"... Jesus Christ..." Wendy replied.

"You're telling me."

"Does it hurt?" She asked, moving her finger up to touch my nose.

I put my hand in front of her finger. "Yes and you poking it isn't gonna make it better."

She dropped her hand. "Sorry."

"So, birthday girl, you excited?" Blake chimed in.

"I'm turning twenty-three, what's the big deal?"

"Uh, it's your birthday?" Wendy replied.

"I still don't see the appeal in celebrating one year closer to death." I said.

"You're cold." Blake replied.

My phone went off, interrupting the conversation I didn't wanna have.

I read the text from Rebecca. "Happy bday. My shift ends in 5"

I sent a quick reply and stood from my seat.

"I'll see you losers in a couple hours." I said as I left Twist and headed towards the diner...

"What happened to your nose?" Rebecca asked after getting in the passenger seat.

"It's a long story." I replied.

"Did you win?"

I smirked. "Of course I won."

We chuckled and pulled out of the parking lot, heading towards our first destination.

"So, what's the plan?"

"I figure we'll go see my parents, then dinner, then party at Twist."

She smiled. "Sounds good to me."

I nodded and made my way towards my house...

We walked through the front door, only to see the lights were off and no one seemed to be home.

I opened my mouth to speak, when the lights suddenly shot on.

"Happy birthday!" Everyone shouted in unison, I nearly jumped out of my skin.

"What the hell?!" I squealed, looking around at everyone.

My mom, dad, Wendy, Blake, Beth, and Stephanie stood in front of me, all wearing matching birthday hats.

"What's this supposed to be?" I asked, my hand resting over my heart.

"A surprise party. Duh." Rebecca replied.

"I thought my party was at Twist?" I asked, a little confused.

"That's the after party." Blake replied.

I glared at Wendy. "I know this was your doing."

She raised her hands in fake surrender. "Normally you'd be right, but I didn't plan this."

"I did." Rebecca replied.

I let out a heavy sigh as she put a birthday hat on my head.

"You're lucky you're cute." I said, giving her a quick kiss before making my way over to my family and friends.

I gave everyone a quick hug and thanks before we officially started the party...

After about an hour of mingling, it was time to open gifts.

I sat down at the kitchen table as everyone placed their gifts in front of me.

"Thanks guys, but you really didn't have to do all of this."

"Yes we did." Wendy replied.

"Because we had to." Beth added.

"No, we did it because we all like you enough to care." My mom finished with a smile.

I rolled my eyes and smiled before opening the first gift. "A CD player?"

"Yeah, I figured we could install it in the 'Cuda so you can update your music collection." My dad replied.

I hugged and thanked him.

Everyone really put a lot of thought into their gifts, which meant a lot to me, but I had one last gift from Rebecca.

"Save the best for last." I said.

She chuckled. "Just open it."

I opened the small, wrapped box. "A charm bracelet?"

"With the charms for all your favorite bands." Rebecca replied. "Happy birthday."

I kissed her.

"Thanks, I love it. And I love all of you." I said, pointing my finger at everyone.

"You forgot me." Rebecca said with a giggle.

"I wasn't to you yet..." I said with a smirk.

I pulled her in for a deep, passionate kiss.

"I love you, Rebecca June."

She smiled wide. "I love you to."

We kissed again and everyone cheered and clapped.

We pulled apart and smiled at each other.

"Now, lets get the after party started!" Blake shouted, leading everyone out the front door...

We all met in the parking lot at Twist.

I pulled Wendy back, whispering in her ear. "I thought Jen was supposed to show up?"

She smirked. "Oh, no, just trying to keep you on your toes."

I rolled my eyes. "Are you serious?"

"We had to divert your attention from the surprise party somehow." Blake added.

I glared at her. "You're a dick. Both of you."

Wendy just laughed as Blake unlocked the doors and let everyone in.

She turned the lights on and I looked up to see a big banner hanging from the ceiling that read: Happy 23rd kiddo.

Despite the lie, I still found myself filled with joy at the sight.

"Still a dick?" Blake questioned.

I rolled my eyes and smiled, pulling her into a big hug.

She rubbed my back before walking behind the bar and started handing out beers to everyone except Beth, Stephanie, and Rebecca.

"You forgot us." Beth stated.

"Are you Twenty-one or older?"

Beth rolled her eyes.

"I did get you these, though." Blake replied, handing them each a juice box.

Everyone else laughed as they stared at the juice boxes.

"That's not funny." Stephanie replied.

"The hell it isn't." I said, patting her on the shoulder.

Most of us laughed and drank the night away after that.

Maybe I was starting to enjoy this whole birthday thing...

The night was coming to a sad end as everyone started to get ready to leave.

We all shuffled out the front doors, but I stopped in my tracks. Everyone else stopped and looked back at me.

"What's wrong, honey?" My mom asked.

"Somebody keyed my car." I said through clenched teeth.

"Who the hell would do that?" Wendy asked.

"I have a pretty good idea." My dad said, pulling a note from under my wiper blade.

He handed it to me and I read it over.

"You better watch yourself, bitch. Now I know your friends and your family."

I crumpled the note. "That dumbass has no idea who he's fucking with."

"Who?" Rebecca asked, worry in her eyes.

I pulled her off to the side to explain the whole thing.

"Ok, so remember what I told you about Steve?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, he left bruises on Beth. So, my dad and I went to confront him and we ended up getting in this huge fight with Steve and a couple of his friends. We whooped their asses pretty bad before hitting Steve with some threats and he agreed not to mess with us anymore. But, clearly he's dumber than we thought."

She just nodded and pulled me into a tight hug.

We pulled apart and I stared into her eyes.

"Listen, if he even attempts to talk to you, let me know." I said.

Rebecca nodded, now a little bit of fear showing in her eyes.

I pulled her back into the hug and tried to sooth her.

"It'll be ok." I said, rubbing her back.

We rejoined the rest of the group.

They were mostly quiet aside for my dad, who was addressing them.

"... just, everyone be carful. I don't think this kid has the balls to really pull anything crazy, but we don't know for sure." He finished.

Everyone nodded before returning to their cars to head home.

Rebecca hopped in mine and I peeled out down the street towards her house, pulling into her driveway shortly after.

"Sorry the night had to end like this." She said.

"It's ok, it's not your fault."

She looked down.

I reached across the center console and tilted her chin up to face me. "Hey, everything's gonna be ok."

She nodded, clearly still a little worried.

I leaned in and planted a passionate kiss to her lips.

We pulled apart and stared at each other, some of the worry left her eyes.

"I love you." I said.

"I love you more." She replied with a grin.

"Not possible, now get your cute little butt inside before your mom starts to worry." I finished.

She rolled her eyes playfully before getting out and heading towards her house. I waited until she got inside before I left.

I pulled my cigarettes out of the glove compartment and lit one before taking off down the street...