Unspoken Love

20: SEEKER

JANUARY 20TH

"One...two-"

"-Wait! What are we saying again?" Albus whispered. 

"Happy birthday! How hard is it to remember?" Rose hissed back. She and Al were standing on either side of Scorpius's bed while the blonde was blissfully fast asleep...not for long. Rose was holding a plate of breakfast for him, his favorite: pancakes and eggs with crispy bacon. She had even placed a single symbolic candle in the middle of his hotcake stack. 

"Right," Albus nodded, clutching a mini firework in his hand nervously, "Right, on three again."

With a roll of her eyes, Rose began: "One...two...THREE!" On his cue, Albus threw the firework up and just as it was suspended in midair over Scorpius's unsuspecting form it popped loudly, producing colorful sparkles to shower Scorpius's body which had sprang awake suddenly at the thunderous noise. 

"Happy Birthday!" Albus and Rose exclaimed in unison while Scorpius looked around, completely bewildered. 

"Merlin's beard!" was all Scorpius shouted, "What the bloody hell was that noise?"

"Er...firework?" Albus shrugged nervously. Scorpius blinked and his thumping heart seemed to decrease in speed as he began to find his bearings, their celebratory "Happy Birthday!" echoed in his ears and brought realization as to why his boyfriend as well as Rose were standing over his bed throwing fireworks. 

"Oh," he laughed in relief, "Well that was certainly a special wake up." he said, scooting to sit back against his headboard to allow space on the foot of his bed for the two to sit down on. His ears were still ringing slightly but he didn't mind as Rose handed him a plate of breakfast with a lit candle glittering on the top. 

"Make a wish." Albus smiled. Scorpius was sixteen now, he even looked older in Albus's opinion, but perhaps he was only kidding himself. Nevertheless, he loved the way Scorpius looked when he just woke up--hair tousled and lips pink and he had a special birthday glow. Scorpius smiled warmly into Albus's bright eyes as he blew out his candles, he didn't wish for anything. He already had what he wanted.

"Thanks guys," Scorpius said, staring between Albus and Rose, "I'm sorry I have to leave you today." he said, digging into his pancakes. 

"Whatever will Albie do in your absence?" Rose teased, holding her heart as if it was in great pain in overdramatic mocking. Albus rolled his eyes. 

"I can live without him you know." he said, glaring. Scorpius and Rose met eyes and both broke into synchronized laughter. "I can!" Albus protested, staring between his two cackling friends who only laughed harder at this. 

"Stop it!" Scorpius wheezed, banging on his chest, "You're going to make me choke on my pancakes!"

"I missed it when you two weren't friends." Albus sniffed, though he was only joking as well. In fact, he felt most surprised to find that their newly formed trio was actually really fun. Of course, Rose was still apart of her girl group of friends but she had begun to hang out with Scorpius and Albus quite often (though, still left them with their privacy). The arrangement was working out to be perfect and the three had become comfortable in each other's company fairly quickly. 

     The only downside was feeling like it was two against one during certain situations, like mealtimes for example. Rose and Scorpius would both feel the need to pester and push for Albus to eat full meals when sometimes he hardly could choke down more than a few bites. It had only been about a week since he and Scorpius's makeup, Albus needed time to adjust and even so, he was already making progress. He knew they meant well but just the other night he slightly snapped, but at least he got his point across: