It begins like all the others.
Same air. Same silence. Same almost.
Ezra is already there — like always. Not standing too close. Not far enough to be gone either. Just... present. Steady. Familiar. Like the low hum of a song you never meant to memorize.
He crouches beside me as I check my crate. No invitation. No explanation. Just a quiet sort of helping. Like this is what we do now. Like it's always been this way.
And maybe, in a way, it has.
There's something soothing in our silence. A rhythm we fall into without trying. No glances. No smiles. Just presence.
Until the spell breaks.
Laughter erupts from across the room.
"Happy birthday!"
Voices echo — bright, loud, full of cheer. The mood shifts instantly. That soft quiet between us shatters like glass.
I freeze.
Birthday?
I hadn't known.And for a second, I think about saying nothing.
But I look at him.
He hasn't moved, hasn't turned toward the noise. Just stayed beside me, hands still, eyes steady.
Except — there it is. The smallest smile. Polite. Brief.
Like he doesn't quite know what to do with the attention.
Maybe he's shy.Maybe he just doesn't like being the center of things.I couldn't tell.
Still, something about the way he stays there — beside me — makes me change my mind.
I glanced up at him, playing it cool."Happy birthday," I said.
His gaze flicks to mine. Just for a moment.
"How old are you?" I ask, casually.
He shrugs, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
"Not that grown yet." he says.
I raised an eyebrow."How old is not that grown?"
"Twenty-one," he replied.
I gave him a look."You call that not grown?"
He smiled again — a little more this time.
I tilted my head, teasing,"So... where are my sweets?"
He shook his head gently."I don't really celebrate my birthday."
"Why not?" I asked.
His voice dropped just a bit."I just don't like to."
And that was it.
No explanation. No story.
Just something about him — folded neatly behind a quiet wall.
But still… he stayed. While everyone else pulled him into the noise, he stayed there, beside me.
And maybe that meant something.
Maybe we weren't just proximity anymore.Maybe we were starting to become real.
And I hadn't realized how badly I wanted that —until I had it.