"happy birthday to my old lady ass sister!" isla woke up to the weight of her younger brother lying right ontop of her, with his loud voice and his phone camera in her face.

"eli," she groaned, pulling her blanket up to her face. "you're not five anymore, get off of me."

"tell the camera how you feel now that you're 19," the younger replied, completely ignoring her words and pushing his weight further onto her.

"get. the fuck. off."

"i'm just trying to be a loving little brother."

isla groaned even louder with irritation and used all her might to push him off, him landing on the floor completely with a thud.

"as you can see, my sister abuses me." elijah mumbled before turning his phone off. isla took a pillow from next to her and chucked it down straight to his face.

"you're so lucky it's your birthday, otherwise i'd straight up give you these hands," he said, sitting up from her floor.

once isla decided that the rude awakening was going to keep her up permanently, she grabbed her phone from her nightstand next her and opened it, seeing only two birthday messages from jeno and shotaro. the only other notifications being her friends texting the groupchat as normal.

"wow, love when my friends forget my birthday," isla said aimlessly to elijah, joking, but silently hoping they didn't actually forget.

"they haven't said happy birthday yet?" the boy asked.

"no."

"weird."

jeno
HELLO

jeno
I KNOW ITS BEEN
LIKE A MONTH SINCE
WE LAST SPOKE

jeno
i'm sorry

jeno
i expected to be busy
but not this busy :( i
miss all of you

jeno
wishing you the happiest
of birthday's ever

jeno
you're so grown
up now omg

jeno
i wish i could spend
this day with you

isla
jeno

jeno
HIIIIII

isla
thank you
so much

jeno
are you okay:(

isla
i think everyone forgot
my bday but its okay

isla
and i've been meaning
to talk to you about
something and today
is the worst day to do
that but i don't know
when i'll next get to
talk to you

jeno
HOW DARE THEY
FORGET THIS ANNUAL
HOLIDAY

jeno
and no that's okay
i understand

jeno
i don't know when
we'll next be able
to talk either :/

isla
i don't wanna like

isla
throw this onto you
and i'm sorry but it
feels wrong not to tell you

jeno
you met someone?

isla
um yeah kinda

isla
something like that

jeno
THATS WHAT YOU
WERE AFRAID TO SAY?

isla
yes kinda

jeno
isla

jeno
i did tell you not to
wait for me didn't i

isla
no i know
but still

jeno
shut that down

jeno
okay in all honesty. yes
it sucks that it can't be me,
but if you're happy then i
can't ruin that

isla
hhhh no i feel
shitty i'm sorry

jeno
for what? having
feelings?? dude

isla
but you were
there for me :/

jeno
that doesn't mean you're
obligated to like me

isla
i did like you

isla
a lot

isla
it's just

jeno
it's different
with him?

isla
stop reading
my thoughts

jeno
i'm sorry you're
kinda predictable😭

jeno
but yeah i get
it don't worry

jeno
and definitely don't
apologize for that

isla
:(((((

jeno
I MEAN IT

isla
no like you deserve the
absolute best i'm not kidding

isla
you're one of the best
people i have ever met

jeno
eww don't
be sappy

jeno
you deserve
the best

jeno
ily

isla
ily

jeno
soooo

jeno
can i ask
who it is

isla
uhhh

isla
doyoung

jeno
MF WHAT

jeno
i mean unexpected
but he's cool so cool

isla
why are you making this
situation funny i hate you

jeno
idk but i'm gonna beat
everyone up for forgetting
your bday hang on

jeno
let me find out y'all
really forgot islas
birthday

shotaro
HI ISLA HAPPY
BIRTHDAY❤️

isla
THANK YOU
ILYSM

shotaro
WHY IS NO ONE
IN HERE CELEBRATING🤬

jeno
RIGHT THEY WERE
JUST TALKING??

isla
owie this hurts
a little bit

jeno
no don't worry

isla
hello

isla
guess what
today is

isla
:)

isla
:(
delivered

isla
yangyang

isla
guess what
today is

isla
guess

isla
please
delivered

isla
please tell me
YOU didn't forget

isla
might cry rn

isla
hahahah jk

isla
no i actually might
delivered

isla
did you forget too😒
not delivered

isla
oh right you're blocked
LMAOAOAAO bozo
not delivered

isla
everyone is
ignoring me

jeno
ur all fake

shotaro
maybe they're throwing
a surprise party for you

shotaro
well it wouldn't be
a surprise anymore

isla
LMFAOOOO
yeah right

isla
have you met
these mfs

jeno
nah bc if they all really
forgot then you should
never forgive them

shotaro
OK BUT WE HAVE
TO GO I LOVE YOU
ISLA HAVE A GOOD
DAY :(

jeno
BYE ILY

isla
bye ily too:(

↢ ❦ ↣

isla spent most of her day spending time with her family and preparing to go into work later that night. she wasn't scheduled for her birthday, but her manager asked her to go in and once she realized no one was going to answer her any time soon, she'd just go to work instead.

after she slipped on her work clothes and tied her hair into a ponytail, she checked her phone one last time, seeing nothing. still. she huffed loudly and felt a pit of sadness form in her gut, forgetting about it for most of the day before it came back.

after making sure her mom wouldn't be going anywhere for the rest of the night, she grabbed her keys and drove off to her restaurant. the girl sat in front of the place after parking for a moment, trying not to get emotional over the fact that an entire groupchat of almost 30 of her friends didn't wish her a happy birthday. she brushed the thought away quickly and got out, opening the doors.

to her surprise, she was surrounded by darkness instead of the soft yellow lights that usually surrounded the place. as the doors closed behind her, and she took a single step forward, her heart nearly beat out of her chest as lights flickered on and people came out of nowhere, screaming 'happy birthday.'

"what the actual fuck," she breathed, placing a hand over her heart dramatically as she almost jumped out of her skin at the surprise. her mouth dropped open as she saw every single one of her friends standing inside of her job, wearing paper birthday hats with birthday signs everywhere, smiling brightly.

"you assholes." she breathed, chuckling lightly as tears formed. "i really thought i was being ignored. not okay."

jaemin jumped out from the crowd and pulled her into a hug, squeezing tightly. "i'm sorryyyy, i'm so sorry. it took everything in me not to text you happy birthday."

isla was speechless herself at the surprise, jaemin let go with a laugh as doyoung approached her.

"here, birthday girl," he said, placing a birthday hat on her head and wiping away the tears that fell.

"you guys are seriously so fucked up." isla laughed again, adjusting the hat doyoung placed on her head.

"doyo's the fucked up one, this was all his idea," jungwoo whined, pointing a finger at the older boy.

isla turned to him. "oh, this was your idea?"

"maybe," he smirked, "depends on if you like it. because if not, this was not be by any means."

"i like it. i mean i went the whole day thinking everyone suddenly hated me, but, it was worth it." the girl smiled as doyoung admired her with a smile of his own.

doyoung comfortably rested his arm over her shoulder, turning her around to see the entire band of ignite, including taeyong, standing with their instruments getting ready to play.

"you did not," isla breathed, covering her mouth.

"happy birthday isla!" taeyong shouted into the mic in front of him, even though there wasn't many people there, but they wanted to give her the full effect. they began playing for the first time with their new bandmate.

isla's smile was so wide she felt her face might break, and she turned her head to see doyoung bopping his head to the song, looking completely lax and unworried about anything in the world. just holding her close to him as they listened.

isla truly thought this may have been the best birthday she ever had.