Author's Note: If anyone is still reading this, I am extremely sorry for the lack of birthdays in this one-shot.

Day Two-Hundred Twenty-Five: Birthday by Rachael Sage

He promised that this year, he wouldn't let her torture him anymore. He wasn't going to let Alison DiLaurentis get in his head. He wasn't going to cry over anything she said to him anymore. She didn't deserve that pride she got from humiliating him.

But he knew that declaration would all be in vain. It would be like every time he blew out his candles and wished he could change from the scared, timid boy who was too frightened of everything to speak up for himself. He could never take that leap and really fulfill his promise.

He hoped this year, his declaration would at least resonate for a bit longer than it did all the years before.

As his birthday came around, he told himself, again, that he was not going to let her torture him. He made the same declaration as every time before.

He sunk his teeth into the cupcakes his mom had made. It tasted bitter to him, although he could feel the sugar all over his teeth and tongue. He looked all around. He was all alone. He was like a stranded island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

All because of Alison.

That was him twelve years prior. Now, he was twenty-eight. He felt like the luckiest person ever.

Until he got the damned invitation for his ten-year high school reunion. Suddenly, all the anxiety and fear he had in high school seemed to flood back to him when he realized who he'd have to see there: Alison DiLaurentis.

He didn't understand why it had to come at such a bad time: all around his birthday, Easter, and his beloved Spencer's birthday.

Spencer was his fiancé. He smiled as he thought of her.

But suddenly, all the smiles turned into nervousness as he thought of Alison meeting Spencer, who would surely insist on going with him to the reunion; she'd want nothing more than to meet all her classmates. He never really told her about the hellhole he called "high school." He'd hinted at it before, but never quite elaborated on just how bad high school was for him.

Somehow, he knew Alison DiLaurentis would probably never let it go. She was never going to let go of the nerdy, awkward image of him she had. She was certainly going to try to get Spencer to see it, too. That scared him. He loved Spencer more than anything; he didn't want her to be disillusioned to the point where he could lose her. What if Alison and his past ruined everything?

He knew perhaps it was far-fetched, but he couldn't help but wonder. It was still a very possible scenario. And he wasn't holding his breath on Alison changing; people never changed. They just changed their clothes.

Wasn't Easter supposed to be the holiest day of the year for Christians, or something like that? Who ever thought that having such a damned day near a holy day was a good idea? There'd be no holy bells or rejoicing after a day like that…perhaps praying for one's sanity. Toby had no idea why the people planning the entire reunion decided to have it a week before Easter.

He arrived at the hall where Prom was held—not that he went; he was too shy to ask anyone out and hadn't really felt like humiliating himself by going alone. He saw a bunch of people, many of whom looked incredibly unfamiliar to him.

"Do you see anyone you recognize? Any old girlfriends I have to ward off?"

He gave her nervous laughter.

"Loosen up, Toby," she assured him as she reached for his hand. "Are you really intimidated by everyone else? You look better than anyone else here. And I'll bet you're happier, too," she said in a slight whisper. Toby didn't know how to respond to that. He was still paralyzed. With a slightly agitated sigh, she dragged him into the main hall, where there were several people from high school. He thought he recognized one of the jocks who used to terrorize him—that kid was sort of like Alison's personal lap dog. Noel? Yes, it had to be Noel. He had the same boyish smirk on his face, though he wasn't quite as muscular and it was clear he aged—not too much, but enough to make him look just average and not "dreamy," as so many girls called him back in high school. Thankfully, he still didn't catch sight of the blonde devil.

"You don't know anyone? Don't you have friends from high school?" Spencer asked.

"Not really…"

"Alright, then," Spencer sighed. "I'm going to get something to drink. Do you want anything?" He shook his head. Spencer hesitated before leaving him.

Toby was silent as he scanned the room for a familiar, hopefully friendly, face. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught glimmers of blonde curls. He gulped and hoped it wasn't Alison. He breathed a sigh of relief; it was just this girl named Jamie who was in his Calculus class senior year. He continued searching until he realized he'd been standing there for at least ten minutes, just looking at people. Where did Spencer disappear to?

He looked over and gulped. Toby saw her talking to Alison. Alison didn't look quite the same as she had before. Years kind of took a toll on her, too. She wasn't the skinny, pretty, perfect blonde she used to be. She was at least ten pounds overweight—it may as well have been fifty, from the idle chatter he heard from some women—and her hair was now this odd color between blonde and brown. She didn't look the same at all.

Toby looked over at Spencer, filled with nervousness and riddled with anxiety. What was Alison saying about him? Toby walked over immediately to find out.

"The wedding is in November—"

He heard Spencer talking about the wedding and felt a bit of relief. He put his arm around her waist protectively as he walked over.

"Hi, Toby," Alison said with a perfect, phony smile.

"Alison," he responded more tersely.

"So congratulations are in order? Spencer was telling me that the two of you are getting married."

What was that in her voice? Regret? Oh, revenge tasted so sweet. Maybe this was payback for those years of torment.

"Yeah, we are. We've been engaged since December," Spencer said fondly as she pulled herself closer to him.

She nodded. "Well, Toby, I'm sorry for what I did to you throughout high school," she said awkwardly a moment later.

Wait. This was too easy. This didn't happen. This just didn't happen. The villain didn't get to say "I'm sorry" that easily for four years of torture.

But he supposed it would have to be that easy. Someday, he'd have to let go, too.

He continuously told himself this as they went home that night. Spencer babbled about how much she liked some of his classmates. Toby just thought about how glad he was to have her there; he might've lost it if he had to face Alison alone. Some part of him was glad she saw a different side, too. Now, she saw the person he used to be and the person he became.

And luckily, she still loved him.

Tomorrow's one-shot will be West Coast by Lana Del Rey.

Ughhhhhh I have a five hour rehearsal tomorrow for the play and I'm literally in four scenes like why is this a thing. -Kayson