Eli's P.O.V

My parents were literally the most stupid people in the world.

Honestly, I walked into my house with a dog, mind you, and they barely blinked an eye. How thick can you get?

Ace was settled on my bed, deciding that that was his instead of the one I bought for him. We surveyed each other, each refusing to back down.

"Look, little man," I said. "I had her first."

Ace cocked his head.

"She's mine," I continued. "And I'm not about to let a little puppy get between that, understood?"

Ace put his head on his paws.

"Glad we made that clear," I said dryly.

Heading downstairs, I went into the kitchen and grabbed enough food to last me through the night so I didn't have to face my parents. "Mom, Dad, I got a dog!" I called as I went back up the stairs.

As I figured, no response came. I sighed. Opening my door I shut it and flopped down. Ace crawled over and settled on my stomach. He was warm and small and I found myself drifting off to sleep.

...

I woke up to the night. Stretching and yawning, I glanced at my clock to see that it was midnight and the house was silent. Ace whined and pawed at my arm, and I realized that he had been the one to wake me up.

"What's up?" I asked sleepily then mentally slapped myself as I realized that I was talking to a dog.

Ace whined again and turned in a circle.

"Okay, okay, m'up," I said, stretching as I stood up.

Deciding that since Ace was in fact a puppy, I went downstairs, making sure he followed me. I tiptoed across the kitchen tiles before unlocking the back door and sliding it open. Ace slipped out and I closed the door, watching him as he bounded towards the grass. As soon as he hit it, he raised his leg and peed.

I opened the door. "Ace, here boy," I called.

He came bounding back and I locked the door behind him before going back upstairs, yawning.

...

Ace was a little shit, let me tell you that. He woke me up every hour or so to go outside or something, and I was severely suffering from lack of sleep. I held my phone in my hands, glancing at the blank black screen. I wanted to call Fin, but I knew that it was late and if I woke her up she'd probably murder me or something.

Suddenly my phone rang and the screen illuminated. I cursed and dropped it in shock before scrambling to answer it and shut up the loud ringtone.

"Hello?"

"Hi," Fin whispered.

"Hey," I answered. "What are you doing up at this fine hour?"

"Talking to you," Fin answered, still whispering. "What about you?"

I let out a sigh. "Ace is keeping me up. He has to pee like very two hours."

"Oh," Fin said, suddenly sounding concerned. "Did I wake you up?"

"No," I yawned, the sound emanating through the phone's speaker. "I'm putting Ace out."

"Go to bed," Finley told me. "You sound exhausted."

"No," I protested. "I want to talk to you."

Finley said cheekily, "Then talk to me."

"What do you think I'm doing?" I teased. "Can I ask you something?" my tone turned serious.

"Sure," Fin answered, suddenly sounding a bit nervous.

"What's my Christmas present?"

Fin laughed. "That's your oh-so-important question?"

"Yes," I huffed.

"Well I'm not telling you," Fin said flatly.

"Why not?" I whined. The curiosity was killing me.

"Christmas is tomorrow," Fin told me. "You can wait a day."

"Actually it's in two days," I started.

"No its not!" Finley exclaimed. "It's technically the day before Christmas since its really early in the morning!"

I opened my mouth to protest but I realized she was right. "You're right," I grumbled. Suddenly I noticed a black puppy slowly leaving the light of my yard and going to the neighbors. "Ace!" I shouted. "Get back here!"

"What's wrong?" Finley asked, a tone of panic in her voice.

"He ran off-hold on," I said. I opened the door and ran after him, shouting his name. He turned around and I scooped him up with one arm.. "Got him," I panted. "Little fucker tried to visit the neighbor's yard."

"Don't call him that," she scolded. "You'll hurt his feelings."

"Oh my God," I rolled my eyes. "He's just a puppy."

Fin gasped, sounding hurt. I could picture her expression at the moment. "He is not! He is an adorable puppy!"

"I'm beginning to think you love Ace more than me," I teased.

"I do," Fin joked back.

There was an awkward silence and only one thought was running through my head- did that mean she loved me? If I said she loved Ace more than me, didn't she at least love me a little? I mean, I love her.

I coughed. "Well, it is late and we should probably go to bed..."

"Oh," she said, sounding slightly disappointed. "Right. Sorry to keep you up."

"No, it's okay," I said. "Night, Fin."

I hung up and carried Ace upstairs before falling on my bed. I love her. I love Finley. So why can't I tell her?

Fuck.

Finley's P.O.V

"Finley, is Eli still coming over?" Mom shouted from the kitchen.

"Yeah," I answered, not moving my eyes from the TV.

The Walking Dead had to have been the best show to grace the screens of families everywhere. I was obsessed, and having discovered the series only a week ago, I was already almost done with season four, and there were five seasons.

"Lee!" someone yelled before flopping right on me.

I groaned under the weight of Allie. For such a small girl, she was heavy. "What are you doing?"

"Being friendly," Allie grinned. "And I hope you bought me a present, because I got you one!" she cheered.

I laughed. "Yes I did get you a present."

"Yes!" Allie cheered.

"Finley, don't go breaking my girlfriend," Luke said, joking.

"Allie, don't go breaking my girlfriend," a voice said, teasing.

My head snapped towards the doorway. "Eli!"

With all my strength, I pushed Allie off of me and she landed on her stomach with a thud while I ran and hugged Eli. He was wearing a long-sleeved red shirt and was holding a stack of messily wrapped presents. Ace had barged past him and into the kitchen, probably searching for food.

"Hello to you too," he chuckled.

"I would show the same enthusiasm to see you, Eli, if someone hadn't of murdered my stomach," Allie said, her hand resting on her stomach.

Eli chuckled. "Hey, I can't control the craziness that is Finley Collins."

"Get a leash," Allie mumbled. "Helps a lot when you need to restrain a significant other."

"That's what she said," Luke said cheekily.

It took me a moment to understand, but when I did, I swatted Luke's arm. "Dirty boy!"

Luke ran away, towards Allie. "She corrupted me! She corrupted me!" he crowed.

I rolled my eyes and Eli poked my arm. "Can I give you my present now?" he whispered.

"Sure," I said, already reaching for it but he pulled it back.

"Upstairs?" he said, a note of urgency in his tone. "Please?"

"Um, sure," I said, slightly confused but leading him upstairs. "We'll be right back guys."

"Don't be dirty like your brother," Allie called after us.

I chuckled, but I couldn't' help wondering what the hell was my present and why Eli was so secretive about it.

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hey guys, new chappy, hope you like it, I do ;) and guesses on what Eli's present is? I want comments people! anyway, someone asked for the conversation from Eli's point of view, so I decided to hell with it, then I'll get a chapter up faster, so viola! hope you like it!

love ya!

-T A Y L O R