Work Text:
It was pitiful, the way Lexi kept checking her phone, imagining that the screen lit up with a notification but every time she checked, there was none. She was used to a lack of attention, never having been showered with much of it before, so it shouldn’t have came as a surprise — but everyone forgetting her birthday? Now that was a new low.
Her house was empty. Her mom left a note on the counter simply saying she’d be staying with a friend for the night, and had yet to return. She stumbled through the endless amount of bras, crop tops, and jeans that Cassie had flung all over her side of the room, checking every corner in the house, but realized her sister was also gone for the day. Even her location on Find My Friends was turned off, a telltale sign that she was most likely out with Nate. It was enough to leave a bad taste in her mouth.
No text from Maddy, and she didn’t blame her; when she found out about Cassie and Nate, their friendship didn’t exactly end on great terms. It was still raw, and she probably had much more on her mind than her ex-best friend’s sister’s birthday (that was a mouthful). No text from Kat either, and she figured she was going through a lot dealing with Ethan, and that Lexi was the least of her concerns. No text from Rue, she’s supposed to be Lexi’s best friend, but somehow hers’ was the least surprising. Rue definitely had more pressing matters in her life. She couldn’t blame anyone, if she made up enough excuses for them, and that’s what she did - but the one that hurt the most was Fez. No text, no call, no mention of her birthday. Nothing. He was actually her best friend too, a friendship like no other, and it hurt her to her core. She knew there could be a plethora of reasoning behind him forgetting, but she feared that nothing would remedy that pain.
It was 2 PM and she refused to waste any time moping, crying, lazily sitting around waiting for somebody to reach out to her. — And Lexi decided she would force herself to celebrate her birthday, alone, in all her favorite ways. She’d go get coffee, head over to the library, maybe even buy herself flowers if she was feeling especially ballsy, read at the park — shit, this felt slightly humiliating — but there was no room for negativity, not on her birthday. She slipped on the new dress she bought; it was black, velvet with a white, lace neckline, and a delicate bow at the front, it made her feel confident, something she needed for the day.
As she neared the end of her painfully simple makeup routine, she set a timer for 10 minutes, and placed pink rollers in her bangs, then began flipping through a book in the meantime.
She kept assuring herself everything was fine, that she didn’t feel hurt, and that this wasn’t unusual, these situations were to be expected. Sadly, the reality was that this hurt all too much. Maybe all of her insecurities were right, and maybe she was undeserving of friendships entirely. She wished she could run away, slip a pair of sneakers on, and take off running, feet pounding against the pavement til her lungs exploded — but instead she stayed in bed, tapping her phone every so often incase someone remembered her. She felt like a loser. She wished she never expected so much of Fez, or held him to such great standards, but it always felt like he was different from everyone else. Now, it feels like she was smacked in the face with all the self-doubt that builded over the course of their friendship. Her eyes started brimming with tears as her thoughts backed her into a corner, but she took a deep breath, and stared at the ceiling trying to stop them from falling.
A knock came at the door. She figured it was Cassie or her mom. They must have been so self-involved they forgot their keys, expecting Lexi would be waiting on hand and foot for their arrival. Her chest started heaving, ready to let them have a piece of her mind, but when she whipped open the door what she saw was entirely unexpected. It was Fezco. At least she assumes it is. Half of his face is covered by balloons, flowers, and his hands crowded with three different gifts, everything smothered with the words ‘Happy Birthday!’.
“Yo! Happy birthday, Lex! Sorry I ain’t text you this mornin, I was pretty busy tryna’ get all this shit ready for you. I woulda been here earlier but me and Ash couldn’t figure out how to wrap the gifts up so we had to watch a whole ass Youtube video on it, but shit, I think we did a good job, whatchyu’ think?” He had never talked so fast in his life, he seemed nervous, as if for some insane reason, she’d hate it. It had quite the opposite effect. She wasn’t sure how to even put into words what she was feeling.
Her mouth was slightly open, feeling overwhelmed by the sight of him drowning her in adoration and gifts. Two minutes ago she was questioning if she even deserved love, and now she can’t imagine settling for anything less, feeling guilty for so much as questioning Fez’s friendship.
