Theo finishes the setup just in time, and as he inflated the last few balloons, his phone buzzes with a phone call.

“Hello?” Theo smiles when Jamie shouts in the background of the call. Marnie tells him to be quiet for a moment and then continues.

“We’re on our way,” The call ends abruptly and Theo chuckles at the shouting from Jamie. After spending a few moments trying to figure out what Jamie had yelled, he remembers his present. It was hidden under his seat in Jamie’s car; there was no way to get to it without Jamie seeing him. He huffs in frustration and goes to fumble with the presents that Jamie’s friends had gotten. The vampire giggles when he sees a silly picture of Jamie and Marnie. His eyes were crossed, and his tongue was stuck out- Theo had never seen him make a face like that before. In the hallway, a muffled shout indicates that people are showing up. Theo had asked Marnie to bring Jamie by themselves, so he, “...wasn’t the only person shouting ‘surprise!’ at the door,” So he assumed the ruckus was made by Jamie’s friends. A knock on the door makes Theo’s heart jump. He walks over and cracks the door, then pulls it all the way open so they can come in.

“When Marnie opens the door for Jamie, make sure to turn on the lights,” Theo whispers. He can’t help but laugh at himself.

Some rustling in the hall, and Marnie’s voice comes through the door, “Jamie, don’t worry about Theo, I’m sure he’s just busy or something,” The smile in their voice is evident, but they were doing a good job. A better job than Theo would have done.

“Marn, what is going on?” Jamie’s voice gets louder. Suddenly, the door opens, and Theo jumps up. The lights come on, and noisemakers begin going.

“Surprise! Happy birthday, Jamie!”

Jamie goes sheet white. Theo’s mind begins racing.

He hates it. You absolute idiot, why would you-?

After a few seconds, Jamie’s eyes light up and colour returns to his cheeks.

“Aw, you guys,” He looks around for a moment, then continues, “This is the sweetest thing,” His face pulls into a wide grin and Jamie walks into his apartment, taking in the decorations and saying hi to his guests. Theo stays in his place by the presents, waiting for Jamie to come over. After a few moments of chatting, he does. Jamie wraps his arms around Theo.

“Was this you?” Theo nods sheepishly.

“Yeah um... I’m sorry if you don’t like it and I know you hate surprises and stuff but it’s your birthday and I wanted to-” Jamie interrupts him

“Theo, I love it,” Jamie presses a kiss to Theo’s cheek, “Thank you so much,”

He turns on his heel and walks to the cake. Theo’s mind finally stops running. For the first time in a week, he wasn’t worried.

After eating cake, Jamie opens his presents. He cries when he opens one or two of them, but they were all good gifts. His face was cemented in a permanent smile- Theo didn’t see it move once for the rest of the party. After a while, people started leaving, until it was just Jamie, Marnie, and Theo.

“Thank you, guys,” Jamie begins, but Marnie cuts him off.

“Oh, it was all Theo,” They say, shaking their head, “He did all of the planning and whatnot,” Theo says nothing. His eyes fall to his hands.

“Then thank you, Theo,” Jamie continues. He leans into Theo, who only nods and wraps an arm around Jamie.

He considers not speaking, but mumbles a small, “no problem,”. After sitting in silence for a few moments longer, Marnie smiles and stands.

“Well, ‘guess I’d better head out,” They wrap Jamie in a hug, wishing him a happy birthday, and then turn to Theo.

“Good job Theo, this was fun! It was nice meeting you,” They give him a hug too, then turn toward the door and leave. After a pause, Jamie walks to Theo and pulls him into a hug. Theo presses a kiss to his forehead, then pulls Jamie tighter to him.

“Thank you,” Jamie whispers. Theo only shakes his head. They stand in silence, holding each other and basking in the moment.

“So, I’m assuming you noticed there wasn’t a gift from me,” Theo says, smiling sheepishly, “But I promise I do have something for you,” He grabs Jamie’s keys and starts for the door, then runs down to the car, grabs the frame, and takes the elevator back up. When he goes back in the room, he finds Jamie sitting on the floor with a beer.

“Is that for me?” Jamie takes a sip from his bottle and eyes the wrapped gift in Theo’s hand. Theo nods and sits next to him, draping his legs across Jamie’s lap and resting his head on his shoulder. Jamie pulls the paper off slowly, so as not to rip it, and carefully unveils the gift. His eyes widen.

“Did you...?” He trails off and runs a finger along the glass, tracing his portrait.

“Did I...?” Theo waits for him to finish the question, but the conclusion never comes. Instead, Jamie’s lips pull into a smile and he wraps his arms around Theo.

“You like it?” Jamie nods and kisses Theo, then turns his gaze back to the wooden frame.

“It’s wonderful,” He traces the drawing of his face a few times with his finger, then wipes a tear from his cheek and looks back to Theo, “It’s really, really wonderful. Thank you Theo,” A few minutes slip by in silence before Theo speaks again.

“Happy birthday, Jamie,”