Chapter Thirty-two: Happy Birthday, Griffin!

I groaned, knowing I'd have to hang the streamers myself. I took them from Indie and got on the stool. She rolled her eyes and marched away, muttering something under her breath. I knew I was getting on everyone's nerves, but I couldn't help it. I had the exact design in my head and no one was doing it right.

Even though Griffin said no, I was throwing him a party. He had to celebrate. I realized I wanted to because this would be the only chance I get to celebrate with him. I also felt the need to. I had a feeling birthday parties weren't his thing, but it would help him open up more.

Hopefully.

"Kenzie, maybe you should take a break," Kira suggested.

I shot her a glare, "No."

"You've been working for hours," She sighed. "Everything looks nice."

"Besides, it's a bonfire. We don't need spaghetti," Indie added.

I blew a piece of hair out of my face, "Could you guys just work with me? He'll be here in twenty minutes."

Indie sighed and pulled me aside. Kira continued my work to appease me. Once we were away from the group, Indie stared me in my eyes without a sense of humor. She was deadly serious.

"What's up with you? It's just a party. You weren't this serious about your own birthday. Never mind your best friends."

I frowned, "What are you-"

"Mackenzie," She raised an eyebrow.

I took a deep breath and let it out before answering, "He does so much for me. The least I can do is throw him a party."

"Kenzie, I know Griffin-"

Sometimes I forget she's the funny friend.

Not the time.

"And I know he hardly likes the rest of us as it is. He tolerates us. A party?"

You know she's right.

I decided to listen to Indie and uninvite everyone but the few friends of mine he likes. Despite the angry responses, I knew it was the right thing. It was Griffin's birthday. He should be able to enjoy it. I began taking down a few decorations, realizing none of this spoke to who Griffin was. Instead, I just made sure to have the spaghetti ready.

I spent an hour looking up traditional Italian spaghetti recipes. I didn't know which one he'd like, so I just chose a random one and hoped for the best. I took a seat beside my best friends outside and we talked about prom. It was in about a month and I still had a lot of work to do. Not to mention how much I've been stressing over finals. Those were next month, which meant graduation. It was scary how quickly time was passing.

You'll be dead soon!

Thanks.

Anytime!

"They're here!" Lindsay announced. Everyone rushed to the patio.

As soon as the door open, Griffin walked in, confusion written all over his face. He immediately observed the decorations and his face froze. I jumped up and smiled at him.

"Surprise!"

He slowly turned to me, "W-what's this?"

Did he just stutter? Griffin Ryder? Stuttering? This can't be good.

Oh no.

"Well, it's your birthday-"

"I'm aware of that. What's this?" He reached up and grabbed a streamer.

"A streamer?" My smile faltered.

He took a deep breath, his jaw setting in the process, "Mackenzie, are there people waiting for me outside?"

I felt my smile finally fall. He hated it. Not only did he hate it, he wasn't trying to hide it. I had never seen Griffin so upset over something I did. It was frightening. He was usually pretty calm or at least tried to pretend he was. I must've gone too overboard this time.

Good thing you uninvited those people.

"Griffin, I don't understand. It's just-"

"Mackenzie," I could see his knuckles turning white from clutching the streamer too hard. "Are there people waiting for me outside?"

I sighed, "Only five plus Tanner."

He shut his eyes for a moment, taking a few more deep breaths. When he opened them again, he had an incredibly fake smile plastered on his face. Before he could walk out, I grabbed his arm and pulled him back. His fake smile wasn't good enough to fool anymore. Besides that, it was his birthday. This wasn't right.

"Griffin-"

"Mackenzie, I told you no, yet here we are. Why is it that you only listen to me when it benefits you? Is that not a form of disrespect?" His sarcastically sweet voice sent chills down my spine.

Regardless, I kept my confident stance, "Griffin, I just wanted-"

"Your job isn't to interfere with my personal life. I am your Reaper, not your boyfriend."

"You know what, Griffin? You're being a dick. Even if you didn't want a party, you could at least appreciate the fact that I spent all day preparing this. Then taking almost everything down because it didn't say 'Griffin' to me. I didn't eat. I didn't have time to. Why did I do it? Because I care about you. I figured I could at least do something like this for you. You've done so much for me and I wanted to pay you back-"

"By throwing me a party I didn't want?"

That was it.

"Screw it! Do what you want!" I tore down the closest streamer to me. "It doesn't matter anyway! I'm gonna be dead in six months! Why do I even care so much?! Thanks for making me feel like shit, Griffin! No one does it better than you!"

I stormed into my room. I felt guilty for treating him like this on his birthday, but I couldn't help it. I knew he didn't want a party, but this wasn't technically a party. Even so, I made sure to make this more like Griffin and he didn't care. Maybe this had something to do with his mom. Maybe it didn't. Either way, I was over it all. Though I couldn't fight the pang of guilt I felt, I decided I was done with random acts of kindness.

It's not kindness if he didn't want- I'll leave you alone.

Thank you.

"Mackenzie?"

Was that Griffin?

Don't care.

Hey! I'm the one who's supposed to be rude! Not you!

Why bothering being nice if no one cares?

