A deep inhalation fills her lungs up with oxygen, and she wakes up, my presence being the cause of it for sure, no matter how silent I was.

She raises her squinting eyes up to me right away, and the shame engulfs me. She does not say a word but looks at the screen and presses the cushion a bit more tightly against her.

"I'm sorry," I apologize again, meaning those words whenever she is the one who faces me. "Did you leave just because you cried?" she does not move her eyes towards me while I cannot take mine away from her.

I wish she did not see it.

"I hate to see you cry, especially when I'm the one at fault," I avoid being straightforward about it, not feeling comfortable about this at all. "It's not because of you. I'm just more sensitive than usual."

"Stop always finding an excuse," I do not agree with her, wondering what I have done for her to always defend or forgive me no matter what. She remains quiet as if she did not want to engage into another type of argument, so I bring up something else. "I got you your favorite snacks."

Right away, her eyes meet mine, and I smile at this instant effectiveness. "Why?"

"Because I wanted to, and I made sure that it'd be okay to eat them with your braces," I reassure her before she could worry, and she maintains eye contact. "Thank you."

I smile at her, unconsciously, and we both remain quiet for a few seconds.

This always feels so pleasant and soothing with her, and I love it so much.

"Give me your left hand," she stretches her small one out to me, so I do as told and lay mine over it. She does not say anything but pulls it closer to her and pushes my sleeve a bit up, and she connects the heart magnet of our bracelet. "This should always stay like that."

"That means we'd always have to do everything with one another," I remark on what has to be taken into consideration, and she shrugs as if it did not matter. "I'm fine with it."

"Always means even when you have to go to the bathroom, just so you know," I chuckle and see her adorable smile widen, her braces making her even cuter than before. "Well...we'll only take a break away from each other for that."

"And when we gotta take a shower, or much more stuff," I do not hesitate to speak about it, and she laughs. "It's fine, you'll close your eyes."

"Shut up. We ain't doing that," I scoff and glance at the TV screen to not think about it, but she gives a small slap to my hand. "Alright. I'll shut up."

I set my eyes back on her and slap her hand in return. "I'm joking. Keep talking."

She shakes her head and sulks, so I use my right hand to touch her face, cup her cheeks, and apply some pressure on them. "Come on."

She sticks to what she said and opens her arms, making me understand she wants something from me. "You want a hug?" I try my best not to show how much I love this, and she nods her head for the second time. "Will you talk if I give you one?"

She says yes with only one more movement, so I lean in and put my arms around her body. She hugs me back in the sweetest manner, and I snuggle my face in the crook of her neck. "You're happy?"

"Yes," she lets her voice out, and I tighten my embrace, feeling cozy and good like this. I could totally fall asleep again.

"Do you still have a headache?" she softly plays with my hair, getting me to feel sleepy. "A bit, yeah, but it's better than earlier."

"Do you want me to give you a head massage?" she rubs her finger up and down the nap of my neck, sending shivers down my spine. "Yes, please," I nearly beg for it and lie down next to her to not crush her with my weight.

I wish I could hold her, be held by her that way every day. I would feel so much better.

•••

11:50 pm.

"Do you want me to turn the camera off?" I sit down next to her on the bed and take my shirt off. "No, I don't care. Why do you have one now though?"

"I've been having a lot of nightmares lately, so I'm tryna find what triggers them," I throw my clothing in the laundry basket and lie down. "Did you have one last night?"

"I do not remember dreaming at all, it felt like I blacked out," I rest one arm above my head to tangle my fingers in my hair and look at her. "And what about last weekend?"

"You think I'd remember that?" I raise my eyebrows, finding it bold of her to assume such a thing. "You could. I don't know," she smiles, and I do so but look away. "Let's sleep."

"Yes, old man," she dares to call me, stopping me as I was pulling the blanket higher. "I won't celebrate my birthday if you keep doing this. Got it?"

Her adorable giggle escapes her mouth, and she turns towards me and covers her entire body. "I'll only be twenty-one. I'm a young man."

"In an old man's body," she adds another layer to annoy me, but I close my eyes and pretend not to have heard anything.

"I'll come to your house after school this Wednesday, right?" she asks for confirmation, probably hoping for me to not have changed my mind. "Yeah, unless you keep acting like that."

"I'm not being mean," she closes the gap between us and gradually attempts to snuggle up against me, and I do not show any opposition to it. "Hush," I tuck my arm under my head to get in a good position to sleep, but she rests her body on mine and presses her lips on my cheek.

"Go away," I force myself to push her away, smiling at her to make sure she does not take it seriously. "See?! You said you like my kisses and hugs, but you still reject me," she hits the mattress to express her frustration but only manages to make me laugh.

"I never said that. I don't know where you-"

"No, no," she throws the pillow, which she is supposed to hold against her stomach, at my face. "Good night."

I move it down and smile at her reaction, and I keep the pillow on my torso. "What? I've never said those-"

"I can't hear you," she turns her back to me, and I cannot help but find it fun. "Come on," I get closer to her and brush her hair behind her shoulder, and she slightly turns to retrieve her pillow and slams it against her stomach, removing what I was using to not have our bodies in contact.

"Alright, good night then. Mean girl," I go back on my side of the bed to prevent too much physical closeness. "I learnt from you."

"I'm a mean girl?" I look at her, despite not seeing her features. "Yes," she cannot even hide the smile I could hear through her voice, and she turns around.

