Dominic and I make plans to hang out on Christmas Eve to exchange gifts. Our plans aren't until 8PM because of a big family dinner he has to go to so I spend most of my day with my little sister, talking about school and drama she's been going through.

"So he told me he likes me but doesn't want a relationship. Yet he's willing to do everything in a relationship except have the label of my boyfriend." My sister has been opening up to me about her new beau.

"Drop him," I encourage her. "He doesn't want to commit."

"Yeah, I know. He's just so cute." I feel that, Mari.

"Don't I know..." My phone vibrates and I read the message.

Dominic: I'm almost there.

"Where are you guys going?" She glances at the device in my hands.

"The park." It's our old hang-out spot.

"The old one by the lake?" That's the one.

"Yes."

I hear a loud beeping outside and my sister grins at me. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do," she grins cheekily, "so that sets the bar pretty low."

"Shut up, Mar." I let out a laugh as I stand up.

"You look cute," she compliments. She helped me pick out the outfit so of course she'd say that. A red sweater dress with leggings underneath and ankle boots. She insisted that I opt out of the leggings in case I wanted to make some 'bad decisions.' I swiftly ignored that comment and put them on.

"Thanks." I grab my purse and head towards the door.

"Tell me everything when you get back," she calls as I leave the house.

"Sure thing!" I rush to his car, ready to escape the cold. I get in and he grins at me.

"You look cute, like always," he comments as he pulls off from the front of my house and heads in the direction of the park.

"Thank you." I attempt to inconspicuously assess his outfit. His gray sweater falls on his body nicely and his jeans fit like they were made for him. I can already guess which shoes he's wearing with his outfit based on the color scheme: his black Timberland boots or his gray and black huaraches. "You do, too."

"Thanks. Look in the back." 

He clicks on the light and I glance back and see a small white bag on the seat. By the pretty silver gift paper sticking out, I can tell that it was definitely put together by his mom. "Can I open it now?" I attempt to reach for it but his yelling stops me.

"No! We're almost there, wait." I retract and hold up my hands defensively.

"Ugh, fine," I huff as I sit back in the seat.

"Did you eat?" I repress the urge to smile. How sweet of him to think about that.

"Yes."

"Just making sure," he says with a playful grin on his face. "I wasn't going to get you food. I just genuinely wanted to see if you ate or not."

"You're a joke." I laugh regardless.

We reach the playground and park in our usual spot. He turns the light back on, unbuckles his seatbelt, and reaches into the backseat. In the meantime, I take his soda out of the cup holder and take a long sip. He watches me finish off the drink and shakes his head. "You asked if I was hungry, not thirsty." I return the drink to the cup holder and smile at him.

"We all know you're thirsty," he sighs as he places the gift bag on my lap. I lightly slap his arm before slipping my hand into my purse and retrieving the red envelope. I hold it out for him and he accepts it with a curious look in his eyes.

"You first," I insist and he doesn't argue. He opens the envelope and takes out the card. It's a funny Christmas themed card with a joke about Santa. He skims it and gives a quiet chuckle before reading the lengthy paragraph I wrote on the inside. He glances at me once he finishes it with a small grin on his face.

"I don't know if you know this or not, but I keep everything you write for me because it's the only time you say nice things." He touches his heart in an attempt to be dramatic and I offer him a flat look.

"Now look in the envelope." I watch as he opens it and peers inside. He slowly takes out the two rectangular strips and squints at them. When he realizes what they are, a large grin breaks out onto his face.

"Seriously!?" he exclaims as he stares at the concert tickets.

"Yeah." I feel a grin growing on my face when I see one on his. I went all out and dipped into my savings from my summer job and bought two concert tickets to our favorite rapper. The concert isn't until March but I figured he wouldn't mind the wait. "You can take whoever you want."

"I choose you, obviously." He stares at the tickets with a large smile on his face.

"I knew you would. I just figured I'd give you a choice," I say with a smug smile.

He puts them back into the envelope along with the card and tucks it into the center console. "I'm so happy. I've wanted to go to that concert so bad, you have no idea." My heart starts to beat harder at the fact that I've made him this happy.

"Except I do. You only ever brought it up every time one of his songs played in the car." He rolls his eyes at me but his smile doesn't move.

"Open yours," he insists and I hold the bag in my hands, suddenly nervous. I reach in, grab a long, felt box, and place it on my lap. I hesitantly open it and my eyebrows rise when they land on the piece of jewelry.

I lift the box closer to my face and examine it: a rose gold necklace with a diamond accented heart pendant. "Wow..." I exhale as I stare at it. I don't even want to think about how much he spent on it. I can tell his mom also helped him pick this out.

"Do you like it?" He eyes me nervously and I offer him a large smile.

"I love it." I hold out the box. "Can you put it on for me?" I turn around in my seat, lift my hair, and feel his fingers lightly brush my neck as he clips it on. I examine it in the mirror before smiling at him. "Thank you so much. It's beautiful."

"A beautiful necklace for a beautiful girl," he replies, which sends my stomach butterflies into a frenzy.

"I love it so much," I whisper as I look at it in the mirror once again. "Wow."

"It was either that or a ring and I knew you'd deny my marriage proposal so I think I'll wait a little while." I playfully roll my eyes at him as I lightly fiddle with the pendant. "For curiosity's sake, what's a good age to get married?"

