𝘿𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙛 𝙔𝙤𝙪 || 𝙌𝙪𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙊𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙩𝙨

[16] ʜᴀᴘᴘʏ ʙɪʀᴛʜᴅᴀʏ ʜᴀʙɪʙɪ

*****

"Do you wanna put on your playlist or mine?"

"Yours is good."

"Damn, I was hoping you'd wanna be selfish, you know my playlist is wack as all hell,"

After dropping off the food, they had gone back to the main road and were now in search of a Wendy's. The passengers had relaxed and were now aware of the day's plan. Or well, at least, aware of the fact that there was no need to freak out or worry.

"So, why did everyone vote YOU to make sure I relaxed today? You're one of the most easily stressed people I know, how does that work?" While the brunette enjoyed his chosen company, he was curious as to why his one friend so prone to stress was the smartest decision for a stress-relieving exercise like this.

"Wow! Okay, you know what? I won't argue because you're literally in law school and you have really strong evidence against me, so I'll just end up sounding like an idiot anyway... BUT I was chosen for this task because apparently everyone thought I 'needed a chill day too' or whatever, so here I am. Stuck with you," She leaned back in the seat as she gave the boy a small smile.

He couldn't fight back the smile that grew on his own face as they pulled into their second fast food restaurant of the day. It was already noon so the sun was high in the sky and the line was longer than usual.

When it was finally their turn, the girl leaned forward and once again ordered a pack of chicken nuggets, which caused the eyebrows on Alex's face to twist. She noticed and just as he opened his mouth to question, she silenced him and gave him the name of the next drive-thru they would be going through.

Since it was his day to relax, he decided to just go all in and leave the questions to be answered at the end.

*****

"You're gonna take a left here, then it's just driving straight for the next few miles."

The bucket was now filled to the brim with a variety of chicken nuggets from each fast food restaurant with a drive-thru in the Los Angelos area. Five nuggets from each restaurant and a bag full of the various sauces offered. The pair were starving as they hadn't actually eaten at any of the restaurants they had stopped at, but Y/n insisted that they had to wait until they got to their final destination.

For now, Alex drove the forest road outside of the city as Y/n gave directions in between singing breaks. The drive was comforting and sweet. The roads out of the city were practically empty and the pair engaged in fun conversation and listened to the various genres of music that played through the AUX cord.

They talked about everything as the quiet melodies played in the background.

Family, university, moving, childhood, relationships, birthdays, trauma, friends.

They let themselves be vulnerable, without worrying about being judged or laughed at. They acted like childish idiots and made jokes with each other. They let down walls they had kept up.

It was one of those talks that you have at three in the morning with your best friend because you're both drunk on lack of sleep and you're left alone in your empty room with your dark thoughts. It's deep and serious and emotional, but comforting and relieving and easy at the same time. It's one of THOSE talks. Except it's not between two best friends in a dark bedroom at two am on a school night, it's between two best friends on a dark road, with the evening sky surrounding them and their chicken, on a school night.

It was perfect.

*****

"We're here?"

"Yep."

Y/n lifted her resting head from the car window and instructed the beanie boy on how and where exactly to park. Once he had moved the gearshift into park, she told him to wait and rushed out of the passenger seat to open the trunk.

A few minutes later, she came back to her seat with a stuffed duffle bag. She instructed him to push his seat all the way back and to get comfortable. From the bag, she pulled some small blankets, drinks, her laptop, and a few other goodies. She handed him one of the blankets, his favorite soda, and finally started to power up the laptop.

"Number one thing you need to have a chill day is peace and quiet, number two is food and drinks, and number three is something to do. Hopefully, this is good enough for your 20th birthday," After a day of just being confident, snarky, and playful, the young woman's attitude had calmed to a serious and almost nervous feeling as she explained the whole plan.

"The nuggets are a little game we can play, 'Guess Where Each Nugget Came From,' you know, while we eat, I downloaded some movies or we could keep listening to music if you want, and I have a couple more blankets in here if you're still cold. I know it's not Disneyworld or a huge party, but I just wanted to plan you something that is just normal, genuine, chill fun and I-"

"I love it."

Those three words and the gentle hand on hers were enough to expel all the worry that had built up throughout the day and the girl could finally lean back and relax while the birthday boy selected his movie.

She started to reach for a nugget when she remembered the most important part of the day.

She shuffled through the mostly empty bag and pulled out one final surprise: a small box, about the size of a book, wrapped in shining paper and topped with a bow. She let out a deep breath as she waited for him to turn and face her.

"What's that?" He asked as he reached for a nugget from the magical bucket. Before explaining, however, she had to take a second to slap his hand away and hand him a toothpick. He took it, confused, and she quickly explained.

"It's how they do it in Japan, it's pretty cool," He smiled and nodded in understanding, poking a piece of chicken and popping it into his mouth as she continued.

"Happy birthday, Alex." She handed him the gift with an obscure blush on her cheeks. A million thoughts raced through her head as he slowly unwrapped the box, probably to mess with her.

Finally, the moment of truth.

He opened the thin cardboard to reveal a dark, navy blue beanie, similar to his own, but the word 'Quackity' stitched onto the brim rather than some random brand or logo.

"My grandma taught me how to embroider the cloth things that you use to wrap, like, tortillas and stuff, one time when I went to visit, so I thought it'd be kinda cool if you had your own beanie that had your name on it cause like the beanie's your thing..." Rambling again.

He silently stared at the hat in his hands and her thoughts started heading for the worst. Maybe he didn't like it and he was thinking of a nice way to let her down? Did she spell it wrong? Is it crooked? Does it even say 'Quackity' like it was supposed to-

All her worries dissolved when she was cut off by strong arms pulling her into a sudden, overwhelming warmth, which she was quick to sink into. He held onto her tight, letting her know that he was, at least, grateful.

"I fucking love it."

And that was music to her ears.

They separated and he switched the beanie he wore for the new one, adjusting it in the mirror before modeling for pictures to be sent and posted all over social media. He continued to stare at his reflection in the rear-view mirror, admiring his new hat, when Y/n finally gave him a little smack on the arm.

"Alright, Cassanova. Let's finally watch this movie and eat, I'm starving."

"Okay, okay. Bone apple teeth!"

"Cheers!"

She watched as the birthday boy finally enjoyed himself and smiled at how happy he seemed.

Happy birthday, mi amor.

A/n

I know he's never gonna see this but happy birthday habibi,, i freaking love this guy and it's more than just this celebrity crush I have. he never fails to make me laugh, he's genuinely so hilarious, sweet, and entertaining to watch. he deserves all the love in the world and I hope he has an amazing birthday and new year. mucho mucho amor <3

also alex with glasses <3