41. Surprise! (ft. A song from Why don't We :P)

^^^ Isn't that dog adorable?! I want one so bad *cri*

Chapter 41: Surprise!

Kelsey's POV

*****

"Thank you Ethan, the date was perfect," I said, pecking his cheek as we drove back to his house after the movie, a comfortable silence surrounding the car.

He looked at me with a smile briefly before looking back at the road ahead, the smile never dissipating from his face.

"I was so worried that you wouldn't have liked it," he said.

I couldn't believe what he was telling me. There was no way I wouldn't have liked a date which he spent so much time and effort on only to find out my favourite things to do. No guy had ever done anything like that for me before, not even when Aaron and I were still together.

"E, I always appreciate everything, especially when it comes from the people I care about," I replied truthfully.

"I'm glad to hear that," he said, right as he pulled up in his driveway and turned off the ignition.

We both got out of the car and slowly walked up to the front door, opening the door slowly to make sure that we didn't wake up any of the guys. Everything was pitch black in the house, and my fear of the dark made me quickly switch on the living room lights.

"I'm going to head up to my room," I told him as I was about to make my way to the stairs, only for Ethan to gently grab me by my wrist and pull me back.

"I feel like ending our date in the backyard," he said with a grin after he took note of the confused look on my face.

My eyebrows scrunched in confusion, not quite knowing what he had in mind, but nodded nonetheless, not wanting to deny him that one request after everything he had done for me that night. I followed Ethan to the backyard, a gasp escaping from my lips as everybody jumped up and screamed surprise, the fairy lights instantly flicking on.

I jumped in surprise before looking at Ethan, who was simply looking at me with a grin on his face. The kids were all standing there, smiling at me, along with May and Meg.

"Welcome to your surprise party," Ethan excitedly said from behind me.

"You did this?" I asked, turning to face Ethan.

"All of us did," he said, nodding towards Noah, Ellie, Lara, and May.

I shook my head in disbelief, the effort they all went through for my birthday giving me overwhelming feelings. Tears pricked my eyes, which was happening quite frequently. I didn't know what to say, nor what to even be thinking in that moment other than that I loved every single person which stood there in front of me.

"Happy birthday Kelsey!" Ellie said, hugging me. "Now come on, stand in front of the gazebo. Noah has written a song for you with his friends as a present, and he asked us to open the party with it," she sweetly said, her small hands fitting into mine as she lead me towards the small gazebo, where there were a couple of Noah's friends which I had only seen about once.

As I stood there waiting for them to set up their instruments, I took the opportunity to look around me, and bask in the amazing way the entire place was decorated. Dangling lights were hanging near most of the trees, and a huge, rectangular table was decorated with a white cloth in the middle. Candles were lit up around the pool, and around the gazebo, lighting it up even more.

"I can't believe you guys did this for me," I said as Ethan made his way towards me, intertwining my fingers with his.

"I asked Meg and Leah to keep you out of the house for the whole day so we could prepare this for you," he said, making me smile from ear to ear. "It was good for Noah too, because now he's no longer single," Ethan said winking at me.

I quickly shot my head towards where Noah stood, tuning his guitar whilst chatting and laughing away with May, both of their cheeks a light shade of pink as they looked at each other lovingly. The immense sense of pride I felt for Noah was indescribable. He had been so busy trying to make things right with Ethan and I, that it was great to see him finally being with someone he truly seemed to care about. Noah deserved all of the happiness in the world, and I was certain that May was the right girl for him in that regard.

"We even invited someone very special to you," Lara said as she nodded behind me towards the door, my eyes widening in glee as I saw who stood there.

"Dad!" I said, running up to hug him.

"I couldn't miss my baby girl's birthday party could I?" He said as he hugged me back nearly as tightly as I was holding him. "You truly do have great friends."

"I know," I replied as I looked at them all laughing and having a good time.

My dad's eyes shifted to something behind me before grinning at me and excusing myself, walking over to talk to Meg as I turned around to find Ethan standing behind me, his hands in his back pocket.

"I even invited Aaron for you," he mumbled, making me perk up my ears, thinking that I had heard wrong.

"I thought you didn't like Aaron," I chuckled.

"I don't, but he's your friend, and this is your birthday, not mine," he said with all the sweetness in the world, even if he didn't look too happy with the fact that Aaron was going to be there.

It was so difficult for me to believe that he felt even remotely threatened by Aaron's friendship with me. He had to see just how utterly in love I was with him, there was no way those feelings could be shared with another person, and all I wanted was for him to see that.

"You're so sweet," I cooed, jokingly pinching his cheeks, earning a groan from him.

"Yeah, whatever," he said as his lips twitched upwards.

