If I Was Perfect Then This Would Be Easy

I cursed the door ten times right after the small screech made it to my ears and prayed my cover wouldn't be blown away. I slowly walked over to the bed and took a strong grip on the package in my hands.

I grinned and cleared my throat. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CRACKER JACK!"

A laugh escaped my lips as my brother jumped from his bed, giving me a shocked look. Even more hilarious, he seemed confused at first and when it finally hit him, he stood up in a hurry and looked at the watch on the nightstand.

"Jesus Christ, I completely forgot about today!" he blurted out and joined me in my laugh.

"Why am I not surprised?" I wondered while rolling my eyes. I quickly regained composure and watched my brother excitedly, while pushing the package forward. "Happy birthday, old man!" He laughed before accepting his present.

"What did ya get me, sis? I bet it's something nice," he whispered in a childish voice. He first took out the two shirts I had bought him, the ones he had personally told me liked and grinned. "I'm gonna wear this one today."

I laughed before pointing at the package. "Yeah, yeah, look into that again." He did as told and under the eyes of his sister, who was continuously grinning like an idiot, he took out a rather small black box. Jack gave me a suspicious look before finally opening it.

His childish face disappeared as he stared at the object placed on the blue velvet inside.

"This is..." He didn't finish that sentence as he stared at me dumbfounded. "I can't believe you remembered about this fucker."

I grinned. "How could I forget? Come on, try it on, I wanna see how it looks on you." Jack had shown me that watch in a fancy store about a year ago and I knew in an instant that it was the thing for him. He truly liked it.

As soon as he put the brand new watch on his hand, a huge smile grew on Jack's face. "I thought you were keeping your money for a new apartment," he criticized, although I could clearly see the excitement on his face.

"Oh, don't worry about that. You'll get rid of me soon enough, but for now...enjoy your watch, Jacko!" We began laughing before I was pulled into a tight embrace by him.

"Thanks, sis."

"You know shopping was clearly my pleasure," I joked and pulled away before looking at the time.

"Let's eat and then you, sir, must go dress nicely," I ordered, receiving a doubtful look. "Move it!"

"Yes, ma'am," Jack laughed.

***

"If you've prepared some surprise party for me, then my dear sister, you've ruined all your chances to buy yourself a new car anytime soon," Jack decided wisely. I huffed, indicating him that I had everything under control.

"Shut up and knock, pretty boy."

He laughed before knocking twice. The door opened suddenly revealing an extremely cheerful Cate.

"Jack! Happy birthday!" she squealed and grabbed my brother in a tight embrace under my amused gaze. "Come on in, birthday boy and let me have a minute with your sister."

"Okay, I'll just let you two plot about my surprise birthday party." The word 'surprise' was much louder than the rest of the sentence and I laughed at Jack's mischievous eyes as he began heading towards the living room.

My attention was then turned to Cate, who winked at me before saying "He's here." Of course, she had been referring to our cousin Chris, who wanted to be part of the 'smaller party' as well.

"Let's go." But as soon as those words left my mouth, I heard a loud 'Holy fuck!' and recognized the voice as Jack's. Cate and I rushed to the living room chuckling.

"Okay, I'm scared he might break something. He's having a typical Spades happy moment," Dom's voice came as I walked next to Chris, giving him a quick hug, obviously having to stand on my toes a bit. I smiled widely at him, then turned to look at my brother who was next to Mrs Danvers.

She smiled warmly as Jack hugged her. "Thanks so much for showing up, Dora."

"You know I'd hate to miss such an event," she replied kindly. Jack suddenly turned to me and Chris and pointed his finger at us.

"And you! I cannot fucking believe you didn't tell me he was coming to town!" Jack gave me a desperate look, but laughed as Chris caught his head in a wrestling type of move. I began laughing extremely hard. Finally, someone who could catch him like that.

Garver let go of him and grinned.
"Happy birthday, Jacko! Come on, man, show me some love." The guys both smiled gratefully as they gave each other a manly hug or whatever.

"Moron didn't even notice us," Corey complained, making everyone else laugh. "Look, Cate has the biggest present of us all."

"Woah, did I hear the magic word present?" Jack winked at Cate and we all started laughing.

