You have always hated people fussing over you. For your birthday, you had been planning on inviting a few friends over for pizza and movies. However, when your best friend Mitch learned of your plans, he decided to take the organization of your party into his own hands. He has insisted on keeping it all a surprise, leaving you with a huge problem: you have no idea what to wear. Here you are, freaking out an hour before your party, rifling through your closet when Mitch appears at your doorstep with a garment bag. He shoves it at you before running away and yelling over his shoulder, “You can thank me later!”
You nervously adjust the hem of the dress. It’s not something you would ever wear, but as Mitch has told you many times over the years, “You’ve gotta flaunt what you’ve got, girlfriend!” You guess this is his way of finally getting you to do it. It’s definitely a change from your normal jeans and t-shirts. The dress is off white, short, tight, and inlaid with a pattern of gold sequins. Your stomach churns with apprehension. Why oh why had you let Mitch talk you into this? God, you’ve never felt more self-conscious. After throwing on some heels and grabbing your bag, you leave your apartment and begin the journey to find whatever little hell hole Mitch has forced a celebration onto you in.
After passing it multiple times, you finally drive up to a cute little Italian café. You like it. You’re surprised and so happy that it isn’t some club or bar. You cut Mitch some slack; this place is actually really nice. But of course, there’s the damn dress. You park your car, adjust the hem of your dress one more time, and enter the café. You are greeted with more pleasant surprises. The place is beautiful. The whole café is dimly lit with fairy lights strewn across the walls. Round tables covered with white tablecloths sit at regular intervals around the room (except for a small empty area toward the back which you assume is for dancing), each one with its own bouquet of flowers and a single lit candle. The whole place is vacant except for a table to the back. You’re thankful for all of the effort your best friend had put into this, but was renting out the whole restaurant really necessary? Oh, well. You make a mental note to hug the crap out of Mitch later. You walk over to the table, and Mitch stands up to greet you. “You like it?” he asks as you pull him into a giant hug.
“Love it,” you pull away to take in his smug grin, “Although the dress might be a bit much.” He laughs and pulls you over to the table. You take the seat to his left. Scanning the faces of the people seated at the table, you smile. All of your closest friends are here. Going counter clockwise there is Mitch, Scott, Kirstie, Kevin, and on your left, Avi, their faces glowing from the candle light. Avi shoots you a smile that seems to light up the room.
After you’ve settled down and received a chorus of “happy birthdays,” casual conversation begins. Avi leans over, pushing some of your hair back to whisper in your ear, “I like the dress. You look beautiful.” The smirk he flashes you awakens the butterflies in your stomach. You suppress the shudder running through you as the warmth of his breath spreads over your ear and neck. Maybe the dress isn’t that bad…
Avi seems to have a perpetual smile on his face and you can’t help but smile back, “You don’t look to bad yourself, Kaplan.” Your relationship with Avi is… well… complicated for lack of a better word. You’re in love with him. You liked him immediately when you first met and your feelings for him have only grown with time. According to everyone else, he likes you too. Avi’s one of your closest friends and you never want to ruin that. Neither of you do. Because of this, the two of you had come to a silent agreement. Nothing is going to happen, and as much as it hurts, you have accepted that this is exactly how it is going to stay. Frustratingly, it’s times like this, where he’s looking at you, smiling so brightly, his green eyes glowing, that you wish things were different. The six of you are all chatting happily over some amazing food when Mitch stands up at the head of the table, tapping a butter knife against his wine glass.
“I have a speech in honor of the birthday girl,” he announces, setting his glass and knife back down on the table. Mitch’s eyes scan everyone at the table as he speaks. “Today is our amazing friends birthday,” his eyes land on you for a second before he continues, “and I think birthdays are a day to celebrate your growth as a person and even though it’s not everyone here’s birthday today, I have some general advice to hopefully help us all grow. Birthdays are a day to honor the remarkable people in our lives. To show them how special they really are. We’re all on this planet for a short amount of time and I think it’s crucial to fight for what’s important to us before it’s too late. I don’t think you should ever hide how you feel or keep your feelings locked inside.” Mitch turns to look at you as he says, “I hope today is a day of growth and realization for you and I hope you realize how important you are to all of us.” Mitch takes a seat and you feel something tickle the back of your hand. You look down and see Avi’s fingers brush across yours. The underlying meaning to Mitch’s speech hits you. You look up into Avi’s eyes and see that he is thinking the exact same thing you are. Show those you love that you love them before it’s too late. You intertwine your fingers with Avi’s and look up to see his dazzling grin. The two of you spend the rest of the party with your fingers intertwined, his thumb tracing patterns on the back of your hand. The plates are cleared and Mitch announces that it’s time for the party to “really get started.” He walks over to a stereo and starts some music. Avi releases your hand as everyone makes their way to the dance floor. You sigh, missing the already familiar warmth of his hand wrapped around yours. As expected there’s a lot of Beyoncé and most of the songs are fast and upbeat. You and Avi spend the majority of the time laughing and dancing around like idiots. Finally, some slower songs start to play and Avi pulls you close, his arms wrapped around your waist and your forearms resting on his shoulders. The two of you sway to the beat of the music and as you look into Avi’s emerald eyes you see a reflection of the pure joy and bliss you’re feeling in this moment.
Still, you can’t help but break the comfortable silence by saying, “Avi, what are we?”
He pulls you impossibly closer and smiles, “Mitch said that we should fight for what’s important to us before it’s too late. I’m fighting for you." Avi pauses, gazing at you through his eyelashes. His next words catch you completely off guard, "I love you.” Those words that have been running through your head for years. He loves you.
You can’t keep from smiling, “I love you too.” Avi leans forward, closing the few inches between your lips and his. Your lips meet and everything seems right. You can’t believe how perfect this moment is. You’ve spent all these years denying your feelings for each other and all it took was a little birthday speech to wipe that all away. You’d always thought you were keeping Avi safe by locking your feelings away, but maybe your love is strong enough to try. Even if it doesn’t work out you’re confident the two of you will remain friends and come out stronger in the end. You love him. He loves you and in this moment that’s all that matters.
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Authors Note: This is the first imagine/fanfiction I've ever completed and posted so comments, advice, opinions etc. are greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading! :)
