Somehow, the announcement of our engagement and pregnancy pushed every mention of my birthday to the side. It was as if that no longer mattered, and to be fair, I agreed.
Mum let out a delighted gasp as she took Scarlett's hand, her eyes sparkling, just like the lilac stone she was admiring. "I love that ring. I would've loved to give you something ancestral, but Troy never told me his intentions."
She shot me one of her mild glares, the kind she used when she was scolding me without really meaning it.
I raised my hands in surrender. "I didn't want to announce anything prematurely. The only person who knew about this proposal, besides the ring designer, was Olaf, since I needed his blessing to go forward with it."
"You knew?" Melanie, Scarlett's mom, turned sharply to her ex-husband. "And you didn't think it was necessary to tell me?"
Olaf shrugged as he leaned back on the sofa. "I couldn't have said no. My baby girl would've killed me."
"Damn right I would've," Scarlett said immediately, her grin bright.
"And I didn't want to ruin the surprise," Olaf added, completely unfazed. "You're terrible at keeping secrets."
Melanie huffed and folded her arms. "Of course I can keep a secret like this."
Before the argument could continue, Vanessa, Scarlett's older sister, jumped in with the enthusiasm of a journalist chasing a headline. She bounced on her toes and fired off questions without pausing for breath. "How was the proposal? Was it big and grand? Where was it? Do you have photos? What were you wearing?"
Scarlett laughed before turning to me. "Remind me again, what was I wearing, Troy?"
I resisted the urge to laugh with her and shot back, "You don't remember? It's not even been a week. Such a shame."
"Oh, I remember it perfectly," she said cheekily. "I just want you to tell them. After all, you didn't record it, or we could've shown everyone the video."
I raised an eyebrow. "Had I recorded it, I'm pretty sure we wouldn't have been able to show it to anyone, let alone our families."
Melanie groaned softly. "And they're off into their world again."
"It's cute, I think," Mum said with a sentimental smile. "I remember being young and in love. Don't you?"
Melanie sighed, then nodded. "I do." She turned back to Scarlett. "So, have you decided when you want to get married? I'm not asking about the date, just whether it'll be soon or after the baby."
Scarlett grimaced, and I felt my stomach tighten a little.
It was the one topic where we still hadn't reached a mutual agreement. I wanted to get married as soon as possible before the pregnancy went into one of the later stages. Scarlett preferred waiting until after the baby was born. Her reasons were fair. We were both working on our respective plays, and a wedding takes time to plan. I would've eloped with her to Vegas without a second thought, but she had always dreamed of a grand wedding. I didn't want to take that away from her.
"It'll happen after the baby," I answered for both of us. "That's why we're not in a hurry to plan everything right now."
"That's good," Mum said with a happy nod. "That gives us plenty of time to get everything sorted. There's so much to handle, from the dresses to the venues to the decorations."
"Don't forget the cake," Vanessa added quickly.
"Of course, the cake," Mum agreed. "I know just the baker who'd be perfect for you two."
The ladies immediately launched into a detailed discussion about cakes and catering, completely forgetting that my birthday feast, including my untouched cake, sat right in front of us.
"Troy!" Evan appeared like a lifeline and wrapped me in a hug before pulling me away from the gossiping herd, Scarlett included.
"You son of a bitch." He gave me a playful shove. "Why didn't you tell me you were planning to propose? I thought you told me everything."
"I planned to," I said with a sheepish nod. "I actually needed your help to make this proposal a big thing. But then one day we were in our room, talking, and I just knew it was the perfect moment. Some things just happen, you know?"
"Uh-huh," he said in agreement, though he still looked slightly betrayed. "Anyway, the girls seem busy, and so do the older men."
He gestured toward Steve and Olaf, who were deep in a serious conversation about something that looked suspiciously financial or philosophical.
"So why don't we youngsters have a party of our own?" he suggested, pointing at Benji, Jonathan, Hunter, Adrian, and Christian. Scarlett's three brothers were already roped into whatever madness was brewing.
"I have a surprise planned for you, and in light of today's revelations, it makes even more sense."
I raised an eyebrow. "What surprise?"
"Ah-ah." He wagged a finger like a disapproving parent. "You'll have to come to the sitting room. It's there."
I might've been a billionaire who wanted for nothing, but I loved surprises. So I followed Evan back to the living room without hesitation.
The moment I stepped inside, Benji barreled into me and tackled me onto the couch.
"What the fuck, Benji!" I yelled.
Before I could judo flip him off me, Hunter and Adrian grabbed my arms, pinning me down. Jonathan held my jaw open, as if he expected me to bite him.
