#ik this is not entirely timeline correct but listen im goin with it

[lifesver]

@quietevasions said: seven bodies in her small apartment, seven voices overlapping in lively conversation. six happy kids surrounding the seventh to sing a song. “happy birthday to you~” they all sang in unison, as julie came into the living room holding a cake in both hands. a small cake, homemade by her and maria, the blue candles all amounting to leland's age. “make a wish, babe.” she cooed warmly, smiling at him over the flickering flames. a hush fell over the room and julie set the cake down on the low coffee table in fron of him and she retreated back to the couch to fit herself between sonny and danny. julie may have been a little excited for her gifts, most of them just little trinkets and things that reminded her of him, a leather bracelet, a few new shirts, a watch and a few books she thought he'd enjoy. what she was really excited for was what was in the kitchen waiting for him, she leaned forward and rubbed leland's shoulder affectionately, planting a kiss to the top of his head. “there's a make your own sundae set up in the kitchen, birthday boy goes first. then we'll open presents.” after all what was a birthday party without ice cream?

this was the kind of attention leland would normally have the inclination to duck away from. like when someone told the waiter it was your birthday, and everyone in the restaurant suddenly had to be involved. but he thinks, too, that maybe he's never been more comfortable than he is, right now. surrounded by his friends. their varying degrees of enthusiasm in the collective performance of ' happy birthday ' — with julie and maria obviously leading. ana and sonny respectfully in the appropriate middle ground. and danny and connie, more in the realm of technically participating, at the legally-mandated level. the julie-crawford-enforced level.

leland appreciates it anyway.

and his ' you really didn't have to do any of this' broken-record-type deflections are quickly shut down by julie, again, as she places a cake down in front of him. he imagines the girls must have worked together, putting all this together for him. he thinks it's probably the most he's ever liked one of his birthdays.

' make a wish, babe. '

leland blinks. oh, yeah. he hesitates, shoots a glance across his friends faces, all illuminated in the orange glow of the candles. one wish was pretty serious pressure. it's no wonder people in stories managed to mess this kind of thing up with a magic lamp and three. but — if he had to wish for one thing, and be totally selfish about it... he guesses it would be to feel this way, for as long as he was allowed to. to always have these friends, laughing in the glow of little embers, in his life, making things feel easy, for once.

leland gets a jostle of encouragement on the shoulders, and he laughs softly, taken out of his thoughts. then he leans, makes a show of taking a deep breath, and blows out the candles. and the fanfare resumes — comfortable chatter, everyone flopping back down on the couch or the carpet or wherever. easy.

' what'd you wish for? ' sonny asks him, after a moment, as the party-clamour settles down. leland waggles a brow;

❝ i wished for a pony, obviously. ❞ he answers, in the utmost-seriousness, of course. which he's hassled for, by the girls, on the basis of ' you're not actually supposed to tell us what you wish for, dummy ', and ' it's bad luck. '

sonny sagely offers a; ' true, ' and makes a morose cheers'ing motion with his beer. ' now you're getting no pony, man. '

then, julie swings by him amidst her busy party-hosting duties, to place a kiss atop his head. and his pout is short-lived;

❝ — i get ice cream, though. which is almost as good. ❞