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Reki woke up feeling happy. Between the day he had yesterday skating with Langa, and the excitement about today, he felt really happy.
He opened his eyes, reached for his phone and looked at the date. August, the 8th. It was his birthday!
He was so excited, he couldn't wait to start the day!
All his friends had planned a party for him, which was supposed to be a surprise but, well, Langa (he really tried his best, the poor thing) had let it slip last night while they were skating.
Langa felt so bad for ruining the plan, he made Reki promise to still go along with it and try to act surprised when they arrive at the party. Reki promised he would try.
_________
They arrived together at Sia La Luce, where Joe had agreed to host the party.
Reki opened the door, and stood there, just looking at everything. The place was beautifully decorated, with colorful balloons, a big sign hanging from the counter that said "Happy Birthday Reki" in impeccable calligraphy. There were flowers all around the room, and even some mini skates decorating every table!
He noticed a little bit of everyone in there. He loved it, it was amazing. He didn't even have to act, the surprise on his face was genuine.
He finally entered, Langa closing the door behind them.
"Happy birthday, Reki!" "Happy birthday, kid." "Happy birthday, slime." "Happy birthday!"
Everyone shouted at the same time.
One voice stood out, though. He looked around the room again, and saw Koyomi there, sitting at one of the tables with Miya across from her.
"Hey sis, what are you doing here? How did you even know about this?" Reki asked her.
"I heard Langa talking on the phone last week, about the party, so I convinced him to invite me."
Reki turned to Langa, putting one arm around his shoulders while laughing. "Man, you really can't keep a secret, can you?"
"I… um, well..."
"Hey it's okay, don't worry about it! It's cool."
"You know what is not cool? Not inviting your favorite sister for your own birthday party!" Koyomi said, pointing a finger in his direction.
"Hey now! That is not on me, I wasn't even supposed to know about the party, okay?! Besides, who said you're my favorite sister?" Reki teased her, crossing his arms on his chest, looking defiantly at her.
But before Koyomi had a chance to answer, Reki heard Cherry's voice, and turned to look at him. He was sitting at the counter, holding an empty glass, waiting while Joe poured his drink.
"What do you mean you weren't 'supposed' to know about the party? So you did know?" He asked, with just a slightly annoyed look on his face.
"Um… well, kinda? I mean, Langa accidentally told me about it, last night. But he didn't mean to, okay! He was really sorry about it." Reki said. He felt Langa holding his arm.
"Sorry…" Langa said in a low, timid voice from behind Reki.
Cherry gave them both an exasperated look, but before he could say anything, Oka intervened.
"Hey, it doesn't matter, it's okay. The important thing is that it all worked out in the end, and Reki is gonna have a great birthday party, right?" He said, with a reassuring smile.
"Yeah, and it's not like we didn't already know that was gonna happen, right? I mean, there was no way Langa would have kept his mouth shut for that long." Shadow said with a sly grin, from beside Oka, where they were sitting very closely together.
Langa tensed behind Reki, a faint blush on his cheeks.
"Oi, shut up old man!" Reki said, pointing at Shadow, then he turned to Langa and said "Hey man, don't worry, you didn't do anything wrong, okay? It's all good." He squeezed Langa's arm, reassuring him.
" Okay, Reki." Langa smiled, and nodded.
Shadow was about to say something back, but Oka stopped him, putting a hand on his arm and giving him a warning look.
"Bunch of slimes, all of them." Miya said with a low voice, only meaning for Koyomi to hear, not bothering to look up from his game.
"Yeah, guess you were right." She replied.
_________
The party went on for quite some time, but eventually, everyone agreed that it was time to go home. Well, Reki reluctantly agreed.
"Ahh man, I don't wanna go!" He said, looking at Langa.
"It's okay Reki, we don't have to go home yet. I actually wanted to ask if…" He lowered his voice so that only Reki would hear it. "...if you'd like to go to the skatepark? I, um… I have another surprise for you."
Reki started nodding at the word "skatepark" and quickly agreed. "Yes, let's go!"
It was previously arranged that Oka and Shadow would give Miya and Koyomi a ride home, so they were already up and heading to the door.
Reki waved in their direction, with a big smile on his face. "Thanks for the party, it was awesome!"
