XD I AM DYING YA'LL. Self-proclaimed 'Miss mystery' and wonderful guest on this site just spammed me with her (very straight-forward) reviews! IT WAS HILARIOUS, THANK YOU SO MUCH. :3

This story is dedicated to both my wonderful readers, Fantasy-Magic18 (HI! I've owed you this for a while...sorry for the long wait!) and Miss Mystery for making me smile. XD

The first time their parents forget their birthday, they had been seven years old.

Stanford had barely noticed, his head stuck in a book as per usual. He sat at his desk the entire day, unaware of the milestone of another year gone by, and also of Stanley's location.

It wasn't like either of them really cared for their birthday anyway. Their Mom tried her best, but the smiles were often forced and the cake stale. Gifts were very rare.

Well..that wasn't entirely true. They had fun! Stan never forgot. He would wake Ford up with the biggest smile, the grin spread from ear to ear and his laughter, his excitement unparalleled. He would drag them both outside and they would play for a while, walk the town, maybe go swimming, then when they got tired they would head home. If their mother had more than a 'Happy birthday boys!' then they would celebrate with her. If not, they would head to their room and Stan would sit by, patient and smiling as he let Ford read to them both. Ford knew that Stan didn't care much for books himself, but that didn't stop Stan from listening as Ford shot off about one thing or another.

He did that anyway, but it was nice to know he was actually listening and not just ignoring Ford's monologues.

Their seventh year of life, neither parent (not that Filbrick ever recognized it) had recalled that it was the twins' birthday. Ford himself had forgotten.

But Stan hadn't. He never did.

The night before, Ford had stayed up to read and hadn't stopped. Stan woke up to find Ford in the same position he was in when he told Ford goodnight. He opened his mouth to say something but stopped himself. Stan stared at him blankly for a moment.

The moment passed and Stan slumped off the edge of his bed and padded quietly out the door. It was obvious Ford had let the date slip past him. Not that Stan was upset! Of course not! He knew that Ford would forget to breathe if his body didn't do it for him already. The thought made him laugh as he bounced into the kitchen. At least their Ma remembered?

She glanced up from the kitchen table, phone in hand. She smiled at him and went right back to swindling her customer. Stan's smile flickered but quickly settled back in place. It's fine, it was fine. It was going to be fine. He silently slid over to the fridge, trying to not bother their Ma too much with the noise as he retrieved a hasty breakfast of bread from the single loaf that sat on the bottom shelf. He quickly shoved it into his mouth and waved goodbye to his Ma as he went back into their room. She didn't notice.

Stan walked through the door and his eyes flickered once to Ford, who was still bent over his book. He stifled a snicker as he pulled his shoes from beneath his bed. A plan was forming in his little mischevious mind and he couldn't wait to put it into action.

It was simple enough, really. He was going to get Stanford a present!

So maybe it was a little too simple. Maybe it didn't seem like much, but the only present either twin had ever received was from the one time their aunt had come down for Thanksgiving. It hadn't even been their birthday! Ford seemed to think that she only bought the candy was so that they would like her. Stan had to agree with that one. Adults were weird.

It was the first time either of them had so many sweets at their disposal. Halloween was a foreign concept to both boys. It was that day that Ford had learned he had a serious sweet tooth, not that he got to indulge it much.

Because of this, Stan was now heading to town on foot to find a local candy vendor he'd seen once or twice. Neither usually bothered with them since both preferred using their little amount of allowance (Filbrick didn't want children labor laws to stab him in the back.) on comic books. If they didn't always get the newest releases together, he might've gotten one of those for Ford instead, but sweets were something they rarely ate, so he figured it was more special this way.

He made his way cheerfully to the first vendor he had spotted and the man smiled at him kindly.

"Well hey there. Anythin' I can do for ya?"

Stan nodded and grinned up at the man. "Yeah! It's me and my brother's birthday and I wanted ta get him somethin'." His brow furrowed, "But we don't ever buy candies much and I don't know what to get him." Stan gestured hopelessly at the wide variety of sweets that sat on the stand.

The man smiled and laughed. "Well ain't that just the sweetest thing I've ever heard from a young boy like yourself! You and your brother's birthday, huh? How old are you to turnin' then?"

