𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 ;; 𝒶𝓊𝒷𝓇𝑒𝓎 𝓍 𝓀𝑒𝓁 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓉𝓈

↳ 𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕤 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕜𝕪 ・❥・: ̗̀➛

ɢᴏᴏᴅ/ᴛʀᴜᴇ ᴇɴᴅɪɴɢ

𝓂𝓎 𝓌𝒾𝓈𝒽? 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹𝓃'𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌.

┊ ┊ ┊ ┊

"ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ...ʏᴏᴜ...have it! A paper lantern made by yours truly!" Kel showed Aubrey the paper lantern he made with a proud smile.

Even though she forgot all of what he did, she applauded his work. He was clearly waiting for praise, so Aubrey said, "Good job, Kel."

There were probably better ways to say that, but Kel's smile grew nonetheless.

As a way to recover from his and Basil's fight and for revealing what truly happened during the day of his and Mari's recital, Sunny had started making things after he left the hospital. He had learned how to make paper lamps, and he taught Kel how to. That was a few weeks ago, but still, Kel adored making paper lanterns. Now that it was her birthday, he made a lot of paper lanterns for her, claiming that he needed to go all-out as her boyfriend. Each one was pink, but he sneaked in one orange one. Out of all the lanterns, that orange one was her favourite.

They were sitting in their secret hangout spot. The stars were starting to come out. Kel handed her the tissue paper he used to make the paper lanterns. "Your turn!" he said with a smile.

Aubrey nodded and tried to smile. She stared at it and tried to remember what the first step was.

"Or maybe it isn't," Kel said. "Oh, Aubrey, you wanna write something on the lanterns? We can attach a piece of paper to it."

"Write what?" she asked.

"I don't know. It's your birthday, so...birthday wishes?"

"No way. You're going to try to look at what I'm writing. The whole point of birthday wishes is that no one can read them, or else they won't come true, idiot."

"We're almost adults, and you still believe that?"

"You still believe in—"

"Okay, okay, I get it. You still wanna write something, though? 'Cause I brought a pen—"

"Why would you bring a pen if you wasn't even sure I'd write something?"

"I wanted to write something. Just good birthday wishes to my really cool girlfriend," he said at her raised eyebrow.

Her eyebrow raised higher. "You're definitely writing something else."

"Doubting me? Even after all the time we spent together?" He clutched his heart, shaking his head as his face twisted in mock pain. "I'm hurt, Aubs..."

Aubrey sighed, then asked for the pen. When she was given the piece of paper, she glanced at Kel. He had started writing his own note, a small, pleased smile on his face.

Aubrey looked at her note and wrote her wish. She already knew Kel was coming over to read what she wrote, so she folded the paper up several times. When he asked what she wrote, she said, "It's a secret."

Kel frowned. His face was near hers now, close enough to get lost in his eyes. "You can trust me."

"Birthday wishes, Kel. It won't come true if I tell you." Even though she tried to make her voice sound stern, the words came out softer, and she couldn't help but smile.

"Then I'm not telling you mine!" he threatened. When she didn't react, he asked when she wanted to set off the lantern. She answered now.

The amount of paper lanterns they had would become too much of a biohazard if they set off all of them, so they only picked the ones they wrote their respective wish on. Together, they set them off.

Aubrey held Kel's hand as she watched them fly into the sky. It might not be never—she might tell him on a random day in the future just to see his reaction—but for now, she wouldn't tell Kel that she noticed how he reacted after the truth. She saw how stressed he was, trying to forgive Sunny and Basil so quickly even though he wasn't ready to. He kept on telling everyone that he was fine, but anyone with a brain could see that he wasn't.

So, even though it was her birthday, Aubrey's birthday wish was for Kel to continue to be like this, to feel freer like how he did now. He deserved a break for everything that happened to him in the last four years. If he could find that happiness, then she would be happy as well. She hoped she could help him find that.

Aubrey held onto Kel's hand tighter. The pink and orange lanterns flew higher and higher into the sky, reaching towards the stars that became clearer by the second.

- - - -

𝙷𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚢 𝙰𝚞𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚢 𝙳𝚊𝚢!

𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝙲𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝 (𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙰/𝙽): 𝟽𝟹𝟾