June 13, 2013
8 AM

A series of loud knocks on the door startled Joseph as he jolted awake in alarm, looking around to see if Ciara was up yet or not. To his relief, Ciara seemed to be a heavy sleeper as she tossed around as covered her face with another pillow, groaning in her sleep.

With a soft chuckle, Joseph got up and walked to the door to see Ian waiting outside, with panic written all over his face.

"There you are, what took you so long?" Ian whisper-yelled as Joseph frowned.

"Hey, shh, it's early in the morning. Can you not be so loud? You'll wake her up," Joseph glared as Ian rolled his eyes at the man.

"No, you listen to me. I need your help. I made a mistake," Ian mumbled as Joseph raised his brow at the man in question, waiting for him to continue.

"Yesterday, after the dance, me and Nina went up to her room and we... um yeah, we got carried away and I don't know, I was high, I texted CiCi saying we needed the room and obviously, she didn't come back. Now, I can't find her anywhere. Nina and I looked all over the hotel and she isn't even answering her call," Ian blurted out in panic and guilt, "god, I promised Chris I'd look out for her. Her brothers are going to kill me."

Joseph listened in silence with an amused expression as he watched Ian explain the situation to him.

"Look, I know you two hate each other, but can you at least not be so smug about this and help me find her?" Ian rolled his eyes, finally.

"She's fine, Ian," Joseph replied as Ian frowned at the certainty in his tone.

"What?"

"She's fine," Joseph repeated, "she's asleep, though. So, you might want to talk slowly."

"Wait what?" Ian asked again with an incredulous look on his face, "you...did you say 'you'll wake her up' to me? Who's in your room?"

"Ciara," Joseph answered as Ian audibly gasped in surprise, "it's not what you think," Joseph clarified then, "I offered her to take the room last night, since you two took over hers. It took a little insisting but I couldn't let her freeze to death, could I?"

"She's in your room?" Ian quizzed again rhetorically as he tried to peek in, only for Joseph to stop him.

"Hey, invasion of privacy, man," Joseph teased, "talk to her at breakfast."

"Fine," Ian scoffed, "but you have a lot of explaining to do. Breakfast already started so we'll see you two downstairs."

Joseph nodded jokingly as Ian walked down the hall and he closed the door behind him.

Walking back into the room, Joseph smiled to see Ciara still fast asleep. In his eyes, she looked adorable in that moment as she snuggled her pillows.

Slowly, Joseph removed the curtains around the window as sunlight poured into the room, landing on Ciara's face as well.

Her face scrunched up as she turned to the other side to avoid the sunlight and Joseph chuckled again, this time loud enough for Ciara to have heard it.

She slowly opened her eyes as she looked around, trying to remember events from the previous night and how she had ended up here. Turning around in alarm, she saw Joseph standing by the window, looking out at the view as she slowly remembered everything.

"Oh, you're awake," Joseph spoke as he turned to see Ciara looking his way, "good morning."

"Good morning," Ciara mumbled as she sat up, "what time is it?"

"It's 8," Joseph answered, "Ian already stopped by. We should head downstairs soon."

"Um yeah," Ciara agreed as she got up from the bed and ran a hand throw her messy hair, typing it into a ponytail.

Joseph stood and watched. He didn't mean to stare but he couldn't look away. As the morning sun shone on her, she was clad in his white sweatshirt-sweatpants. She looked angelic in that moment as her cheeks were flushed from having just woken up. In his mind, she looked better in his clothes that he did. Even though they were mostly oversized, it seemed as though it was her who was meant to be wearing them. Joseph didn't know what it was that had caused him to begin seeing her in a new light, but he didn't mind it either.

"Joseph?" Ciara asked, snapping Joseph from his trance as he realized she had caught him staring, "do I have something on my face?"

"Um no," Joseph answered as he cleared his throat, "do you...want to freshen up first?"

"Oh, no, you woke up first. You go on, I'll wait," she answered with a smile as she turned on her phone and settled down on the couch as Joseph nodded and went into the bathroom.

10 minutes later, Joseph finally stepped out of the bathroom as he heard Ciara on a call with someone.

"So, they didn't call yet?" he realized it was Claire's voice he was hearing.

"Um no, not yet. But they'll probably text before the day ends," Ciara mock-laughed as Joseph frowned, realizing she must be talking about her parents.

