[Like...People] It's My Birthday?

[DYLAN DAVID PARKER]

Rosie had gone to make herself another drink and Dylan went to fish some can beers out of a cooler for himself and Derek, and seeing Joel had come over, grabbed a third. He came back throwing them each one after he watched a money exchange going on. ”What are you paying her for, something later?” he joked, taking his keys out to punch a hole in the can. Dylan turned around but it was just Rosie, wrapping his arm over hers, ”There you are,” he said, looking at her. ”What kind of bet are we talking? The kind where it’s a win/win?” he laughed, getting Derek and Joel’s attention and punched a hole in his can while Derek did the same, handing his keys to Joel. On the count of three they shotgunned their beers, Dylan finishing his off and threw his can on the floor, pushing his hair back away from his face. ”Hey Derek, I think that’s the first time I ever shotgunned a beer with you. Isn’t that something,” he mused. Sometimes he forgot how old his brother was. Well, sometimes he forgot how old he himself was. Dylan looked around when he heard the production crew saying it was a wrap for the video, wondering if they would actually use anything Derek had filmed.

[DEREK EDWARD PARKER]

Derek laughed, tucking the 20 dollars in the waist band of her jeans, pulling her toward him by her waistband, ”Okay, counter counter proposal, you’re not allowed to go to sleep directly after that,” he smiled, his eyes twinkling mischievously. Derek smiled when Bobbie snatched the money from Joel, tapping her on the butt before she went back to play beer pong. Derek looked over at Joel, ”Yeah, ironic, right? I did not move to this town thinking I was gonna find Bobbie, that’s for damn sure. Glad I did though. She’s pretty… amazing. I guess we are kind of official,” he laughed, ”Whether we’ve admitted it or not until now,” he added. Derek caught the beer from his brother, popping a hole in his can with his keys and handed them to Joel so he could do the same. Derek drank fast, still not as fast as Dylan, but nodded and laughed, ”Yeah I guess it is.” The crew had started packing up and moving out, though Derek knew that didn’t mean the party was over. If anything, he was under the impression that things were just getting started. He looked at Bobbie’s bracket she made, seeing how many more games there were until she won.

[JOEL CARTER BROOKS]

Joel caught the beer as Dylan headed over to them. He watched as Rosie so meticulously wrapped her arms around Dylan, how even now Derek had his eyes on Bobbie. He took the keys to punch them into the beer can before bringing it to his mouth and shotgunning it as quickly as he could. Just as quickly as Dylan threw his beer can onto the floor, he was being scolded by Blake. Joel ran the back of his hand over his nose, making sure to throw his can into the trashcan so he didn’t have a song written about how he litters. He smiled at the small exchange between Derek and Dylan and took in a deep breath, watching Blake’s careful eye as he made a point of showing her that he was throwing his beer can away. Joel cringed as he heard Georgia screaming to ‘party on baby’ above the noise of the crew packing up and leaving. “ I got this, I got this” Georgia said as she came towards the beer pong table. Georgia did her best attempt at throwing the pong ball, which had resulted in Bobbie having to move out of the way to avoid getting hit. “ NAILED IT! I WIN!” Georgia said excitedly as she looked at Joel for a high five. “Someone beer me,” she said, walking away from the table.

[BOBBIE JACQUELINE BRYAN]

Bobbie made an expression expressive of ‘wtf’ when Georgia had upped and walked away. “ Get back here so I can kick your ass…” Bobbie said as she watched Georgia walking away, celebrating like she had won. But honestly it didn’t seem like Georgia knew what the game was even about. Bobbie shook her head, walking over to the glass holding all of the cash before she emptied it out. She started to straighten it out as she made her way back over to Derek. She counted out to herself, over three hundred now with Joel and Derek’s contribution. Bobbie smiled, “ Three hundred and twenty,” she said, folding the pile of money in half as she reached her hand around and tucked it in his back pocket. “ Sure you’re sober enough to dance?” she asked, trying not to smile. It seemed like every time she saw him he was having a shot with someone, or apparently shotgunning beers. That was gonna make for one sloppy dance from him later when they got home.

[ROSELYN RAE DAVIS]

Rosie watched as the three guys shotgunned their beer; and it didn’t seem like he was going to take her drink away from her…. but… just incase that sneaky sonbitch changed his mind, Rosie brought the cup to her lips and drowned it as quickly as she could before throwing the cup away. “ Uh oh, if the crew left does that mean miss Blake Parker is going to indulge in something to drink?” she said teasingly, ignoring the huff from Blake’s direction. “…Babe pick the beer can up…” she said, with her eyes locked on Blake and how determined she looked that Dylan was gonna pick up the damn beer can. “ So what do we now? Because the kids are about to film an adult movie, and they’re going to miss the fun times to be had,” she said, pulling her hair off of her neck as she looked back over at Joel. “I can’t believe that both the Parker guys got girlfriends,” he said, shaking his head. “ Oh I’m not his girlfriend yet,” Rosie said as she nodded at Joel.

