"HI-YA! This morning, on fight radio-"
Groaning, Robin rolled over the next morning, smacking his alarm clock. Pulling his arm back under the covers, he wiggled further into his cocoon and buried his head in as well. His 5:30 wake-up call only gave him two hours of sleep. Since it was his birthday, and he had been out late, he figured he deserved some rest. He sank back into heavy dreaming with memories of the previous night swirling in his head. Skateboarding. Dancing. Smiling faces. Bright darkness; he replayed Wally's conversation over and over in his head. His pillow had never been so soft, and his bed had never been so warm.
The doors to the living room slid open with a whoosh. Burning sunlight poured through the large windows, making Robin wince as he smothered a yawn. Rubbing his eyes, he descended the stairs, stumbling into the kitchen. He flopped his hand onto the fridge handle and was about to swing it open when a huge BANG shot him a mile into the air.
"HAAAAAAAAPPY!" Beast boy cried.
"BIRTHDAY, MAAAAAAAAAN!" Cyborg boomed.
Miles of shiny, fluttering streamers and big colored balloons and buckets of rainbow-explosion confetti buried Robin. The speakers exploded into his favorite rock music. His friends appeared out of nowhere singing Happy Birthday loudly and off-key, and carting stacks of pancakes and tofu waffles and a birthday cake shaped like the tower. Starfire shot off green-bolt fireworks. Raven stood off to the side with the cake, looking humiliated. But Cyborg, Beastboy and Starfire tackled him with hugs.
"Oh, I thought you would never wake! It is bad luck to miss your own birthday!" Starfire chimed, wrapping her arms tightly around him. Robin blushed under her crushing grasp, her chest firmly shoved against his.
"Yeah, man, you must've partied hard! Meet any cute girls?" Beast Boy asked, wiggling his eyebrows.
"I met a few, but one stole my jacket, so I don't think it went well," Robin replied, and smiled as Beast Boy cracked up.
"Happy Birthday, Rob," Cyborg grinned. "We've been plannin' this for weeks. Especially the balloons." He slid into the corner and began to jump into the piles of balloons.
"Tell me, why did you not mention it was your day of birth to us?" Starfire questioned. "Did you forget?"
Robin laughed. "No, I just didn't want to make a big deal about it. I didn't think it was worth it." They all paused to look at him in shock for a moment. He rubbed his neck shyly, balancing the plate of pancakes that were shoved at him with one hand. "Sorry, guys. I really don't do birthdays for myself."
They exchanged looks. Like, 'It must've been a thing between him and Bats,' and grins broke out onto their faces. "Sorry to disappoint," Cyborg smiled. "But we like to celebrate the day we got our fearless leader."
"Yeah," Beast Boy piped. "We even got a cake and everything!"
They all looked at Raven, who held it up. "Woo, cake," she said monotonously, and at the glaring looks she received she tugged at her collar. "We're really glad you're here, Robin. You only get one birthday." She pointed out.
"I guess so." Robin said shortly, managing a smile.
"Robin, where did you get this sweater?" Starfire interjected curiously, pulling back from her hug to look down at his chest.
Looking down at himself, he realized he was still wearing the clothes from last night. He found heat creeping into his cheeks and a profoundly embarrassed look took over his face. "Oh, uh, s-some girl took my jacket last night," he stammered, plucking at its soft green material. "So Kid Flash lent me this when he gave me a ride home." Even as extremely on fire his face was, he never wanted to take this sweater off. It was very, very comfortable, and very warm.
"Kid Flash? Really?" Cyborg asked as he walked back over, his static making several balloons stick to him. "He was there?"
Nodding, the boy wonder shrugged. "I guess he was on his night off, too. He helped me out after I wiped out on my skateboard."
They all grabbed him and dragged him to the table, demanding details. So, he filled them in, leaving out the details about the girl dancing on him, and Wally's… charm. They all piled up onto the food, Beast Boy making for the cake before Robin was even halfway through his pancakes. Cyborg chewed him out as Starfire put mayonnaise on her waffles and Raven sat looking annoyed in front of her tofu waffles.
Robin let them celebrate for him. He smiled and nodded and laughed along with them. But his heart wasn't in it. Even if he was glad they cared for him, he still felt jaded. He used to spend his birthdays on perimeter checks. He felt like he didn't deserve a birthday. After all, if Batman didn't think it was important, than it wasn't. He clutched his glass of milk with both hands and watched his friends and their antics and just let himself bask in their company, promising himself he would deny all other birthday celebrations… after breakfast.