DISCLAIMER: Sadly I do not own Cirque du Freak or any of the cirque characters though I would love to have my very own Larten Crepsley. I do however own Roxxi Clarke.

SUMMARY: It is Darren's birthday and Roxxi wants to do something special for him but can she persuade a certain vampire to agree and what are her real motives?

A/N: This is not based after any specific book and contains a few references to the film.

This is a stand alone oneshot and not part of the 'A Change in Destiny' series.

TITLE: Birthday Wishes

Sitting up in bed, Roxxi looked over at Darren's bed. He had been incredibly quiet the past few days but whenever she or Evra asked him about it, he would say that he was fine and walk away. "Darren?" He said nothing but she knew that he was awake because he was sat looking out of the small window in the tent. "Darren, I know you're awake." She whispered so as not to wake up Evra who was curled up with his snake.

"What?" He finally responded in a whisper which matched hers.

Carefully getting out of bed, she crept over to his bed and sat down beside him, crossing her legs underneath her and looking sideways at him. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." He refused to meet her eyes, instead choosing to stare intently out of the window.

"I know you're lying." He said nothing and she sighed. "Why won't you just tell me what's wrong? I won't laugh…I promise." She reached over and grabbed one of his hands before gently squeezing.

"It's kinda stupid." Finding his voice again, he turned and looked at her through sad, misty eyes.

"Obviously not stupid enough to stop you thinking about it." She pushed further, knowing that eventually he would cave in and talk to her…he always did.

"Do you know what day it is on Friday?" He raised an eyebrow and she shrugged.

"Umm…Friday?" He rolled his eyes but offered her a small smile as she chuckled. "I don't know…tell me."

"It's my birthday." Her eyes widened, how had she not known that? Thinking back to all of their previous conversations however, she remembered that they had never spoken about their birthdays.

"Why didn't you tell me…does anyone else know?" He shook his head and she sighed before dropping her head to rest on his shoulder. He shifted slightly and wrapped an arm around her waist, still looking out of the window at the night sky. "How old are you?" Roxxi hadn't been at the cirque for very long and had found that she was closest to Darren, Evra and Crepsley.

"This time?" She nodded against him and he smiled. "Seventeen." He had been thirteen when Crepsley had blooded him; fourteen and a half when they had joined the Cirque…four years had passed since he had left home with his vampire mentor. "Seventeen earth years anyway."

"How old were you when Crepsley turned you into a half-vampire?" Winding her arms around his waist, she waited in silence for him to answer.

"Thirteen." The answer had come as a shock to her, she had only been at the Cirque for just over six months and hadn't realised just how long Darren had been there. They sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes until Darren asked, "When's yours?"

She thought for a moment before realising he was talking about her birthday. "February the thirteenth." Smiling, she remembered how her mother used to tell her that if she had been one day later then she would have been born on the most romantic day of the year. Her mother and father had always been very much in love and so celebrated Valentines Day every year without fail as it was also their wedding anniversary.

"Almost Valentines Day." He chuckled and she nodded, the smile still firmly in place.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" He didn't answer at first and in the silence, she realised that if nobody knew then he hadn't celebrated his birthday since he was thirteen years old. Four years without a birthday…four years without being made to feel special for at least one day.

"I guess there didn't seem much point. Crepsley never celebrates his so I figured maybe vampires don't have birthdays." Resting his cheek against the top of Roxxi's head, he fell silent once again. He enjoyed Roxxi's company because she was like him in so many ways; she had been blooded by Crepsley, she had had to leave her family, she had always been different and she treated him like a normal person. Most of the members of the Cirque were kind to him but he always caught the worried glances from some of the performers as he walked past, they were terrified in case he was secretly a vampaneze at heart and although he knew that he wasn't, it was harder to prove to everyone else. Naturally Evra stuck by him, the snake-boy was his best friend…they'd been best friends since they had met all those years ago.

"That's sad…everyone should have a birthday. Do any of the other performers celebrate theirs?" She really couldn't imagine a Cirque where nobody acknowledged each other's special day. The Cirque she had dreamed of as a child was a happy place where everybody got along, where everybody looked after each other and for the most part that was true. She too received the nervous glances and heard the quiet comments however and she knew that she had a long way to go before the Cirque would truly trust her as one of them. She didn't really mind however because she had Darren, Evra and Crepsley and for now that was enough. Mr Tall was always kind to the Vampires, he had been close with Crepsley for some time and so he made it his job to make sure that they were treated fairly but he couldn't be there every minute of the day, he couldn't stop everyone from voicing their opinions and Roxxi wouldn't want him to.

