IT IS HERE!!! THE FINAL CHAPTER!!!!
I have waited so long for this, and I know you all have as well. I hope everything lives up to the expectations. There is still the epilogue, but after that this story will be closed.
I encourage you all to go to my new book The Roommate and check it out. I hope to be posting some more chapters of that book once this one is finished!!! Thank you
Chapter 62: Happy Birthday!
I woke up to the sun shining through the blinds in the large window of the bedroom, but I wasn't mad because today is my birthday. I love my birthday, not because of the presents but because I get to spend time with the people I love, and it's an excuse to do special things.
Matt was gone when I woke up, which I was a little saddened by, but he couldn't be far. I got up and checked the time. I saw that Lily had already texted me at midnight wishing me a happy birthday and I smiled. I missed her. I wish we could have been together today, but I understand that it's not easy since she lives in Florida. It was 9am so I decided to get up and brush my teeth and get ready for the day.
I slipped on some light wash ripped skinny jeans and a white off the shoulder top. I wanted to look nice for my birthday, but I didn't want to go over the top.
I left my hair down, and put on some basic makeup of eyeshadow, eyeliner, and mascara before heading out and looking for my family. When I made my way into the main living area I saw Matt and Cam sitting on the couch just talking, but when they saw me they jumped up.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY SIS!" Cam shouts while Matt comes over and hugs me whispering a sweet Happy Birthday into my ear making me smile. My grandmother was there too just watching and smiling.
"Happy Birthday sweetheart," She says with a smile.
"Thank you, guys," I say feeling very lucky. "Can we go back home? Is it ready?" I ask excitedly.
"Almost," Cam says. "We just have to wait for some stuff to set and dry, but we can go back tonight," He says smiling.
"Okay. So, what is the plan for today then?" I ask them looking around.
"Well Matt gets you for the first half of the day," Cam says, "then I get you for the second half, and then we will all go to the house tonight," He says explaining the plan.
"Okay so where are we going?" I ask turning to Matt.
"You'll have to wait and find out," He teases grabbing my hand as we make our way outside to the car. I waved goodbye to Cam and my grandmother before Matt closed the door thankfully.
I was anxious and excited the whole car ride to wherever it was we were going. When we pulled up into the parking lot my face lit up.
"LASER TAG!?" I shouted, and Matt smiled nodding. I was so excited. I loved Laser tag and Matt knew it. "I am so gonna beat you, and don't let me win just because it's my birthday," I tell him.
"No worries babe, I'm not holding back," He says with a smirk as we walk in.
***
It was nearing the end of the game, and I was so close to winning, I just had to make sure Matt didn't get me another time. I was crouching behind some barrier while keeping a lookout. I stayed very quiet. I heard footsteps suddenly and I turned around quickly to see Matt there. I rolled out of the way as quickly as I possibly could before getting up and shooting him as many times as possible in the chest.
"YESSSS!!" I screamed probably annoying the crap out of everyone else in the game. I saw Matt groan and slouch, but I know he didn't care all that much. I finally beat him. I was so proud of myself.
After the game ended I went to see the scoreboard, and I beat Matt by 25 points.
"IN YOUR FACE!" I shout mocking him, and he just rolls his eyes.
"You want some food?" He asks.
"Yeah where are we going?" I ask him, and he smirks. We get in the car, and Matt drives us to a Chipotle. "Awwww this is like where we went on our first date," I tell him, and he smiles and nods. It's the little things guys. Little things.
This wasn't an extremely extravagant morning, but birthdays didn't have to be. I was spending it with someone who made me feel loved, and who I had fun with. That's all that mattered.
Once we finished our lunch Matt drove me back to the house, and it was Cameron's turn with me. He kept his plans a secret as well as we drove to our destination. We pulled up to a large warehouse-like building, and I was still confused, but Cameron wasn't giving anything away.
Once we walked in I immediately knew what it was. Indoor skydiving. I looked at Cam with wide eyes. I was nervous, but also excited.