She remained speechless, grabbing the flowers and balloons from his hands, staring at him, zero words coming out of her mouth. Fez was still smiling at her, but he looked far more timid now, as he wondered why she had yet to say anything. He never celebrated many birthdays, but he figured most people said ‘thank you’, especially someone as overly polite as Lexi.
Before he had a moment to process one more uncertainty, his eyes widened in horror, as Lexi was now crying before him. Quickly and gently, he placed the gifts on the floor, wondering what the fuck he did wrong.
“Nah, Lexi, why you’ cryin’?! I’m fucking sorry, I didn’t mean to make you cry, I - I swear to God! Is it ‘cuz I ain’t text you happy birthday? Fuck. I promise I was going to, but I waited last minute to wrap the gifts and shit —” Usually Lexi was the one who did the incessant rambles, but today seemed to be an unusual sort of day for the both of them.
She cut him off, repeating, “No, no, no Fez! Oh my God, I’m sorry I don’t even know why I’m crying so much. It’s not you, please, you did nothing wrong, please come in, I’m sorry.” She opened the door wider to let him in, rushing to set the balloons on the living room table, and to find something to place the flowers in. Fez shut the door behind them, putting the gifts down, and walking over to find Lexi filling a glass vase with water, sniffling through her tears.
“You sure you ain’t mad at me?” He questioned, rubbing the back of his head, anxiously. He couldn’t help but feel that he played a part in this flood of emotions.
She flashed a smile at him, the flowers adorned in Lexi’s new arrangement. He had no idea someone could possibly make flowers look even prettier, but it was Lexi, and with her nothing seemed impossible. She finally walked up to him, arms thrown around his shoulders, and hugged him tight as ever.
She implored, “Are you kidding me? How could I possibly be mad at you? Thank you, I don’t think I could say that enough, thank you.” She pulled away from the hug to get a look at his face, her eyes still glimmering with a bit of moisture, and she leaned in to give him a kiss on the cheek. As if that amount of affection didn’t electrify the both of them, she added more flame to the fire by bringing her finger up to his cheek, wiping the slight lipstick residue off. His face burned red as a result, he wouldn’t have minded if she left it there.
“So those were like happy tears or some shit?” He smiled, looking down at her.
She nodded to him, “Yeah, happy tears or some shit,” Her smile grew bigger before she snapped into her hostess mentality, “Please, sit down. Sorry, my mind is all over the place right now.” — And the two of them sat on her living room couch, the gifts and balloons sitting next to her on the table as a reminder of her birthday.
“What the hell you keep apologizing for? It’s your birthday, you ain’t gotta apologize for a damn thing.” They both stared at each other, the cheesiest smiles plastered on their faces before Fez started looking around, confused at the stillness of the house, complete silence encompassing them two. “Yo, speaking of your birthday, uh, where the hell is everyone?” He questioned, his head still moving back and forth, trying to find any sense of life.
Lexi let out a huge sigh, as if she was waiting to let it all off her chest, and she felt embarrassed having to tell him this, but she figured he’s the only one who wouldn’t judge her for a damn thing - so it’s either him, or no one.
“Um, yeah, there’s - there’s no one here. I guess my mom is with a friend today? And I don’t have the faintest clue where Cassie’s been. I haven’t seen…anyone.” Her voice was so deflated, losing all sense of happiness with every word she uttered, and she saw Fez’s face turn from confused to downright upset.
“Wait, wait, hol’ up, so they ain’t like call to tell you happy birthday or something?” He was bubbling with anger, wishing he could yell at every single person who ever wronged her. She was so undeserving of all this selfishness, and it killed him to know that her sister and mom didn’t value her for all that she was.
Her lips were pursed, trying her hardest to remain stoic, and she shook her head, “Nope. Not a text, not a call. Not from them,” Her voice trailed off, “Or Rue, or Maddy, or — I mean, you get the idea. No one, pretty much.” She forced herself to laugh, trying to play it off as if it was funny to her, but it wasn’t, and he could read her like a book.