"Mackenzie, I know you can hear me. Can we talk?"

"We're talking now."

He sighed and opened the door. I mentally scolded myself for not locking it. He took a seat at the desk and I turned away from him. Call me childish, but I was upset. I wasted an entire day on this party and he didn't even care.

Just listen to him, you big dummy.

"The last 'birthday' party I had was when I eleven before she died. She loved hanging streamers and party hats. She loved it all, even if it was fake. She used to always talk about what kind of party she'd throw for me. After she died, I hated the idea of gathering for a fake occasion and celebrating for no real reason," He paused, collecting himself. He looked seconds away from tears. "I'm sorry for reacting like that. It wasn't fair to you. You didn't know. Besides that, you spent your time doing this for me and I should be grateful."

I had nothing to say, so I didn't. Instead, I got up and wrapped my arms around him. He immediately hugged me back, crying silently. Griffin may be mature on the outside, but inside was just a little boy without a mother to guide him. It was sad because he was trying his hardest. I wondered what his dad was like. If he was a good father to his son or if he was too busy to notice. Though it was understandable since he had lost his wife, the woman he loved.

After a few minutes, Griffin gathered himself and we headed outside. Immediately, Indie smirked at us. Everyone else seemed to be on board as they were giving us the same look. I took a seat next to Griffin and raised an eyebrow.

"What were you two doing in there for so long? Huh?" Indie wiggled her eyebrows.

"You said it yourself, Indie. Griffin doesn't like you all that much," I shrugged.

She rolled her eyes and the party went on. Griffin seemed to be relaxed and having a good time. Everyone joked around while roasting their marshmallows. Eventually, they all left, wishing him a quick happy birthday. The sun had set by the time they were all gone, and I knew the spaghetti was cold.

I had Griffin wait in the living room while I warmed it up on the stove. All I could hope was it would taste at least a bit appetizing. As if finding the recipe wasn't hard enough, preparing the dish was like someone put me in a level of Cooking Mama and set the level to extra hard. It took a few attempts, but I finally made it look like the picture. I wasn't sure how it tasted, which made me anxious, but I hoped the present I got him would compensate for that.

Once it was ready, I called Griffin into the kitchen. He took a seat at the island and I set the tray in front of him. Mufasa trotted in after him and took a seat next to him. I shut my eyes and picked up the lid. I didn't hear anything for a few seconds and I went into an intense panic mode.

"What-"

"You made this yourself?"

I took a second to nod my head, "I imagined Gordon Ramsey standing over me while I made it to make sure I was doing it right."

He raised an eyebrow, "Gordon Ramsey?"

I waved it off and handed him a fork, "Never mind."

As he took the first bite, I felt my palms start to sweat. I shoved my hands into my pockets, nonchalantly wiping them. His face didn't show any expressions, which terrified me. In cooking shows, that usually meant the judge didn't like it and was finding the right words to say it's crap.

Finally, he looked up at me with a smile, "This is pretty good."

I felt like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders, "That's a relief."

"A little heavy on the garlic, but still pretty good," He grinned.

I rolled my eyes, "Okay, Chef Ryder-"

"Please, that's my grandfather. Call me Chef Griffin Ryder," He winked.

It was impossible to keep the smile off my face, "Ha-ha."

He continued eating, cracking a few jokes here and there. Eventually, I decided to get his present. I was way more confident with this than the food. The present may not be the best, but I couldn't go wrong with it. I took his plate and set the gift bag in front of him. He frowned, giving me a quizzical look.

"Happy birthday, Griffin!"

He took the small box out and slowly opened it. It was like he was trying to make me anxious. His face immediately lit up when he saw what was in the box. After his uncle broke his watch, I knew I had to get it fixed for him since he wouldn't do it himself. Griffin was stubborn that way.

Since the day I met him, he always had that watch on. It seemed more important than just some watch he got from a store one day. I figured it was a family heirloom, so I knew I had to get it fixed. He looked up at me and smiled.

"Mackenzie, I don't know what to say," He fastened the watch on his wrist and checked it out. "I-"

He stopped and got up. Before I knew it, he had his arms around me, hugging me tightly. I hugged him back, my arms around his waist. I felt extremely short compared to him in this moment. When he pulled away, he gazed deeply into my eyes. I could tell by the look he was giving me, he was full of gratitude.

"Thank you," His voice carried so much intensity.

"It's no problem," I shrugged.

He hesitated before speaking again, "It was my mom's. She taught me how to tell time using this watch. It's the last thing of hers I have to myself. I can't express how grateful I am."

I smiled wide, "Anytime."

Tone it down, hon. Your crush is showing.

I don't have a-

Shh. It's the end of the chapter.

//

Yeah, I don't do 4th walls anymore. Also, this took longer than it should've to finish and it's because I've been listening to Beyonce... then watching Frankie Celenza on Tastemade... then watching Dance Showdown s4... yeah I get distracted easily. BUT ANYWAY, thank you so much for reading (almost 400 reads! Whaaaa)!

Tatty bye <3

EDIT: Whoa. I wrote this back when this book had 300+ reads. Now it's almost to 700. Thank you  :)