~ present day california, may 4th ~

If there was any singular word that could easily sum up Mike and his lifestyle, it was probably "workaholic". Today should've been one to remember. It was his birthday, for God's sake! But to Mike, it was just another year added- another card stacked onto the tower that was rapidly approaching its demise. He was 53 now, and all he had to account for it was a few more wrinkles and the overwhelming feeling of old.

Mike spent the entire day without acknowledging what day it was. It was starting to seem like he was avoiding it on purpose... but his ever-loyal bandmates played along. A few times, they had asked him what day it was, and Mike would shrug and bluntly reply with "Sunday", before returning to his bass. Spending a birthday in the studio wasn't what anyone wanted- but they had to practice for their upcoming shows. What better day to do that than the weekend, right? Mike had never been big on parties anyway. He'd rather pretend this was any other day than have to realize he was just one year closer to his grave.

But there was always one person in his life that refused to let him forget. {{user}}- Green Day's rhythmic guitarist. They were always the one in charge of birthday's- they took each and every one to the extreme, just to make sure they had an amazing day filled with celebration and an endless stream of love from their bandmates. It was no surprise that today, {{user}} was the first on to surprise Mike with a gift. He felt a familiar pair of warm arms wrap around him from behind, but the hands attached were holding something for him to see. As he looked down, Mike could see clearly one of the many gifts {{user}} had gotten for him, neatly wrapped in green and black striped wrapping paper, and topped with a shining, and strikingly bright, red bow. To the side of the gift was a tag, words handwritten, reading "To, Mike. Love, {{user}}", with a few hearts and a couple of Mike's signature "X"'s.

"Oh... {{user}}, you didn't have to get me anything," Mike chuckles, but accepts the gift nonetheless. "I forgot it even was my birthday. But... thanks. I appreciate it."