The Secret Singer

Chapter 28

A/N: Hello wonderful readers of mine! I'm really sorry it's been so long, but with my AP World final coming soon and the huge workload I have constantly thrown at me every day, it's hard to sit down and just write. You guys have been wonderfully patient and very supportive, though. I even had a very sweet fan say that I was now one of her top two favorite writers and that all of my followers/fans should call themselves #chocolatiers! That is the coolest thing ever and I absolutely love it, so please comment here if you believe yourself to be a chocolatier! It's also been amazing to see this book reach 50K reads and 126 on the What's Hot list. That's insane to me, so seriously guys thank you so much!!! To all you wonderful new and old readers alike, here is the next chapter! Enjoy!

**For an early update: 40 votes, 50 comments**

Collin's POV

Living the life of a pop star means I'm so used to waking up early that it's like second nature to me by now. However, that doesn't mean it doesn't feel like complete and utter heaven when I get to stay in and sleep late. It's even better when I get to do the aforementioned late sleeping on my birthday.

It's been about a week since Stacy and Carrie were abducted, and thankfully Steph has lost the anxiety that creeped up in her for a few days after the abduction. She's back to being my carefree bambi, and I couldn't be happier. Although, she'll probably be angry at me tomorrow for not telling her my birthday is today. I'll risk it, though, because I've never liked a big fuss on my birthday. All I want is to spend the day with my girlfriend (since it's thankfully a Saturday), and have a game night with Noah later on. No fancy parties or big messes. Heaven.

I finally trudge put of bed at noon, and after taking a shower and changing, I go downstairs in Noah's house after smelling something heavenly coming from the kitchen. I enter to see Jenna cooking up a storm with a messy bun on her head and flour and chocolate smudges all over her apron. Sam sits on one of the stools next to the kitchen table plaing with little toy trucks and making adorable whizzing noises as he passes them by. I smile and go over to hug him from behind.

"Hey bud," I tell him. He looks up at me with a big smile that showcases the missing front tooth that fell out recently. I suddenly remember his birthday is next week. Time flies way too fast. I mean I remember when he was nothing but a little baby, and now he's already turning seven.

I sit on one of the stools and smile in his direction.

"Are you excited to turn seven next week?" I ask. His eyes widen into huge, sparkling blue orbs, and he bobs his head up and down excitedly.

"Yeah, 'cause I'm going to turn seven and momma says I get to have a Spiderman cake and all my friends are coming, and we're going to have pizza and, I'm finally going to be the same age as Haley!"

I laugh at his genuine excitement and ruffle his hair before I lose his attention to his toy trucks again. Getting up from the table, I walk over to Jenna who hums peacefully to herself as she takes out two pans of her famous mouthwatering chocolate chip muffins and another of biscuits made from scratch out of the oven. My stomach lets out a loud growl at the smell causing Jenna to look behind her and laugh at my burning red cheeks.

"Are you hungry birthday boy?" I nod exaggeratedly and she smiles mischievously.

"Well, you're going to have to help me put all this stuff on the dining room table before you can eat."

My eyes widen at hearing what is have to do to get a taste of Nirvana, and I rush to put all the food on the big dining room table. The smell of the food begins to permeate throughout the house, and the shuffling of feet is heard from the stairs as Noah and his dad follow their noses downstairs.