At midnight, Kaitlyn tiptoes downstairs and holds the front door open as Alaric comes back home with a big cake and the twins, Madeline and his other friends carry the gifts and balloons with them. As Alaric and Kaitlyn set up the decorations, the kids all rush to Ryan's room to wake him up and surprise him.
༆☼︎☾︎ꨄ︎☽︎☼︎༆
The kids all barge into Ryan's room, "SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" they all yell out in sync and Ryan jerks awake, listening to them.
He sits up and gives them a grateful smile.
"Happy Birthday, brother!" Josie wishes him and Lizzie nods along.
"Thanks, you guys," he replies.
"Mom and dad are setting up everything downstairs, get up and get dressed. Meet us downstairs ASAP!" Lizzie orders as everyone walks out of his room, everyone except Madeline. Madeline stays back as she notices something off about him.
"Hey, what's wrong? Surprise not good enough?" she jokes.
"No no it's not that. I just... I messed up. I was so busy hating the Mikaelsons for what they did to mom, I completely ignored how I was hurting mom too in the process until she pointed it all out to me tonight. I promised her I'll give them a chance. You know, apparently Klaus is her soulmate, just like you are mine. I can't imagine my life without you, Mads and to think mom had to spend sixteen years away from her soulmate, only because she wanted a trouble-free life for us, I can't help but feel guilty about everything," he confesses.
Madeline sighs and sits next to him on the bed, "hey listen, we all know Miss K. You know she doesn't blame you or your sisters for any of it and she's more than thankful to have you guys in her life. Yeah it must've been tough but maybe you can look on the bright side, they're both here now. Maybe, in time, they'll find their way back to each other. Now, all you can do for her is be supportive towards any decision she makes. That's all she'll want from you. And I'm sure if you give it time, things will fall back into places for everyone, eventually," Madeline reassures.
Ryan hangs his head, "yeah I guess you're right," he says.
Madeline hugs him and rests her head on his shoulder, in a way to comfort him.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Now get ready, everyone's waiting for you downstairs," she tells him as she gets up and leaves the room.
After a while, Ryan freshens up and meets his family and friends downstairs.
"There's the birthday boy!" Alaric cheers when his eyes land on Ryan.
Ryan smiles sheepishly as Kaitlyn rushes towards him and pulls him into a big hug.
