"Can I open my eyes yet?"
"No."
Peridot blindly stumbled over a rock.
"Laz," she said. "You're gonna kill me."
"Possibly," I replied.
"Can I open my eyes now?" She asked.
"Not yet," I answered.
I kept a tight grip on Peridot's hand and led her to her house. She nearly tripped over another rock as we approached the house. By then, she had latched onto my arm to ensure her safety. Even then, knowing her, stubbing her toes was the least of her problems.
"Can I open my eyes now?" She whined, then shaking her foot.
"Not quite yet," I answered her.
"If I trip over one more thing, no matter how little, I'm opening my eyes," Peridot said.
I moved my grip from her hand to her arm and dragged her away from every pebble I saw. After the treacherous hike through the beach, we had finally reached the house. I carefully led Peridot inside and let go of her arm.
"Now you can open your eyes," I said.
The moment Peridot opened her eyes, I reached for the light switch. The lights came on, and Peridot's friends, mom, and my dad jumped out from behind the couch.
"Surprise!" They shouted. "Happy birthday!"
Peridot was beaming in surprise. "You guys remembered!" She exclaimed, grinning at everyone.
"Of course we did," Yellow replied. "How could we forget?"
"This is so nice of all of you," Peridot said. "Thank you!"
"It was Lapis's idea," Smoky responded, latching onto Bismuth.
Peridot looked at me and smiled that crooked smile. "Thank you," she said.
I closed my eyes as she leaned in and kissed my forehead. I smiled.
"Oh yeah," I said, opening my eyes. "You like chocolate, right?"
"Duh," Peridot replied.
"Good," I said.
Again, I took her hand. Everyone followed us to the kitchen table, where we each took a seat. Yellow then placed a rather large cake in front of Peridot.
"Werewolf sized," Yellow said. "Remember to share."
"We will," the werewolves chorused, all rolling their eyes.
"I want the biggest piece," Peridot said playfully.
Yellow carefully placed candles on the cake. I counted each one as she placed them in the chocolate frosting.
Seventeen.
It was crazy to think about.
She'll be an adult before I will.
Here Peridot was, turning seventeen. I was sitting next to her, stuck at sixteen for four more months.
Why is May so far away from January?
Yellow lit each of the candles on Peridot's cake and gestured for everyone to sing. The birthday song began, and as it continued, Peridot's face contorted more and more.
"I wish that all of you would get singing lessons," she said playfully.
Everyone laughed.
"Blow out your candles and make your real wish," I said.
Peridot closed her eyes and mouthed something to herself. She then opened her eyes and blew out all seventeen of her candles with one breath. Everyone clapped and cheered. In response, Peridot grinned.
"What did you wish for?" I asked.
Peridot looked at me, her grin turning to more of a solemn smile. She carefully gripped my hand and sighed.
"I wished that it will stay like this," she whispered. "Forever."
I felt my mouth curl into a smile at her reply. "Yeah," I said. "Me too."
Yellow cut the cake into multiple pieces and gave one piece to each person. As Peridot had requested, she got the biggest piece. I saw her silently pump her fist into the air and smirk.
"You're happy," I whispered.
"Hey, I'd be happier if I were eating the whole cake," Peridot replied.
"Werewolf sized," I repeated what Yellow had said earlier. "You have to share."
Peridot rolled her eyes. "I have one mom, I don't need two," she said.
I snickered. "I understand," I replied.
Peridot looked back at the table, where many brightly wrapped boxes had been placed.
"No way," she said. "You guys got me presents?" Her eyes sparkled in excitement.
"It wouldn't be a great birthday without them," Yellow replied.
The crunch of wrapping paper announced that Peridot had grabbed the first present and was ripping the covering off of it.
"Whoa!" She exclaimed. "You got me a laptop!" She beamed at her mother.
"You've been asking for one since you became a teenager," Yellow said.
"Thank you!" Peridot exclaimed.
After she opened all of her other presents, I placed a small black box in front of her.
"Here's what I got for you," I murmured.
Peridot smiled that sweet, crooked smile. "Lapis," she said. "You didn't have to."
I watched her carefully open the box and gasp. My heart began to thump faster as I anxiously waited for her opinion on the present.
"Oh my stars," she said, taking the little necklace out. "Lapis, this is beautiful!" She examined the carefully cut green stone. You could see every little facet in its tiny heart shape.
"You like it?" I asked, fidgeting with my hands. "It's peridot, like you."
"I love it," she replied. "Can you help me put it on?"
I carefully took the necklace from her and walked behind her. I then held the necklaces in front of her and clipped it on in the back.
"There," I said.
Peridot felt the stone with her fingers and smiled. "Thank you," she replied. "This is so nice."
I could hear Smoky chuckling, and I almost immediately perked up.
"What?" I asked.
She looked at me. "I'll be waiting for the day when the object in that black box is an engagement ring," she said.
The heat rose to my cheeks, and I looked away. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Peridot fidgeting with her necklace.
"Well," I said. "You like all of your presents?"
"Yeah," Peridot replied. "Especially yours."
