July 30

Loon Call Island, Lake Rosseau, Muskoka

"Happy birthday, Elle." Greyson's voice is so serious, so soft. I snuggle into his chest when his arm wraps around me as we boat to Hudson's.

"Can I stay with you tonight?" His whisper by my ear makes me shiver, so do his fingers as they trace gently down my bare back.

I love that he's asked, rather than assumed. "Let me think about it," I tease.

I shift in his arms and reach up to run my fingers through his hair as an adorable lopsided grin stretches across one side of his mouth. Grabbing the open collar of his shirt, I pull him down to place a soft kiss on the uninjured, smiling side of his lips. "Okay," I can't imagine not wanting him to be there.

A loud whoop pulls my attention away from Greyson as Theo pulls up in his boat beside us, slowing down at the last minute, so the waves from his wake rocks us wildly. Greyson grabs my waist with one hand, gripping the windshield with the other to keep us steady.

I'm laughing as I throw one of our loose bumpers at Theo, hitting him square in the chest with a wet thump.

He throws it back into our boat, laughing back at us, "Happy birthday, Ells Bells!"

We tie the boats off, and I notice Ryan's boat is already pulled into the guest bay. Theo lifts me off my feet, spinning me in circles, kissing both my cheeks, then smacking a loud, dramatic, and entirely platonic kiss to my lips with a grin. "Over halfway to thirty. How's it feel?"

I smack him on the chest as he puts me down. "I might be more than halfway to thirty, but I'll always be younger than you." I stick my tongue out at him, like the bratty child he often thinks I am.

We make our way up to the main cottage and around to the cabin Hudson lives in.

Hudson walks out wearing his bathing suit, a party hat, glittery sweet sixteen paper eyeglasses, and a noisemaker between his lips. He's followed by Ryan, who makes a beeline for Greyson.

I hear them whispering, right before Hudson snatches me away from Theo, bending down so I can wrap my arms around his neck for a big hug. He stands, letting me dangle above the ground as he spins me in circles, squeezing hard. "Happy birthday, Ellie, my love."

As he squeezes me tighter, he whispers, "Jesus, Elle. What happened to Grey's face?"

I realize then that Hudson is the only one who hadn't seen Greyson yesterday. "Um, he sort of got into a fight."

"No shit. With?"

"Dan, from work. He crossed a line at work with me again. Greyson doesn't know I told you about the first time, he was really angry that I didn't tell him." Hudson sucks in a breath, shocked.

"Why didn't you tell me? Never mind, we can talk later. I've got you, Elle. Don't worry, I won't say anything." He spins me again, putting on a show, so we don't look like two people telling secrets in a crowd.

"Stop monopolizing the birthday girl," Theo shouts.

Hudson drops me back on my feet, and I wobble a little, dizzy from the spinning. I grab his arm to balance myself, laughing.

"Happy Birthday, Elle." Ryan drops a simple, gentle kiss on my cheek with a wink, offering me a bunch of hand-picked wildflowers. I run my hand up and down his arm, touched by the sweet gesture.

"Thanks, Ryan. These are so beautiful."

"Don't let my mom see them; I took them from her garden."

I laugh, thinking of Jill's lush, pristine gardens. "Your secret is safe with me. I'll just run in and ask Brooke for a vase."

Greyson starts to shift back, moving to the edge of the deck, shadowed by the large trees that curve around the side of the house. I try to grab his hand, but he slips out of my grip with a small, tight smile.

"Let me get water for those flowers, Elle, looks like the rest of the gang is here." Ry's voice is a soft whisper as he snatches the flowers back and drags Greyson towards the house with him just as a loud booming voice greets me.

"Happy birthday to the daughter I never had, but always wanted to steal away," Geordie's voice booms out, and laughter chimes through the group at his old, tired comment.

"Thanks, Uncle Geordie."

He grimaces but wraps me up in a bear hug. "Just Geordie, sweetie-pie. That uncle stuff was cute when you were a squirt, and might still be if I were actually your uncle. But it makes me feel old."

"How is Uncle worse than Dad?" I tease him, but his attention is focused over my head.