Fez sat there, rubbing his head, trying to think of the right words to say without hurting her more, or embarrassing her. It was easy to see that he was unbelievably upset with this news, feeling like a fool for not texting her this morning.
“I can’t fuckin’ believe it. I mean, you’re forreal the greatest friend any of these mother fuckers ever had, and they just - Ion’ even know what to say, Lexi. No one deserves you, nobody.” His voice was so direct, and clear, it made her hard to believe that only a few moments ago she was questioning if he ever cared about her. She blushed at his words, never having someone see her the way he does.
She shrugged a bit, pretending as if she hadn’t been brewing over it for the past 5 hours, “I mean it’s okay, I know everyone’s pretty busy — ” Lexi was cut off, something Fez rarely did to her.
“Nah, it ain’t okay. At all. Don’t even try to convince yourself of that shit.” He shook his head at her, trying his hardest to stop her from justifying every single wrongdoing in her life.
She nodded, reaching out to place her hand on top of his, “Thank you Fez. Seriously. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” Her smile was warm and sincere; she had fresh lipgloss on, and a dress he’d never seen before. He took in the fact that she was probably getting ready completely alone. It broke his heart the way that no one stuck around for her, she was such a force to be reckoned with; it was hard to not love a person like her.
Once again, Fez was nervously rubbing the back of his head, not knowing what he was so damn anxious for. He’d spent so much time in trying to plan a good birthday for her, he was worried she’d laugh in his face, but he knew that wasn’t the case — she didn’t have a bad bone in her body. His stomach did somersaults and he raised his eyes up to her, “Well, uh, Iono’ if you got any plans for yourself today but I kinda been planning your birthday for awhile now… As a surprise and shit y’know?”
Her eyes lit up, glowing with pure elation, “Really?”
He nodded in response, standing up, and she followed suit, eyebrows raised, “Where to first?”
Of course, it was supposed to be a surprise, so Fez didn’t give too much away only that they’d be starting off her day with lunch. They both got in his car, driving about 30 minutes away from town, onto a highway, back onto the streets, and Lexi was familiar with the area but not entirely sure where they were going. They finally pulled into the parking lot of an old diner, one that looked as if it was pulled right out of the 60s.
She turned her head over to him, he looked as if he wanted to tell her something but couldn’t find the right words. Why was he still so nervous? She thought it was the cutest sight, but he hated it - the way his cheeks kept burning, and he kept nervously rubbing the back of his head, he felt so uncool.
“I remember you tellin’ me how this was your favorite place to eat as a kid, but y’all moved further away, and you always crave the hot fudge sundae, but it’s like, too far to bike and shit, so I thought maybe you’d wanna come eat here… Is that weird? I’ma just stop talking, this is mad embarrassing.” They both laughed, Fez burying his face in his hands, and Lexi pulled them away from his face. Her smile was big enough to cause the apples of her cheek to ache.
“Oh, fuck off, it’s like you’re trying to make me cry today.” She giggled, now her face turned red with elation, both of them beaming at one another as if they were the only two people in the world.
“Aye, it’s your birthday, we can do whatever you want. If you wanna cry, then fuck it.”
The two of them finally walked out from the car, and into the shabby diner, the whole place looking like a time capsule - completely untouched since the mid 60s’.
All her memories from that diner unfortunately collided with a lot of her childhood trauma. It was her favorite place to eat as a kid, yes, but she remembers dreading the car rides home knowing there’d be some sort of argument ensuing the moment her family moved away from the public eye. — But with Fez bringing her here she has even fonder memories, and not a single one etched with pain. They laughed til their sides hurt as Fez told her about the first time he had to change Ash’s dirty diaper, talked incessantly about the new book she’s reading ‘Just Kids’ by Patti Smith, argued about the fact that Lexi thinks ‘The Godfather 3’ is the best in the franchise (Fezco thinks she’s insane, and it’s definitely the 1st one), and shared a hot fudge sundae — she didn’t think perfect moments existed til’ today.
