━━━━ · 。ﾟ☆ .☽ .* ☆ﾟ. ━━━━

( def stole ao3's layout bc i love it sm )

rating: general audiences
fandom: titans
relationship: kj quinn/jason todd
additional tags: pairing is broken up, reminiscing, birthdays, songfic, based on the song birthday girl by fletcher, lowkey open-ended
stats ━━ published: 10/2/22 — word count: 782 — parts: 1/1

━━━━ · 。ﾟ☆ .☽ .* ☆ﾟ. ━━━━

summary:
the one where kj and jason
celebrate their birthday on different
sides of the country

notes:
i wasn't even sad when i wrote this,
it kinda just hit me when i had the song on a loop lmao

━━━━ · 。ﾟ☆ .☽ .* ☆ﾟ. ━━━━

It was true that Jason and KJ were born a week apart. It was the first thing the two of them realized when they got along at the foster center.

    What others didn't know was that they picked a day in the middle—August 20—so they could both celebrate their birthdays at the same time. For that week, they disregarded the fact that they were born on the 16th and 23rd respectively. It was weird, but they thought it was funny to pretend that they shared a birthday, something about being connected by stars or something.

    But now, Jason was back in Gotham kicking ass with Rose while KJ was wasting away in San Francisco (it was a bit of a strong sentiment to make but still) because he didn't want to face what was waiting for him in Gotham for at least a little bit. Gotham held a lot of memories, more so having to do with the dark-haired brunette and all the days and nights he took up by just being there. It was weird but it also wasn't because it technically wasn't the first time they've spent their birthday apart, but it was the first time they were spending it broken up.

   So now, KJ was sitting in the kitchen, lighting the single candle on a cupcake (vanilla with chocolate frosting—Jason's favorite), and looking at it. He watched the flame flicker, mentally counting down the minutes before the clock struck twelve and the 19th and turned into the 20th. Then, the electronic clock flipped its little numbers. 12:00, they blinked.

     "Happy birthday, Jason." KJ blew out the candle and debated going to bed. Instead, he found a fork and dug in. Despite the sugary sweetness that hit his tongue, he could taste an underlying bitterness and KJ wasn't sure if the cupcake was actually bitter or his brain was playing tricks on him. Then came the wave of nostalgia that actually made him nauseous when he thought about it.

     But it wasn't until KJ was reaching for his phone that he realized that he felt a lot lonlier than he thought. So he sent the text before he could change his mind.

3 hours earlier — Gotham(, NJ)
11:57 P.M. EST

Jason rolled out of his shared bed and went to raid the fridge, ignoring Rose's calls of question. Any particular sweet would do. He would've preferred a vanilla with buttercream frosting—KJ's favorite—but the closest thing he could find was some sort of vegan monstrosity that almost felt a little insulting to touch. So he had to make do with what he had and grab it.

    He found the candles in a cabinet and stuck one into a chunk of the cake before he rooted around for a lighter or a matchbox. Once he did—it was a matchbox with a little duck on it from the Chinese restaurant on the corner. KJ would've loved it. He was a weird suck for knickknacks—he struck a match against the box and was in the middle of lighting the candle when Rose walked in, puzzled as all hell.

    "What are you doing?" Rose asked. T-minus 3 minutes before the clock struck midnight. She spotted the piece of cake on the counter, and the light stuck in it, and promptly responded, "Your birthday was four days ago. I remember you insisted we celebrate."

    "I know," Jason shrugged. Two minutes. "It's just. . .KJ and I did this thing where we would celebrate our birthday on the same day. I don't really know why we decided to do it, I guess it was just something we could share. Something that was ours."

    Rose nodded, and turned back to head to their room, leaving him to continue on. Just as she turned the corner, Jason's eyes flicked to the electronic clock on the oven in time to see the time change—12:00. Knowing the time zone change between him and KJ felt like a double whammy, a reminder that things had changed and it was some sort of metaphor about how the two of them were never really on the same page, even if they could come to some sort of agreement. Jason wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh or cry about it. It was a funny in-the-middle kind of thing.

    "Happy birthday, KJ." Blowing out the candle, he dug a fork in and took a bite, pleasantly surprised that the cake actually tasted pretty okay.

    It wasn't until he received a text from the last person he was ever expecting to get one from. He acknowledged it, took note of it, and shoved his phone into his pocket. It could wait for tomorrow.