Shuri smirked secretively when we arrived at the palace.
"You have to cover your eyes again," she said, handing me a scarf to wrap around my head.
"Again? I swear to God if you make me cover my eyes one more time today, imma leave," I joked, taking the scarf from her.
She led me up the stairs, and when we arrived at the living room, or at least I was pretty sure it was the living room, it was weirdly quiet.
"You can take it off now..." Shuri whispered into my ear, helping me to untie the scarf.
"Surprise!"
I was startled by everyone cheering as the lights turned on. Everyone was there, my dad, my sister, Riri, Ava, Sarah, and her boyfriend. Even Mia my roommate was there, standing next to Okoye and Nakia.
The room was decorated with a huge happy birthday sign and disco lights. Food and drinks were lined up on the kitchen counter.
I turned around to look at Shuri, who was looking at me with a wide smile, laughing at my startled face.
"Did you organize all this?" I asked her.
"Yeah, I know birthdays aren't really your thing, your dad told me... but you deserve to be celebrated," she stated proudly, "Do you like it?"
"I love it, Shuri this is so sweet!" I pulled her against me, engulfing her in a hug as I felt some happy tears roll down my cheek.
She wrapped her arms around me as everyone around us cheered.
"Happy birthday y/N," she whispered into the embrace, pressing a soft kiss on my lips when I pulled back.
I turned around again, almost falling back as Willow jumped into my arms. I picked her up, peppering her face with kisses, making her giggle with joy. My dad joined us, hugging me tightly and congratulating me.
After I had greeted everyone, the party started. Shuri put on a playlist of my favorite songs, and everyone scattered around the room, enjoying the evening.
I was struggling to believe what was happening. Shuri had organized all this for me, and she had put so much effort into it by inviting all my close friends and my family.
There were a few games, which we played for a while until I was forced to sit down at the kitchen table.
Shuri entered the room with a wide grin on her face, carrying a beautiful birthday cake. It was a red velvet cake decorated with white cream and cute little flowers in different colors.
I tried not to act too awkward when everyone started singing "Happy Birthday". This was the worst part about birthdays; having to sit there with everyone staring at you and singing.
I blew out the candles in one breath, laughing awkwardly as everyone cheered.
After I unwrapped everyone's gifts, Ava forced me to play something on my guitar, and Sarah's boyfriend surprised us with his incredible guitar skills.
It seemed like everyone was enjoying themselves.
I had just finished talking to my dad and my sister when I noticed Shuri sitting on the couch next to Riri. They were talking, but Shuri's eyes followed me around the room.
I went over to them, taking a seat next to Shuri.
"How do you like the party?" Shuri asked me with a smirk, placing her hand on my leg.
"I'm really enjoying it, thank you again," I said sincerely, pressing a kiss on her lips.
"Well, I'll leave you two alone, Ava looks lonely over there," Riri chuckled, getting up from the couch and walking over to Ava who was standing at the bar.
"Sorry, I didn't wanna interrupt your conversation..." I apologized.
"You didn't interrupt, besides I was hoping you'd come over... haven't had a chance to talk to you since we arrived," Shuri smirked, her hand still resting on my thigh.
She leaned in slightly and pressed her lips to mine. I placed my hand on her jaw, not letting her pull back. We both smiled into the kiss and I felt her caress my thigh with her thumb.
She pulled away, making me frown.
"There are kids around... one kid at least..." Shuri teased, shaking her head.
I rolled my eyes but a smile crept up on my face.
We were interrupted by my sister coming to inform us that she was going to bed.
Shuri had organized for everyone to get a room in the guest house, so my dad was gonna bring Willow to bed, and then rejoin us but Willow had other plans.
She insisted that I put her to bed, and as always I couldn't say no to those adorable eyes of hers.
I carried her to her room, and softly placed her on her bed before tucking her in.
When I was about to leave, she held me back by my hand.
"Can you stay until I fall asleep?" she asked.
"Yes, I can," I chuckled.
"Is Shuri your girlfriend?" Willow asked out of nowhere.
"Uhm yeah, Shuri is my girlfriend."
"That's good, she's really nice, I like her a lot," she rambled, her eyes getting smaller.
"I like her a lot too," I smiled fondly.
I waited until her eyes fell shut. After pressing a soft kiss on her head I left to get back to the party.
I was walking over to the main building when I heard footsteps in front of me.
It was dark already so I couldn't see who it was. My heart was starting to beat faster, and I felt the panic creep up.
"It's me don't worry."
I calmed down at the sound of Shuri's voice.
"Gosh, you scared me," I muttered.
"I wanted to check on you, you've been gone for quite a while," she said.