"I can tell," I said, subconsciously reaching upwards and twirling my hair.
Peridot searched my face quickly and rubbed her chin. She hummed in thought. While she was thinking, I looked over at my dad. He looked almost concerned. The whole werewolf thing was new to him. He had found out not too long before, and the memory still made me cringe.
I had been sitting on the couch, watching television. Suddenly, Peridot had walked up to the couch in her wolf form and jumped onto my lap. She then phased back into her human form and rested her head on her hand. For a moment, there was utter silence. I looked where Peridot was looking, and there was my dad, his face as pale as a ghost.
"Mr. Lazuli," Peridot had said. "I can explain."
After that, there had been the explanation, though I don't think my dad understood a word of it. If he at least understood that Peridot wasn't human, that was good enough. He had talked to Yellow about his findings, who, luckily, didn't fret, as she knew that he would need to know sometime.
"With all of these vampires running around, it's at least safe enough for him to know about werewolves," she had said. "But I think that, for now, we need to keep the vampire part on the down-low."
"Right," Peridot had agreed. "Vampires will just raise more eyebrows and the amount of protectiveness." She had blown a raspberry after that remark.
The only thing about werewolves that we hadn't discussed was imprints, but I knew that he'd know about that eventually as well.
Peridot snapped her fingers, and along with that, snapped me out of my trance.
"We should swim," she said, that cute grin reappearing on her face.
"Every time I come over, we swim," I replied.
"We live on a beach," Peridot retorted. "What did you expect?"
"True," I replied.
"You guys can swim too," Peridot said, looking at all of her friends.
They each looked at each other. Suddenly, all of them jumped up and rushed outside.
"Wait for me..." I shouted too quietly, reaching towards the door.
Yellow laid her hand on my shoulder. "She'll come back," she said.
Just as Yellow had said, Peridot came walking back inside a few seconds later.
"Come on, Lapis!" She exclaimed.
After turning to smile at Yellow, I stood up and followed Peridot outside, where her friends were already having a splash war. Agate splashed Ruby so hard that she fell back into the water.
She may be bite-sized and powerful, but even she can't stand that big of a splash.
Peridot was quick to jump into the water and deliver her blow in the form of a wave. I followed her and stood on the sand, staring at the water. Suddenly, Peridot splashed me with a little bit of water. It was very cold.
"Hey!" I shouted. "That's cold!"
"It's January, Laz," Peridot replied.
"Y-yeah," I said, hugging myself. "I didn't wear enough clothes."
"Are you going to swim?" Peridot asked.
"In that water?" I pointed to the dark, most likely near freezing water. "Hell no!"
"Oh."
Peridot stepped out of the water, only to be splashed by Bismuth. She turned back and splashed Bismuth one last time before running to me. As she got closer, my body went into panic.
"You're gonna be c-cold!" I cried, beginning to shiver.
I was too cold to move, and she wrapped her arms around me. Surprisingly, she wasn't soaked with cold water, but with warm water. I confusedly pulled myself closer to her to warm up, wondering what in the world was happening.
"W-why are you warm?" I finally asked. "That water was cold!"
"Body temperature," Peridot replied. "I warm the water up myself."
All of a sudden, she swept me off of my feet and began to carry me back to the house.
"Peri!" I shouted.
"Yes?" She replied.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"Taking you back inside so you'll warm up," Peridot answered me.
"You're already warm," I said.
"Not warm enough," Peridot replied.
She was right. I could easily see every breath she took.
"I just don't want to be left out," I said at a volume only she could hear.
She looked down at me. "I understand," she whispered. "But I would hate for you to get sick."
"Are you gonna stay out there?" I asked.
"I don't think so," Peridot answered me.
"You don't have to stay," I replied.
"I don't want you to be lonely," Peridot said. "Like I said earlier. I want nothing more than what you want."
"But don't you have stuff that you want?" I asked.
"Of course I do," Peridot answered me. "I got some of that for my birthday today, and the other things, I can keep dreaming about them."
I laid my head on her chest as we walked inside. Dad was eyeing Peridot as we walked in. Ever since he found out about the werewolf secret, he had been watching her every move around me. He didn't know what werewolves were like, and he didn't want me to be in danger. I would have to wait for the imprint discussion for him to stop worrying.
Peridot carried me to the couch and sat down with me on her lap. She picked up a blanket and wrapped it around me and studied my face until I was comfortable. Dad was still watching us from afar. Yellow pat his shoulder as if to say, "It's okay." I must have begun to warm up because Peridot sighed in satisfaction, most likely with her work. I kept my head on her chest, embracing her warmth and the comfort of her shirt. The television was flashing in the background, and an announcer was raving about a sport for which I did not care. Peridot looked down at me and kissed my head. I closed my eyes and further embraced her existence. She ran her fingers through my hair and began to hum a tune. Nostalgia hit me like a train. It brought me back to before the first vampire attack, when she would use that tune to put me to sleep. It still made me tired.
"Thank you for an amazing birthday," Peridot whispered.
"You're welcome," I replied tiredly.
I fell asleep to the tune she was humming.