"?" neil asked cautiously, watching all of his friends stuff the trash from his party into a black trash bag. him and amélie watched from afar, beginning to walk down the path leading out.

"neil, it's your birthday." todd scoffed. everyone else but marianne agreed, who just simply gave amé a cold stare.

"amélie, you will owe me." she groaned, disgusted at every piece of trash she picked up. she recoiled everytime she got too close to the garbage bag.

"i'm sorry i'm not staying to help. me and neil have other things to do." amélie's cheeks grew rosy, a guilty smile on her face.

"don't apologize, you've already helped us out enough. it's the only way we can repay you!" knox waved them off.

"okay, come on, before it gets dark." neil whispered, interlocking his arm with amé's.

"ok, bye everyone. see you tomorrow marianne." amélie fell instantly into neil's touch, beginning to walk away with him through the forest.

"what's tomorrow?" he asked, lowering his voice. amélie's response came out quickly and panicked.

"shopping." she laughed nervously, as to not reveal her and marianne's secret. well, it wasn't exactly a secret, but she wanted to surprise neil. if he did even end up asking her to the sadie's.

neil hummed, reading amélie's face with suspicion. "sounds fun." he exhaled.

"yeah. it's a girls thing, you know?" amé smiled, glad she had just gotten away with a little white lie.

"oh, no i get it." neil nodded in agreement. he followed behind amélie as she led the way to her house.

"ok, just wanted to make sure." she quietly said. the only sound after that was the sound of their shoes crunching against the snow.

they finally walked up to amélie's house, neil stunned at how average looking it was compared to the other houses in their neighborhood. "thanks for inviting me over." he quickly said. it was so cold he could see his breath as he spoke. amé unlocked the door quickly, the warmth hitting them as they scurried inside.

"yeah. dad's not home, so we'll have no interruptions." she carefully took her boots off, shaking the snow off of them. neil did the same, hanging his big coat on one of the pegs on the wall.

"no interruptions you say?" he grinned. amélie knew what he meant, and quickly regretted her choice of words.

"shut up." she managed, flustered. her face was burning red. neil chuckled and followed her to her living room.

"thanks for setting up that party for me." he added.

"i didn't set it up." amélie mumbled. neil raised his eyebrows with suspicion.

"how'd knox know i liked buddy holly?" he questioned, amé's lips growing into a giant grin.

"everyone likes buddy holly." she defended. she clutched her last gift in her arms, anxious to give it to neil.

"right."

she held out the blue wrapped present out to neil. she couldn't stop from blushing uncontrollably. "open your gift quickly. get it over with."

"okay, okay." neil chuckled, taking the present from her. he tore away the paper, revealing a black notebook covered in stickers.

he opened up the book, flipping through all the pages in disbelief. poems lined every page. "is this.. is this your notebook?"

"yeah." amélie managed. she'd never opened up to someone about her writing this much."not all are mine." she continued, watching neil's eyes move from the book to interlocking with hers.

"i love it. thank you." he softly smiled, pulling amé into a tight hug. she kissed him lightly as they both pulled away.

"i'm exhausted." neil yawned, looking for somewhere to sit down.

"come see my room then." amé shrugged. she wanted to take advantage of being home alone.

"amé, i'm not sure if i can sleepover or anything like that." neil trailed off with nervousness. he knew how strict her dad was.

"my dad won't be home." she quietly said, shutting down neil's thoughts about him coming home.

"what about my parents?" he quickly asked again.

amélie rolled her eyes. "they won't care either. just tell them you were out late partying with the boys and slept over at charlie's, or knox's."

"i suppose that'd be believable." neil sighed. amé took his hand and pulled him upstairs. once they got to her bedroom neil collapsed onto her bed beside her.

"i feel like i keep saying this, and thanking everybody, but thank you for making today so great." he hummed. he'd been smiling and thanking everyone all day. it was the happiest anyone had seen him.

"i get it neil. you're welcome for the millionth time." amélie laughed at how thankful he was. she understood because she'd never experienced something like that in her entire life either.

"no one's ever cared this much. not even my family, all i get are a few lousy cards stuffed with cash." neil continued.

"yeah me too, so i just like to make others feel special on their birthdays." amé pulled him into a hug. she pulled the covers over top of them.

"thank you." he whispered, making amélie laugh.

"stop thanking me." she whispered back, a small smile appearing on neil's face as he placed his head on her shoulder. they peacefully drifted off together, in awe of how much they liked each other.

——————-

amélie was woken by a shrill ringing noise. she groggily got up, trying her hardest not to wake neil, and went to answer the phone in her kitchen.

"amélie, me and charlie are just pulling up." marianne said, before amé could even ask who she was talking to.

"what?" she had completely forgotten about her plans.

"we're going dress shopping, remember?" marianne pressed her lips together impatiently.

"i'll be there in a minute." amélie quickly said, slamming the phone down and running to her room.

"neil, wake up!" she loudly hissed, shaking the boy in her bed. he slowly opened his eyes.

"what?" he asked, moving his hand to shield his eyes from the sun. he lazily got up to lie on his side, watching amélie pace around the room.

"marianne's here to pick me up. i need to get dressed." she quickly said. she knew marianne would be mad if she canceled their plans again, so she really had to rush to get ready.

"i can't stay in here and watch?" neil smirked, rolling out of bed and placing a hand on the doorknob.

"no! get out now." amé groaned, heading to her closer to grab clothes once neil left.

she grabbed whatever presentable items she could find, and quickly formed an outfit with them. she brushed her hair thoroughly, almost pulling out some by how anxious she was. she almost had enough time for make up until she heard the doorbell ring.

she rushed to get it but was too late.

"well hello neil, is amélie here?" marianne asked with a smirk, surprised to see neil answering the door.

"yup, she's just changing." he replied, pointing to amé, who was struggling to pull her shoes on.

"yeah, hi mari." she attempted to wave. once she got her shoes on she ran to the door.

"hi amé." marianne raised her eyebrows. amélie simply shrugged, but couldn't contain her smile.

neil saw the two girls exchanging looks and couldn't help but chuckle. "i hope you guys have fun."

amélie followed behind marianne to charlie's car. "lock all the doors when you leave." she turned back to neil, whispering.

"i will." he smiled and nodded.

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A/N: hi guys!! i'm so sorry that this is kind of a short chapter. i've been really unmotivated to write lately and have just not gotten around to it. i have the next few chapters planned so please be patient with me, thank you to all the people supporting my book by voting, leaving comments and adding to their lists, i really appreciate it and love y'all so much ❤️