Beautiful ➳ Neil Perry.

six

It was the evening of Neil's birthday, and he had spent the whole day wondering what had been happening between Alice and Todd. Although he assumed they were just getting friendly with each other, he felt the jealousy slowly taking control over his thoughts. Throughout the day, however, he did try to dismiss any negative thoughts. He trusted Todd and Alice more than anything. And it was his birthday.

"Todd, when are you gonna start reading poems aloud with us?" Cameron sniggered, earning a disapproving look from others sitting around the cave. Todd didn't bother answering, and only forced a smile, not quite sure how to answer Cameron's question.

"Since it's Neil's birthday, why don't we just quickly get the poems over and done with, and then party the rest of the night?" Charlie openly suggested, stretching out his arms. A few of the boys nodded their heads whilst the others just shrugged or didn't react at all.

"Where is Knox, anyway?" Neil suddenly asked, his voice laced with a hint of concern, "And Alice?"

"They said they'd be here in a minute or something."

All eyes turned to Todd, who felt sweat forming on the sides of his head. His hands were suddenly feeling clammy. He wiped away the few beads of sweat from his forehead, awkwardly smiling as Charlie narrowed his eyes at him.

"What is it, Todd? Do you know something we don't?"

Before Todd could answer, a voice from the entrance of the cave broke into song. The familiar voice belonged to Knox Overstreet, walking with two medium sized boxes in his arms. Beside him was Alice, who held a large cake, nicely decorated and lit with candles.

Neil, flustered and touched at the same time, could only stand there with a smile, all of the questions in his head finally answered. Had Todd planned all of this with Alice the entire time?

"Happy Birthday, Neil!" they all cheered.

Alice, carefully holding the cake in her arms, finally stepped towards Neil. She lifted the cake high enough for Neil to blow out the candles. Smiling brightly at Neil, she greeted him softly, "Happy birthday, Neil."

The whole day, he worried about what Todd and Alice had been up to. And the truth was, it had all been for tonight. For his birthday.

Neil felt the weight lift from his chest, his eyes glistening with happy tears. He knew he could trust the two of them, but this was something he didn't quite expect.

While Neil was caught up in his own head, Todd passed his neatly wrapped gift to him. Looking down at the large present in his arms, Neil chuckled.

"Oh, you shouldn't have," he said, starting to rip open the gift anyway.

"Trust me, you'll love it," Todd replied, glancing at Alice with a smile, "You really will."

And he did. Neil stared down at the book, his smile widening. He loved it. It had to be one of the only birthday gifts he truly loved— it was a gift pointing him in the right direction.

Neil felt a smaller box slip into his hands. Turning his attention to Alice, he noticed the little box she passed him as the other boys burst into their own little conversations.

"And this one," she smiled warmly, "Is from me."

Slowly opening the box, Neil found himself staring down at the most beautiful golden watch he had ever seen. It must've cost quite a lot. Taking it out of the box to wear it immediately, he noticed there had been something engraved on the side of the watch. Before he could ask Alice about it, she had already taken her seat down with the other boys.

Narrowing his eyes to adapt to the dark cave, Neil read the tiny engraved letters on the side of the gold watch: A Clear Midnight, W. Whitman.

Neil never smiled so much before. Joining everyone else at the fire, he held Todd's gift tightly and wore Alice's watch the moment after he opened the gift box. His eyes met with Alice's for a moment, the ends of her lips curling up.

"I'm glad you liked it."

"Are you kidding? I love it."

***

It was a night of laughter, exchanging stories and drinking. As soon as the boys realised how late it was getting, they soon started leaving the cave one by one.

"I should probably go too," Alice stood up, patting the back of her skirt, "I don't wanna wake up too late for school."

"I'll walk you home," Neil offered, following her as she headed out of the cave.

Alice smiled, waiting for Neil to catch up as the remaining boys watched them leave in amusement.

The night sky was starless that night; a dark abyss hanging over the two who walked alongside each other in silence.

"Have you—"

"Do you—"

The pair chuckled at how they had broken the silence the exact same moment.

"You go first," Alice suggested, a little flustered.

"I was just gonna ask you if you were busy tomorrow after your classes?" Neil said, flashing his smile at her, "Maybe we could go see a movie together or something."

And without hesitation, Alice took his offer. It was a date.

Arriving at the front of Alice's home earlier than the two of them had hoped, it was time for them to part once again.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow then," Alice sighed, expressing her slight disappointment. She almost mentioned her excitement for tomorrow, but she caught herself. Alice didn't want to risk looking too whipped in front of Neil himself.

"Can't wait," Neil chuckles before running his hand through his dark hair, "Sleep tight, Alice."

With her back pressed against the front door, Alice found herself grinning from ear to ear. She had never felt this way about someone before.

Neil Perry was like no other.