Jonas unlocked the main door and left it slightly ajar before we stationed ourselves on either side of the veranda entrance, ready with our weapon. Shortly afterward, there was a creaking of the door followed by steady footsteps. Kelvin was coming here.

His first step on the marble tiles of the veranda and WHOOSH!

Within the blink of an eye, Kelvin was showered with superabundant snow sprayed perpetually by Jonas and me simultaneously.

"What the-" Kelvin rumbled, wiping the snow from his face.

I took the chance to slink into a position that obscured the cake from his view. He gawked at me and Jonas, turn by turn, in utter bewilderment. He tried to sneak a look around the veranda, but Jonas was too fast for him.

"Not yet Xav Bro!" he apprised, turning Kelvin around. "First go and dress up in the suspenders I kept on the bed. Broskis gonna twin tonight!"

"Of course not, in no way I'm dressing up in that kid's attire like you!"

"Pleaseeeee Xav Bro," Jonas entreated.

"Please," I reiterated June's word.

I was really curious to see how he looked in that attire. Kelvin consented at last; well, he didn't have to walk to the room for changing because Jonas had already dragged him there. In the meantime, I bustled into my room to get the gifts.

"Xav Bro, come fast! It's 11:58 already," Jonas called out after I returned.

Kelvin arrived in the same navy blue suspenders as Jonas, buttoning his shirt sleeve on the way when he suddenly stopped, finally getting a proper view of the veranda. I chuckled perceiving how childish they both looked.

"Did you both do all these-?" he mumbled in awe.

I decided not to point out that he had only one of his sleeves buttoned and the other one still unbuttoned and folded up.

It's not every day you get to see Mr. Angry Young Man in a hilarious state after all.

I could definitely see tears accumulating in his eye chamber, which he was trying his best to hold back. No doubt he hadn't expected such a surprise.

Jonas and I glimpsed at each other and beamed.

"Come on now, cut the cake. It's going to be twelve in no time!" Jonas took the lead.

"Angry Young Man?" Kelvin snorted, seeing the writing on the cake.

"Well, what could be better?" I teased.

"Did Mrs. Arabella bake it?" he asked, shoving off my comment.

"Nope, we did," Jonas responded.

"You mean I did," I interposed, raising an eyebrow.

"I chose the cake mix," he grinned.

"Now don't start again, you two," Kelvin sighed.

Three of us ended up giggling on that, which was only hindered by the giant clock's click as it hit twelve.

"Happy Birthday Kelvin," I wished.

"Happy Birthday Xav Bro!"

The party candles glittered to life as Jonas lit them with matches. Kelvin cut the cake and fed the first slice to Jonas. I didn't expect him to feed me, but to my surprise, he did. I fed him back the same slice after taking a bite while Jonas made his usual teasing face in the background.

"Thank you, both of you," Kelvin whispered, placing his hands on the table after a minute.

"I had a birthday celebration like this after years, the last time being the year my parents died."

He was almost on the verge of tears this time.

"I'll always remember this day," he smiled.

"You need to live the day first to remember it," Jonas smirked.

He was trying to catch my attention with his eye gestures as he said it. I became cognizant of his signal almost instantly, and in the next fraction of a second, we both had successfully smashed a huge chunk of the cake onto Kelvin's face.

"How much more memorable do you want it to be?" Kelvin jested, wiping the cream off his face.

He even managed to transfer some of it to Jonas and my face as revenge.

Birthday boy was in a good mood today.

"That's just the start dear brother, now time for part two!" Jonas announced with a 440-volt grin spread across his face.

His eyes were twinkling with ecstasy as he slithered towards the table. He lifted the sapphire blue table cloth to reveal a new exquisite polished guitar. Kelvin stood dumbstruck with his mouth agape, clearly at a loss for words.

"Whoa June, when did you-"

"Just detective skills," Jonas winked.

These two and their detective skills, I must say.

"Play it today, Xav Bro," Jonas enjoined. "I haven't seen you playing for a long time."

Kelvin almost broke into tears as he tardily wrapped his arms around Jonas. I recalled the broken guitar in Kelvin's room; Jonas had indeed made the perfect choice of gift.