"Seven!" Stan proclaimed proudly. He counted something on his fingers and looked up again. "In...eleven years we'll be old people! Then we can go sailing!" He bounced excitedly and the man laughed again, but Stan quickly refocused.

"But I still need somethin' for him." His face returned to its frown as he gazed consideringly at each of the different sweets in front of him. The curly haired man raised a brow.

"A man on a mission, eh? Well, let's see, shall we? What sort of candy does your brother like?" He asked kindly. He pointed at the assorted hard candies. "Maybe he's a lollipop guy? Or maybe a chocolate bar boy?" He moved his hand towards the chocolate bars and Stan frowned harder. The man waited patiently. It looked like this boy was really thinking about it.

The man jumped when the boy suddenly bounced up with a loud 'aha!' and turned to the vendor with large, glittering eyes. "I have it! Do you have any weird candy? Like, just weird? De-de..." Stan stumbled over his words and the man couldn't imagine what he was trying to say.

"De...De-formed? De-formed!" Stan was practically shaking with energy over his success. "Do you have weird de-formed candy?"

That was...an interesting choice. The man shrugged and laughed again.

"Well, I don't know, let's check." He shuffled through a couple of the baskets, holding up several different things. Stan shook his head. Not weird enough.

Eventually, the vendor man was running out of ideas. His brow furrowed as he thought, staring at his own candies with a contemplative look. Stan himself was doing the same thing.

Never had the vendor had such a strange request. It was sort of refreshing. This boy was certainly something. A glint of colors caught the man's eye and his hand shot out towards a single bag on the edge of the cart. Stan yelped out at the sudden movement, but the vendor placed the bag out towards him with a victorious smile.

"And how will this do ya? They're Jellybeans! Some of 'em are fine, but lots of 'em are mishaped and such." He informed the boy. Stan's eyes sparkled and he picked up with the bag with a grin.

"It's perfect!" Stan dug his hand into his pocket but the vendor shook his head.

"No, no! It's on the house! I've never had such a challenge from one of my customers." The man waved Stan's outstretched hand away and his eyes softened. "Consider it a birthday gift."

Stan froze and blinked. That was...a first. He slowly let his hand fall back into his pocket and before the man had any time to comprehend it, the boy attacked him with a swift hug and a soft 'thank you' before running off.

The man watched the boy run down the street with a smile. It was a good day.

...

Stanford tried to focus, he really did, but his eyes felt strangely stiff and he quickly glanced up at a clock on the wall. Goodness! He'd read the entire day (and night) away! Ford set the book down on the table and rubbed his eyes. Everything felt off. His throat was dry and his body was entirely stiff. His stomach was stabbing him.

He'd forgotten to eat. He frowned.

This wasn't...right. Even if he forgot about himself, Stanley never did. Speaking of, it was really quiet. He looked around the room and found it empty. His frown only deepened. Where was Stanley? Ford wobbled unto his feet and stumbled to the door. Surely Stan had to be somewhere, right? They never went anywhere on their own! Ford slipped out the open door and shuffled into the kitchen. He adjusted his too large glasses. Ma was their, working with a client. That was normal. So where was Stanley? His brow furrowed and he turned to go into the shop. Maybe Pa had needed help in the store today.

He made his way shakily down the stairs. Perhaps he should have gotten something to eat first, but he hadn't thought about it. Well, too late. He was at the bottom of the stairs and carefully peered around the corner into the shop.

Filbrick was sitting stoically at the counter. One lonely customer roamed the isles. No Stanley. Ford's foot began tapping nervously. Where could he have gone? He quickly turned around again and returned to the kitchen. He swiftly got himself a cup of water so he wouldn't pass out and continued his search. He checked everywhere, leaving no stone unturned.

As he glanced into every hidey-hole the small apartment had to offer, Ford's anxiety quickly worsened. He took a shuddering breath as he tried to apply logic to the situation before he lost his ability to think completely. If Stanley wasn't here he was somewhere else. Ford nodded to himself. Made sense. And if he was somewhere else, it couldn't be in the house, because he'd checked the house, so Stanley was outside. Outside! Stan probably walked to the beach in boredom or something. He probably told Ford and he'd forgotten. He sighed with relief. It was okay, this was going to be okay. He turned and went back into their room. He needed to at least put on his shoes before heading out. Both boys had learned the hard way the beach was not called 'Glass Shard' for no reason.