"Who knew Mr.Bad boy could be such an amazing boyfriend," I jokingly said, lightly hitting him with my shoulder as he stuck his toungue out at me.

"I knew!" Ellie squealed, jumping up on Ethan for him to pick her up.

"Aww thanks Elsie, see Kelsey, at least someone has always had faith in me," he joked.

The view of Ethan with Ellie was one of the cutest ever, and the way Ellie's eyes sparkled as she laid them on her brother was beautiful. Never in my life before had I realised just how much of a difference one's actions could make to someone. My actions towards Ethan got him to be there for his siblings more often, turning him into a happier person, as well as them. Ethan's smile at school was never as radiating as the smile I had often seen him wear. He barely seemed happy when I saw him around his peers, always glaring at one person or another. The Ethan Walker I had in front of me, however, was the real Ethan Walker.

"Happy birthday Kels bells!" I suddenly heard someone say from behind me as I turned around only for Aaron to pull me in an unexpected hug.

"Thank you Aaron," I replied as I awkwardly gave him a pat on the back, my eyes scanning behind him, fearing an unwanted person to show up at any second and ruin the entire night.

"Don't worry, I didn't bring Jenna," he whispered as if reading my mind, making me smile appreciatively at him.

Ethan cleared his throat before walking up beside me, taking my hand in his and intertwining our fingers together before giving me a peck on the cheek, as if marking his territory in front of Aaron, wanting to make it very clear to him that we were together. Aaron smiled at me, seeming as if he was about to say something before Noah's booming voice interrupted all of the chatter going on.

"Alright, so Kels ,I'd like to have your attention please," he said, a nervous smile on his face as his eyes landed on me. "It's hard for me to get attached to someone, but with you, it happened instantly, and maybe it was because of my brother's constant whining about you or maybe just because you're fun to be around, but I am glad to call myself your friend, your best friend," he said with emphasis as he smirked at a glaring Meg, making me shake my head at their childishness.

"Now, I want you to come up here with me so I can give you my present," he said before one of his friends got down from the gazebo and took me by the hand, leading me up there next to them, asking me to sit on the small, wooden stool next to Noah's. "So Some of my friends from camp, Ethan, and I have spent all day thinking of a perfect song for you, and it wasn't that hard for us to think about what you mean to us, so just sit back, and enjoy," he smiled before he started strumming his guitar.

I smiled, my eyes never leaving Noah, a person I had initially feared would give me a hard time since I stepped foot in the house, but who ended up being the person I got closest too the quickest.

The song being sung for me got me emotional, and the fact that Noah and Ethan both helped write the song left me breathless. They were both so talented, and I was glad that they were finally starting to realise just how talented they truly were.

I was left with tears in my eyes as the song ended, finding myself at a loss of words to say. More and more surprises came my way on that day, and I couldn't even find the right words to say to express how grateful I was to all of them.

"Gosh, Noah, you're the sweetest," I choked out as Noah came over to me and hugged me tightly.

"Hey, don't let him take all the credit, I helped too," Ethan pouted, his reaction making me laugh.

"Yes, thank you too Ethan," I said before getting up and walking up to him, giving him a quick peck on the lips.

"I love you Kels," Noah said, smiling at me.

"Aww I love you to Noah," I said, ruffing his hair. "And those friends of yours seem cool too."

I was glad that Noah had found friends with whom he could share his love of music with and create something as beautiful as that together.

"Yeah, I met them at camp. We instantly bonded and have already written a couple of songs together," he said.

"I'm happy that you found a couple of friends like them." He smiled at me, looking back at his friends before his eyes landed on a smiling May, a smirk finding its way on my lips. "Noah," I said, grabbing his attention.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"You have to tell me everything about May tomorrow," I winked, his cheeks burning bright red at the question before he nodded and walked over to his friends.

I leaned into Ethan's shoulder as soon as his arms snaked around my wait from behind, the simplicity of that moment making me truly happy. I was in Ethan's arms, looking at Noah laughing with his new friends, and May who finally became his girlfriend. Ellie and Lara were playing together in harmony, whilst Meg, Leah, Aaron, and my dad were all consumed in their own conversation.

"Thank you for all of this Ethan, I love it," I said before turning around to face him and giving him a hug.

"I wanted to make this the best birthday ever for you," he said as he hugged me back, kissing the top of my head.

"Well, it worked," I giggled.

I couldn't think of the last birthday I had been so happy in. Usually I would always spend my birthday the same way, ordering some amazing food with my dad and Meg, and watching movies till midnight. Despite its lack of complexity, that had always been my idea of a perfect birthday. I would have been happy with doing that again, but I was also truly glad that I hadn't.

*****