Listening to bad book reviews while writing is honestly the BEST encouragement.

Walking into the large home that felt like a second home to him had never felt so confining before. The walls that sometimes felt larger than life felt as though they were caving in, crumbling around him as they buried him in the dust. Nugget followed Friend Billy through the corridors and winding halls until they reached the backyard where the party would be taking place. The hedges were decorated with streamers and fairy lights that twinkle brightly despite the light of the sun bearing down on them.

Billy was uncharacteristically quiet, only offering Nugget a greeting when opening the door before gesturing to him to follow. Lily leaned against the back porch banister, the wood paint chipping showing that it was well-loved, phone in hand tapping aggressively on the screen with a frown brow.

"Hello friend, happy birthday!" He ran over to her and wrapped his arms around her in a cheerful embrace. Lily squeezed back tighter than the teen had expected, dropping her phone in the process. Billy looked at the scene with a scowl on his face and rolled his eyes. "Alright Lily, that's enough." He stomped his foot on the wood beneath them to get their attention.

Nugget let go of her timidly, ignoring the growing heat on his skin. Lily glared at her brother, her face red with anger. "You know he's my friend too, right?"

Billy scoffed. "Sure he is,"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Do you need me to spell it?" Nugget didn't know what they were referring to but now both of the emerald eyes locked onto him, Lily's wide with something undesirable to him. It was commonplace for Nugget to be out of the joke. He often zoned out when others were talking around him and not directly to him. But this joke was odd, he seemed to be at the center of it but had no clue what they could be talking about. Yes, Lily was his friend (however much he wanted her to be more) and so was Billy! To him, they just seemed to be shouting out facts.

His neck swiveled to turn back and forth between the twins, who now stared at each other like they were communicating telepathically between the two of them, in some language they could understand.

"Um, Nugget could see the... lights? Your mom did a good job." He tried to break the tension that was thick in the air with... minimal success.

Lily broke the intense eye contact with her brother and set her steely gaze on her friend beside her. "Thank you, Nugget." She thanked him politely with downturned eyes and a small frown. Her phone, still lying on the ground, vibrated off of the floor gaining the attention of the three teens on the porch.

"It probably took a while to plan this party... Nugget commends you too..."

"Thanks, Nugget." Billy looked up at his friend, a similar expression to Lily on his face. Lily walked over to where her phone lay and bent over to pick it up.

"...Nugget isn't used to speaking this much, can someone else chime in please?" He looked back and forth between the warring siblings, Lily on her phone tapping significantly less forcefully than before, and Billy staring at his nail beds with unwavering focus.

"Carla's outside," Lily said while still staring at her phone, she wasn't talking to anyone specifically just thinking out loud. She walked back into the house and down the hall. The boys followed her, Billy more reluctant then Nugget as he eagerly trailed behind her.

They saw the door swing open as Lily tackled Carla into a tight embrace. Her arms wrapped tightly around the taller girl's neck. Nugget looked at the scene and stilled, he was still a couple of paces behind the girls, and his heart ached at the sight. Nugget didn't know why it hurt him so much, they were affectionate with each other often but this time it felt... different? Maybe it was the shift in their relationship that was getting him like this but Nugget took a deep breath to calm himself.

He couldn't wait to give her the present he made her!

"Hey Nugget, Bill-" Lily pulled her by the hand, with a strength that shocked both Carla and Nugget and dragged her up the stairs, presumably to her bedroom. The boys stood in the foyer looking up at their friend's retreating shadows, Nugget frowned at the girls while Billy scoffed once more and rolled his eyes.

"Of course..." Billy muttered under his breath to himself while walking away. Nugget chased after him.

"What does Friend Billy mean by that?" He asked, his voice a little shaky and insecure. Was Lily mad at him? No, that probably wasn't the case based on how tight she hugged him a few minutes ago .

"It's just..." Billy trailed off and looked up at Nugget. The taller boy's eyes were downcast and riddled with worry. "You're a good friend Nugget... even when we don't appreciate it." He emphasized 'we'. Nugget didn't know what Billy was going on about, of course, Nugget's friends appreciated him! Why wouldn't they?

The blonde tilted his head to the side in confusion while Billy passed him with a knowing look and small pat on his shoulder.

"Woah..."

' Woah indeed, Friend Billy... '

The backyard was packed to the brim with chattering teens drinking and dancing.

"I was not expecting this turnout." Billy turned to face Nugget. "You gonna be ok?" It was sweet of Billy toplace his concern on Nugget instead of the overwhelming crowd starting to form that would surly be a hassle for his parents to clean after the fact.

