𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋 𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄 :
"SURPRISE!" SAGE PRACTICALLY JUMPED out of her skin upon seeing all her friends squashed into her living room and kitchen. up front were her closest, each of them holding big smiles on their faces. she turned to mason with a hung open jaw, immediately engulfing him in a hug.
sage then made her way around the room, individually hugging every guest. so many of her friends turned up, some that she hadn't talked to in a while, some meer acquaintances that just show their faces for a good time and a few old friends from school.
"oh my god, elio!?" sage gasped as the boy came into view. his blonde curly hair fell over his illuminate blue eyes. the two became friends back in year seven, but lost contact shortly after he left just before the end of year eleven. sage was devastated and ranted to mason for hours about their friendship. how he was able to find the adult, sage had no idea but she was grateful nonetheless.
"hi greeny!" he squealed, calling her by an old nickname he made up. the name bought back so many memories for the two — widening both of their smiles even more.
"how did you even get down here?" elio began explaining the story on how he moved back to england from italy a little while after college. apparently mason had asked kennedy to do some fbi work, and the girl found him within days. "then some cute guy called kai picked me up from my house and here we are!"
"havertz!?"
"the one with the accent? yes him!" he gushed over the german footballer. "speak of the devil," elio mumbled to his old friend as kai came into view behind sage, two drinks in hand.
"happy birthday sage! where is azelia?" kai gave her a friendly kiss on the cheek, something he learned was common in the UK, before handing elio his drink and reclaiming his place next to the blond.
"thank you kai. she's at her grandparent's for the next few days."
after walking around for a while, mason finally found sage again after she walked off into the sea of her loved ones. he pulled her away upstairs, allowing the girl to get dressed into something she'd rather wear for a party.
"thank you so much for this," sage broke the couple's comfortable silence. after aiding her in zipping up her silk dress, mason kissed sage's bare shoulder, looking at her in the mirror.
"anything for you love, and that's not even all of it."
the boy's mischievous grin spurred idea's in her mind. she knew, from experience, that mason was unpredictable when it came to birthdays. he could do something as big as what was going on downstairs, or just buy a cake from costco and call it a present. unpredictable.
"forget about it for now, let's just have a good time with our family," he echoed his kiss from before and bent down to make sure her heels were clipped together. "ready?" sage nodded and let him lead her out of her (now basically their) room.
THE PARTY WAS STILL in swing when the clock hit three in the morning. a few people bid their goodbye's to sage, claiming they had an early start tomorrow but she only thanked them for coming and walked them to the door.
