..⃗. 🌌 •̩̩͙⁺゜⤾·˚ ༘ ➷̈
𝗛𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗬'𝗦 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗧 ━━━━ 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗪𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗬 𝗧𝗪𝗢
( 𝖲𝖴𝖱𝖯𝖱𝖨𝖲𝖤 𝖲𝖴𝖱𝖯𝖱𝖨𝖲𝖤 ) ࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ
turning 18 years old isn't even that big of a deal. at least that's what brady thought when he woke up the morning of his 18th birthday. he didn't feel nor look different than he did previously. today would just be like any other day. the first thing he did in the morning was check his phone like he usually does every morning. he unlocked it to find messages from his friends who wished him happy birthday. he scrolled through all the names, but unfortunately, he couldn't find the name he wanted to see most. but in evangeline's defense, it was early morning and there was no way she was awake already.
brady stood up and opened his bedroom door as he rubbed his eyes, trying to rid any traces of sleep. when he stepped out of his room, he saw connor across the hall, also walking out of his room. the two twins wished each other happy birthday before they both walked down the stairs.
they froze at the bottom of the steps when they saw that the living room was decorated. different shades of red balloons were spread throughout the room and giant golden balloons in the number 18 were placed right next to the tv as tinsel foil streamers adorned the usually mundane white walls. brady and connor's mother walked into the living room and noticed them at the steps.
a smile lit up her face as she wished her sons happy birthday and engulfed them in a hug. she kissed both of their foreheads and informed them that she'd start making breakfast in a few minutes while their father was out buying their cake. brady and connor decided to wait on the couch and turned on the tv as background noise as they went on their phones.
that was when brady saw evangeline's post for him and connor on her spam account. he was quick to smile upon seeing the pictures that she posted and his smile only got bigger once he saw the final photo. the photo of the two of them in the car.
evangeline had borrowed dylan's car and started driving around the neighborhood with brady, xochitl, and dylan himself. but because she hated driving, wasn't the best at it and didn't even have her license yet, brady offered to switch places with her. from there, evangeline started blasting the poppiest pop music one could ever hear. brady wasn't into it at first, which made eva laugh and she continued to play the music, adding similar songs to the queue. as eva sang her lungs out with xochitl and her brother, brady eventually gave in and stopped being annoyed. at one point, he started singing too and it made evangeline laugh again. he loved the sound of her laughter. he loved it so much that he watched her in awe as she giggled and leaned into his shoulder. then, xochitl took the photo.
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.
evangeline was met with brady and connor's mother. she had a big smile on her face and immediately extended her arms out to welcome eva. the martinez girl took excited steps towards her and wrapped her arms around her. mrs. noon greeted eva's father and brother and made sure to make them all feel welcome. "i'm just about to make some breakfast, so please, make yourself feel at home. brady, connor, dad's gonna be home in a few minutes with your cake and some groceries, okay? can you please help him when he comes home?"
before the twins could say yes, mr. martinez offered to help so the boys could rest. he followed their mother into the kitchen where they'd get to know each other as they waited for mr. noon to arrive. this left the four kids alone in the living room. evangeline held out both gift bags to each twin. "these are for you guys."
"from us." dylan added with a grin.
"from me." eva corrected. dylan had no part in the gifts she got for brady and connor.
the two twins walked over to the couch and sat down as they placed their gifts on the coffee table. they both opened their gifts at the same time. brady was able to open his bag first and grabbed the first thing he could. it was a black t-shirt. he unfolded it and looked at the design. once he saw what it was, he glared at eva with his lips pressed together and a slight pink tint scattered across his cheeks.
the shirt read i ♡ evangeline martinez in big and pink decorative letters with a picture of evangeline inside the heart. a couple of months ago, a tiktok featuring the shirt appeared along with the website where the shirt was from in the caption. so as a gag, eva bought three of them. originally, one for dylan, one for xochitl, and one for nate. but then when she realized she needed to give something to brady and connor, she decided that dylan and nate could wait on the shirts and she gave it to the twins instead. again, as a joke.
brady held up the shirt. evangeline chuckled, "you like it?"
"i love it." he replied as he refrained himself from smiling.
connor grabbed his gift from his bag and saw that it was the same shirt but in white. "how'd you know that i'm such a big fan?" he sarcastically asked.
"i just know you so well." she just as sarcastically responded. eva then told them, "i have actual gifts for you guys by the way, they just didn't come in time. so the next time you're in LA, i'll give them to you."
