Unexpected Birthday
Marcus Pike x GN! Reader (please read summary comment)
No Y/N
Word Count: 2.3K
Rating: T
Warnings: cursing, small fight/arguing
Summary/Comments: Reader hates their birthday. Marcus wants to show them that birthdays can be special.
This is GN! I do have the reader receiving flowers. But I don't see that as a female only thing. I honestly believe that anyone would be happy to get flowers.
A/N: Woo-hoo, second fic! Again, it's kind of a self indulgent fic to help me work through my own crap. Namely hating my birthday. This is my first time writing for Marcus Pike. I probably shouldn't since I haven't actually gotten to the part in the show where he comes in. But he was the one I was picturing for this for some reason and I just couldn't get my mind to change. That being said, I apologize if he's OOC.
gif credit: @damerondjarin
You didn't think too much about why you were getting flowers. Just happy for the little pick me up they gave after already declaring the day a crappy one before even 10 a.m. You had been feeling off lately. Not sick or anything that caused concern, just off. Apparently it had finally caught up with you when you slept through your first, second, and even backup alarm. Making you beyond late for work. So seeing flowers on your desk after all that was a nice surprise that you felt no reason to question.
You completely forgot about them until after lunch when you finally had a moment to breathe. You'd been running around like crazy trying to catch up on everything you hadn't been able to get done after being late.
You smiled again as you found the attached card, recognizing your brother's handwriting. You should have figured they were from him since they were favorite flowers. You weren't close to many people here yet and you doubted that the few you were close to knew these were your favorites.
Your smile dropped when you opened the card and read his message.
Happy Birthday to the best sibling. đ„łâ€
Birthday. The flowers were for your fucking birthday! While you found it sweet that your brother did anything, you were also kinda pissed since he knew how you felt about your birthday. It did put your recent mood and off feeling into perspective though. You heaved a huge sigh and sent your brother a text to thank him for the flowers. He called a few minutes later. You put him on speakerphone so you could keep working.
"Hey! So you got them?"
"Yeah, I got them. Thank you. But you do know you're a few days early, right?"
"I wanted to make sure they got there in time. You know how unpredictable the weather is for you guys out there. You just had to have a birthday in the winter where it could snow and delay my gift?"
You laughed a little at that. "Right, because I totally decided when to shoot out of mom."
Your brother chuckled. "So, any plans for your birthday?"
You took a breath before answering, knowing that he wouldn't like your answer.
Marcus had been a little worried when you hadn't been at work like usual. Ever since he met you, you'd not only been on time for work, but early. He'd texted a few times to make sure you were alright, hoping that you weren't sick. You had sent him a text a little while later saying that you'd slept through your alarms. He was relieved you were alright. But worried because this just didn't seem like you.
He hasn't known you very long, but he had to admit that you two became quick friends. Both recent transplants to DC, you both found solace in figuring out your new home together. He was also hesitant to admit that he was falling for you. He didn't want to fall into old habits. He'd always fallen too hard, too fast. How things worked out with Theresa was proof of that. So he made sure to hide any feelings he might or might not be developing.
He decided to come check up on you after lunch. More to prove you were okay than anything else. He stopped when he heard you on the phone, not wanting to interrupt.
He also tried not to eavesdrop. A hard task when you had speakerphone on. But he tuned it out. Until his interest was piqued at the person on the other end of the phone say something about your birthday. He had no idea it was your birthday. He was a little hurt that you hadn't told him your birthday was coming up. But as he listened to your phone call, he sort of understood why.
Your brother said your name before asking about your birthday plans again. "Nothing special. Work, go home to eat alone and watch TV. Then bed."
You hear the shock in your brother's reply. "No one planned anything for your birthday."
"It's hard to plan something when no one knows." You wince when your brother asks another question.
"No one knows it's your birthday!?"
"Would you calm down? It's not a big deal. You know I don't like my birthday. The last thing I need is people I'm not that close to feeling obligated to do something for my birthday."
"People you're not close to? What about that guy you were telling me about? Marshall?" You look at your phone utterly confused before your brother corrects himself. "No, sorry, Marcus. Doesn't he know it's your birthday?"
"He's the last person I want to know." You feel like you know Marcus pretty well by now. And you know if he finds out it's your birthday he'd plan something and invite everyone you both know from the office. You just can't handle that. You decide you need to end this conversation. "Look, I gotta get back to work. I'll talk to you later, okay?"
"Yeah, okay. Just do me a favor?" He takes your silence and not a dial tone as his okay to continue. "Try to do something fun. Hang out with that Marcus guy, it sounds like you really like him. Just please, don't spend your birthday alone." He doesn't wait for your response before he hangs up.
You're rubbing your forehead when you hear a knock at your door. You look up to see Marcus smiling at you. You can't help the smile you give him in return. "Hey! What are you doing down here?"
"Wanted to check on you after this morning." You wince. Not ready for yet another conversation about how it's not like you. But Marcus surprises you. "Nice flowers. Secret admirer?" He has a smirk on his face that tells you he's messing with you.
Even though you know he's joking, you can't help your loud laugh at the idea of having a secret admirer. "HA!" You look sheepish at his shocked look from your reaction. "Sorry. No, they're a birthday present from my brother."
"It's your birthday!?"
It takes everything in you to not slap yourself on the forehead. "Yes and no. It's in a couple days. He sent them early to make sure they got here in time." Marcus nods in understanding.
