Troy.

I parked my car one block away from Lilah's house as I didn't want her to know that I was here. It might just ruin the surprise for her. I took out the small bag from my car as I locked it. I started walking away from my car.

The weather of Eastville was a little warmer than Frostdale. The sun wasn't shining bright but atleast they get to see a sun here. In Frostdale there are barely any sunshines.

My phone vibrated as I took it out of my jacket's pocket.

Don't you dare be late today. I read the text sent by none other than Jon.

I'll be there in two minutes. I replied as I put my phone back in my pocket.

Jon and I have been texting each other since my visit last week. And honestly she's a brat. But a nice one.

After walking for a while I finally reached my destination. I walked upto the house and was about to knock the door when the door opened and Jon appeared infront of me.

Seriously, this family has a knack of opening doors before the person knocks on it.

"Where the hell were you?" She almost yelled as she let me in.

"It's a two hour drive." I complained as I took off my jacket and hung it on the stand nearby.

"Well, you should've left earlier." She said.

"She's not here. Is she?" I asked.

"Well, not yet. But she'll be here any second." Jon replied as I followed her into the living room.

"Troy Maxwell." The girl who was arranging the balloons in ine corner said. "What are you doing here?" She said in her squeaky voice.

I don't know exactly who she is. But I have seen her with Lilah once or twice maybe.

"Yeah, what he's doing here?" Tim asked with a little frown on his face.

"I invited him." Jon replied.

"Why?" He asked.

"Because he's Del's friend." Jon said and he looked at me with a little surprise.

"Since when?" He asked and Jon shrugged.

"She's here." Lilah's mom ran inside the living room behind her was Lilah's father.

"Quick. Hide."Jon said as we quickly find spots to hide ourselves. I hid behind the couch where the brunette girl from before was hiding.

"Are you and Del dating?" She whispered.

"No." I answered bluntly.

"Oh." She smiled. "I'm Chloe by the way." She said with a huge smile on her face and I just nodded in reply.

"Shut up." I heard Jon's voice as the button clicked and the lights went off.

We heard the door open. "I'm home." Lilah said from the door as she closed. "Mom." She called as she walked in to the living room. She turned on the lights. And as she did that we jumped out of our places and said "Surprise." in unison.

She looked a little surprised at first but those expressions soon changed into an angry ones.

"Happy Birthday, honey." Her mom said as she walked towards her.

"I told you. I didn't want a birthday party." She said as she gritted her teeth.

"Honey, we just thought-"

"What? I think I was pretty clear when I said I don't want to celebrate my birthday." She said as she send glares her mother's way and then to Jon. It seemed like she knew Jon was the one who arranged it.

Then she looked towards us. Tim, me and Chloe. She sighed.

"I'm sorry you guys had to come all the way here. But there is no party so you can leave." She said as she walked out of the room towards the stairs.

Jon abruptly followed. "Okay. I've had enough of this crap." She yelled and Lilah stopped in her steps. Jon walked towards her. "We've been working for you for a whole week and this is how you respond to us."

"Well, I didn't ask you to do any of this. Actually I told you to not do any of this." Lilah yelled back.

"Do you actually think that we can see you like this, Del? I know it's hurting you and I know how much pain you feel. Del, I loved him too. He was like a big brother to me. And losing him wasn't easy for me either. But Del we have to accept the truth. He's gone. We can't bring him back. Flynn's dead." As soon as those words left Jon's mouth. Lilah slapped her face with such force that she almost lost balance.

"I hate you." She said as she ran upstairs.

Her mom was going to say something but Jon gestured her to not. She stood there for a moment and then turned to us with a smile. "Well that hurt." She said casually as she walked towards her. Her cheek was still red but she was smiling. "I'm sorry people. You had to see that. But since you guys came here because of me. I'd really insist to you to atleast eat the cake." She said as she walked back into the living room.

I feel bad. Not for Lilah but for Jon. She had been arranging this thing for a whole week. Just for one thing which was to see her sister happy. And what Lilah did was really wrong. She shouldn't have slap her. Jon didn't do any of this for her own satisfaction but for Lilah. And what really hurts me is seeing how Jon's putting up a strong firm front. She's just fifteen and with such patience.

"We can't cut the cake without the birthday girl." I said and everyone looked at me with surprise. I can't just let Lilah ruin this. Especialy when Jon put this much effort in it.

"Didn't you see how much upset she was?" Tim said and I shrugged.

"I did." I replied as I walked towards Jon. "Let me talk to her. I think I can convince her to come downstairs and celebrate with us." I said and Jon looked at me for a moment.

"Okay. But if you ended up with a hand print on your face too then it won't be my fault." Jon said and I smiled.

"Okay." I said.

"I don't think it's a great idea. We should leave her alone." Tim added.

"We should but I think right now she just needs a little push." I replied as I gave Jon a look. She simply gave me a smile.

Tim looked at me and then at Jon. "Fine." He said and went into the living room.

"Her room's the first one on the right." Jon said as I went upstairs.

I walked upto the door as I softly knocked on it. There was no reply from inside. I knocked again. "Lilah, it's me." I said and again no reply.

I stood there as I heard little sobs coming from inside. From the sound it was clead she was near the door. I sat down on the floor with my back against the door.

"Lilah, I know you're hurting and I also know it's not easy for you. But you can't just close the door and keep it all inside. You have to open the door and let people inside. Let them know how you feel so they can understand you better."

"What people?" She finally spoke up but that reply wasn't the one I was expecting from.

"Me. Your friends. Your parents. Your sister. All the people who have come today just for you." I replied.

"I didn't ask them to be here." She replied. Her voice was somewhat firm even though it was low.

