chaoticbi-cheesecake

Tess

A fragile slice of cheesecake that's in a lot of fandoms.

499 posts

The Birthday Thing (Hournite)

Summary: It's Rick's birthday and Beth makes sure it's a great one.

Warnings: none

Category: Fluff

See notes at the end:)

Light flooded Rick's room. He groaned, angry at himself for forgetting to shut his blinds after coming back from patrol the night before. Pulling his blanket up over his head he hoped he could fall back into slumber, but had no such luck.

He rubbed his eyes, seeing his alarm was going to ring anyway and stood up from his bed, he went and grabbed his clothes before heading to shower.

He looked at himself in the bathroom mirror and took not of the large purple circles under his eyes from the lack of sleep. With hair disheveled and greasey, he turned the water on to hot and washed away the traces of last night's patrol.

When he returned to his room, he grabbed his phone from it's place charging on his nightstand. He looked at the date and realized, it was his birthday.

His first birthday since he found out the truth about his parents. His first birthday since he joined the JSA. His first birthday since he and Beth had gotten close.

He didn't even have time to process when he saw a text from Beth reading,

'Happy Birthday, Rick!!!🎉🎉🎉'

He smiled, because of course Beth would remember his own birthday before he did. He could just imagine the bright smile on her face as she typed away at her keypad, probably with goggles hanging around her neck.

He peeked out the window to see if his uncle's truck was out in the yard. It wasn't. That was probably for the better, seeing as the best birthday present he could possibly imagine was crushing it under his fist like the first time.

He glanced at the clock and saw it was almost time for him to leave. Grabbing his backpack, Rick left his house and began his walk to school. It was slow walk, fog had settled over the road giving the path a spooky yet calming atmospher.

Rick had thought a lot about what today meant. He didn't feel any older, or smarter. He compared this birthday to his last birthday. Before, he felt alone on his birthdays. His uncle wasn't around long and it's not like he had friends.

Though, the year before, Beth had noticed something was off about him at lunch. When she asked him about it, he was surprised that she had spoke to him, let alone noticed he was in more of a mood than usual. But that was Beth after all, observant as hell.

He had almost snapped at her when she asked, knowing it was none of her business, but when he looked up at her face, the real concern drawn over it made him rethink it.

'I'm not really loving my birthday this year.' he explained as honestly as he could without spilling the whole truth.

'Oh, why didn't you say so earlier?' Beth exclaimed before digging a hand into her bag and pulling out a small plastic box full of brownies.

Rick's eyes widened.

'Do you just have sweets at the ready for all occasions?' He asked as monotone as possible.

She nodded her head brightly.

'Yeah, pretty much.' she stated and slid the container over the him.

He picked one cautiously and took a bite. He swore to himself he would never admit how good they were out loud.

'Thanks.' He nodded gratefully before the two fell back into silence once more.

Rick's thoughts came to a halt when he saw the tree. The one where his parents were murdered, the one he punched down when he first got his powers.

He crouched down, gently running his fingers over the bark. Tracing the hourglass figure he had carved wood.

"Some birthday," he muttered bitterly, as if they could hear him.

He stood and continued his walk, finally making it to school with only five minutes before the bell rang. As he entered the building he was immediately tackled in a hug.

He knew it was Beth right away, her arms snuggly wrapped around his torso as she buried her face in his chest. She let go after a moment and beamed up at him,

"Happy Birthday!"

"How are you so energetic," He asked before dropping his voice low. "We patrolled till what, three in the morning?"

"Oh, I didn't go to sleep last night. I'm certain it will come back to bite me in a few hours. Anyway, I have something for you." she grabbed something out of her bag and handed it to him. It was a container of brownies, much like the ones from the year prior.

"They're the same recipe as last year, and..." she grinned before taking out two cards from her folder.

One was store bought and had in bright letters,

'HAPPY BIRTHDAY!'

"This one is from Court, Yolanda, and Pat." she gave it to him before extending out another card, stuck in a a closed envelope which read on the back,

Rick

In loopy letters.

"And this one's from me. Don't open it until after training though." she instructed.

He nodded happily before opening the box of brownies and taking a large bite. They were just as good as they were before. But this time they were still warm.

"Beth, did you stay up all night because you decided to make me brownies?"

"No. I stayed up all night because I had a ton of homework to do. And because I decided to make you brownies."

"You didn't have to do that."