They drove back to Fezco’s house, the sky tinted pink as the sun set, and she stared at him whilst he drove. This morning seemed like a lifetime ago. She went from having the shittiest birthday, to having easily, one of the best days ever. She feared when the moment would end, that she’d go back into her home that was riddled with so much tension, and Fezco would go back to his business. Everything seemed so perfect the way it was — all that was missing was her admitting the feelings she has for him, wishing he’d kiss her as a birthday gift, kiss her so hard that their lips ached, but instead she’d settle for a warm hug goodbye.
“Wassup?” His eyebrow raised, glancing over at her slightly before his vision went back on the road. He knew she was staring at him, could feel her eyes burning into the side of his skull, and it made his heartbeat go haywire. She was a hell of a lot smaller than him, but she managed to carry so much weight in the power she held over him. If only she knew how much he melted for her.
Lexi let out a content sigh, and she shook her head, a sly grin on her face, as she shifted her head forward, looking out the windshield, “Nothing.”
They both went to catch a sneaky glimpse of the other, both their hearts racing, and instead caught each other looking, making them both turn away. It was reminiscent of the first night they met, the way they tried to steal glances of one another on that couch, and caught each other every damn time.
Fezco pulled the car into his garage, and they swiftly made entrance into his house. They took their usual seats on the couch, her sitting on the left, him sitting on the right, and her eyes caught notice of a DVD sitting on the table in front of them. She let out a gasp, and began laughing all too gleefully, “Oh shut up!”
It was her all time favorite movie. Before Sunrise. The DVD cover had a sunset on it, identical to the one they saw on their drive home, and she brought her hands to cover her mouth, giddy as she looked at him.
“Told you I had this shit all planned out!” He laughed, standing up, getting ready to put the movie on the TV for them two to watch. She’d been begging him to watch it with her for awhile, but it was never on any streaming sites. While that was the case, Lexi never expected him to take the liberty to go out and purchase it or anything. It was all so overwhelming, the way he treated her, she was unsure if she could ever get used to someone being so thoughtful, but she fell into it, ignoring the potential repercussions.
They’re about 30 minutes into the movie when a scene comes on that resonates with them a little too much. The couple in the movie listen to a love song that results in them sneaking glances at one another the entire time, then immediately looking elsewhere whenever they catch each other. Fezco wonders if she can feel his heart racing somehow, and Lexi prays he can’t see how visibly nervous she is. The tension from the scene spills into their reality, and they both can’t help themselves as their eyes wander towards one another for the umpteenth time this evening. They both lock eyes, and for some reason, neither one of them look away. Instead they stay there, frozen, staring longingly, and for the first time, they think they might both feel the same way. Something in them switched, and before they knew it, they were both slowly but surely leaning in for what they’ve desperately longed for.
It didn’t take long for the moment to be ruined, with a rattling of the door, here comes Ashtray, barging in from his time at the liquor store.
They both pulled away from one another rather quickly, clearing their throats nervously, both their faces pink as can be. Ashtray took no notice of whether or not he ruined any intimacy, instead smiling at the sight of Lexi, immediately scrambling for his phone to play that one birthday song by 50 Cent. This made both Fez and Lexi laugh, with Lexi begging Ash to stop. At least he managed to break the tension that the two of them built up so well.
He walked over to Lexi, reaching to give her an awkward side hug, he wasn’t big on affection, and grinned, “Yo, you see how good of a job I did wrapping your gifts up? Thas’ all me, don’t let this dipshit tell you anything different.”
“C’mon now bro, the fuck you throwing me under the bus like that for?” Fez shook his head, leaning over to smack him teasingly, but Ash dodged him.
Lexi shook her head in appreciation, radiating with happiness, “I loved it. Thank you.”
Ash nodded back at her, grabbing a glass of water, then walking away from them before shouting, “I’ll let you two get back to whatever weird shit it was that you were doing. Happy birthday Lex.” — And with those words, he was gone, the slam of his door echoing throughout the house. Leave it up to him to add more awkwardness to their already compromising situation.
“I fucking hate him sometimes.” Fezco said, laughing nervously, trying to read Lexi’s face, wondering what she was thinking.
