Work Text:
After finishing high school, you packed up your stuff moved across the globe to start your university years in the U.K. You worked your ass off in hopes of attending the prestigious school, you had so many hopes and dreams about it that when you finally got in - you couldn’t help but scream and jump around in joy.
However, what nobody told you about going into university was how lonely it was. It was hard to make friends, especially since you came from another country. You didn’t connect with them and felt out of place within your peers. Your roommate, Kyle Garrick - or “Gaz”, was what everybody called him - was the worst person for you to be cooped up with. He was a social butterfly, always hanging out with someone, always out and about partying in and out of the streets. Rarely do you find him in your shared flat until midnight rolls around. Honestly, you envied him, envied how prettier he was compared to you, envied how many friends he had compared to you, envied how he was somebody while you were a nobody.
As time went on, the both of you - while not the closest - still found time to check up on one another. He’d come over to your room asking about your class, rambling on about his professors, dropping some juicy gossip about his friend here and there. You two bonded with one another, and while you didn’t want to admit it: you liked the time you spent with the man. Somehow, you managed to connect with this lad. The more you two hung out, the more you knew more about one another’s life. It wasn’t long until you and Gaz became close mates.
Time flies and soon a notification on your phone alerts you that your birthday is coming up soon. You stare at your phone screen, that familiar wave of sadness creeping up behind you. Your birthday was your least favourite day. What was supposed to be a day that celebrated your existence, became a day that reminded you how nobody remembered your existence. You sighed, thankful that the date was coming up on a weekday - where you could shut yourself in your room.
After another long day of school you got home, dropped your backpack onto the wooden floor before laying yourself onto your bed. As you laid on your bed, your phone rang again, an alert telling you that from tonight to tomorrow there’ll be a hard thunderstorm. As you stare at your phone, you soon notice it again: the birthday alert - your birthday alert.
You sighed, swiping to clear the notification out of your sight before throwing your phone back onto the bed. The sound of raindrops hitting your window started to fill the flat, as you stared blankly at the floor.
“Alright there, mate?” A smooth voice sounded in the background. You looked up from the floor to the source of the noise.
“Huh?” You muttered. There, in front of you was Gaz, leaning onto the doorframe, arms crossed. His features soft as he looks at you.
“I said, you alright?”
“Yeah” you paused. “You’re home early.” You replied.
“Saw it was gonna rain and decided to not workout today.” Gaz replied, glancing at the window. You gave him a “hm” before going quiet. A prolonged silence filled the room, save for the sound of rain hitting against the window. A smirk formed onto Gaz’s face as he looked over at you.
“You know what us Brits say at times like this?” He asked.
“It’s raining cats and dogs?” You knew the phrase by heart. Whenever it rained outside Gaz would say it. So much so, that it must’ve been drilled into your head by now.
“There ya go.” He chuckled, shaking his head “I think I’m rubbing off on you.” You couldn’t help but feel both corners of your mouth tug up as you glance at the man chuckling at his own comment.
“Welp, I’m knackered, night mate.” Gaz said, looking over at you one last time before closing your door. Leaving you alone with your thoughts once again. You threw your clothes onto the floor - too tired to even throw them into the hamper. You opened your closet as you threw on your comfortable pajamas. Even though it was only 8PM, you couldn’t help but be reeled in by the irresistible urge of sleep.
You laid onto your bed, draped your blanket over your body and closed your eyes. The sound of rain luring you to sleep as you gave yourself some shut-eye.
You woke up to the sound of rain once again, but this time quieter, not as strong as last night. You immediately reach out to check your phone. You blinked as your eyes tried to adjust the bright screen. A single notification appeared on your phone: “Your birthday - today”. Your thumb hovers over the notification, eyes stinging as that sad feeling consumes you once again. You cleared the notification before placing your phone back onto the night stand, sighing as you bit your lip, trying your best to shove down that sour feeling.
You thought maybe if you distracted yourself with all your school work, you could easily pass the day quickly. Yet, deep inside, you yearned that someone, anyone would care enough to wish you a happy birthday. Getting out of bed, you buried yourself into work work, papers upon papers filling up your desk as you ignored that sorrow feeling eating you up from the inside. As you were scrolling through your laptop, a knock on your room stopped you dead in your tracks.
“Hey! Don’t stay in there for too long, come out!” Gaz’s familiar voice sounded, muffled behind the door. It was normal for him to do this, making sure you don’t stay in your room for too long - in truth, you knew he was just doing his best to look out for you. You slowly got up from your desk, not really in the mood to do anything. You opened the bedroom door, only to be hit with a loud pop noise followed by confetti falling down in front of you and piling up on you.
“Happy birthday, mate!” Gaz said happily, a tad loud. The flat didn’t have much decor, just a few balloons and a few colourful LED lights taped onto the wall, flashing from yellow to white. Between Gaz’s hands was a box wrapped very neatly - you noted that it even had a bow on top.
“Here, open it! It’s for you.” He said excitedly, the sound of muffled rain filled the room as you were in disbelief, not knowing how to react to all this. You dusted off the confetti that pilled up your shoulder, your hand reaching out to hold Gaz’s gift.
“I don’t know what to say.” You managed to mutter, biting back tears as you felt your eyes stung and that funny feeling creeping up on you again. You didn’t want to break down in front of Gaz and ruin this moment between the two of you. While you held back tears, Gaz patiently waited for you to unwrap his gift.
“Thank you, Kyle.” You muttered, wiping your tears away with your hand. Your lips pressed thin, mind still processing everything. You delicately teared open the gift, not wanting to seem too desperate that this was the first time ever you were getting a gift.
Inside the box, was a brown ceramic mug with details of an owl sitting on a branch etched onto it. A small “Happy birthday” note written next to it, in Gaz’s neat handwriting. Your fingers wrapped around the cool handle as you took your time to examine the mug.
“Hope you like it, was browsing the shops and that when I saw this. Screamed you. Thought you might like it so that next time I make some tea you can join in.” Kyle beamed, taking in your reaction as you seemed to be enraptured by the mug.
You smiled back at him. “Thank you, this means a lot to me.”
“I’m glad.” He said, his voice soft and hand patting your shoulder before walking over to the kitchen counter. “Not only that, I got this!” He said taking a cake out from the fridge, placing it onto the dining table. “Had Johnny hold onto it for me, so you wouldn’t find it in the fridge.” He said proudly, as if what he did was the action of a genius.
You took in the sight of the cake, it was a chocolate cake with the words “Happy birthday” written with white frosting on top of it. It was simple, but Gaz knew it would get the job done. You swiped a tiny bit of frosting off of it before tasting the overly sweet flavour of it. It was simple, nothing too fancy and yet you couldn’t help but cry tears of joy. This was the first time your birthday has ever felt - special.
“Hey, hey, don’t look so gutted. It’s not that bad is it?” Gaz’s smile dropped as he walked over to you, his scrunched up expression indicating that he was worried and confused that you were crying.
“No no.” You reassured Gaz as you smiled, even though you were crying. “Thank you Kyle, this is great.” You said as you held his wrist.
You two locked eyes for a moment, your face heating up as you felt Gaz’s eyes drinking in your features. You swear you could see a heart in those mesmerizing eyes of his. A soft smile appeared on his face as he looked at you, hands wiping away the tears rolling down your cheeks.
“Now, let’s give you one proper birthday, yeah?”