With a sigh Mace knocked on the door of his apartment. This wasn't the first time he forgot his keys, but he was so tired from school that he didn't have the energy to wait for his roommate to open the door. After what felt like hours to Mace, Emily finally opened the door.
"Well hey there, gorgeous" his friend greeted him with a smile so bright it could outshine the sun.
"Hey" he replied with a smile that was barely visible, but it was all he could manage with the little energy he still had left. Without saying anything else he walked to the couch, sat down and rested his head in his hands. It didn't take a genius to figure out there was something wrong the poor guy. So, Emily sat down next to him and repositioned him so that his head was resting in her shoulder and her arms were wrapped around him.
"Are you okay?" even though the question was already answered by the way her friend had just entered the apartment, she asked him anyway.
"I'm fine. Just tired. You know what school can be like" was his only answer. It was true, he had told her multiple times about how his schooldays were sometimes and she had her own experiences with school as well of course. So, she understood that her friend didn't really share her enthusiasm today.
"I made you something to eat. Would you like to eat now or take a nap first?" Emily asked with a soft voice, hoping her friend hadn't fallen asleep on her just yet.
"If you don't mind I would like to get some sleep now, but I will definitely eat later. I promise" was the answer Emily had already expected to hear.
"Okay, sweetheart. I'll just let you sleep for now and wake you up in a few hours" Emily was about to get up to go to her own room, when she felt her friend's arms wrap tightly around her waist. "Please stay. If you don't mind, I would really like it if you could stay for a bit" Mace said, with a voice so vulnerable Emily couldn't have said no to him even if she wanted to.
"I'll stay. Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere, you can just close your eyes and get some sleep" she whispered while stroking the younger boy's hair. She could feel how Mace drifted off to sleep.
About two hours later Mace woke up. At first he was a little confused about where he was, but when he noticed that he was in his friend's arms he relaxed again. It wasn't until now that he noticed the bottle of kids champagne on the little table in front of the TV. Next to the bottle there were to champagne glasses and a giant bowl of Skittles. Obviously his best friend had put it there earlier, before he arrived at the apartment, he just wondered why she did that. Before he figured out an answer to that question, his eye fell on the kitchen. The table was set and a beautiful candle was placed in the middle of it as part of the decoration. Though the candle looked like it wouldn't be burning much longer, it made the dinner table look that much fancier than it usually does. It wasn't until he saw the five roses placed on the kitchen counter that he realised what all this was for.
"Fuck" Mace cursed to himself, instantly regretting it when he noticed it had woken his friend up. He closer to her, hoping it would serve as an apology for waking her up "I'm sorry" he whispered.
"It's okay, it was about time I woke up anyway" Emily smiled down at him.
"Not about that, I'm sorry for forgetting about our best friend anniversary" the guilt was clear in his voice, but even if it hadn't been, the sad look on his face said everything.
Her best friend being sad was the last thing Emily wanted on a day like this, so she moved to sit up straight, forcing Mace to do the same. When they both were sat facing each other she put her hands on both sides of his face. "Look at me, there is no need for you to feel guilty about this. All I needed today was having you here and you are, dinner was just my way of saying thank you" she comforted her friend.
"But you probably put a lot of work in it and I fell asleep on you" he looked at his hands still not feeling any less guilty.
"You know me, my cooking skills suck. I tried to make chicken for you, but I fucked up many times, so it probably wasn't even good." She laughed at her own failing "It's cold now anyway, so let's just forget about the chicken. Would you like to order pizza?"
Mace looked up at her again and smiled "I would love that."
The smile on the younger boy's face was all Emily needed to see, it was what she was doing this for in the first place. Out of the two of them she had always been the one to make a big deal about their friendship anniversaries. Every year she would throw a mini party in their apartment for the two of them, every 6 months she got him a little gift and every month she'd write him a card to thank him for their friendship. Maybe she made too big of a deal of it sometimes, but she liked how it made her friend smile, so she kept doing it.
"I also bought the new Disney movie this morning, maybe we can watch it and eat our pizza in front of the TV?" Emily suggested, still staring at how her best friend was smiling.
"Sounds like the perfect plan" they both looked at each other for quite a long time before Mace realised what his friend was waiting for "You want me to order the pizza, don't you?"
Emily let out a nervous laugh "you know how much I hate making phone calls!" they both laughed at this.
"You are very lucky I like you so much" he said with a wink before getting up to make the call "in the meantime, maybe you could already get the movie ready?" Mace asked her while walking towards the kitchen. Emily nodded at him, but she wasn't planning on moving at all. All she could do was watch her best friend make the phone call, wondering how she ever got so lucky to have a best friend like him.