And the truth is, Nugget wasn't ok. A deep pit of anxiety deepened in his chest. This party was slowly turning into a hassle he wasn't prepared for.

"Nugget is... going to go check on Lily." he stood up straighter and turned. He began to walk towards the porch exit.

"Huh?" That snapped Billy out of his starstruck stupor. He whipped his head around to see Nugget getting closer and closer to the house. "Wait, Nugget-" The blonde teen turned to be greeted by Billy's panicked face and his arm outstretched to him. "I just... no matter what happens tonight..." Nugget tilted his head to the side in confusion. "I love you, dude."

"Nugget loves you too?" The taller teen chuckled awkwardly. It wasn't like Billy to be this sentimental and... cryptic? He was a very straightforward kid overall. His demeanor confused Nugget even more.

He turned once again to make his way to the door but was interrupted. Climbing up the stairs he ran into Carla practically jumping down the stairs with excited vigor. She rushed past him with a brief acknowledgment, bumping into his chest with her shoulder, barely slowing down in her mission. He looks at her sideways, 'Why was everyone acting so off today?' He asked himself, and they called him weird.

Climbing the enclosed and narrow staircase two at a time, when the blonde reached the balcony he saw Lily leaning heavily on the worn railing, staring out at the growing crowd below. The soft wind whipped her short hair to the side framing her face. Nugget stepped on the ground, and the wood underneath his foot let out a loud creek. The teen winced at the noise, despite the loud music reverberating beneath them muffling the sound.

Lily whipped her head around to see the source of the sound. Her green eyes bared into Nugget's blue.

There wasn't a day since he met her that Nugget wasn't entranced with Lily. He couldn't remember a time before he stared into her bright green eyes for the first time. Granted, he was only six when he met her and lived a pretty subdued life before stepping foot into that dreadful Kindergarten.

"Hey."

"Hi." He stepped closer and the two of them succumbed into comfortable silence. Most of their time together was spent in silence, words weren't needed between the two of them. Nugget reached into the pockets of his dark-wash jeans, caressing the small wooden gift with his thumb. "Nugget go you a gift."

She turned to face him with a curious glace and adoring head tilt that made his knees wobble.

He pulled a small wooden raccoon out of his pocket. The wood was stained with various shades of black, grey, and white and the top of the raccoon's head was crudly glued to a small metal ring that was hanging loose against his pointer finger. Lily's eyes lit up, the gold band hanging off of her wrist as she gently took the figure from his larger hands. 'Since when did Lily wear jewelry?'

The parts where the excess wood was cut from the sculpture were jagged, not enough to cut her but enough for her to feel the rough edges of the wood. The gift was clearly made with a great deal of detail but Nugget took no effort to sand down the sharp edges. Lily is grateful for this, the rustic feel of the wood made the gift feel more personable and intimate in a strange way she didn't quite understand.

"Nugget also made Billy a matching one, but he has yet to receive it." The blonde stepped away from Lily with his hands awkwardly clasped behind him. "Nugget wanted to give Lily hers first..." He was starting to ramble now the long Lily stared down at the figure in her open palms.

"Nugget knows Lily will probably receive bigger and, probably not , better gifts tonight. But Nugget hopes that Lily appreciates his gift for what it is and-" Lily cuts him off mid-ramble with a tight hug, the small sculpture hits him lightly in the base of his spine from the force of her embrace.

"Thank you, Nugget, it's adorable," Lily said as she pulled away to look him in the eyes. Her arms rested atop his bent elbows as he encircled her waist, the keychain hung between them. Goofy, child-like smiles adorned their face. They looked at each other like they would when they were younger, right after that kiss on the cheek that sent him running down the road to 'Tell the world!'. Her face heated up at the memory while Nugget's blush couldn't get bigger and the smile on his face only grew bigger. Lily got a peak at the gap between his two front teeth that braces couldn't fix, she had never looked that deeply at the endearing feature but now it was all she could pay attention to.

He caught her attention to his mouth and dragged his eyes from hers down to her lips. Lily, seemingly out of instinct, wetted her lips at Nugget's attention, forgetting about the lipgloss Penny had oh so attentively painted on her lips an hour before. Nugget did the same, feeling the rough skin of his chapped lips on his tongue.

They leaned in at the same time. Their noses brush against each other awkwardly before slotting in next to each other perfectly. Nugget had only kissed two people in his life, neither of them particularly good. His first was with Billy in fifth grade after Adrian dared them to do it while at a sleepover with the two boys, it only lasted a second and neither of the boys liked it that much but Billy came out two weeks later so Nugget must've been doing something right. And the second was Lily that fateful night after Jerome's party. That kiss had been sloppy and unexpected, but this?

