Teach Me Something // LH44

Chapter Ten

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to Lilly, happy birthday to you!" I join in half singing, half shouting along with everyone else as the brunette next to me looks ready to burst into flames as the whole restaurant stares and sings at her. I would say that it was for her but that would be unlikely given the way she was trying to smile through her pain of being so front and centre. It was an anxiety we both shared, a part of our personality that I didn't share with Jenny but Lilly so I'm feeling her on a spiritual level when she hides behind her hands to avoid the photos that Liam is trying to take.

"Oh my gosh, you guys!" When she pulls her hands away from her eyes I can see the tears which only makes us laugh more as we wait for her to blow out the candles on her classic heart-shaped red velvet cake. "I can't believe you surprised me with this meal, let alone all of this! I don't deserve you guys!"

"You're turning thirty-two, of course, we had to celebrate you!" Jenny says with clear disapproval and there is a moment of silence as Lilly takes a moment to close her eyes and blow out her candles as we all cheer, the rest of the restaurant joining in with us to increase her embarrassment tenfold. "So what did you wish for?" Jenny asks and I shake my head over the table at her.

"She is not allowed to say! Leave her be!" I tell her off, my eyebrows raising in warning as Lilly thanks me with her hand on my arm.

"Thank you for the cake, I'm always so happy that my birthday is normally in your school holidays because it means you're able to come and spend it with us!" Lilly whispers in my ear as everyone relaxes and returns to normal chatter as she cuts the cake into smaller pieces.

"I'd have come anyway," I tell her with a promising pout, resting my forehead against hers and she laughs before we both sit up.

"I love you Gigi but you are hopeless on a school night," Lilly denies my attempts with a smile as she passes me my slice and we both fall back into obscurity among the group, the rest of them loud and drunk. "Yet here you are on holiday and you're not drinking still."

"You know that I can't really..."

"Actually, you can... but you're choosing not to," she reminds me and I roll my eyes at her.

"I'm being smart," I say, pushing her towards her boyfriend while I turn to Louis who is on my other side.

"Sooooo... Jenny said you disappeared earlier, a couple of days after a mystery guy sent you a message? I need all the details because I'm chained down," he says dramatically, falling into me with eyes that are begging for gossip. I look across the table to see Jenny sipping her wine innocently before laughing about something with Michael and turning away. It doesn't matter though, I can tell she's still listening, as is Liam who is leaning across the table for details.

"She's being dramatic," I tell him simply, taking a bite of my cake as Liam huffs in disbelief. Apparently, they'd managed to have a full debrief before I finished getting ready earlier.

"So it wasn't the same mystery guy who picked you up in the fancy SUV?" He asks and I look over to Jenny with a clearer glare, noticing in the process that the whole table's attention is now on me. Lilly being the equal hater of attention and the only one who could take it off me stayed silent and looked hopeful for an answer as I sank down in my seat.

"It might have been..." I concede before stuffing my face with more of my cake, which was damn good by the way. It was also useful to give me something to distract myself with as everyone else explodes with joy at the news. I should really be offended by the fact that this was not only an exciting thing for me but also for everyone else apparently and it's only when I am done eating that I manage to get the rest of the sentence out. "I just met up with him earlier to let him know it wasn't going to work though, so everyone can chill out."