"Yeah, quite a few of them do." Most of the Cirque members held parties and celebrations when there was a birthday. "Evra doesn't but that's because he doesn't remember when his birthday is. He was abandoned young so he's never had a birthday party." Darren's voice was sad and wistful as he thought back to his own birthday parties as a human.

"Maybe we could give Evra a birthday." Darren laughed softly but nodded nonetheless; Roxxi couldn't tell whether he was actually considering doing so or simply humouring her but she didn't really mind either way. Roxxi was eighteen but birthdays had always been a big deal with her family so she had already decided that she wasn't going to let Darren's birthday slip past unnoticed again. She yawned and looked up at Darren before smiling softly. "I'm gonna get some more sleep, I think I may have a busy day tomorrow."

"Crepsley given you a list too?" Raising an eyebrow, he waited for a response.

"Somethin' like that." Smiling to herself, she pulled away from him and stood up. "Goodnight Darren." Leaning down, she placed a quick kiss to his cheek.

"Yeah, night Rox." She crept back over to her bed and climbed under the blankets but as she closed her eyes, she heard the familiar voice say, "Thanks for everythin'."

The next morning, Roxxi was up before Darren so that she could slip away unnoticed. She quickly headed over to Mr Tall's tent and knocked, entering when he told her to do so. "Mr Tall, can I have a word with you?" He nodded and she smiled before walking further into the tent and sitting on a wooden box which was placed against one of the walls. "It's Darren's birthday tomorrow and I was wondering if we could do something special."

"Like what?" Hibernius had known that it was Darren's birthday, he made it his job to know these things but the half-vampire never seemed to want to celebrate it so he had kept the information to himself.

"Like throw him a party. I could head into town with Evra and get some balloons and banners and a cake." She smiled widely and Mr Tall smiled at the look in her eyes. It was one of child-like excitement and he didn't think he could have said 'no' even if he had wanted to. "Please Mr Tall, he hasn't celebrated his birthday in almost four years."

Mr Tall pretended to consider for a moment before nodding. "I think it would be a very good idea Roxxi, I am sure he would love a surprise party." Mr Tall knew that Roxxi and Darren were close, Roxxi always stood up for the younger half-vampire and the two went almost everywhere together…as well as Evra.

"Really?" Her voice was hopeful and when he nodded, a massive grin broke out across her face. "Thank you so much."

"Don't worry about it, I will distract Darren while you and Evra go to the shops but I suggest you clear this with Larten first." Roxxi nodded and thanked him again before leaving the tent and heading across to Crepsley's.

When she reached the tent, she hesitated and sighed. Crepsley would be asleep but if she left it until tonight when he woke up, the shops would be closing and she wouldn't have time to get everything. Taking a deep breath, she walked into the tent and cautiously knocked on the lid of Crepsley's coffin. A muffled reply came from the wooden box but the lid proved to be a barrier and she couldn't hear what he said. "What was that Mr Crepsley?"

Slowly, the lid lifted and a sleep-mussed vampire appeared in front of her. "I said, this had better be good."

"I umm…I've just been to see Mr Tall, you see it's Darren's birthday tomorrow and…well…I want to throw him a party." Crepsley raised an eyebrow but remained silent. "He hasn't celebrated his birthday in four years and I thought…"

She was cut off as Crepsley interrupted. "Vampires do not celebrate birthdays."

"But Mr Crepsley…" She started to whine but he once again cut her off.

"I do not want to hear it. Darren should be concentrating more on training than celebrating silly human holidays." His lips were set into a stern frown and Roxxi sighed, this was going to be harder than she thought.

"He was thirteen when you blooded him Mr Crepsley…still a child and what child deserves to miss his sixteenth birthday?" Raising a challenging eyebrow, she waited for a reply.

"Darren is seventeen this year Miss Clarke, not sixteen."

She rolled her eyes and let out a frustrated groan. "I know and that's what I am saying. He missed his sixteenth birthday…that's a big one for kids. What did he do to deserve that?" Crepsley said nothing, bowing his head and secretly knowing that Roxxi was right. "I can't sit back and watch him miss another one, it isn't fair."

"He will not mind, he is a vampire now." Crepsley's voice was quiet, he didn't want to be having this conversation right now.

