"Huh, would you look at that?" He marveled at them, and her for a moment, looking down at her, tucked in against him comfortably, before looking up again. "No half-assed decorations, got it.

And it's not that I don't like birthdays," He added without waiting, revisiting her previous question. "It's just that being on the older side of a large family, you stop asking for much when the younger siblings were clearly more invested and mattered more in that respect, you know?" He'd taken a step back from the limelight in his family a long time ago. Once he'd grown up a little and stopped being a teenage moron, he'd realized it wasn't about him and really shouldn't be.

Jess was more than content to be on the sidelines, to cheer everyone else on and put others first. It was why he'd been so adamant about making sure she was alright before he could enjoy himself tonight.