#you'd think i'd seen someone get murder't

[sufferthesea]

I have two little cute headcanon requests! 😊❤️ Danny Rayburn throwing you a surprise party at his restaurant would include? And any other Mendo of your choice - what would dating them be like? Surprise me 😘😘 Thank you sweetheart! 😊💜🙏

Ooh gurl!! thank you so much for this request!! So I know it just said “surprise party” but I made it a birthday party lol. And I kinda added in the other prompt, so you get an idea of what dating Danny is like hehe. I know this is a SUPER long post but I just can’t not write for Danny. I love him so much. 

Surprise Birthday Party (and Dating) with Danny Rayburn HCs 

On the morning of your birthday, he has a birthday bouquet delivered to your house, along with pastries or whatever your favorite breakfast food is. He also calls you to wish you a happy birthday while he’s at work. He tells you that he wanted to have dinner with you but your birthday landed on a really busy day and he’ll be at work all day. 

Of course you’re disappointed but there’s nothing you can do about it. He asks if you’d be willing to stop by at around 7pm after the dinner rush so you can see him. He loves seeing you during his shift because the days can get long and stressful, and seeing your face helps him deal with difficult customers. Occasionally, he’ll cook for you or let you eat anything off the dead plates in the kitchen. He’s not supposed to have you back there for health reasons but … hey, it’s his restaurant.

So you agree to stop by and see him even though you’re pretty sad about the news. You love seeing him at work (he sometimes rolls up the sleeves on his chef’s coat and hoo boy is it sexy), and spending an hour or two at work is better than not seeing him at all on your birthday. And usually he has a cute surprise for you on your birthday, like a little gift or maybe a balloon or something, that he keeps in the kitchen until you’re there.

Meanwhile, Danny has been planning your birthday party for AGES. He loves treating you to things and he really loves being able to use his cooking skills to spoil you. He has contacted a few of your very close friends or family and asked them to come to the restaurant by 6pm. He secretly closed early and finished the dinner rush by 5pm to get the restaurant cleaned and set up for the party.

All the tables are decorated in nice white tablecloths and little decorations in your favorite colors. There’s a buffet table with large bouquets of flowers, a huge birthday cake (that he ordered from your favorite bakery), and all the gifts/cards are stacked neatly around the bouquets/cake.

Your friends and family help decorate the restaurant with streamers, banners, and signs. Danny and his crew begin cooking a special birthday dinner — whatever is your favorite. Steak and lobster? Fettuccine? Some complicated vegan dish with foreign ingredients? Whatever it is, Danny will make it and it’ll be perfect. He likes cooking for you, half because he genuinely loves the art of cuisine, and half because he loves showing off and impressing people (especially since he had been looked down on most of his life and was made to feel like he had no talents or purpose).

He makes everything absolutely perfect before you arrive. The food is ready, gifts are arranged, floor and windows are clean, and all the guests are there. He’s excited but nervous. He wants this to be a great birthday for you, and he hopes you actually show up at the restaurant instead of calling in to say you’d decided to stay home instead …

So you head to the restaurant that evening. Since it’s your birthday and you aren’t really gonna get to celebrate with Danny (so you think) you decide to treat yourself and him by buying a bottle of your favorite drink (wine, champagne, whiskey, sparkling cider, etc.). You arrive at the restaurant and are surprised to see that it’s almost deserted. There are a few cars, but not nearly the same amount as a typical dinnertime at Danny’s restaurant. It’s actually pretty popular so it’s weird to see it so empty when there are still hours before closing time. But you let yourself in through the front and it’s strangely quiet inside. It’s also pretty dark which is definitely weird.

You start to wonder where everyone is (?? Danny?? The waitresses? The guests??) when out of the semi-darkness you can see Danny standing at the hostess stand. He’s holding a plate with a single cupcake with a lit candle. He’s super adorable because he starts singing happy birthday to you as you walk over to him. You’re like, “?? What are you doing???” but it’s just so sweet so you let him sing (no matter how embarrassing you find it). He tells you to make a wish, so you do and blow out the candle.

