Grace Brooke lost her father due to suicide - or was it? Grace refuses to believe her father would leave his family like that but she doesn't know what to do with that thought. Her Mother took her husbands death harshly so her two brothers were from...
Our grandma guided Riley and Dylan to Grace's room while I held the cupcake with one candle on it. I creaked open the door and I could see the desperation on the boys faces to just scream something. Grace was passed out on her bed, in a deep sleep, so we all crept up and once we got to her bed, I looked around to see everyone was ready.
Graces POV
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" I jumped up from my bed to see Elise holding a cupcake out to me, smiling. Riley and Dylan were both laughing at me while our grandmother was laughing. I hesitantly chuckled and took the cupcake off Elise. "Go on, make a wish" Elise said to me all in one breath. I took in a deep breath and made my wish, blowing out the flame. "What did you wish for?!" Shrieked Riley, unable to stay still. "I can't tell you, or else it won't come true" I teased.
I went on my phone while I ate the vanilla cupcake. I got some birthday texts off family friends and friends. I groaned to myself and turned off my phone, looking up at the ceiling. Then, my phone went off again and I checked to see a happy birthday text off Hannibal. I quickly opened it and read the text in my head.
Hannibal: Good morning, and also happy birthday. I am quite sure this year has been stressful and unkind to you, but I'm sure today shall be a break for you - so embrace it. I shall see you this evening and give you your gift, from me to you
His text made me smile and I read it again. This will be the second birthday without my dad, which is going to be hard again but this time I have Hannibal, so maybe it's different. I mean, I already got a cupcake for breakfast, today's going good so far.
Elise burst through the door with a dress. She startled me, making me throw my phone in the air but I caught it. "I have just had the craziest idea" she giggled.
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I looked at myself in the mirror, while Elise curled my hair and I fiddled with the dress. "I wore this exact dress for my 18th, so I thought it would be cute if you wore the same dress" Elise smirked. "It's cute" I replied back to her while I checked the time on my phone to see it was 1:00PM. "You think I'll be able to go downstairs now?" I asked Elise, since grandma wanted to put up decorations in the house while mum was probably still in bed. "Probably"
5:00PM
I stood in the kitchen to see people greeting my grandma and such, but I was just seeing my dads friends, or my mums, some with their kids. I didn't really put myself out there when I was in high school, I preferred to keep my head down. I checked my cup to see I drank it all. I went to refill my coke up but elise grabbed my arm and hid me in the corner. I looked at her funny then she pulled out a bottle of unopened Russian vodka. "Happy birthday..." she whispered to me. I hesitantly took the bottle off her and read the label. "It's mainly for you. It's my gift. I know it ain't much, but it's all I could think of" Elise sighed. I playfully pushed her shoulder and got a giggle out of her. "Some straight vodka could do no harm" I joked. "Hm, well, that's debatable. Please don't make me look after puking Grace" she pouted her lips at me, giving me puppy eyes. "I am... a responsible adult now, it's alright" I gave her a smug look, as a joke, then she laughed and walked off. I poured some vodka into my cup then mixed it with coke.
"Oooh, Gracie" grandma cheered. I turned over to her to see two old woman standing beside her. I walked over and she held my hand. I had some more of my drink while I looked over their shoulders for any sign of Hannibal. I was already feeling a little heavy from all the drinks I had. "Oh, you've grown so much" an old woman said, pinching my cheek. I moved my head away from her, since I don't know who she is. "I remember when you was just a little baby" the other woman said. They all broke out snickering then I heard Elise call my name out. I peered over her direction to see her standing beside Hannibal, who was holding a wrapped up gift. I instantly felt a little lighter and I gave him a wave. "Excuse me" I said to the women and I hurried over to Hannibal.
He gave me a tight hug and let me go, holding his gift out to me. "Oh, thank you" I smiled to him, taking the carefully wrapped up gift off him. "What is it?" I asked him, debating if I should shake it or not. "Open to find out" Hannibal chuckled. I smiled as I tucked some hair behind my ear and began to open the present. It was a CD case and I opened it up to see he had written the date of when I performed at the bar. "Oh my god... I love it!" I shrieked, making Hannibal smile.
The audience retreated to the kitchen to sing happy birthday. I felt my cheeks redden while they did sing and I stared down at the gorgeous cake in front of me.
Hannibal's POV
I saw Grace's grand mother's drink was empty, so I took her glass off her to refill and she gave me a smile, and carried on singing to Grace. I looked Grace up and down to see her face going redder by the second, making me smirk. She blew out the candles and everyone started to cheer. I walked over to Grace and she nervously smiled at me. "How are you finding your birthday?" I asked her loudly, over the crowd. "Embarrassing" she joked.
I filled up the two wine glasses and I peered over my shoulders to see everyone deep in conversation, so I pulled out the poison from my pocket and poured the dust into one of the drinks, and went on to find Grace's grand mother.
I handed the drink over to Grace's grand mother and she thanked me and so I went onto find Grace, who was walking up the stairs, so I decided to follow.
Graces POV
I sat on my bed while I stared at Tommy's and i's chats on my phone... I got no text off him, why? The door creaked open and I looked up to see Hannibal walking in with some wine. "Are you alright?" He asked me calmly. I let out a long sigh and turned off my phone. "Tommy has just vanished, god what's wrong with me" I groaned out loud, cupping my face with my hands. Hannibal grabbed my wrist gently and moved my hands away from my face. "There is nothing wrong with you. You and Tommy were not meant to be, that is clear to us both" Hannibal reminded me, looking me in my eyes. I let out another sad sigh and rested my head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around me and I felt safe in his company. "What if something happened to him?" I gasped, having all these uncontrollable thoughts in my mind. "What could've possibly happened? From what I see, Tommy is probably with friends or down at the bar, there is nothing to be worried about" he assured me. I let out a shuddered breath and we just stayed silent, while I was in his arms.
"What do you plan on doing now?" Hannibal asked me. I sat up from laying down to meet his eyes. "I don't know. I feel like I should stay till my brothers are free to do their own thing" I sighed, tucking some hair behind my ear. "I believe that is the better option, although not the most pleasurable one" Hannibal told me. I grabbed the vodka from my nightstand - that I took with me - and took a swig from him. I pulled a face at the burn it gave me in the throat and poured some more into my coke, while Hannibal huffed under his breath at me. "Now that I'm a legal adult, I don't need you to babysit me anymore" I giggled. He smirked while looking me up and down. "But I can still look out for you" he reminded me.