"If this is some attempt to poison me, I'll haunt all of you individually and make your lives a living hell," I warned.
Evan laughed as he stepped forward with a glass in his hands. "Relax, will you? I just wanted to share one drink with you today, and I know what a stickler you are about your rules. Now stop resisting or it'll go down the wrong pipe."
He lowered the glass to my lips and tipped it. The whiskey hit my tongue and burned its way down my throat. It had been a different life when I'd last tasted alcohol, but the heat spreading through my chest was familiar.
Evan didn't stop at a sip. He made me finish the whole glass while the other boys held me down like a sacrificial offering and chanted, "Chug! Chug! Chug!"
The moment it was empty, they let go of me and erupted into loud cheers.
"Yay. We took Troy's virginity!" Jonathan announced proudly, throwing his arms up like he had won a trophy.
I reeled back in outrage. "Hey. Rihanna took my virginity, not you!"
It took me a few seconds to realize what I'd just said. Out loud. In front of Scarlett's three brothers.
"Ah, shit."
Right. Another reason I didn't like drinking. Loose lips. Very loose lips. And technically, since this was my first drink in this timeline, I wasn't even drunk yet. My body just didn't have the alcohol tolerance it had built up in the alternate timeline.
Hunter Johansson slung an arm around my shoulders, laughing. "Don't worry, Troy. You're our brother now. Your secret's safe with us. Just don't say things like that in front of Scarlett. She's scary, and she'll be worse now that she's pregnant." He turned to Christian. "I still remember when your wife was pregnant. It was terrible."
Christian grimaced and nodded. "I remember, bro."
Before I could dig myself a deeper hole, Benji appeared with a tray piled high with drinks and set it down between all of us.
"Alright, gentlemen. We're drinking with Troy tonight, so pick your poison and join him for his second shot ever."
He held the tray out to me first. No one grabbed my arms this time, and I knew they wouldn't force me. I could've said no. But I didn't want to be the party pooper who killed the vibe, so I grabbed another whiskey.
"That's what I'm talking about," Benji said with a loud laugh. He took a tequila shot for himself and passed the tray around.
When everyone had a glass, he raised his in a toast. "To Troy. The best brother and boss anyone could ever want. Never change. I love you, man. No homo." He quickly glanced at Evan and Jonathan. "No offence."
I laughed at his ridiculousness, but underneath it, his sincerity hit me right in the chest. I clinked my glass with his and downed the drink in one gulp.
"Whoa." Adrian, Scarlett's other brother, patted my back. "Pace yourself, Troy. We don't want you getting sick on your first day of drinking."
"If I'm not drinking, I won't do it," I declared. "But if I am, I'll do it properly. Now, someone get me another damn drink."
The boys erupted in cheers as someone thrust another glass into my hand. I didn't even see who.
The next few hours blurred together like a badly edited montage. I remembered flashes. We danced a lot. Some of my own songs were played. I vaguely remembered singing something. Was that a karaoke machine? At one point I was close dancing with Scarlett, and she looked adorably embarrassed. Then everything after that was blank. No recollection of how the night ended.
"Ugh… I fucking hate you, Evan," I groaned as a headache slammed into my skull like a bullet train.
Another reason to never drink again: hangovers. At least I was pretty sure I hadn't puked last night. Throwing up after heavy drinking was easily one of the worst experiences I'd had in my first adult life.
"But I love you, bro," Evan mumbled from the mattress beside me. He was half-asleep and snuggled against Jonathan like a content overgrown puppy.
I shook my pounding head and looked around the room to see who else had ended up there. To my surprise, every single one of the boys was sprawled somewhere in that one room. I had somehow taken the bed, and beside me lay Benji. I would've freaked out a bit if we weren't both fully clothed in last night's outfits and a full meter away from each other.
Hunter was fast asleep on the couch, limbs dangling off the side, while his older brothers were passed out on a mattress placed right in front of the bathroom door. Whoever set up that arrangement was clearly drunk. On second thought, that was obvious.
I pushed myself out of bed and walked out of the room, desperate for an Advil or maybe something even stronger. I could've grabbed it from my own bathroom, but I didn't want to wake my soon-to-be brothers-in-law.
"You're up."
I turned toward the familiar voice. Scarlett sat at the kitchen counter in her pajamas, hair loosely tied back, nursing a cup of tea.
"Hey, babe." I walked over and took a seat beside her. "Where did you sleep last night?"
"With my mom," she said casually. "She found yesterday's situation very amusing."
I winced. Scarlett noticed and slid a small bottle across the counter toward me.
"Take two pills."
I didn't even ask what it was. I swallowed them instantly.
