Birthday with the Boys || Alison, Ron and Jasper
Ali falls straight back to sleep at five in the morning when Ron’s alarm goes off, grumbling to him for a moment. He’s grateful that she stays asleep, too groggy to realise it’s her birthday yet. The reason for his early start is that very birthday, and for her to wake up before he had finished his preparations would have broken his heart. He absolutely hates being awake before the sun, but as he’s glances at the slumbering brunette, now a year older, he knows that it’s worth it. Alison might hate surprises, but he figured that she’d change her mind when she saw what was in store for her.
He decorates the apartment while still in his boxers, throwing balloons, streamers, disco lights and ‘Happy Birthday’ signs all over the place, making sure to be especially quiet while decorating their bedroom. A note saying ‘Good morning, my beautiful girl. I had to go out, I should be back when you wake up or soon after’ is left on her bedside table before he finishes up the decorations; the last item was a painting he did of the two of them with Nova, something Ron considered their first family portrait.
Once dressed, he runs to his motorbike, technically running into due to the dark. The pain is ignored though, because in less than an hour his girlfriend’s favourite coffee shop opens, and it becomes so crowded after the first half an hour that you could wait an hour for a beverage, time he simply doesn’t have considering it’s already nearly forty minutes away by bike.
The ride is relatively smooth, allowing Ron to enjoy the freedom of being on his bike without cars around him making him anxious. By the time he arrives, the shop is still twenty five minutes from opening so he sits outside the front door and pulls a list from his pocket, mentally making note of what was still left to do. He’d already hidden her presents around the house, decorated the apartment and planned for a few surprises to be dropped off at different times.
“Still need to pick up the cakes from Amelia’s, call the airport, check the times with Party Palace, grab Nova’s outfit…” he mumbles to himself, trying to think if he was forgetting anything. For a moment he’s so lost in his planning that he doesn’t notice the shadow looming over him.
“Mumbling to yourself is the first sign of insanity, apparently,” Jasper teases, a large, boyish grin on his lips. “But then again, some would say that driving nearly an hour to buy a girl coffee is stupid too…” He paused, his grin disappearing slowly. “Please tell me you’re getting her a muffin or something.”
Ron had to resist the urge to growl, standing up in order to feel comfort from his height advantage over Jasper. “I’m buying my girlfriend her morning coffee.”
Ron’s words clearly expressed no space for argument, but Jasper seemed unfazed. “I just drove an hour, man. Just let me get the coffee.” His tone is almost pleading, though it held a hint of warning. Ron laughs for a few seconds, then abruptly stops, giving the shorter man a glare.
“No. How does driving here give you the right? How the fuck do you think I got here? Teleportation? Obviously not, just in case your young mind wasn’t sure about that. I drove on a motorbike, which meant I had to deal with the cold unlike you, had no radio, unlike you, and had to wear a stuffy-ass helmet, also unlike you. Want to tell me again how driving an hour gives you the right, Jazzy?” He rolls his eyes and crosses his arms over his chest. “I’m the boyfriend, you’re the friend. I get coffee rights for life. Go home and wrap whatever fucking stupid gift you got her. You probably don’t even know what to order.”
“The largest size possible, which happens to be about twice the size of a normal café if you buy it from here, which is why Ali likes it so much. She has milk, two sugars, though she secretly always wants two and a half but feels weird asking for that, so she just asks for two. She hates it when other people put the sugar in it for her if she wants to heat it up later though, which means I’m taking the packets with me because, despite that quirk, she still likes using packets instead of sugar from home. Have I got it all?”
Ron almost blushes, cursing the existence of his girlfriend’s best friend.
“I have to give it to you…You almost got everything,” he replies, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly.
“Almost?”
“…I can’t tell you the final part.” Ron knows that Jasper got everything, but he refuses to give him the satisfaction. “You never give the enemy the advantage.”