"Do you think they can just leave you like this? They love you Lilah. They can't just sit back and watch you keep hurting like this. Think about it yourself if it was Flynn who was hurting would you just sit back and let him get hurt?"

I heard her sob louder this time. I didn't say anything for a moment and just let her be.

"Open the door please." I said as I stood up and face the door. I heard the clicking of the door and she opened it. She stood there with her face red and eyes swollen. I walked upto her and wrapped my arms around her. She rested her head on my shoulder and let a few sobs out.

"I am so sorry." She said as I softly kissed her head.

"You should apologize to your sister. Not me." I said as she pulled away from me.

"Yeah. You're right. I should talk to her." She said.

"Yes. You should but first." I cupped her face as I wiped away her tears with my thumbs. "Go inside. Wash your face and get dressed." I said and she nodded softly as she went inside and closed the door.

• • •

We were all sitting down in the living room as we waited for Lilah. Jon was showing me videos of her and her friends playing football and doing some tricks. She was asking me about how to improve and more tips about football. As we were talking she suddenly stopped and just smiled.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing. It's just.. talking to you really reminds me of Flynn." She replied.

"You were closed to him." I said.

"Oh verh much.." she let out a small laugh. "He was like a brother to me and always had my back. Whenever I get in trouble. He was the first person I would call. With Flynn I had someone to talk to and share my problems." She let out a sigh. "Now I just.. I just feel alone. Because it wasn't just Flynn that left. Del left with him too." She let out a chuckle. "I'm sorry. I must be boring."

"You're not." I replied. "You can talk to me, Jon, about anything. I promise you I'll always be there to listen and to help you."

"Oh my Gosh.. you're the nice guy. Nice guy never gets the girl!" She said as if she was complaining. I just simply smiled at her comment.

Do I want the girl? A thought came to me.

"Alright, kids. Hide. She's coming." Lilah's mom said as she entered the room.

"Do we have to? This party is not a surprise anymore." Jon said as her mom raised an eyebrow at her. "Alright. Hide people." Jon put her hands up in surrender as she stood up.

It's funny how their mother get them to do things by just giving them looks.

We all hid once again as Jon turned off the light. Lilah walked into the living room and sighed as she turned on the light.

"Surprise!" We all said as we came out of our places. She simply smiled.

"Thank you." She said in a low voice but the gratefulness was apparent in her voice. "I'm sorry for earlier. I shouldn't have done that. And Jon.. I'm really sorry for what I did." She said apologetically as she kept on playing with her hands.

"Ehh... you can be a bitch sometimes." Jon walked upto her. "But I still love you." She said as she pulled her in for an embrace. Lilah gave me a soft smile as I smiled back at her.

"Okay. Too much emotions for today." Jon said as she pulled away. "Let's cut the cake."

We all kinda laughed at her comment as we gathered around and her mother brought the cake. Lilah cut the cake and we all sang a birthday song for her. After that we played some games. It was getting late so others had to leave before Lilah opened the presents. Her parents had to leave early because they got an emergency call from one of their relatives.

"Jon! Atleast help me clean all this mess up." Lilah nagged a little.

"Your party. Your mess." Jon shrugged as she went upstairs.

Lilah sighed. "She's such a brat." She mumbled in her mouth.

"I'll help you." I said and she just gave me a little smile.

"Nah, I can do it. And anyways you should leave now or it'll get really late." She said as she picked up the dirty plates from the table.

"Okay. But first..." I walked out of the kitchen as I entered the living and picked the small gift bag from the shelf. I walked back in and handed her the bag. "You have to open this one up." I said as she looked at me in confusion and then smiled.

"What is it?" She asked as her innocnet eyes glow a little.

"It's your birthday present. Now open it." I said and she smiled at me again as she took out the box from the bag. She put the box on the counter and undid the ribbon on it. She opened the lid and took out the small wooden box from it. "Lilah" was beautifully carved on it.

"A music box? I love these." She said with a much more brighter smile. She opened thd lid of the box and rotated the small handle on it slowly. As she kept on turning the handle the rhythm was playing. She let out a soft chuckle as she stopped.

"What?" I asked.

"Somebody Else?" She turned to me. "You actually remembered the song that we first listened to together." She said and I smiled as I shrugged. "Oh Troy." She said as she walked up to me and wrapped her arms around my neck as she pulled me in for a hug. "Thank you so much. You don't know how much it means to me." She said as I wrapped my arms around her body.

"I'm glad that you liked it." I said as she pulled away with her arms still around my neck and my hands still holding her body.

"Of course I did." She said in a low voice as her eyes crept from my eyes to my lips. I saw a "want" in her eyes but before I could say or do anything she pulled away. "You should leave now. It is getting really late and Frostdale is two hours away."

"Yeah." I cleared my throat. "You're right I should." I straightened up my shirt as I walked out of the kitchen. I took my jacket from the stand as I was putting it on. I heard Lilah's voice.

"You forgot these." She said as she handed me my phone and my car keys.

"Oh thanks." I chuckled nervously as I took them from her.

"So when we should have our next hang out." She asked.

"We have a match this week with your school. How about after that?" I said and she smiled.

"Okay." She said as I opened the door.

"Well then.. I'll see you later." I said as she nodded.

As I walked out I stopped in my steps and turned back. "And one more thing..." I said and she looked atbme in confusion. "Happy birthday, Lilah." I said and she let out small laugh.

"What?" I asked.

"Lilah." She said. "It sounds so good when you say it." She smiled at me. "I'll see on Thursday, Troy. Good night." She said as she closed the door leaving me behind with a soft smile.

Do I want the girl? Of course I do. Maybe more than anything. But does the girl want me? I'm really confused about that part.