"Happy Birthday, Anna." Your mom handed you a small box with wrapping paper.

"Aww, thanks mom." You smiled and gave her a hug. She kinda pushed you off and pat you on the back. You frowned and then opened the box. It was a pink knitted sweater that had a lip imprint sown on to it. "Wow... it's really great." You forced a smile and tried to ignore it's perfumey aroma.

"Try it on." She beamed at you with her hands clasped at her chest. You put it on and looked down at yourself. "Turn around."

"What?" You asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Do a little twirl or something." Your mom commanded impatiently. You sighed and did what she asked. "Oh you're cute as a button."

You tried not to laugh. "Thanks."

The door bell then rang and you ran to the door and opened it.

"Hey guys!" You said beaming seeing Ryusuke, Chiba, Taira, Koyuki, and Saku.

"Dude, what happened to you?" Ryusuke asked staring at the sweater.

"My mom got it for me... it's really nice isn't it?" You gave him a look.

"Oh, oh yeah. It's awesome." He replied smiling at your mom standing behind you. She forced a smile at him.

"Hello Ryusuke... how are you?"

"Fine... and you?" He asked awkwardly.

"Very well, thank you." She glared at him as you step towards your friends and smiled at her.

"Okay, well we better get going." Her eyes flicked towards you and she smiled a little too sweetly.

"Okay dear, have fun." You were about to say bye, but she closed the door.

"Sorry about her, she's cranky." You all turned and walked to the van parked in front of the house.

"It's fine, my mom's like that sometimes." Taira said stretching a bit.

"Dude, your mom's hot!" Chiba grinned and giggled. Taira raised his eyebrows yawning.

"You have issues."

Chiba burst out laughing and ran to the driver's side of the van. "I'm driving!"

"Drive at the speed limit though, I can't afford another speeding ticket." Ryusuke muttered getting in the back.

"You still owe me 9000 yen!" Chiba yelled animatedly, buckling his seat belt.

"Well if you speed, don't get caught." You said matter-of-factly. Chiba grinned at you and looked to Ryusuke.

"Marry her." He giggled

"Shut up." Ryusuke replied.

"Is Maho coming to the show?" Koyuki asked after a pause.

"Yeah." Ryusuke responded as Chiba started the van and drove down the block. "I think she's bringing Yoshito with her."

"Oh." Koyuki replied looking a bit sad.

"Yoshito is...?" You trailed off with an innocent expression.

"Uh, he's on some soap opera, Maho met him at school." Ryusuke replied.

"Oh cool."

"Yeah, they seem to be really good friends." Koyuki said with a slightly worried expression. You nodded and then sneezed. Ryusuke started chuckling and smiled at you.

"What?" You asked rubbing your nose.

"It's cute when you sneeze." He replied with a smile.

"AWWW!" Chiba said loudly from the front seat. You laughed.

"I'm just precious!" You said in a higher pitch than usual. Everyone laughed.

"Oh that reminds me. I had a fuckin' crazy dream!" Chiba said stopping at a red light.

"Do tell." You said eagerly.

"I dreamt there was a really old monkey in an old lady wig and a dress and she was cleaning my house. It was fucking terrifying."

"Holy shit, that's awesome." Taira laughed.

"No it wasn't! It was horrible!" Chiba said loudly. You laughed and shook your head.

"I wonder what dream analyzer person would say about that." You pondered out loud.

"I'm not in a rush to find out." Chiba replied with a grin and you smiled.

"Man I barley slept." Saku said after a few minutes.

"Why, were you making sweet love?" You asked casually. He looked at you with with wide eyes.

"Behave." Ryusuke said chuckling.

"Or what? You'll spank me?"

Chiba burst out laughing. "Seriously! Marry her!"

"Seriously, shut up." Ryusuke replied as you looked back at Saku.

"I was studying for a test."

"Oh, right." You winked at him and he laughed.

"You need to stop hanging out with Chiba so much." Taira said chuckling.

"HEY!" Chiba yelled and made a face at Taira.

"Eyes, road." You said pointing to the front of the car. "But yeah, studying sucks. That's why I don't do it."

"Neither did I until my dad almost killed me because of my last test's results so I decided to at least try." Saku grinned.

"My mom makes sure I study. It's kind of hard not to at this point." Koyuki sighed. "But at least she hasn't grounded me for a while."

"That's always good." You smiled. "My mom just LOVES grounding me."

"Yeah, I've realized." Saku said with a smile.

"Indeed." You pouted. "Ever since I got suspended from my last school, she's been grounding me at ever opportunity."

"You got suspended?" Ryusuke asked with surprise.

You nodded with a sigh. "I flashed the gym teacher."

Ryusuke started laughing. "He was the most unattractive teacher in school."

