-Rocking Robin, Jackson five - 

- Rockin Robin, Old Rips -

(A/N: Edit: The video is of Old Rips' version of Rockin Robin which is pretty much what I had in mind for this chapter. The Spotify-link is still for the Jackson Five version, because Old Rips is not to be found on spotify. Also... In the video. Look at the guitarist. I LOVE that guy!!!)

- October 15th -

"You have got to be fucking kidding me?!?" Simon scowled at me.

I replied with my brightest smile waving the CD cover in his face.

"You said I could make requests. I want to sing this!" I grinned at him amping up my playful side before heading to the CD-player in the corner.

"We're a goddamn rockband, Izzy!" He shouted as I hit play and turned to him with a grin.

Without warning I grabbed his hands and started forcibly swing-dancing with him to the song streaming out into the room. He pleaded me to stop with his eyes. Instead of listening to his pleas for mercy, I started doing little rock-bop steps and twirling myself around while holding his hand.

"You used to love this song," I laughed.

"Yeah. When I was five!" He huffed.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Odd stand up from the floor with a bright smile.

"I'm with Izzy!" He announced.

I smiled warmly at the longhaired boy dressed in black.
Totally at odds with the song.

"Me too," Ethan nodded from the floor.

"Guys! It's the Jackson fucking five!" Simon grumbled.

"It's Rocking Robin. It's fun and we can toughen it up! This is Rock and Roll Robin!" I cheered before I launched into singing along to the tune but with a growly edge that would have given 10 year old Michael Jackson nightmares.

Simon stopped dead in whatever he was about to say.

"Simon please! I need your genious bass fingers to do their magic," I said while batting my eyelashes.

"You might as well give in. You're not winning this one," Odd chuckled towards Simon behind me.

I turned with a bright smile to Odd.

"You get where I'm going right?" I asked him.

"Yeah. You want a heavy bassdrum backbeat," he said as if that was self explanatory.

"Exactly!" I nodded going with whatever as long as we could get a decent arrangement.

"Ethan?" I asked.

He already had his guitar plugged into the amp and his guitarpick between his teeth. With a smirk he got the pick out and started playing the cheerful melodyline in a way that made me want to blush on the poor Robin's behalf.

I grinned.

This was no longer an innocent, chirpy bird in a tree.
This was the god damned king of all songbirds.
The badass of the twidly-dilly-dilly-dee.

Simon rolled his eyes dramatically.

"Fine! But you owe me!" He grumbled.

"I'm making it up to you with a birthday party, " I told him.

"You what?" He asked suspiciously.

"These two are coming, no backing out," I replied.

Odd and Ethan nodded.
They had been invited and I had got everything ready.

"But.." Simon blundered.

"Tomorrow! Friday! After classes! Your house. Your mum is in on it and wondered if you wanted blue frosting on your cake," I grinned.

Simon stared at me for a long time before grabbing me into a hug.

"You are killing me, Izzy," he murmured.

"I know. But I can get away with it 'cos you love me," I smiled back.

"Idiot!" He smiled as he released me from his grip.

He stared at me for a moment with something I couldn't quite read in his expression.

"Just a small party right?" He asked cautiously.

"Yeah. I know you hate fuss. It's us here and Ellen," I replied.

Simon nodded. I knew him well enough to know it would be a big enough party for him.

"And Ellen... of course," he muttered with a smile.

I nodded brightly. He had to get the hint through that thick scull of his. I had invited Ellen and told her straight up that it was up to her.

I twirled over to pick up the acoustic guitar to do the rhythm-guitar, plain chords before I rushed over to stop the CD allready playing A-B-C.

I looked at Simon.

"Just let me try this! If it turns out to be shit you are free to turn down any and all of my future suggestions," I said.

Simon sighed.

"Let's try it. What do you want me to do?" He smiled.

"Give it some omph," I said doing sumo-wrestler moves to demonstrate how much omph I wanted.

"Fine... Just knock your moving about down a peg or three. You're kinda all over the place," Simon laughed and hitched his bass in place.

I looked at the other two.

"You got the lyrics?" Oddball asked.

"On lock!" I confirmed.

"I think everybody has this song on lock. We just need to inject that tweetybird with some steroids," Ethan grinned.

Usually that boy sat all quiet in a corner, but they say silent waters hide depth and on the occasion he spoke up he usually had a point.
This was one of those moments.
I had not expected him to be into this idea.
I looked at him in surprise.
He shrugged.
And then he launched into what I recognised as the intro to Rocking Robin.
On steroids.

