𝐋𝐀𝐑𝐀'𝐒 𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐁𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐇𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐆𝐀𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐄 ( accepting ) : “You’re lucky I didn’t jump out of a cake.” for @gunsway
𝐋𝐀𝐑𝐀 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐊𝐄, rolling her eyes as hand strapped a party hat to her head. she knew this was coming and yet she still felt her cheeks flush at the ridiculousness of it all. ❝ i would honestly be surprised if you could jump at all. ❞ lara shot back with a sweet smile, earning a laugh and a high five from nathan. it was hard to not smile. not with a party hat on her head, and a candle-lit cake just waiting for her to blow out.
the non-synchronous choir rose as they sang her into a new year, not that lara was particularly concerned with her age ( at least, not now, when her shoulder didn’t smart or bruises took longer to recover. ) she knew sam’s heart was in the right place. they both come from lonely childhoods, ones where they had to forgo little luxuries like birthdays. of course, lara had roth, and he gave her all the love a girl could ever wish for. but it still wasn’t quiet the same, especially when her birthday was during school, and roth was mostly away. boarding schools didn’t provide the most warm celebrations.
but right here, right now, all she could feel is warmth. excitement as a piece of cake is passed around to each of the attendees, their ruckus disturbing couples nearby much to lara’s contentment. she’d prefer this to a hundred dates. over the cacophony and the constant motion, she caught sam’s eyes across the table. she mouthed silently, thank you. and watched him bow his head, those familiar crow’s feet around his eyes carving into his skin as he hid his smile and rolled one shoulder into a shrug. then the chaos returned.
