Going Away Party
"A little further up." Becca directed, "Further."
"We can't go any further!" Lyla snapped, holding a celebration banner whilst standing on a chair whilst AJ was holding the other end across from her, also standing on a chair.
"Yeah, my arms can't reach any higher. It'll have to do here." AJ said, sticking a pin on the banner as Lyla done the same at her end.
"Looks kinda squint." Becca shrugged.
"It looks fine." Punk said, blowing up balloons at a table behind, a job he had been unfortunately saddled with.
"Can I try one of these?" Daryl asked, looking at some of the cakes sitting out on a table at the end of the room.
"No! They're for the party." AJ said.
"Just one?" Daryl asked.
"No." AJ said, "Help Phil blow the balloons up."
"What are you doing behind there?!" Becca yelled at Finn who was coming out from the back of the shop.
"What? I was doing the toilet." Finn put his hands up in defence.
"What does that sign say?" Becca pointed to the sign above the coffee machine.
"No boys beyond this point." Finn read.
"And what are you?" Becca asked.
"A boy?" Finn asked with fear, "I needed to piss." He shook his head.
"There are customer toilets out here. Use them." Becca shook her head.
"Jesus." Finn mumbled, shaking his head and joining Punk who was laughing whilst blowing a balloon up, "It's not funny. She's a demon."
"This isn't a surprise party, right?" Daryl made sure, "Shiv knows we're doing this, yeah?"
"Yeah." AJ nodded, putting little tea-light lanterns on the tables which she'd bought to decorate the shop whilst Becca and Lyla fixed a good luck banner on the shop window so people could see it from the outside.
"She would have gotten it out of us." Becca said, "No point in making it a surprise."
"Did you ask Patrick about his grandfather taking Maple and the kittens?" Daryl asked Becca whilst making his way over to Punk to help with blowing balloons up.
"Not yet." Becca said, "Why don't you just ask Mister Eckles yourself? He'll be here tonight."
"Thought it might go down better if it came from his grandson." Daryl shrugged.
"Just ask him yourself." Becca shook his head, "I'm sure he'll take them in. He's literally the king of animals."
"Why can't you take them in?" Punk asked Daryl.
"My mom won't let me." Daryl shook his head, "Said she's not taking care of five cats."
"I mean… I see where she's coming from." AJ added, "Don't you already have a cat, anyway?"
"Yeah. Well, he's my sister's cat. Toby. He's fat and lazy. Barely moves." Daryl rolled his eyes.
"I'm sure Mister Eckles will take Maple and her babies in." Punk nodded to Daryl, "And then you can hopefully stop having sleepless nights over them."
"Hey, what did you end up getting Shiv?" AJ asked, walking over to Punk and Daryl whilst Becca and Lyla concentrated on hanging more decorations outside, dragging Finn along with them to take advantage of his height.
"It's nothing really." Daryl shook his head, tying a blown-up balloon at the bottom.
"Well… what is it?" Punk laughed a little, watching Daryl walk over to the table where they'd sat the gifts they'd gotten for Shiv on a table beside the cakes and snacks. He picked up the small gift bag he'd left and brought it over to AJ and Punk.
"I'm not putting my name on it." Daryl said nervously as AJ and Punk smiled a little.
"Why?" AJ shook her head.
"Just… don't want it to be a big deal." Daryl said, watching AJ take out the small box, which was in the gift bag, opening it up and looking on at the shiny locket necklace in the shape of a flower. AJ knew from the way the necklace shined under the light that this couldn't have been cheap.
"Daryl… this is beautiful." AJ said, looking over at the young boy who just shrugged modestly.
"Yeah, she'll love that, buddy." Punk nodded as AJ passed it to him so he could have a look, "You should leave your name on it."
"Nah." Daryl shook his head, "I don't want it to be a big deal."
"It's really sweet." AJ nodded to him sincerely.
"It's no Taylor Swift ticket." Daryl scoffed as AJ smiled, "She's going to flip when you guys give her them."