Later in the afternoon I was skipping and bopping around the kitchen, humming Rocking Robin in it's original, cute form while getting dinner ready. As I was dancing over to the table with the plates I spotted my mum in the doorframe with a big smile on her face.

"If I didn't know you better, I would have thought that you have fallen in love," she said with a smile.

I stopped and looked at her.

"I'm just happy, mum," I smiled back at her.

"I know. Last time you were crushing you were singing sappy love songs, not Jackson Five," she nodded.

I went back for cutlery and returned to see her still standing there with an expectant look on her face.

"It's just... I feel like I'm a part of something. The boys have accepted me into the band without any fuss. And today I came in with a crazy idea. And they just went for it! It just felt so good!" I explained.

My mum nodded.

"I'm guessing it's the Rocking Robin version you were telling me about?" She asked.

I nodded.

"And?" She smiled.

"Ethan called it tweetybird on steroids," I laughed.

My mum gave me a big smile.
"It's good to see you happy, sweetie," she smiled.

"And Ellen and Simon kinda like eachother so their hormonal sparks are rubbing off on me. They are just so cuuute. All fluttery looks and subtle smiles," I grinned.

My mum looked questioningly at me for a moment.

"Simon and Ellen?" She asked, knotting her eyebrows.

"Yeah. Don't know why I hadn't thought about that before, but they are so perfect. Not that I'm interfering... but... well I'm kinda paving the way a bit... but that's hardly the point. They just match...," I gushed.

"Ok?" My mum said with a small frown.

I nodded enthusiastically.

"Everything is so good. Ellen is happy, Simon's bithday will be epic and... Mum... I'm in a band! As in for real! With really, really talented people," I laughed.

"I'm really happy you have made more friends, Izzy. I can't wait to meet them!" She said warmly.

I stopped for a second. Of course. My mum would want to meet the boys.

"After the gig in a couple of weeks?" I asked.

"Sure," my mum nodded and sat down at the table.

I skipped back into the kitchen to get the food.

I studied my mum as we ate.
Both she and Sarah had fallen pregnant while still being undergraduate students. While Mark stayed with Sarah and was there for Simon, my dad had left without a bacwards glance.
My mum was still young, not even 40 and I thought she still looked good.
As far as I knew she had never had a relationship progress beyond the third date. A part of me was happy about it being just us. Another wanted her to be happy. She had raised me almost entirely by herself.
While Simon and I were babies, she had shared a flat with Sarah and Mark. It was practical as long as they were students, but after graduation, we had moved into my grandparents house. My grandmother died when I was two, and we had no other near family.
The sign on our doorbell was the one I had made when I was 10.
It read: "Home of Emily and Izzy Tyler".
It had been my mum and I against the rest of the world.
The superteam.
The terrible two.

"I'm going to the gym with Sarah later. Is there anything you need brought over?" My mum asked once the dishes were cleared.

"Yeah. I have a box of stash for tomorrow," I smiled.

My mum shook her head. She knew my plans for Simon and thought both Sarah and I had lost our minds.

- October 16th -

The next day I had Simon't parent's lounge all decked out in colourful balloons and streamers.
We had partyhats and little cupcakes looking like the cookiemonster. Simon was going to get childrens party overload.
He was going to hate every pink and purple balloon. But that was just the start. I had gotten a bunch of fairy lights draped over the trees in their back garden and had set up the barbecue. It had taken Sarah and me a whole week to plan it out in secret and I knew she loved my idea of giving Simon a stupidly childish 18th birthday.
We had to mark his entry into adulthood right?

We even had a pass-the-parcel-game organised and goodiebags for the guests.

Ellen was there with me looking blue and dizzy from inflating balloons.
I had coaxed her into coming, promising her it wouldn't be weird. Sarah had of course welcomed her with open arms.

"All ready?" Ellen asked.

"Yup," I grinned

"I swear, you and Simon have the weirdest friendship ever," she said shaking her head.

"I know," I giggled trying to imagine his face on seeing my creation.

"But his mum is so cool about it!" Ellen said.

"Yeah. Sarah is the best!" I nodded.

On the one occasion where I had run away from home, I had made it to Sarah's home. She had kept me for two days untill I had missed my mum, and then driven me home. It tok me years to realise that she had phoned home to let my mum know I was safe. But for two days I had been allowed to live under their kitchen counter, playing refugee, feeling brave and believing my mum was sick wth worry. My mum had welcomed me back as if I had been gone for a year and Sarah was forever my best friend.