"Yeah, well I was drunk and it was a dare." You shrugged. "But anyway, after that she became a grounding machine."

"That's weak man." Chiba said with a frown.

"Tell me about it."

After a few more blocks, you all reached the venue. You helped them unload all their gear and then started inside.

"Duuuude! I'm so excited!" You said giggling as you watched a band rehearse.

"I guess that's good." Ryusuke said smiling.

"Totally." You beamed.

"I'm really nervous." Koyuki said rubbing the back of his head.

"Awww." You pouted and hugged him. "If you fuck up I won't laugh."

"Oh wow, thanks." Koyuki laughed.

"The next time I have a problem I'll definitely come to you." Ryusuke joked and you stuck your tongue out at him.

"Hey guys!" Maho said from behind you. You turned and saw a guy with blonde hair following her.

"Hey Maho." Ryusuke said lazily. "What's up?"

"Nothing much." She smiled and looked at you. "Have you met Yoshito yet?

"Nope." You replied and waved at Yoshito. "Hi." He forced a smile as he eyed your dyed hair.

"Hey."

"Have you been to a BECK show before?" You asked attempting to be conversational.

"Yeah."

"Awesome." You nodded with a small smile.

"So how've you been?" Taira asked Yoshito.

"Fine. I've had a LOT of school work and my dad's been having a lot of dinner parties." He chuckled. Taira nodded as he took out a pack of cigarettes.

"You addict." You joked as he lit one. He shrugged with a sort of goofy smile.

"My dad smoked a lot, then he had a stroke so he quit... well sorta. Now he just pretends like he doesn't and acts like he doesn't smell smoke on his clothes."

"Weird, my mom did that too." Ryusuke said thoughtfully. "Our parents hung out way too much."

"Yeah and It's all our fault they did."

Ryusuke chuckled. "True."

"Man, that bathroom is like a fucking pig sty." Chiba said walking towards you.

"Awww." You frowned.

"Yeah, I hate public restrooms." Yoshito replied with a nod.

"Who doesn't?" Saku asked stretching out his arms with his drum sticks. You shrugged.

"BECK, you're up!" A guy said from behind the soundboard. "We have 15 minutes 'till the show."

After soundcheck, the doors were opened and people started piling in.

You were surprised to see so many people packed into such a small room, you were already sweaty from the body heat.

"WHAT'S UUUUUP?!" Chiba yelled into the microphone. Everyone cheered.

"I LOVE YOU CHIBA!" A girl yelled next to you. You laughed to yourself and looked back up at the stage.

"Who knows who we are?!" Chiba asked with a grin.

"BECK!" Everyone screamed.

"What?" He made a face and cupped his hand around his ear.

"BECK!" Everyone yelled at the top of their lungs.

"YEAH! This first song is called Spice of Life!" Saku gave the count and everyone started jumping and singing along.

"Yeah! Take a ride! Yeah! For your life!" You all screamed pounding your fists in the air. Then Ryusuke's guitar solo filled the club.

"FUCK YEAH!" You yelled at the top of your lungs. Maho laughed and did a mock head bang. It was amazing. You felt totally exhilarated, sweaty but exhilarated.

After screaming and dancing for an hour you were beat. The last song was Face. Everyone sang along with Koyuki and then it was over. You pouted and sniffled.

"It seems like it was so short!"

"Yeah, it always is." Maho joined you in the pout and then both of you laughed.

"Let's go attack them back stage!" You giggled.

"Yeah!" Maho agreed happily.

"Uh, Maho, I have to go." Yoshito said from behind you making you jump. You totally forgot he was there.

"Oh, that sucks." She frowned and then gave him a hug. "See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, see you." He turned and left the club.

"Nice meeting you." You called after him. "Onwards?"

"Oh yeah!" You and Maho jogged backstage. You opened the door and tackled Ryusuke on the couch.

"DUDE! You guys ROCK!" You said excitedly.

Ryusuke chuckled. "Thanks."

"I remember when you sucked at guitar... gah, I'm so proud!" You said making your pitch rise to swell with pride. He smiled and you got comfortable sitting on his lap.

"And Taira... dude... you're like the next fucking Cliff Burton." You grinned happily.

"What about me?" Chiba asked pouting, interrupting Taira's reply.

You laughed. "You're like Madonna."

"FUCK YEAH!" He yelled laughing.

"Hey, where'd Saku and Koyuki go?" You asked looking around the room.

"Oh nowhere." Taira said casually leaning back on the couch taking a much needed sip of water.

"Where?" You asked again raising your eyebrows.

"You'll find out!" Chiba giggled excitedly. You stuck your tongue out at him and then snuggled into Ryusuke.

"My footies hurt." You frowned and then smiled. "But it's totally worth a few blisters for a BECK show."