"I am very aware. But I really wanted to, and either way, by the time I was done with my homework, I only had a couple hours until I had to wake up. It seemed like a good idea to me."

He smiled widely, he couldn't remember a time anyone had ever done so much for him.

"Thank you." he said.

"Anytime." she smiled playfully.

He opened his mouth to say more when her heard two voices behind his yell,

"Happy birthday."

Rick turned to see Courtney and Yolanda smiling.

"Thanks guys."

"I'm just really glad we made it in time. Traffic was crazy this morning." Courtney said.

"Did you guys drive here together?" Rick questioned.

"Umm-umm, we did," Yolanda stuttered out. "You know, carpool is good for the environment and all tha-"

"Is that your shirt from yesterday?" Beth asked innocently.

"Is that the bell?" Yolanda prompted. Then a loud beep confirmed her statement. "It is, see you guys at lunch, bye. Happy Birthday, Rick." she spoke loudly as she dragged Courtney with her. The blonde waved sweetly before turning back to Yolanda and rushing across the hall.

Beth giggled.

Rick thought it was the most amazing sound in the world.

"They're getting really bad at excuses. But the carpool thing might not be all that bad of an idea." the girl thought aloud. "Okay, well I'm going to head to class, see you at lunch."

"See you."

Beth squeezed his had once before pulling away and walking off to class. Rick stood frozen, absolutely certain he looked like a love struck idiot in the middle of the hallway, but he didn't care.

The day dragged by slower than usual and lunch came as a relief to Rick who had been dozing of in every class he had been to.

When he walked into the cafeteria, he realized he wasn't the only one that was exhausted. Courtney had her head on the table, hair covering her face. Yolanda was leaning on her, blinking rapidly in an attempt at staying awake. Even Beth, who had seemed quite energetic in the morning, had her chin in her hand, eyes closed.

"You too?" Rick asked the group.

"End my suffering." Yolanda muttered against Courtney's hair.

"We should really invest in 5 hour energy." Beth declared sleepily.

"Or cocaine." came a muffled reply from Courtney.

"Yeah, that too." Yolanda agreed yawning.

"Maybe we should just skip training today." Rick propositioned.

"No, we have to get used to the exhaustion. It's apart of superhero life." Beth pointed out.

"Shhh." Courtney said. "Secret identity remember?"

"Sorry," Beth mumbled as her face slipped lower and lower down her arm.

"But what about homework. How can we do that and spend all night out?" Yolanda questioned, now buried in Courtney's blonde locks.

"Chuck knows all." was Beth's only reply.

"Are we all just going to fall asleep at this table right now?" Rick questioned seriously.

"Mmhm." Yolanda hummed

Rick shrugged, pretty okay with that option. He rested his head against the cool table and let sleep overtake him.

And there they were. The new JSA sleeping in the noisy school cafeteria.

Fifty minutes wasn't enough to make up for their long night, but it was better than nothing. When the bell rang for lunch to end, the group awoke. They said their goodbyes and parted ways until they could go to training.

The school day couldn't end fast enough in Rick's opinion. As soon as the bell rang, he flung out of his seat and walked to the front were he was met by a much more energized group of girls.

"You guys look better." he teased.

"Yeah, we got an extra hour in history. There was a sub and a video." Yolanda informed gesturing between herself and Courtney.

"Same here. I just slept and asked Chuck to record the whole thing." Beth smiled.

"Good for you guys. Pat's picking us up right?" Rick asked.

"Yeah, we might even pick up some pizza for your birthday." Courtney confirmed.

"Thanks." Rick said, surprised they were still going on about his birthday.

They saw Pat roll around into the parking lot. The man waved at the four teens.

Rick leaned over to Beth and asked slowly,

"Do you think he realizes he unintentionally adopted us?"

Beth smiled up at him.

"Do you really still think it was unintentional?"

"Fair." Rick nodded.

They entered Pat's car. Courtney sitting upfront while the rest sat in the back. Rick was seated between Beth and Yolanda.

"Happy Birthday, kid." was the first thing Rick heard as he got in.

"Thanks, Pat."

"I already dropped Mike off at home so we have extra time for training today. Unless you all want to get pizza first?" Pat swiveled his head to the back.

"What kind of a question is that. We always want pizza." Courtney spoke for the group.

They all nodded in agreement.

"Alright then, pizza it is."

Beth rested her head against Rick. He relished in the comfort of her body against his and sighed in content.