"I'm sorry, CiCi," Claire spoke as Joseph walked into the room as caught Ciara's attention, "who're you looking at? I thought you were in your room?"

"Hi Claire," Joseph yelled in greeting as Ciara glared at him with widened eyes, not knowing how to cover-up for this.

"Who- Wait what?" Claire exclaimed, "was that Joseph? What is Joseph doing in your room? Or you're in his room? What is happening?"

"It's a long story," Ciara quickly intervened, "and it's definitely not what you think. I'll explain later, okay? I gotta go now. Love you, bye!" she said before abruptly hanging up the call.

"Are you out of your mind?" Ciara exclaimed as she looked at Joseph incredulously, only for him to frown in response.

"What did I do?" he asked in confusion as to why she was so offended.

"What did you do? What did you do?" Ciara questioned rhetorically, "you...you just said 'hi' to Claire while I was on a call with her, telling her I was still in my hotel room. And now she's blowing up my phone."

"You could just tell her you had to sleep here because Nina and Ian took your room," Joseph tried to reason calmly as Ciara sighed, "I mean, I'm sure Claire would understand."

"Ugh, you don't get it, Joseph," she fussed as she got up from the bed and walked towards the bathroom, "just...leave it. I'll talk to her later."

"I...um, okay," Joseph replied, not knowing why she was in a bad mood already, even though she had just woken up, "do you...want me to leave so you can get changed or?"

"No, it's okay. I just need to wash my face and then I'll go back to my room to get changed into the dress I bought."

"Okay then, I'll see you downstairs for breakfast," Joseph told her as Ciara nodded before closing the bathroom door as Joseph changed into his own outfit for the day and headed downstairs to the Hotel lobby.

༆☼︎☾︎ꨄ︎☽︎☼︎༆

📍 Westin Hallroom | 10:30 AM

It was nearly two hours later when Joseph finally saw Ciara walk into the hallroom of the hotel, wearing a long blue-gray dress with black lace-work all over it. Her hair was set free and she looked absolutely divine, in his eyes. He found a smile automatically creeping up on his face as she walked over to where he was stood, talking to one of the popular TV executives present at the Convention.

"Hi," she spoke shily as she stood beside Joseph, greeting the people he was talking to, "the receptionist said I was expected here."

"Ah, Miss Evans, so nice of you to join us," the man greeted as he took her hand to place a kiss on it, "we were hoping we would see you soon."

Ciara exchanged a guilty look with Joseph before turning back to the man, "yes, I'm extremely sorry for my late arrival, I was-"

"Don't sweat it," the man assured, "a birthday girl is allowed to take time to herself on the special day."

"Oh, thank you very much."

"Well, I should great some more people. I hope you two enjoy your time here," the man greeted before excusing himself as Ciara sighed in relief before turning to Joseph.

"So, what did I miss?" she asked as he gave her a look.

"Well, breakfast, for starters," he told her, "and about an hour of nothing but me mingling here alone when you were supposed to be here too."

"Come on, you had Nina and Ian to keep you company."

"They're not here," Joseph informed, "their paired us up. Those two went to this show to promote TVD while we're supposed to be here getting The Originals more attention among the execs."

Ciara sighed in frustration as she nodded, agreeing to whatever they were instructed to do. Joseph could see she was definitely having a tough day and was not in the mood for a conversation, let alone a crowd of people as the one surrounding them.

He hesitantly reached out to lightly touch her hand and give it a comforting squeeze as she looked up to meet his eyes, "hey, I know you're not in the mood for this. I'll do the talking, alright? And you can always go back to your room if you're not feeling great, don't worry, I'll handle it."

"No, um...I'm fine, just a little tired," she lied as Joseph nodded, letting her make the decision for herself.

"Okay then, let's go. But please, tell me if you feel unwell, I'm here for you, Ciara," Joseph assured as Ciara gave him a thankful smile as she put her hand around his left arm and the two walked off into the crowd, greeting more people as they went.

༆☼︎☾︎ꨄ︎☽︎☼︎༆

8 PM

It was hours later when all the party had dispersed and Ciara finally let go of Joseph's arm.

"Everything alright?" he asked her in concern as she took off her heels and picked them up in her hands.

"Yeah, my feet hurt so...and well, we're done here right?" she questioned as he nodded, "okay then, if you'll excuse me. I need some fresh air."

Joseph watched as she made her way through the crowd and to the exit door, looking relieved to be able to get out of here but just then, Ian and Nina walked up to her, greeting her with big smiles.