"I mind! He is a half-vampire but he's still half-human and the half-human part will mind." She sighed and sat on a nearby crate before continuing. "Look, you say you want to look out for us then look out for us but you have no right taking away his birthday. Darren might not mind but I do!" Her eyes narrowed, daring Crepsley to refuse again.

He thought for a moment before offering her a defeated nod. "Fine but I will play no part in this."

Lowering her voice again, she smiled. "Thank you…you'll be at the party right?"

"No, I have never been one for parties so I will not attend but feel free to give my regards to Darren." His voice was cold as he tried to hide the emotions which Roxxi knew he had hidden somewhere.

Standing up, she walked over to the coffin and leant in close to his face before snarling. "You are all that Darren has in terms of a father figure and you can't put aside your stupid vampire traditions for one night?" He said nothing but shrunk back into the coffin a little. "You make me sick. I used to have a lot of respect for you but you're just like the rest…Darren needs you more than he lets on." Again Crepsley said nothing. "If you are even half the vampire I thought you were then you'll be at that party." With that she turned and left in search of Evra.

Evra had been easy to convince and had loved the idea almost as much as her. Mr Tall, true to his word, had given Darren extra chores to keep him busy whilst Evra and Roxxi went shopping. A few hours later, they returned with banners, party poppers, hats, streamers and one of the biggest cakes that Mr Tall had ever seen. When he looked at Roxxi through confusion filled eyes and asked how she managed to get all the stuff they had got, she winked and said, "I called in a few favours." That was all that she would say on the matter but it seemed to be enough for Mr Tall who said that they could hide the decorations in his tent until tomorrow when they were going to put them up.

That night, Roxxi skipped training and went for a walk with Evra instead. Darren didn't understand why Roxxi could no longer stand to be anywhere near Crepsley and when he asked the older vampire, he simply shook his head and told him not to ask so many questions. "So why did you bail on training?" Evra asked as he threw a pebble into the lake which they were now sitting by.

"I…" Looking at Evra she sighed. "If I tell you do you promise not to tell Darren."

"Yeah, I promise." The snake boy drew a cross over his chest with his finger and Roxxi laughed quietly. "Go on."

"I asked Crepsley about the party and he said he wouldn't go." Evra sighed and leant back on his hands. "Darren looks up to him so much and I couldn't deal with that tonight. I can't sit back and watch Darren adore Crepsley when the truth is that Crepsley doesn't care enough to go to Darren's birthday party." Evra remained silent and she looked over at him through twinkly, hazel eyes. "Do you think I'm being stupid?"

"Nah, I can totally understand why you feel like that." Both of them cared about Darren and neither wanted to see him hurt. "I just don't get why Crepsley would say that."

When she answered him, her voice was sad and laced with hurt. "Me neither." She too had adored Crepsley so it had come as a massive blow when he had said no and told her that parties were a silly, little human tradition. Did he really think that her and Darren were stupid because they were half-human?

Shuffling over slightly, Evra wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her down so that her head was resting on his chest. "Don't think like that." It was as if he could read her mind and when she didn't reply, he ran a hand through her black-red curls. "Maybe he was having bad day, or maybe he was really annoyed that you woke him up early." She nodded but Evra could tell that she didn't believe him. "I don't know Crepsley that well but I do know that he cares a lot about you two."

"You think so?" Her voice was uncertain and Evra softly nodded.

"Yeah." Even he didn't sound as sure as he would have liked.

The next day proved to be harder than they had thought. Darren had been given a list of chores which involved him being away from the cirque but constantly kept moaning that they were mundane chores. Mr Tall had asked him to go and find a new tree to practice on because Crepsley had said that the tree which he was using to test his nails on now was getting too worn down. This was of course a lie to keep him from the camp grounds but the younger half-vampire fell for it and went off in search of a tree. Another chore had been to go and get some things from town, this confused Darren as Mr Tall never requested anything which involved leaving the safety of the camp.

When night fell, Evra had blindfolded Darren and told him that they were playing a new game he had devised. Darren had complained that he needed to get ready for training but Evra had been insistent and eventually, the other boy had stopped complaining and allowed the snake-boy to lead him around the camp grounds. When they reached their destination, Evra whipped the blindfold from Darren's eyes and gleamed. "Happy birthday dude!" Wrapping an arm around Darren's shoulders, Evra winked at Roxxi who smiled back.

"Oh my God…this is amazing!" Looking around the camp grounds, he smiled widely at the effort which they had gone to. There were banners hung from the trees and between the tents, a table had been laid out with a large cake on it and closer inspection proved that there were seventeen sparkly candles dotted around the edge of the dessert.