"you're telling me this awesome t-shirt isn't my actual gift?" brady teased.
"no, unfortunately." she sighed. brady reached down into the bag and took out a folded piece of paper. before he could open it, evangeline stopped him. "don't open that right now. open it later when i leave or something."
"why?" brady slowly asked.
"because." she stated. "i just think you should open it later."
"whatever you say, martinez." brady placed the paper and the shirt back in the bag.
dylan spoke up, "oh, by the way, xochitl and nate are coming over soon."
brady and connor furrowed their eyebrows, "what?"
"yeah, that's the other surprise." evangeline smiled and waved both her hands. "they haven't even started driving down from new york yet, but they'll be here later today."
he'll admit it; brady wasn't in that good of a mood when he woke up earlier that day. but now, he was over the moon. the one thing that he wanted for his birthday came true. evangeline was right in front of him. he didn't care that she didn't get him an actual gift for his birthday yet. her being there was enough. and also, he genuinely found the shirt hilarious. from now on, he'll be watching evangeline's movies while wearing the shirt.
"when are you guys leaving?" connor asked.
"oh, you want us to leave? is that why you're asking?" evangeline questioned as a joke.
dylan's mouth fell agape, "wowww, i thought you liked us."
"you know, just for that, i do want you guys to leave." connor deadpanned. evangeline flipped him off and he did the same.
━━━━━━━━━━━━
9:45 pm. evangeline has been at brady's house for about ten hours. and for each of those hours, not once had brady left her side. even when xochitl and nate arrived to celebrate with them a few hours ago, brady didn't leave eva's side. he's missed out on nearly 18 years without evangeline present in his life and it was almost as if he was starting to make up for it.
unfortunately for brady, evangeline is expected to leave soon so that she could go back to her hotel in new york. "you guys can crash here for the night." brady tried to convince evangeline.
xochitl stared at him, "i've never seen you this clingy before, bro."
"what? i can't invite my friends for a sleepover?" brady scoffed. "i can ask my parents if you and nate can sleepover too."
"where are they all gonna sleep, brady?" connor questioned, knowing that their house cannot contain this many people for the night.
"hey. what if you guys just come to new york tomorrow and we can celebrate new years together?" evangeline suggested to her group of friends.
"oh!" nate exclaimed. "can we please do that? i've been dying to go to a new year's eve party since forever."
"i'm down." dylan agreed.
then, brady's parents walked out of the kitchen each holding a cake in their hands. one for brady and one for connor. they placed both cakes on the coffee table. "get ready, guys. we're gonna sing happy birthday before everyone leaves." brady and connor's father said. mr. noon went back inside the kitchen to grab the candles and the lighter as mrs. noon told connor to sit on the couch with brady.
eva got up from the couch so that it was only brady and connor. the twins' dad and mr. martinez walked out the kitchen and mr. noon placed the candles on each cake. everyone gathered around and sang happy birthday to the twins as they sat there with sheepish grins on their faces.
brady couldn't stop stealing a few glances at evangeline. he tried to give everyone his undivided attention, but eva being there made it difficult to. how could he focus on anyone else when evangeline martinez was in his house singing happy birthday to him? what a dream come true. as they were all nearing the end of the song, brady thought long and hard about what he should wish for. he didn't really think he needed anything else in his opinion.
he and connor blew out their candles on their cake as everyone clapped for them. brady glanced at eva one more time and saw the smile on her face. god, her smile. brady almost hated how warm his chest felt every time he saw her smile. why does she have this power over him?
"are you guys taking some cake for the road?" mrs. noon asked. the twins' father already started cutting the cake with brady and connor helping him.
"wait, are you guys leaving already?" connor quirked his eyebrows.
an apologetic expression appeared on mr. martinez's face, "sorry, guys. we gotta go before these two get too tired and knock out." he pointed to his kids. "plus, i'm these kids' ride back to our hotel." he then pointed to xochitl and nate.
"wait, but i wanted to ask everyone if it would be alright if we had a little new year's party in new york?" evangeline placed a hand on her father's arm before he started to move. hope lit up the kids' faces as they looked at the adults, silently pleading them to say yes.
mr. martinez looked at mr. and mrs. noon. after a few seconds of silent conversation through eye contact, the three parents nodded and said yes. their kids all smiled in triumph and excitement with each of them thanking the adults.
