Amelia glanced down at her phone as the elevator groaned upward.
"I'm in the lions den, save me!" Charlie's text read.
She sighed heavily as the doors clunked open. Stepping into the hallway, her eyes zeroed in on her apartment door and the beam of light that suddenly switched off. She glared, her feet frozen to the floor. Her phone buzzed and she glanced down.
"Aims, just come in and get it over with." Charlie's text read.
Amelia breathed in deeply and forced herself forward. The apartment was dark when she entered.
"Charlie?" Amelia called out, unable to mask the smile in her voice at the charade.
She flicked on the lights, the illumination bringing an explosion of cheers of surprise.
"Oh my gosh!" Amelia said, trying to feign shock and failing.
Poppy stepped out from the horde of people, hands on hips, her face contorted with rage.
"Charlie you told her!" she yelled.
"She could kill me in my sleep, it was self preservation," Charlie said, carelessly.
Poppy's annoyance mounted a defense but Amelia defused it with a quick hug.
"Thanks Pops, it's wonderful! You did a great job. Don't worry about Charlie, I threatened him a long time ago that if he ever threw me a surprise party or knew about one and didn't tell I would kill him."
This seemed to mollify Poppy.
"So you like?" she asked, excitedly.
Forcing her face into her most convincing smile, Amelia nodded. Poppy clapped happily and stepped back, allowing for the rest of the guests to offer their best wishes. Music slowly filtered into the apartment, mixing with the groups of conversations.
When Amelia finally had the chance to look around, she noticed a good portion of the guests were Poppy's dancer friends that Amelia vaguely knew. She smiled knowing that Poppy had probably made the guest list, realized how little people Amelia knew, and beefed it up with a few of her own friends.
Amelia was walking towards the kitchen, after the first onslaught of people, when Reynolds appeared in front of her.
"Hey Amelia," he said.
"Hi Reynolds, wasn't expecting to see you. How are showcase rehearsals going?"
Reynolds shrugged carelessly, his posture smug.
"It's good. I have a lot of them so time is the big issue. But people like working with me. So I do what I can to be available as much as I can."
"You're too kind. I've surprised people don't walk through the hallways singing your praises."
"Who says they don't?" he said, his eyebrows bouncing up in a taunting motion.
To Amelia's relief, one of Poppy's dancer friends swayed passed, catching and holding Reynolds's attention. When he left, Amelia continued her journey to the kitchen.
As Amelia turned back to enter the party Sebastian appeared in front of her. She stumbled back, banging her elbow against the counter, sending shocks of pain up through her arm.
"Ow!"
Sebastian made a hesitant movement forward as if to offer aid.
"We really need to stop meeting like this. I'm likely to do some serious damage to myself," Amelia said.
"You alright?" he asked.
"Yeah. I'm not going to lie, I was not expecting you to be here. How did you find out? And welcome home, I guess," Amelia said, with a puzzled shrug.
"Danny, actually told me I had been invited by Poppy. Which she had told Danny about the party, the day he came over to watch the Grammys. I apologize for that by the way. I feel like I should have given you some warning or heads up that he has a tendency to randomly show up at times. He's afraid of an empty apartment."
"It's fine, he showed up the next weekend as well and offered me a job as his drummer for his summer tour. So it worked out."
Amelia laughed.
"He told me from the minute he asked me to free style on the drums in your apartment that he had wanted to hire me," she said. "He then apparently went around talking to my professors and checking up on me."
She looked at Sebastian with an apologetic expression.
"Sorry that you didn't win by the way."
Sebastian settled against the counter.
"It's okay. If I had to lose to anyone, I'd prefer it to be to Hey Farewell. Their single was perfect. Congratulations on the job. You deserve it. Danny's a great person to travel with. I know he doesn't seem like he would be, but he is," Sebastian said, his tone serious.
"Thanks. I know you talked to him about me and I appreciate you putting in a good word."
Sebastian's smile was quiet as he nodded his head. Danny sauntered into the kitchen.
"Hey Aims, happy birthday," Danny said, pulling her into a hug. "What were you two chatting about?"
"Just catching up," Sebastian said, simply.
Amelia nodded. Danny smiled, deciding it meant he was free to change the topic, which he proceeded to do. Sebastian and Amelia found entertainment in Danny's story about his encounter with a girl while shopping for a birthday present for Amelia. The girl had helped Danny decide what to get as well as giving him her number.
"Long story short," Danny said.
Amelia and Sebastian exchanged a skeptical look.
"Fine, not that short. Anyways Aims, happy birthday," Danny said, holding out a small box.
Hesitantly, Amelia took it. Inside was a necklace with a silver tear drop.
"I know it's not fancy, but you didn't strike me as the flashy kind of jewelry wearing person."
"Danny it's wonderful, thank you," she said, hugging him.
Poppy bounced into the kitchen disrupting the moment, announcing it was time for the cake. Shooing them out of the kitchen, she called out to Charlie to come help her. The lights flickered off and Poppy started singing happy birthday. Amelia smiled as the voices around her joined together, Danny's clear on one side, Sebastian's on the other. Amelia blew out the candles and the lights jumped back to life.
"What did you wish for?" Sebastian asked.
"That's not how it works," Amelia said.
"I don't believe in wishes," Sebastian said. "You make the future you want by working. So what did you wish for?"
Her smile was playful. "Nothing. I agree with your statement."
