michael's birthday was yesterday, so lets all enjoy this fetus gif of him being extremely adorable
happy birthday babe

25| "birthday wishes" part 1
I've been awake all night.

Like even after being up for at least 14 hours, helping my mom get everything together for the wedding venue, and hauling dozens of boxes of decorations into the hall, I still am not tired.

Which is really saying something, because that woman sure knows how to tire someone. Closing my eyes, I let out a deep sigh and curl up under my blankets, attempting to get some rest.

"Ugh," letting out an agitated groan, I twist around and fluff my pillow a bit before flipping it over on it's cool side.

Maybe that it'll work. Taking a deep breath, I snuggle back down into my covers and close my eyes. Now, please just go to sleep.

Ten minutes pass. Then, fifteen. Nothing.

"Fucking hell!" I shout, sitting up and throwing my pillow across the room. Running my fingers through my hair, I slip out of bed and head out into the hallway.

Tomorrow's my birthday, and I can't even get a decent hour of sleep. Walking across the hall to the bathroom, I open the vanity and scan my eyes over the labels of medicine, looking for anything to put me to sleep.

All there is is Luke's stupid hairsprays and his Neosporin, that according to him, 'can fix anything', and I groan.

"Apparently not insomnia."

Closing the cabinet, I rinse my face with water and dry before flicking off the light and walking back into the hallway. I don't want to go back in my room and since I can't sleep, I push open Luke's door. He's sleeping and I stare at him from where I'm standing, with my back against the door, before walking over to his bed and kneeling down in front of him.

Blond hair hangs down over his forehead, and his pink lips are parted slightly; quiet, little snores sounding from him. I shyly smile, and let out a slight laugh.

Luke stirs from his sleep, with a yawn. I watch as he stretches his arms above his head, impossibly elongating his lean body further, and he peels his blue opens at me.

A lazy grin spreads across his face, revealing his dimples, and he blinks, "Did you miss me?"

His voice is laced with sleep, and it's low and husky and my toes curl. My stomach tightens, and I can't help but want to curl up in his bed besides him, and listen to him talk to me all night. Blinking away my thoughts, I play it cool and I ignore him.

"Luke, I think I have insomnia."

"Annie, you don't have insomnia."

"Yeah? How do you know?"

Luke laughs tiredly, "Last week when we went driving, you kept falling asleep in the car on me."

"Well, I definitely have something!" I exclaim, laughing.

Sitting up, Luke looks over at his alarm clock. "Guess what," he calls.

"What?"

"It's after midnight."

"So," I mumble.

"So, it's your birthday," Turning around, he gently grabs my forearms and in a haste he's pulling me up and over him. Ruffling his hands in my hair, Luke smiles up at me and starts to sing, "Happy birthday to you ..."

"Ugh, stop!" I laugh, playfully smacking his hands away from me, "Luke, shut up!"

Luke moves his hands from my hair, still singing and I lean forward and cup my hand over his mouth, "Ssh! You're gonna wake our parents."

He quiets, his eyes gleaming a light blue, and I move my hand from his mouth to fix my already disheveled hair, "Look what you did."

"Happy birthday," he repeats. Hands encircle around my waist, and he shifts so that he's leaning back against his headboard; with me still sitting on his lap.

"Thanks. Now where's my present, Hemmings?"

Blue eyes glance towards his desk, and I follow his gaze where a small gift is neatly wrapped. It's sitting on his laptop and I hurriedly make a move to go get it. Only, Luke's arms tighten around me and he pulls me back. 

"Wait until tomorrow, Anastasia." 

I frown, "Technically, it is tomorrow, Lucas."

He rolls his eyes, playfully, and reaches up to run his thumb across my bottom lip, "You have such a smart mouth." He drops his hand and smirks, "Plus, it's not all I'm getting you, so just wait."

"Why can't I just have it now?" I groan, punching him in his chest.

"Stop being a brat," Leaning forward, he kisses the tip of my nose, and for a moment I forget everything we just talked about; my insides shriveling.

"It's my birthday, I can be whatever I want to be," I breathe.

He blinks, his eyes wide with humor, and then he nods. "I suppose."

It's quiet after that and I start to get off of him, "Guess I should go back to bed then."

"No, why?"

"Because it's late." I shrug.

"You're the one who woke me up because you couldn't sleep, now you're just gonna leave?" He grumbles.

"Pretty much," I laugh. I move off of him, sliding to the edge of his bed, "Plus, you got some work to do. I want my present first thing tomorrow morning, and you'd better have it done by then."

"Goodnight, Annie." He laughs, rolling his eyes.

