1: Birthday Boy

Zeke Thompson leaked a motorcycle of its old oil and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. Personally, he loved getting greasy and dirty when he worked because it gave him a sense of accomplishment. He even went as far as calling the grease on his face "war paint."

"What is it this time?" a voice asked over his shoulder.

Grinning, he turned to look at Jade Quelin, his high-school sweetheart. "An oil change."

She snickered when she got a good look at him. "I like that you have it smeared on your face."

"What? This?" he held up his grease-covered fingers.

"Yes."

He reached out to caress her face, but she backed away. "No! You're going to get me all messy!"

"That's kind of the point."

"No, no babe!" Jay kept jumping away from his advances. "I still have to go do stuff after this."

Chuckling, Zeke stood up and used a rag to wipe his hands. "So what's up, why visit?"

"Welll," Jay opened her messenger bag and pulled out a box with decorative wrapping. "I wanted to come give your father an early birthday gift."

He grinned as he looked at the box. "I'm surprised you remembered."

"Why wouldn't I? We've grown to be rather close even though we had a pretty rough start, to say the least," Jay said with an embarrassed smile.

In the beginning of Zeke and Jay's relationship, he snuck his girlfriend in to stay one night and his father caught them in his room. As much as Jay wanted to curl under a rock and DIE, Rodney Thompson smirked and wished his son a good night. It took months for Zeke to convince Jay that his father didn't care about it as much as she thought he did. He went as far as telling her the joke Rodney made about using a condom which made her face heat up.

"B-But, we only went to sleep!" she had stuttered.

Zeke smiled and shook his head at the memory. "The very least."

She cleared her throat. "Anyway, I wanted to give him this in person to add that personal touch. Where is he?"

"Over by the desk, probably taking calls." As the tall biker led her to the garage's office, she snaked her hand in his. Zeke took that moment to thank the higher beings for her existence. Without her, who knew where he'd be? She was the one that gave him the strength to hang on a little longer for his crappy life to take a turn for the better. Ever since it had, he couldn't remember the last time he had a bad day. At least not without having her there to cheer him up. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze before opening the door and facing his father.

Rodney Thompson had experienced some stuff in his life. An ex-alcoholic, he looked a little older than he really was. His hair was more grey than black and his skin had long lost its youth. He smiled warmly once he saw Jay. "Well hello there, my favorite daughter."

Zeke shook his head. "Nope, you need to stop. That makes me self-conscious about our relationship."

Scoffing, Jay pulled her hand out of his and smacked his arm.

"Besides," Zeke continued, "she'd be your ONLY daughter. Both biological and in-law."

Rodney shrugged and opened his arms for a hug. "Still my favorite."

Jay gave him the box as soon as they pulled away. "I wanted to give you this."

Rodney took the top off and took out a new push blade with his initials on the grip. "Simple, elegant. I love it." He hugged her again. "Thank you, Jay."

As he admired the blade, Jay leaned against the counter. "So are there any plans to celebrate your birthday tonight? Maybe a fancy dinner?"

"We're having a small party over at our house," Zeke said. "First one in…how long?"

"A few years." Rodney pushed the blade down and put it in his pockets, setting the box aside on the counter. "You and your friends are definitely welcomed to come."

"Oooh, fun," Jay said with her wide Vampire Smile. "I'll be sure to come."

Zeke snorted under his breath and since Jay caught on to his joke, she smacked him on the arm again. "We'll all be sure to ARRIVE."

"Can't wait to see you there." Rodney laughed at the dynamics between the two lovebirds.

"See you later, Rod."

As the pair walked out to the garage again, Jay chided her boyfriend. "You are unbelievable, you know that? I'm almost tempted to eat this MEATBALL SANDWICH without sharing it."

Zeke glanced and saw her pull out a sub from her messenger bag. "Aw what?" He stopped in front of her and wrapped her in a hug. "Only the best girlfriend in the world would give it to me, regardless of what I said."

She narrowed her eyes playfully. "Absolutely not, hon."

He caressed her face, stroking his thumb under her eyes to smear a little bit of grease. "You look like a warrior goddess."

"Which, I hope is a good thing," she joked.

"Mm-hmm."

While they were sharing a kiss, Zeke managed to sneak the sandwich away. She didn't care and she shouldered her bag when they pulled away. "I'll see you tonight."

"Ditto."

"And I LET you take the sandwich, don't think otherwise!" she called over her shoulder as she left.

-XYZ-

Sooooo here's just a quick story I whipped up. It won't be too long. The Gang is older in this little "spin-off," so there will be a few mature references and all that. Anyway, I'm super excited because I just found out that the Minutemen is on Hulu! I already saw it and plan on watching it again soon.