She changes her mind so quickly.

- Four days later -

Wednesday, May 26th, 2021.

8 am.

After grabbing the stuff I need to go to work, I walk out of my house, lock the door, and light up a cigarette while heading to my car.

I enter it and stick the cigarette between my lips, and I open a window as soon as I turned the ignition on, but my phone rings, so I take a look at who the text comes from before thinking about answering.

This is from y/n. I open it right away and read what she sent, even though I know what to expect overall.

< HAPPY BIRTHDAY daddy! Love you with all my heart and can't wait to see you later today to celebrate this special day with you^u^ ]

[ I will not acknowledge this message. >

I smile and drop my phone on my lap to get on the road to the coffee shop, and I drive backwards to leave, but she already answers me. I breathe the toxic smoke out and quickly check what she said.

< :"( I'll still come no matter what ]

[ I dont know who you are >

< Stop! ]

[ Then don't ever call me daddy again >

< why?! You called me mommy so many times ]

[ I told you already. Because I said so, now leave me alone stranger. I gotta go to work >

< fine:< ]

[ <3 >

I leave her with a heart to not see her sad face anymore and go.

•••

11:30 am.

"Jungkook," Luca, my closest colleague grabs my attention right after coming in as I was taking care of a customer's order. "Once you're done with this, you can take your break a little earlier today. I'll take over."

"Are you sure?" I close the cup I just filled, and he nods. "Yeah," he smiles, allowing me to have a longer break for my birthday, even though the boss would not agree with this at all. "Thanks."

"No problem, bro," he walks away to go to the back of the shop and get changed, and I serve my last customer of the morning.

50 minutes later...

< what are you eating for lunch? ]

[ one of those buns I sometimes get you, and you? >

I answer y/n's text, eager to see her after work. I usually do not care about my birthday, I never celebrated it, but this is the first time ever that I actually like this day. I cannot stop thinking about what she will do.

< Matt brought some wraps and they're so good that I can't stop eating them ]

[ I'm happy you're eating well >

I finish my strong coffee but hear some of my colleagues enter the cafeteria I was occupying all alone. "That's the fucking problem when you don't sleep at night," Thomas comes in with Emilia by her side, so I do not pay attention to them at all.

The sound of this girl's voice is enough to piss me off.

"I don't regret anything. That night was amazing, I had fun with my bestie, so that's more important than the consequences," she irritates me, ruining the air that was in the room. I avoid them as much as I can and focus on y/n.

< but you're not doing so, so I'm not happy:) ]

[ you're smiling tho >

< thats a fake one. You must know by now ]

While typing my text, I hear some words in the room that I cannot ignore but notice Luca joined us. "Well, not all of us get to have a long break," the bimbo opens her mouth about it, feeling the need to remark on everything. "Well, it's not your birthday," Luca barely reacts to her comment, but she carries on. "And? I work hard and do the job better, so I'd deserve it."

"I doubt that, dear," he speaks for me as I am doing my best and fighting very hard against myself not to say anything. "Well, I've only been here for a very short time, yet our boss called me his best employee already. Why do you think he did?"

"I don't know and don't really care, to be honest. I'm just hungry," he unwraps the food he brought from another shop, not dealing with her immaturity. "Yeah. I'm pretty sure the boss doesn't even know about what you let him do."

He does not respond, not giving her what she wants, but I cannot hold back from having my eyes on her and letting her know I am not scared of her threats.

"Just because the boss isn't here today doesn't mean he doesn't know what happens," she throws me a look full of confidence, believing I will be affected and worried. "And let me tell you that when I tell him something, he always takes me seriously, so-"

"Can't you understand we don't give a fuck?" I free myself from the ball of anger I had to burst inside me. "We know you suck his fucking dick to get what you want, you useless bitch, so shut the fuck up and get out of this room."

She sneers at me, proud of herself. "Is your man's ego hurt because a woman does the job better than you do?"

"You don't do the job better. If you were just a slight bit decent at it, you wouldn't need to use your fucking body to get compliments and a better salary," I do not filter my mouth but let it all out, losing my mind over this. "It's actually so sad to be so pathetic and jealous."

"Sure, stupid hoe," I rise from my chair and leave the room without waiting. Ruining my day and mood, that is actually the only thing she is good at.

•••

4:30 pm.

Waiting for y/n to leave school, I lean back on my car and check what Luca sent me.

< I know she's gonna tell our boss about it so if he ever says shit to you, tell him I told you I asked him and got his permission to let you go earlier and take over ]

[ No, I'm not gonna get you into trouble. I'll take the blame, dont worry >

< Don't. He's already got a thing against you since he knows what you said about Emilia, so don't risk it. He could fire you ]

"Happy birthday!" y/n startles me with a hug, and I dart my eyes towards her. "You scared me," I breathe out and chuckle, and she kisses my cheek. As an instant response, my lips curve up, and I straighten my back to put my phone in my pocket and hold her. "Thank you, sweetheart," I press a kiss on her temple and gaze down at her, taking a closer look at how pretty she looks in her dress.

"Look, I can't wait anymore," she holds a small gift up to me, so I grab it but sigh. "Y/n. I told you not to."

"Stop complaining," she smiles from ear to ear, exposing some bright happiness. Perceiving all the excitement in her eyes, I open the gift in front of her to see what it contains.