After a minute, I said slowly, "About last night, I'm sorry. The boys forced me to…"
"I know." She cut me off gently. "You don't have to explain yourself to me. It's not like I'd never had a drink before we started dating. I was just surprised you had your first drink right when I couldn't."
A grin spread across her face as she leaned closer. "And the things you said afterwards were amazing. Perfect blackmail material."
I groaned, this time out of pure embarrassment. "What did I say? Please tell me."
"Nope." She shook her head, clearly enjoying herself. "I won't give up my leverage so easily."
"I'm never drinking again," I muttered, mostly to myself.
"That's what you said last time," she teased. "And see how well that turned out."
A small smile tugged at my lips as the memories from last night flickered back. Despite the alcohol, I actually enjoyed my night with my brothers. If I could go back in time, I wouldn't change a thing. I did wish I'd had enough sense to take some photos, though. Now that would make the night memorable.
"That reminds me," I said, straightening a little. "Would you be open to getting a few photos with me?"
"For what purpose?" She asked it cautiously, because she knew I would never make casual requests for photos.
Her eyes widened when I explained, but after a moment, she nodded in agreement.
(Break)
Austin looked at the beautiful girl he had been waiting for at the cafe they had chosen. Half an hour had passed, but the moment Martha rushed in, all flustered and apologizing, he forgot about the time.
"I'm so sorry," Martha said as he pulled out her chair like a proper gentleman. "I hope I didn't make you wait too long. Let's order quickly or we'll miss [The Book of Mormon]. And once it starts, no entry is allowed."
"Relax," Austin assured her. "You weren't late. I was just a little early."
"Oh?" Martha grinned at him. "Eager to meet me?"
"Nah." Austin waved her off casually. "I just got off work early. If I'd gone home, I would've wasted more time. And I have this amazing app to kill time called TikTok."
"TikTok?" Martha lifted a judging eyebrow. "Who watches that? Isn't that, like, super lame? People acting weird and following trends that don't even make sense most of the time?"
TikTok wasn't as massive as YouTube, but it definitely had its own charm. It was also dangerously addictive.
"I'm not making TikToks," he protested. "Now that would be lame."
Martha nodded at that. "True. But if you really needed to kill time, I'd suggest something like Twitter. It's so much better and easier to use. And it's just text, so it's not even as distracting or as much of a time sink as TikTok or Facebook."
"I activated the anti-addiction mode on TikTok," Austin said defensively.
Martha frowned. "They actually call it that? What the hell is it?"
Austin laughed. "No, that's just what I call it. They call it something lame, like 'break reminder'. If you turn it on, after every half hour it reminds you to take a break. The screen turns black and starts a two-minute timer before you can use the app again."
Martha nodded, genuinely impressed. "That's nice. I've never heard of a tech company with a conscience."
"That's Troy for you," Austin said. "Phoenix might be just another tech company now, but at least it's more ethical than Microsoft, Apple, and Google combined. I think it's mostly because it's privately held by Troy and his family, so they don't have to keep investors happy."
Martha perked up the moment Troy's name came up.
"Speaking of Troy, look what I found on Twitter." She pulled out her phone, already unlocked to a profile page, and held it out for Austin. "This is legit Troy's account. He hasn't posted anything before now, but the blue tick and that adorable childhood photo that's never been posted anywhere else… it has to be real."
Austin leaned in and studied the screen. "Err, didn't you say Twitter is text only? Then why is it showing a photo of Troy and Scarlett together on this page?"
Martha frowned, confused, and turned the phone back toward herself.
The photo filled the entire top of the profile. Troy and Scarlett stood in front of a beautiful arch made of pale pink and white flowers. Scarlett stood barefoot on soft grass, her yellow and blue sundress catching the afternoon light. Troy was down on one knee, holding her hand as she looked at him with teary eyes. He wore a loose, off-white tunic-style shirt and brown khakis, simple but somehow perfect for the moment.
And beneath the photo was something Martha hadn't expected at all.
@Troy: She said yes!
Posted 1 min ago
"Holy shit!" Martha nearly shouted, her eyes going wide. "Troy and Scarlett just got engaged. And we're gonna see him live in less than an hour!"
Austin blinked at the screen, stunned. He had followed Troy's career for years and had never expected the guy, who was younger than him, to get engaged this early in life.
"The internet is gonna lose its mind when they realize it," Austin said.
"They already have," Martha replied as she scrolled through the exploding comments and retweets. "This is insane."
____________________
AN: Check out my second story, 'Swimmer to Superstar (A Hollywood SI)', which is now publicly available.
Link: www(dot)fablefic(dot)com