He stepped back into their bedroom and-

"Boo!"

Stanford screamed, eyes wide, he jumped back in alarm.

"Hehehehe, got ya!" Stan snickered from the doorway. Ford's fear quickly drained and was replaced by a laugh of his own as he punched his brother lightly on the shoulder.

"Stanley! You scared me! We're you hiding in here the whole time?!" Ford's eyes widened and he smiled, "I thought I knew all the hiding spots in there! Where were you?!" Ford asked eagerly.

Stanley laughed and Ford felt like something looked off. Stanley gestured towards the window with a grin. "Nah, you know all the hiding places, I just climbed through the window!" He smiled, proud of himself. Ford laughed,

"Woah! That's awesome!"

Stan beamed. "Yeah, I know. So..." He gave Ford a strange look and raised a brow, "how long did it take you to realize I was gone?"

Ford sputtered and crossed his arms. Stan punched his arm and laughed it off.

"Hehe, it's okay, I'm just messing with ya. Anyway, I was just gone 'cause I wanted to get ya somethin'!" Stan pulled something from behind his back (so that's the something that looked weird) and tossed it to Ford. "Happy birthday bro!"

Ford barely caught the bag, then when he had caught it, Stan's last two words surprised him enough that he dropped it again. He gaped at Stan.

"It's our Birthday?! Why didn't you tell me?!" Ford shrieked, nervously wringing his hands, "I didn't get you anything! I didn't know!" He ranted worriedly. Stan laughed his worry away and gave him a hug.

"It's okay Poindexter! I already got a present, so your off the hook!" Stan reassured him. Sure, it wasn't a physical gift, but it made Stan happy, so he figured it counted. Anyway, he didn't really want anything. He let go of Ford and quickly scooped up the bag from the floor and pushed it into Ford's face with an excited smile. "Well?! Take a look!"

Ford grinned, still looking a bit guilty, but took the bag and stared at it. He raised a brow.

"What's a 'Jellybean'? Are they made of jelly?" Ford gasped, glasses halfway flying off his face, "can they grow jelly trees!?" Ford was bouncing up and down and Stan couldn't take it. He fell over with laughter.

"It's not an ac-actual bean!" Stan stuttered. There were tears in his eyes, "it's a candy! I got it cause it has a lot of weird lookin' ones! I thought you'd like it!" He finally stopped laughing and waited for Ford's reaction. Ford stared at them through the bag with a skeptic's eye. He saw all the different colors and he noticed that Stan was right. Some of the jellybeans were stuck to one another or way to big, some were tiny and others were just wonky. He smiled as he opened the bag and pulled out a handful. He threw one in his mouth.

His eyes widened. These were delicious! Ford knew that Stan wasn't a huge candy fan, but he was giddy as he tried to share it with him. Stan took one and tried it himself.

It was good, but not his favorite. Ford seemed to really enjoy them though. He smiled as Ford savored them at a ridiculously slow pace. After thanking Stan again he started going on about the book he'd been reading, getting distracted by his thoughts as usual and Stan leaned back against the bedpost.

He thought that maybe this birthday a success. Stan nodded along as his brother rambled and smiled.

It had been a good birthday indeed.

THIS TOOK ME WAY TOO LONG! I've been trying to write a fic with Ford and Jellybeans for forever! It wasn't until I was doing the dishes last night that I finally came up with this idea! UGH, BRAIN WHY DON'T YOU WORK WHEN I WANT YOU TOO.

Ahem.

Well, I hope you liked it! Thank you all (Fantasy-magic18, miss mystery, infinite ruby, all my other consistent readers, and reviewers!) Your support means everything to me *shrug* I know all writers say that but it's true. *Screams* I HAVE SO MANY IDEAS WITH THIS AND I'M GONNA CRY. YOU BETTER DARN EXPECT AN UPDATE ON THIS BECAUSE MY BRAIN IS WORKING FOR ONCE. Also, some updates to be expected:

Trees, trees, and more trees. (that's what it's called right? I haven't looked at that one in a while...hehe XD. The campfire au, anyway.) And uh...what's lost inside. Maybe more if I can get to 'em. THANKS FOR EXISTING!