“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you…”

Brittany’s eyes opened blearily and she shifted, taking in her surroundings. Her back was pressed against someone’s chest- Riker’s, obviously, and his voice was the one in her ear singing. That part she figured out quickly; however, where they were lying was what she was confused about.

“Happy birthday dear Brittany, happy birthday to you.” Riker sang quietly and kissed her temple. “Hey, are you awake?”

“Mmm.” Brittany rotated slowly so she was facing him. He adjusted her glasses with a smile,

“Happy birthday.”

“Thanks. What time is it? Where-”

“Midnight, you fell asleep watching a movie.” He interrupted. She glanced up and realized they were curled together on the couch on the bus. Before she could respond, however, Riker spoke again. “You also have about .2 seconds to lie here peacefully.”

“What d’you-”

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRITTANY!”

Brittany jumped as the bus door burst open and several people jumped inside. Riker laughed and sat up, pulling her along with him.

“Were you asleep?! It’s your birthday! Wake up!” Ross pulled her up and practically tossed her into the swarm of people, and Brittany was immediately immersed in a group hug.

“Happy birthday almost twin!” Ellington screamed. Brittany flinched at the noise but smiled anyway,

“Thanks guys.” She backed up slowly, unsure of how she was supposed to respond to them. That only made all of them laugh and pull her back towards them.

“Come on, let’s go party!” Rocky tossed the bus door open and tugged everyone along with him out the door. Brittany looked back at Riker helplessly.

“I don’t know if I’m really in a party mood.”

“They’re definitely going to force you out there if we don’t follow.” He said, knowing his siblings well enough to predict their actions. She sighed,

“But I’m kind of tired?”

In reality, though she was tired, that wasn’t her main reason for not partying. It just felt weird and different; not that she was unappreciative, but she wasn’t used to celebrating as much as the Lynch family expected her to.

Riker, knowing what she was thinking, reached forwards and grabbed Brittany’s hand soothingly. “Hey, don’t worry. We’ll celebrate your birthday better later on, okay? We’re going out to dinner and we’ll walk around New York and it’ll be great.”

“Don’t worry about it, t’s fine, Riker, whatever we do is fine. Come on, I’ll be more awake if I go out there.”  She walked forwards, his words hardly affecting her; after several years of nothing, she had learned to expect little from her birthday. Riker knew this, and it bothered him greatly, so it was with a frown that he followed his girlfriend off the bus.

-

“I’m sorry again, I’m so sorry, we’ll get dinner after okay?” Riker frowned and grabbed Brittany’s hands in his. “I’m sorry.”

Things hadn’t gone as expected for them later that day. They hadn’t gone sightseeing, really, considering they only had a few hours before they had to go back for the concert. The little time they had had was spent with several freak outs over losing their damn guitars in New York. Therefore, they didn’t get to go spend the day in New York, and he felt like a horrible boyfriend even though he had already showered her in gifts. Brittany’s thumbs stroked over the back of his hands; she was clearly calmer than he was.

“For the millionth time, it’s okay. Getting to watch you be a rock star is enough for me. Now go.” She leaned up on her tippy toes and kissed his cheek quickly. Riker grinned down at her weakly.

“You’re the best.” He reminded her, then sped off to join his siblings in their huddle.

Throughout the show, Riker’s weak smile turned into a full blown genuine one. Not just because of his incredible fans (though they certainly contributed) but because he had almost forgotten the little surprise he had planned. He glanced over at side stage to check if his girl was still there, then nodded at Rocky. It was time.

As the last notes of Fallin’ For You died out, Riker stepped closer to his mic and waited for the crowd to calm down a bit. “Alright, we’re gonna do something a little different tonight.”

The fans indeed shut up at this, cocking their heads at Riker with curiosity and glancing back at the other band members for help. None of them spoke, but they were all smiling. Riker chuckled.

“I’m sure a lot of you know I have a girlfriend, right? Well, today is her birthday…” Riker paused here, letting the words sink in. A few fans were already starting to “awww” and cheer. “…So I’m gonna have to invite Brittany onto the stage right now.”

The crowd was cheering. After all, a lot of the fans did ship Briker, and they never really got much hate. Riker laughed, waiting for her to come up on stage. Which, however, she didn’t. He frowned and turned his head to find her rooted to the spot with her eyes widening.

“Come on, Britt, now’s not the time for stage fright!” He said into the mic jokingly. Riker slid his bass off and moved to the side, grabbing her hand and almost dragging her onto the stage.

“What’re you doing, no!” She said in a panicked voice. He only smiled and sat her down on a stool that Rydel had moved to the center of the stage.

“This is an older song, I think a few of you might recognize it. I’d like to dedicate it to Brittany. Love you, babe. Happy birthday.”

The first few notes of the piano had could barely be heard when the entire place erupted in screams of joy. Clearly everyone was happy with the song choice, and Riker could see in Brittany’s eyes that she was, too.

I don’t know what you’re up to, but baby I see me and you…

Riker circled the stool she was sat upon throughout the entire song, serenading her shamelessly and with an extreme amount of joy and pride. He did, occasionally, drift back to the audience to grab a few fans’ hands, but he found himself constantly hovering back to his girlfriend and singing his heart out to her.

I’ll be your guy, and you’ll be my girl

We’ll fly away to our perfect world…

Riker handed Brittany a pink balloon that Ross had pulled from out of nowhere, leaving the crowd to sing directly in front of her. He didn’t care in that moment, didn’t care that he was stood on a stage with hundreds of fans watching and not in the privacy of his house. It didn’t matter to him. What mattered was the fact that his beautiful girlfriend was sat before him with tears in her eyes. Happy tears, presumably, but tears nonetheless. Riker pulled Brittany to her feet and close to him, his free arm encircling around her waist as he sang the last line to her.

I’ll always hold you close, always.

The audience burst into loud applause, but Riker was entirely too busy with gently kissing her to really pay attention to them. Brittany pulled away first; she evidently remembered where they were and was looking a bit bashful. He only shrugged carelessly and turned to face the crowd again.

“Alright one, two three- HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRITTANY!”

The whole place screamed the last three words and the VIP section all moved simultaneously. Every single one of them had released a colorful balloon into the air, balloons that Brittany hadn’t even noticed earlier. The venue was alight with the balloons and cheering and the band’s laughter and mostly an overall feeling of love. She felt completely overwhelmed by it, but it was a good type of overwhelmed.

Noticing her happily shocked expression, Riker chuckled quietly and leaned down to speak in her ear where no one else could hear.