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Chapter 3: Deathday

"You got it working?" Katherine beamed as she dropped her back into the couch. The first thing she noticed when she walked in was the television screen, showing her a paused image of Jared Leto's face. "Please tell me we're watching what I think we are?" She grinned.

"Happy Birthday!" Nicole exclaimed, bounding across the room to wrap her arms around Katherine.
"I thought I'd surprise you. And yes. We're watching Requiem For A Dream. I know how much you love Leto." Nicole winked.

Katherine giggled. "True, although I do prefer the older brother." She sighed, flopping down onto the work couch.

"I know." Nicole grinned, holding up another video. "So I thought we'd watch 'Highway' as well. Shannon may only be in it for a few minutes but as you're the birthday girl, it's my job to make sure you're happy."

Katherine frowned as a thought suddenly occurred to her. "Where did you get the videos from?" The two of them only had a video player. True most things were on DVD by now, but seeing as the Y.V. had been broken, the girls never bothered to get a DVD player.

Nicole shrugged. "From that rental place downtown. I only went to get the first one, but they were having a two for one sale, so I thought why not. It's your birthday after all and we should celebrate. Glass of wine?" She asked, turning to the chipped and battered coffee table in front of the tv.

"You bought wine as well?!" Katherine shrieked. "Nikki, you shouldn't have done that! You're wasting money. What about our rent?"

Nicole merely smiled. "Relax. I kept some money back this month so we could at least celebrate your birthday. Albeit it is just cheap wine and movies." She shrugged. "But we all chipped in. And I kept a little extra to get you a present. Which you can't have until Tina and Bailey are gone." She stated.

"Bailey and Tina are coming?" Katherine asked. It was the first she was hearing of it.

"We're already here!" A childish giggle echoed around the room as the door opened to reveal Tina and Bailey, both wearing a pair of pyjamas and slippers, pillows and blankets bundled into their arms. "It's been ages since we've had a sleepover!" Bailey squealed. "The last slumber party we had was when we met you, Kat." She pointed out, shuffling over to the couch as Tina followed behind.

"We bring gifts!" Tina exclaimed with a smile, handing Katherine a large jar that had obviously once been used for jelly. The two of them had cleaned it out and removed the label, only to replace it with a piece of twine and fill it to the brim with red candies.

Katherine's heart swelled at the sight of it. Strawberry kisses were her absolute favorite, and as a child, she was able to sit with an entire packet to herself and polish it off, much to the disapproval of her mother. She had only mentioned her preferred candy once to the three of them, only a few months after they met, but the fact that they remembered touched her deeply.

"Me next!" Bailey all but shoved the pink box into Katherine's hands. She lifted the lid and gasped at the sight.

"Cupcakes? And by cupcakes I mean Red Velvet cupcakes?" She gawked at the pretty little treats staring up at her. She recognized the logo on the box and knew the bakery that sold them wasn't cheap. A pang of guilt went through her as she realized her friends had used their own money to buy them for her.

"Don't pull that face." Bailey frowned. "It's your birthday. And you can't have a birthday without cake." She stated. "You don't turn twenty three every day, Kat."

"God what I wouldn't give to be twenty three again." Tina sighed wistfully.

Katherine scoffed. "T, you're twenty six. Not sixty six."