--

Andrew, Luke, and my mom are standing over me, smiling and excitedly peering down at me when I awake later on in the morning. I'm back in my bed, my curtains are drawn back, and the summer sun fills my room with warmth and light.

"W-What are you guys doing in here?" I mumble sleepily.

Squinting up at them, the way they're all standing around me, all dressed and happy, it's literally impossibly for me to not get annoyed. Andrew is holding a cake, with a single birthday candle in it and I fist my knuckles in my eyes, before sitting up and exclaiming, "What is this, the nineties? No one does that anymore, Andrew."

He shrugs and sheepishly smiles, "Happy birthday Anastasia. I hope you like chocolate." Andrew leans down and awkwardly gives me a one armed hug, patting my back, and I cringe; not making a move return it.

"Uh, yeah, I do. Thanks."

Then the next thing I know, my mom is barreling towards me, and plopping down on my bed; planting a kiss on my forehead. "Annie doll, you're seventeen! Happy birthday, dear."

Her arms encircle around me, and she hugs me to her chest; stroking the back of my head with her palm. "Ugh, stop!" Groaning, I gently push her away and snatch my covers up over my head. Flipping over on my side, I squeeze my eyes shut and will them to get out, "Go away, it's too early."

"Alright, but only because it's your birthday," My mom huffs, standing up. "You have an hour. We're driving down to the pier tonight and we haven't even decided on a playlist for the reception, Annie."

"Fine."

They shuffle out of my room, and I peek from under my blanket over at the door. Luke is standing by my dresser, his arms crossed across his chest.

"Hello, that means you too, Hemmings. Beat it." I duck back under my covers.

He grins, "Hey, I didn't even get to say happy birthday to you."

From under the covers, I fight back a smile and manage to keep a straight a face, "I'm pretty sure I heard enough of your birthday wishes last night."

"Aw, don't be like that." Footsteps pad across my carpeted floor, and the springs on my bed lower before I feel him next to me, "Besides, don't you want your present now?"

At that my ears perk up. I totally forgot about presents! Slowly lowering the covers, I blink at him, "You finished it?"

A lazy smile graces his face, and the blue eyed boy shakes hair from his forehead, "I did."

I hold my palm flat out and wait for him to put it there. His eyes trail down to it and instead of my gift, he intertwines our hands.

"No, where's my gift?" I huff, tugging my hand away from him.

"You'll get it."

"When?" I whine.

Luke's lip tug upwards into a smile, "Soon."

I groan, "Are you serious? Why would you even bring it up if you weren't gonna give it to me."

"Well, for one, you're not getting anything with that attitude." Raising an eyebrow, he playfully scolds me and I flip him off.

"Get out of my room."

"No, move over." He whispers. I'm annoyed that he won't give me my present, and that he's still bothering me when I want to sleep, but there's no way I can say no to him.

Sliding over, I pull the covers back and hold my breath while I wait for him to crawl in besides me. He pulls back my blanket and leans forward, climbing into my bed besides me. He's wearing shorts and his legs are cold against mine.

"Luke," I hiss.

A quiet laugh sounds from his mouth, "Shit, sorry. You're so warm," he breathes. Luke lifts the covers over our shoulders and presses his cold palm against my hip before tugging me closer to him. I shift so that I'm almost lying completely on top on him, and I rest my cheek against the thin cotton of his t-shirt.

In the silence, I can hear Luke's barely noticeable staggering intake of breath and I subtly glance up at him. His lips are parted, his teeth in view, and he gently rests his hand on my shoulder before dragging his hand up and slowly weaving his fingers in my hair.

"I know what else you can get me for my birthday," I whisper. My fingers trace patterns across and up and down his torso.

He lets out a breathy laugh, and looks down at me, "I already got you two things."

"So, I want something else."

"Alright what?"

Peeling myself from him, I sit up and stare down at him. If he can do it for her, he can do it for me, "I want you to write me a song."

--

There's a summer carnival going on at the pier, and I smile brightly up at my mom with genuine happiness, "This is way better than staying home."

Bright, colorful, flashing lights illuminate against the evening sky, and music and laughter fills the air. A warm feeling spreads throughout my chest and I'm briefly nostalgic of all the times I went to carnivals when I was a little girl.

Brushing hair behind my hair, I drape my satchel over my shoulder and look over at Luke, "Wanna do bumper cars?"

"No," he's looking down at his phone, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration, and I don't have time to ponder over why before my mom is looping her arm through mine.

"I'll do bumper cars with you."

I laugh, "We have to get tickets first."

--

I'm loosing to yet another game of ring toss to Andrew, and almost ready to forfeit, when I feel a hand on my shoulder.

"Annie?"

