A Birthday Gift (1)

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Earl roamed the apartment in search of the shortest of his friends, Eli. Unable to find him, he finally asked Layne, who was on the couch playing video games, "Hey, you seen Eli?"

"Hm?" Layne said absentmindedly with his eyes glued to the screen, "Um, I think he's at work."

"Okay, good. Because we need to talk Eli's birthday." Earl said before walking over to the couch. The dark-haired one paused his video games and blinked his eyes into focus once more.

"Yeah. What'd you get him? I mean, I talked to him earlier, and like every year, he said he doesn't want a party." Layne mentioned as he rubbed his eyes with his wrist.

"I just feel like we're slacking if we just get presents and be done with it." Earl mentioned.

"Well... we could always go out and do something he likes to do. Maybe go bowling?" Layne mentioned.

"I'm thinking more along the lines of maybe bringing home his favourite supper from the Kitchen. He's not very much of the party-type, so we could always do something more recreational."

"Maybe he'd like a scrapbook..?" Layne guessed.

Earl laughed in amusement, "Yeah, masculinity can go to hell; let's rake out the glitter!" he joked, Layne chuckling in response.

"Then we better go get some supplies." Layne said, then glanced down at the watch for the time. "I think he gets back at around seven, so that gives us a good six hours."

"Alright, you go get the scrapbook stuff, I'm gonna head down to the kitchen." Earl said as he headed for the door. Layne nodded and pulled out his phone.

"Sure. I'll text Geoff to pick up a cake." Layne answered as he quickly texted the bass.

"I'll be back then." Earl said before grabbing his keys and heading out the door.

About an hour later, Layne was back from the arts and crafts store and had gotten everything he assumed he needed. With that, he also went into their storage and it fetched a box of all of their photos.

Clearing an area of the rec room floor, he crouched down onto his knees and laid out everything he had and stared at it for a while. Man, I haven't done this in a while. He thought.

Just as he opened the slightly dented and nicked box, there was a soft knock at the door. Layne already knew it was none of the guys, it was too light. So, Layne stood from his spot and straightened his clothes before opening the door to find a nice-looking blonde carrying a plate of desserts.

"Hi." Layne said, blinking.

"Hey. Lemme guess, you're Tony... right?" she assumed as she bit her bottom lip hopefully.

"Layne, actually. I don't think we've met." Layne mentioned, then offered his hand out for her to shake.

"Oh, I'm sorry." she apologized and lightly shook his hand. Then she laughed softly and recalled, "Yeah, I didn't remember Tony being quite that tall."

Layne chuckled in amusement, "You're our neighbour, right? The guys mentioned you."

"Mhm, I'm Kirstie. I live to your right just down the hall. I'm kinda the dog-lady in the building." she admitted, then held out the plate, "Oh, and I made these for you guys."

Layne took the tray from her gratefully and stepped aside to make room for her to come in, "Thanks," he then looked down at the plate, "Mmm, I love fudge."

"That's good, 'cause I do, too." she smiled and caught on to the gesture before stepping into the apartment and glancing around. "None of the other guys home?"

Layne, who's brown eyes were near lustfully staring at the sweets, blinked and peered up at her. "Um, nah. They're all at work now. Geoff should be back soon, though."

"Ah," she smiled and her hands shyly travelled around her hips to hold them behind her back. She then caught sight of the scrapbook supplies laid out on the floor, "Are you into arts and crafts?" she asked.

"Oh, well..." Layne started, unsure of what to say as he rubbed the back of his neck, "It's for Eli's birthday... I haven't done crafts since like, third grade so I really don't know what half the stuff is..."

"I loved crafts when I was younger." she said, "I did a lot of scrapbooking..., if you need some help, I'll be happy to give you some tips." she offered.

"Really?" Layne asked, his eyes brightening, "That'd be nice. If you can stay... I'll make coffee... and try to save some of these for the boys." he said with a shy and awkward smile.

"I'd love to stay." Kirstie replied politely with a sweet smile that could giver her deserts a run for their money.

"Cool!" Layne said brightly, "Um, you can have a seat on the couch or on the floor... whatever you prefer."

With that, the girl nodded and went over to claim a spot on the floor. She sat on her knees and examined everything that was available at their expense.

Layne came back soon later with a coffee mug in each hand. He cautiously stepped across the rec room floor to keep a steady balance. "Do you like anything in your coffee, Kirstie?"

"I like sugar, if you have any. Black is fine, too." she said. Layne nodded and headed back into the kitchen to her the sugar and cream for both of them.

When the coffee situation was out of the way, Layne took the spot across from the girl and put his hands on his thighs as he glanced down all the work they had in store for them. 

"Well," Kirstie said, her brown eyes peering up to meet his, "lets get started then."

~•~

Geoff had received Layne's text message and was headed down to the bakery in his police car. He then questioned himself, "Would Eli want an ice cream cake or chocolate or vanilla or carrot or...?"

He had decided on an ice cream cake and headed down to the ice cream shop instead. Pulling up into a parking lot and getting out of his police car, he went to get Eli's birthday cake.

Once he had successfully purchased a vanilla fudge ice cream cake from the shop, he set it in the back seat and headed for home before the cake melted.

There was only a few hours before Eli was home from work, so the crew had no time to loose.

~•~

I want to wish one of the favorite tenors a very happy birthday! Happy birthday, Eli!

I was cramped for time to manage this very short chapter, so I'll try to have part two out ASAP. As you may know, I just got a load of shifts at work so it may be a while.

And yes, the next chapter will be more about Eli, the birthday boy. :)

I wanted to get something out on the exact day, so I hope you enjoyed this fairly short part one.

ScarletMIX

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