"Well that's good news." Taira smiled.

"Damn right." You nodded and sniffed Ryusuke's hair. "DUDE! I need your shampoo!"

He chuckled. "I don't know what it's called."

"Why must you be so clueless?" You happily sniffed his hair again.

"We did it!" Saku announced opening the door.

"Ooo what?!"

"We found the only open cake shop." Your eyes gleamed seeing a cardboard box in Koyuki's hands.

"Gimme gimme gimme!" He handed it to you and you put it on a table. You found plates and forks and got out 7 pieces. "GROUP HUG!"

"YEEEEAH!" Chiba yelled getting up with extended arms. Ryusuke laughed and lazily stood. You squeezed everyone half to death and then handed out cake.

"Wow, I'm beat." Taira yawned sitting at the small bar in the club. You all had been listening to all the other bands for 2 hours. Koyuki, Maho, and Saku had already left about a half hour before. Now it was about 22:00.

"Yeah, tell me about it." Chiba had his eyes closed with his head lying on the counter.

"I'm actually not that tired." You said smiling. Chiba groaned at you and yawned.

"If you're tired you should go sleep." Ryusuke suggested, his elbows propped on the bar.

"Eh... you're probably right, who's drivin' the van?" Chiba asked with his eyes closed again.

"I will." Taira stretched a bit and picked up his bass from leaning against the wall. Chiba pushed himself up and gave you a hug. "Happy Birthday."

"Yay! Thanks." You hugged him back and then Taira hugged you as well.

"Use the rest of the cake well."

You laughed. "I'll donate it to my mom, she's a cake fiend."

"Good call." He smiled and waved. "Later guys."

"Laters." Ryusuke put up a hand for a mini wave.

"See ya!" Chiba yawned and shuffled out of the dive following Taira.

"So, what're we doing now?" You asked looking to Ryusuke. You and Ryusuke had become more romantically involved you could say since your first sober kiss. You had been more affectionate and spent a bit more alone time together, but it was still really hard to figure out if Ryusuke was serious about you.

"Wanna grab some food?" He asked looking down at his growling stomach.

"Sure." You laughed. "Where do you suppose we'll find some?"

"Uhhh, Remedy has some okay food." He suggested with a shrug.

"To the okay food we go!" You got up and grinned. He smiled and followed you out of the club with his guitar case slug over one shoulder.

After a short walk you reached the familiar neon sign that read, "Remedy".

"Hey Ann, Ryusuke." Mitty greeted as you entered.

"Hey." You both said.

"You still have french fries lying around?" Ryusuke asked.

"Yeah, let me get 'em."

"Thanks." Ryusuke replied and walked towards a booth in the far corner with you trailing closely behind. You plopped down across from him and leaned back into the squishy chair.

"Man, I'm thirsty." You made a face.

"How about a beer?" He asked taking his wallet out of his pocket.

"Okay sure... I can pay you know."

"It's your birthday." He said with a bit of a laugh.

"Here you go." Mitty plopped the french fries in front of Ryusuke.

"Thanks Mitty, can we get two beers?" He asked.

"Sure." He walked to the bar and came back holding two bottles. "1000 yen."

"Uh, here." Ryusuke gave him a 1000 yen bill and he smiled.

"Have fun."

Ryusuke chuckled and put a few french fries in his mouth. You smiled and put one in your mouth and frowned.

"Hmmm... interesting."

"I never said it was the best." He shrugged and ate a few more.

"True." You laughed and drank some beer.

"So, how was your birthday?" Ryusuke asked taking a swig from the bottle in front of him.

"Awesome of course!" You said beaming. "It was so cool to see you guys perform. You all just keep getting better and better."

"Thanks, that's the general idea." Ryusuke chuckled.

"No probelma." You yawned and leaned back in the booth. "It's so cool to actually have a birthday party. I haven't had one since you moved here."

"Oh... why's that?"

"Well after you moved, Eddie and I stopped jamming and then he dropped out and started touring and stuff, so, I didn't really have anyone to celebrate with. Plus my parents were doing their own things." You shrugged and then smiled. "But it's all good now."

Ryusuke made a noise of agreement. "Sorry I left."

"It wasn't your fault, your dad dragged you out here, right?" You asked holding your beer to your mouth.

"Yeah, but still." He took another swig and slouched with his elbows on the table.

"Well today made up for it. My best birthday ever." You grinned and he smiled. "I even get a date to top it all off."

"It's not very romantic for a date." Ryusuke chuckled looking around at the dingy bar, cigarette smoke hanging in the air.

"No, but it's the best date ever since you're here." You smiled thoughtfully and noticed a pinkish color appearing on Ryusuke's cheeks. You cocked your head and smiled. "Are you blushing?"