Lucy left her house early on January 18th with a covered tray of cupcakes in tow.

She had woken up extra early that day to bake them. She was already an early riser by nature, but she wanted to make sure she had ample time to ice and decorate them with perfect little music notes on top.

Her backpack was a bit heavier than normal due to the shiny new catcher's mask inside it, and she had to focus on keeping the cupcakes upright, so her daily walk to Schroeder's house was a bit more laborious than normal. It was all worth it, though – rather, it would be once she finally got to her destination.

The sun's orange glow was only just beginning to light up the sky when she walked up the steps to the Felton household. Lucy gripped the tray in one hand and used the other to grab the key from under the potted plant to her left. With a bit of effort, she let herself in and locked the door behind her.

The house was quiet – Schroeder's parents were both at work, and his alarm wasn't set to go off for another thirty minutes. Good. She had wanted to surprise him.

Leaving the tray on the kitchen table, she tiptoed into her boyfriend's room. He was facing away from the wall, his eyes shut and his chest rising and falling slowly. Lucy bit her lip to keep from gasping in adoration and waking him up.

She sat on the edge of his bed and laid a hand on his arm, nudging him softly. "Wakey, wakey, Schroeder."

He sighed deeply and his brow wrinkled. His voice was hoarse from sleep. "Lucy?"

"Yes, it's Lucy. Wake up, sweet baby, I've got a surprise for you." She ran her fingers through his hair, both to straighten it out and as an excuse to dote on him.

Schroeder appeared to sink into his pillow. "Lucy…" he muttered dreamily, his eyes still shut. They flew open a moment later. "Lucy?!"

She kissed the top of his head. "I'm your wake-up call this morning."

"Am I running late?!" He pushed himself upright. "Did my alarm not go off?"

"Relax. You're not late. I'm just early." Lucy beamed at him.

It finally occurred to Schroeder to look at his clock, and he released a relieved sigh when he saw they still had over an hour until they had to leave.

Rubbing his eyes and yawning, he asked, "What are you doing here? You're not due until seven."

"I had to be the first one to celebrate with you, of course!"

"Oh, yeah?" He looked at her dryly. "What's the occasion?"

Lucy laughed. "Very cute, but musicians should never try to be funny."

"No, really, why–" Schroeder froze, and realization washed over his face. "Oh."

She blinked. "Don't tell me."

He shook his head and pinched his brow.

"Schroeder!"

"I know."

"You forgot your own birthday?! "

"I know ."

"When you forget Beethoven's birthday, it's kinda funny, but this is just sad!"

He shrugged defeatedly. "I'm sorry, I guess."

"Don't apologize to me!" She poked him in the chest. "Apologize to yourself!"

"I'm not doing that."

"You're lucky to have me, you know."

"Am I?"

"I got you a present. And I made cupcakes. They should still be warm."

He smiled. "I guess I am."

"Damn right, you are." She pulled at his hand. "Come on, I want you to see!"

Lucy literally dragged Schroeder out of bed and into the kitchen. He didn't groan too much, despite not being given a chance to change out of his pajamas.

He took a seat at the table as she fished the gift out of her backpack. "Weren't you were talking about your catcher's mask being too small last time we played ball?"

"Yeah. It gives me a headache."

Lucy presented the mask to him. "I didn't have time to wrap it, but I thought you might like a new one."

Schroeder took it from her, turning it over in his hands. A small smile appeared.

She made an encouraging hand gesture at him. "Try it on! Try it on!"

He obliged. He shifted his face muscles, letting the head gear settle, and after a moment of considering it, he nodded in approval. "I love it. Fits like a dream."

"You look real cute like that, in your mask and PJs, you know."

"Yeah, yeah." He slid it off. "Thank you, Lucy," he remarked sincerely.

"You're welcome." She sat next to him and slid the tray over. "But this is what I'm most proud of."

"Let me guess. Our usual? Strawberry cupcakes?" His tone was teasing, but not mean. He was clearly excited.

She lifted the cover off of the tray and revealed her work. "Ta-da!"

Lucy had spent the morning laboriously recreating the sheet music to the beginning of Für Elise in icing. Each of the eight cupcakes had a single measure. She only had time to draw the notes, not the bars, so each note was only in an approximation of its correct place, but she could tell Schroeder recognized the song immediately by the way his eyes widened.

She suddenly felt a little self-conscious now that he was actually looking at what she had done. "They're kinda messy, but I made you some Beethoven-cakes. Sorry if I put down a wrong note or two. I had to get a book of sheet music from the library to copy from."

He was agape. "Für Elise?"

"That's the one." She smiled sheepishly. "I wanted to do Moonlight Sonata, but then they would have all looked the same."

"I love them." He picked one up and stared at it. "I don't even want to eat them. I don't wanna ruin it."

"You don't want them to get cold, do you?"

"No, but…" he trailed off. He set the treat down and turned to her. "You're something else, you know that? And I want you to know that I really appreciate it when you do things like this."

Lucy waved nonchalantly. "It was nothing."

"No, it was something. Thank you."

"You're welcome, birthday boy."

His eyebrows quirked slightly in that way they did when a thought occurred to him. He took her hand like a gentleman, smooth as anything, and lowered his gaze as he slowly raised her hand to kiss it in thanks.

She felt her face heat up and her heart begin to beat faster as her mouth hung open, the corners upturned. How did this guy still manage to get reactions out of her? He hadn't even combed his hair yet.

He smirked up at her, his face still angling down; the effect made him look devilish. "I'm figuring something new out lately."

She gulped. "What's that?"

"I really like making you blush."

Her face only turned pinker. "You would love torturing me, wouldn't you?"

"Do you want me to stop doing it? Because I can stop."

"If you stop, I'll clobber you. Besides, you look so cute when you're trying to fluster me. You get the cutest little smile, and your pretty eyes just light right up."

The grin disappeared from his face, and his ears and cheeks started flushing red. "Unfair."

"All's fair in love and war, sweetie." Lucy leaned forward so her nose beeped his. "Happy birthday. Now let's eat, because if we wait any longer, the cupcakes will get cold and then I'll actually be mad."