𝓟𝓪𝓻𝓽 𝓣𝓲𝓶𝓮 𝓛𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓼❥︎ // ʲᵒˢᵉᵖʰ ᵐᵒʳᵍᵃⁿ

20| Tᕼᗴ ᗷIᖇTᕼᗪᗩY🎈

It was nearly two weeks later when the day was finally here. The day everyone was looking forward to. Adelaide's birthday was finally here. Her friends had decided to throw her a huge surprise birthday for her 24th birthday. No effort was lost as all her TVD and MCU friends came together to make the best possible celebration happen for her. Out of respect for her, even past many protests from certain people, even Toby and Torrance were brought into the plans, knowing Adelaide would want them there.

The plan was for Rachel, Phoebe, Elizabeth and the other girls would take her to a 'girls day' birthday celebration, away from her place. Meanwhile, using her spare key that stayed with Sebastian, the guys would sneak into her house and set up all the decorations for when the girls returned and they would all surprise her.

The plan was in motion as Rachel and Phoebe had dragged Adelaide to their rooftop celebration at the Hotel Indigo. While the girls celebrated by themselves, the guys had already snuck into her place and were already at work, setting up balloons, confetti, candles, cake, gifts and whatnot.

"Man, that's not how you hang banners. Who taught you?" Charles' voice chimes in through the halls as he and Paul fight over what way to hang the 'Happy Birthday' banner.

"So," Sebastian speaks from around the living room where he, Torrance, Toby and Ben were wrapping all their gifts for Adelaide, "how are things with you and Addy?" he asks Toby.

Toby looks around to notice everyone else's attention was now on him as well, "um...we're doing good."

"How good? What does 'good' mean?" Daniel pushes.

Toby shares a worried look with Torrance before answering, "well, good as in, we've gone out on three more dates since the first one and we're going at a slow pace. We don't want to rush anything, so no labels yet."

"And do you plan on asking her?" Steven chimes in, "you know, to be your girlfriend?"

"I want to, of course," Toby replies much to others' dismay, "but I also don't want to push her into something she isn't comfortable with. So I am waiting for the right time."

"Okay well, you know as her best friend," Sebastian begins speaking when Paul cuts in, "as her best friends," he corrects and the others nod.

Sebastian rolls his eyes before continuing, "as I was saying, we feel like it is our responsibility to let you know a few things before/if you go any further with her."

"Dude, you're about to get the 'hurt my best friend' talk," Torrance jokes to lighten up the mood, "good luck."

The others smile at this because unlike Toby, they did genuinely like Torrance and saw how much he cared for Adelaide like she was his little sister.

"It's more than just about hurting her," Ian continues, "she has been through a lot in her life. With her family issues, followed by jackass Connor and the incident-we-shall-not-mention, she has had to go through a lot mentally over the years."

"And due to all this, he has more or less shut off from new emotions or relationships for years now. If she is letting you in and actually opening up again, it is your responsibility to ensure she doesn't have to go through the same hurt again," Charles speaks up.

"We're not trying to scare you off, okay? But it's fair to say that girl means a hell lot to all of us and we don't want her to ever have to go through that level of trauma ever again. And new guy means new guy trouble, so we took it to ourselves to remind you that you better have good intentions towards her if you're going to lead her on," Ben states next.

"I do," Toby cuts in, "I know I'm new in Addy's life and you all need more time to warm up to me, but I can ensure you, I only have the purest intentions when it comes to her. I really do care for her a lot and I'm lucky she is willing to give me a chance. Not only her, with time, I hope to prove my intentions to all of you. Trust me, she is as important to me as she is to you all, even in such a small amount of time."