The fear in her body started to take over. She began second guessing herself, and what exactly they were doing here. “I think I should probably get going, I’ve taken up so much of your time today, and you know you’ve already done so much for me, I don’t even know how I can ever thank you for it.”
“Nah, don’t go yet, we ain’t even finished the movie.” Fezco explained, staring at her with this needy tone in his voice. Lexi’s eyes were big, gulping as they stared at one another again, the inexplicable tension suffocating them.
“Plus, um, I got one last thing for you. Hold up.” And within a flash, he was disappearing down the hallway, into his bedroom. Lexi looked around the room, eyes focusing on the TV that played one of the many tender scenes from the movie, her blood rushing from all the emotions she was feeling. Fezco was back in a flash, holding out a paper bag, and she peeked inside, looking back up at him with a smile on her face that was filled with confusion and amusement.
“A cigar?” Her tone wasn’t judgmental, but rather stumped as to why he had gotten her one. She scanned her brain for any recollection of a time she may have mentioned an interest in cigars, but nothing came to mind.
Fezco slid back onto the coach, taking his seat next to her again.
“Uh, yeah, I know it seems weird and shit but uh, lemme explain. You ain’t gotta smoke it or anything if you don’t wanna, but I thought it’d be nice. My grandma bought me a cigar every year for my birthday startin’ at the age of 10. I fuckin’ hated smokin that shit, but I liked it cuz’ it was from my grandma, y’know? Most of the time, I’d just pretend to smoke it. It was the thought that counts cuz’ no one ever got me toys and shit for my birthday, just the cigars.”
Lexi felt a lump grow in her throat. God, he really held the record for making her cry tears of happiness. He was so amazing, and genuine, and unbelievably thoughtful. She wished everyone could see what a kind-hearted person he was; he was so much more than this “drug dealer” stereotype people pushed on him, but Lexi knew that nobody was worthy enough of seeing this side of him.
“Would you wanna smoke it with me?” Her voice was innocent, it almost made Fezco regret giving her such a tainted gift. Sure, it was only a cigar, and it was a gesture to show that the love he has for her goes deeper than she can even imagine. He simply wants nothing but the best for her, and he feared that he wouldn’t ever be able to live up to that desire.
The worry that washed over him was now replaced with genuine contentment, feeling that same cheeky grin appear on his face yet again. “‘Course I would.”
He sat back down on the couch next to her, except much closer this time. Fez held his hand out, waiting for her to pass the cigar over, and she complied. He grabbed the cigar, holding it carefully, and sliced the cap off it. Lexi watched his every move, so precise, as if he had done this a million times before. She was mesmerized by all that he did, and all the things he knew that she didn’t — which many wouldn’t believe, but Fezco taught Lexi something new, every single day, always so casual about it too.
He mumbled instructions to Lexi as he set her up, handing the cigar back over to her, ‘hold it like this’, ‘now hol’ up’, and it was the small things like this that drove her crazy, wishing she could lean over and plant a kiss on his temple.
“Aight’ so I’ma light it, and then you just gotta smoke it, but do not inhale it.” He told her, assuming his instructions would be simple enough.
Lexi couldn't help but laugh, her head tilting to the side, eyebrows furrowed, “Smoke it but don’t inhale it? What’s the point then?”
Fezco laughed in response, knowing there’d always be a question as to ‘why’, and told her straight, “Nah, I mean, you can inhale it if you tryna throw up all over your pretty, new dress but Ion’ think you wanna do that. People just smoke cigars for the taste. I never understood that, but y’know I ain’t the creator of cigars.”
She looked at the cigar, insightfully, letting out an intrigued hum at the object placed between her fingers. Fezco waited for her to ready herself, and Lexi held the cigar up to her lips as he lit the front of it. Lexi puffed a few times, the bitter smoke entering her mouth, causing her to cough in response as the smoke exited.
“Jesus Christ!” She said between coughs, laughing at herself, eyes watering, which resulted in Fezco chuckling along with her. She continued coughing, leaning forward in embarrassment, her face landing in his chest. Fezco responded to this by placing his hand on her back, trying to soothe her, his face aching from how hard he was cheesing.