"Willow had me stay with her until she fell asleep, that's why it took so long," I answered, walking back to the palace, expecting Shuri to follow me, but she held me back by my arm.
"Let's enjoy the fresh air for a bit," she whispered, leading me to a small bench in the backyard.
We sat down, and she put her arm around me. I rested my head against her shoulder, enjoying the warmth of her body against my side.
"Why didn't you tell me it was your birthday?" Shuri asked after a while.
"I don't know, I'm just not that fond of my birthdays," I muttered.
"Why? You get presents, everyone gives you compliments and you have a reason to party..." Shuri chuckled.
"It's just not the same since my mom died... she always made a huge deal about birthdays, decorated the whole house, and organized a million surprises. We would always go eat breakfast together at this place in New York, where they have the best pancakes ever... just the two of us," I remembered, smiling at the memory.
"Sounds like you were close," Shuri remarked.
"Yeah, I always wanted to be like her when I grow up," I said, trying to ignore the tight feeling in my chest.
"I'm sure your mom would be very proud of you," she mumbled, pressing a soft kiss on my hair.
"I hope so... I remember, the last birthday with her; she took me shopping, and afterwards we went to some fancy restaurant to eat dinner but the food there was simply disgusting so we left and went to Mc Donald's instead," I chuckled at the thought of the weird fancy stuff they served us, and the face my mom made when she tasted it, "I miss her."
"Yeah, I get that," she replied, her voice filled with sadness.
Suddenly I felt guilty. Here I was rambling on and on about my mom when she had lost her whole family. I didn't know what to say, so I stayed quiet.
"Your mom sounds like she was an extraordinary woman," Shuri stated, "I think our moms would've gotten along great, my mom loved birthdays too, even though she wouldn't admit it..."
"Yeah, I'm sure they would've been friends," I replied with a relieved chuckle.
"The last birthday I spent with my mom was shortly after my brother died, if I knew that it would be the last one with her, I would've done everything so much differently," she mumbled, and I could hear the regret in her voice.
"I get that, I would do everything to go back to the moments with my mom and be more thankful for what she did," I said, taking Shuri's hand.
"Me too, but sadly we can't..." she replied quietly.
"I know, but I'm sure your mother knew how much you loved her," I whispered, cuddling myself closer to her.
She squeezed my hand, and we just sat there in silence for a while, looking at the stars.
"You know I never really talked to anyone about my family, and I feel like you're the only one that truly understands me..." Shuri whispered.
"I'm glad, and I feel the same way, I don't know if I ever told you this, but the first night we met, I looked at you, and somehow I just knew that I had to get to know you," I replied with a grin.
"So, you fancied me from day one?" she chuckled.
I lifted my head from her shoulder, seeing the teasing smile on her face. She laughed when I rolled my eyes.
"Yeah, don't act like you didn't want to kiss me when we were sitting outside," I said, raising my eyebrows.
"That's true," she chuckled, "but our stupid friends interrupted us,"
"Well it still worked out... thank God you decided to get drunk that day so that I could find you at the bus stop," I teased her.
She slapped my arm jokingly, "Yeah, that's what other people call fate."
I laughed, remembering how I found her half passed out on that bench months back.
"But seriously now I'm really glad we met," I said, looking into her beautiful dark eyes.
"I am too."
"I love you Shuri," I whispered.
"I love you too."
She placed her hand on my cheek, slowly leaning in with her eyes locked on my lips.
The kiss started innocently.
Our lips gently moved together but after a while, she deepened the kiss, slipping her tongue into my mouth. Her hands pulled me onto her lap, and her lips explored my neck. I let her take control, enjoying how her tongue dragged over my skin.
"Y/N? Shuri?"
Ava's voice made us jump apart. She was standing outside the balcony door but couldn't see us.
"We're here, we'll be inside in a minute," I answered, holding back a laugh.
Ava didn't say anything else, and when we heard the door close again, we broke out in laughter.
I had completely lost track of time, so we had to go inside again. Shuri protested at first but followed me with the promise that we would continue this later.
Riri and Ava smiled knowingly when we entered the room but didn't say a word.
The rest of the party was fun, we all sat around the table, playing games and everyone started telling stories about me. Some stories were quite embarrassing, but I couldn't stop them anyways.
Later that night when I was lying in bed with Shuri in my arms, I let my thoughts wander.
How did I get so lucky? I had a family that was always there for me, I had friends who liked me for who I was, and I had the privilege of being loved by this gorgeous girl in my arms.
Even though the last few months were quite the rollercoaster ride, it was worth it.
I was exactly where I wanted to be.
And as I was laying there, listening to Shuri's steady breathing, I knew that no matter what the future had in store for us, everything would be alright if we had each other...