At least tonight it was actually someone's birthday.
MacCready wound his way through the crowd with a beer in one hand and a Nuka-Cola in the other, trying to spot the birthday girl through the mass of bodies. It took some squirming and a couple of thinly-veiled threats, but he made it to the center of the throng and sat down at the table currently wrapped in streamers.
"Happy birthday!" he yelled over the music. Cherry turned to him, smiling widely.
"Thank you!" she said, accepting the Nuka-Cola he offered her. "And thank you for this," she added, leaning closer so he could hear her. "Nobody ever remembers that I don't drink."
"Yeah, well." He ducked his head. "I try."
"It's appreciated." She winked at him and took a long pull from the bottle.
"H-hey," he said, laying a hand on her wrist before she leaned too far away to hear him. "I, uh. I got you something."
Her face lit up and something in MacCready's chest squirmed. "You got me a present?"
"I mean, it's your birthday." He shrugged, suddenly embarrassed of the whole ordeal. "That's what happens on birthdays, right?"
"Where is it?" She was all excitement, grinning ear-to-ear and he couldn't help but laugh.
"It's at your house," he said. "It was too big to bring with."
"A big present?!" She stood, pulling him up by the wrist. "I want to see it!"
"Hang on, hang on, I'm gonna spill my beer - "
The beer wound up abandoned as he was dragged through the crowd, the mass that he had struggled through parting like water for Cherry and him in her wake. Eventually they reached the darker, quieter outskirts of the party and she released him, a ring of warmth still encircling his wrist where her fingers had lay.
"What's the rush?" he asked, half-laughing as he tried to keep up with her across the settlement.
"Won't be my birthday forever," she called over her shoulder. "Gotta get my present before it's over."
"Can't argue with that, I guess," MacCready muttered, and broke into a jog behind her.
He caught her arm as they approached her home. "Hang on. You gotta shut your eyes."
"I'll fall in a hole," she protested.
"Nah, I won't let you. Come on, it's a surprise."
She narrowed her eyes at him, but eventually closed them and rested her hands in his.
"If this is a prank you're gonna wake up in a ditch."
"Come on, would I do something like that?"
"Yes."
"...fair. Guess you just gotta trust me."
"It better be worth it."
"I hope so," he muttered. He led her over the uneven ground until they reached the front of her house, shifting her until she was standing where he needed her.
"Alright, stay right there. A-and don't open your eyes yet."
"RJ." His name was a warning and he squeezed her wrists before letting go.
"It's not a prank."
He darted around the side of the house, groping in the dark for the wires he needed. Finally getting ahold of them, he finished the connection and was rewarded with a soft glow from the front of the house.
"RJ?"
"Not yet!" He jogged back out front to stand next to Cherry. "Okay, now."
He watched her as her eyes fluttered open. Confusion and surprise crossed her face, each lingering exactly long enough to send a spike of anxiety through him before she smiled, wide and bright.
"Where did you find this?" She stepped forward and MacCready looked up at the side of the house where a small sign hung on the wall, glowing letters in the dark spelling out her name.
"Old ice cream shop in the city," he said. "I wanted to find a Nuka-Cherry sign, but those were all busted. Boss helped me get this one working again." He looked back at her, and in the dim light from the sign he saw a tear rolling down her cheek. "Oh, sh - crap," he said. "I didn't mean to upset you - "
She shook her head hard enough to whip her ponytail over her shoulder. "You didn't," she said, almost a whisper in the dark. "I promise you didn't. I just - don't have a lot that's mine, y'know? And even this house - there are two other people in here - but it's - " She gave a high, watery laugh. "It's got my name on it."
She turned back to him, smiling even as the tears rolled down her cheeks. "Thank you, RJ. Thank you so much."
"Yeah, well. It's your birthd - " He was cut off by her lips pressed against his cheek, her forehead knocking his cap back slightly.
"Thank you," she murmured into his ear, wrapping her arms around his waist.
"...no problem," he said, gingerly returning the hug. "Happy birthday."
