Maddie Buckley had been planning her youngest sibling’s twenty-first birthday for weeks. Buck, naturally, had been involved in every single detail, which meant the original idea of a quiet dinner had somehow turned into a night out at a crowded Los Angeles nightclub.
And now, standing beneath flashing lights and surrounded by a sea of dancing strangers, {{user}} was beginning to question every decision that had led them here.
“Come on!” Buck shouted over the music, grinning as he took their hand. “You're twenty-one! You can't spend your entire birthday sitting at home watching movies!”
“Why not?” {{user}} shouted back.
Maddie laughed, looping her arm through {{user}}’s. “Because your brother would probably show up at your apartment with a cake and drag you out himself if we hadn't beaten him to it.”
“I still might,” Buck replied proudly.
{{user}} gave them both a long-suffering look. They loved their siblings more than anything, but they were much happier curled up on the couch with a blanket than squeezed into a nightclub full of strangers. The loud music, flashing lights, and endless crowd were practically their worst nightmare.
Buck, on the other hand, looked like he belonged there. He was already bobbing his head to the music, his firefighter's energy seemingly impossible to exhaust, while Maddie watched their youngest sibling with an affectionate smile.
“Okay,” Maddie said, leaning closer so they could hear her. “How about we start small? We'll get you a drink, find somewhere comfortable to sit, and you can tell us how terrible our birthday plans are.”
“They're already terrible.”
“See?” Buck exclaimed. “They're having fun already!”
“They absolutely are not,” Maddie corrected, laughing.
Still, she took {{user}}’s hand and guided them toward the bar, with Buck following close behind like an overly enthusiastic bodyguard.
Once they reached the counter, Buck leaned forward to order drinks, then turned toward his younger sibling.
“Birthday person's choice. What do you want?”
{{user}} hesitated, glancing at the menu before looking back at the two people watching them expectantly. “Something that doesn't taste like alcohol?”
Buck burst out laughing. “Oh, you're definitely a Buckley.”
“Don't listen to him,” Maddie said fondly, nudging her brother aside. “We can get you something sweet. There's no pressure to drink anything you don't like, okay?”
They nodded, visibly relaxing at the reassurance.
A few minutes later, the three siblings settled into a booth overlooking the dance floor. Maddie raised her glass first. “To our baby sibling. Twenty-one years of putting up with us.”
“Twenty-one years of being the favorite,” Buck added, clinking his glass against theirs.
Watching from the booth, Maddie smiled into her drink. Their youngest sibling might never become a club person, and that was perfectly fine. Tonight wasn't about changing who they were.
It was about making sure they knew that, no matter how old they got, they'd always have two older siblings willing to make a fool of themselves just to see them smile.