"Of course. Come on, people, let's give this guy some presents."

"Hold on, me first, 'cause I have a feeling my gift is gonna go well with that shirt," Corey jumped. "Hope you don't mind, ladies." Dora and Cate smiled and let it slip and I looked closely as Jack took out a pair of brand new sneakers, which matched perfectly with one of the shirts I had given him and he had decided to wear.

"Jack, you definitely have to put those on," Cate encouraged. Jack laughed and took off his old Converse to replace them with the newer shoes. Corey watched him proudly and smirked at Dom, who caught him in a headlock.

"But damn, boy, nice watch!" Dora exclaimed. I grinned and bowed graciously, thanking her for noticing.

Time passed so quick, it almost scared me. This was one of the very few days of the year I wanted to last forever. But all beautiful things go away quickly, that I had learned a long time ago. Dora surprised Jack with a fantastic meal. There was no way any of us could say no to a lunch prepared so thoroughly. I knew my brother well enough to realize that he was under the impression that spending the day with his band, Dora and Chris would be it, but little did he know what we had in store for him.

"Have they even stopped talking?" Cate asked with a chuckle, indicating towards Chris and Jack. It was obvious how much my brother had missed Chris and I gave them time to talk about all the possible things they'd like.

"They need time," I mumbled while glancing at my watch. "I think I should be going." Cate looked at the time as well and made an 'oops' sound.

"So, Jack, how about we go out for some dancing?" Cate suddenly blurted as she stood up. She looked at me and winked discretely. "I'm sure everyone would like that." It took me a few seconds to see Cate's attempt to get me to leave faster.

"That would be...cool," Jack decided, scratching the back of his head.

I looked at myself regretfully, while mumbling "If that's the case, I should go home and get changed, because this outfit sure doesn't fit a club."

"You know what? We'll meet you at the bar," Dom decided while passing me his car keys. I grinned and thanked him before giving my brother a quick hug and ran to the Chevy parked outside.

***

By the time I reached my apartment, I realized I didn't have so much time left, so I quickly took a shower, grabbed some clothes and tried to fix my hair in some way. My phone, wallet and stuff went straight into my bag before I rushed to the car and towards the hotel the Miami boys were staying in.

The elevator couldn't have moved slower and when it finally reached the fifth floor, I rearranged my shirt and walked down the hall towards the first room which belonged to Chris, from what I knew. As I knocked on the door twice, I felt slightly nervous and wondered why I hadn't knocked on Darren's door first. The door opened quickly and my attention was caught by a wolf whistle.

"And here I was thinking you couldn't have looked any better," he admired, while looking at me up and down.

"I'll take that as a compliment," I flirted, then walked towards Ami's door with a smirk. As he walked out of his room and went to get the other guys, Chris shot me that typical smirk of his, the one which clearly told me he was ready for a game.

"Darren, are you fucking ready yet?!" I barked, while hitting the door.

"Just a minute!" he yelled back, earning a huff from me as I glanced at my watch. Chris and Yoji were snickering behind me, while Ami was trying to be serious. I glared at them and groaned.

"That's it! Brass, we've been here for fucking thirty minutes! If you will not get out of there right fucking now, I swear I will break the door and beat the fuck out of you!"

As soon as those words left my mouth, the door flew open and out came Darren, a puppy look present on his face. This didn't help making the others stop laughing, so I rolled my eyes as I led the way.

"Ok, so how did Jack react at the sight of Garver? Shocked?" Yoji inquired as we all got in the car and I started the engine.

"You bet," I guaranteed with a smile.

Third person POV

People were gathering, the noise being obviously greater with each new person added to the group. It surprised Brian how many people Cate had managed to gather. Some were friends, some were friends of their friends while some were rich fans.

But in all that crowd, he only waited for one person and it wasn't the birthday boy. It was actually his sister, his gorgeous, lovely, honest, divine...

"Woah there," Brian muttered under his breath quickly before grabbing his beer. But where was she? He glanced at his watch, aware that she should have been there by then.

"What are you doing here all alone, tiger?" Michelle's voice rang through his ears. He sighed to himself and turned around to look at her. She snaked her arms around his waist and he left himself go along with her game.

Not like I care, he thought.