"alright, guys. get your stuff ready." mr. martinez told his children and xochitl and nate. they were practically his third and fourth kids to be quite frank. eva and dylan's father helped the twins' parents pack up slices of cake into containers for them to eat once they're back at the hotel.
as everyone was scattered around either getting their belongings together or saying their goodbyes, evangeline and brady stood in front of each other with grins on their faces. "see you tomorrow, noon." she told him.
he nodded, "yep. see you tomorrow." in the midst of dispersed chatter in the background, it was quiet between the two of them. neither of them could take their eyes off each other. brady cleared his throat, "and thanks for coming all the way here. you really didn't have to."
"are you kidding?" she replied. "i wouldn't miss you and connor's birthday for the world."
"i mean that much to you, huh?" brady said it as sarcasm. complete and utter sarcasm. he knew evangeline was never one to be verbal about her love and affection for others. and he knew how it's only been almost two months of their friendship. so, he thought it would be funny if he said something that held the same amount of sarcasm that evangeline usually uses.
but the frightening part was that his sentence held some truth. evangeline knew he meant it as a joke, but to her, it was the complete and utter truth. brady did mean that much to her. and she couldn't make any sense of it. she was clueless on how someone could be so completely woven into her life after such a short period of time. she forgot what she even did with her life before brady entered it.
"you wish." evangeline responded. she was not going to be letting her guard down. she couldn't do it. "happy birthday." she wished him one last time before she had to leave.
brady engulfed her in a hug. this time his arms were wrapped around her neck and her arms were wrapped around his waist. you would think that this was the last time they'd ever see each other again with the way they're hugging. they're literally seeing each other again the next day. despite this, brady gave her a hug that would be the only thought running through evangeline's mind.
once everyone had said their goodbyes to each other and were out the door, brady and connor helped their parents clean up a bit. their mother dismissed them and assured them that they could take care of the rest. so, brady took the gift that evangeline gave him and carried it to his room. he left the bag beside his bed before doing his nightly routine. afterwards, he finally was able to lay down and rest on his bed again.
then, he remembered the note that evangeline had given to him and told him not to read until after she left. brady grabbed the bag and reached into it for the note. he unfolded the piece of paper and began reading. in her delicate handwriting, the note read:
happy 18th birthday brady!!!!!!
if you're reading this, it means that i have already surprised you and given you your gift (which i hope you love btw). also, your real gift is a minecraft lego set I JUST HAD TO TELL YOU. let me know if you don't like it and i'll give you something else. ok i'm gonna try and make this quick because i'm writing this on the plane right now, but i am soooo glad that we met. i don't know what i ever did for the universe to have rewarded me with you. CHEESY I KNOW. don't bully me when you see me, i beg. but it's true. i seriously do not know how i would've ever finished this year somewhat sane if it weren't for you. becoming friends with you is easily one of the best things that have ever happened to me. thank god you admitted that i was your celebrity crush in an interview LMAOO.
you're seriously one of my favorite people on this earth and i'm so speechless on how we haven't been in each other's lives sooner. i hope you know that this now means that you're never getting rid of me WOMP WOMP! i've never felt so connected to someone so quickly so i think that must be a sign that you're special. you're the best person i've ever met and i'm so honored that you've decided to stick around so far. our conversations are the highlight of my days and you always know how to make me feel better.
SO, what i'm trying to say is i hope you had the best time today!! you truly deserve the best birthday and the best day always. i am completely in awe of you every single day. you never fail to amaze me. thanks for being you. happy 18th birthday noon!!!!!
— eva
brady smiled to himself after reading the note. he continued to smile after he folded the paper back up and placed it on his nightstand. he continued to smile as he turned off his lamp. and he continued to smile as he stared up at the dark ceiling.
he really did have the best birthday he could've wished for.
ANGIE'S NOTES☺︎
heyyyyy..... 😊
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY 🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗
and hbd to my girl evangeline martinez (her bday chap
will be coming #trust 🙏)
sorry it's been a while i've been very busy 🤗 & i
still am ngl 🤗
life of an academic weapon isn't for the weak 😞😞😞
but i'm updating when i can guys 🤞
& i also didn't proofread this so if something doesn't
make sense..... ignore it 😊🙏
ANYWAY
IVE MISSED U GUYS SM
I HOPE UR VALENTINE'S DAY WENT GREAT
I LOVE U
HAVE AN AWESOME DAY
🤗🤗🤗🤗🫶🫶🫶🫶