So, I decided to do another "one-shot", this is somewhat different from all my other stuff in that it's pretty much all happy. It's gonna be just a few chapters, but I hope you'll all enjoy it anyway.

This is dedicated to lita_rocks for her birthday, which isn't until next week, but I didn't want to withhold this story from my loyal readers ;)

The Birthday Suite

Rating: T for some cursing and graphic scenes

Summary: What do you do when you get stuck for days? Make a friend, fall in love, maybe do something absolutely incredible.

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Lilly sighed heavily as she leaned against the wall. It had been one of those days that just would not end and to top it off her professor had kept her after class to talk about her poor performance during the last test. His words had angered her, even though they were partially true, but this class was just so late in the day she had a hard time concentrating and much preferred skipping it altogether. She glanced at her watch. It was now just after 10 pm and she'd have just enough time to get home, shower, eat and go to bed, before getting up in the morning to go to work.

Impatient, she hit the elevator button again, knowing it would not work any faster, but the action made her feel slightly better. The ding finally sounded, signaling the elevator's arrival. It was late and the building was completely deserted by now and Lilly was glad to find the elevator empty. She hated being packed in a small space with strangers while everyone just looked around awkwardly. Lilly hit the button for the ground floor and leaned back against the wood-paneled wall, when she heard a voice.

"Hey, hold the elevator please!"

The doors were already closing and Lilly wanted nothing more than to just let them slide shut. She had no desire for company and it wasn't her fault this person was too slow to catch the elevator. But her mother's voice rang in her head, admonishing her to be nicer to people and, with a sigh, Lilly pushed the button to open the doors. A girl entered, about her age, with long, brown hair, brilliant blue eyes and a bright smile that made Lilly almost feel okay about having to share her elevator. Almost.

"Thanks, I thought you were gonna leave without me," said the girl as the doors slid shut behind her.

Lilly merely shrugged, not in the mood to talk. The girl was pretty, but as Lilly's eyes moved away from her face, she noticed the girl was also incredibly pregnant. Lilly couldn't fathom how someone her age could already want to settle down with children and probably a husband. She balked at the thought of having real responsibility, beyond her small-time job and college classes. Lilly's eyes wandered around the tiny space impatiently, as the ancient elevator lumbered into action. I should've just taken the stairs, Lilly thought, as the number at the top changed from 6 to 5 with an agonizing slowness. Then the elevator shuddered to a stop completely, the number at the top almost gone but for the bottom of the 5.

Lilly stood straight, looking at the elevator doors then the control panel, as if she were missing something. She hit the ground floor button again, and again, to no avail. She wasn't panicking, because in her mind there was no way she was stuck in an elevator on what had already been a horrible day. One cursory glance at her companion told her the other girl had no such inhibitions. The cute brunette had her hands on her large belly, almost protectively and was biting her lip nervously.

"I'm sure it's nothing. It's an old elevator, it's probably just confused," said Lilly, surprising herself with the sudden urge to reassure the other girl.

"The elevator's confused?" asked the girl sarcastically, a slight smirk on her face.

Lilly might have lashed out at the words, considering her bad mood, but somehow she could tell the girl hadn't meant it derogatorily. She shrugged and began hitting more buttons, but this also had no effect. She saw the alarm button, but was almost hesitant to push it. If she needed the alarm button then obviously something was wrong and Lilly was refusing to admit to herself that this was anything out of the ordinary. Another glance at her companion and with a heavy sigh Lilly hit the button.

The alarm was an annoying bell that reverberated around the small space and through the elevator shaft. Lilly clenched her teeth against the noise. The bell continued to ring, but there was no reassuring answer or even movement from the elevator. Lilly tapped her foot nervously, still refusing to admit they were trapped. The ringing was starting to get to her. She noticed the other girl trying to yell across the cacophony.

"Can you turn it off?" Lilly hit the button again and blessed silence filled the elevator, though her ears still rang. The girl heaved a sigh and leaned back against the wall, relieved.

"How's anyone gonna find us if the alarm is off?" asked Lilly, though she was reluctant to turn the annoying ringing back on.