She opened her mouth to say something, but right then, the doors to the club opened widely and five people entered. A skinny chinese looking guy was ahead, an old grey fedora on his head. The guy next to him had curly black hair which was probably arranged with some gel to make it stay more towards his back. He wore a black t-shirt, which drew everyone's attention by the writing on it: "Single. Are you?"

Of all of them, the bald one seemed to be the strongest. He had a severe face and stood straight. If it wasn't for the Florida tan and lots of tattoos on him, you might have thought he was in army or something.

But Brian's face suddenly fell. He looked at her clothes, the way she moved, everything. Lexa stood there, between the army dude and another more tanned guy. She looked amazing, as always. And to think that he had had her and blew everything so soon. His daydreaming was, however, cut by the man at her left. He slowly put his hand on her back while smirking.

He had just as many tattoos as any of the other guys, but more tanned than the rest of them.

"Brian, stop fucking staring," Michelle hissed at his side. He snapped his head in her direction, barking a 'what?'. She glared at him, but attached herself quickly after glancing behind him. He turned to look at Lexa and her friends.

Lexa's POV

"Guys, meet Leana." Darren whistled before I could say anything else and everyone began laughing as I added "Her boyfriend is Jimmy, the tall dude next to whom you're standing."

I laughed while glancing around at all the people there. My eyes landed on Michelle, keeping a strong grip of Brian, who was looking at me with a look I couldn't yet understand. Surprising even myself, I found myself smiling weakly at them, but just to piss off Mich, I addressed myself to Syn.

"Hi, Brian." He furrowed his eyebrows before returning the hello.

"So, lovely lady, won't you introduce us to your other friends?" Chris interfered, drawing Brian's attention as he put his hand around my shoulders. As if on cue, Ami showed up and after a quick glare, he made Chris back off.

I pretended nothing happened as I continued onto presenting everyone to the other guests. The noise suddenly stopped and the DJ, which I had to figure out from where he had come, announced the arrival of the birthday boy. Everyone remained quiet as the lights were turned off and I dragged Val closer to the entrance, away from the huge crowd. The door opened slowly, revealing a couple of solutes.

"Cate, this better not be what I think it--" But Jack's voice was interrupted as the lights were on again and everyone yelled "Surprise!". I watched my brother as he glanced at the whole thing then looked at Val and I. Cate squealed in excitement.

"This is so cool!"

"You were in on this, weren't you?" Jack commented as he looked at Val, who had an innocent smile on her face.

"Alright, alright, alright! Now that the birthday dude is here, let's get this party started!" the DJ boomed. I smirked and watched as Jack pulled Val into a tight embrace. I winked at him and he gave me a look telling me he'd take care of me later.

"Look who's here! You look good, little cousin." I laughed as Garver hugged me and thanked me. I looked around the big table placed rather privately further from the dance floor and was surprised that there was alto of people. A7X, their girlfriends and the Miami boys now in full troup. Not to mention my band.

"I cannot believe you retards!" Jack yelled over the music as he joined us. The reaction must have obviously come at the sight of Ami, Darren, Chris and Yoji.

"Now you talk nice to people older than you, Jack," I warned very serious, earning a few stares from Nunez and Ami. Cate and Dom began laughing next to me.

"You digging this, Jack?" Jimmy inquired as he stood up, following Leana to the dance floor. My brother huffed.

"It's fucking awesome, dude. Thanks."

"Don't thank me, thank young miss Poofy here." I gasped at the nickname as everyone started laughing. Jimmy obviously ran with Leana so he wouldn't get caught, but I knew I'd get him at some point. I was quickly informed by Jerry that the DJ was his present for Jack, along with some other thing.

I don't think it took long enough for everyone to get in the actual party mood, because soon enough, drinks were everywhere, people were dancing, talking, hooking up even. At some point, I ended up at the table with Brian, Johnny, Matt, Cate, Garver and Michelle (who seemed to have a pretty tight grip on Brian ever since I had walked into the bar). I couldn't help it. I felt hurt and angry that he hooked up with her, but what was I supposed to do? This was Brian, after all. And all he cared about was hurting women. However, despite his girlfriend's wish, he had glanced at me very often, especially when Nunez or any other of the Miami guys were around me.

