Chapter Thirty-four

214 13 11

by CharlotteBeatrijs

by CharlotteBeatrijs

Gabriel was a summer child, his birthday in t-minus one hour as Theodore lay in bed, aware that he hadn't gotten him anything.

Now, he never had, unless you counted a badly drawn Gabriel dressed in stereotypical wizard attire, riding a dragon that was lighting the candles on his birthday cake, or an off-key performance of 'ode to joy', one of the first songs Theodore had just learned how to play, for his twelfth and thirteenth birthday.

But Theodore had been nine and ten, then, just barely young enough for it to pass as cute instead of cringy, and a whole lot more willing to put himself out there than he was now.

And what would you even get the boy who happens to be your brother's best friend, who spends practically every holiday at your house, who has kissed you and asked to kiss you again, but you said no and now you talk even less than you did before, but secretly you liked talking to him, liked him.

Theodore knew Gabriel liked nature and outdoor activities, knew that he added salt and pepper before tasting his food, and that he thought 'let it go' was overrated. He knew his favourite sad song and had seen him read a book or two before. Knew he had hair on his toes and knew how his lips felt against his.

Knew he knew practically jack all about him.

Surely, that meant he could get away with another awkwardly mumbled, 'happy birthday'.

Also, besides jumbled thoughts, the occasional boner, mixed signals, a car ride home, and now apparently sleepless nights, what else had Gabriel ever given him?

A sweet and clumsy little kiss.

Theodore groaned into his pillow.

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Gabriel's pov.

It was five minutes to midnight, and Gabriel and Silas were killing time waiting for it to strike twelve. They were lounging on his bed, talking, eating junk and not really paying attention to the movie that was on, one of Jason Statham's many interchangeable ones.

Silas had set an alarm on his phone, and when it went off, he snapped his fingers and produced a little flame for Gabriel to blow out, "Make a wish, birthday boy."

The first time they'd done this, eight birthdays ago, Gabriel didn't wish, but thanked who-or whatever responsible for having brought Silas and the whole Ward family into his life.

This birthday, he was just as grateful, but did make a wish, and was glad for not having to share it with Silas, since it concerned his baby brother.
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So I did totally jinx myself last time when I was talking about the more frequent updates, whoops. But between graduating, looking for (and getting) a job and losing my father way too soon and in a traumatic way, I hadn't been able to find the time nor motivation to write up until very recently.

Hope some of you have stuck around. Thanks for reading! Sorry if this is shite. Appreciate feedback.

Also, can't remember if I ever wrote down Gabriel's age, but guess he's 19 now, haha.