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Grace hadn't seen Casey all day.
It was normal, they were both busy people between their jobs, and as much as Casey had gotten better, he still liked going on his drives to decompress. But what made it odd was it was Saturday, and more than that, it was his and Colt's birthday. It hurt a little that it felt like Casey was avoiding him, he had rushed out of the house shortly after waking up. Only sticking around long enough to make some coffee for the two of them and kiss him goodbye.
It was nearing noon and it had been unnervingly silent, no one had called, texted, or stopped by, not even Rocky or Adrian. At least until he heard the rumble of a familiar truck followed shortly by someone knocking on the front door.
On the other side stood Court who's lips twitched into a quick smile. Court tugged him into a hug, "Happy birthday, Ry." Grace returned the hug in kind, "Thanks, Court." He stepped back only for Courtland to ruffle his hair.
The both of them laughed, Grace swatting his hand away. His laughter petered out and was replaced with a slight frown. He hadn't really cared about his birthday in a while. Being stuck in space for a few years and then on Erid for a couple more really put a dampen on the date, especially after regaining his memories of Colt. "What's got you upset?"
Grace smiled, waving his hand in dismissal, "Nothing. . Just haven't seen or heard from anyone until now." Court frowned, they both knew he didn't like seeing him or Colt upset. "Not even Colt?" Ryland shook his head.
"Fuck them then, what do you want to do today?" Ryland snorted at Court's words delivered with a fond annoyance. "Okay," he tapped a finger against his lips, tsking in thought, "Can we go to an aquarium?"
"Let's go." He nodded his head back to his truck.
Court played some of their favorite songs as they drove, the both of them singing along to the catchy pop songs loudly.
While they were in line to buy tickets Ryland asked him, "I'm surprised Claire isn't with us." When Court didn't respond right away, Ryland looked at him. "Oh, she's with some friends right now." Ryland raised an eyebrow. It wasn't that Claire didn't have friends now that she'd been in public school for a few years but it felt like she never fully trusted anyone except Court. Something that went both ways as him or Colt usually had to talk Court out of panicking if she was okay after not responding to a text in under two minutes.
Court looked slightly nervous which only made him squint at his brother more. He was about to press him for information when the teller spoke up, "Hello, how many tickets today?" Courtland turned to her, "Two adults." and avoided answering him. Ryland decided to drop it to enjoy the aquarium but it remained in the back of his mind. Something fishy was going on.
Occasionally Ryland would catch Court checking his phone and responding to someone when he thought Ryland wasn't paying attention. Anyone else and it wouldn't be weird but Court always kept focus on whoever he was with, only answering the phone if it a notification sounded. It got even more suspicious when only an hour and a half later, halfway through the expansive aquarium, Court asked about lunch.
Ryland agreed and they were back in Court's truck driving through the city. Ryland trusted Court was taking them someplace new but stopped when he recognized the route they were taking. "Why are we headed back to the house?"
It was Court's turn to raise an eyebrow at him, "For lunch?"
"Okay something's going on. What are you hiding."
Courtland pressed his lips together in a thin line, he never was a great liar when it came to Colt and him. He was saved from answering by his phone ringing. Ryland snatched it before Court could and answered the call from Colt who started speaking immediately, " Hey what's the ETA?" Ryland cleared his throat, pulling out his teacher voice, "Colton."
"Oh shit- Hi, Ry!" Courtland grumbled next to him, "Ryland give me the phone." He pushed himself further into the door, making distance so Court couldn't grab the phone from his hands, "Nuh uh." He said to Court who faked a scowl. "ETA to where. Court's been weird all day along with everyone else. What's going on."
Colt paused on the other end as he tried to come up with something before there was a quiet click. "Colt." No response. He pulled the phone back just to see the call had ended, the screen timing out. He called Colt back only to ring once before being declined.
So he called Jody who sent him straight to voicemail, her cheery voice apologizing for not being able to answer and she'd call back as soon as she could. He knew it wasn't worth calling Casey because he rarely answered his phone unless it came from him, and he could see his house not too far away so there wasn't a point in calling from his own phone.
He placed Court's phone back in it's previous spot and glared at him. "What's going on." Courtland kept his eyes trained on the road, his hands tightening on the wheel, "I can't say." Ryland narrowed his eyes more.
