Birthdays.

For some people, they're one of the best days of their lives. All the attention, gifts, cake, moments with friends made for a perfect evening. But I didn't really have any of that. Maybe it was my fault for keeping my actual birthday confidential and declining Milo's ideas for a small party.

Colton had planned extravagant parties in the past; for my sixteenth birthday, he rented a nightclub, citrus dancers, and a giant elephant I could arrive in. My step-father brought a beautiful strapless black tulle princess ball gown with bedazzled jewels on the breast line.

I thought it would be one of the best days of my life... only to find out the truth concurred that night years later. Half the night I was searching for Colton, wanting to spend every waking moment with him, but he was nowhere. By the time the cake was cut, I had given up all hope of finding him and cried on the nightclub stairs away from everyone.

Colton emerged like a knight in shining armor riding a white horse acting as if he wasn't the reason my entire night was ruined. Like an idiot, I forgave him and we rode the horse somewhere private to talk about nonsense. Our future.

Something that only mattered to me...

Long story short, I hated birthdays.

Jab, jab, cross. Jab, cross, cross.

Sweat trickled into my eyes burning them, and I swiped my forearm over my face before slamming my fist into the punching bag again. Early sessions at the gym were my routine I resented having to change it. Whenever thoughts crept back into my head, I hit harder.

Too many fucking thoughts, too many fucking feelings.

Why were they resurfacing? Why was suddenly being around Ambrose messing with my head? I tripled texted the loser when I never had before. I actually hoped and waited for him to answer me. Yet, here I was upset about.

Jab, dodge, hook. Jab, jab, cross.

My arms burned and I welcomed the pain, welcomed the way it seared everything out of my brain. I should've fake-dated Ollie; maybe then I wouldn't be conflicted with this feeling. Why couldn't I shut off my humanity like Stefan had? I was able to seal away the things I felt for Wesley by pushing him away.

But something told me that wouldn't work in this situation...

There was nothing but strong resistance of the sand in the bag and the jolting impact that shocked up my arm and down my leg. Could I punch the bag straight off its chains? My phone vibrated causing my music to be replaced by my ringtone.

Who's calling me at this hour?

Unknown number.

With a shrug, I answered, "Hello?"

"D?" his voice caused goosebumps to emerge on my skin.

"C-Colton?" I stuttered. "Why are you c-calling me?"

He huskily laughed, I could imagine the smirk forming on his face. "You really think I would forget it's your birthday? I thought you knew me better than that, D."

My heart bounced against my ribcage matching how rapidly my breaths were coming out. "Well, thanks I wondered how I would've survived without your yearly call." Sacartism laced in my voice.

"D, have a bit of compassion. I'm trying to be sympathetic, here. You know, all I wanted is the best for you," he darkly chuckled, shivers crawled down my spine. "Since you failed to want it for yourself even after your sister's accident."

My fist tightened. "Don't talk about her like you actually care. All you're trying to do is torment me and I won't have it this year so fuck off!"

"Getting a new boyfriend has made you strong, I don't like it..." he huffed.

"Does it look like I give a fuck? Now, why don't you do the world a favor and jump off a cliff?" I spat, hanging the call before he could retail. To keep from receiving another call, I shut off.

I wailed, latching onto the ropes of the matching ring as I heaved to catch my breath. They were coming out shallow, I felt as I was being compressed by walls. My arms trembled ferociously, and they lost their place on the ropes causing me to collapse onto the mat.

The door creaked open but I couldn't focus on anything other than working on my breathing.

"Holy shit, Davina? Are you okay?" Max's voice chimed in my ear as he hopped into the ring. He elevated my head onto his legs and brought the abandoned water bottle up to my lips. "You can get through this, just focus on your breathing."

With a hint of courage, I hoisted my head from his knees and rested my forehead on mine. Quietly weeping as silence surrounded us. I expelled a trembling breath, craning my neck towards Max's uneasy expression.

"Do you want to talk it out?" Max asked, his eyes gleaming with worry.

I shook my head. "No, I just went too hard on the punching bag and wasn't focusing on my breathing."

"Davina..." he trailed.

I forced a genuine smile. "What? I'm perfect as a peach just lost it for a second."

His eyebrows crinkled. "Alright... but I don't think you should go back to punching the bag for today. Head home, your session is done for today."

"Fine," I sighed in defeat.

Skipping into the hotel, I went straight for the breakfast bar for all the guests. There were trays filled with donuts, eggs, bacon, turkey, bagels, and most importantly pancakes! The workers changed all the trays every ten minutes so their guests gets the full experience. My eyes instantly locked on a vanilla donut and two heart-shaped pancakes. A sprinkle of Nutella cured the heartache away.

"Davina!" a loud, chirp voice shouted.

I swung my head around to see her.

Her hair was the brown of aged mahogany, rich, and deep yet with subtle hues from the sunshine. They were pulled into pigtails with matching red bows to go along with her square neck drawstring butterfly blouse and chiffon mini skirt.

