(There's still time for the clock to strike 12 in the UK [so it's still JULY 12] so Imma sing again now. Stop complaining AGAIN, PC ;)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEAR PAIGEEE (tugalicious)!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!!!!

Have an awesome sweet 16 my funny, fantabulous, perfect, cute, hot—

Okay, you get my point again. HAVE AN AMAZING YEAR AHEAD! *hugs*

AND YEP, dedicated to tugaliiocus and our 4 years of friendship!!!!!

'''

[14] Ezra: "Group Hug!"

"Paige-Chan."

Silence.

"Paigeeeee-Chan."

More silence.

"Guess what?"

She had the nerve to continue to read her yuri manga without showing the slightest of hints that I even exist.

And she's not even pissed off at me or anything, mind you.

It's just how we work.

Damn, but still, this girl must be given an award or something.

"Fine, I'm not gonna tell you."

How can someone remain nonchalant even after that?

Seriously, I told you, didn't I?

Award winner.

"Psst." I look up from the empty classroom to see Micajah's beanie covered blond head popping up from outside the door, a questioning look in his eyes.

Thank the freaking Lord. What the hell took him so long?

I'm currently waiting with my little friend Paige after Law class got over—it's been almost ten minutes, and since she didn't have any class for the next period and since coincidentally this room is also free, she'd decided to sit back and enjoy her books here.

That's very fortunate for me because I couldn't have explained following her to wherever she might've decided to sit and read without giving myself away.

'Come on,' I mind-link my brother, grinning, 'Bring it in!'

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Seneca and Micajah yell in unison as they step into the room with the medium-sized chocolate cake—I didn't want to go too overboard and make her kill me—which she might anyway, once she learns what else I have in store for her.

Paige jumps in the air in shock and drops her book in surprise. She then slowly removes her feet off the table and stands up self-consciously, looking at the two of them in confusion, "Who're you guys?"

"I'm his brother and she's his best friend!" Micajah introduces the two of them as he walks forward—in-between the aisles—to where I've stood up to join a very flabbergasted Paige as well.

"Oh . . ." Paige mumbles as she finally seems to take in the cake that's been placed in front of her on the desk. She then turns to me in utter confusion, "How in the freaking hell did you know?"

I smirk proudly with a level of smugness not known to man, "I have my means."

"Yeah, talk later! Now make a wish and blow the candles! We hope you like chocolate!" Seneca exclaims as she interrupts my moment and gestures to the cake, handing over a plastic knife with a ribbon taped to the handle.

"But, um—" Paige starts with a confused look as she appraises the said knife dubiously as if it might be a ticking time-bomb. I grab it out of my best friend's hands and shove it in her direction, silencing her with a glare, "Do it, Paige-Chan!"

"ALRIGHT, UGH, FINE!" She grabs the knife and closes her eyes as if she's pissed-off, but anyone can see the small smile she's fighting, twitching at the corners of her lips.

That's my girl.

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday, dear Paige, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!" We sing as loud as we can in a horribly off-key manner as she finally blows the candles and cuts a piece of cake, feeding each of us and getting fed by us in return.

"Now, onto gift time!" I quickly pull out the envelope from my jacket pocket as I raise my eyebrows, cutting off her surprised protest yet again, "Here, this one is from all three of us."

"But I don't accept gifts!" Paige protests anyway with a stubborn look, and I grab her hand placing it on her palm, forcibly closing her fingers around it.

She continues to glare at us.

"Just open it." I roll my eyes, "It's good manners to accept gifts graciously, P-Chan. Stop being a little whiner,"

"Whatever," She mumbles as she finally opens the envelope and reads through the piece of paper, her eyes going wide and then wider with each word she reads.

Exactly the reaction I'd hoped for.

"Um," She looks up at the three of us uncertainly, as if she couldn't believe this thing was actually happening, "Is this for real?"

"Duh," I grin, stretching my hands in a 'aren't I the coolest' manner as I flip up my collar.

"B-But, these are two tickets to the Comiket Anime Con in TOKYO! AND it includes a whole weekend stay there! ARE YOU FOR REAL?" Paige almost bounces with excitement as her wide eyes flit between the three of us rapidly, now almost radiant with unadulterated joy.

"YES!" We chorus, making her jump and throw her arms around my neck, "OH MY GOD, I TAKE BACK EVERY BAD THING I EVER SAID ABOUT YOU, YOU'RE THE BEST!"

I grin, holding her tightly for a moment and enjoying the little moment of rare affection from this girl who's come to become a great friend.

"Oh, yeah?" I pull back finally and look at her with an evil smile, "Let's see if you still say that after this."

With that, I shove the chocolate icing I'd secretly taken off the cake during her hug, all over her face—yep, she might need new glasses, making her look at me in absolute stupefaction.