I studied Ellen carefully as she kept sending expectant glances towards the door. I knew she had turned down Nate's invites for a date several times and I had a feeling she had a good reason for it. Not that she'd ever admit to it, but Simon was deeply in under her skin.
Ever since what had gone down in history as the rainbow incident, I had deliberately avoided playflirting with Simon and had started dragging Ellen over to wherever the band were sitting during lunch. I blamed it on my Oddball-hug addiction. When he saw us approach he would stand up and greet me with one of his signature bear-hugs. I usually sat next to Odd and placed Ellen within talking range of Simon.
It seemed to be working.
At least there was laughing.
And stealing of food.
Although you never knew with Simon. He would steal anybodys food.

I went out to make sure everything was ready.
Mark was stood on the patio with me as I lit the barbecue.

"Are you sure about this frilly stuff, Izzy?" He asked.

"Yeah. He's always calling me little, so this is payback," I chuckled.

Mark shook his head and headed into the warm house.

I had convinced Odd to call an emergency bandmeeting claiming I was causing trouble somehow. Just to keep Simon out of the way for a couple of hours. Odd had chuckled something about his sudden and inevitable crush on me causing issues before giving me another hug.
Some fierce looking metal rocker suddenly and without warning hugging a skinny and quite ordinary girl in public was probably not any kind of normal.
It drew looks.
During lunch, earlier in the day, he had randomly picked me up and twirled me around a couple of times, before putting me back down and walking on without a word spoken, leaving me to giggle.
I had to admit. Oddball was making my life a lot brighter.

I heard Ethan's car pull up and hurried indoors to oversee Simon's entry.

I heard them arguing on the stairs before the door opened.

"Oddball. I'm not going to kick her out of the band just because you can't control your pecker. Izzy stays!" He said as he opened the door.

I had to chuckle at his chivalry.

Then he turned around to see his parents, Ellen and me with party hats and party flutes. We all blew a squeaky birthday salute before shouting "Happy Birthday!".

Simon's face fell, he looked around to see the multitude of colourful balloons and streamers along with the banner with his name on it.

I saw him flicker between confusion, annoyance, amusement and exasperation as he looked at me with what was probably meant to be a frown, but looked more like a smile.

I let his parents get first hugs after he had hung his coat and kicked his shoes off.
I saw Ethan and Odd look around the room with big grins.
Odd strode over to me and enclosed me in another hug.

"This was so worth getting yelled at for," He said with a laugh.

I got loose from the hug to see Simon look at me with what was supposed to be a very stickt and stern look on his face but landed somewere in the region of soft.

"Izzy!" he exclaimed.

"Happy birthday, Simon!" I grinned.

"It looks like an unicorn exploded in here!" He accused.

I laughed.

"Yep. I killed an unicorn. Just for you!" I smiled and pulled him in for a hug, forgetting that I still had an arm attached to Oddball, making it a threeway hug.

Oddall, true to form, opened the hug and reached out to drag Ethan into it from wherever he had been stood, making it a bandhug. I looked around at the three boys. Brown, grey and blue eyes were all looking at me. I wished I could take a photo of this moment. The four of us. Belonging together so comfortably.

"You had to fancify my birthday didn't you," Simon said quietly.

"It's not all fancy. We're barbecuing," I said, making three heads pop up.

"It's october!" Odd announced breaking the hug.

"It is!" I agreed.

"It's cold outside," Oddball said.

"Yes, and?" I said.

"Well... I'm not going outside to freeze!" Simon stated.

"Shame, 'cos I've lit the barbecue. I'm ready to cook some steaks! Your favourite food ever!" I said rubbing my hands together.

"You do that, while we stay inside in the warmth," Simon grinned.

"Wuzz!" I laughed as I put my coat on ready to cook.

"Crazy, crazy, little Izzy," Simon whispered softly and pulled me into another soft hug.

"Happy Birthday," I said again and kissed his cheek as he let go.

I hurried out on the patio and checked on my flame. I smiled at the satisfying sizzle as the staeks hit the grill. Simon had always had this thing about big chunks of meat. And he used to want a barbecue dinner for his birthday when he was little.

Mark came out with a clean plate for the cooked steaks.

We stoood there quietly for a moment while I watched through the windows how Simon take in the multitude of balloons and steamers and colours adorning his normally neutral home. I chuckled as I saw the way he ran his fingers through his hair.

"He hates it when you catch him off guard like that," Mark said with a smile.

"No, he doesn't," I smiled back.

"No... Who am I kidding... You would probably get away with anything where that son of mine is concerned," Mark said and patted my back before heading in with the plate I had used for raw food.

Once Mark had gone in I heard a new set of footsteps approach.

Ethan stopped in front of me, in a t-shirt in the cold keeping me company.

"Making good with the future in laws?" Ethan asked thumbing towards Mark.