Koyomi was sticking out her tongue as she waved back, Miya just said "Later, slimes." While Oka and Shadow waved back, Oka saying "Good night, don't stay up too late you two!"
"Yeah yeah, okay, I know." Reki replied.
"We should go too, Reki. Are you ready to go now?" Langa was pulling Reki along by the hand while he was getting up.
"Okay, hang on! I'm going. What's the rush, man?"
"Nothing, I… I just wanna skate with you."
"Alright, we're going, don't worry. We'll be there real fast!"
Reki turned to say goodbye to the other two there. He noticed they were sitting very closely at one of the tables.
He chuckled at the sight of Cherry with one hand around Joe's shoulders, the other placed high on his chest, while speaking very softly to him.
Everyone knows by now that Cherry does not like to show affection in public, and it never ceases to amaze Reki the effects that a couple glasses of wine has on him.
"Hey guys, thanks for everything, I had a great time!" Reki said while picking up his and Langa's skateboards from the ground.
"It was nothing, don't worry kid. We're glad you liked it. Enjoy the rest of your night, you two!" Joe said with a big smile, waving goodbye at them.
"Good night, and be careful out there." Cherry said.
"Yeah, okay, we will. Don't worry. Thanks again! Good night." Reki said, and waved from the door, pulling Langa along with him.
Langa could only give a quick wave and say "Goodbye." While Reki was already closing the door behind them.
"Come on, let's go!" Reki was already stepping on his board.
"Who's in a rush now?"
"I know, I know, sorry. Hey, let's race there!"
"Yes, let's do it!" Langa enthusiastically agreed. He was still stepping on his board, while Reki was already speeding off ahead of him.
"Reki! That's not fair, come back!"
_________
Reki did stop and waited for Langa so they'd have a fair race, but he ended up winning anyway. Not by much though, Langa was right behind him when he arrived at the skatepark.
Not that that really mattered to them.
"I still think you cheated, Reki. You... you distracted me, by starting first!"
"Whatever man." Reki said with a grin. "I still won."
"Okay, fine. Let's just skate then."
_________
They skated for a while, but already tired from the festivities all afternoon, they couldn't handle much more, so they stopped, and leaned on the side of the half pipe.
After catching his breath, Reki said "That was so much fun, Langa! Thanks for suggesting coming here after the party."
"Of course, Reki. I just… didn't want the day to end yet. And, I love skating with you."
"Aw, me too man!"
Langa moved to stand directly in front of Reki.
"Hey Reki… about the surprise I said I had for you…"
"Yeah? What is it?"
"I… Well, I forgot to get you a real present, but…"
"Ah, it's okay man, don't worry about it. I don't need anything! Spending the day with everyone at the party, and being here with you right now, that's all I need… you are all I need."
"Reki… do you really mean that?"
"Yeah, of course I do. Thanks for helping plan the party, it was awesome, man! I had the best birthday."
"I'm glad you liked it, Reki. But you didn't let me finish. I was gonna say that I didn't get you a present, but there's something I want to give you… and I hope you'll like it."
"I'm sure I'll love it, Langa. I'll love anything if it's from you."
"Reki… I'll give it to you now, okay?" Reki felt Langa's hands a little shaky as they were placed on either side of his head. Langa was holding him so softly, his eyes were a mixture of love, and fear at the same time.
Oh.
Was Langa about to kiss him?
Was Langa about to FREAKING KISS HIM??!!
Reki didn't know what to do with his hands, he was just standing there, looking Langa in the eyes, while Langa… did nothing. Why was he not moving?
Ah, right. He noticed fear in Langa's eyes. He's afraid of what Reki's reaction is gonna be.
Reki moved his hands to Langa's shoulders, one of them going further up to hold the back of his neck.
God. They were both shaking.
"Langa… it's okay."
Langa moved closer then, closed his eyes and, finally, kissed Reki's lips, very softly.
Reki sighed happily, deepening the kiss, while he felt Langa's hands move to hold him by the waist, pulling him closer.
After a while, Langa rested their foreheads together, still holding Reki close. He never wanted to let go.
Reki smiled at him, softly running his hands through Langa's hair.
"Thank you. That was the best birthday gift ever. I love you, Langa."
"I love you too, Reki, so much. Happy birthday."