Happy Birthday.

"No." Brianna says with a stern look.

"But Xavier will be here with us." The words are out of Sydney's mouth before she can stop it and now she really hopes Daphne can convince Xav "And look at the bright side, here is security."

Her father shakes his head "It doesn't matter, we all need to be in the same place and I want all my kids in my eyesight."

She grits her teeth "Why? Because you're scared the people that's after you will come for me?"

Her mother gasps and her father scowls "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, spare me the clueless act, I know you owe people some money and they're looking for it"

"Did you tell Daphne?" her father demands to know.

"No, I have not." she can practically see the relief on both their faces but they're still not backing down so she chooses another approach "This place may be a dark cloud for everyone else but it's different for Daphne and me. This is where we feel closest to Ivory and if we leave now, it'll feel like we're leaving her behind." she swallows and softens her tone "We need time to heal and this is the only place that can help us."

Her parents share a look and she holds her breath as they have a conversation with their eyes, finally her mother says "Very well then, if this is what you need"

"Yes!" she threw her hands up in victory.

"Not so fast, young lady" her father says with a raised eyebrow "There are some rules you need to follow"

Of course. "Let's hear it"

Her mother pipes up "Daily check-in. At the end of every day, I want a call from you."

She can do that, that's basically what she had to do her first semester in Bludale. "Deal."

Brianna looks satisfied and Sydney turns to her father who says "No leaving without telling anyone where you're going. Also no staying out late and have your phone on you at all times. Same goes for Daphne"

She nods non-stop "I can do that."

Ben looks reluctant but still nods "Good."

Sydney hesitates for a moment before asking "Is it really that bad?"

"No, honey" her mother says and she resists the urge to roll her eyes at the blatant lie "Your father and I will find a solution to our problems, you don't worry about it."

Her eyebrows furrow as she ignores that "If dad needs to pay people then why don't you loan him some money, mom?"

Her mother blinks and her father makes a low choked sound before saying "Your mother has already helped me greatly, Syd. But like she said, you shouldn't worry about it."

Clearly she should if they are paranoid for their safety. But she doesn't say that, because of fear that they'll change their mind so she just smiles tightly and nods.

*

"Daphne, hi." Xavier smiles as he holds the door open for her but she doesn't make a move to go inside.

"Hey, do you have a second?"

"I do." when she still doesn't step inside, he steps out and closes the door behind him "What's up?"

She takes the cupcake from behind her back "Happy Birthday"

His eyes snap from the cupcake up to her eyes as his lips tip up in a small smirk "I thought you forgot."

Never. "Not at all."

"Well thank you."

"You're welcome" she lights the candle for him "Make a wish"

He holds her eyes as he leans down and blows out the candle and a shiver runs down her spine as his breath fans over her fingers, he licks his lips to hide his smile and takes the cupcake from her "Seriously, Daph, thank you for this."

She smiles up at him and reaches into her skirt pocket for his present but freezes when the door to Swanton opens again and Thea stops out, who looks surprised to see them standing there "Hey, Daphne"

"Thea" she removes her hand from her pocket, leaving his gift in there. Thea glances between the two of them and Xavier has yet to take his eyes off Daphne "Why are the two of you standing outside?"

He raises his cupcake "Daphne was just wishing me a happy birthday"

"Oh." Thea eyes the small cake in his hand "That's nice."

"Actually there's another reason why I came over here." Daphne says and tusks a piece of hair behind her ear "I wanted to talk to you about something, in private preferably. If you don't mind"

Their eyes dart to Thea who blinks once then realizes the unspoken words "Oh, well I was just going for a walk anyways"

Daphne waits until she's gone before turning to Xavier to find his eyes already on her, she doesn't say anything as she starts walking to the pool and she can feel his eyes burning a hole in the back of her head as he follows her. They take a seat on the sunbeds and before she can say anything, he breaks off a piece of the cupcake then passes it to her.

She laughs as she takes it from him "It was supposed to be yours."

"And I chose to share it with you." They sit in silence for a while, just staring at each other as they eat the cupcake with the sound of the ocean waves in the background "What did you want to talk about?"

She swallows the last of the cupcake then cuts right to the chase "Sydney and I plan to stay in Faircoast."

He raises an eyebrow "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. But our parents obviously won't let us…unless you're here as well."

"Ah, I see. You want to use me as your bait."

She rolls her eyes "I would hardly call it that. Don't act as if you wouldn't mind staying here until the end of summer."

"I wouldn't mind." he agrees before adding "It just feels…strange"

She nods "Understandably so."

Daphne doesn't plan on telling him that she and Sydney are going to be playing Nancy Drew. He wouldn't approve of it. 

He goes quiet before saying "My parents are different."

She frowns at the change in topic but doesn't address it "What do you mean?"

"Exactly that. I remember them always holding hands and being giddy with each other but now they hardly look at each other." he rakes a hand through his dirty blond hair "I'm also pretty sure that my dad is sleeping on the couch."

"Why's he sleeping on the couch? That must be uncomfortable. Swanton has a guest room."

He lightly scratches the back of his neck "Thea slept in the guestroom"

"Oh." Honestly she thought Thea was sleeping in Xavier's room. Last summer when Thea joined them in Faircoast then the two of them shared his room. "I thought…"

He shakes his head "No."

Her eyes searches his "Are you guys not back together?"

"No. She does want to give it another chance though" his face pulls slightly "I'm not so sure."

