WRITTEN IN THE SCARS

The element of surprise

Summary:
Alex arrives in Liverpool and for Miles is an unexpected, beautiful present. Alex hopes that the surprise and the days ahead would make Miles realise how much he wants to be part of his life not only as a friend.

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Liverpool, March 2026

I landed in London in the early afternoon; I had my flight to Liverpool within a couple of hours and I hoped that it wouldn't be late so I could be at Miles' place by dinnertime. While waiting to board my flight, my hand played with the keys of Miles' apartment that were in my pocket and, for a moment, I felt unsure of what to do. Could I really show up like that, simply putting the key in the lock, stepping inside and saying -surprise! Happy birthday, Miles!-? Not that I was afraid to catch him doing something embarrassing but well, that wasn't my home -not yet- and, honestly, I didn't want to scare him. I decided to call Pauline because I knew she would be there for his birthday and I informed her of my arrival; I could feel she was smiling happily while telling me under her breath that Miles would be on seventh heaven for the surprise and I couldn't wait to see Miles' reaction.

It was six in the afternoon when I got out of the cab in front of Miles' house. After paying the driver, I stopped at the fence for a second, enjoying the feeling of being there; I was happy that my bandmates had convinced me to come and the anticipation of seeing Miles and hugging him was giving me a pleasant feeling, almost as good as seeing him and hugging him for real. I picked the phone from my pocket and dialed his number just to tease him a little before surprise him with my unexpected appearance, hoping not to give the surprise away.

"Happy birthday to youuuuuuuu happy birthday to youuuuuuu, happy birthday dear Miles...happy birthday to you."

"Thanks, Al. But it's a little too early for the birthday cake and wishes," he said. "Were you worried that I had forgotten to call you to join the wild party?" His mood seemed to be rather bad and I really couldn't wait to make his night in a few minutes.

"Well, I don't know... maybe you were about to go to sleep already and skip the celebration... I wanted to sing you happy birthday at least."

"Don't worry; we're about to have dinner and my mum is here to make sure I am gonna blow the candles and eat the cake so she can take pictures and send them to everyone. How is New York? Where are you staying?"

"Same as always," I said to reply both questions and I changed the subject immediately. "How is Haylee?"

"The doctor gave me some ear drops to relieve pain... let's hope they will work because we really had a couple of rough days and nights," he explained in a tired voice and I heard him yawning. "Right now I am so sleepy that I just want to go to bed but don't worry, I won't do it. I am gonna FaceTime you and put you on the table as promised."

"I'd like to be there to help you with Haylee."

"I would like that too but not because I need help but... well, it's really a pity we couldn't come to visit you."

"You mean it for real or you're just trying to be polite?" I asked, opening the fence and heading to the front door.

"Of course I mean it for real; why should I say something like that without thinking it?"