Courtney heard this and moved her head to look at the two.

Rick caught her eye and narrowed his eyes in confusion. She wiggled her eyebrows as she eyed the two.

Rick's jaw clenched and he glanced down to Beth, who's eyes were closed. The sun that came through the car window cascaded across her face and gave her an angelic glow.

His features softened as he took in her appearance. He knew Courtney was right in her teasing gaze, but he still did not crack.

He tore his eyes away from Beth and back to Courtney. He pointed at her before turning his hand on himself and drawing a line against his throat in a threatening manner.

The blonde simply rolled her eyes and shook her head, turning her gaze back to look at the road.

Rick allowed himself to lean against Beth and relax his body. His hand fell and it landed right against Beth's. The boy froze, unsure of what her reaction would be. He was relieved and ecstatic when she intertwined their fingers together.

Her eyes were still closed and a small smile played on her features.

After they got pizza and pulled into the garage, the teens got out of the car one by one and stood outside the door to their training room.

Pat got his keys and unlocked the door. Rick was shocked by what he saw.

The room was decorated, there was a table of snacks and a cake in the center of the room. Above that was a large banner that read

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY" in colorful letters.

"Wha-" Rick could barely spit out before everyone in the room yelled,

"Surprise!"

"What is all this?" he asked dumbfounded.

"It's your birthday party." Courtney stated like it should was the most obvious thing in the universe.

"You guys did all this for me," he asked softly as he looked around the room in awe.

"Well, most of it was Beth's idea. But Pat got all the snacks and the cake. The cosmic staff helped us decorate. " she explained.

"It was kinda hard not telling you all day. I'm surprised Beth didn't crack." Yolanda admitted.

"Honestly, the exhaustion made it slip my mind for almost three hours." Beth said and smiled sheepishly.

"This is," Rick searched for the right words. "the best thing anyone has done for me. I don't think there's anything better than this."

"I will take that as a challenge." Beth warned.

The boy smiled down at her.

"Okay you guys, have your fun. There's water and punch at the end of the table. But remember, we are having training tomorrow, so don't have too much fun." Pat chided.

"Okay, thanks Pat." Courtney said before pulling Yolanda to the snack table, leaving Rick and Beth alone.

"So, all of this," Rick gestured to the decorate room. "Was your idea?"

"Well, the concept of birthday parties aren't very new." Beth tried downplaying, but at the look on Rick's face she cracked. "Yeah. A lot of it was my idea. Though, Court did bring up the option of keeping it a surprise, pretend we forget your birthday or something, but I never was a fan of that. So we just settled on not telling you about the party."

"This is pretty awesome. You know, I honestly think this is the nicest thing someone's done for me since my parents...you know." Rick trailed off.

Beth grabbed his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze before pulling the teen in for a hug. He gladly accepted and wrapped his arms tightly around the smaller girl's frame.

"Thank you," he mumbled against her hair.

"Anytime. Now come on, its pizza time." she grinned and pulled away from his warm embrace. He frowned at the loss of contact but followed her to the table anyway.

For the next hour the two talked, laughed, sometime in between Courtney and Yolanda joined the two with glittery party hats on their head.

Beth giggled and happily put one over her head. Then the three girls turned and looked at him expectantly.

"Nope. No thank you."

"Come on. It's your party and you're going to be the only one not wearing a hat." Courtney tried.

Rick shook his head.

Beth grabbed his hand with both of hers and gave him a pleading look.

"C'mon please." she begged.

They got him. Rick couldn't say no to her.

He hung his head low.

"Crown me." he said in defeat.

Beth grabbed a hat and put it on his head. Pulling the strings over his face and tucked them behind his ears.

He looked at her and took in the close proximity of their faces. Her hands remained on his cheeks for a bit longer than normal before she pulled away when Courtney coughed.

"Cake?" she proposed.

"Oooh, yes." Beth cheered. "Let's go sing 'Happy Birthday' and blow out candles."

The teens walked over to the center of the table where the cake was. Courtney gestured Pat over from where he was tightening a screw on his STRIPE robot. The man stood and made his way to the group.

Pat grabbed a box of matches and lit the candles stuck in the cake. The group sang Rick 'Happy Birthday'. Beth told the boy to make a wish.

Rick closed his eyes and focused on his wish. He blew out the candles.

The teens clapped and hollered out a string of 'whoops' and 'happy birthday's.

"What'd you wish for?" Courtney asked.

