Stay (A TBZJL Fanfic)

ELEVEN

(Tobi POV Still)

She was in a good mood that day. So good of a mood, she let me hold her hand the whole time we were out. If I didn't know any better, I would have called it a date.

But I did know better. We were just friends. If that.

After we said goodbye to my family, her and I went on a walk to kill time. Though we didn't say much, it was still nice to be with her. She didn't seem suspicious, either.

I offered to buy her apple cider for her birthday, but she declined. I didn't expect her to say yes anyway.

She played more of her music in the car on the drive back to the house, and I watched as she sang along. I even got her to laugh a few times.

I don't know how she didn't notice the tens of cars in our driveway, but she didn't. It was clear that the guys went all out when it came to inviting people.

I led her to the door, and she noticed the grin on my face that I couldn't push down.

"What?" She smirked, even though I could tell she tried not to.

"Nothing," I shrugged as I shoved my key in the door, pushing it open. "Ladies first."

She sighed and walked inside, with me following behind her. As soon as I closed the door behind us, everyone jumped out from their hiding spots and shouted. "Surprise!"

She jumped and grabbed my arm, but widened her eyes when she saw all of the decorations and people. There was a large banner that said, "Happy Birthday Casey!" in bright blue letters.

"I...but—but how did—" She brought a shaking hand up to her mouth. "This is...wow."

"Oh, no, you're not going to cry, are you?" I took her hand and looked into her eyes, but she shook her head.

"No, no. I've just never had this before," I saw a grin form on her face, and she turned to hug me. "I don't know how to thank you...I've been such a jerk to you—"

"It's not just me," I chuckled. "Everyone else helped, too."

She nodded against me before pulling away. "Thank you guys so much, really. Let's get this party started before I start crying like a baby."

With that, there were cheers and music started playing throughout the house. Freya bounced over with Talia's arm looped through hers and approached Casey to introduce her, so I sighed and walked away. Ethan patted my shoulder as I went into the kitchen.

"Thanks man," He grinned. "She seemed so happy, and I owe it all to you. How did you find out that it was her birthday?"

Crap. I shrugged. "I saw it on her calendar the other day."

He nodded. "Well, I'm off to the pool. Hope to see you there in a bit, yeah?"

"Yeah," I shrugged, but I vowed to keep an eye on Casey the whole night. Wherever she went, I'd make sure she didn't drink too much or do something she regretted.

No one deserved that on their birthday.

Ethan wandered off, so I poured myself a glass of water before leaving the kitchen to try to find Casey. I should have trusted the girls to take care of her, but I didn't. There were too many things that could go wrong.

I saw her talking to JJ, Freya, Simon, and Talia, and I relaxed. She didn't have a drink at all, which was good. I leaned against the far wall and watched them talk, noticing her rub her wrist nervously as she talked.

"Staring at her won't do you any good," Harry's voice from next to me made me jump, and I sighed.

"I'm not staring," I lied. "I just zoned out."