The teahouse housed some late teatime visitors, who were occupied with their bubbly conversations. Evy, Liv, Evan and Jamie sat in the back, enjoying the strawberry cake that one of the servers had just brought to the table. Liv pulled out a small gift bag from her backpack.

“It might not be much, but I hope you’ll like it. Evan and Jamie helped me pick it, so think of it as a gift from all of us.” She smiled, with a hopeful look on her face.

Evy took the gift. “Thank you.”

Liv nodded. Jamie urged her on to open it, and Evan shoved his elbow in the boy’s side, getting a fake pout in return.

Inside the bag was a small blue box, one that you would get from a fancy jewelry store. On it, in curly silver lettering, was written Aurora. Evy opened the box.

In her hands laid a silver bracelet with four charms on it. A snowflake, a flower, the sun and a pumkin. Liv explained the meaning behind the symbols.

“The snowflake is winter, for you to seek comfort in me. The flower stands for spring, for trying something new. That’s Jamie. The sun is summer and stands for enjoying the moment, which is Evan’s. Your charm is the pumkin, which stands for autumn and letting go.”

Evy looked up at the three of them, her eyes watering already.

“Oh honey, don’t cry, it’s your birthday!” Liv said with a worried smile.

The birthday girl shook her head.

“I’m not,” Evy protested, still trying to hold back, “It’s just...”

The three hugged her all at the same time, encompassing her in their warmth. Now she really might cry. Instead she softly whispered that what she had longed to say for so long.

“I love you guys.”

“We love you too,” they whispered back, almost in unison.

“No, like really love love,” Evy blurted out, and only seconds later realizing what she had said. “Oh God, did I say that out loud?” She hid her face in her hands from embarrassment.

Liv gently pried the fingers from her face. Looking up, despite her expectations, Evy saw a smile facing her, and two more behind Liv.

“You did,” Liv replied, “And we know. You’re quite easy to read.” A chuckle escaped her lips, “Evan and Jamie told me you looked at us just like I used to look at them before we became official. With lovey dovey puppy eyes.”

Evy’s eyes widened in disbelief, her blush deepening. The tension that had been building over the past few weeks, lifted from her shoulders. She had confessed, though awkwardly, and they weren’t mad, not at all.

“I...”

The three slowly let her go, giving her some space for her to breath again. They looked at her, knowing, and reasuring smiles on their faces.

After a bit, Jamie asked with curiousity in his voice: “Don’t you have a birthday wish?”

A birthday wish. Her brain was still processing that what had just happened.

“No matter your wish, the answer will always be yes,” Evan grinned with a knowing look in his eyes.

Oh. Dear. God. What had Evy gotten herself into? She sighed, sipped from her now luke warm tea while gathering all her courage. This wasn’t her usual self. But she knew what she wanted, all that was left was for her to say it. It was now or never, and never wasn’t gonna happen if she wanted to follow her heart. Be brave, be bold, she thought to herself.

A woman walking past startled her, but she was just on her way to the bathroom it seemed, thank God. In that moment it felt as if the whole room was watching, though she knew that was all just in her head. The teahouse’s patrons were too busy with their own thing anyway. She sighed again, steadying her heart.

“I...” She started, but then decided that any explanation, any long rambling would only distract from the real question. She tried again.

“Would you guys date me?”

Evy looked up shyly, but with a determined glimmer in her eyes. She felt awkward to have said it so bluntly, but she was not one to sugarcoat her feelings. Her eyes met Liv’s first, who was practically beaming.

“Ofcourse!” The girl replied, maybe a tad too loud for Evy’s liking. She felt a soft kiss being placed on her forehead. The boys nodded in agreement and joined Liv, kissing her on either side of her cheeks. Then they embraced her in another heart-warming hug, almost squeezing the air out of her lungs. Evy giggled when they finally let her go, happy it ended up like this.

“Let’s eat our cake,” Evan said, shoving the poor forgotten thing in front of her. Eagerly Liv took it upon her to cut it in even pieces and then shared the sweet treat among the four of them. Evy was sure she would one day die this way, getting stuffed by cake, but today she really needed the sugar.

* * * *

It was already dark when Evy got home. She had had so much fun, they really had made it her best birthday ever. With her head still in the clouds, she opened the front door, only to be met with her dad’s frowning face.

“Eveline, we need to talk.”

That didn’t sound good.