Brooke eyed the walls of the living room slash kitchen slash dining room that made up a large portion of the apartment she and Haley shared, shaking her head back and forth. "No… no, you need to move the one side up more. It's lopsided," she said, sticking her tongue slightly out of her mouth as she continued to critique.
"Brooke, you keep making us move it," Lucas Scott groaned, making a frustrated face at his girlfriend. "Can we please just tape it the way it is?"
"Lucas, stop being a whiner," Brooke instructed him, leveling him with a flat glare. "This is Haley's birthday today! My favorite roomie, my Tutor Wife, my partner-in-crime and all around Organizational Girl is turning eighteen today and I want everything to be perfect for her!" she exclaimed, her bright hazel eyes widening.
"Brooke, she's going to hate these streamers," Nathan said from his spot opposite Lucas, looking down at Brooke from the chair he was standing on. He loved his wife, and he was more than happy to be helping set up for her surprise birthday party, but Brooke was acting like the Party Nazi, and it was leaving his head in desperate need of some painkillers. If his mom was actually in town, he was sure he would have been able to borrow some of hers.
"What do you know, Scott?" Brooke asked, turning her sour expression on Nathan. "And who asked you, anyway?"
"Well, I know my wife, for starters," Nathan held up one finger, as if ticking off the ways, "And no one asked me, but I'm Nathan Scott, so I told you anyways."
"Ugh, you make me want to vomit," Brooke pretended to gag, covering her mouth and waving a hand at Lucas and Nathan when they looked at her with concerned expressions. "I'm sorry, I just… I think I actually just threw up a little in my mouth."
Nathan rolled his eyes, slapping a piece of tape against the wall. "At least they aren't pink," he said, hopping down from the chair and standing next to Brooke.
"Whatever, Idiot Boy," Brooke said, crossing her arms over her chest and examining her decorations. She had decided to forego using any of Peyton's ideas, mainly because Haley was her roommate and subsequent best friend, and she knew Haley better than Peyton. And just like Nathan, Brooke knew Haley would absolutely die if anything pink came at her, so she had settled for buying bright yellow, red, and purple streamers, along with some huge tropical looking flowers made out of crepe paper that Brooke had hung and thrown in every possible space.
The streamers were twisted and hung along the ceiling and kitchen counters, confetti lined both the island and dining table, and Brooke had slaved over a giant picture collage of all their friends. She had decided to hang it where the wedding wall previously had its place of honor, and Brooke was damn proud of it.
"This looks great, babe," Lucas commented, nodding at the collage. There were tons of pictures Brooke and Haley had taken of themselves – goofing around in their apartment, playing outside on the playground, before and after basketball games in their cheerleading uniforms, and some from a random day they had spent at the beach. Most of the pictures were of them together, but there were individual shots they had taken of each other, always cracking up at the antics the other had used to capture said-photo. Littered among the dozens of Haley and Brooke photographs were pictures of Haley with Lucas, Haley with Nathan, and Haley with Peyton. There were a few group shots, but clearly Brooke had thought she and Haley were the most important.
"I'm glad there's like three pictures of me," Nathan joked, and Brooke slapped him on the arm playfully.
"You might still have your own board up there if you weren't a pyro," she commented, sticking her tongue out at Nathan when he flicked her off. "Okay, now you boys need to go pick the cake up from the bakery and be back here in like thirty minutes because that's when everyone else will be here! Bevin should be over in like ten so we can get ready together, then Mouth, Skills, Theresa, etcetera will be here around seven. The Scott boys need to be here ASAP though because you have the most important part!"
"The cake," they said in unison, and Brooke nodded enthusiastically.
"It's like, the greatest cake ever," she gushed, clapping her hands together excitedly, giving a little jump. "Okay, Peyton's bringing Haley over around 7:30, which means I only have a little over an hour to get ready to look up to my standard party best, so you guys need to hurry. Go! Now!" Brooke shooed them out the door, slamming it behind her and smiling with satisfaction at her work.
---
Haley made a face as Peyton practically shoved her into the long-ass boat she called a car, grabbing her arm close to her before it got caught in the door. "What crawled up your butt and lit a fire?" she asked, shaking her long blonde hair behind her face.
"Nothing," Peyton said casually, sliding in next to Haley in the front seat. "But you know how Brooke is… she wants to be to the movie theater early so she can get optimal viewing, and she never misses the previews!"
Haley's forehead creased as she stared at her friend, who was currently bopping her head along to whatever strange, underground music she had discovered. "I know she acts like a bitch out of hell if the seating sucks, but why do we have to be home to get her like two hours before the movie?"
"I don't know," Peyton shrugged, turning the music down so she didn't have to yell. "I think she wants to get us all girly and put makeup on us and stuff."
