The Fire We Make

chapter seventeen

gif of Brayden above :)

After Jay's warning, I was sure to stay clear of Kaiden. In a way, I knew I needed to have zero attachments with him. Having someone remind me of that was exactly what I needed. Another week flew by and Kaiden and I exchanged a few words, but only in things that pertained to what he was ordering. I could tell that he wanted to talk about the things I heard, but honestly, there was nothing to be said.

I decided that I was losing track of what was really important. Brayden was only here for two more months. I couldn't believe that a month had already flown by. I felt like I seen him only a handful of times. Between my morning and night shifts, and Brayden's recent job he picked up, we've seen each other only about two times in the past week. Mila complained about this more than I did.

"I wish I didn't like your brother so much," she sulked, as we stacked the chairs across the room so we could begin sweeping and moping. We had just finished our night shift at the bar and were starting to clean up.

"I barely get to see him! I didn't have a problem with this with my last boyfriends."

"And where are they now?" I retorted, irritated that she was comparing my brother to her past flings. Mila stopped what she was doing and looked at me in shock.

"Crap. I didn't mean it like that. I'm so used to being brutally honest with you," Mila apologized. "I just really want things to go right between us, Hollyn. He's not like the past boyfriends I've had."

I continued to clean as I let Mila's words settle in. I didn't have the liberty of knowing all her past boyfriends. She would have a new one every two weeks, which wasn't entirely her fault I suppose. She just knew what she wanted and found out none of those men gave her that. I guess I should've been content for her bluntness. At least I always knew her true intentions. 

"His birthday is coming up," I finally said as I swept up the dirty remains on the floor. "I didn't have anything planned. He's been so busy like you mentioned, but I think it'll be a good idea to do something for him. Poor guy had to grow up too fast and didn't get a chance to properly celebrate his last birthday's."

"Oh my gosh, when is his birthday?" Mila exclaimed, dropping the mop in her hand to the floor.

"This Saturday."

"Three days from now?! And you weren't gonna tell me?"

I rolled my eyes. "I figured he would've."

"We have to do something Hollyn. Something he will remember," she chatted, her eyes twinkling whenever she got an idea. A not so good idea might I add.

"What do you propose?" I asked.

Mila grinned widely. "A surprise party of course!"

~*~

The plan was set in motion. I was to decorate the house and get the food in preparation. All Mila had to do was invite the guests and keep Brayden busy on the day of his birthday until the surprise party was ready. Seemed easy enough. Brayden was hardly home to see any subtle changes around the house. For instance, the couch was pushed to the wall so there could be a dance floor. One night Brayden came home and just crashed on the couch. He didn't even notice its change in location. I hid all the decorations in our parent's old bedroom. He never went in there, and under normal circumstances, I didn't either. However, I knew this was the one place he wouldn't go in. I thought Aiden's room would be one place he wouldn't go into either but unfortunately, I was mistaken about that too.

I was at Molly's Bakery finishing the last bit of decorations on Brayden's cake. She allowed me to use her kitchen as long as I brought my own supplies. It was a three-tier cake with vanilla bean on the bottom, chocolate in the middle, and vanilla bean back on the top. He was always indecisive about which flavor was his favorite so I decided to incorporate them all into one cake.