I throw the ping pong ball across the table and grin when it falls into the final cup. Liam cheers, clapping me on the back as one of the two guys on the other side of the table lift the cup and drink its contents. When he puts it down again, he gives us a reluctant smile. "Good game." He holds out his hand and I meet it with mine, giving it a firm shake.

"You too." Liam and I say our goodbyes before heading out of the kitchen after grabbing a fresh bottle of beer each.

Liam sighs dramatically, "We make a good team, brother."

I raise an eyebrow at him, despite my lips pulling up into a smile, "We won a single game of beer pong."

He huffs, "Don't spoil my fun."

I chuckle, my eyes scanning the crowd of people dancing as we walk into the living room. Digging my phone out of my pocket, I check the time and see that it's nearing midnight. I shove my phone back in my pocket before searching the crowd again. Without even realising it, I'm looking for her.

I quickly pick her out of the crowd of people dancing. How can I not when she's looking so dámn gorgeous in that glittery black dress? She's practically glowing.

Making my way towards her, I take my time looking her over while she isn't looking. That dress fits every curve of her body to perfection. She looks like a dream. Maybe that's because she is my dream. But I know she's one dream I will never quite catch. She will never feel the same.

That doesn't mean I can't admire how beautiful she is though.

Suddenly, our gazes lock and I'm staring into those gorgeous green eyes once again. Her pink, glossy lips slowly pull up in a smile and I can't stop myself from smiling back. Her smile only widens when she sees mine. And that makes me smile more. It's a never ending cycle.

When I come to a stop in front of Layla, she immediately moves forward and curls her arms around my waist. She looks up at me innocently, those bright emerald eyes framed by her long, dark lashes. "Hey, Reecey." She greets me, leaning up further so I can hear her over the music. I don't mind one bit.

I place my hands on her back, locking them together behind her as I lean down so that I'm speaking into her ear. "Hi, Sunshine."

"How long until midnight?" She asks me, eyes wide with excitement.

"Ten minutes," I say, remembering the time I just read on my phone a second ago.

She squeals, grabbing one of my hands and starting to drag me through the crowd, "Let's go find Ethan and the others!"

Layla drags me through the mass of bodies dancing all over each other. I look down at my hand that she's holding and hesitate a second before lacing our fingers together. Looking back up to her, I catch her glancing back at me with a smile which I return.

We soon find Liam, Anna, Amanda, Mark and Ethan and by then, the countdown has started. It starts with someone calling out that there's one minute left and everyone cheers. Then when the song that's playing comes to an end soon after, Feel So Close by Calvin Harris starts playing. The music gets turned down a little when it gets to thirty seconds and everyone starts counting.

We all stand together in a group, Layla still holding onto my hand and now standing just in front of me.

25... 24... 23...

She turns around and looks up at me, grinning before squeezing my hand in hers gently.

20... 19... 18...

"Are you ready?" She asks me, moving impossibly closer so that I can hear her over the music and everyone shouting.

"Guess I have to be," I reply, smiling softly down at her.

13... 12... 11...

It suddenly dawns on me that this is a whole new year. A whole 365 days. So much can happen in that time.

8... 7... 6...

I look down at the beautiful girl in front of me and my heart starts beating faster automatically.

3... 2... 1...

I know that I want to spend that time with her.

"Happy New Year!" Everyone shouts at once, cheering as the music gets turned up again, the beat dropping loudly.

I look around and see couples all over the place kissing. Amanda and Mark are kissing. I avoid looking at Anna and Liam because I know they will be as well and I don't need to see that.

My gaze moves once again to Layla, just in time before she launches herself at me, her arms hooking around my neck. I grin, my arms wrapping around her waist to return the hug. I stand up to my full height, holding her slightly off the ground. Burying my face in the crook of her neck, I murmur, "Happy new year, Sunshine."

I pull my head back slightly to look at her face, watching her grin. She leans forward and kisses my cheek softly before murmuring, "Happy new year, Reecey."

~

"Reece," A soft, angelic voice murmurs in my ear, breaking through my sleep. She repeats my name a few times, the sound trying to draw me out of my sleep.

I half-heartedly reach out, trying to find her. When my hand latches onto a warm, smooth surface, I move my hand across, realising it's her waist. My hand has slipped under the hoodie she's wearing. I slide my hand around to her back and pull her towards me. I relish in the giggle that I get in return.

"Reecey," She murmurs, right next to my ear this time, her warm breath on my neck sending shivers down my spine. "Wake up birthday boy," She sings gently, her hand finding its way to my hair and gently running her fingers through it. Her nails trail down my scalp to the nape of my neck, right down to the top of my t-shirt, giving me goosebumps.

Then her words register in my mind. Birthday. It's my birthday today.

I slowly lift my head up so that I can look down at Layla. When our eyes lock, she sends me a breath-taking smile. "Happy birthday, Reecey," She whispers, leaning forward to press a kiss to my cheek.

A goofy grin spreads across my face and my eyes fall closed as she pulls away. "Thanks, Sunshine," I grumble, reaching a hand up to rub my tired eyes.

She giggles softly, "You're old now."

I scoff, "I'm only two months older than you, genius."

"And three days," She adds, sitting up properly in bed. I sit up as well so that I'm facing her.

I roll my eyes, reluctantly getting out of bed and standing up. I raise my arms above my head and stretch out my limbs as I yawn. Turning to Layla, I see that she's now standing in front of her closet, deciding what to wear. She turns to me, holding up two different shirts. "Green or red?"