Geordie frowns as he looks over my shoulder. I know he can see Greyson and Ry at the edge of the deck, just as I know he's probably going to call Hugh as soon as he goes back inside to ask what happened to Grey's face.

Brooke runs her hand over my hair gently, "You don't mind him, honey. He's just feeling sentimental, it's not every day our baby girl turns sixteen."

One thing about our group of family friends is that every parent feels and acts like the parent of all of us, it's totally unanimous. It's also amazing. So, I let Geordie hold me tightly for a moment before Brooke rubs his shoulder. "Come by the kitchen later, I baked a cake for whenever you're hungry."

My eyes tear up at that, just a little, and I squeeze Brooke's hand. "Thanks so much, Brooke. That sounds perfect." She twinkles at me, nudging me back towards my friends.

I quickly change into my bathing suit in Hudson's cabin, then join the boys in the hot tub. I sigh in pleasure, though, as I slide into the warm water, moving to sit between Greyson and Hudson.

I tense a little when Hudson turns the conversation to Greyson. "I feel like we're just avoiding the giant elephant in the hot tub. Grey?" Hudson gestures to his face and raises an eyebrow. I kick him underwater, shocked he brought it up.

Greyson lifts his hand to rub the back of his neck and shifts uncomfortably. "Problem at work."

Ry chuckles at that. "Wow, seriously, spare him the details, bro."

Greyson glares at his friend, who only grins back. "Dan, the creepy mechanic with the tatts, was mishandling Elle. Fucker had her over his shoulder, had his hands on her, against her permission. I removed her from the problem, he said some shit, I said some shit, but he wasn't ready to let it go, he punched me in the face. Since Elle was hurt, I couldn't punch him back, well not more than once at any rate, so he got off with a warning."

Theo whistles and looks over at me with a raised eyebrow. Hudson turns to me, "Holy shit. Are you okay?"

Rather than let Greyson suffer under the scrutiny of our friends, I decide to, hopefully, close the topic. "Everyone is fine, I'm fine, Greyson will be once his lip closes, and that swelling goes down, and Dan is fine-ish, he's been moved to another marina though, so there's nothing to worry about."

"Well, glad you were there, man. I'd have probably tried to do the same, but gotten my ass kicked. I'm not a fighter, I'm a lover. Wouldn't want to damage the goods." He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively as he holds his hands up for everyone to admire. Theo's wink and comment make everyone relax, letting go of the seriousness of the topic. I know Theo's only joking, though, I've seen him take down guys savagely on the lacrosse field when push came to shove.

"In your dreams, T." Hud stands, "I'm poached, who wants to hit the lake? I want to show off our Ellie's new skills. She's been helping me prep for the ski show."

After a quick dip of my toes, I slide into the water, not wanting to get my hair wet. I steer clear of the boys, giving them a wide berth as they shove, splash and tumble into the water.

Hudson pulls himself up onto the water trampoline, then pulls me up after him. He immediately begins bouncing like a maniac, waiting as I tighten the strings of my rather flimsy bikini and pull my hair into a tighter knot. I just hope everything stays put.

Our audience is treading water below us, watching curiously, laughing at Hudson's antics. "Wait till you see what we've been working on."

After a mostly successful demonstration, successful being defined by the fact I'd only kicked Hudson in the face once this time, which was a cause of great hilarity in the group, he wraps his arm around my waist, bouncing us around, whooping loudly. The guys clap dramatically in the water.

Looking up at Hudson, seeing his big smile makes me grin, but it only lasts a moment before I'm sailing through the air then landing in the water with a rather graceless splash.

Hudson hits the water with a massive splash next to me as I surface, laughing, trying to pull my hair out of the elastic. So much for not getting my hair wet. Theo and Ryan climb onto the trampoline, flipping and diving in and out of the water.

Greyson wraps his arm around my waist, keeping me afloat while I struggle with the elastic tangled in my wet hair.

"That was quite a show, you two." His voice is soft, but I can tell he's impressed.

Hudson grins at us. "Next step is to try it while I'm skiing."

I groan. "No. No. No. No. No. How many times do I have to say it?"

"Come on, Elle. You're perfect. I need a top girl for the Dirty Dancing show. I'm Johnny, and you'd be the perfect Baby."

