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happy birthday

"happy birthday dear haley..."

it had been another long day of filming in california; the production moved from london to los angeles about a week after haley and her friends watched her movie there.

she grinned, standing in the middle of the studio in a man's outfit from the early 1900s as elias and timothée set a large chocolate cake down on the table in front of her.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" timmy yelled, cupping a hand around his mouth so his voice echoed throughout the room. he held a firecracker in his other hand, and waved it lightly around the air.

"LOVE YOU!" shouted eli, one arm around her shoulder, the other one around max's.

timothée pushed the cake nearer. "make a wish," he said, smiling softly.

she closed her eyes and took a deep breath before blowing out the single, small candle in front of her. the crew cheered and clapped.

"anybody got a knife?" she asked.

eli and timmy respectively filmed and photographed haley cutting the cake, before she picked up a slice by hand and took a bite.

"you're doing amazing sweetie!" elias said, as they were pretty much the embodiment of the meme right that second. timothée cheered, taking candid pictures of her on a disposable camera.

it was a pretty badass shot, honestly; haley leaning on the table in a '30s man's blouse and vest, her tortoiseshell glasses perched on the bridge of her nose while she held timmy's firecracker in one hand, and a fistful of cake in the other.

after haley changed out of her outfit and returned it to the costume designer, she emerged from her trailer with a smile. "finn's there!" she pointed to her brother, who had headphones on while he stared at his phone. he looked up when he noticed his sister.

"happy birthday!" he shouted, running towards them with his arms outstretched. haley went in for a hug, then at the last minute, got punched in her gut.

"what the HELL?"

"love you too. get in the car," he told elias and timothée.

"you gonna just... kill us or something?" eli asked, eyeing finn.

"first of all, don't look at him like that, he has a boyfriend." haley told elias who made a show of looking away.

"second of all, no, you guys are coming with me for a party."

she took them by the wrists and flung open the door of her brother's land cruiser before landing shotgun.

"party?" elias asked.

"it's gonna be at my friend bella's house," she explained. "it's where... it's where finn and i've been celebrating everything since, you know. mom and dad died."

"oh."

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they stopped by the leneghan's house first, mainly so that haley could change into her birthday fit.

"we aren't dressed appropriately." timmy told finn as the three boys stood in the kitchen in silence.

"eh, it doesn't matter. she just wants to dress up, you know how she is. and her friends helped her get a dress in the summer, so. she's been really excited to try it for real this time."

five minutes later, haley raced down the stairs in a gold dress with an agility and grace that couldn't be possible for someone wearing platform heels that high. "sorry i took so long."

"you look cute," remarked elias.

"let's go." finn announced, swinging his jacket over his shoulder and walking out the door.

"i shall drive." announced haley.

"your british is showing, and no."

the two siblings bickered as they headed towards the car, until finally finn said, "let timothée drive."

"he can't drive either! none of you can!" haley insisted.

"i've improved in two years, i swear!" timmy insisted.

"don't scratch the car; i dibs shotgun."

"do you know bella's address?" finn asked doubtfully. that was a no.

"just go straight, turn right twice, turn left, go straight, turn right again, and then you're there." haley said, trying to be helpful.

"go where?"

"turn right NOW!" yelled finn. the car jolted to a halt, reversed, then turned right.

"i hate this." mumbled elias from the backseat.

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"SHE'S HERE!" yelled bella, running to hug haley.

timothée, elias and finn entered the house, looking around to see all of haley's friends moving around.

cole flew down the stairs, strapping a glittery gold party hat on haley's head, before looking at the company. he squinted at timmy, flicked his eyebrows up at elias, and gave finn a hi-five.

"we got taco bell, do you like taco bell?" he asked finally.

"taco bell's good, yup." timmy said.

"what's taco bell?" whispered eli.

"you sir, have been deprived." finn said pityingly. "haley, your hot german friend doesn't know what taco bell is!" he shouted.

"LET HIM TRY THE CRUNCHWRAP!" was the reply.

timothée made his way to the kitchen with elias, seeing haley standing over the stovetop with bella, the chase-jackson twins talking in a corner, cole showing elias what a crunchwrap was, and zendaya talking to a dude he didn't recognize.

"hi timothée!" bella called. "how are you?"

"i'm fine." he lied. he wasn't. it felt suffocating to him; staying near haley, hanging out with her friends, while unsure of what his feelings towards her were.

actually, timothée did know. he was just in denial.

"what's that?" he asked, changing the topic and pointing at the two pots stove.

haley got visibly excited as bella explained. "these are filipino foods that i used to eat back home years ago, and haley tried them before but hasn't eaten them in forever, so i kindly agreed to make them for today. this is sinigang, it's a soup that haley loves and since i don't actually know how to make it i had my mom come over," bella admitted sheepishly, pointing at the watery, soup filled pot. "this one is adobo," she said, pointing at a dark looking stew. "and this is lumpia, which are basically spring rolls. some are vegetarian for zendaya and whoever else wants 'em, but the others aren't."

"introductions are in order!" announced haley who dragged elias beside her and pointed to each of her friends.

"so you obviously know zendaya, this is bella, that's cole, that's bella's boyfriend charlie, this is theo, and that's rora. yep, they're twins, no, theo's the one with the pink hair. yeah, it's been like that since she was seventeen."

timothée heard the doorbell ring as it was going on, so he headed over to check who it was, pleasantly surprised to see billie.

"oh my god, i haven't seen you in forever!" he exclaimed, as she gave him a hug.

"got her yet?" she joked, as they pulled away.

