of your life still shocked you. Maybe it was because you’d been so close all those years that the love was always there and just masked somehow. Maybe it was fear of how things would change. You’d never really nailed it down, but it didn’t really matter anymore. It happened when it was supposed to happen, like all good things do.
The early pictures were full of sweet adventures and fun times. Learning how to ride bikes; flying kites at the beach for the first time (you still had a scar from where it crash landed into your leg); playing in giant ball pits; riding ponies at the fair. There was a photo of you both dressed up for Halloween. You were a bag of jellybeans (created out of water balloons) and Chris was a cowboy. The picture showed you both passed out on the sofa after a sugar crash. Many of your balloons were lost to his six shooter.
There were many photos of trips taken with both families to Disney World, zoos (where the snapshot was you and Chris pretending to be monkeys), and camping at a lake.
Photographs from birthdays, high school, holidays and concerts were all in there with fun notes. The tone of the book changed as the years went on and you could see why he wanted you to start at the beginning.
That spark of love was truly always there. He’d perfectly chosen photos that captured those tiny moments of it shining through. There were looks being exchanged, the way your bodies angled towards one another. Smiles that were widest when aimed at each other. It was crystal clear now that he’d always loved you, too.
It wasn’t until you were both older that you finally spoke the words out loud. He’d included a picture of the day you’d had your first kiss and there was visible relief on your faces. No more masks, no more hiding feelings. You were in love, relaxed, and in total bliss.
The pages of road trips taken together took you through lunch. God those were so much fun, and something you never seemed to get to do anymore. You both made a pact to do one at least once a year from now on.
You both shared a love of football and baseball. There were many pictures from going to the games and parties at various homes with family and friends.
The more recent pages showed pictures of carrying boxes as you moved in together. Failed attempts at cooking meals. Beautiful photographs of you both dressed up for weddings and events.
On the last page was a photo of you, cradled in his arms, both of you facing the camera and smiling.
Beneath it was a note that read, “You’ve been my best friend my entire life. When we fell in love, we both knew it was right. Now the only thing left to ask is…. Will you be my wife?”
Your head shot up from the page the second your finished reading the words and you stared at him with an open mouth and wide eyes.
“Chris?”
You wanted to say so much more. You wanted to ask him if this was for real or if you were still dreaming, but your throat was too choked with emotions to let them come out.
He stood up, smiling larger than you’d ever seen him do before, and walked over to a nearby desk. From a drawer, he pulled out a small, black velvet box and made his way back to you.
Dropping to one knee, he opened the box to display a dazzling engagement ring, then took your hand in his and spoke out loud the words you’d been wanting to hear for so long.
Your parents had been right all along. Birthday wishes made with all your heart’s desire really could come true.
