Tentative Armistice (13.4)

Val had somehow, not seen this coming at all.

Really, she should have put together clues, first Hyunwoo took out her for practically the entire day—Although, Hyunwoo was always doing stuff like that, he was just really nice.

She really should have known from the way Nia dragged her out and without looking her in the eyes, asked her what she wanted as a gift.

And yet, when she entered the dark house and all the lights came out as everyone yelled "Surprise!", she still found herself at a loss for words, the tears budding in her eyes. 

"Happy birthday, Val," She heard the familiar voice, and she covered her mouth as she let out a small sob. Hyunwoo hugged her, stroking her head to comfort her.

"Thank you, I-I thought you all…I didn't think anyone would remember after everything that happened. This was…Your doing, wasn't it?" She looked up at Hyunwoo.

Hyunwoo shrugged, smiling, "I couldn't have done it without everyone else's help. And thanks to Nia for distracting you for so long at the end."

She turned to look at the white-haired girl, "Was that why…"

"Well, I mean—" Nia looked away from her, "Part of it was that but you…It couldn't have been fun to have gone through the entirety of the Winter Ball on your birthday, so I thought maybe something small might help at least a little—" Nia was cut off as Val hugged her tightly.

"Thank you," She whispered.

As she pulled away, Val felt two people grab her arms, "Come on, come on, cut the cake before the fossils get drunk!" Fenix called out, grinning.

"Hey, who are you calling a fossil, asshole! I'm the same age as you!" Risále yelled at him, glaring. Leon simply sighed as he handed her another glass of water.

"Risá, maybe you shouldn't talk until you're completely sober, some of the things you've said so far…" He gave her the glass. Bella was standing next to him, watching the two of them with a raised eyebrow before leaning in to whisper something to the boy. Val watched Leon's face turn red as he began to stammer something. Hyunwoo, who was hugging Bella from behind with his chin resting on her shoulder was simply laughing. He leaned over and kissed Leon's forehead, saying something to him fondly. Leon was still red, but Val could make out the, "I love you, too," that left his mouth.

She smiled. She was happy that Hyunwoo had happiness. If anyone deserved it, it was him.

Before she knew it, she was standing in front of a massive cake, "Isn't this a bit…Well, isn't this a lot of cake?"

Chaewon laughed, "Well, I did try to warn them but it seems like if Lumina and Mina do anything, they don't ever do it halfway," She looked at the younger women pointedly, "But at the same time, don't underestimate some people's love of cake. Looking at you, Leon."

"Wha—I'm not that bad!" Leon spluttered.

"Darling, do I need to bring up your fifteenth birthday?" Hyunwoo asked.

"And my birthday?" Lumina added.

Nia grinned, "Ooh, are we bullying Leon about his love for cake? I mean, it would make sense, I like cake as well. And Lumina too, I'm guessing? Oh, Val as well I suppose," She seemed very proud of the joke she had made.

"Yeah, I guess I can't bully you about the cake either," Lumina sighed, "Damn, why did it have to be cake specifically?"

Hyunwoo raised his hand, "I like cake as well. So does Elliot, right?" He said, smiling, "Quite a lot of us prefer cake, it seems."

"What are you—Oh, it's because you're all ace, I get it!" Fenix realized out loud as Owen sighed smacking his shoulder, "Ow, what was that for? Also, Bella and I like cake to a certain extent as well."

"It's called subtlety, Nix," Owen sighed as Fenix went to hug him from behind, resting his chin on the shorter's head, "Clingy idiot," Owen added fondly. Fenix hummed, his arms wrapping around the younger's waist as he leaned his wait on him.

"Your clingy idiot," He murmured, and Owen tipped his head back as Fenix dropped a kiss on his mouth.

Nia shoved Fenix lightly, "Oh, come on, lovebirds, stop being gross. It's Val's birthday anyways, stop stealing the attention."

"Thank you, Nia, I'm glad someone gets it," Val said, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at the two boys, "It's my birthday party, not your engagement party."

Owen sputtered, "We literally just started dating and we're still like…Way too young for that! If anyone would be having an engagement party, it's—" 

Xander laughed nervously, "Alright, alright, come on guys, how long is Elliot supposed to stand at the lights?"

"Can I please turn off the lights now," The aforementioned man asked with fake annoyance, but the smile on his face completely betrayed his tone.

As the lights were switched off, the room was plunged into a warm glow let off by the candles on the cake. The chorus of the happy birthday song was something that Val wasn't used to. Normally on her birthday, it had just been Hyunwoo and Bella—If Bella wasn't being tugged away in every different direction to try and keep her entire rebellion safe. The year before, during the time when Hyunwoo had been out on his year-long mission which ended in Val finding him injured beyond belief, she had thought she was going to be alone on her birthday. To her surprise, Bella had told her that she could stay in the older woman's office while she worked. Sitting on the couch by the fire, covered in a blanket, Bella had gotten up from her desk to give her a cup of hot chocolate and she carried over a small chocolate cake.

Val knew Bella missed Hyunwoo just as much as she did. She was happy to be able to spend her birthday with someone since she had expected not to have anyone.

But this was something she'd never expected. Something she thought she'd never get to have. Val let her head fall forward and covered her face as she felt the tears burning the corner of her eyes. Suddenly, there were arms around her. Looking to her side, she saw Nia. 

The younger looked away, "I don't know, hugs make me feel better," She said grumpily, and Val let out a watery laugh. Fenix and Owen quickly join in on the hug, almost knocking her over. She felt a hand on her head, patting her. Looking up, she saw Hyunwoo smiling at her.

"Happy birthday, Val," He said softly.

Blowing out the candles itself was a trainwreck as with so many people standing right by it, someone had accidentally put out one of the candles, and now Owen, Nia, Leon, Risále, and Fenix were arguing about who it was. Hyunwoo simply left out a huff and watched them fondly.

