Wrong Number.

Birthday Planning

Ben smiled softly to himself as he whisked through the cake batter. Taylor's idea had been better than they originally thought—She wanted to make all the sweets for Aidens impromptu birthday party.

For the desserts, Taylor had assigned Ben and herself to cake duty, Tyler and Logan were on cookie duty. Aiden on the other hand, was in charge of running to the store and getting his favorite snacks and ice cream. Taylor wanted to wait until they were done baking to do the decorations, and before they even got to Aiden and Ben's house Taylor and Tyler picked up Aiden a few gifts, which Tyler had shoved into a random birthday bag. Logan had gotten Aiden a gift too.

Taylor hummed to herself as she made the frosting for the cake. Ben smiled softly as Taylor made the frosting. She was so unbelievably sweet to everyone she liked, it made his heart pound in his chest. Especially when they hung out together, Taylor made Ben's heart beat in ways it never had before. Ben was certain at this point—he liked Taylor. He blushed to himself, Taylor was a bit of a misfit—but hey so was he. It made him like her even more.
"Ben be careful! Your getting the batter everywhere!" Taylor said as she noticed ben wasn't paying attention to what he was doing. Her cheeks went a little hot when she caught him staring at her.
Ben nodded—embarrassed that she caught him staring. He whisked more carefully now, but it was a little bit harder for him to do. Taylor put her hand over his.
"Do you want my help?" Taylor asked.
Ben nodded. Taylor helped guide his hand in a gentler motion, whisking the batter carefully.

Taylor herself was blushing at little, but she quickly shook the feeling away.
"Pull yourself together Taylor!" She thought to herself. "Your just helping him with the batter—and your supposed to be focused on Aiden's party!"
Taylor had a focused look on her face, and Ben laughed a little. (Or in his case let out a puff of air.)
She looked so determined to make this party great for Aiden.
"We're just making cake Tay, not planning a war battle," He typed out on his phone.
Taylor huffed. "It needs to be AMAZING! I don't care—my friends birthday deserves to have this level of treatment!"
Ben smiled to himself. It was nice of her to go out of her way to do this.
"If you say so," Ben typed out.

Tyler glared at the two from the other side of the big-ass kitchen the Clark's had. He wasn't an idiot—he could see that there was something between the two. But he didn't like it one bit. Taylor was his sister (technically little if you count the twenty minutes!). He was supposed to protect her. Protect them. Especially now that dad....
"Ah! Um Ty your gonna break the spoon!" Logan said, snapping Tyler out of his little trance. God what was wrong with him? He didn't even notice.
"Sorry." Tyler mumbled. He loosened his grip, letting the spoon fall back into the cookie dough. Logan, who had been putting cookies on the tray, looked at him strangely.
"Hey..are you ok? You seemed kind of...out of it." Logan said as if he were staring a fact rather than an observation. Tyler just shrugged. Logan frowned.
"That's not a proper answer,"
"Well why do you care? It's just personal stuff," Tyler snapped. He knew he was being rude for no reason, but he was in no mood to be nice with Taylor and Ben making googliy eyes at each other.
"I care because your my friend Tyler!" Logan snapped back.
Tyler was a little taken aback. He didn't expect him to snap back like that. He should've expected it though—Logan had come a long way in such a short amount of time.
"Is it about Taylor and Ben?" Logan asked, practically reading his mind.
"How are you always able to do that?" Tyler asked. "It's like you can read my mind or some shit."
"I'm good at reading people," Logan shrugged. "And Tyler—you shouldn't have to worry about Taylor. She can handle herself."
Tyler grunted. "I know. I know that better than anyone."
"Then why are you still so worried?" Logan asked.
Tyler stayed silent. It was his job to be worried. He had to protect them. Take care of them. No matter what.
"Because it's my job to protect her.." Tyler mumbled. He really didn't like opening up—but Logan probably wouldn't press any further.
"No it's not," Logan protested, making Tyler cringe. Goddamnit he was one of those people.
Logan put his hand on Tyler's shoulder. "It's your guys's job to look out for one another, not one protecting the other. Believe me—Taylor would protect you the same way that you protect her."

Tyler paused. He...hadn't really thought about it that way. He scratched the back of his neck, his face heating up a little. "I guess.....um. Thanks."
Logan smiled, happy to see his friend opening up. "No problem! Now come help me finish these cookies please,"
Tyler nodded, giving Ben and Taylor one more quick glance. They had clearly abandoned the the batter and were just talking now. Tyler took a deep breath.
"It's ok." He told himself. "Its...ok."
Tyler looked back to Logan. He scratched the back of his neck, sighing. Yeah. Maybe.

Just maybe for now. For a minute. They would be ok.
She's ok.
.
.
.
He's ok.

Aiden scanned the snack aisle, looking for not only his but the groups favorites to. He knew it was his birthday and his party—but come on! They all were hanging out and having fun. He had friends—he was determined to make sure they had a good time.
"Taylor did mention she liked those vanilla wafers.." Aiden thought out loud. He went to grab them, but spotted a familiar braid of orange hair.
Ashlyn.
"Hey Ash!" Aiden said(yelled) super loudly, getting her attention. He had completely lost his train of thought, happy to see another friend there.
Ashlyn mentally cringed. Oh shit shit shit shit. She quickly hid what she was holding behind her back as Aiden made his way over.
"What are you doing here?" Aiden asked. "Whatcha looking for?"
"Nothing..I'm just....buying something." Ashlyn mumbled. What a lie. A complete utter lie. She was buying Aiden a present for his birthday last minute—she didn't intend to show up at the party though. Just discreetly leave it on his desk during class or something.
"Do you have any other plans today?" Aiden asked, excited.
"Why...?" Ashlyn asked, eyebrows raising in suspicion.
"Well it's my birthday, and our friends—"
"Your friends."
"Our friends don't fight me on this woman." Aiden glared playfully at Ashlyn. Ashlyn sighed and rolled her eyes. "Anyways—they're throwing an impromptu birthday party for me today! So I was wondering if you don't have anything else going on..do you maybe wanna come to it?"
Aiden looked at her, practically buzzing with excitement. Ashlyn gulped. Shit..don't be persuaded..

She looked at Aiden, he looked so excited. So hopeful. Ashlyn grumbled to herself, taking pity on Aiden.
"Fine...I'll text my parents and let them know." Ashlyn said.
"WOO HOO!" Aiden cheered, leaping with victory. Ashlyn grumbled, covering her ears. God this would be a long night.