"Bella! Bella! Bella!" Talia cried, trying to catch up to me.

We were walking to the grocery store, but she had fallen behind talking on the phone with Allen. Pixie, my other best friend, was home with the flu and Kanda had stayed home to take care of her while we went to get her some medicine.

I rolled my eyes playfully at her, slowing my pace a bit. "C'mon we don't have all day."

"Sorry." She sighed, now walking along side me.

"Don't start with the apologies again."

"So—"

"Eh! What did I just say?"

Her mouth snapped shut and I couldn't help but laugh. "Just teasing you."

The rest of the walk to and from the store was full of chatter. We hadn't seen each other in awhile since we lived far away, but we were able to get together on special occasions.

Speaking of special occasions, my birthday is at the end of the week, January 17th.

Oh my God, I'll be seventeen. Never thought I'd see the day.

But at least I'll be spending it with the people I care about the most. What more could a girl ask for?

How about to spend it with the boy I care about the most?

Lavi, a member of the Bookman clan, was away with his grandfather. Stupid old man had taken him the time I wanted him around the most.

"Bella, snap out of it."

"Oh." In all my daydreaming I didn't notice we had already arrived home. I didn't even remember entering the living room and sitting on the couch between Pixie and Talia.

"You alright Bells?" Pixie asked, sneezing into a tissue Kanda had just thrown at her.

I shook my head lightly. "Yeah, I'm fine, why?"

"You just spaced out there for a moment."

"That happens to me sometimes."

"Okay."

Poor Kanda just sat there looking annoyed as we talked. He was the only guy here now, so it was hard not to feel bad for him.

Pixie caught my gaze and winked, pretty much reading my thoughts. She moved over to the chair he was sitting in and plopped herself in his lap, her head lying on his chest. "Do you wanna go home Kanda?"

He didn't respond, so she took it as a no and just cuddled up to him more. He didn't do anything, but the look in his eyes said that he didn't mind it much.

They look so cute. I wish Lavi and I were like that.

But we're not even dating.

"There she goes again." Talia sighed. "Daydreaming."

Pixie giggled. "I think I know the source of the daydreams." She looked up at Kanda. "Do you mind going to get me something to eat? I'm starved."

"Sure." He said. He got up and walked into the kitchen, shutting the door behind him.

I think he also got the hint that we wanted some time alone.

"So you really miss him, huh?" She asked, hands folded, her head resting on top of them.

I told my friends everything, so they already knew of my love for Lavi. They kept on encouraging me to tell him, but I was too afraid to tell him.

"Yeah, I do."

Talia put her hand on mine. "Well, why don't you call him up and talk to him? I'm sure he'd be glad to hear from you."

"Maybe." I bit my lip, debating if I should.

Maybe later, cause it's getting late.

"I'll call him this week."

"Good!" Talia exclaimed, jumping to her feet. "And now I think it's time you and I went to the movies. How about we see Marley & Me? I heard that it has a sad ending though, so be prepared to cry."

************ A Few Days Later *************

"So when are you coming home?" I asked Lavi. It turned out that I never had to call him since he ended up calling me every night this week.

I didn't realize how much I missed hearing his voice and his cheery attitude until now.

He sighed. "Gramps says we still have a lot of work to do, so probably not until the middle of next week at best."

My heart sank, all hopes of seeing him on my birthday gone. "Oh, I see."

"Yeah, sorry Bells."

"Couldn't you ask him just to let you go for this weekend? For me?"

"Sorry, but you know him. Stubborn, old panda."

My turn to sigh, "I get it, you're too busy. So I guess I'll see you next week." I didn't bother to hide the disappointment in my voice.

"I'm really sorry Bella."

"Bye, Lavi."

I hung up the phone and buried my face in my arms, refusing to let my tears of disappointment run free. But they did anyways, and I cried myself to sleep.

************* Saturday ************

At about 9:30 am I stumbled down the stairs and into the kitchen, expecting something. Talia always made a big breakfast on special occasions, so I hoped that she had made one of my favorites.

Instead all I arrived to was an empty kitchen. Evidence of previous cooking was left on the stove and there were recently used dishes in the sink, but no people.

But there was a note on the fridge written in Pixie's handwriting. It said:

Dear Bells,

If you're reading this note then we decided not to wake you. Kanda and I are doing the shopping (if you can believe I finally got him to come with me) and Allen and Talia are…well…I'm not sure where they disappeared off to.

Pancakes are in the oven and should still be warm since I think I left it on. Bon appetite!

