Third Love's The Charm [PUBLISHED]

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Third Time's The Charm

With the lighter in my hand, I lit up the '1' candle before moving on to the '7' candle on the cake one of soccer team members was holding, "There we go."

"Everybody ready?" the team captain asked and we all simultaneously nodded.

We pushed through the cafeteria doors and started singing at the top of our lungs, "Happy birthday to you..."

Our usual lunch table, which was usually filled with people squeezing in to fit, was empty except for Pat and Leon. Our group moved to them with the person holding on to the cake leading the way.

Pat repeatedly switched his gaze from Leon to us before the confusion slowly morphed into a excited grin as he waited for us to reach them. The cake was placed on the table in front of him as we finally finished our song, "...happy birthday to you."

Even the other people in the cafeteria clapped, also swept away by our enthusiasm. Leon scooted away from his best friend so he could have the center of attention, our phones already pointed towards him.

Pat closed his eyes and blew on the candles, causing us to fall into another round of cheers.

"Thanks guys," he smiled gratefully, "And I was over here wondering where everybody went."

Leon walked behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me closer to him. Months may have gone by, but I loved him just as much as I did on the day I first fell for him. We lived each and every day normally, the whistle being nothing more but a reminder of what we have been through.

Plus, it was like our little matching thing that both of us wore every day.

During the future I've originally came from, this day determined everything. It was the day that I found out about my dad because I saw his letter, it was the day that I missed school on my boyfriend's birthday when we were already having problems, it was the day that Pat decided that it was time to end our relationship.

And a week or so later, he broke up with me by the school field and that consequently made way to this time travel fiasco.

But even after all had been said and done, I was grateful for Pat's birthday.

I wouldn't have known truth about my dad and I wouldn't have started this beautiful journey of falling in love with Leon. So while it sucks that I had to go through heartbreak first, I think the end results made everything worth it.

"He kept interrogating me," Leon chuckled, "He even went on ahead to ask if the two of us had a fight."

"Please, the biggest argument we had was when you accidentally ordered the wrong pizza flavor," I rolled my eyes playfully.

Leon was perhaps the best boyfriend one could have. When he shared that I was his first ever girlfriend, that conversation ended spectacularly well.

"Well, I've been waiting for you."

He knew all the right words to say and let's just say that having the two of us alone in his house that day gave way for some very pleasurable memories.

"Oh by the way, Zoey said happy birthday Pat," I said, causing the boy's whole face to light up.

He still wasn't over with his little crush on her but they've met a handful of times by now so at least he was no longer fumbling around with his words in her mere presence. Now it was just a small amount of bashfulness, but it had definitely died down to respectable admiration.

And Zoey? Well, she was just as clueless as ever. Plus, she was still in this weird tango relationship with Christian and it was excruciating to watch them. I've lost count of how many times I've had to bite my tongue to stop myself from telling her to leave him.