The sickening beat of one of Lil Jon's songs filled my ears and I glanced to see Jack dancing with Val and Lacey with Yoji. Cate and I were both standing, the reason being that we were going numb on the couch.

"How are my two favorite ladies in the whole world doing?!" Darren yelled over the music as he put one of his arms around my shoulders and the other one around Cate's. We both laughed as we began dancing with him slowly on the spot.

"Daamn, Ami's living his dream!" Johnny joked, pointing at Cate and I. He earned a slap from Matt, while everyone was laughing. Garver stood up and straightened his shirt.

"Right...Matt, mind if I take your girlfriend for a dance?" Matt laughed and allowed him to. Cate walked with my cousin to the dance floor, leaving me with Ami and the rest, who started making jokes on Jimmy, who was currently assaulted by Leana and Lacey. I noticed Brian frown as Nunez appeared next to me. I rolled my eyes at his attitude and turned my attention to Chris.

"Anything I can do for you?" I asked watching him grabbing me by the waist. This did not go right for Ami...or Brian, for that matter.

"You owe me a dance, pretty lady," he smirked. Brian's huff brought my attention to him and I raised an eyebrow at him, before realizing that both Michelle and Matt were doing the same.

"Chris, I'm not really in the mood..."

"Oh, come on, Lexi," he begged. "For the sake of--" I burst out laughing as he paused in order to watch a woman pass us by. He cocked his eyebrow at me, then glared shortly at Brian, who was now standing beside us, pretending to be holding Michelle preoccupied.

I took a serious face and pretended to act like his mother. "So, young mister Chris, how many ladies have you fallen for tonight? Anyone caught your professional eye?" I added the last part with a laugh while taking a sip of my drink.

A smirk adorned his face as he leaned on a hand. "Just one. But..." he paused to look me up and down, "she won't give in that easily."

I bit my lip at how obvious he was and yet what a charm boy he was. I tried to avoid his look, but instead ended up catching a glimpse of Brian, who had lost any interest in Michelle and glared daggers at the back of Nunez, although he seemed so fucking shocked.

"Fine," I finally spoke. "I owe you a dance, mister Nunez." I dragged him to the dance floor, a smirk on my face.

I wanted to get Brian out of my mind. And Chris was obviously the perfect way to do that. As I danced against Chris, I slowly began remembering the crush I had years ago on him. That attraction was still there, I realized as I began smiling. Surely, it wasn't like the one I had felt for Brian. With Nunez, things were rather..one night stands and I knew it. It was simple, raw attraction that usually involved no deep feelings.

Chris Nunez had always been a killer dancer, so when he took my hand and we began dancing in Latino beats. I had forgotten completely about his talents.

"That's right, ladies and gentlemen, we have ourselves a lovely couple right there in the middle. Damn, people!" the DJ yelled. I soon realized some of the other people had pulled away, making a circle around Chris and I. This obviously tickled his ego and smirked as he spun me again. As the song came to an end, Chris took a grip of me and I ended up in some tango position with him holding me as I was only a few inches from the ground.

I chuckled as Chris leaned in and pressed his lips against my neck, then pulled away to smirk.

"That Brian dude has a real problem with you, you know," Nunez noticed, his amazing voice tingling my senses. Oh, this was so bad. I glanced around to see Brian glaring daggers at us, but pretended I didn't see him.

"Yeah, screw him," I mumbled while Chris pulled me against him even more. I have no idea for how long we danced, but what I clearly remembered were the smiles we both had on and how much fun I was actually having. That was, until things started getting hotter. I felt Chris' hands travel to my lower back, then to my hips. He brought his lips closer to mine and smirked as he leaned in.

"Yo, Lexa, Cate's looking for you!" Chris and I pulled away from each other within seconds and I stared at Brian, who was smirking at Nunez. I instantly understood what was going on, but on the other hand, I couldn't let Chris get what he wanted. Not this time. I glanced at him and began walking towards Cate, Brian obviously following me.

I was ready to yell at the bastard for lying, make him regret it. But to my surprise, Cate was actually looking for me. And all idiots have luck.