"I know, I can't wait." AJ grinned excitedly, "But I think she'll love this just as much." She nodded, looking down at the necklace.
Later that night, after they had set up The Brewberry Café for the party, people began to arrive, including Shiv who was thrilled by the effort her friends had gone to, to make her send-off feel so special. To make her feel so special and loved.
All her favourite people from the town had shown up. Customers she loved. People she'd known since she was a little girl. Some old schoolteachers. And of course, her best friends. The place was packed with people enjoying the chat, the music and the food. Shiv was particularly grateful to AJ for making all her favourite treats.
"Your mom and dad couldn't make it?" Becca asked Shiv, sitting at one of the tables with AJ and Lyla too.
Punk had graciously volunteered himself, Daryl and Finn to serve drinks at the counter, to allow AJ and the girls to enjoy the party. Even though Becca wasn't pleased about the boys stepping foot behind the counter.
"No, they're home from work tomorrow." Shiv nodded.
"That's kinda shit." Lyla said, "They should be here."
"I told them about it, but they said they couldn't get out of work." Shiv shrugged, "At least they're back to drop me off at college on Monday."
"At least." Becca scoffed, "So how often will you be back here?"
"Once every two or three weeks." Shiv said, "I hope."
"But you better Facetime us and stay active on the group chat." Lyla said, "Don't go ghosting us once you find better friends." She made clear as Shiv smiled.
"I'll never find better friends. Don't worry." She said.
"Can you make sure your back here on July 3rd next year." AJ nodded as Shiv laughed a little.
"Very specific. Is that when the Summer Fair is?" Shiv asked, taking a sip of her diet coke.
"No, it's when you're going to see Taylor Swift." AJ said as Shiv stopped sipping her drink, shaking her head with confusion.
"Wait… what?" Shiv shook her head, watching Lyla slide an envelope over to her, all three of them grinning as they watched her open it.
"We only got two tickets, and since me and Lyla aren't the biggest swifties, Becca is going to go with you." AJ smiled, watching Shiv open the envelope where the ticket confirmation for the concert was printed off.
"You guys are kidding, right?" Shiv shook her head, not believing it.
"Not kidding." Lyla smiled.
"Oh my God." Shiv squealed loudly, standing up from her chair and jumping up and down as everyone in the room looked over, "I'm going to see Taylor!" She yelled with excitement as the girls chuckled, "I'm going to see Taylor!" She screamed again, jumping up and down excitedly.
"Only cats can understand her right now." Daryl shook his head from behind the counter, but with a smile.
"Leave her alone." Punk smiled. It was hard not to smile upon seeing someone so genuinely overcome with joy and happiness. He was pretty sure every person in the café was smiling.
"You guys are the best, oh my God." Shiv cried, hugging her friends tightly as they hugged her back just as tight.
"Would it be ok if I took a week off at the end of the month?" Lyla asked, standing outside with AJ later on.
"Of course. You going to New Jersey?" AJ asked her curiously.
"Yeah. To see my family and… end things with Lewis." Lyla nodded, "Best to just get it over with."
"I know it'll be tough but… I think in the long run, you'll thank yourself for it one day." AJ nodded, "You've probably not noticed but… the whole situation has probably been holding you back. You can… put yourself back out there."
"Yeah, it's only recently where I've realised how pointless the whole thing has been." Lyla shook her head.
"I'm sure when you were with him it didn't feel pointless. You have feelings for him. That's something you can't control or make go away with the click of your fingers." AJ said, "But I just don't think it's fair for you to keep seeing him when… when it's not going to go anywhere."
"Yeah, I know." Lyla nodded, "It's just going to take a while to get used to. I'm still going to think about him. I know that much."
"Of course you will." AJ understood, "But… in time it will get easier." She said, placing her hand on Lyla's arm as Lyla nodded to her with a smile.
"I fear we might have broken Shiv. She looks drunk on happiness with those Taylor Swift tickets." Lyla chuckled, looking back into the café through the window where Shiv was opening up other gifts and talking to other people who had come to wish her well on this next chapter of her life.