The entire gang followed behind her, my eyes focusing extra long on Ambrose. He ran long, tall fingers through coffee brown hair, freeing a few strands on his forehead. He towered over her petite frame in a charcoal button-down, sleeves rolled up, top buttons undone. He looked so goddamn attractive.

A ping of pain shot through my chest.

While Lana looked excited to see me, his eyes were locked on her.

Why do I even care?

"Good morning, Davina! We were going to invite you to breakfast but looks like you had a head start." Lana giggled.

I swallowed the mouthful of pancakes mixed with donuts. "Oh, yeah... I had a quick session at the gym so I'm starving."

Her perfectly plucked eyebrows crinkled. "That's odd... Ambrose said you would be sleeping since you had that big shoot last night."

Catalina squeezed, grabbing onto my arm. "Now, tell me! Who did you pose for? Vogue? Marie Clarie? Allure? Elle? I work for Vogue in the city."

Confusion washed over me. The only thing I did yesterday was reorganize my wardrobe since I had new shipping of clothing come in. My gaze flickered to Ambrose as he mouthed 'just go with it'.

"Vanity fair actually. The outfits ran blocks, it was so exhausting," I explained, munching on my delicious donut.

Ambrose sent a thumbs up.

"If Ambrose told me you guys were coming, I would've been ready to hang out with you guys," I said, watching as Ambrose's eyes shot open.

Lana swung to face him. "Huh? Someone has been burning his pants from lying too much."

Declan crossed his arms as he leaned on the wall. "Why are you acting surprised? His ears turn pink whenever he lies."

Ambrose's mouth dropped open as his hands shot up to cover his ears. "They do not! My ears are sensitive to the weather."

Meadow snorted. "I never noticed that actually. Catalina's eyes twitch whenever she lies, it's horrifying to experience."

Catalina nudged the maroon-haired friend in the gut. "Gee thanks! At least I don't burp whenever I lie like you. She lied in front of her boyfriend once and let out the biggest burp in his face."

Meadow's face was beetroot red. "Whatever, Nate loves me for me."

"How's your degree going, Declan? Studying being a doctor must be tough," I praised.

Declan rubbed his stubble chin. "Becoming a doctor may be easier than dealing with Lana and my mother."

Lana tilted her head like those puppies did in those TikTok videos. "Am I that troublesome?"

He laughed placing a small peck on her head. "You're irresistible when you do that."

My heart squeezed. I haven't really had the best examples of relationships in my life. With my parents splitting up before I hit double digits, and how controlling my ex-boyfriend was; it's no wonder I ended up the way I am. But watching Lana and Declan together, there was so much love between them I felt guilty for taking part in Ambrose's plan to ruin them.

It was innocent things like forehead kisses, interlocking hands, and their smiles reaching another universe when around each other. In many ways, I envied Lana, she had an amazing relationship and another incredible guy waiting on the sidelines. The only person who wanted me was the person who broke me, to begin with.

Lana giggled like a schoolgirl talking to her crush. "Davina, I was wondering after we catch a quick bite if you would like to go around the city with me?" Her eyes batted, giving off an innocent vibe that really had a strong grip on anyone in proximity.

Hanging around with Lana was probably a better idea than being superglued to Ambrose. With these uncharted feelings, I didn't want to be anywhere around him. Yet he was like my own personal drug, pulling me towards him with these questionable emotions.

"I'll love that. I'm going to hit the showers then," I replied with a smile.

Lana glanced at her hello-kitty watch. "Perfect, let's meet in an hour!"

Declan narrowed her eyes. "Why do you act like the watch works when it doesn't? Are you making up the numbers in your head?"

Ambrose gently placed his chin on top of her head. "Stop scolding her."

Declan scoffed. "I'm not scolding. I just don't understand why she does it."

"Maybe because she wants to..." Ambrose responded in a duh tone.

Lana pursed her lips. "Declan, don't act like you didn't use it this morning when you woke up!"

He playfully rolled his eyes. "That's because you kept my phone on the other side of the room."

Awkwardly, I wandered close to the elevator. "I'm going to head upstairs..."

Lana's eyes darted towards me. "Alright, see you in a bit."

Before I swung around to touch the elevator button, I saw a glimpse of Ambrose's silhouette from the corner of my eye. I froze when I realized he was heading in my direction. His hand touched my cheek, and my eyes widened in alarm.

"Just for show," he whispered, caressing the apples of my cheeks.

He leaned forward, and my heart raced when I tried connecting where this was going. My eyes widened in fear and confusion, move to his lips as they get closer to mine. His warm lips pressed against my cheek causing my heart to swell in bliss.

When he removed his lips, Ambrose leaned closer, bumping our foreheads against each other for a moment. He sent a quick smile before turning around and wandering back to the girl he really cared about.

"Just for show."

You got to remember that, Davina...

Right when the clock strikes ten, someone was pounding on my hotel door. With a hairdryer in one hand and a brush in the other, I shouted, "It's open."