“I guess you ain’t like it?” Fezco questioned, his hand still placed on her back, before she pulled herself up to look at him. Tears streamed down her face from the cough attack, trying to catch her breath whilst simultaneously giggling.
“It tastes like a barbecue! I feel like I just smoked char. How do people enjoy that?” Her face was pink, laughing so hard that her stomach nearly ached. She can’t believe this morning she was spent all wrapped up in self-pity over a bunch of fake friends who didn’t amount to anything that she had with Fezco. He was such a wonderful friend that she wished everyone had the chance of experiencing, yet selfishly she didn’t want anyone to take him away from her reach. Not that she was a territorial or jealous person, but she thought no one in his life deserved him, not even herself. — And yes, maybe deep down beneath the surface, she would also be devastatingly jealous.
She handed the cigar off to Fezco, as he proudly stated, “Lemme show you how it’s done, Howard.” A smirk on his face as he teased her.
She rolled her eyes playfully, a grin on her face, “I see you’ve come a long way since the age of 10.”
Fezco rolled his eyes back at her, putting the cigar to his lips, and blowing out the smoke like a pro. This was more his forte, definitely not Lexi’s, but if she was going to try anything new, she’d rather enjoy it with him.
There was a moment of silence between them, a comfortable silence, before Lexi decided to chime in.
“Hey, I already know you’re gonna tell me not to do this, but I’m gonna do it anyways. I have to thank you again for today. Seriously. Thank you. I don’t know if I’ve ever had a more perfect birthday in my life.” Her head tilted down a bit as she admired him, all her words being filled with so much praise.
He was unsure if he could ever get used to the way she spoke so highly of him, he felt entirely undeserving. “Yeah, you right, I am gonna tell you not to do that shit. Always thankin’ people. Everything that comes to you is cuz’ you deserve it, and I ain’t ever want you to think you owe people shit, ‘specially not me. I do things for you cuz’ you’re a good ass person, and not to be mad corny but, you’re my best friend.”
Her face was burning red, and she had to lean into her hands, trying to avoid him from seeing her so child-like. She composed herself, grinning as she looked at him, “You’re my best friend too.” She felt gutsy, despite how minutes ago she was trying to plan a quick escape out of unwarranted fear, but she gained the courage again, and leaned over to grab his hand, interlocking their fingers.
They both lingered on the touch, drowning in one another’s stares, exactly how they were moments ago before Ash’s entry.
Fez sighed contently, “If it’s aight’ with you… Sometimes, I think of you as more than a friend, just so you know.”
He swore she’d be able to hear his heartbeat, pounding out of his chest, feeling adrenaline surge through his body as he confessed. Analyzing her face, her body language, anything for a sign to show him that maybe he wasn’t alone, and maybe they were truly about to kiss moments ago.
The glow on her skin was never ending, pure bliss running through her veins, so much dopamine being sent to her brain, she worried she’d pass out. She nodded, a bit too excitedly, and said, “Me too.”
They both stared at each other as if the stars in the night sky were made for them two, as if their hands were handcrafted to be the perfect fit, like every fucked up thing in their life led them to this sweet, blissful moment. Lexi thought maybe Fez was right, maybe God was real, because this has to be heaven.
Slowly but surely, they leaned in for a second time, except no interruptions. The music from the film they left running turning into radio silence, because at this point in time, it was as if they were the only two people left on Earth.
If they thought their hands were the perfect fit, then their lips were a match made in heaven. The minute they connected, it was as if a wave washed over them, and they never wanted to part. Their lips moved in sync, as if they knew exactly what movement was coming next, it was so intense and yet unbelievably sweet. They both could taste the shared cigar against one another’s lips, but it didn’t even matter, they were too far gone.
They pulled away from the kiss, breathless, and smitten. Their foreheads pressed against each other’s, and they took every second in, wanting to live in this moment forever.
“Happy birthday, baby.” Fezco whispered against her lips, and before they knew it, they were diving in for seconds, getting more tangled up in one another with every passing second.
It was truly the best birthday gift Lexi could have ever asked for.