[DEREK EDWARD PARKER]

Derek stood watching Georgia attempting her shot in the beer pong game and Bobbie who just wanted another reason to beat someone, and laughed, shaking his head. Bobbie won her tournament, which Derek suspected she would since it had been her idea all along. He noticed Dylan collecting from multiple other guys, wondering just how much he had bet on Bobbie and snorted a laugh at the amount his older brother had just put into his pocket. Derek let her put the money in his back pocket, ”That is quite impressive.” he said, pulling her against his chest, his hands in her back pockets and leaned down to kiss her, nibbling on her bottom lip and then pulled away and said, laughing, ”Girl, you haven’t see me dance,” he teased. Derek took her hand, pulling her to the middle of the dance floor to whatever song was playing. Derek knew more hip hop and rap songs than he cared to admit, but the scene down in Miami beach didn’t help his case in that area. But Derek really liked to dance, and he was a actually a pretty good dancer. Derek held her hand, spinning her around and then pulled her close against his body, his hands finding her hips. It was funny to think, as he held her close, moving with her, how less than two months ago to her he was this mysterious kid who talked to no one and had a bad attitude, but she had seen a lot of sides to him now. Tonight especially. Derek liked to dance. Derek leaned down to kiss along the side of her jaw, up behind her ear and down to her neck, realizing he didn’t have a lot to say. Being with her was enough. And his actions spoke volumes, so there was that.

[DYLAN DAVID PARKER]

Dylan looked at Blake incredulously and then laughed out loud, ”Seriously?” before picking his can off the ground threw it into the trash. Dylan looked at Rosie as she said she wasn’t his girlfriend yet. Yet. Well. That was a pretty clear indicator or what page she was on. Dylan thought about that for a moment, smiling at her but decided he could leave that conversation for later. But she knew he at least acknowledged her saying that. ”What now… well. You could dance with me, ” he said hopefully. ”I’m no Derek,” he said, laughing at his brother and his strange sense of rhythm. Dylan did not know where he got that from, ”But I don’t have two left feet. So there’s that,” he joked, taking her hand and led her to the center of the room between all the dancing kids. This night was one of those nights that made Dylan think about the fact that it was yet another result of a weird chain of effects. Just one of many. Never in a million years would he have thought 4 months ago that he would be here today at this party with a bunch of young celebrities, with Rosie. Had the plans not changed the way they did, he would be on tour right now. The chance of him meeting her would have been slim. Through all the negative, something positive had been thrown his way. He’d be damned if he was going to pass up something that seemed so much like fate. There was a reason their family had been thrust down this road, a reason these people had been brought into their lives the way that it had happened. It was only right, Dylan thought, that he open his arms to whatever stepped into his world, knowing there was a reason. There was a reason Rosie was in his life. She had been a godsend of sorts, though he was sure she didn’t realize it herself. There was a difference in the Dylan and Derek, in the way the two of them coped. Derek coped outwardly, and Bobbie had been there to recognize what he needed. Dylan was very closed off. A month ago Dylan feared the day he finally fell to pieces. But now at least he knew he had someone he wasn’t afraid to fall apart in front of.

[ROSELYN RAE DAVIS]

Ordinarily Rosie would be blunt as she always was, ask him where he saw this going. But she had never been one to be nervous around guys, or to want to be in a relationship. Now this guy was throwing her for a loop – and she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to have this conversation while she wasn’t sober and while they were at a party. It was what it was. Hopefully it would turn out to be something amazing, but there was always the option that it could completely devastate you and be the one that completely ruins you. Or what if she was the one to ruin him? He was going on tour soon, and even all of the happy feelings from the high in the world couldn’t make her heart ignore the fact that she was going to miss him. For the first time, she was going to miss somebody. And the strangest part of it was that her entire life she told people that she wasn’t going to end up with someone her father wanted her to – and deep down she felt like that was a lie. She knew she would have the white picket fence with two kids and a man who wore a suit to work every day. It terrified her how real that future was for her ; and then Dylan had come into her life with a full force and the prison she had created for herself in her mind didn’t seem like a possibility anymore. “ Do you think….” she said quietly, resting her chin on his shoulder, “ That Derek will share his Taco Bell with us?” she said softly, placing another kiss against his jaw as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

[BOBBIE JACQUELINE BRYAN]

Bobbie laughed quietly as he said that she hadn’t seen him dance before – because it seemed like every moment she spent with him was already dancing, floating. He had been extra affectionate tonight – which she had attributed to the fact of what had happened last night combined with the fact that he was drinking, and away from a public setting where people would stare at them if they were behaving differently from anyone else. When he spun her around, Bobbie pulled up close to his chest, resting her hand there. It seemed like every time they spent time together was monumental. The last time that they had gone out, she told him she loved him. Now, tonight it felt like it was the first time that they were out as an official couple with no cares, just enjoying each others company and getting to be outwardly flirty. Bobbie bit the edge of her lip to keep herself from smiling like an idiot at the way his lips trailed across her skin. “ You know,” she said, clearing her throat and moving so that she could look at him. He was dangerous. “ If we skipped school next week, it’s basically an extended spring break,” she said with a small smile, tracing her thumb along his jawline before she stood on her toes to kiss him.