"So any special plans?"
"Nope. Not a fan of my birthday. One of the reasons that I didn't bother telling anyone about it."
He gives another understanding nod before asking about the flowers. Specifically the kind of flower. "Strange choice to get from a sibling."
You smile at the flowers before looking at Marcus to answer. "They're my favorite flowers."
Marcus makes a mental note of that as he figures out the rest of his plan.
The next day, you're back to being early for work. Especially after you set a couple extra alarms as a precaution. You're sad to say that you're actually a little nervous to head into work. Partly for the jokes you'll no doubt hear about actually being on time today. You know they're not meant to actually be mean or anything. But they still sting a little to hear. But the bigger reason why you're nervous is Marcus knowing about your birthday.
You don't think Marcus is the type of person to go around telling people about other people. But you know how everyone likes to treat birthdays. So even though you're pretty sure you know Marcus, you're hesitant to be around others at work today.
The day goes by surprisingly quickly. There's only one or two jokes about you being late yesterday. It's almost the end of the day before you even get to see Marcus. He comes striding into your office like he belongs there with that same big smile he always has. He comes over to stand next to where you're sitting. Leaning back against your desk with his arms crossed over his chest. You finish typing before turning to him. "Hey Marcus, what's up?"
"I was just wondering if you were doing anything after work tomorrow?" Your heart stops for a second. He can't know, can he? He can't possibly know that tomorrow is your birthday. You were so careful to be vague about it yesterday. When you don't answer, he goes on. "I got that movie we were talking about. I thought you could come over so we could watch it."
You look at him with a slightly sad smile, he knows that look. He knows you're about to give him some excuse for why you can't. "Come on! It's been forever since we hung out just the two of us. I'll even buy the food." He drops to his knees and clasps his hands together. "Pleeeeasssseee."
You laugh. Your brother's request to not spend your birthday alone ringing in your ears. "Just the two of us?"
"Yeah. It's been a while,ridiculous-looking and I miss it." He's trying so hard to hide that this has anything to do with your birthday. He knows that if you realize that's why he wants to hang out, you'll say no.
You roll your eyes and make a face like you've just made the biggest concession in the world. "Fine! I'll come by around 7. Gives me time to go home and change."
You're on edge all day at work. Your birthday just fills you with nerves and anxiety. You breathe a huge sigh of relief when the day ends and you're packing up to head home. Until Marcus comes into your office, nearly making you jump out of your skin. "Sorry. Just wanted to let you know that I need to head to the store before getting the food and heading home. I should beat you there, but just in case I don't I didn't want you to worry that I was standing you up. Anything you want from the grocery store?"
You tap your chin like you're thinking hard about the answer. "A slice of cake might be nice." You may hate your birthday, but you still like treating yourself to some cake. Marcus hides a knowing smirk.
You took your time before heading over to Marcus's. When you look up at his apartment, the lights are on. So you know he made it home already. You sit in your car a few minutes before heading up. You knock on the door and hear Marcus shuffling around. Before cursing as he apparently trips over something while coming to the door. He's breathless as he opens the door. You give him a quizzical look. "Hey! Come on in."
You look around as you come in, trying to figure out what he was doing. You don't see anything out of the ordinary for Marcus. You go to head into the kitchen for a drink before Marcus stops you. When you look at him he almost looks ashamed.
"I did something. Something that might make you upset."
"Marcus, what could you possibly do that would upset me?"
"I did something for your birthday." Your face falls and he's quick to explain himself. "I heard your phone call. The one where you were talking to your brother about your birthday. Where he asked you not to spend it alone."
Your shoulders slump a little at his confession. "How much did you hear?" Now he looks confused. "Did you hear what my brother said about you? That I like you?" His silence is answer enough. "I'm leaving."
"What!? Why?"
"Because I don't need another reason to hate my birthday. I don't need it to be a constant reminder that you only want to spend it with me because you found out I like you and that I would've been alone on my birthday."
"That's not why I'm doing this."
"Then why are you doing it!?"
"Because I like you! I've been hiding it pretty much since I met you. I fall too hard, too fast and it scares people away. So I just didn't say anything. Hearing that you like me and that you would've been spending your birthday alone was just the push I needed to admit it."
You both stand there in silence for a minute. "I'm sorry. For a long time it's just been easier to hate and pretty much ignore my birthday. It was just easier than being disappointed. It always just felt like another day. I just happened to be older and we would have cake. Usually cake that I didn't even like, by the way."
Marcus comes over and hugs you. "It's not just another day to me. It's the day that someone I care about very much came into the world." He's happy that you don't push him away. "Do you wanna see what I did?"
You nod and Marcus leads you into the kitchen. He's got your favorite flowers. Not just a slice of cake, but a whole cake, with candles. A ridiculous-looking birthday balloon, and a small present.
"I know it's not much, but I didn't have a lot of time and-"
"It's perfect!" You turn back to him and throw your arms around him for a hug. "All I've ever wanted for my birthday is to feel like someone actually did it for me. That they were doing it because they actually cared and not just because they felt like they needed to."
He chuckles before leading you to the table and lighting the candles on the cake. He keeps his arm wrapped around you. "Make a wish."
You look at him with a smile. "I don't think I need to." You look at the cake and back at him. "ButâŠ" You quickly blow out the candles. When Marcus tries to ask you what you wished for, you pull him in for a kiss. Maybe some birthday wishes really do come true.
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