Heels clicked against the marble floors until I saw Lana standing in front of the bathroom door with an anxious expression. Concern pooled through me when I caught her hand gripping her stomach.

"I knew eating breakfast was a bad idea. My stomach is killing me!" Lana groaned, throwing her head back.

"Are you sure you still want to go out?" I asked.

Lana's lips pulled up into a smile. "It's no big deal, I just need medicine and I'll be fine."

Twenty minutes passed until my hair was finally dry and Lana's medicine started working. We caught a cab and headed for Tokyo. The driver dropped off us at the beginning of the festival with booths of food, clothes, and accessories. The smell of tempura, soba, and spicy curry wafted through the area, causing my stomach to grumble.

But I didn't want to be inconsiderate to Lana, since her stomach ached.

So instead of focusing on the food booths, I skidded towards the clothing. My eyes broadened at the vibrant colors surrounding us. It was like a rainbow threw up on us. Lana was engulfed in the columns and columns of clothing. In seconds, she had a gallon of shirts weighing her shoulders down.

"Looks like you're shopping for a family," I joked, raking my fingers through the folded shirts.

Lana's lips tipped upward. "Mrs. Novak and little Sam nagged at me for not bringing anything from Paris. I don't understand since Sammy never wears the things I get him."

My eyebrows raised. "I'm guessing that's your little brother?"

Her brows jumped. "Oppies, my fault for talking like you know them. Sam is Declan's brother, he's a special case."

My eyes scanned the rack of hoodies, and they gravitated toward a sweater with a Japanese saying and bunny ears on the hood. Instantly, I envisioned Ambrose's tight, muscular, tan body in the adorable sweater.

"I need to get this for Ambrose. Do you think he will like it?" I asked, putting the hoodie over my frame.

Lana gasped, nearly dropping the pounds of clothes on her shoulders. "That's the cutest thing I've ever seen! I need to get a matching one for Declan."

My eyes caught another royal blue sweater with an anime couple in wedding attire on it. The bunny ears on the hood really sold it. "Which is better?" I shook both sweaters in front of me. "If I get the married couple, one would it give him the wrong impression?"

She tilted her head, inspecting both of them carefully. "I doubt he would get the wrong impression. He asked me to marry him after two months of dating, so I'm sure he's already thinking about it with you."

My head was spinning with this new knowledge. He asked her to marry him? My stomach churned with a mixture of shock and jealousy. It wasn't far-fetched at all. Ambrose truly loved this girl enough to propose to her in a matter of months. Why hadn't he mentioned it before?

Lana trailed her hand down her face. "He never told you?" A nervous laugh erupted from her throat as she rubbed the back of her neck. "This is awkward. Did he at least tell you about us dating?"

I nodded. "Yeah, that he mentioned... So you rejected him?"

"Yeah... It was a tricky period for Declan and me, so I gave Ambrose a chance since everyone thought we would be the perfect couple. He's everyone's dream guy, but I couldn't shake how wrong it felt being with him. I didn't mean to play with his feelings and give him hope for something to happen. But Declan was marrying this other girl, and I was so, so lost..." Lana trailed off for a second.

"I think he thought marrying me would fix the problem, but I was heartbroken. I needed time to move on from Declan and his sudden confession in front of everyone threw me off. Maybe if Declan hadn't gone through with his wedding, I would've accepted it, but at the time I couldn't picture myself with Ambrose."

I placed the engraved married couple sweater back on the racks since every time I stared at it there was a sour taste in my mouth.

"I'm guessing he didn't take it lightly when you rejected him..." I said, recalling our conversation from weeks ago when Ambrose confessed he did something so regretful.

Her cheeks were redder than tomatoes. "That was the only day I truly was scared of him. He drank a lot and went King Kong on me. Throwing plates and saying things I deserved to hear. I feel so freaking guilty for hurting him like that. But he deserved someone who loved him." Tears dripped down her face as my eyes noticed her hands were shaking.

Ignoring all the jealousy I had for this kind-hearted girl, I pulled her into my chest and hugged her tears away. The pain in her voice still sounded as fresh as it did that day. The universe made it impossible to hate her. She really cared about him.

"Ah, I'm sorry for crying. It's just hard to think about how I could've lost him forever," she sniffled, wiping her dripping mascara on her sleeves.

"But you didn't!" I tried cheering her up. "He's still here, and he cares about you."

"Yeah, he showed up on my wedding day after months of not talking. He admitted how he went on a three-day drinking binge to cope with his feelings. I remember seeing how flustered he got when talking about a girl with pink highlights." She tapped her chin. "Oh, and she had the solar system as a tattoo on her shoulders."

My heart dropped to the dirty floor. If my head was spinning before it was moving like a race car. The nuts and bolts churned in my mind and I connected the pieces Lana just gave to me.

I was the girl with pink highlights.

I was the girl Ambrose talked about.

Ahhh so Davina has figured out the mystery night three years ago with Ambrose ;)! Next chapter is a little flashback to that night! Hope you guys are excited!!!