"Why not?" she can't help but ask. 

"She's lovely but we lack friendship"

She lets out a confused laugh "Well obviously, because you'd be more than friends."

He shakes his head before staring at the pool "You don't get it"

"Then make me get it"

A muscle in his jaw twitches but he keeps his eyes on the pool "She and I never talk about the most random things. Yesterday I was telling her the story behind why the diner is called 'Jimmy's Junks' and all she did was blink a lot."

"Well that story is either funny or disgusting, depending on who you're telling it to."

He nods before adding "She forgot the name today though, even though she and I spent most of our time at that diner last summer"

She cringes at that. Xavier and Ivory are so much like each other, blond hair and green eyes aside. Ivory was a talker and as a talker she got highly offended when you didn't remember something she said to you, especially if it's regarding something she was fond of. Xavier is the same. So for Thea to forget the name of the diner when just yesterday he was talking about it, bothers him. "Can I ask why did the two of you even break up?"

He shrugs "There wasn't a specific reason, we just grew apart as time went on."

"And now?"

"We do still feel apart. At least that's how I feel, she thinks we can still be amazing together."

"I see."

Daphne can't describe the feeling coursing through her veins…hopeful? Is she really sitting here and hoping that he doesn't get back with Thea?

She clears her throat "So about staying here?"

He stares at her before blurting "Come with me." she gives him a questioning look "To California. Come with me. I have a cozy apartment that I don't mind sharing with you for the summer. It's thirty minutes from the beach, fifteen if we go by car. There's a cupcake store opposite and I do admit they're not Faircoast level but they're decent enough."

She stares at him with a baffled look on her face "You can't be serious."

"I'm quite serious actually." he spreads his legs slightly so he can move his face closer to hers "Tell me you feel it."

Daphne always thought Xavier, Ivory and Liliana all had the same eyes but Ivory and Liliana are like olive green whereas Xavier has sea green.

She quite likes it.

Her cheeks heat up -she blames it on the sun beating down on them- as she whispers "What?"

"The race of my heart whenever you step into a room, the heat in my stomach when I get a whiff of your perfume and the urge to touch you whenever you give me that big, bright smile of yours. Tell me you feel it too."

Oh, God.

She doesn't know whether to faint or throw herself in the pool so she just stares at him before blurting "Why now? You could have told me before. Why. Now?"

"I told you I want you to come with me to California so you don't have to stay here."

"Ah, I see. So this is about getting me to leave Faircoast."

"Fuck, no" she gives him a pointed look and he scoffs "Okay, fine it may have a little to do with that. Come on, Daph, why do you want to stay here? Can't you see the place has lost it's magic"

She can see that.

She grits her teeth and stands up "You know what? It's all good. You can get back home, Syd and I will stay here on our own."

"Woah, slow down" he stands up as well and she has to tilt her head back slightly to meet his eyes "What do you give me if I stay?"

"A pat on the back and maybe a collar for being a good boy."

He throws his head back and laughs before looking down at her with a grin "Only you, Daphne. Only you"

She bites her bottom lip to hide her smile and his eyes darken at the action "Well? What's the verdict?"

He hums before finally saying "I quite the idea of having a collar"

Now it's her turn to burst out laughing "I knew it."

His grin turns into a softer smile at the sound of her laugh "I'll stay here."

She lets out a heavy breath "Thank you, Xav. It really means tons to me…and Sydney. Of course."

"Right." he says dryly as he continues staring at her and she can see him fighting another smile by the way his eyes crinkle at the corners and the sight makes her belly erupt in butterflies.

Fuck, it never was a simple crush, was it?

*

"This is not a good idea, Daphne." Her mother looked at her with a stern look.

She huffs slightly "It's good for me. I don't want to go home, I want to stay here."

Jillian opens her mouth to say something but Garriet beats her to it "You're not in the right state right now to be here without supervision."

She frowns "Excuse me?"

Her father gives her a pointed look "Don't think that we haven't noticed how much you've been drinking."

"And isolating," her mother adds.

She scoffs "I'm fine, you guys are just being dramatic as usual."

Jillian raises an eyebrow "When was the last time you spoke with your therapist?"

That shuts her up. Okay, so she hasn't spoken to her therapist in a while but it genuinely didn't mean she was struggling. Daphne dislikes her therapist, because she's fairly sure the woman told the reporters about her feeling lonely at times in her own house because her parents are more career driven than anything. 

She lets out a heavy breath "I'm eighteen and soon to be off to college, is it really a crime to be in the one place Ivory loved?"

"Not a crime at all" Garriet says "But your obsession with Faircoast and the way you're dealing with Ivory's death is not healthy."

Her whole body tense. "I'm sorry that I'm not handling this like a professional, it's not everyday that my best friend gets taken from me without warning!"

"Ivory hated herself, Daphne and it's by time you accept that you couldn't have saved her."

She gasps as tears prickles her eyes, Jillian shoots Garriet a glare for his words "Really? That's what you chose to say?"

He had the decency to look regretful "I'm sorry, pumpkin, I didn't-"

"I am staying here." she says firmly "You guys can leave but I choose to stay here with Syd and Xavier. And nothing you say will change my mind!"

She stomps up the stairs before they can say anything else and slams the door to her bedroom closed, so hard that her window rattles. She'll prove it. She'll prove to everyone that Ivory wasn't unhappy, even if it's the last thing she has to do.