This kiss was perfect in Nugget's eyes. Their lips moved in tandem as the kiss grew desperate. Not to be dramatic but this was the moment Nugget's entire life was leading up to. Every milestone, every celebration, was nothing compared to the feeling of his life-long crush's lips interlocking with his.

But alas, the need for air broke them up, inhaling deeply with their mouths inches away from each other. Soft giggles erupted from the two of them as they took in the moment. A hymid breeze brought them back to reality, and the chatter of the partygoers, and the booming music faded into their brains. They didn't know how long they were kissing or how long it would be before someone came looking for the birthday girl but Nugget knew their time alone (ish) together was almost up.

Nugget reluctantly pulled away from the shorter girl in front of him, one hand on her waist and the other clenching periodically by his side in an attempt to calm his heart. A heart that was beating like a drum with blood flowing akin to a rapid river pulsing through his veins. He opened his mouth to speak but Lily beat him to it.

"Nugget-"

"They-"

They both stopped realizing they spoke at the same time.

"Sorry, you go-"

"Nugget insists-"

Their words came out rushed at the same time. This time they laughed together softly. Nugget gestured to Lily, letting out a quiet, "Birthday girl first," under his breath.

"Ok," Lily's giggle sounded better than any symphony out there. "I was just saying that I should probably greet my guests." She stepped away from him, her heat continued to radiate through his body. "I'll see you later." before he knew it Lily was walking backward, away from him and towards the door. Watching her leave didn't send the usual pang of sadness through his body. Instead, he felt hopeful for the next time he'd see her tonight.

As she turned around and walked away, Nugget didn't see the smile on her face being replaced with a conflicted frown and downturned eyes.

Nugget felt sick wading through the crowd, he didn't recognize half of the people he was squeezing his large body through and they didn't spare him a passing glance as he did. They were crowding around the table where the cake was, in the corner of his eye he saw Cindy, shrouded in pink, pinker than he had ever seen her in since elementary school, her perfectly manicured nails were between her teeth, picking at the acrylic with her eyes glued to whatever commotion was going on in front of the crowd.

The mob was the densest at the front so Nugget had to use his broad shoulders to clear a path for him. He saw the twins' parents at the front of the crowd, their dad held his phone camera sideways to capture the image in front of him. The twins cut their joint cake, the cursive on the top read ' Happy fifteenth birthday Loves! ' He remembers when the twins' dad brought the cake home, he was trying to keep it a secret but Lily found it at a speed that surprised even her. Nugget blushed at the memory of Lily. God , he hadn't been this pathetic since that sloppy kiss last month.

Lily posed for the camera, smiling brightly at her father, while Billy cut deeper into the cake, his eyes only lifting when their mother called for his attention. He looked like a deer in headlights when the flash of the camera captured his image. Nugget laughed, excited to see these pictures after they tonight.

The blonde was so entranced by the twins his brain didn't register the figure moving behind Lily, slightly pushing Billy to the side to get closer to the birthday girl. The figure's hand rested on Lily's bare shoulder, if he was closer he would see the goosebumps rising on her skin and blood rushing to her face.

But then he did notice. Nugget's fists clench at his sides as Felix fucking Huxley steps behind Lily and pulls her closer. He could hear their mom coo at the display of affection but Nugget only felt disgust. Not at Lily, never at Lily, but at himself for allowing his hopes to get up. Of course Lily would choose Felix, she would be an idiot not to and Lily is not an idiot. Their parents would be overjoyed at the possible PR and business opportunities this relationship would bring.

If the situation couldn't get any worse, Felix gets between the twins, fully pushing Billy off to the side now. He grabbed her chin with a polished hand that hadn't seen a day of work in his life, tilted her head up to match his, and kissed her lips. Lips where Nuggets had been not even an hour ago. The kiss wasn't as passionate as he was with Lily (Her parents were right there) but the crowd cheered loudly regardless, fits of his fellow teammates raised around him with drunken shouts of excitement.

' That should be Nugget up there. ' The blonde had to turn away, he couldn't bear to see the sickeningly sweet scene unfolding before his eyes. With the swift crane of his neck, he was met with Cindy's tear-filled eyes. She turned around and ran away from the crowd, probably to Buggs' comforting arms. She had somewhere to go while the Nugget's closest friends cheered on Felix and Lily, recording the scene with their phones.

Nugget gripped the sleeve of his shirt, getting some skin in between in the process, as he turned around and disappeared into the crowd.

Only an epilogue left whoop whoop!!