"Now c'mon, sing the night away! Let me have the privilege of hearing our detective's secret voice too," I chimed in eagerly, interrupting their brotherly moment.

The brothers parted with a mutual cuff on each other's shoulder as Kelvin grabbed the maple wood acoustic guitar. We settled on the cushions while Kelvin tested the strings with a light strum. It was like creating a mist of suspense through the trailer before the original movie release. I was always fascinated by guitars but never got the opportunity to learn myself. Pappa thought it was a waste of time.

Kelvin filled the air with a soothing tune as he started with a light strum of the guitar. He cleared his throat before letting his enchanting voice rhythm into musical notes. He was singing Umbrella by Rihanna, one of my favourite songs on friendship. His voice was so different when he sang, so contrasting to his usual rude tone. No doubt that Mr. Detective had a gifted voice. The song seemed so much more mesmerising in his vocal. Without any hindrance, he continued in a smooth flow, the shifts between high thrums to the soft intonations of the guitar being just as smooth.

Suddenly the lyrics started to resonate as a double reverberation. I had joined the singing with my not-that-great voice. Because, who cares? Jonas joined in too in the upcoming lyrics. Three of us sang our hearts out, Kelvin with his first-class tone, while Jonas and me with our third-class ones.

We let Kelvin sing the endnote alone at the next go as we enjoyed the lingering music in our ears. He ended the music by humming the closing lyrics once more.

Kelvin called it off with a last strum of guitar that lingered as a vibration in the veranda. The subliminal relation of his fingers with the acoustic strings created a hypnotic soothing sensation which I craved. Not sure if it was the melody of the guitar or his voice, which captivated me to the core.

"You're insanely talented," I complimented in admiration.

"That Xav Bro is," Jonas illuminated.

Kelvin just smiled as his eyes settled on me. He was observing me.

I subconsciously glanced away, not sure exactly what wouldn't allow me to look into his eyes directly.

Well, I had once read something like 'Psychology says that girls can't directly look into the eyes of the person they love'.

Point to be noted: I never really liked Psychology.

"Guess what Xav Bro, Amy was eating her heart out today for her makeup," Jonas cackled.

"I wasn't eating my heart out or something," I defended, rolling my eyes.

Kelvin pressed his fingers against his mouth to conceal a chuckle.

"What?" I questioned.

"Nothing," he shrugged, shifting his gaze towards the starry night sky.

"You look beautiful anyway," he whispered after a second.

My cheeks flushed hot with blood. Did he just compliment me?

"June, pass me a glass of beverage," he diverted the topic instantly.

"Wait, it's me who calls him June," I implied.

"And I stole it," he grinned.

I held out a glass for myself in front of Jonas after he was done filling Kelvin's one. Kelvin gulped down the liquid in one go while I took a pint of it. All too suddenly, I spurted out the liquid as soon as my taste buds detected the taste.

"What exactly is this again?" I asked Jonas.

"A new beverage in the store I suppose," Jonas replied casually while filling his own glass.

"Don't stare at me like that. I don't drink, okay," he added as he sensed the doubt building up inside me.

Something smelled fishy. I seized the bottle from his hands to confirm.

"This is a champagne," I highlighted after confirming, displaying him the list of contents printed on the bottle.

"With a different name, of course," I cleared out.

"Shit," Jonas murmured.

"I'm going to complain to mom," I threatened lightly.

"But I really don't have a clue about it!"

"Must have stuffed it in by mistake," he claimed with a puppy face.

"Fine, I trust you," I heaved.

"And I didn't drink it either," he noted.

"Well you made him drink it," I reminded him, pointing towards Kelvin.

"But he drank it by himself," Jonas defended.

"Because he didn't know," I countered.

"Let the party begin!" Kelvin grunted amid our conversation, putting down the glass with a loud thud.

Jonas and I gawked at Kelvin, and then at each other as we gulped.

Was he drunk?

Please don't forget to vote, comment, and share if you enjoyed reading this chapter!

- Love,
Your dear author <3

Special note: I've attached the song I mentioned in this chapter below, so make sure to hear it once you finish reading the chapter to feel a part of the story even more! Enjoy <3

https://youtu.be/8aClEkrxtDQ

https://youtu.be/HMzrUjXncxs