"Yeah, I'd say she was pretty happy about them." AJ smiled, "I'm really going to miss her." She sighed.
"Yeah, me too." Lyla nodded, "Becca and Shiv are sleeping over at my place tonight. If you want to come that'd be great but I know obviously with Phil… I just mean, it's fine if you don't want to."
"Of course I want to." AJ scoffed, "Phil is not replacing any of you guys, you know that, right?" AJ said.
"Yeah. Yeah, I know. I just mean… I get it if you'd rather spend more time with him now. He's your boyfriend. You live together." Lyla said, "You don't have to worry about spending as much time with us."
"I love Phil very much. He's one of the best things to ever happen to me." AJ nodded, "But so are you. And this place. I'll be coming to the sleepover tonight." AJ assured her as Lyla smiled.
Meanwhile back in the café, Shiv had been opening up the thoughtful gifts some people had brought for her. She'd more or less opened them all and was left with a small gift bag with no indication of who it was from.
She was sitting with Becca and took the box out from the bag, opening it up and staring at the necklace with awe and surprise. Most people had gifted her flowers and chocolates, some had just brought her good luck cards. None had been as beautiful as this necklace she was holding.
"Jeez, who got you that?" Becca looked on, "That's really beautiful."
"There's no name." Shiv shook her head, looking up from the necklace, catching Daryl looking over at her from behind the counter, watching him smile and nod her way as her stomach done butterflies, realising the necklace was from him.
"Oh, look. It's a locket. You can open it." Becca said, clicking the flower shaped locket open which had an engraved message on it. Go get em' Siobhan
Shiv smiled as she read the message, looking up to find Daryl who was no longer behind the counter.
"I'll be back in a minute." Shiv told Becca, taking the box with the necklace in it and walking over to the counter where Punk was serving a coffee to someone, "Hey, where did Daryl go?" She asked him.
"Through the back, I think." Punk nodded, watching Shiv head on through the back of the shop to the kitchen.
"Hey." Shiv said as Daryl was loading dishes into the dishwasher, turning around to face her.
"Hey." Daryl said.
"You got me this?" Shiv asked, holding the necklace in her hand, "You didn't put your name on the bag."
"I didn't want you to… feel like you had to talk to me or thank me for it." Daryl shook his head.
"Of course I'm going to thank you for it, Daryl. It's beautiful." She said, looking back down at the necklace, "You didn't have to get me anything, let alone something as beautiful as this."
"I know, but I wanted to." Daryl nodded as she looked over at him, swallowing the lump in her throat.
"This isn't fair." She whispered.
"What's not fair?" He asked.
"Us. The fact it finally feels the way it used to between us and… I have to leave." Shiv shook her head.
"You're going to do great. This is an exciting thing. You don't have to think about me or… worry about me." Daryl shook his head.
"Well, I will." Shiv said, stepping a little closer to him as he leaned back against the counter.
"I… don't want you to go." Daryl said truthfully, "But… I know you're going to have the time of your life there." He smiled.
"And what if I don't?" She looked at him.
"Then I'll be here." Daryl shrugged, "I'll always be here." He said as she nodded.
"Can you put this on me?" She asked, taking the necklace from the box carefully as he nodded.
"Yeah, turn around." He said, taking the necklace from her as she turned around, her back facing him as she pulled her hair to one side. He put the necklace around her, latching it shut at the back, "There you go." He said, watching as she let her hair go, slowly turning back around to him.
"Thank you." She said, leaning up to kiss his cheek as he pulled away a little, looking down at her as she looked at him sadly.
She then watched as he leaned down, pressing his lips against hers as she placed her hands on his chest and disappeared into the kiss, only wishing this moment had come sooner.
A/N: Little time jump coming up next with more AJPunk focus. Just want to thank you all for being invested in the fictional characters I've made up for this story. It's been fun to write them and really rewarding to see you guys enjoy them. Thank you!