Plates of crumbling cake were placed into their hands.
The rest of the party passed with laughter, a few toasts started by Charlie and finished by Poppy. Poppy had made a big show of making Amelia a Manhattan and having everyone watch while she drank it, since it was her 21st. Amelia grimaced as the drink went down, but forced a smile onto her face for Poppy's sake. It was the only drink she had the whole night.
**************
Amelia was bagging up pieces of trash in the family room when someone tapped on her shoulder. She spun around to face Sebastian. He gave her an embarrassed smile, his expression hesitant.
"I have to go," he said. "I have an early meeting tomorrow. But I wanted to give you this before I left."
He handed her a square present.
"It's not a necklace," Sebastian joked, his tone betraying his uncertainty.
"Probably for the best," Amelia said. "I'm not sure I could pull off the look of such a large necklace anyways."
Amelia torn off the wrapping and stared at the satchel in her hands. It was beautiful, the black leather textured, a silver buckle holding it snugly closed and a thick strap.
Amelia looked up at Sebastian, her mouth open in surprise,
"Bash, this is...I mean...it's perfect."
He relaxed, smiling.
"You should look inside," he said, something in his voice conveying a hidden eagerness.
Inside there was another wrapped object.
"I wasn't sure whether the satchel was good enough, but that's not what I was talking about," Sebastian said.
Amelia examined the interior of the satchel, one of the pockets was a slightly darker fabric and the size irregular.
"I had someone add the pocket, it's for your drum sticks. So you don't have to go searching for them anymore," he said, unable to hide his the pride behind the idea.
"Bash, this is amazing. I can't even thank you enough," Amelia said.
His smiled, pleased. Amelia looped the handle over her head and unwrapped the second present.
She found she was holding a CD case. The Cranberries 6th album. The top was signed by them with a simple quote, 'Sleep is the time to build dreams, life is the place to live them.' Amelia's eyes blurred as the words played across her vision. She looked up at Sebastian and his face went from anticipation to worried in a heart beat.
"What's wrong? I'm sorry, is it the wrong thing? I've seen you wear their concert t-shirt so much, I thought you'd like this..."
Amelia smiled, shaking her head and laughing.
"It's perfect," she said. "Thank you."
Sebastian still looked uncertain. Amelia placed a conciliatory hand on his arm, the muscle tensing under her touch.
"Bash, it's wonderful. It's just...I was surprised. My father loved this band. My mother and I used to watch You Got Mail together. Dreams was one of the first songs I picked up by ear."
She removed her hand, but not before she felt him relax. He smiled sympathetically.
"Where did you get it anyways?" she asked.
"I met them actually, at a British Award show I performed with Lisa Jennings at."
"Well, thank you. My father would have been extremely jealous of you."
The tension of her tears vanished and Sebastian's manner settled back into calm ease.
"I have to go. I'm glad you like the gifts. Happy birthday Aims."
Hesitating for a heart beat, he stepped forward and hugged her, encasing her in the scent of his cologne.
"Happy birthday Aims," he said, again.
"Thanks, Bash."
******************
Tired, Amelia was stepping into the folds of her blankets when there was a knock on the door.
"Come in," she said.
The door eased open and Charlie walked in, a plate with the last piece of cake on it and two forks. Sitting, Charlie offered her a fork.
"How'd you like the party?" he asked.
"I survived and it's not the worst party I've been too."
"I didn't think it was that bad either."
Amelia gave him a flat look.
"That's because half an hour in you went to hid in your room and only came back out when Poppy called for your help with the cake."
Charlie's face worked at staying neutral, but his eyes betrayed his surprise and guilt.
"Don't worry," Amelia said. "I'll get you back by throwing you a surprise birthday party, and inviting Natalie so you have no choice but to come and stay the whole time."
"You wouldn't dare!"
Amelia shrugged flippantly as if she wasn't sure if she would or wouldn't.
"That's cruel, Aims, just cruel."
Amelia finished off the last bite of cake, wearing a wickedly, pleased grin.
"By the way, I forgot to give you your present," Charlie said, pulling something from his jacket pocket.
It was a small, velvet box. The lid snapped open, revealing a gold chain and locket. Amelia gently lifted it from its cushioned resting place. Her throat was tight as she stared at it swaying back n forth as she held it in front of her. Her eyes shifted to meet Charlie's.
"Where did you get it?" she asked, breathlessly.
"Grandma found it about a month ago when she was going through some old storage boxes. Open it up."
She did, looking over the faces of her father and mother, their arms wrapped around the smaller versions of her brother and her, their faces laughing into the camera. In that one moment, it was clear how much Charlie resembled her father and Amelia her mother. She shut it and looked at her brother, her father's young, handsome face staring back at her.
"Thank you Charlie. It's..."
Words failed her and Charlie closed the space between them, cutting out the necessity to speak. Small tears dotted her brother's shirt, as Amelia rested her head on his shoulder. He stood, collecting the plate and forks. He looked down as his toe bumped something.
"What did Will send?" he asked.
"A concert t-shirt from Two Destinations signed by every member."
"At least you know what you're wearing tomorrow."
"Duh!"
"Night Aims, happy birthday."
"Night Charlie."
The door clicked closed behind him. Amelia set the locket down on her night stand, next to The Cranberries CD and flicked off her light.
**********************************************************************
Why heeeeellloooooo!!
Okay, this band should be easy to guess! What is Two Destinations actual name?
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