I roll my eyes, "Not now Luke. I am so not loosing another three dollar game to your wimp of a father." Brushing him off, I lean forward and try once again to get the plastic pink ring around the neck of the beer bottles.

It bounces off, Andrew laughs, and I groan already reaching for my second ring.

Behind me, he laughs, "Oh um, it's actually me. Ashton, from Target. We met a few weeks ago, remember?"

What? Turning around, I take in the sight of the cheerful, hazel eyed boy. He's holding a churro, and an incredibly large stuffed turtle and I smile.

"Of course I remember you, Ashton," I laugh, "What are you doing here?" I hold up a finger to Andrew, indicating for him to give me a minute and I turn back to Ashton.

"Michael and his girlfriend, Taylor, they wanted to come. I'm just tagging along with, um, my turtle here." He holds it up for proof and I quirk an eyebrow, with a smile.

He looks great in a Joy Division muscle tank, and an all black fedora, and I smile appreciatively, "How are you?"

"Great. What about you, stranger?"

I frown, "Yeah ... about that. I kind of got like ... banned from going outside by my mom. She's really overprotective and stuff."

Ashton shrugs, "It's cool. Maybe we can you know, catch up." He glances behind me, "That is, if you're not too busy." Ashton leans in and whispers, "Who is that anyway?"

Laughing, I gently take his wrist and walk him over to Andrew, who's patiently waiting for me, "Ashton this is my mom's fiancee, Andrew. Andrew, this is my friend Ashton."

They exchange greetings and then Ashton looks over at our unfinished game of ring toss, "Who's winning?"

"I am," Andrew declares proudly. He holds up his palm and flexes his wrist, "Annie doesn't know how to control her wrist."

I roll my eyes playfully, and Ashton nods. He passes me his turtle and his churro, "Well, luckily for me, I actually dominate the drums. Let's see what you got, Andrew."

Andrew laughs, and then they're playing another game of ring toss. In the end, Ashton does in fact beat Andrew and after we've playfully teased him, hooting with mocks and laughter, the chestnut haired boy takes a steps back and lets me choose my prize.

I get a giraffe and I give Ashton his churro and his own stuffed animal before cradling my own in my arms, "Thanks."

He grins in response. We all walk back over to the picnic tables, retelling the game, to where Luke and my mom are hanging out waiting for us. Luke is still on his phone, and I roll my eyes. He could at least pretend to care that it's my birthday.

He was being so nice and playful this morning, but now I don't know. I turn away from him.

"Hey, did you win me a prize?" My mom calls out to Andrew. Her sundress blows in the wind around her legs and she pulls her small sweater around her shoulders.

"Oh you mean, this?" I laugh, holding up my giraffe. "Actually, Ashton, my friend won it for me."

At that, Luke's head pops up and he stares at us; setting his jaw. I ignore him. He practically ignored me and everyone else the whole time we were here.

My mom grins, "I'm Annie's mom, hi." She holds out her hand, but Ashton surprises her by giving her a hug. Luke rolls his eyes.

"Ashton."

They talk for a minute, mainly Ashton exaggerating the fun of the carnival and how he can't believe it's our first year here and him assuring us that we need  to try to funnel cake before we leave. I can't stop laughing at how playfully dramatic he's being.

"Looks like you're enjoying your birthday," My mom smiles.

I nod, grinning, "I am, this is really fun. We haven't even been here for two hours and I already got a prize."

Ashton glances at me, "Wait, it's your birthday?"

I nod, again.

"Wow, happy birthday! We should celebrate." He smiles over at my mom, "Do you mind if I steal your daughter away for just a few hours?"

My mom looks skeptical for a minute, her brown eyes widening slightly, but fortunately Andrew nods, "Any kid who can beat me at ring toss, is fine to me. Don't be back too late, Anastasia."

"Okay," We turn to leave, but my mom calls my name and I glance back over my shoulder, "Yeah?"

"Why don't you invite Luke?"

I scratch my neck and look at him, "Do you um, want to come with us, Luke?"

He reaches up and adjusts his snapback on his head, before turning his heated glare at me, "I'm good, thanks." I stare at him, trying to ask him whats wrong without actually asking, but he looks away, "I'm just gonna go ... me a pretzel or something."

Jumping up, he jams his hands in his pocket and stalks away. I shrug at my parents and jog back over to Ashton, "You ready?"

"Yeah, who was that?" He asks, his eyes following Luke's retreating figure.

I blink, "Andrew's son. He's um ..." I swallow, awkwardly trailing off.

"Weird?" Ashton laughs. Then he drapes his arm over my shoulder and pulls me back into crowd of laughing people and pop music.

--

AN - there's gonna be two parts to this !

thanks for reading this! please vote and comment babes ;D