im fucked
Bear
i hope
ten minutes later
Kade
aaron never even said hi to us????
Chapter Forty
July 2023
Aaron
three months later
Benjamin turns 22 today. Last year he asked to stay home and do nothing—so I did just that and stuck to ordering him goodies and letting him shop online with my card. And I’m not sure if Drew ever actually did anything for Benjamin’s birthday. So, this year we are going all out. I planned a surprise party with all of our friends—got him a present I hope he loves and did my best to cater everything to him perfectly. I want him to know I care. That I know him—not just his body.
The only problem with my plan is I requested the help of my friends when it came to set up on the day of. My apartment is in shambles.
Josh is standing on a ladder and where he is supposed to be hanging fairy lights, he’s air-humping Darian’s head while he tries to air up balloons. Cammie’s sitting on the couch laughing—apparently putting the paper plates on the island was enough work for her. Jenna and Angie are working together to hang up the ‘Happy Birthday, Bear!’ banner, the only reliable two. Kade is still trying to figure out how to lay out all the snack bowls for them to fit on the island with the plates and Alex is running around trying to hide little printed pictures of Benjamin around the apartment for people to find. I will be confiscating Josh’s before he leaves—obviously.
And Amber isn’t even here yet. Fucking great. As I’m balancing a stack of napkins and a stack of folded blankets that need to be put up—my phone starts to ring. Everyone shuts up in an orderly fashion.
“It’s him.” I say and answer the phone—setting him on speaker.
“Hey.”
“Hey—your parents are holding me hostage on my own birthday!” He complains—clearly hiding in a bathroom somewhere.
“Aw, they missed you! Be nice—Tina is more obsessed with you than she is with her own sons.” Benjamin scoffs.
“Not true. What are you doing?” I look around the room a bit panicked.
“Not much, hanging around the apartment.” Okay—not a lie—just not thefulltruth.
“Hm—boring. I can’t wait to be boring with you. Oh—also… not to sound dramatic but did you know not a single one of our friends has told me happy birthday?” Everyone looks around at each other—trying not to laugh and ruin the whole fucking thing.
“Really? Hm. Maybe they plan to come by tonight or something.” I offer, trying to sound nonchalant.
“Yeah, maybe. It’s not like we’ve been besties forever—they don’t owe me anything. I just… I think I might like them a bit more than they like me. It makes me a little sad. Maybe I’m a little too much. Should I talk less at events?” All eyes in the room are suddenly wide and so sympathetic for poor Button and his social anxieties. Just hold on babe! “Aaron? Are you there?”
“Yeah, yeah. I don’t think you should change anything—you’re not too much of anything. They’re probably just busy. Give it some time, okay? I know for a fact they all love you. They’re my friends—remember? I would know.” Darian gives me a dramatic thumbs-up.
“That’s true.” Benjamin gives a sneaky little giggle. “Especially Josh. Think he likes me?”
“You’re done!” He’s full-blown laughing at me now and Josh has his whole face shoved into his shirt. “You’re being bad.”
“But it’s my birthday. I’m allowed.”
“Go hang out with my mom, Button.” He giggles some more.
“Okay—love you.”
“I love you, too.” I press to end the call and after a second or two Darian speaks.
