Silently Falling (ORIGINAL): Chapter Thirty Nine

To say I'm nervous would be an understatement.

In just five minutes the Winter Chorus Performance, one of our school's biggest events of the year, will take place in the auditorium. Every year it is placed on Christmas Eve, and it's almost like a tradition in our town to come see it; which means we have a full house.

I'm not entirely too worried I'm going to screw up, because I know this music like the back of my hand, I wrote it after all; I'm more anxious for the criticism I know I will receive. Not everyone has the same taste in music, and I know there will be people in the crowd that hate the music I have prepared for them.

You can't please everyone.

"Hey, Raine. You ready?" Alyse asks, entering my line of sight.

Just like the rest of the class, she's wearing a gorgeous light blue dress. The guys are wearing light blue vests to match, but I'm wearing a sleek black dress with my hair styled into curls dancing down my back and my shoulders.

I take a deep breath and nod, putting on a smile. "As I'll ever be."

West was kind enough to sit with me last night for hours, listening to me playing the music over and over and over again. I'm sure he's excited to hear it with lyrics, because he got the piano version of the concert about five times last night. He complained, of course, but he sat and listened and told me time and time again it sounded amazing and that I had no reason to be worried.

Alyse grins and places her hand on my shoulder. "Everyone's going to love the music. Now get out there and let's do this thing!"

I nod, letting out the final worried breath running through me, and I walk out onto the stage. A hush falls over the crowd as I walk towards my piano and the rest of the chorus class fills in on the platforms. My eyes scan the crowd and I instantly pinpoint where the guys are sitting. I catch West's eye first, and of course he offers me his famous smirk, and it calms the stirring nerves inside of me. My shoulders relax and my heartbeat returns to normal speed, and I let out a breath of relief.

Mr. C walks out next and introduces himself, as well as me. I stand when he says my name, waving to the crowd. West whistles loudly as I do, and I blush in his direction, feeling a smile tug at my lips.

"Break a leg." He signs, smiling at me.

I let out a long breath and nod, sitting back down as Mr. C walks off the stage. I place my hands atop the sterling white keys, and I devote myself to the song. My eyes stray away from glancing at the crowds reaction, and instead I focus entirely on not screwing up.

As I play the final note of our third song, everyone in the auditorium bursts out into cheers. West and Toby stand up, whistling and yelling for me and Alyse, and the rest of the auditorium follows suit. We get a standing ovation, and the cheers take what seems like forever to quiet down.

Once they finally do, I exit the stage with the rest of the class, but not before taking another bow, and as I walk off stage I go right up to Alyse and let out a huge breath of relief.

"They loved it." She says giddily.

"They did! You were amazing during your solo, Alyse!" I exclaim.

She pulls me in for a hug, practically jumping up and down in excitement. We pull apart and she keeps me at arm's length, but her eyes catch movement behind me and she's quick to ditch me. I furrow my brow and turn around, and I see her jumping into Toby's arms. He chuckles and catches her, instantly connecting their lips.

Before I have time to smile, or gag at their interaction, I'm swept off of my feet; literally. I squeal as strong arms wrap around me from behind and swing me around before setting me on my feet. I laugh and turn around in said arms to meet West's sparkling brown eyes.

"You were amazing," he breathes, smiling widely at me. "And you look absolutely breathtaking."

I blush and offer him a big smile, throwing my arms around him in a hug. "Thank you."

He grins and kisses my forehead, "I feel pretty damn lucky to be able to call you mine right now."

"You are the corniest boyfriend ever." I tease.

He smirks and pulls me impossibly closer so that our lips are only a hair's length away. "And you love me for it."

I snort at him and he presses his lips against mine, kissing me tenderly. I grin against his lips, which results in us pulling apart. I rest my forehead against his and bite my lip, ignoring a cat call that sounds out from somewhere backstage.

My hands start to play with the hair on the back of his neck, and I feel the goosebumps rise on his skin. "I'm glad you liked it."

"I loved it," he corrects. "And I was going to buy you a bouquet of roses to congratulate you, but the damn store was closed when I went." He grunts.