"You can't ask that. If he tells you, the wish won't come true." Beth warned.

Courtney raised her hands in surrender before grabbing a plastic knife off the table and slicing the cake. She served Rick first before grabbing slices for herself and Yolanda. The two girls walked off yet again leaving behind Beth and Rick.

"What do you think they do when they leave us alone?" Beth wondered aloud.

"Not sure. Talk maybe. Plot world domination?"

"I thought it was our job to stop that from happening?"

"Oh yeah. That's true." Rick chided playfully, earning a small giggle from Beth.

"Thanks for the party." He said as he took a bit of cake.

"You already said that." Beth smiled.

"And I'll say it again. Thank you, Beth Chapel for the best birthday ever," he thanked once more before grabbing both her hands with his own. "I have no idea what I'd do without you."

The girl simply rolled her eyes teasingly, not believing she was worth all the praise. But the look in Rick's eyes made her feel like the most important person in the world.

They talked for the rest of the party. Debated about classes, superhero names, and everything in between.

They had such a good time they didn't even realize it had gotten dark until Pat tapped them on the shoulders.

"Hey kids, it's getting dark. I should probably be taking you home."

Beth frowned knowing she'd have to stop talking to Rick but quickly replaced it with a polite smile.

"Alright Mr. Dugan, let's get everything cleaned up."

The man nodded and went to the table, beginning to clear out the empty bowls of chips and candy.

"I probably shouldn't take the cake home. My uncle probably won't be too happy about it." Rick stated

"We can leave it here in the mini fridge. Eat it after training tomorrow. Right Mr. Dugan?" Beth called.

"Sure thing."

"See, probably solved."

"Okay then," Rick said.

The four teens helped clean the table and soon the training room looked just as it had before the party took place.

They walked outside and to the sidewalk where Pat's car was parked.

Courtney and Yolanda got in while Beth stood with Rick.

"I think I'm just gonna walk," he told Pat.

"Okay, stay safe kiddo." Pat instructed. "Beth?"

"Gimme a minute, please." she said as she moved closer to Rick.

She turned to him and lowered her voice so the others didn't hear her.

"I had a lot of fun tonight." she smiled.

"Me too, all thanks to you."

"I'm really glad I met you." Beth confessed.

"I'm really glad I met you." Rick laughed. "What's with all the seriousness?"

"I just know it's not easy. Spending so many birthdays alone. But I just want you to know that as long as I'm around, you'll never have to spend your birthdays alone ever again."

Rick had no idea what to say to that. He wore a shocked expression before shaking it off and grabbing her face in his hands gently.

He leaned down and kissed her forehead before resting his own forehead against hers.

Rick could've stayed like that forever and he'd be the happiest guy alive, but Beth pulled away.

"I'm gonna go. I'll see you at school tomorrow. Happy birthday." she waved as she got into the car.

He waved back before turning around and walking all the way home with the widest grin on his face.

Once he got home, he was relieved to see his uncle passed out on the couch.

Rick made his way to his room and fell onto the bed. He tossed his backpack to the side of his room and rested on the bed.

His eyes snapped open when he remembered the card Beth gave him that morning. He scrambled off the bed and shuffled through his bag until he found the envelope with his name on it.

He carefully opened it and took out the card inside.

It looked to be handmade and the cover was decorated with hand drawn balloons outlined in glitter.

The cover had the words,

'Happy Birthday, Rick' on the front and right below in the bottom corner were Beth's initials.

He opened the card and read the words inside.

Dear Rick,

It's your birthday. Yay! I hope you've had an amazing day and I really hope I was one of the reasons for it.

I know the past years have been tough for you and birthdays might not be your favorite memories but I promise, as long as I live I will make sure that every day you will have good memories. Cause you deserve them.

If I could choose one person to spend the rest of my life making happy, it would be you. You are the greatest person and you absolutely deserve the world and I will make sure you get it.

If you listened to me and read this after training like I told you, I hope you liked the party. If not, you just ruined your own suprise.

Anyway, I hope you've had a very happy birthday. Best wishes and lots of love.

-Beth

Rick looked at the card, smiling ear to ear at Beth's sweet note. He would never get tired of her antics. He moved back to his bed card still in hand. The teen held it close to his chest.

The last thought on his mind before he slipped into his dreams,

"I'd do anything for Beth Chapel."

The Birthday Thing (Hournite)

More Posts from Chaoticbi-cheesecake