"Use one of the other girls." I have adamantly refused every time he's brought it up. There is no way I'm doing it. I have fun practicing with him, but I'm still far too shaky on the water with the big lifts.

His laughter booms out over the water, "I've still got time to convince you, Elle. But let's just try a couple practices, okay? It'll be fine, you honestly can't tell me you haven't been having fun."

I sigh, "Fine, but agreeing to practice does not mean I agree to anything beyond that, clear?"

"Crystal." With a grin, he swims off to join the guys back on the trampoline.

Greyson turns me in his arms, so I'm facing him. I run my free arm back and forth through the water, helping to keep us afloat.

"Hud's got you wrapped around his little finger, Elle. Sorry to say, but you don't stand a chance. It's good he's using some of your own wiles against you. You might be an even bigger sucker for him than we are for you. Might as well get used to the idea that in a couple weeks, you'll be sailing through the air, like a flying ballerina, while he's skiing."

I touch my lips to his cheek, sighing. "I don't want to talk about it." I know he's right, but I'm in denial. Probably serves me right, though, considering how many times I've forced my friends to do things with me.

Theo shouts, "Yoohoo, lovebirds, we want cake, and we can't have it without the birthday girl."

When we're dry and dressed, Brooke leads the obligatory 'Happy Birthday' song, and I blush, just like I do every year. From the tips of my toes to the tips of my ears.

I laugh, holding my hair away from the flames as I bend over the table, blowing the candles out. I giggle as they go out in one breath, my wish that I'll have these friends forever locked in my mind.

"What did you wish for, Ellie?"

I shake my head, "Won't come true if I tell you."

"If you can't tell your best friend, who can you tell?"

I shake my head, slicing and lifting large pieces of cake onto everyone's plates and handing them around the circle. "You're part of my wish, so I can't tell you."

Hudson wiggles his eyebrows at me and winks. "I'll just bet I am." He grins at me as he takes a small piece of cake and shoves it in my mouth. I nearly choke as I try to chew, laugh, and breathe at the same time, wiping icing from my lips.

Greyson's thumb slides over the corner of my mouth, wiping the last of the chocolate away before he sucks the icing off his finger, making my body flush with heat.

"Mom, can we give her the gifts, yet?" Hudson's loud whisper makes me smile, and I see the impatient boy he's always been making an appearance.

"Ours first, Elle." Hudson and Theo offer me a massive gift box, dragging it over awkwardly. "It's from the usual gang, but organized by me, obviously."

It's heavy and too tall for me, so they help me open it. I am beyond touched when I see what's under the cardboard. "Ohmygod, you guys!"

A selection of nearly ten years' worth of my summer Polaroid snaps have been organized by year and by the people I'm with. I have pictures with each and every one of the people in our extended friendly family.

The frame is taller than I am, wider than my arm span. It'll take up a large part of the wall in my bedroom at home, and I couldn't imagine anything more perfect.

I wrap my arms around Hudson, reaching over to pull Theo into the hug as well. I stand there for a moment, wrapped in the arms of these two boys, clinging to them, hard.

I don't think I could ever love any group of people more.

"We'll take it down to the city for you, Elle. Next week or the week after. I'll sort it out with your dad."

I beam over at Geordie. "This is incredible. I love it, I love you all so much."

Hudson laughs, "Yeah, well, if you'd asked me to hang even just one more string on your wall, I might have strangled you with your fairy lights. Plus, it looks a little nuts in your room, getting close to shrine level."

I shove Hudson, laughing. "You're the one who put extra pictures of yourself up there, that's why you must think it's a shrine. You made it. No one loves admiring Hudson as much as Hudson."

Laughter rolls out as Hudson yanks my hair and sticks his tongue out at me, shoving me back.

But the shove is harder than intended, so he quickly grabs my elbow to stop me from tipping over. "Sorry, Ellie."

Ryan clears his throat, offering me a small box when I pull away. He blushes, just a little. "This is from my sister and me. Seems to go with the theme of the night, she wished she could be here too tonight, but she promised to make it up to you."

"She doesn't have to, but that's sweet. She called me this morning."