"28?" I reply apprehensively. He nods slowly and makes a check with his finger as if committing my answer to memory.

"So in ten years, if you're not married, would you consider marrying me? Just a little fact that may woo you: marrying your best friend significantly decreases the likelihood of divorce."

I grin at him with red cheeks. "What if you're already married?" It's highly realistic. Any girl would be lucky to have him.

"Oh trust me, I won't be." He shakes his head dismissively.

"Living the bachelor life?" I inquire with a raised brow.

"Nope, I'll be battling off every potential love interest you have until we're both 28 and unmarried." This earns a genuine laugh from me. "So what do you say?"

I look at him and assess his face a few times before sighing. "Sure...why not?" It's an easy yes.

"While this is nonbinding, I'm definitely holding you to that," he assures me. "Now I just have to battle every love interest. 1 down, many more to go."

I chuckle at the clear dis to Eli. "Many more?" 

"Of course. You're a catch. Once you get out of your shell a little more, guys will be falling at your feet. I'll have to kick them while they're down there."

I laugh at him as I shake my head. "What about your love interests?" He rolls his eyes and shakes his head.

"I'll be too busy fighting off guys for you." 

"So you're just going to let the girls pile up?" I offer him a small smile as I try not to let his words get to my head. Sometimes I feel like he plays around too much.

"I'm not even concerned with them. And if a guy does happen to get by me and he manages to woo you, then I'll just wait until he messes up."

I stare at him with a dubious look on my face. I'm grateful he can't hear the rate at which my heart is pounding. When he says things like this, I want to tell him how much I like him. But I think of all the things that could go wrong and I'm shifted back into silence. I hate him for the roller-coaster of emotions he puts me through. "You're so weird, I swear." 

"You are, too." He doesn't break my gaze and I feel my stomach tense up as I stare at him, trying my best not to cave in to the urge to kiss him. I look away and remind myself of the vow I made. We sit in comfortable silence for a few minutes before conversation eventually picks back up. I suddenly feel grateful that we're able to make the shift from intense to lighthearted.

As the night progresses, I find myself growing more and more at risk of slipping up and trying to make a move. I yawn a couple times and he eventually catches on. "Are you ready to go back?" I nod mid-yawn. "Let's get you home, sleepyhead."

We head back in the direction of my house and I turn on the radio to drown out any opportunity for me to say something stupid. The artist we're going to see comes on and Dominic turns it up, grins at me, and raps along. I watch him in amusement, taking my assigned verse when it comes. We laugh loudly the entire way back, definitely waking a few people in the neighborhood.

We reach my house and I quickly turn down the music as to not alert my parents of my late arrival; while I don't have a curfew, that doesn't mean I won't be subjected to an interrogation about the night's events, even if I was only with Dominic. "Can you get out of the car? I want to hug you," I request, which receives a slightly surprised but eager reaction from him.

"Of course," he replies as he meets me on the sidewalk. I swing my arms around his neck and he holds my waist tightly. I don't complain about the lengthy hug and instead, make hushed conversation.

"I had a nice time today," I whisper into his ear.

"Me too." His low voice sends shivers down my spine. I glance around him and see my sister peeking through the living room window. Taking that as a sign, I slowly pull away, feeling dazed. "I'll see you again soon, right?"

"Yes," I tell him with a clear nod as I slowly back away to my house and he returns to his car. He suddenly rolls down the passenger side window and looks at me with an amused grin.

"You're forgetting a couple things," he tells me and I blink a few times before remembering. My purse and the gift bag. I walk over to the car and open the door. I grab my belongings off the seat and give Dominic an awkward smile.

"Thanks."

He surprises me by leaning in and kissing my forehead. I blink a few times before I duck out of the car. "I love you, Nova," he calls through the window and I stare at him with raised eyebrows before I shake off the stupor. He doesn't mean it like that.

"Shut up, Dominic," I say before turning and heading to the house. I reach the porch, wave to him, and quickly rush inside. My sister is in the same spot I left her with a curious look on her face.

"Did you guys kiss in the car?" Of course she's so nosy as to have seen me duck in and out.

"No," I reply as I exhale noisily. "He kissed my forehead and told me he loved me."

"He loves you, loves you?" my sister asks as her eyebrows shoot up.

"No, not that kind of love. Friend love," I clarify. "He loves me...as a friend."

I slump onto the couch beside her, shoving her legs out of the way. She stares at me with a small frown on her face. "You're sure he didn't mean it in a romantic way?" It feels different now when he says it- probably because we've been sleeping together, but I don't want to interpret it any differently than I did before. That'd just mess me up.

"I'm positive," I say with a defeated sigh. "But he got me this cute necklace."

My sister sits up and reaches for my neck. "This is pretty," she coos as she twists it in her fingers. "That's a very girlfriend-y present."

"Or a best friend." My shoulders slump further as I remember my place in his life.

"Are you okay?" Mari nudges my arm.

"Yeah, I just...I hate when he says that he loves me because it just reminds me that the love we have for each other is different, which just deflates my heart and makes me sad."

"You can sit here with me and watch Twilight for the fiftieth time if that'll make you feel better." I sigh, kick my feet up, and tune into the movie.