Wilted and Faded

When the girls and I returned home I was shoved upstairs to get ready, apparently I wasn’t allowed to see the pool area, as it was a surprise.

Standing in front of the mirror in my new bikini I smiled. Over the last couple of weeks I had been eating properly and my soft curves were starting to return. I ran my hand through my short hair and leaned forwards to apply some waterproof eyeliner and mascara. I figured I should at least attempt to make myself look presentable, not that I was worried about what I looked like around Frank, I had been sobbing into the guy’s shirt not so long ago for Pete’s sake.

There was a knock at the bedroom door as I pulled on my new hoodie and slid my sunglasses on top of my head.

I opened it to find Frank on the other side dressed in black and red board shorts and a red shirt.

“Hi,” I waved.

“Hey,” he smiled slowly, “I’m here to escort you to your party.”

He stuck out his arm for me to link mine through.

“You look really pretty by the way," he said quietly as we made our way down the stairs and towards the kitchen.

“Okay so this is going to sound really strange but I have to cover your eyes now.”

I looked over at him and shrugged, “Um, okay.”

Frank moved behind me and placed his hands delicately over my eyes. I swallowed nervously as I felt his warm breath against my neck.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be careful,” he said softly as he lead me through the kitchen and out the back door towards the pool.

Frank’s hands dropped from my face.

“Surprise!”

I laughed as I spotted the members of My Chemical Romance dotted around, and in, the pool. Eliza sat with Gee under a large parasol, Bob and Ray were lounging on lilos in the pool, Mikey and Alicia were sitting at the kitchen table that had been moved outside, Johnny was flipping burgers at the barbecue and Brian was standing a couple of feet in front of me, camera in hand.

The next couple of hours were spent eating, drinking (non-alcoholic beverages), messing around in the pool and laughing, a lot.

I sat at the edge of the pool with my legs dangling in the warm water watching Ray and Frank attempt to dunk an angry looking Bob.

“Having a good birthday?” my brother asked as he placed himself down beside me.

I grinned at him, “The best. Thanks for doing this.”

He nudged my with his arm, “Don’t worry about it. It’s good to see you smiling again.”

“I’m feeling pretty good.”

Mikey came scrambling over to us and tugged my hand, “Come on Ruby! It’s time for presents!”

I laughed as he towed me over to the table still laden with food and now a few wrapped packages.

“You guys didn’t have to get me anything. Being here was more than enough,” I blushed as I pulled on my hoodie.

“Stop being so coy and just open them!” Eliza cried.

I rolled my eyes at her as Johnny placed a heavy flat box in my hands. I lifted off the lid to reveal a glossy black laptop.

“Johnny, this is too much,” I exclaimed, looking at him wide eyed.

He shrugged, “I figured you could do with your own computer, and if anything it means you can stop hogging mine.”

I smiled and gave him a tight one-armed hug.

“Okay, okay, enough of the love-in. This is from us,” Gerard handed me a soft package.

“We know you like band tees and the only way to guarantee you didn’t have this one was to give you one that hasn’t been released yet,” Frank explained as I ripped at the shiny paper, intrigued.

I grinned as I unfolded the black shirt.

“The very first piece of My Chemical Romance, ‘The Black Parade’ merch,” smiled Bob.

“Oh my God you guys,” I smiled as I ran my hand over the white image of the marching band.

“Oh yeah and we made you something,” Frank motioned behind me.

I turned around and there was Brian holding a large tray with what I assumed was my birthday cake on it. He placed it down on the empty space on the table, I pressed my hand over my mouth to contain my laughter. The large round cake was iced with bright pink icing and written on top in shaky green writing was ‘Happy Birthday Ruby’ and candles in the shape of 21.

I bit my lip to try and contain my laughter, “It’s so cute.”

“You don’t know how difficult it was to light those candles,” Frank frowned looking down at his right hand.

“Stop laughing you’ll blow the candles out too soon!” Bob scolded me.

They all sang me the happy birthday song and the cake was dished out. As I handed Frank a particularly large slice on a Hello Kitty paper plate Ray stuck his head out of the kitchen door.

“Ruby there’s some English dude on the phone for you, he says it’s important.”

Frank and I looked at each other and raised our eyebrows before I took the cordless phone out of Ray’s hand.

“Hello?” I asked.

“Miss West? This is Edward Saunders, you may not remember me but I was your mother’s solicitor in London. I have some important news for you.”