“The enemy?” Jasper cries, his eyes swimming with blatant shock and amusement. “I’m your girlfriend’s best friend!”
“Like I said – You’re the enemy."
Jasper sighs, already tired of the conversation. Ron’s hostility always confuses him, and he hates feeling like the bad guy. “Why would I be the enemy?”
“Because, and you can deny it, and I’m sure you will, but you like my girlfriend a little too much for my liking.”
“I…” The younger man wants to say that he’s wrong, but he knows that he’s never been a convincing liar. Instead he settles for not answering the statement at all, at least not directly. “You get to crawl into bed with her at night, kiss her, hear all her darkest secrets and brightest memories, hear her say she loves you without then saying that you’re the best friend a girl could want…Buying her coffee on her birthday might be the one time I get something that you don’t.”
For a brief moment, the blond considers letting him have it, but he can’t get over the fact that Jaz basically confirmed liking Alison. “You get to hear more than I do on some things, I’m sure. I’m her boyfriend - she hides some things from me, and I’m not mad about it anymore… but I know she vents to you. You think I don’t notice how sometimes if we’ve had a fight, and you two are talking, she suddenly goes silent when I walk into a room despite being mid-sentence? And…Fuck, at least she says I love you at all. I haven’t heard it in weeks. Do you realise how fucking hard that is? Seeing her hug you goodbye then tell you she loves you – even as a best friend - and then have her simply smile everytime I say it to her? I’ve gotten her coffee every morning since we’ve been together. It’s the one fucking thing that is the same before and after we broke up, the one thing I have that’s ours. So no, Jasper, I’m not letting you buy her coffee. You can go fuck yourself.”
He knows that his anger is purely out of jealousy, but he can’t help the rage flooding through him. Jasper is taken back, not having realised just how strained Alison and Ron’s relationship still was. It’s a little glimmer of hope, and his own jealousy is raging.
“I’m buying her coffee, whether you like it or not.”
“Is that so?” Ron asks, his eyebrows raised and his fists clenched. Jasper simply nods as the store finally opens. “Then let the war begin,” he whispers, a hint of threat in his voice, before racing inside so he can be first in line
----
The two of them race back to the apartment, Jasper with the coffees in cup holder, and Ron in the back compartment of his motorbike. Ron had the advantage of being able to weave in and out of traffic, though Jasper was able to not worry about spilling the drinks as often. The war seemed definitely on until someone cut off Ron and nearly caused him to crash. Jasper saw what happened and quickly pulled over, checking if he was okay.
“Are you alright, man?” he asks, sliding the visor of his helmet off to reveal a panic stricken Ron.
“Yeah I…Give me a minute,” he whispers, taking a deep breath. Jasper had no idea that there was more to Ron’s fear than just nearly being killed. The flashbacks running through his mind were something he didn’t want to reveal to his so called enemy.
“You good?”
“I’m good.”
“Game on?”
“Game on,” Ron replied with a devious grin, quickly speeding off ahead of Jasper.
---
The two of them made it to Alison’s almost at the same time, though Ron had the advantage of having a key. He quickly locked the door, smiling smugly to himself with two coffees in his hands. He places one on the hallway table while taking his phone out of his pocket to call Amelia to check when she planned to stop by with the cakes. He hangs up, feeling very proud of himself for beating Jasper. It’s only the sound of a key being put in the door that makes his smugness fade.
Neither of them can entirely figure out how it happens, but as Jasper opens the door, both of them fall, coffee spilling everywhere. Both of them grumble, wiping coffee off themselves while the footsteps of Alison near the room. Jasper sighs, knowing that there was no chance of giving Alison coffee now.
“I guess she’s not getting coffee now, is she?”
“Think again, young one,” Ron whispers, standing up to take off his now stained shirt. He grabs the coffee he’d thankfully placed on the table, shaking off the pain in his back from the fall as Alison enters the room. Jasper stands soon after, both of them grinning like small children being caught by their mother. “…Happy birthday, love.”