"Hey Cici!" Ian chimed, "we've been looking forward to seeing you all day! Happy birthday, darling."

"Happy Birthday, Cici!" Nina too wished her as the two brought the girl into a bear hug.

"Thanks, you guys," Ciara said softly as Ian frowned.

"Wait, were you leaving?" he questioned as she nodded in answer, "but...we just got here. And we have a surprise planned for you and-"

"Ian!" Nina nudged him, indicating him to shut up, "you just ruined the surprise by saying we had one!"

"Wh-what surprise?" Ciara asked them nervously, "look, guys. Whatever it is, I really appreciate it but...I'm not big on birthdays. I never celebrate mine unless Chris and Scott drag me somewhere with them so, please-"

"It's nothing big," Ian assured, "we just have a cake we wanted to bring in at 10:45 PM because Carly said that's when you were born."

Ciara's face paled instantly as Joseph quickly got to his feet, walking over to where the 3 of them stood.

"Hey, what's going on?" he asked as he worriedly looked at her.

She looked up at him with her pale, sad eyes, "I...I don't..."

"Okay, it's okay, you're fine. Come with me," he said as he wrapped his arms around her and took the heels from her, turning to face the couple who stood their dumbfounded, wondering what they had said wrong.

"Cici, what-"

"Excuse us," Joseph interrupted Ian, "she's been under the weather all day, I think it's better if I take her to her room now."

"Um, y-yeah," Ian agreed as Nina nodded too, making way as Joseph guided Ciara out of the hallroom and to the elevators that headed to the rooms upstairs.

༆☼︎☾︎ꨄ︎☽︎☼︎༆

Upstairs, Joseph brought Ciara to her room as she handed him the key to open the door. He helped her sit on the bed before moving to place the heels by the door and getting her a glass of water.

"Thank you," Ciara whispered as she lostly stared at the glass in her hand.

"You should, uh...change into something comfortable and stay in till you feel well. I'll...wait outside, just call me if you need anything-"

"You can...stay here," she spoke suddenly as he got up to leave, surprising both him and herself as she went on, "I mean...can you please stay? I don't...I don't want to be alone right now but it's okay if you have to go-"

"No no, I'll stay," Joseph assured as he pulled out a chair to sit down as Ciara gave him a thankful smile before getting up to walk to the bathroom to freshen up and get changed.

It was nearly 10 minutes later when Ciara walked out of the bathroom in a black top and sweatpants, her hair slightly drenched and wrapped with a towel.

She offered him an awkward smile as she walked to the table to complete her skincare when the growling of her stomach broke the silence that had settled into the room.

"I think you need something to eat," Joseph said softly as Ciara let out a short laughter.

"I wonder what gave that away," she joked as she walked back to where he was sat and took a seat opposite him.

"Do you want to order in? Or...there's this really great restaurant just down the street that I really like. We could go there...only if you feel like it, that is," he suggested as Ciara fell silent, considering it.

"Yeah," she nodded, "yeah, let's go to this place you like. See if it's actually any good."

"You'll love it, I promise," Joseph assured as they got up and put on their shoes, heading down to their destination.

༆☼︎☾︎ꨄ︎☽︎☼︎༆

📍 Katz's Delicatessen

"When you said 'nice restaurant', I didn't know you meant the 'When Harry Met Sally' restaurant," Ciara laughed as they walked across the street and to the restaurant Joseph had suggested.

Joseph only smiled as they walked in and asked for a table for two and to their luck, it ended up being the very table from the movie, that the restaurant had labelled, saying, "where Harry met Sally...Hope you have what she had! Enjoy!"

"This is nice," Ciara spoke after the two had ordered their meals, "thank you for this."

"My pleasure," Joseph replied as a comfortable conversation began to flow between the two- talking about the show, their characters and so on. For a second, they had both forgotten the hate and the arguments and it seemed like two friends catching up after a long time. For a second, Ciara had forgotten the dreadfulness of the day and was thankful for it.

The meal was done when the waitress brought in a plate of dessert and placed in in front of Ciara. The plate had the text "Happy Birthday" written in chocolate and a few macaroons on it, placed beautifully.

Ciara looked up to look at Joseph confusedly as he smiled at her in response, "I know you don't like celebrating your birthday and I'm sure you have your reasons but...you baked me such a beautiful cake for my birthday and i...this is the least I could do without making you uncomfortable."

