Work Text
Patterson sinks into Tasha's couch, pouting. She kicks off her shoes, throws her blazer in the general direction of a chair, and pulls her hair out of the messy bun she had it in all day. She stares ahead at the TV, the screen blank and black as nobody had grabbed the remote yet. "Today sucked," she says.Tasha looks over at Patterson slumping on the couch as she takes her own jacket off. “What’s the matter?” she asks, a concerned expression coloring her face.Patterson looks over at her and continues to pout. "Weller broke his ankle, Tasha."“He’s a big boy,” Tasha responds, going over to the couch and sitting next to her friend. “I’m sure he can handle it.”Patterson drops her gaze to the rug. "If I had just been faster writing that code nobody would have gotten hurt!'Tasha frowns and rubs Patterson’s back supportively. “You did the best you could. Weller will be fine. No one was too majorly hurt.”Patterson sighs and bites the inside of her cheek. She's quiet for a long time before she speaks again. "Everyone forgot…"“Forgot what?” Tasha asks.Patterson sniffles, tears threatening to spill down her face suddenly. She can't make eye contact as she whispers "Today is my birthday." Tasha looks over towards her fridge, and then back at Patterson. “Everyone forgot about that?” she asks. “What about your family? Did they say anything?” At that, Patterson bursts into tears. "My dad texted me but nobody else did. Not even my br-brother," she sobs, hiccupping as she buries her face into her hands.“Oh, sweetie…” Tasha wraps her arms around Patterson comfortingly. Patterson clings to her, crying into her shoulder. Her body shakes with sobs as she curls into Tasha's hug. “It’s okay,” Tasha says softly, rubbing Patterson’s back. “Everyone forgetting your birthday sucks.” With a sigh, she adds, “Believe me. I know.” Patterson sniffles and looks up, mascara running down her face. "Really?"“Yeah…” Tasha sighs once again, remembering several disappointing and even depressing birthdays she’s experienced before. “But I’m over it.”Patterson snorts with no humor. "Inspiring," she says, dropping her head back down to Tasha's shoulder.Tasha chuckles and pets her hair. “Nothing to write a Lifetime Original Movie about.” She looks back over towards her fridge. “Hey, do you wanna see something?” Patterson looks up at her. "Is it a six pack of beer?"“Not quite that fun,” Tasha answers with a smile, “but I think you’ll like it.”Patterson leans away from her to let her get up. "Okay." She watches from the couch as Tasha walks over to her fridge and pulls out a cake. She hears the sound of Tasha fighting with a lighter. The lights in the kitchen flick off to make the apartment slightly darker as Tasha brings the cake to the couch. It’s an impressively large cake- one that took up most of the top shelf of her fridge- covered in chocolate frosting with whipped white icing lining the top edges. In the center of the cake, written in bright blue icing, are the words Happy Birthday Patterson! Surrounding the writing is ten candles.“Everyone else may have forgotten your birthday,” she says, setting the cake down on the coffee table, “but I’ve been preparing for it.”Patterson feels tears pouring down her face for a different reason now. She sniffles, trying to compose herself as she furiously wipes at her face. "I…" she has no idea what to say. She looks up at Tasha, warm brown eyes looking at her with nothing but friendship and love. Her bottom lip quivers and she smiles. "Thank you."Tasha smiles. “Happy birthday to the best friend I could ever ask for.” She moves to sit down beside her and pulls her into a quick hug, squeezing tight. "Go on," she says, motioning to the cake. "Make a wish."Patterson laughs, still wiping at her face. She leans forward, taking a breath and blowing out the fire. She watches the smoke trail up into the air before fading away. Neither of them speak for a moment, just sitting in each other's company. Finally, Patterson breaks the silence. "What about Reade?" she asks, teasing with an eyebrow raised. "Hmm?" Tasha asks, turning to her. "You said I was your best friend. Is he more than a friend now??"Tasha laughs, cheeks turning a bit pink as she avoids Patterson’s eagerly curious eyes. “This is about you, not him.”Patterson giggles, looking back at the cake. She can't stop smiling as she reads the words over and over again. "You're too sweet to me. I'm a mess," she finally says, looking down at her fingers that have mascara smeared on them.Tasha wraps an arm around her, pulling her into a half hug.“You’re a beautiful mess,” she responds. “A beautiful mess who deserves a good birthday.” Patterson breaks into sobs again, completely overcome by emotion as she leans into Tasha's hug. She flaps her hands against her knees, her cries somewhere between sobbing and laughing.After a few sweet moments, Tasha breaks off from the hug and goes to her kitchen once again, this time to pull out a knife, a couple forks, and two paper plates. “Shall we cut into this beast?” Patterson looks up and nods excitedly. She claps her hands together as Tasha reenters the room.Tasha cuts two slices from the cake, one for herself and one large corner slice for Patterson, and sets them down on the table. Before she sits down to eat the cake, however, she heads over to the shelf under her TV and pulls out a The Fast and The Furious DVD.“I also rented this,” she says, holding the DVD up. “You told me it was your favorite, so I figured we could watch it together.”A smile breaks out on Patterson's face and she bites her lip to conceal it. "I did?" she asks. She giggles and shakes her head. "We don't have to watch it, it's dumb," she says.“I’m not listening to your protests,” Tasha responds in a singsong voice as she pops the movie into her DVD player. Patterson taps her fingers against her knees, watching as the TV screen begins to glow. She reaches for her slice of cake, cutting it with her fork.Tasha presses the play button on the DVD player and begins to make her way back over to the couch before she freezes and a look of realization falls over her face. “Oh, I almost forgot!” Patterson looks up, fork halfway to her mouth. Tasha runs back to her bedroom and returns a few moments later, now holding a small blue leather bag that she sets on Patterson’s lap before sitting next to her.Patterson sets down her cake, curiously inspecting the bag. She turns it over in her hands, fingers trailing over the faint ridges in the leather. Eventually, she gets impatient and gently opens the bag. She gasps, tipping some of the contents out into her hand. She chews on her lip and looks back at Tasha, overwhelmed with happiness. She bounces her leg as she turns the dice over in her hand. She's holding what looks to be the prettiest set of dice she's ever seen, white and gold with blue details. A stray tear falls down her cheek. “For your wizard elf game,” Tasha says with a smile. “I thought these dice just… fit you somehow.”Patterson giggles. "I'm a gnome cleric," she says, rolling her eyes. She's told Tasha multiple times, but she finds it kinda cute, so she never gets too mad. She rolls the D10 over in her hand, a very faint blush on her cheeks. She looks back at Tasha. "They're beautiful. Thank you."“Of course,” Tasha replies. She looks over over at the TV, where the movie is still playing. “I guess we should pay attention to that now.”Patterson looks up. "Oh, yeah." She places the dice back in their bag and sets it on the coffee table, picking back up her cake. She takes another bite, settling against Tasha's side to watch the movie. She hums happily. "This is a really good cake," she says quietly. “Thanks,” Tasha responds. “I went to the bakery and bought it myself.”Patterson giggles and presses her cheek against Tasha's shoulder. Tasha rests her head on top of Patterson’s as they silently eat their cake and watch the movie play on the TV. When Patterson finishes her cake and sets her plate to the side, she reaches for Tasha's hand. She cuddles in a little bit closer.“Happy birthday,” Tasha says one more time.Patterson smiles. "The happiest."