HEAT •jb•

29~Birthdays

C POV

"Alright, alright I'm coming!" I call walking tiredly through the empty apartment. Whoever was endlessly knocking on the door obviously heard me because it had now stopped making me let out a relieved sigh. Looking in the mirror I bunch my hair up on the top of my head, creating a messy bun before wrapping a hair tie around the messy pile on the top of my head.

Then the knocking started again just as I unlocked the latch on the door. This person is really damn impatient. Putting a light pressure on the handle of the door I pulled it open, lazily scanning the person waiting outside of my door from head to toe. It took me a full minute to process who was actually standing at my door. As soon as it sunk in who was actually standing infront of me a small squeal escaped my lips as I literally jump on top of Rafaella crushing her with my body.

"OH MY GOD!" I screech repeatedly hugging her body close to me. I grin grasping Rafas shoulders and holding her away from my body for a moment. "What the fuck are you doing here?!" I ask my eyes wide an uncontainable smile on my lips as I internally scream from having my cousin and best friend in the same place as me.

Rolling her eyes Rafaella scoffs at me mumbling a small 'no' under her breath "It's kinda somebody's 23rd birthday....today!" She stresses, her eyes wide as she smiles excitedly.

In that moment it's like a small epiphany. I was half asleep before answering the door, too tired to realise that today was in fact July the 21st; Aka my birthday. A small wave of excitement washes over me as it registers that I'm actually 23, Rafa pushes me inside complaining how her feet hurt - I'm not surprised with the heels she's wearing, who the hell dresses like that on a plane ride? "Are you not jet lagged?" I asked noticing how she seemed anything but exhausted. A small giggle escapes her lips as she pulls along her suitcase jut making herself comfortable in my apartment.

"For me to know and you to never find out." Rafa speaks her voice emphasising the 'never', her familiar accent causing a small wave of happiness to wash over me, the realisation setting in she was actually here begining to sink in. I haven't seen this girl since Christmas. "You should be at home and awake by now anyway!" Rafaella huffs as she opens my fridge up inspecting it's contents. Sure Raf, go ahead; feel free, no I don't mind at all.

"I haven't been sleeping so..." I mumble, my voice low as I comb a loose piece of hair behind my ear with my eyes trained on the tiled floor. Rafaella makes a small 'oh' noise and I feel her stare burning into me. "It's so much worse than Jonnie, but I feel like... I'm over him to some level too, but at the same time I'm not. It's just- everything in my head is fucked up." I mumble nibbling awkwardly on my lower lip as I rest my hands on the cold wood of the counter.

We fall into a small silence before I hear Rafaella clear her throat. "I'm putting a ban on that." Rafa mutters, rolling her eyes as she pops a strawberry into her mouth and kicks the fridge door closed with her foot. "No more sadness, no more mention or thoughts of Justin in any form; as far as you're aware he's gone, you're over it! Okay? Great!" Rafa's small rant/speech/whatever that just was, was so fast she didn't really give me a moment to disagree with her. We all know that I he's gone, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm not over him and I can't not mention or think about him; but I suppose I can sure as hell try.

Around 2 Kia arrives and I quickly catch on that Raf, has in fact been staying with her for two days which would explain her sudden lack of text messages. We spend the rest of the afternoon eating anything we want and watching movies before getting ready.

Rafaella began her rants about avó (my grandmother) and her everlasting need to turn every single person who walks through her door obese with her amazing food along with her endless reasons why the both of us need to settle down with a 'good man'. Cue the eye rolls. We've heard the same speech since we both hit eighteen, it's all joking; I think... I hope.