And then, "DAMN YOU, EZRA!"

I laugh, running out of the classroom with her hot on my tail.

~

That afternoon after the last class of the morning, I'm still grinning as I'm once again reminded of the silly prank Nyah had pulled.

I know, but I can't help it.

For those of you wondering, Seneca and Micajah had come and bailed us out.

"Goddess, would you believe that this was the same guy who told me—no barked at me, and I quote, 'Are you coming, or are you gonna stand there all day and smile like a loon'?" Micajah jabs my middle with an elbow playfully as he joins me and Seneca, quickly pulling her close and pecking her on the lips.

Yeah, you just wait. That'll be me soon.

And I'll be kissing Nyah. NOT Seneca.

"He did?" Seneca growled as she stopped walking all of a sudden, shooting her infamous laser-beam glare that can literally melt a human.

Uh-oh.

Thank you and your super-accurate memory for dredging up old shit, Micajah.

"Um, no . . ." I chuckle nervously, rubbing the back of my head, "Of course, I would never disrespect my Aleph like that. I don't have a death wish, do I . . ." The question came out more like a statement, and I let out another anxious chortle.

Seneca inhales sharply, turning her focus to her Mate—who looks pretty worried himself, "I'm assuming this was in the beginning because I never heard any of this,"

"Uh," Micajah takes a tentative step forward and hooks an arm around Seneca's stiff neck, planting a kiss on her cheek. Good Micajah, that's it. Melt her. "Yeah, but you know what? It was so far back that I think I must've gotten the words wrong. He couldn't have been that rude,"

"Uh-huh, You're a shitty liar, Cage. Now just tell me exactly what happened and I'll let this go." Seneca raises her eyebrows as she slowly takes a step back from under Micajah's arm, crossing her own arms across her chest as she sizes the two of us up.

"Well . . ." Micajah glances at me for permission, and I close my eyes and nod my last nod before my death sentence. "In the beginning, as you suspected always, he was kind of mean."

"Mean, how?"

"Like little comments here and there because, you know, he was disappointed that I was so . . . um, weak and everything." Micajah mumbles the last part in a voice that's a bit low, and that softening of his voice at the mention of the past indicates how affected by it he still is at times. He'd already been through so much stuff and was barely holding up when he met Seneca, and that's when I had to go ahead and open my big mouth and make things worse for him.

Stupid, stupid, Ezra.

The regret I'm feeling at that moment is unmatchable.

"Hey," I turn and reach forward, placing a hand on his shoulder, "I never formally apologized for all that. I'm really sorry, man."

"Shut the fuck up, Ezra." Micajah growls, and the glasses he always wears does nothing to diminish the power of his harsh glare, "I never took any of that personally and we worked it out after that. So if you utter one more word . . ."

"Thank you," I grab him by the back of his neck and pull him forward in a surprise hug, making him chuckle as he pats my back heartily. "Thank you," I mutter once again, pulling back and grinning, to prevent the sudden emotion wrapping around me from taking control and making me doing something stupid like cry.

This.

This is family.

Not whatever the hell my father forced me into believing for eighteen years.

"Well," Seneca blinks rapidly as her voice comes out watery, making the two of us gape at her in surprise, "What? Shut up! Have you not seen eyes sweating?"

"Group hug!" I call, grabbing her arm and dragging her close as I wrap the two most important people in my life in a tight hold. Trust me, there's no such thing as too many hugs.

"Aw," Seneca coos, but wraps her arms around us and hugs us nonetheless, not caring about the strange looks people were giving us in the hallways.

"Love you, guys." Micajah's voice comes out muffled as his face is squished between us somewhere, and I grin.

"Yeah, love you." The moment would've just been all the more perfect if Nyah had been here.

Soon, I vow to myself.

~

"Just come on, Ezra! The food here is not that bad!"

That's Micajah.

Yeah, moment over. We're now barely inside the cafeteria, and the stench of the plastic filled-toxics they serve as food here is turning my stomach. I have to leave this place. Pronto.

"Noooo," I protest as vehemently as I can, fighting the evil to-be-Ryes as I try to free my arms from their tight Alpha-blood fueled grips, "All cafeteria food is absolute crap and you know it! Just lemme go to that pizza place! I won't even make you two go with me!"

"Ezra." Seneca calls a bit sharply, surprising me as she lets her grip go and crosses her arms in a pissed-off manner, "I'm just asking you to try it once."

I sigh.

When she put it like that . . . it seems like a reasonable enough request.

They take my sigh as a sign of silent acceptance happily, and Micajah lets his grip on my arm go as well. Unfortunately for me, the queue in the front of the cafeteria has moved forward and it is now our turn to buy the food—effectively cutting off any possible time I can get to formulate my escape strategy.

Dammit.

