"Looking like a whole snack, Y/N," Laurance says, playfully winking at me from the other side of the doorframe he's leaning himself against.

I lift an eyebrow, annoyance filling my expression. When he broke up with Aphmau he was slightly upset, but then he eventually turned back into the old, annoying, Laurance and started to hit on me again.

"I have a boyfriend, Laurance."

I don't see Gene often. He's been making excuses not to hang out lately, and it's been a bit upsetting but I've learned to just deal with it and get over it. I've learned not to really care anymore.

It's cool until he posts on his story where he's hanging out with his friends after texting me canceling our plans because he's 'busy.' I don't tell my mom this of course because she'd hate the guy. Vylad has already started to not like him. At this point I don't know if it's because of the Zvahls or me.

"Who's late," Laurance says, reminding me and putting up against another flaw of Gene's. He's technically not late, but he said he'd be here early to help us finish setting everything up for the party.

"Don't remind me," I sigh, going back over to the kitchen to make sure all the food and drinks are in order. Mom likes decorating things to make sure everything is utterly perfect. "I think you should be more concerned about seeing Aphmau again."

"Don't remind me," Laurance says, almost as though he were mocking me.

To be honest, Aphmau coming is going to be awkward for all of us. The three of us don't like her, and there was a fall out in her and Laurance's relationship. Not to mention, she was trying to get into Garroth's pants in said relationship.

Mom realized that Aphmau's mom was her bestie in school and instantly invited them to the party. She thought it'd be nice to talk to Aphmau because we're all on "good terms" with her. We haven't told her differently, but that doesn't mean that there isn't any guilt regarding it.

"Don't you think something's off with Gene?" Laurance asks, following me into the kitchen and readjusting things that I had somehow managed to miss. He knows what my mom likes and expects. "We all see it but you, Y/N."

I stop and look at Laurance, not in the mood to break down or get into a fight. "We just need to have a talk to figure things out. Everything's alright."

"But everything isn't-"

"Laurance, just shut up," I say, looking down at my feet. "Just. . . please. . . please just be quiet. Alright? I just want to enjoy tonight."

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Third Person's POV

There was a hushed state for the very beginning of the party and during the set up. Vylad didn't understand why. Christmas was right around the corner and his birthday mere days away.

He walks over to Alex and taps on her shoulder, being careful as to not act too "coupley" in case there were wandering eyes in their direction.

Alex smiles, placing her glass down against the surface of the table. He looks at her for a moment before glancing down at the glass. He had nothing to be worried about, but this evening was just strange in general.

"Do you know where the others are?" He asks, doing his best to scan the new area to no avail.

Alex shakes her head, trying her best to glance around to see if she could catch them in the slightest chance that Vylad missed them. She knew exactly where they were, but she wasn't going to say that.

"I don't know where they are," Alex says, waving her hand in front of her face to create some form of breeze. "But you want to go upstairs? It's really crowded down here."

Vylad hesitantly begins to walk in the direction of the stairs. The downstairs was packed with people. There was no doubting that whatsoever. He simply wanted to know where the two were because he couldn't find them.

The two make it up the stairs, and Alex looks around. She looks in the direction of his room before looking back at him. He smirks at her, but she rolls her eyes in response. Vylad mocks a pained expression on his face, but this causes Alex to giggle and pulls Vylad in the direction of his room.

The door opens to darkness. Slowly, Vylad reaches his arm in to turn on the lights while Alex drops his hand. He frowns, flicking his eyes over in the direction of his suddenly cold hand before letting his eyes readjust to the lighting change.

"Surprise!"

Vylad blinks once, twice, three times until the shock wears off. "H-How did you guys manage to do this twice to me?" He asks, starting to chuckle a bit to himself.

Alex slowly leads him into his room and seats him on his bed, sitting next to him. "It's the power of our love for you," she jokes, glancing over to Y/N to let her know to hand over the present.

"We know it's a few days early, but we just couldn't wait any longer," Laurance says, his smile beaming.

Y/N nods her head in reassurance and ushers him to open the present so they weren't sitting in suspense any longer. She was getting this all on camera.

Slowly, Vylad opens the present only to be pleasantly surprised. "The camera? You remembered about the camera?"

"I would be lying if I said I saw an interest in photography from you, Vylad," Alex says, picking up the discarded wrapping paper.

Y/N looks over at him, thankful that this was all being recorded. She was excited to show her mom Vylad's reaction for it.

Vylad sets the camera down and gets up to hug everyone, nearly in tears from how happy he was. He couldn't express his gratitude.

"I'm really glad I learned you liked photography and they were out of cameras that day," Y/N says. "It was the perfect gift to give you for your birthday."

Vylad looks up at them all again after having his camera in his grasp. "Thank you all so much. This is the best early birthday I've ever had."