Silently Falling (ORIGINAL): Chapter Forty

"It's Christmas!"

My eyes flutter open when I hear Tyler's loud voice booming through my house, the walls doing little to block the noise out. I blink my eyes awake and they focus in on West still sleeping soundly next to me, his warm breath blowing onto my nose from our close state. He has one arm draped around my bare back, the other folded over our heads, and a small smile drawn onto his lips.

Memories of last night flood my mind and I quickly take note to my naked state, but I don't freak out or regret anything, instead I smile. We both got an extra Christmas gift last night; granted it made me pretty sore, but it was worth it. He was gentle, and I couldn't have asked for a better night with him.

I lift my hand and gently trail it along West's cheek, my fingers dusting across his skin. The steady rhythm of his breaths suddenly changes and a content sigh slips past his lips, his eyes slowly opening.

I smile softly, "Merry Christmas."

A tired smile slips onto his lips, "Merry Christmas, indeed."

He leans forward and brushes his lips against mine, and then glances down at our naked state. "Last night really did happen, then." He hums, his hand beginning to lightly rub my back.

Pulling my bottom lip between my teeth, I nod sheepishly. "It did."

He doesn't break our eye contact, "Do you regret it?" He asks quietly.

I smile softly and shake my head, "Not one bit."

The worried look in his eye disappears and they seem to shine. "Neither do I. Are you sore?"

I nod slightly, "A little, but it's more than worth it."

He grins, "It was pretty memorable."

I laugh at his word choice and lean forward to gently kiss him.

"Raine! West! Come on you two, it's Christmas!" Toby exclaims, pounding on my door. "Everyone else is already down there, aside from Casper! He's waiting for you two!"

West grins at me, "Come on, Sunshine." He starts to sit up, and pulls himself out from under the covers, exposing himself to me. Not that he didn't already last night.

I go to cover my eyes, but West grabs my hands and chuckles at my blushing cheeks. "It's nothing you didn't see last night." He smirks, winking at me.

Of course the action only makes me blush harder and he starts for where his shirt and pants are on the floor of the room. He pulls them on, and I watch as he slides his sweatpants up his legs and to his waist, covering up something I wouldn't mind continuing to see.

"You know, Sunshine, in some countries it's considered rude to stare." He says, watching me watching him with a raised brow, his shirt in his hands.

"Good thing this is America," I retort, standing up. The covers fall from my body, and instantly West's eyes are attached to my body. "Now who's staring?" I tease, winking at him as I walk past him and to my closet.

"Can you blame me?" He asks.

I pull on a pajama shirt and long pajama pants, running my fingers through my hair. I glance at West and he holds his hand out for me.

"Shall we?"

I grin and take his hand, but we make a pit stop in the bathroom to brush our teeth and wash our faces. We walk into the guest room and I see Casper patiently waiting for us. When he sees us, his eyes light up and he shoots off the bed, running past us to the stairs.

"Come on guys!" He yells, hopping up and down as we walk towards the stairs.

He zooms down the stairs and we follow after him, watching as his eyes light up in excitement when they land on the tree. The others haven't touched it, as they were waiting for us, so the gifts are left just as I placed them.

"It's about time." Tyler mumbles with a pout on his lips. "I've been waiting down here forever."

I chuckle at him, and then Alyse walks towards me with a coffee mug in hand. "Here, just brewed it."

I thank her and take it from her hands, cupping the steaming mug in my cold hands as West and I take our seats. I settle between his legs as we sit on the floor, his back against the couch and mine resting comfortably against his chest, and I set the mug down next to us. West places his arms around me, resting them in my lap, and I take his hands in mine as he kisses my temple.

"Alright, who wants to start this off?"

Almost instantly, Tyler's hand shoots up and he jumps up and down in his seat.

"And I thought I was bad..." Casper trails off from where he sits next to Toby and Alyse.

We all chuckle and Tyler goes to grab his first gift, looking around to find one of his own. He grabs the biggest of his own, wrapped in dark green wrapping paper, and then shuffles back to his seat.

"Alright, this is from...Gray." He says, reading the tag.

We all open our gifts, and it warmed my heart to see the surprise and excitement on Casper's face when he saw that he had five gifts under the tree. The three from West and Momma Love consisted of a whole new books series, a Lego set, and multiple packs of Pokemon cards. I got him a goody box filled with candies and then a sign language book since he seems to be so interested in it.

From Alyse I received a huge, framed collage of pictures of us throughout this past year, and I got her my favorite picture of us shrunk down to put on her key chain when she gets a car in the upcoming year. Toby got me an Alex and Ani bracelet with a piano charm, which is possibly the most thoughtful gift he has ever given me, and I got him a Texans jersey; his all time favorite football team.

Tyler got me a journal since my song book is almost completely filled, and I got him a Penguins jersey since they're his favorite hockey team, and the one he has is worn to death. Gray gave me a goody basket filled with all sorts of things; candy, two phone cases, an Itunes gift-card, and I blush a deep shade of red when I see a pack of condoms in the mix.

My eyes snap up to him and he shrugs, "Better safe than sorry."

West looks into the box over my shoulder and starts sorting through it, and I crane my neck to see a giant smirk attached to his lips when his hands find the small pack of condoms. He kisses my red cheeks and places a kiss to my neck, winking at Gray which causes me to ram my elbow into his stomach.

"Sunshine, we never discussed this and I never really thought about it, we didn't use any protection," West murmurs into my ear, making sure only I can hear him.

I squeeze his hand to calm his nerves, turning my head to whisper my answer. "I'm on birth control."

He lets out a breath of relief. "Sorry I didn't talk to you about that beforehand. I want kids with you, but not this soon." He breathes, and my cheeks turn a shade of pink.

"West, where's your gift for Raine?" Toby curiously asks, nodding over towards us.

He grins and nuzzles his chin in my neck, "I gave it to her last night."

Something about the way he says it makes me blush, and I can't figure out if he meant the essay or the...activities that followed. It turns out Toby isn't too sure what he means either, because he narrows his eyes and clenches his jaw.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" He growls lowly.

West places his arms up in surrender. "I mean I gave her her gift last night."

I roll my eyes at West, that didn't clear things up. "We exchanged gifts last night, I left his gift to me upstairs." I explain.

Toby doesn't relax completely, but he doesn't look ready to pounce at West anymore. He continues to glare, but Alyse gets to work on calming him down.

"But I actually do have one more gift..." West says, reaching into his pocket and I furrow my brow in confusion. He pulls out a long, sleek black box, not wrapped, and places his hands back in my lap, opening it up. He watches my reaction from over my shoulder.

My eyes land on a beautiful necklace, two hearts interlaced; one made up with a bunch of little diamonds, and the other sterling silver. A small gasp escapes me as I delicately take it from the black box, holding it in my hands.

"Oh my gosh, West... This is beautiful." I say, turning my head to the side to look at him.

He smiles and shuts the box. "You like it?"

I look back at it and nod with a big smile. "I love it. How much did this cost you?"

He shakes his head, "It wasn't anything too expensive, but that's not for you to worry about." He sets the box down and covers my hands with his own. "Here, let me put it on you." He says softly, and I let him take it.

West delicately places it around my neck and hooks it in the back, brushing my hair back around my shoulders once he finishes. I lift the charm into my fingers and examine it with a small smile, turning my head enough to gently press my lips to his.

"Thank you," I whisper as we pull away.

He smiles and pecks my lips again, "You're welcome, Sunshine. Merry Christmas."

I grin, "I love you."

He nudges my nose with his, "I love you too."

The End

So, comparison to the fully edited version?