"Happy birthday, Dan." I'd rushed home for the party after my interlude at work with Charlie. Louise was running late, as were Chris and PJ. And I was panicking.
"Thanks, Phil." Dan looked up from his laptop and smiled at me. I noticed the dark smudges under his eyes, and a new layer of worry was added to the mountain of things I was occupied with. I felt that I should at least warn him of the party to come.
"Hey, I invited a few of your friends
over, and we're going to have a little party tonight."
His reaction was not what I was expecting.
"Are you serious?" Dan stared at me, his eyes wide and brows furrowed.
"Yeah... I thought, I mean, it's your birthday, after all—"
"Phil." He pinched the bridge of his nose, closed his eyes, and sighed heavily. "I'm in sweatpants, the flat is a mess, and I haven't showered in two days."
I could see his point, and started to second-guess my rash decision. We hadn't really cleaned a ton, and our alcohol stash was slowly running out. I had a sneaking suspicion that Dan drank a little
every day when I was gone, but that wasn't high on my list of priorities, "Okay." I cracked my knuckles. "We're going to make this party happen."
Dan looked dramatically away from me, as if at a camera. "Oh, God. This is happening. Okay."
And we got to work.
...
It was party time. The house was relatively clean and Louise had agreed to bring the necessary amount of booze and the best cake in the London area. Hopefully, things would go as planned and Dan would enjoy his birthday. The doorbell rang. I sprang up to open it, as Dan was still in his room getting dressed.
"Hi!" It was Chris and PJ, each carrying a present.
"Hey, guys, come on in. Dan, PJ and Chris are here!" I motioned for the guests to come inside.
"Sorry, he's still getting dressed, the slow asshole."
"Hey! Rude." I turned around and Dan was standing in the entrance to the kitchen, smiling despite his mock-offended air. He'd dressed up, wearing a leather jacket with black jeans and cool boots with zips in unconventional places. Dan looked... really nice, actually. I felt a strange ache in my chest, but pushed it down, attributing it to anticipation. The doorbell rang again, saving me from making a comeback.
"I hope I'm not late!" Louise pushed her way inside, arms laden with bags and packages. "Here's the cake," she whispered to me with a devilish grin.
I took the large, flat box from her and deposited it in the kitchen. The sky was changing into sunset, blue becoming a shadowy orange.
"Hey, come see the sunset!" I called. The group trooped in.
"Breathtaking," breathed Dan, who had come to stand next to me, leaning on the windowsill. I glanced over at him. His eyes drank in the hues of the sky, the pink streaks melding into orange and red, dark blue slowly taking over the colors. Dan's face looked young suddenly, naïve and
filled with an odd sense of yearning. And he really couldn't know how beautiful he was, gazing at the colors painting the sky. Before I knew it, the sky turned to night and I had missed the whole sunset.
"Okay, it's officially night, now let's break out the wine," said PJ, winking at me. "I hope Louise didn't buy GAS-STATION PISS!" He raised his voice for the last few words, and Louise swatted his arm.
"Shut it, PJ. I have the finest wine taste, I'll have you know," she sniffed. She only managed to keep up the snooty façade for a second before she started cracking up. Louise's laugh was infectious, and soon enough, we all needed to clutch something for support as howls filled the kitchen.
"Alright, alright," Chris gasped, wiping his eyes. "Wine time."
Louise popped the cork off and we drained the bottle in twenty minutes, talking about our jobs, and Dan's dropout, and relationship issues. Until Louise, of course, had an idea.
"We should play Truth or Dare," she announced, tipsy from her third glass.
Dan groaned. "What are we, twelve?"
"I think it'll be fun," said Chris, trying to focus on him. Chris had the lowest tolerance, and it was hilarious. "We should do it."
"It's Dan's birthday, you guys," I said, trying to focus their attention back on the big picture. "I think we should let him decide."
Dan shrugged and took a swig of alcohol. "Fine. Let's play."
"Yay!" Louise grinned widely and clapped her hands. "I'll go first. Hmmm... PJ."
PJ looked scared, and to be honest so would I be.
"Truth or Dare?"
He bit his lip, deciding which choice would cause him the least physical or emotional pain. "I pick... truth."
Louise giggled rather crazily. Poor PJ looked like he was regretting all of his life choices. "Would you date Chris? If you could?"
Dan and I looked at each other in alarm. This was a subject that we didn't touch. Everyone but Louise, it seemed, knew that Chris had a thing for PJ, and PJ had no idea. And PJ didn't have a thing for Chris. And PJ was about to break Chris's heart. Oh, God. Oh, Louise. Chris sat up, suddenly lucid, and I saw his jaw clench. Shit. PJ looked uncomfortable. "Uh, I don't know..." he mumbled, squirming around in his chair and taking a sip of wine to hide his discomfort. "If I were attracted to guys, sure. I mean, Chris is relatively fit, and he's my best friend. I guess so, hypothetically..."
We could literally see Chris's heart break a little more with every word that came out of poor, tactless, stupid PJ's mouth.
"Okay!" I said loudly, drawing the attention back to me. "Dan. Truth or Dare?"
"Um, Dare, I suppose." He grimaced as we tried not to notice Chris chugging his glass down.
"All right. I dare you to..." I smiled. "Kiss the prettiest person in the room on the cheek."
Dan swallowed, and I saw his hands shake a little as he removed them from the stem of his wineglass. I assumed he would kiss Louise, which is why I'd said "on the cheek." But to my surprise, he leaned over to me and lightly touched my cheek with his lips, then pulled away. I sat there in surprise, then I looked over at Dan. He was laughing, his cheeks a rosy red. It was
the wine, and the cosy atmosphere, and the intimacy of our friendship that had prompted him, I was sure. Obviously it was a joke. So why did my skin burn where Dan's lips had touched?
Louise was cackling wildly, and slapping her thighs. "Oh, Phil," she gasped. "If you could see your face..."
I started to chuckle. This was nice, wasn't it, a room full of friends who could laugh with each other and play stupid, childish games with each other and kiss each other platonically on the cheeks...
We moved on to presents soon after that awkward interlude, for which everyone was grateful.
"I got you Kanye's new album." Louise pushed the small package into Dan's hands.
"Thanks, Louise!" He tore the wrapping off and grinned down at it. "Brilliant."
Chris got him a shirt that had the words "College Dropout" emblazoned on the front, to which Dan rolled his eyes, but thanked his friend all the same. PJ gave him a new, cool watch. And I had gotten us tickets to the Muse 'Resistance' tour, which we'd both dreamed about for ages. I watched with baited breath as Dan opened the present. He looked up at me and the expression on his face was well worth the money I'd spent on quality seats.
"Oh my God."
I smiled down at him. "You're welcome."
Dan put the tickets carefully on the table, got up, and hugged me tightly.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you," he whispered into my ear. "Oh my God."
I hugged him back, and we stayed like that for a moment.
"Get a room!" called PJ, snickering.
"Fuck off, mate," Dan snorted, finally releasing me. But his smirk disappeared when he looked at me again, and a genuine, sweet smile appeared on
his face. God, it was so worth getting those tickets.
"See you soon!" said Louise, kissing my cheek and departing for her taxi. PJ and Chris had already left. I went back inside to find Dan sprawled on the couch, already on his laptop.
"So, was it a good 19th birthday?"
He met my eyes and my breath seemed to come a little faster.
"The best," he said seriously.
Today. Was a good day.