I grumble lowly under my breath as I receive a stacked tray from Micajah—who's buying whatever without asking me, because you know what? I'm not gonna dignify this place by actually ordering something because every freaking dish here is gonna taste like the same kind of sludge anyway.

So yeah, no use wasting my breath.

I move to stand to the side as Seneca receives her tray, continuing to bemoan my fate that I'm destined to be stuck with such nerds for the rest of my life.

They say that if your biological family is not good, you can choose your own.

Maybe I should try that shit.

Who am I kidding, really?

I laugh to myself at that.

Once my brother is done buying his food as well, the three of us turn around and take in the crowded hall properly for the first time. There are rows and rows of tables that seem to go on endlessly, and one wall of the huge room is taken up by big windows that give a clear view of the lawn and garden area where there are even more tables and stone benches.

But yeah, I'm not looking forward to getting pigeon shit on my food so, no, thank you.

"See!" I cry triumphantly with a gloating grin as I gesture to the full room where not a single table seemed to be available, "I told you we shouldn't come here. Looks like even the tables are agreeing."

Seneca and Micajah share a look of defeat.

Yes.

"Fine." Micajah sighs. "You win," Seneca concurs as well, balancing her tray on one hand as she places the other on her hip with a bored look.

"Aha!" I exclaim, grinning fully now, "Did someone just say that I won—"

"—Not so fast," A familiar female voice interrupts my delighted crow, making me turn in their direction in shock.

"Alpha, Aleph and Beta." Tatum Karas—aka Junior Seneca who left the party in almost tears the other night when her best friend found his Mate—greeted, continuing, "I have a whole table all to myself. You're welcome to join if you'd like."

Her politeness and the fact that she'd come up and spoken to us just like that, surprised the hell out of me. I hadn't pegged her for a social person who preferred interacting with acquaintances much. Mm, looks like I'd been a little too quick in assuming things.

Micajah is the first one to recover from the suddenness of it all and speak, "Tatum, hello! Please don't be so formal and yes, that would be awesome. Thank you!" He exclaims, grinning his usual friendly grin.

"Yes, Tatum. I think we're past those formalities." Seneca chimes in as she too gives her smile, nodding in hello.

"Oh, man!" I blurt out, finally recovering from my momentary paralysis and tsk-ing in disappointment, "I'm very happy to see you, too, Tatum, but your timing, pfft—it sucks."

Tatum chuckles in response, making me immediately relieved that she isn't as miserable as I'd thought she is.

Or is just too good at hiding it, my brain supplies, and I can't brush it off as unreasonable doubt either.

Because for people like her who're treated with pity wherever they go, the facade is the only thing that helps them get through.

And there you go, Ezra. You're doing the same as others and showing her sympathy.

"So, how's HillBridge treating you three?" Tatum starts with a smile once we're all seated comfortably around one of the tables jammed up against a window with the perfect view of the garden—huh, must be perks of being a regular here—and I have to grin automatically at that.

"Yes, it's been quite an adventure, alright," I mutter under my breath as I look around the crowded room one last time to check if Nyah is in here somewhere with Alessia.

But she goes to that pizza place every day for Alessia's sake, remember?

Damn, no possibilities of running into her here then.

Tatum says something in surprise at my comment about it all being adventurous, and then Seneca mutters something drily about ignoring my sorry ass because I'm a love-sick puppy or something along that lines.

At that, my attention is dragged back to the table and I scan Tatum's face quickly—having a sharp reminder of her downright sorrow-filled expression from the other night—but she seems perfectly fine as she nods along and laughs at whatever my friends say.

So, maybe I'm the one overreacting here, then.

Soon, Tatum's future Beta, Angier and his Mate, the Blythe girl both join the table, and I look around and realize that this is not so bad.

College is not so bad. I have a Mate who's on the right track of our non-relationship for once and things are going well.

Even the woman who'd been in utter misery seems to be happy and vibrant in this environment.

So maybe things will work out for everyone in the end.

A loud laugh from Tatum grabs my attention all of a sudden, and no matter what, I can't shake off the thought that she's hiding behind layers and layers of fake smiles and held-back tears.

And no friend of Ezra can be that unhappy in life.

Yeah, sue me. I just referred to myself in third person.

Anyways, I'll have to keep an eye on this Alpha.

Along with my Alpha-woman, Nyah Pineda.

Damn, since when did my life become a soap-opera filled with female Alphas?

~ * ~

Sort of a fluffy chappie! Hope you likey! <3

BTW, Has everyone wished Paige-Chan on her birthday yet? If not, please go spam her. You have my (and her) full permission. LOL. For reference, tugalicious is her account. :D :P

Hope you liked this chapter, guys! :)

IF YOU DID, PLEASE DO

VOTE, COMMENT, AND FAN! :)