Pixie, Talia, Allen, & Kanda

P.S. – Happy Birthday!

So they had left me alone on my birthday, too caught up in their lives to even stay home for one day.

At least they remembered. Maybe we would celebrate later.

***

They still hadn't gotten home yet! And I waited all this time for them!

I paced the living room floor, trying to think of what to do.

I was home alone, on my birthday, and all my friends were too busy. How could it get much worse?

Suddenly I could hear rain pelting down on the roof, and things just did get worse.

I cried out in utter frustration and sat down on the couch, my hands covering my face.

The sound of the rain on the roof became soothing after awhile, and I remembered how I always loved to go outside and run around in it, the feel of the small water droplets hitting my face, the smell of the earth afterwards so refreshing and clean.

That sounded pretty good right about now.

Not caring that it was the middle of January, I flung open the door and ran outside into the rain. At first my skin crawled at the coldness, but after a few minutes of just standing there, my face to the sky, I became numb to the cold, so all I could feel was the rain caressing my skin.

I was concentrating on the sound and feel of the rain so much that I didn't hear someone walk up behind me, nor did I expect that stranger to put his arms around my shoulders in attempt to warm me.

I jumped suddenly at their touch, snapped out of my own world, and turned to see who it was.

My heart screamed at me when I saw the reddish hair, and then looked into his sparkling green eyes. His smile that I loved so much warmed me from the center through so that my entire body was tingling with the sensation.

His presence always seemed to do that to me.

"Lavi," I breathed, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

He put on a teasing smile. "Silly, did you really think I was going to miss my Bella's birthday?"

His Bella…

I looked down, a frown tugging at the corners of my mouth, spoiling my moment of happiness. "I didn't think you were going to come. No one else has been around today." I murmured.

"That's because I convinced them to wait until tomorrow."

"Eh?" I looked up to see he still wore that teasing smile.

"Since I was coming back today I wanted to have you all to myself, so I called Talia and convinced her and Pixie to hold off your party for one day. Don't worry," He laughed. "They plan on holding an even bigger one now to make up for today. But I wasn't supposed to tell you that."

"It's ok. Your secret's safe with me."

I smiled up at him, my wet hair in my face. But before I could move my hand to brush it away, his hand came up and moved it back, his hand resting on my cheek, the other still resting on my back.

He let go and moved my hands so one of them rested on his chest, the other he held tightly in his hand. Holding me close, we began gently swaying back and forth, dancing in the rain.

Our eyes were locked and it was so hard to look away, but I wanted to hear his heart beating, so I rested my head where his heart was and closed my eyes, concentrating on that one beautiful sound.

But I still couldn't help but feel kind of silly. "Lavi, we're dancing to no music, and in the middle of a rainstorm."

I could practically feel his huge smile as he bent over to whisper something in my ear. It turned out that he was singing in my ear.

By now you know that

I'd come for you

No one but you

Yes I'd come for you

But only if you told me to

This was our music, and his voice was practically melting my heart. My cheeks turned a slight shade of pink, even if my skin was cold to the touch. I didn't feel cold though, just warm all the way through, my cheek still slightly tingling from where Lavi's hand was.

I'd fight for you

I'd lie it's true

Give my life for you

You know I'd always come for you

I couldn't take it any more, my heart felt as if it was going to burst! I lifted my head and with all of the courage I could muster, I kissed him, but pulled back almost immediately, embarrassed with myself.

Though he seemed to have other thoughts. He moved his hand from the small of my back to behind my neck, pulling me forwards and kissing me passionately. The butterflies in my stomach took off and my knees began to shake a bit as I lost control of them. His lips were so soft, and his kiss better than I could ever imagine.

Lavi and I stood there for what felt like hours, locked together and kissing passionately. His last kiss thou finally sent me over the edge and I almost collapsed on the ground, if he had not caught me.

He chuckled. "If you wanted me to carry you all you had to do is ask."

"It wasn't on purpose." I pouted.

Lavi leaned his forehead against mine. "Come on, it's stopped raining. Let's go inside and dry off." He carried me inside and up to my bedroom, carefully setting me down on my feet.

I stood there nervously, hands clasped together and staring at the floor. He came over and tilted my chin up so I faced him, and he kissed my forehead before taking my face gently in his hands and kissing me again.

The next thing I knew we were curled up in bed together, our wet clothes discarded on the floor. Everything was happening so fast that it was hard to keep up, but I was happy. Lavi kept whispering in my ear the entire night, and I knew he meant every word he said to me.

Because he loved me, and I loved him.

This had to be the best birthday ever.