Raise Love-114-Hope you can show off freely

"..."

So fierce.

Aria's groping hand froze. She said in a small voice, "I want the lighter." After a pause, she continued, "To light the fireworks for you."

What fireworks.

If she kept touching like this, he was about to explode like a firework!

Ryder resisted the urge to open his eyes, gritted his teeth, "Take your hand out."

His voice was low, tinged with an indescribably strange hoarseness, restrained and suppressed, and incredibly sexy. After a while, he said, "I'll get it for you."

"Oh, okay."

Aria obediently withdrew her hand.

Ryder took out the lighter and threw it to her. He said in a half - amused, half - annoyed tone, "If the 'fireworks' aren't nice, I'll bite you to death."

Aria shrank her neck.

With two "clicks", two clusters of blue - black flames sprang up, lighting the candles. She quickly put down the lighter, picked up the birthday hat beside her, and gently put it on Ryder's head.

The feeling of the birthday hat pressing down against his hair was distinct.

"...Airy."

Ryder's eyelids twitched again. This time, his heart started beating faster. He vaguely sensed something.

Aria softly replied with an "Mmm", her hand pressing on the boy's shoulder. She said gently in his ear, "The 'fireworks' are lit, Ryder. You can open your eyes now."

Ryder's pitch - black eyelashes, which were slightly lowered, trembled. His eyelids lifted, and his eyelashes slowly rose.

His vision gradually cleared from blurry.

As if his faint, yet - to - be - realized premonition was confirmed, in front of him was a cake about six inches in size.

It wasn't big, nor was it extremely delicate. Some of the lace was even a bit childishly distorted. In the middle were various fruits - strawberries, mangoes, green grapes, and cherries, a riot of colors.

The numbers "2" and "0" stood side by side, with two warm red flames flickering at the top.

Ryder was stunned for a moment, then quietly lowered his eyes.

There was a small blank space on the cake, and in delicate yet slightly crooked letters written with rose - red jam were the words -

"Ryder, happy 20th birthday ^▽^"

As he saw this clearly, the girl's soft and sweet voice followed by his ear, "Ryder, happy birthday."

Ryder turned his head slightly.

Aria said expectantly, "Make a wish?"

Ryder glanced at her, didn't say anything, and obediently closed his eyes. After more than ten seconds, he opened them and looked at her again.

He looked rather cute.

As if waiting for her instructions.

Aria urged again, "Hurry up and blow out the candles. They'll burn out soon."

Ryder was slow.

"Come on!" Seeing that he didn't move, Aria got a little anxious. She simply leaned half of her body on his shoulder, craned her neck, "I'll count to three, and we'll blow together, okay?"

Ryder looked at the little girl's anxious expression and suddenly chuckled, "Okay, you blow with me."

So their heads were close together, and with a "whoosh", the candle flames flickered and went out gently.

The sweet and alluring smell of the cake wafted to their noses.

Ryder lowered his eyelids, hiding the depth and complexity in his eyes, along with those hidden emotions that surged up too suddenly.

Aria walked to the opposite side and sat down, looking at him. After a while, she said in a soft voice, "Ryder, you don't seem to celebrate your birthday much. Is there a reason for that?"

She was afraid there was something he avoided.

But in high school, she saw Finn Alvarez and the others give him gifts on his birthday, and he accepted them. It wasn't something that couldn't be mentioned.

So she took the initiative to plan this for him.

In Aria's opinion, birthdays were very important. Growing a year older shouldn't pass unnoticed and without blessings.

Ryder looked at the little girl's slightly nervous look and smiled, "There's no taboo. I just don't think about celebrating it."

He and Elliot Kensington were twin brothers, with only a five - minute difference in their birth times. When they were kids, they always celebrated their birthdays together.

But like some twins, Elliot Kensington's health was always poor when he was young. He got sick frequently. The Kensington parents didn't show any favoritism because of this.

However, something still happened.

On their sixth birthday, the whole family was happily preparing to celebrate for the boys. They bought a cake and ingredients, set the food on the table, and inserted the candles.

But Elliot Kensington fainted without any warning.

The Kensington parents were immediately thrown into chaos. In their haste, they rushed their eldest son to the hospital, forgetting about their younger son.

The whole night passed. The Kensington parents didn't come back with Elliot Kensington, whose face was pale and who was in a deep sleep, until almost noon the next day. The food on the table had long since gone cold, the candles had burned out.

The wax had dripped messily onto the cake, the burned - out candles had fallen over, and the cream on the cake was no longer fresh. Ryder, with his small body, was curled up and sleeping quietly on the lonely and wide sofa.

Only then did the exhausted Kensington parents remember that they had left Ryder alone at home last night.

Both of the Kensington boys were very smart. When Elliot Kensington woke up and learned about this, he didn't say anything. He just silently treated his younger brother well.

And the younger brother had always been obedient to his elder brother.

But from then on, the Kensington brothers no longer celebrated their birthdays.

Only on that day, Mrs. Kensington would cook them hot noodle soup.

Ryder actually didn't care much about this. It was Elliot Kensington, with his sensitive heart, who said that they would just have some noodles in the future.

Now, the little girl had suddenly prepared such a careful surprise for him. He was so shocked that he almost didn't know how to react.

The birthday cake was clumsy - looking. It was obvious at a glance that it wasn't made by a pastry chef.

It was actually easy to guess.

The cake was made by the little girl for him with her own hands.

Ryder lowered his eyelids. He had always been rather lacking in emotions and didn't quite know how to describe his current feelings.

It was very soft.

His heart was unbelievably soft.

Whose precious little one was this, so cute and considerate. A bit unlucky, perhaps, but she had fallen into his eyes and he had picked her up.

Ryder let out a low laugh.

Aria had been carefully observing the boy's expression, worried that preparing this birthday without permission might touch on something that made him unhappy. She was relieved when she saw his relaxed expression.

She pursed her lips and smiled, "Twenty - year - old Ryder, congratulations. You've grown another year older. I hope you'll always be happy."

Keep growing upward, and follow your own path of glory.

Ryder's pitch - black eyes sparkled under the overhead light, containing a hidden and bright halo. He just quietly looked at Aria. After a while, he chuckled softly.

His voice was low, "Mmm."

I'll be happy.

Because of you, suddenly everything seems so good.

Aria smiled happily. She carefully cut the part of the cake with his name, the part with the character "Ryder", and placed it in front of him.

Among his names, this was her favorite character.

I hope you can be unrestrained and flamboyant.

I hope you'll never be dragged down by the world, always be dazzling, do what you want to do, and become the person you want to be.

Be a big hero.

Ryder held the small fork, raised his eyebrows, his eyes full of smiles. He asked lazily, "Made it for me by yourself?"

"Yeah, try it." Aria was a bit embarrassed. She gently rubbed the tip of her nose. "I haven't learned much before. It doesn't look very good, and I don't know if it tastes good."

Silly girl.

Ryder lowered his head. Under Aria's expectant gaze, he slowly put a bite into his mouth and tasted it carefully.

It was a bit sweet, but the cream used was of the best quality, and there was no hint of greasiness.

It was very much to his taste.

Aria held her chin and asked nervously, "Does it taste good?"