"Think you can handle it?" Cam asks.
"Yeah," I say nodding. We get strapped in and the instructors briefed us on how everything would go down, and what everything should feel like. Thankfully I wasn't actually jumping out of a plane, but it was still slightly nerve wracking. When we got to the top, Cam and I looked at each other and grabbed each other's hands before jumping off and lying flat.
I felt myself falling before the wind from the fan beneath us pushed us back up. It was such a cool feeling. The wind was blowing everywhere, and you just felt this huge rush I couldn't help but laugh and smile the entire time.
By the time we finished I could still feel my heart racing. That was exhilarating.
"That was amazing Cam! Thank you," I say hugging him, and he smiles before hugging me back.
"Of course. I know you've always wanted to, but you're too nervous to do it for real, so I thought this would be a great alternative," He says. I love how well he knows me. "But we have one more stop," He says with a devious smile, and I got into the car excited. I had just learned to stop questioning and just let them take me wherever it was.
He drove me to the big mall near us and parked the car. I looked at him slightly confused.
"You want to go shopping with me?" I ask looking at him weirdly as we get out of the car, but before he could answer I felt myself being tackled and I screamed as I fell, thankfully onto grass. WHY WAS CAM NOT HELPING ME?! I turned over to see a very hyper and excited Lily on top of me. "OH MY GOD YOURE HERE!" I scream as I get up and hug her properly.
"YEAH HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!" She says excitedly jumping up and down.
"HOW?" I ask still screaming, and she points to Cam.
"He flew me in late last night/early this morning," She says. I look at Cam, and he has a smile on his face. I rush over and hug him super tight.
"Thank you Cam," I say, and he hugs me back.
"Of course, Mals," He says before adding, "Now go shop!"
He doesn't have to tell us twice. Lily and I rush off to go shopping.
"Wait you have to tell me everything about you and Taylor," I tell her.
"And you have to tell me everything about you and Matt," She replies back. Oh I have missed her.
**
We shopped until we dropped. We had so much stuff, and we gossiped about everything. Things with her and Taylor were going so well despite there being some distance. When it's meant to be you work through it.
We got back to my house, but left all the bags in Lily's rental car because we would just have to drive it back to my house when we go back tonight.
"Get dressed and wear this," Lily orders me handing me a box which I can only assume has my outfit in it, while she gets dressed as well. I didn't question her. "I'll do your hair and makeup when you're done," She adds. I nodded. I opened the box and there was a nude pink top and skirt that matched. They looked bodycon and the top had strings that wrapped around your waist. I wasn't sure how it would look, but when I put it on, I absolutely loved it. Lily had great style.
When I got dressed, I saw Lily was wearing the same outfit as me, but in black.
"I LOVE THAT WE MATCH!" I tell her excitedly.
"Good. I was worried you might not want to match, but I'm glad you're okay with it," She says smiling.
"It's so cute. I love it," I tell her. She sets me down and curls my hair and gives me a full face of makeup, but keeping it neutral to match with my outfit. I then finished the dress off with a pair of nude classic heels. "So where are we headed?" I ask her.
"To your house. Pack up your stufff, and let's go," She says. Thankfully most of my stuff was packed because I had been preparing for this day for a while now, but it was not simple. However, after 45 minutes Lily and I were headed to my house. I wasn't sure why we were headed there. Maybe we had to pick up Cam and Matt before we went out or something.
When we got to my house the lights were on. Lily didn't bother bringing anything in which confused me, so I just followed her. When she opened the door,
"SURPRISE!!!!" was all I heard before everything registered. All the boys were standing in front of me including Shawn.
"OH MY GOD!" I screamed so shocked. I was overwhelmed with emotion, and I wanted to cry. I had missed them all so much. "You're all here!" I exclaimed, but I was trying not to hyperventilate.