The truck slowed then jumped slightly as Court put it in park. Ryland was confused with the extra cars in the driveway, Colt's truck, a car he didn't recognize but looked familiar, and Casey's Malibu in the garage. Court stepped out and Ryland followed him until they stopped at the front door. "Court, please, what's going on?"
He sighed and motioned to the door, "We can talk inside." Ryland frowned but relented, unlocking the door and pushing it open only to get a mouthful of confetti as the large poppers went off.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!" Was shouted as he blinked in shock, staring at everyone gathered. Rocky, Adrian, Colt, Jody, Dan, Claire, Marissa, and Casey were all crowding the entrance.
Court pulled out a confetti popper from behind his back and popped it in Colt's face. "Happy birthday, you two." Court said as he pulled Ryland into his side, dragging Colt into his other side to hug the both of them. Colt smacked him weakly with the empty confetti tube before hugging back.
Rocky tapped the floor twice, "Grace leaking happy tears?" Ryland sniffed wiping away the tears, "You guys-" Casey wrapped him into a hug that he returned with twice the force. "I thought everyone had forgotten."
Colt jumped in, "Hell no, Ry, we just wanted to do something special for you."
"Casey explained birthdays. You never told us about it!" Rocky trilled. Ryland gave a choked laugh, "Sorry, Rock. Little hard to focus on it when you're trying not to die."
Adrian chimed in, "You never told us in the time you were on Erid."
"Well-"
Marissa barged in, "What matters is we're celebrating yours and Colt's birthday today. We got cake, alcohol, and a Mario Kart tournament set up." Claire pumped her fists, "You're all gonna eat dust." Court ruffled her hair, "We'll see about that."
Ryland felt all sappy watching some of the closest people to him gather on the couch and crowd around the TV. Casey pecked his cheek, "Sorry it felt like I was avoiding you this morning." Casey wiped away a stray tear from his face. Ryland smiled at him, "I think I'll need something to make up for the irreparable damage you've done to my heart."
He laughed before tilting Ryland's chin up and kissing him gently. "Anything for your birthday." Casey murmured into his fluffy hair. Ryland lightly smacked his chest before kissing him sweetly, "Win the tournament for me?"
"ROCKY WILL TAKE FIRST FOR ADRIAN!"
"I'll see what I can do." The two of them laughed knowing Rocky was going to use any means necessary to beat Casey, who despite being a fantastic driver in person, wasn't great at most racing games. Only displaying his skills if there was a physical wheel in his hands.
Ryland was finally making his way to the bedroom well past midnight. Jody and Claire had retired to one of the guestrooms earlier in the night to have an impromptu girl's night. Marissa had joined them but later took the other room to retire for the night. Dan and Colt were passed out on the couch and Court was asleep in the large armchair in the little reading nook. He wasn't sure where Rocky or Adrian had gone but he could only assume back to Erid for the night.
He quietly padded into the room, shutting the door softly behind him. When he turned around he expected to find Casey asleep curled into Ryland's pillow, instead he was up watching something on his phone with rapt attention.
Ryland pulled on his pajamas before slipping into the bed next to Casey who turned off his phone and rolled into Ryland's side, smiling at him happily. Ryland chuckled as he plugged his own phone in and turned the lamp off. Shuffling until he was on his side and eye-level with Casey.
"Happy birthday, Ryland." Casey kissed his forehead before removing his glasses. Casey leaned closer to him as he stretched over and dropped them on the table. Ryland smoothed his hands over Casey's neck and kissed him tenderly. "Thanks, Case."
"Yes, thank you, Casey, for telling us."
Ryland yelped in shock before Casey cut him off by slapping a hand over his mouth. Ryland clutched at his beating heart, "ROCKY." He hissed quietly as he bolted upright, "I thought you two had gone back to Erid?!"
Adrian and Rocky chirped as they laughed, "No, watch you two sleep. For your hatch day."
Ryland huffed as he settled back into bed, Casey chuckling next to him as he asked, "You okay with this?" Casey only grinned, "I wasn't the one who missed seeing them come in here." Ryland pressed his hands over Casey's mouth, and he licked his palm in retaliation. They both gave sleep delirious laughter before cuddling close to one another. The four of them calling out goodnight as they fell asleep to the moonlight peeking through the curtains.