"Eh," Haley grumbled, cocking an eyebrow up, a Brooke-habit she seemed to have picked up, "I'm just getting older, there's no reason to get all dolled up to go sit in a dark theater. I'm so glad we're doing a low-key birthday for me."
"Haley Scott is growing up," Peyton said sarcastically, "The big 1-8, and already married for almost two of them."
"Oh, and Peyton Sawyer – still the little 1-7, and boyfriendless for most of them," Haley said back just as sarcastically, cracking up when Peyton punched at her.
---
Brooke squealed, throwing her cell phone onto her bed and running into the main area of the apartment, motioning for Mouth to shut off the music and lights. "Peyton just texted me, they're on their way over! Get in positions everyone, let's go!"
She kicked at one of the thirty-some balloons that were scattered on the floor, taking her place behind the couch and swatting at Nathan. "You're in my hiding spot, Scott," she said, shoving him over. "Get out of the way!"
"Why is my wife still living with you again?" Nathan grumbled, scooting over before Brooke could hit him again.
"Um, because you're an idiot and haven't asked her to move back in with you yet?" Brooke said, smiling sweetly at him. "Besides, she's mine now and I don't want you to take her back!"
"Christ, you would think you were the one that married and supports her," Nathan rolled his eyes, smirking when Brooke motioned for him to shut up.
"I do support her, by the way," she countered. "I'm the one who lives with her and shares clothes with her and is there for her when she wants to cry or laugh about something. And I'm the one who has planned this really amazing birthday party for her!"
"And I'm the one who loves her and pays her bills," Nathan said, holding up the chain his wedding ring rested on.
"Why has this become a pissing match between the two of you?" Lucas whispered from his spot by the end table.
"Because Haley is mine and Nathan is trying to steal her," Brooke hissed.
"She's my wife!" Nathan hissed back.
"Just shut up!" Lucas said harshly, rolling his eyes. "She's going to be here in like, a minute and you two are going to ruin it!"
The door to the apartment swung open, and Haley and Peyton stepped inside, Haley's laughter fading. "Why the heck is it so dark?" she asked, flipping the light switch on.
"Surprise!" came the screams of over twenty people, and Haley's mouth dropped down into a perfect 'O.'
"Happy birthday!" Brooke squealed, running up to her best friend and grabbing her tightly into a hug, bouncing up and down as she did so. "Are you surprised?!"
"Um… yes!" Haley exclaimed, hugging Brooke with one arm and shoving her hair out of her face with the other. "You planned all of this?"
"Only the best for you, Bestest Friend," Brooke beamed, and Haley hugged her again.
"Brooke, this is awesome," Haley grinned, blinking back the sudden rush of emotion that overtook her. "Thank you so much."
"I love you, Hales," Brooke grabbed her into another hug, whispering so only she could hear.
"I love you, too, Tigger," Haley said softly.
"Hales," Bevin squealed from behind them, and both girls turned around to envelope her in a group hug, before grabbing Peyton and shoving her in, too.
"Still thinking you wanted that small birthday, Hales?" Peyton teased, and Haley shook her head back and forth.
"No, this is definitely better. Brooke, this is so cool, seriously," Haley grinned again. "You're the best friend ever."
"Likewise," Brooke said, clapping her hands excitedly. "Let's do the cake now!"
Brooke brought the cake out from the kitchen, practically bouncing the whole way, and Haley burst into laughter at the picture she had put on top, of the four girls dancing together at the Classic. The cake was complete with eighteen purple candles, and Haley stopped on the way to blow them out to pop a kiss on Nathan's lips and squeeze his hand tightly.
"All right, time to be rock stars like the birthday girl and sing happy birthday," Brooke said brightly, a smile still plastered across her face.
Haley squeezed her friend's hand as all their friends sang to her, and made a wish before she took a deep breath and blew out all her candles.
"Nice blow job," Brooke winked, "Looks like you've been practicing."
"Oh, Brooke," Haley groaned, turning red as Nathan just smirked from the other side of her.
"Time to party!" Brooke bubbled, and Haley let out a chuckle.
"You're pretty rad, you know that?" she asked.
"Of course I do," Brooke said. "Now let's go!"
Haley looked around the room, feeling contentment wash over her. She had Brooke by her side, Nathan and Lucas were joking and being real brothers to each other, the whole cheerleading squad was there, the guys from the Rivercourt, and most of their other friends. This was quite the life – and she was so grateful for it.
"Better than what you expected?" Brooke said, throwing an arm around her friend.
"Definitely," Haley said, hugging her tightly. "You're the best."
"Happy birthday, Hales," Brooke smiled.
And a happy birthday it was.