Ryan's picked out a beautiful dusty, light pink leather keychain. I open it and see a small picture slot where I could slide a frame from one of those photo machines. It folds up into a small square, snapping closed.

"It's so perfect, Ryan. Now I just need a picture of the three of us, so I can add it in here." I throw my arms around his neck, taking him by surprise. His arm squeezes me tightly and I thank him for the thoughtful gift. "Please say thanks to Sarah from me, too."

Finally, Brooke and Geordie offer me a wrapped box, as well. I unwrap it carefully, lift the lid, and gasp, looking up at them.

"You didn't have to get me anything at all, but this is too much," I'm so touched by the gesture, but I have everything I need already, in the form of my friendships with them, and the endless love they have to offer.

Brooke strokes her hand over my damp hair, tucking it behind my ear. "Don't be silly, Elle, it's a special birthday; sixteen. Plus, this is just something small, to remind you we love you."

"Thank you, Brooke, Geordie. It's so perfect. I love it." I lift the book gingerly from its wrapping and turn open the front cover. It's a beautifully illustrated first edition of A Midsummer Night's Dream. It's the most precious book I've ever received.

I blink back the grateful tears, "Thank you so much," I whisper, right before I throw my arms around them.

"Careful there, Ellie. Don't want to have to get a hip replacement to match my knee." Geordie chucks me under my chin, winking at me.

I am so grateful to have these people in my life. I wipe a tear away from the corner of my eye, and both Hudson and Theo groan simultaneously. "No crying, Elle. We hate it when you cry."

By the time Greyson finally pulls me towards him, we've eaten so much cake, had more champagne, and gone around the table one-upping each other's embarrassing birthday stories from growing up together. He whispers that it's time to say goodbye, it's nearly midnight.

"I promised Diana I'd have Elle home since we're visiting Liam tomorrow."

I know it's not true, my mum doesn't really care when I come back if I'm with Hudson's family, but I don't say anything.

With thank you's and good night's that last longer than Greyson's limited patience, he finally pushes us away from the dock, boating home slowly in the dark, our path illuminated by the navigation lights and the sliver of a waning crescent moon.

"Will you look at the stars with me tonight, Elle?"

I lean back into him, smiling. I nod and feel his lips press to my temple.

Climbing up onto the boathouse roof, Greyson stretches out, pulling me down beside him on the hard, flat roof. I curl up next to him, a little overwhelmed by the evening, grateful beyond measure.

When he finally speaks, his voice is soft, barely a whisper. "If I could pull down the sun, the moon and all those stars for you, I hope you know that I would, because that's what you are for me. But since that's a little out of my reach, I've tried to find something that shows how much you mean to me."

Greyson pulls a small fabric pouch from his pocket, holding it out to me.

I roll over, resting my upper body on his chest and take it from his hand. I smile at him, "You know you don't have to buy things to make me happy, right? All I want is you."

I kiss him, lightly on the side of his lips, careful to avoid the cut, but he nudges me, "Open it, Elle."

When I open the pouch, a long, delicate gold chain slides through my fingers. I catch it, holding it up in the moonlight. It's a gold medallion shaped pendant.

It looks like part of the pendant is a gold sun, etched into the disc. The other part seems to be a smooth glossy white pearl or mother-of-pearl waxing moon. On the gleaming white face of the moon, is a small diamond star. It looks like the Polaris.

It's absolutely beautiful.

Greyson takes it from my hands, sliding the chain over my head. The pendant hangs low, resting directly between my breasts.

"Greyson, I don't know what to say. It's beautiful. It's so perfect, I love it." I want to tell him I love him as well, but I'm too nervous at what his reaction might be. But I do, I love this boy lying beneath me, and I don't think there's anything I wouldn't do for this love.

His shy smile fills my heart to bursting.

"Can I ask you for something, Elle?"

"Always."

"Will you kiss me under the stars in the moonlight? I've been waiting for you to kiss me on a night like this," his voice is teasing, pulling me back to last summer when I'd asked him nearly the same question, but his eyes are serious.

Smiling, I touch my lips to his, gently, imprinting this memory onto my overflowing heart forever.

- - -

Hope to see you in the comments to let me know what you like, or what you think I can improve! If you like the chapter, consider voting!

Xx Toria