"Of course, we couldn't miss a day as important as your birthday Mals," Nash says. I was so happy I didn't even know what to do, so I just ran up and hugged everyone.
"I've missed you guys so much!" I tell them.
"We've missed you too," Shawn says.
"Did you guys plan this?" I ask looking at Matt and Cam and they nod. "Wait has the house actually been under construction this whole time then?" I ask them.
"Well kind of, but not the way you think," Cam says. I was confused, but I followed him as he lead us upstairs to the loft area. Everyone followed as well.
When we got up there I gasped. The loft had bookshelves all along the wall now, and it was completely furnished and looked so comfy.
"What did you do?" I ask looking around in shock.
"Well, we know how much you like to read, so we decided to convert the loft into a library for you," Cam says with a smile.
"Oh my god you guys. This is amazing. I can't believe you did this for me. You guys have all done so much. I don't know how I could ever thank you for this," I say. I was at a loss for words. I could never repay them for what they have done for me.
"You don't have to Mals. We wanted to do this for you," Matt says hugging me.
"Okay let's go downstairs so that the rest of us can give Malia her presents, even if they're not as exciting as the library," Taylor suggests, and I laugh.
"I'm going to like anything you all give me because it came from you," I tell them. We made our way downstairs, and all sat in the living room. The guys were actually dressed fairly nicely most of them were wearing khakis and some button downs or polos. I didn't know if it was just to make this seem classier or if we we're going to go somewhere later, but I was fine with it.
We all made ourselves comfortable and had glasses of champagne to celebrate. I wasn't someone who really wanted alcohol, but I figured it was fine just for tonight. Everyone had given me their gift except for Nash.
"Okay, I really hope you like it," Nash says as he pulls out his laptop and sets it up in front of me. I was kind of confused what was happening, but I just waited. He opened up a file and a video started playing. As I watched I saw clips of me and Matt together just hanging out, and it didn't seem like we knew that he was filming. There were clips of us in Chicago and all the places we visited and, on the planes, and the bus. There were pictures of us, and of me with all the guys and Lily.
I was overwhelmed with emotion, and I could feel the tears forming at my eyes. I knew exactly when each of these moments had happened, but I didn't know that Nash had been documenting it for me. He had even somehow managed to get the footage FROM TODAY of me and Cam skydiving and of the surprise when I walked in with Lily and Cam showed me the library.
"Oh my god Nash!" I exclaimed. It was beautiful I was so overcome with emotion. "How did you get all of this?" I ask him.
"I like making videos like this, and I knew you would really appreciate it for a special occasion like this, so I figured why not," He shrugged.
"I love it so much. I am going to cherish this forever," I tell him. His gift meant so much to me. It was a documentation of all the great times I had with them, and he included files with a ton of pictures as well. Even the guys looked a little teary-eyed.
"Okay well at least you went last so none of us had to follow that," Gilinsky said, and we all laughed.
"Well actually there is one more thing," Cam says with a smile on his face.
"What could there possibly be Cam you've given me like everything?" I say before realization dawns on me. "No," I say shaking my head tears already welling up in my eyes. "No Cam you didn't," I say almost full on crying. The guys looked pretty confused, but Cam nodded with a huge smile on his face.
Suddenly my dad appeared from the hallway with tears in his eyes.
"DAD!" I screamed as I rushed over to him and hugged him. I was crying at this point. I had no idea he was coming. "I've missed you so much," I say as I hug him tightly. I felt Cam come around and hug us as well.
"I've missed you too sweetheart. Both of you," He says, and I could hear him choking back tears as well.
It's official. I had everything I needed for my birthday. I couldn't ask for anything else. Everyone that mattered was here.
"Happy Birthday Malia," My dad whispered before kissing my forehead.
THE END
Alright so that is officially the end of the book. I am going to write an epilogue, but I don't really want to post it until The Roommate gets a certain amount of reads and votes and comments!
Thank you all for reading this book, and for accompanying Malia on her journey. I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it (even if it was a struggle).