Then he says, “Allow me to show you to your seat.” And you’re like “Okay…” Then the lights flip on and ?? The entire restaurant is decorated and all your loved ones are there! You’re completely floored and Danny laughs at your expression. You tell him you thought you were gonna have to sneak dinner with him between cooking dishes, and he laughs and quietly whispers to you, “You know you’re worth more than sneaking around in the back, even if it is fun.” When he realizes that you brought a bottle of whatever your favorite drink is, he clicks his tongue at you before taking the bottle and jokingly says he’ll save it for later.

He shows you to your seat and soon everyone is seated, and Danny and a few helpers start bringing out the food. Once everyone is served, Danny sits with you. You are totally surprised and you can tell how much work went into this party. Danny had to shut down his restaurant — his pride and joy — early just so that he could get this ready for you. He went out of his way to contact the people who meant the most to you, he went out and bought decorations, and he ordered a cake. If you were ever unsure about how he felt about you, now you knew for certain. Danny loved you with all of his heart and he was willing to do anything for you.

After dinner, he makes a big deal about the cake and presents. He makes sure you get the traditional first bite of cake (and he may or may not kiss you to get the extra frosting off your lips hehe) and then he wants to watch you open all your gifts. Really he just wants you to open his but he knows you need to open all of them. You hate opening gifts in front of people but you also know it’s rude to not so you give in and agree to start opening gifts. Danny sits you down at your table and begins bringing over gifts. All of the gifts are really nice and you thank everyone. Then you get to the last gift, Danny’s gift. You’re kind of nervous because Danny can be kind of a trickster and he likes to embarrass you a bit and he really can be quite shameless, so do you really want to open this gift when friends and family are all watching you?

But Danny is eagerly waiting so you hesitantly open the gift and it’s actually ??? A really cute gift? It’s probably something like a little locket with a photo of both of you, or something sentimental. Whatever it is, it’s really cute and personal and you’re kind of surprised at how sweet it is. Danny is a really sweet partner and he is really good at getting gifts for you, but he still keeps his heart pretty guarded so knowing that he got you this gift and wanted you to open it in front of everyone? You’re blushing pretty hard but you make sure to tell him thank you, and when you give him a hug you also manage to kiss him and lean in to whisper that you love him.

After the party (which probably goes too late), everyone leaves except for you and Danny, and the few helpers who stayed to clean up. Danny takes you into the kitchen and pulls out two glasses and pours your favorite drink for both of you. He probably sits you on the counter because he thinks it’s so cute and he likes watching you dangle your legs back and forth because your feet can’t reach the ground. Then he tells you that he’s going to give you your “real gift” now and you’re like … yeah, alright, shameless pervy Danny was here all along, he just needed some alcohol to steel his nerves. But you’re surprised when he pulls out another gift box and gives it to you and watches you open it.

It ends up being a little photo album full of photographs of both of you together through your relationship. Little candid pictures of you that he took, selfies together, group photos, etc. It’s so cute, you could die. You end up crying a little bit because of how sentimental and sweet the gift is, and that’s in addition to the sweet locket he gave you!!

You end the night with drinking and him walking you home after he locks up the restaurant. To your surprise, he’s pretty gentlemanly but you assume it’s because he has to work early tomorrow morning and he can’t afford to jeopardize his livelihood. So he kisses you goodnight (it probably actually didn’t start off that innocent because, well, it’s Danny, but he certainly tries to make it teasing and he is an expert at teasing, so just when you’re just about to ask him to stay the night he breaks the kiss and says he has to leave lol). Then he waits to make sure you get inside okay, then he heads back to his apartment. During the night, he’ll text you periodically to remind you that he loves you and to wish you a happy birthday.

“Your birthday doesn’t end until midnight, so I can wish you a happy birthday all I want until then,” he says. He’s such a dork. But sweet. And the last thing he texts you before he goes to bed is, “I love you.” It may seem pretty plain to some (no nickname or anything), but you know how much he means it, and how hard it is for him to be open with his feelings. So, really, that little text means just as much as the gifts he got for you. You make sure to text him back, “I love you too” because, honestly, he needs it and deserves it.