Disclaimer: I don't own it. Wish I did though …

Notes: A story I wrote in under an hour. It's my best friend's birthday today (12th September) and he's fifteen. Chris, you're growing up so fast. I can't see him, because of an argument between my step-mother and his mother, and I couldn't send him a card … No pairings in this fic.

Dedication: To my best-friend Chris. I know we haven't seen much of each other in the last couple of years, and we might not even be best friends anymore, but I'm sorry I couldn't send you anything and I hope you're okay. Happy fifteenth birthday Chris, I want a present for my fifteenth next month :P

Dammit.

February the third. She double-checked the calendar that hung on her wall to make sure, hoping that she was wrong, but there was no question about it. It was the third day of February, and there was absolutely nothing she could do to change that.

The girl leaned against the windowsill of her bedroom, scowling fiercely at the sky that was daring to lighten as the sun rose, turning the inky darkness to pinkish-blush as she watched. It was his birthday today, and she couldn't go see him, give him the present that she had bought at least a month ago. She had spent an hour wrapping that damned box, carefully and precisely in pristine sheets of dark green paper, and she had hidden it in her underwear drawer to stop him from finding it when he snooped around her room for it.

She had been looking forward to today, because every birthday meant a party, including a special little jaunt off in the middle of the night for just the friends, something that the parents turned a blind eye to when they returned as the sun rose the next morning. This one had been promising, because Kevin had been putting away bottles, stolen from his father's cupboard, for the past month, and Ray had been talking about cooking something with Gary, which was always a treat. It was going to be a lot of fun, too, just a little party between them, and she had never really drank before.

Then the argument.

She couldn't even remember why it had started. But her aunt and mother had argued nearly three weeks ago, and since then, her cousin had been off-limits. Her mother had even taken to sending someone to follow them, her talebearer, and she would always screech if she found that they had spent time together, caterwauling like a wildcat (appropriate enough, for she and her sister were descended from the Minx tribe.) Somehow she always knew if her daughter met her cousin in the village, no matter how discreet they tried to be, no matter how careful they were. And when her daughter returned, it would be screaming words and spat insults to the Ren family, not simply keeping it to her sister, but the man of the Black Lion tribe she had married, and their son who had nothing at all to do with the argument.

She moved away from the window, falling back onto her bed in exasperation and frustration as she remembered the insults, her mother's usually flawless face scrunched up in anger as she ranted, pacing around and around the room. Furious that her daughter had defied her so blatantly, she had forbidden her from going to her cousin's birthday party, stubbornly sticking to that even as her husband had pleaded with her for over an hour. She had thought that her mother would relent in a week or so, but …

Now today was the day of her cousin's birthday, and her mother had instructed her that she couldn't leave the house. It could be months until their argument was forgotten, but she didn't want to wait that long …

Dammit …

"Hmm?"

She sat up abruptly, frowning at her window. Had she imagined it, or had something tapped her window?

There it was again, a sharp smart tap against the glass of the window, as though someone had struck it with a rock. Getting to her feet, she lifted the blinds and peered outside into the street. Upon seeing no one, she slid the window open and leaned out, spotting him immediately.

"Lee! What the hell are you doing?"

"Good morning to you too," her cousin replied sarcastically, his mouth stretched in a soft smirk as he looked up at her, "Am I not allowed to annoy you from time to time?"

"If my mother catches you, she'll kill you." Mariah replied, shaking her head at him.

"I'm well aware of that. Why do you think I'm here so early?"

Laughing a little, she frowned slightly at him, "So … why are you here?"

Lee looked like he was thinking his answer through for a moment, and he grinned, his fangs showing as he turned his head to one side.

"You didn't get me a birthday present then?" He pouted.

"Stay there," Mariah groaned, irritated already as she turned away. Opening her drawer and dragging out the box, sending underwear all over the place in her haste, she returned to the window in a stride and after sticking her head out the window, she stuck her arm out as well so he could see the present she had clutched in her hand.

Lee stared for a moment, and then burst into peals of laughter. After a moment of wondering why he was laughing, she looked at the present in her hand and let out a squeak of embarrassment.

"I don't think that's the intended present, but can I keep it anyway?" Lee choked out as Mariah yanked off the bra that had tangled itself around the box, throwing it back inside as Lee cried with mirth, "I mean, I could bribe Ray with it, or Kev. Though he already has an ample collection of your underwear as it is …"

"He does not!" Mariah yelled, her face scarlet with shame, then she faltered, "… he doesn't, does he?"

"Put it this way, Mao," Lee laughed, wiping his eyes, "Kev can get into your room without you noticing, and your underwear drawer is next to the window. And the fact that not all the underwear is clean is a worrying fact – "

"You're not getting this present now."

"Can't you take a joke?"

"Not your idea of a joke, nope."

Lee pouted again, batting his eyelashes at her in a way that made him look ridiculously cute and ridiculously … well, ridiculous, "C'mon, it's my birthday, you have to be nice."

Sighing, Mariah shook her head again, unable to resist that look. It was like the puppy dog eyes that Kevin would put on on a regular basis to get what he wanted, and it was just as irresistible, "Fine, you baby. You'd better catch it, cause it'll break if you're not careful."

"And here's me thinking you'd get me a nice new beyblade repair kit, like nearly everyone else," Lee remarked, rolling his eyes, "Throw it down then."

Sending it ground-ward with a flick of her wrist, Lee caught the present with ease, and with an oddly blurred movement of his hands, he demolished the wrappings that had taken so long to do. Mariah cringed slightly; she needed to stop putting so much effort into these things.

He glanced up at her, a warm smile gracing his face as he looked up to his cousin, holding his present carefully in his hands; a large framed photograph of them both and their friends, one that had been shortly taken after Ray had returned from the World Championships last year.

"I wasn't sure you'd like it," Mariah said uncomfortably, not sure whether her cousin was happy with her present or not, "It took me a while to get the picture done properly … I had to get Gary to help me a little." It was a little known fact that Gary enjoyed photography.

"For lack of a better compliment," Lee began, his grin widening as his dark eyes looked up to her window, "I love it."

Before Mariah could reply, she heard a door creak open in her home and the beginnings of a smile vanished as she shooed at him with a hand, "You'd better go, they're waking up."

"Okay." Lee nodded, tucking the frame under his arm, "You're still coming out tonight?"

"I can't – "

"Who said you had a choice?" The fanged grin took a more mischievous tone, "Come on, I can't have my dear baby cousin locked up in her room all night. The main party thing's gonna be bad enough, I need something to look forward to."

"Fine," Mariah hissed frantically as the footsteps of her mother drew closer, "Now get lost, you moron, before my mother catches you!"

"No happy birthday greeting?"

He was doing this just to annoy her, she was sure he was …

"Happy 16th Birthday Lee," Mariah called, at the edge of her wits, "Now go the hell away, you idiot!"

Authoress notes: Huzzah for pointless dribble. In this fanfic, Lee did NOT assault Mariah as he did in the past of nearly all my fics. I apologise that it's so crap, not to mention only 1400 or so words long, but hey, deal with it :P

Reviews are greatly appreciated, as always. Must go write Lee/Mariah fic now, and read lemony fanfiction XD