"So, this is just your way of repaying me?" Ciara teased as Joseph shook his head vigorously.

"No, of course not," he denied, "it's...my way of being a good friend."

"So, we're friends now?"

"We...we could be," Joseph replied nervously, "if you would want that. This is...an olive branch, I guess. Look, Ciara...I'm sorry, for whatever I said when you first joined the show. It was very out-of-place for me and I was wrong about you and I'm willing to admit that. I totally get it if you still don't want anything to do with me but I want you to know I am terribly sorry for my past behavior-"

"It's okay, Joseph," she assured as she placed a comforting hand over his, "I...I get it, I get why you said what you said. Everyone says the same so, it's...okay. I guess I just wanted us all to get along and to think you couldn't stand me... I was just...I just wanted us to be good friends."

"We could...we can be good friends," Joseph interjected, "I'm willing to be a better friend to you, Ciara. It was my fault and I want to fix it. Please?"

Ciara looked at him hesitantly as she nodded, bringing a big smile to Joseph's face.

"Thank you so much," he said, "and...Happy birthday, once again, Ciara."

"Cici," she corrected him then as he looked at her in confusion, "my friends call me Cici."

"Oh," Joseph smiled, "well then, Happiest Birthday to you, Cici!"

Ciara smiled as she blew the candle and picked up a macaroon to offer it to Joseph as he snuck in a picture of her, smiling brightly in the moment. The two then finished the dessert and walked back to the Hotel with big smiles on both their faces.

Joseph walked Ciara to her room as they said goodbye and she thanked him once again before walking into her room to see the lights out and Nina asleep on her side of the bed. Ciara quietly look off her shoes and tiptoed to her side of the bed as she tucked herself in, still smiling as she replayed the day in her head.

The day had started out quite horribly but thanks to Joseph, it was the first birthday in a long, long time where even though she way away from home and her brothers, she had a good time. No bad thoughts snuck in for too long and she enjoyed herself...she genuinely laughed. And it was all thanks to him- Joseph, the guy she swore she hated all this time, but now...she wasn't so sure anymore.

The buzzing of her phone made Ciara look up at the nightstand as she read a text from Joseph where he had sent her the picture he took at the restaurant, saying, "a smile looks good on you, Cici."

The girl's smile only intensified at this but...it didn't last too long as a call popped up on her phone- the Caller ID labelled, 'Dad'. Maybe the day wouldn't end on such a great note, after all.

༆☼︎☾︎ꨄ︎☽︎☼︎༆
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View comments

chrisevans Birthdays aren't the same without you, tiny. But glad to hear you had a good time! ❤️

↪ciara.evansofficial Missed you and Scott loads too!❤️

claireholt HBD, Ciar Bear! ❤️ Now, answer my texts this instance! 

↪ciara.evansofficial what happened?

mr.danielgillies Happy Birthday, you cutie! 🎈
[ciara.evansofficial liked this comment]

charlesdavis2013 HBD, my forever partner-in-crime! 🎂🎈
[ciara.evansofficial liked this comment]c

elizabetholsenofficial Happy Birthdayy, Cia! Missed you so much here. Party as soon as you get back!

↪ciara.evansofficial Deal❤️

↪imsebatianstan Count me in!

shelleyhennig Happy Birthday, girlfriend! ❤️

↪ciara.evansofficial Miss you, come see me soon, please!

therealjosephmorgan Happiest Birthday to you, Cici.

↪ciara.evansofficial  ❤️❤️

↪mr.danielgillies Wait, what?! @claireholt

↪claireholt I know, I know

hayleymarshallqueen Happy Birthday, mommy❤️🎈
[ciara.evansofficial liked this comment]

thedaniellecampbell Happy Birthday!🎈
[ciara.evansofficial liked this comment]

edwestwick Happy Birthday, Cia!

↪ciara.evansofficial Thanks, Ed!

↪klayleyheart  Wait, what?!

↪username1  Are they back together?

↪username2  How many guys' hearts is she playing with at once?

Author's Note

Hiii guys! So, I know I owe you guys an apology. It's been a long, long time since I've updated. I just had no inspiration and also, my exams were going on so I was mentally drained and exhausted. But I'm back now! And I am going to be updating all stories much more often now, to make up for lost time. Hope you guys still love this as much as you used to. It's good to be back here with you all <3