"I think it was Hyunwoo," Bella inputted in her most serious voice, but it couldn't be denied that she sounded at least a little amused by the whole situation

Hyunwoo looked down at her and pouted, "You menace."

"Only for you," She said back, breaking to give him a small smile.

The oldest six seemed to have realized they had made a terrible mistake by letting the others meet, especially the four youngest.

"Dear god, it's as if they lose all brain cells when they're around each other," Mina muttered, gesturing at the youngest four other than Val, "I would include Val, but Val seems to have kept brain cells in reserve."

Hyunwoo shook his head, "No, no, she just acts like she has some in reserve, just wait a little while and she'll be just as bad as the other three," Val smacked his arm again.

"So, like Xander for the six of us," Lumina said calmly.

"We're not that dumb," Chaewon crossed her arms.

"No, we are," All of the other five oldest said simultaneously. Chaewon sighed and shook her head as Elliot laughed and kissed her head.

The cake was cut and everyone got a piece, all talking to each other and having fun. Val couldn't help but smile at this. This was her family, these were the people she cared about, the people she loved.

"Guys, there's a meteor shower! Come on, let's go outside!" Risále called out excitedly, looking back from the window, a huge smile on her face.

Lumina grinned, playing with the necklace on her neck, "I've got an idea. You know how there's that way up to the roof through the attic…"

A few minutes later, Val stepped on the windowsill that led onto the roof. Nia was waiting for her, hand outstretched, "Hurry up or the meteor shower will be over before we get to see it," She called out to the other girl.

Val took it and grinned, "You could have gone to see it yourself, you know. But thanks for waiting for me."

Nia seemed to be flustered by this, as Val took her hand, she looked away, "It's…It's nothing. I wasn't just going to leave you behind since the others already went up ahead."

"I appreciate it!" Val smiled sweetly.

As they climbed up the higher, less inclined part of the roof, they could already see their friends sitting in small groups. Elliot and Chaewon, with Leon leaning on his sister's shoulder, looking a little sleepy, a bit further away were Hyunwoo and Bella, with Bella having a still slightly drunk Risále's head in her lap. Just in front of them were Fenix and Owen. It seemed like Fenix and his sister were talking about the night sky, pointing things out excitedly as their respective partners looked on in fondness, and a bit further away from them were Xander, Kaedan, Mina, and Lumina, with Xander and Kaedan cuddling and Mina was sitting in Lumina's lap, her head under the other's woman's chin as she pointed out the meteors.

There was one blanket left, and Nia took it, holding it out to Val, "You want it? You've got to be colder than me."

Val shook her head and smiled, "We can share," She said, taking the blanket and finding a spot near Fenix and Owen. The mint-haired boy smiled while his boyfriend waved. Val waved back and sat down. Seeing where Nia had sat, she laughed, "Come closer! The blanket isn't going to reach you over there. Besides, I don't bite."

Nia scooched closer and Val wrapped the blanket around both of their shoulders. As they looked up, the younger girl sighed, "Looks like the stars really like you for you to have something this beautiful happen on your birthday. Did you like everything we had prepared?"

"I haven't ever been able to celebrate my birthday like this, it was more than I could have asked for," Val said, "Although, I noticed you've been a lot nicer to me recently."

Nia looked nervous, "Have I?"

Val rolled her eyes and smiled, "Come on, you know I'm not going to get mad. So, who was it that told you to be nicer to me? Did Hyunwoo threaten you?"

"Uh…No? He—Does he do that? He doesn't seem the type…" Nia looked back to see the man smile at her. Although, now that she looked closer at that smile, it looked vaguely threatening, "...Never mind. I take that back. He's scary. But no, Mina and Lumina pointed out that I was kind of being a bitch to you and judged you too quickly."

Val hummed, "Is that so?"

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not being nicer just because they told me to be nicer to you. They were definitely right, I…I definitely judged you too quickly. With everything going on, I couldn't understand just how you seemed so…okay with everything. Then at the Winter Ball…"

"Ah. That…Was a pretty clear indication I was not okay with everything, wasn't it?" Val laughed sheepishly.

"Nothing wrong with it," Nia said softly, "I really wasn't being nice to you even though you really had only been trying to be friends with me. I…I think it also scared me how familiar you felt and how easily you fit into our lives. And I regret being so distant and cold to you. Maybe…Could we start again? I'd like to be friends."

Val was surprised by this, she hadn't expected Nia to be so straightforward, but she couldn't help but smile fondly. Of course, she would be, Nia had always been this forward, "Silly, I already think of you as my friend," She said, throwing an arm around Nia and squeezing her.

Nia let out a breath of air, "Okay, good, that's enough emotional vulnerability for me tonight," And Val laughed.

They watched the night sky in silence for a bit, the meteors getting more and more frequent as the night continued. The soft lull of the conversations of their friends brought a comfortable feeling to the night.

"You know, sometimes, I hope that when I go, it'll be like a meteor in the sky. I want to be burning bright with energy until the last moment," Val said softly.

Nia looked at her, "I thought we were done with emotional vulnerability for tonight," She joked, before laughing, "Although, I sure hope you aren't thinking of going anytime soon. As much as it pains me to admit it, you're kind of fun to be around."

"Ouch," Val put a hand on her heart, "I am hilarious," She looked back up to the sky, watching a particularly bright meteor, "It wouldn't be terrible. When I die, I hope I will have made an impact before I'm gone."

The other girl was noticeably quiet at this, and when Val looked at her, Nia was looking back, "...Don't say things like that. We're all going to make it through this alive. That means you as well. I…I promise. So, don't say anything like that, okay?"

Val smiled softly at her. She didn't respond.