𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐘'𝐒 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐓, brady noon

022. surprise surprise

when he finished reminiscing about the photos, he went to evangeline's contact only to see that she had just texted him happy birthday. he hated how much his mood relied on evangeline and her texts. and he especially hated how she couldn't be there in person to celebrate with him.

to brady's dismay, evangeline had to end their conversation due to her 'early morning photoshoot.' he put his phone down and put on netflix on the tv. he wasn't even paying attention to the screen because his entire mind was just consumed of evangeline. how was it possible that she could just take over his brain like that?

netflix on the tv, evangeline being the constant thought in his brain, and connor right next to him seemed to distract brady from time. it wasn't until about an hour later when he realized that his mom hadn't even started breakfast when she said she was going to. "where's mom? i thought she was making breakfast." brady asked his brother.

connor shrugged, "i saw her go upstairs a while ago."

almost as if on cue, their mother walked back down the stairs with a repressed smile. she was briskly walking to the kitchen, which brady found slightly odd since she didn't say anything to them and he had no idea why his mom was rushing to the kitchen.

then about five minutes later, the doorbell rang. "brady, honey, can you get the door for me please?" his mother called out.

"did you invite people over?" he asked as he stood up and started walking towards the door. in all honesty, he wasn't in the mood to have guests, especially if they were his extended family. he didn't feel like having to nod and expressionlessly smile at his aunts and uncles' stories. or awkwardly sit with some of the cousins he doesn't even talk to as much anymore.

his mom came out of the kitchen with the same smile as a few minutes ago. brady pulled the door open and it took him a few seconds for his brain to properly register what he was seeing. he stood there frozen in place as evangeline was in front of him holding two gift bags in each of her hands. he thought he was hallucinating until she spoke through her smile, "happy birthday, noon."

a smile formed on his face as a speechless laugh escaped from his lips. his eyes were slightly wide in surprise and he leaned down to hug the one person he's been missing for weeks. brady's arms snaked around eva's waist with his chin resting on her shoulder. she began holding both gifts with one hand so she could use her free arm to hug him back. "i thought you were busy up in new york." he pulled away. the smile on his face was permanent at this point. he just couldn't believe that she was in front of him.

"i finished all my shoots, like, two days ago. i only said that so you wouldn't figure out the surprise." evangeline told him.

brady looked behind her and saw her father and dylan, who was recording the whole thing. dylan stopped recording and shoved his phone back in his pocket. he grinned and waved at his friend, "sup, brady! happy birthday, man!" dylan stepped forward and evangeline moved to the side so the two could dap each other up.

"hey, mr. martinez!" brady greeted.

he nodded at him, "happy birthday, brady! where's connor?"

brady turned around and called out for connor. connor reluctantly stood up from the couch and approached the front door. connor's eyes quickly widened in shock and smiled. "oh my god, you guys are here!" it was now his turn to greet the martinez family. brady opened the door wider so that they could all come in.