I frowned.

"No! God! No!" I exclaimed.

"It just seemed... I mean... Like you and Simon... had something of a moment in there," He said quietly.

I studied the smile on his face for a moment.

"No. Simon is my best friend. I love him to death but not like that," I replied.

Why were everybody trying to make Simon and me into a thing lately?

"You sure?" Ethan asked.

"Yeah! That would be weird," I assured him.

He started saying something, but was interrupred by the door bursting open and an overexited Oddball bouncing out.

"Food ready?" Odd asked exitedly.

"In a moment," I answered.

Oddball stood there bouncing on his toes with his hands buried deep in his pockets for a few minutes.

"So... Simon has banned me from getting my pecker out near you," Oddball grinned.

I started laughing.

"Yeah. That was my biggest fear in life," I laughed at him.

"Unless you want me to," Oddball said wiggling his eyebrows.

"I think I'll pass," I chuckled.

"I might not have rainbow-fingers, but I can probably impress you in other ways," Oddball suggested with a teasing smile as he approached me and tried putting his hands on my hips.

I tried my best exasperated look and pointed the skewer in my hand at him.
I slowly lowered the skewer.

"If that ever becomes an option I'll let you know!" I said with a wink.

He planted a big wet kiss on my cheek.

I laughed. Getting offended with Oddball was like getting offended with a kitten for scratching you. I just couldn't do it.

Oddball laughed and held the plate as I loaded the cooked food on it.

I linked my arm with Ethan and dragged him indoors where we placed the food on the dining table. Sarah and Mark were setting out salads and garlic bread.

"Where is Simon?" Sarah asked.

"I thought he was inside with you," I replied.

Suddenly we heard a snicker from the doorway to the living room and Oddball was waving us forward.

I snuck around the corner towards the semidarkened room.
I caught my breath and felt a smile settle on my face. Silhouetted against the window and the streetlights outside, were my two best friends.
Kissing.
As if that was the obvious thing for them to be doing.
Supressing a heartfelt "awww" I grabbed Ethan and Odd, dragging them away from the door.
As much as I loved ribbing Simon, this was not the time.
I saw Sarah peek in as well and return to the kitchen with a smirk.

We started deliberately making noises. Calling out that food was ready. Getting the seating arranged and drinks poured.
Inside I felt like flying.
My smile was plastered on my face.
I would love for those two to be an item, but I wasn't going to read to much into just a kiss. I saw Odd's smile matching mine. We did a little high-five and nodded in agreed approval.

Without much fuss but with a new twinkle in her eyes and a small smile Ellen emerged from the living room and sat next to me. Simon followed looking down at the floor with a rather sheepish grin on his face. I exchanged a look with Ellen, making her smile just that fraction wider.

"So. You've obviously had one present. Not sure if the rest will live up to it, happy birthday, Simon," Odd grinned, making Simon throw a pointed look at him with a blush crawling up his face.

"See, If this had been at a gig, he would have thrown a water bottle at me," Oddball laughed.

The duration of the meal was spent with me laughing at Oddball's jokes while seeing how Simon and Ellen wrre trying not to look at each other.

After we were well and truly fed, I sent them all to the living room so I could clear the table.

As I was stacking dishes into the dishwasher, another set of dishes clattered into the sink. I looked up to see Ethan.

"Thought it'd be quicker if you had some help," he said.

"Thanks," I replied.

He left and returned with another load.

"Are you really okay with... that?" He asked indicating losely towards the living room.

"Yeah," I smiled, feeling genuinely happy that they had figured stuff out.

"I was just worried... that you might... with you and Simon being so close," Ethan muttered.

I giggled.
"I'm good! Better than good," I replied.

An hour later the music was blaring, we were all dancing to silly 70ies disco and eating cookiemonster cupcakes.
Simon had opened his presents. Oddball and Ethan had splurged on a new set of bass strings and tuning keys.
I had given him a hardback edition of City by Clifford D. Simak.

I had wanted to corner Ellen for girl-talk, but it seemed to be the wrong time.
I'd get answers soon enough. I was happy just looking at them, seeing the little looks and touches.
Somehow I found myself sat down, resting up against Oddball, feeling relaxed, safe and happy to the bone.
From somewhere a guitar turned up, and Odd begun drumming out what I recognised as Rocking Robin from the day before on the coffee table. I grinned at him as Ethan joined in on the guitar, and I started singing about the dirty little bird in the treetop.

Out of the corner of my eye I caught Simon with his arm around Ellen, and the happy smile on both their faces. There was a smile on my face and a warm feeling inside that had me pouring everything I had into the song.