The girl made an apologetic face, "I'm sorry, it's just…the baby and the noise…"

Lilly blinked, glancing down at the girl's stomach, before shrugging. She knew nothing about babies, so she had no idea whether noise was bad for them, but she figured this girl should know. "No, it's fine, it was annoying anyway. Aren't these alarms supposed to go off in a maintenance office or something, as well?"

"I think that's only in the newer models. And I'm sure even if it did, everyone's gone home already."

"What about other students? There's gotta be someone left in this building!" Lilly's voice was taking on a hint of panic, as she pushed all the buttons again and then opened the little hatch for the phone. She pushed that button, too, but there was no answer no matter how much she yelled into what she assumed was the receiver.

The other girl shook her head, "Mine was the last class and I left late because I had to use the bathroom. I don't think anyone is left."

"But it's Friday!" Lilly's voice certainly sounded panicked now, as she realized they were quite possibly stuck in an ancient elevator in an old building with no one around to rescue them all weekend. A sudden thought hit her and she fumbled in her backpack for her cell phone. It wasn't there and Lilly rubbed a hand across her face, willing the panic away. She remembered having her phone in the car, she'd been talking to her annoying ex, and throwing it onto the passenger seat in anger. She turned to the brunette, face almost desperate.

"I don't have my phone. Do you…?"

The girl shook her head almost apologetically. "I umm…I have AT&T, I don't even get service in the building, let alone inside an elevator."

Lilly groaned and dropped her backpack to the ground, rubbing her hands across her face again. Her previously perfect ponytail was starting to look more and more disheveled and she wiped strands of blonde hair from her face. She couldn't be stuck, she just couldn't. She had to be at work in just a few hours and there was a good possibility her boss would fire her if she didn't show up. Lilly turned and angrily punched the buttons, making the other girl jump. When Lilly looked at her to apologize, she noticed the brunette carefully lowering herself to sit on the floor.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm sitting down."

Lilly grimaced. "That floor is probably filthy."

"The way things are going, we're gonna be here for a while…might as well get comfortable. You're more than welcome to stand up, but I'm tired of carrying this extra weight."

Lilly watched the girl settle into the corner and turned back to the button console. She refused to accept her situation. Lilly eyed the elevator doors. Perhaps she could pry them open and climb out; she'd seen it done in movies plenty of times. She squeezed her fingers between the doors and pulled with all her might. To her surprise they pulled apart quite easily at first, opening a gap of several inches.

"What are you doing?" asked the girl, sounding almost confused by Lilly's actions.

"Prying the doors open." Lilly put all her effort into it, pushing the steel doors apart just an inch at a time.

"I'm pretty sure we're stuck between floors," said the girl and as soon as Lilly looked at her handiwork, she saw her companion was right. She had opened a gap of maybe a foot, but all there was behind the doors was gray concrete. Lilly wanted to cry. She clenched her jaw, turning away from the doors in frustration. They were really stuck, without anyone there to help. Lilly looked at the other girl, who was watching her curiously.

"Why are you so calm?" Lilly decided focusing on something other than their impending doom in this elevator might keep the panic at bay. She pushed aside her backpack and, trying not to think about how gross it was, sat in the other far corner across from the brunette.

The girl shrugged. "Trust me, I'm ready to panic, but stress is bad for the baby. I'm just trying to focus on something else. I'm Miley, by the way."

"Lilly."

Miley smiled and despite the panic Lilly felt something inside of her move. "Well, it's nice to meet you Lilly, although I wish it'd been under better circumstances. So, I have good news and bad news."

Lilly raised an eyebrow, wondering if this girl was already playing games when they didn't even know each other. "Okay?"

"Well, good news is you got stuck in an elevator with a pregnant woman, so we have a lot of snacks. Bad news is you got stuck in an elevator with a pregnant woman and I'm gonna have to pee again in about ten minutes."

Miley grinned at her and as much as Lilly wanted to cry or panic or scream about their predicament, she couldn't help but laugh.

to be continued