"timmy, have you met charlie?" haley asked, pointing at the guy he didn't recognize earlier.

"nice to meet you." the two shook hands.

"he used to be her therapist." finn added.

"therapist?"

"we don't talk about that. but she's how i met bella," charlie explained.

"ah, so you guys are like, a thing?"

"if you could call it that, sure. is that what you and haley are? a thing?"

"oh god, no."

"you don't want to be?"

"it's not about what i want."

"what do you mean? she told me everything," charlie pressed.

"i'm not trying to have a therapy session right now," timothée apologized, before moving to talk to rora.

the whole party was an enjoyable affair, thought timmy. that was until they finished dinner and another person rang the doorbell.

"I'LL GET IT." said finn hastily, timmy hot on his heels, as everyone else was cleaning up. "no. man, you don't wanna be here." finn told him.

"what d'you mean?" timothée asked, as finn blocked the door.

"haley doesn't know she's coming."

"who's coming?"

"mikayla."

"who's mikayla?"

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haley heard a commotion behind her as she was doing her dishes. she turned around to see none other than kayla, standing in a long sleeved, short skirted, v-line dress.

"oh my god! i haven't seen you in forever!" she cried. "guys, this is my friend kayla, we're apartment neighbors from new york."

"actually, she's my grandpa's apartment neighbor." she corrected.

timothée stood at the back, observing. after welcoming her in, finn, in a rush, explained who she was, when haley met her, and how they might have hooked up on new year's. he thought she was very pretty and petite, but her voice didn't match how she looked. kayla's voice was deep, rough and scratchy; the opposite of what he imagined.

"um, kayla, this is timmy!" haley said, introducing the two.

"oh yeah! he saw me at the door." she explained, as he sat down on the sofa.

kayla joined him, crossing her legs and running a hand through her golden brown hair before letting out a sigh. she looked over at timothée, who looked around, trying to busy himself with a drink.

"wanna go for a walk?" she offered.

he raised his eyebrows in surprise. "couldn't hurt," he shrugged, and held the door open for her as they exited the house.

"so," she began, swinging her legs as they walked down the lamp-lit street, "how are you?"

it kinda irritated timothée to hear this girl talk to him as if she knew him, but for haley's sake, tried to be as cordial as he could. "fine, you?"

"eh. been a bit here-and-there recently. do you mind?" she added, pointing at the bottle in his hand. he passed it to her and she took a swig.

"there we go." she passed it back. "did finn tell you?"

"about you and haley? yeah," he replied. timmy watched her bite her lip, nodding. "how long have you been... you know."

"been what?" she asked, cocking her head to the side. timothée knew that she knew what he meant, though.

"how long have you two been fucking? there, kayla, i said it." timothée splashed some of his drink onto the well maintained sculpted bush next to him, like his character did in little women.

"first off, as much as i hate it, you are to call me mikayla, thank you very much. secondly, i haven't spoken to her in person since new year's, other than a couple of texts here and there. if you think there's something between us, you're wrong."

"why're you here then?" he asked lazily. the drinks he had were beginning to take a toll on him.

"because haley's my friend?"

"yes, that's what you do. you fuck a friend, don't speak to them for a year, and come back for their birthday."

kayla swallowed her anger, trying her best to refrain herself from shouting 'you're a dick'. she took a deep breath and composed herself.

"we did it to get over people we loved." she said softly.

"don't try it. all it results to are lots of..." she gestured around. "mixed feelings, anger, miscommunication, i give it a four out of ten, wouldn't recommend."

the two of them had walked around the block in silence and had began to make their way back to the party.

"who was it?" timothée asked quietly.

"my ex. her name was cass. and you."

he gave her a skeptical look.

"she loves you, timothée."

"yeah, well." he gave a sharp laugh. "she's the one who broke up with me, wasn't she?"

"i've seen how you look at each other."

"damnit, mikayla! did you know you're the fourth person to say that to me within two weeks?"

"it's true!" she exclaimed.

he shook his head and pushed the door open. the lights were dimmed, and music was blasting on the speakers. timothée recognized the beginning notes to haley's song, 21.

"hate to picture you half-drunk, happy! hate to think you went out without me!" shouted billie, swaying.

haley, who was dancing with her, noticed immediately when timmy and kayla returned.

"where were you?!" she asked worriedly, scanning their faces.

"we just went for a walk, we're fine." he said, dismissing her question easily. kayla patted haley's shoulder before slipping off to talk to theo.

"dance with me?" haley asked him. she seemed to be less drunk than he was, placing his bottle on a nearby coffee table and taking his hands.

"I SEE THE LOOK IN YOUR EYE AND I'M BITIN' MY TONGUE, YOU'D BE THE LOVE OF MY LIFE WHEN I WAS YOUNG," she shouted. "WHEN THE NIGHT IS OVER, DON'T CALL ME UP I'M ALREADY UNDER."

"I GET A LITTLE BIT ALONE SOMETIMES AND I MISS YOU AGAIN, I'LL BE THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE INSIDE YOUR HEAD, WHEN THE NIGHT IS OVER, DON'T CALL ME UP I'M ALREADY UNDER," timothée yelled back. they were holding their hands above their head and dancing together to the beat of the music.

"thank god," sighed finn to kayla.

"didn't she write this about him, though?" she asked him.

"doesn't matter now; look at them!" the two were the only ones left dancing to the song, billie, bella and zendaya filming them on their phones.

"they're cute." she said.

not me including a filipino character so i can include our

cuisine in the book aha aha

anyways

they cute

I MISS YOU, I'M SORRY