[DYLAN DAVID PARKER]

Dylan held his arms around Rosie, listening to her ask about tacos. ”Well he sure as hell better, kids got over 300 bucks burning a hole in his back pocket,” he laughed, shaking his head. Not to mention the wad of cash in Dylan’s pant pocket too. Maybe they’d have to get some better made tacos. Dylan wondered if there was a cantina around somewhere. Maybe they should just go to Mexico. Just to get tacos. ”Are there any good Mexican restaurants around here, like really authentic ones? We could go find a cantina… get some tacos… some margaritas…” Man was he getting hungry. He was beginning to think Georgia had the right idea all along. Dylan joked, ”Maybe Georgia knows a good place.” Dylan thought for a moment and then mentioned, ”Also, we got kind of talked into attending… some rich person’s event, which is really not my thing, but my mom is making us go…So… she also said we could bring people.” He paused, thinking how he was kind of asking her on a date. And they’d been going on quite a few of those lately. ”So if you don’t have anything going on, you know, maybe you could go. With me.”

[DEREK EDWARD PARKER]

Derek pulled away from her when she spoke to him, laughing out loud, ”Oh man. I don’t know how much more school I can skip. They already don’t like me, if I miss much more I don’t think I would even graduate,” he shook his head. ”Maybe a couple days early though. Like, half a week…?” Derek took her hands in his, smiling. Just then, Dylan had walked over with Rosie, telling him that they were leaving to get food and he was going to get Blake. ”I’m so hungry,” he agreed, finding their coats end met everyone by the door. Derek didn’t know where they were going, but he didn’t even care. Suddenly he felt like he could eat enough food to last him a week. ”Wait, where are we even going?” he asked, waving goodbye to Joel as they filed out.

[MELANIE ELIZABETH THOMPSON]

Silence. Awkward silence. Very awkward silence. Did Melanie just ruin any chance she had with Rylan? Right before she could make up her mind to leave, Rylan finally spoke up. That was not what Melanie was expecting. She looked up and slowly smiled. Rylan’s smile was just so contagious, even if it was just a smirk. “Yeah..it might have..” Melanie managed to squeak out. The space between them was slowly becoming nonexistent and Melanie had to mentally remind herself to breathe. Her eyes slowly closed as Rylan’s face got closer to hers. She waited for a kiss, but nothing happened. Rylan questioned her calling him an arrogant asshole and Melanie just let out a small sigh and bit her bottom lip briefly before opening her eyes to look up at him. “Never? Well there’s a first for everything. “ Melanie rested her head back on the wall and sighed again. She really wanted to kiss him, but she just called him an asshole. He was right, he was intelligent, rugged, handsome, very handsome.. but he could be an asshole as well. Melanie looked back up at Rylan. Oh just do it, this is high school anymore, Mel. “Okay maybe not so much the asshole part..” she said with a smile, “but you can be arrogant at times.”

[RYLAN NOAH LION]

“ I can be arrogant?” he questioned again, lifting his eyebrows in response. “ You certainly know how to flatter a mate,” he said with a smirk before he leaned away. Rylan brought his hand to the top of his hair, shaking it out. “ Usually arrogance isn’t so bad when it’s been earned,” he said, looking over at her with a slight smile. “ So is that it, then? You came … without a date. Your main inquiry is on whether or not I am over Georgia? To give someone a chance.. you?” he scratched the side of his jaw, itching for a cigarette since he hadn’t one since earlier in the afternoon. “ You seem like a great girl, Melanie. I’m not sure why you would be interested in someone that you think is hung up on someone else,” Rylan took in a deep breath, reaching into his jacket pocket to take out his cigarettes before tilting his head like he was going outside. He picked up the bottle of Jack Daniels before leading her out to the balcony. At least they’d had a previous experience with balconies. “ When’s the last time you’ve been kissed?” he asked, twirling the unlit cigarette between his fingers. “ I mean… kept you awake in the middle of the night because your knees couldn’t quit buckling kind of kiss” Rylan turned his head to look at her before facing her. “ It’s just… I get it. British. Don’t exactly play by everyone else’s rules. However, I promise you…It’s not a pleasant road to travel down. The fantasy of the rule-breaking bad boy who whisks you away and kisses you in the… streetlight or the rain,.. that’s great for a Hollywood movie. But what happens when he continues to be …an arrogant asshole? What happens to a girls heart then?”