"They're ready to bring the cake. Do you guys have a lighter or something?" Brian and I checked our pockets, but came with nothing. "Jesus, there's so many smokers in this club and no one has a lighter?"

"Hold on, Dom had one in his car. I'll be right back!" I yelled as I tried to make my way through the crowd and towards the exit, passing Michelle, who gave me a glare. As I walked out in the night, I exhaled in relief and began walking to Dom's car.

"There you were," I muttered as I grabbed the lighter. The sound of a door opening then closing and footsteps interrupted me from my discussion with the object. I turned around only to see Brian.

"Nunez is really not the right guy for you," he blurted out. I stared at him in surprise.

"Excuse me?"

"Do you really enjoy doing that?" I frowned realizing he was talking about getting so close with Chris.

"I didn't do it on purpose, if that's what you're asking," I mumbled as I straightened myself and began making my way to the entrance. But I didn't even take two steps as I soon found myself pinned against the wall, my arms held tight by Brian.

"Brian, let go," I warned quickly as I felt panic take over me. He didn't even give me another chance to say something as he pressed his lips onto mine. A part of my brain was telling me to push him away, run. I could do that, I was capable. But I did the opposite. Our lips began moving at the same time and before I knew it, he slipped his tongue into my mouth. He released my arms and held my waist like he used to some time ago.

"Stop it!" I yelled suddenly as I pushed him away, surprising even myself. My voice literally held despair and that annoyed me. Brian gave me a confused look.

"Lexa, I--"

"Don't do this, Brian! Forget about it!"

"Just listen to me! I'm sorry things went like that. You have no idea what happened."

"No, I've had my share with guys like you and I'm tired of it." I wanted to hit him, the bastard.

"You know what?! I honestly regret we did what we did that night because--"

I hate you! But I ran back inside without even starting that sentence. The phrase had come as such a shock, I didn't want to hear anything more. My throat burned and I had that feeling like I wanted to hit something. But I couldn't. I looked around for my brother. I tried to zone out from all the noise and sighed at the sight of Michelle. She was probably looking for Brian, judging by the look on her face. She had been so right. He went back to her, so why should I care anymore?

"Ace, where have you been?" Zacky yelled as he appeared by my side.

"Here and there," I replied putting on a fake smile.

"They're ready to bring the cake. Shall we?" I chuckled as I took his arm and followed to the middle of the room where a table had been placed and Jack was standing with Val, probably looking for me. Everyone gathered around. Happy faces were everywhere. Garver and Ami glanced at me then inspected Zack carefully. I smirked as they both looked at each other and Ami shrugged.

I came next to Jack and pulled out a bandanna.

"Alright, mister, no peeking!" I warned as I tied his eyes and everyone laughed as he yelled "Noo!". Brian had made his way inside and was standing with Michelle right in front of us, across the table. I was extremely glad I had Matt, Jimmy, Zack, Cate and Darren by my side.

An enormous cake was brought to the table and Val untied Jack's bandanna. In within seconds, everyone started singing "Happy Birthday!". A huge smile appeared on Jack's face as people went silent and waited for him to blow his candles.

"Come on, Cracker, make a wish," Dom encouraged and we began laughing. Jack inhaled and blew out his candles, making everyone cheer, lift their glasses and yell "Speech!"

I laughed as Jack pretended to blush. "Okay, so...First of all, thank you all for being here and for bringing all those lovely gifts." He laughed. "I guess 23 isn't that bad of an age. I'm actually really happy to reach 23 by all of you people, old friends and new friends..my wonderful girlfriend.." He paused to hug Val tightly, "..and by my amazing sister." My brother turned his attention to me and I smiled weakly. "Without her I probably wouldn't have been here today. And I guess I owe her everything. I love you, sis."

The fake smile I had put on disappeared and I looked at him honestly. He had no idea how much those words meant to me and I chuckled as everyone made an "aw" sound. I hugged Jack tightly.

"I love you too, bro."

As people got back to their places and the party was restarted, I glanced at Brian to see him watching me carefully. I looked away just in time to see Ami appear. I smiled bitterly as he pulled me into an embrace and invited me to dance.

I had to hide my anger and sadness for the sake of my brother for the entire night. A part of me was consoled by the fact that once I got home, I'd be able to cry by myself.