"Happy birthday Darren!" All the members of the Cirque were stood outside, singing happy birthdays and offering him birthday wishes. A couple had even gotten him presents. The presents had clearly been put together in a rush but the thought made him smile and tear up.

"Thank you so much." Wiping away a tear, he laughed as Roxxi skipped over to him dragging a very large box along with her. "What's this?" His brows furrowed in confusion as she gestured that the box was his and kissed his cheek.

"This is off me and Evra." Evra released Darren's shoulders and stepped over to Roxxi. "I hope he likes it." She whispered in his ear but Evra gave her a knowing smirk.

Darren quickly tore the paper from the box, eyes wide with amazement. "Oh my God…you guys didn't." He looked up at them, a massive smile gracing his face. Looking back down at the drum kit, he laughed and threw his arms around Evra and Roxxi. "I love it…thank you so much!"

They both laughed but returned the hug and smiled. "Glad you like it buddy." Evra pulled away first and patted Darren on the back. "Now you don't have to keep stealing mine." He let out a laugh to reassure the other boy that he was joking.

"We thought it was about time you celebrated a birthday." Roxxi smiled and when Darren pulled her in closer and pressed a kiss to her forehead, she knew she had made the right decision.

"You guys are amazing." They both smiled and Evra hid a small blush.

When the time came, Darren blew out the candles on his cake. He didn't know what to wish for because he already had everything he wanted so instead he made a wish to the vampire gods to keep his family back home safe. He blew out the candles and everyone clapped but Darren was disappointed when he realised Crepsley wasn't there. Looking around, Roxxi dropped her gaze to the floor…he hadn't come.

"Happy birthday Darren." Roxxi's head snapped up and she beamed from ear-to-ear at the sight in front of her. Crepsley handed a small, squidgy looking parcel to Darren and offered the boy a small smile. Darren quickly pulled off the wrapping which Crepsley had hastily made out of old newspaper, and smiled softly at his mentor.

"Thank you." Pulling out the cape, he gently fastened it around his neck and turned to look at Roxxi. "Well?"

"Just like a real vampire." Roxxi giggled and when her eyes caught Crepsley's, she smiled softly. The party continued through the night and Mr Tall knew that everyone would need a day of rest in the morning because the older members of the cirque were all too happy to drink Darren's alcohol for him as he was still underage. Whilst Darren was dancing with Rebecca, Roxxi slipped away and joined Crepsley who was sitting by a tree watching the party. "What made you change your mind?" Sitting beside him, she turned and looked up into his emerald eyes.

"What you said…maybe once in a while I do need to listen to you." She slowly nodded and he sighed. "I realised last night that I need you and Darren as much as you need me and…maybe…it is okay to show him that he means a lot to me every now and again."

Roxxi lowered her gaze and nodded. "Look, Mr Crepsley I owe you an apology…I didn't mean what I said. I was just angry at you and I…" Trailing off, she sighed and waited for him to say something.

"Do not apologise…to some extent you were right." She looked up sadly and he smiled. "I accept your apology anyway." This time, she returned the smile and he wrapped an arm loosely around her shoulders. "What you did for Darren really was a nice gesture." She nodded but remained silent. "Why did you really do it?"

Her eyes softened and she grinned. "I always wanted a brother." Crepsley slowly nodded and she laid her head against his shoulder. "Darren is the closest thing I have to a brother but even though he isn't my real brother…I don't care. He means a lot to me and I…I just wanted him to get to feel human again, even if it was only for tonight."

Crepsley smiled widely and leant down, placing a kiss to Roxxi's head and whispering. "He loves you like a sister…he's lucky to have you."

Wrapping her arms around Crepsley, she smiled and snuggled into his chest. "I'm lucky to have him too." He nodded but chuckled when she said, "You ever tell him I said that and I will of course deny it."

"Of course, just like I will pretend this conversation never happened."

"Naturally." She chuckled and looked back the party; she had definitely made the right decision in letting Crepsley blood her.

Crepsley meanwhile, looked down at Roxxi and smiled. He had definitely made the right decision in blooding her and found himself hoping that she would stick around for a very long time.

A/N: Well there you have it. Please review and let me know what you thought…loved it or hated it. Thanks for reading and for those of you reading 'A Change in Destiny', it will be updated this weekend hopefully.

XxxoxxX