I glance at the two items in her hands before meeting her bright emerald-eyed stare, "Green."

She grins, "Thanks, Reecey. I'll change in the bathroom, you can change in here," She then leaves and heads to the bathroom.

I walked over to my suitcase and grabbed a grey Levi's hoodie and some black jeans as well as my denim jack. I brought my suitcase into Layla's room a couple days ago as it seems the sleeping arrangements have changed. I have no problems with this change. I get dressed and put my converse on over a fresh pair of socks.

Not long after I finish changing, Layla comes back into the room, looking beautiful as always. She's now wearing the green shirt that I chose with some blue jeans and some white sneakers.

Fúcking gorgeous as usual.

She gasps dramatically when she sees me, "I didn't know you could wear more than one item that wasn't black at once!"

I roll my eyes, walking past her to go to the bathroom, "Ha ha, very funny."

The soft sound of her giggles follow me into the bathroom and I can't help but smile. She's so fúcking perfect. I quickly go to the toilet and brush my teeth before attempting to make my hair look somewhat decent. Once it finally looks intentionally messy instead of 'I rolled out of bed with this birds nest' messy, I head back into Layla's room.

She's now sitting at her dresser, applying blush to her cheeks. She always looks so dámn adorable when she does that. The faces she makes are fúcking cute. Once she's finished, she turns to me with a smile. I notice that her hair is now brushed out and half of it is pulled back from her face. She's also wearing that black stuff on her eyelashes, making her eyes look even bigger and lip gloss or lipstick or whatever it is that makes her lips look so fúcking kissable.

Layla stands up and walks towards me, smiling, "You ready?"

I nod in confirmation and she grins, slipping her hand into mine to pull me behind her into the living room. And fúck, I never want to let her go.

~

Laura makes us all pancakes for breakfast this morning and as everyone wakes up they slowly trickle into the room, saying happy birthday to me. Is it just me, or do birthdays not really seem that special anymore? Like, yeah, I'm a year older... but in no time I'll be another year older again. It all goes by way too fast and I can't keep up.

After breakfast, I call the rest of my family back home. I'm missing them a lot, but I'm also so glad that I'm here. There's nowhere I'd rather be on my birthday than with Layla. I then open some presents after that call. Anna got me two new hoodies, but I know they aren't just for me. She knows all too well that they'll probably be going to Layla.

And I know that's a thing boyfriends do, not best friends, but... I can't bring myself to care. She likes wearing them and I like her wearing them, so I'm going to keep giving them to her.

Amanda and Mark got me a new pair of sunglasses which I'm super happy about because I lost my old pair a while ago. Liam got me tickets to go see a boxing match with him and Mark next month. I told him that I was interested in going a while ago and now I'm super excited to go.

Now, I'm in Layla's room. She pulled me in here after I opened my presents. She's already given me my present from her. It's a new black leather wallet. I've been needing a new one for a while, but I didn't think she noticed. Who am I kidding? Of course she did. She's perfect.

I'm now sitting on Layla's bed as I watch her grab her guitar before she moves to sit next to me on the bed. She clears her throat and looks up at me. For some reason she seems nervous.

"I wrote you a song," She tells me, holding eye contact to gauge my reaction.

My eyes widen slightly and my heart stutters, "Really?"

She nods, a small smile slipping onto her lips, "Yeah. I really missed you while you were gone, so I wrote a song. Um, I only just finished it, so it's not the best, but-"

"Sunshine," I cut her off softly, smiling down at her, "I know I'll love it."

She lets out a small sigh and nods, "Okay, here goes," She takes in a deep breath before strumming the first chords on her guitar. Then, she starts singing.

"I miss those blue eyes

How you hold me at night

I miss the way we sleep

Like there's no sunrise

Like the sight of your smile

I miss the way we breathe

But I never told you

What I should have said

No, I never told you

I just held it in

And now,

I miss everything about you

Can't believe that I still want you

And after all the things we've been through

I miss everything about you

Without you, oh

I see your blue eyes

Every time I close mine

You make it hard to see

Where I belong to

When I'm not around you

It's like I'm not with me

But I never told you

What I should have said

No, I never told you

I just held it in

And now,

I miss everything about you

Can't believe that I still want you

And after all the things we've been through

I miss everything about you

Without you

But I never told you

What I should have said

No, I never told you

I just held it in

And now,

I miss everything about you

Can't believe that I still want you

And after all the things we've been through

I miss everything about you

Without you,"

She strums the final chords on the guitar, letting the last note hang in the air between us while I sit there, staring at her in awe. After a moment, I shake myself out of my stupor and whisper, "Has anyone ever told you how incredible you are?"

I watch her cheeks flame with a blush and find pride blooming in my chest at the fact that I caused it. She sets her guitar down beside her before moving her gaze to her hands which are resting in her lap. "Thank you, Reece."

Deciding to take a risk, I lean forward and reach up, sliding my hand along her jaw to cup her cheek. I hear her breath hitch as her eyes dart up to meet my gaze. Her green eyes are shining brightly as she looks at me. God, she looks so beautiful. "I mean it." I whisper, my gaze dropping down to her lips briefly before I force my eyes back up to hers.

Slowly, she leans forward and up slightly to press a soft kiss to my cheek. Her lips linger there for a moment before she pulls back slowly. She gazes up into my eyes with that gorgeous smile on her face and says, "Happy birthday, Reecey."

And man, do I feel like the luckiest guy on earth.