I blush and my eyes trail back down to his lips. "I don't need roses, you're more than enough."

He lets a breath out of his nose that qualifies as a laugh and grins at me. "Now who's the cheesy one in this relationship?"

"Just kiss me you goof."

OoO

After the chorus concert, Toby invited everyone back to our house for a big Christmas Eve dinner. Of course he didn't offer to cook anything and left Alyse and myself to do most of the cooking, with a lot of help from Libba and Casper.

Libba has to go into work later tonight and won't be home in time for Christmas morning, so I offered for Casper and West to stay the night at my house and spend a little bit of Christmas with us. It's tradition that Alyse, Tyler, and Gray spend the night on Christmas Eve and we all have our own celebration early in the morning before they go to their own houses for their family Christmas, and now that West and I are together I figured we should let him in on the tradition.

"Casper, bro, you're the smart one." West says as he walks into the kitchen where we are all slaving over the food. He makes his way over to me and sets a small kiss on my lips before barging towards the fridge.

"How come?" Casper asks, his face dotted with cooking ingredients. We put him on desert duty with Alyse, while Libba and I are preparing the dinner foods.

West bends down to grab a soda from the fridge, giving me a wonderful view. "You're in here with a bunch of beautiful women while I'm out there in sea of testosterone." He explains, grabbing a Coke and straightening back up.

"Would you like to help?" Libba asks, crossing her arms at her son.

His eyes widen as he glances at her and he instantly comes up with an excuse. "You see I would, but- oh! Did you hear that? I think Toby's calling my name. I should probably go see what he needs!" He exclaims, awkwardly exiting the room before any of us could object.

I let out a bark of a laugh while Libba scowls. She turns to me and sighs, "I hope you like cooking, because in the future, you're going to be the one making dinner."

I chuckle and shrug, "I don't mind it."

"That's going to be a problem with Toby and myself," Alyse grumbles as she struggles to crack an egg without also getting the shells mixed in the batter. "I hate cooking, and he burns everything."

I smirk, "But I thought he was the best man ever? I thought he could cater to all of your needs?" I ask, referring to the many gloating rambles she's had about him.

She throws a paper towel at me. "Shut it."

I laugh at her and toss it in the trashcan, enjoying her annoyed scowl more than I should.

"There's nothing wrong with gloating about your boyfriend, Alyse." Libba says, but I hear a small smirk in her voice. "Just maybe not as often as I've heard you do." She teases.

Alyse's jaw drops and I instantly burst out into laughter.

"Do I really talk about him that much?" She asks, her eyes going between me and Libba.

I bite my lip and nod, "Oh honey, it's so much I want to gag."

She purses her lips and crosses her arms over her chest. "Well you talk about West all the time." She argues.

I raise a brow, "Your point? No one complains about how often I talk about him."

Libba chuckles, "Trust me, they complain about how often he talks about you."

I register her words and a blush rises on my cheeks. "I am awesome, Libba."

"I agree with you. But, as much as I love you Raine, I can only hear so much about how beautiful you are or how cute you were today when you did this or that." She says, scrunching up her face at me. "I don't even want to hear that much about West, and he's my son."

"She's right." Casper agrees, licking some of the brownie batter from the bowl.

I feel my cheeks instantly heat up and I smile as I continue to prepare the green bean casserole.

"He's pretty amazing, I have to admit." I say, glancing up at her.

Libba smiles and nods, "I'm just happy my little boy found love, and it's a bonus he found it in someone like you." She says warmly.

A smile graces my lips as I take her words in. "Thank you."

She simply smiles at me before we continue to cook the upcoming dinner.

A short hour and a half later, and everyone is gathered around the dining room table for dinner. I sit between the Love brothers, West on my right and Casper on my left.

"The song was just stuck in my head, I didn't really comprehend the fact she was visually impaired... And as she walked inside, I belted out the lyrics 'Blinded by the light!'" Tyler admits, throwing his face in his hands out of embarrassment. "I wanted to die then and there."

The rest of us start laughing, and Gray accidentally spits some turkey out of his mouth and it lands on the table. It sends me into another fit of laughter as his face heats up, and I have to remind myself to breathe I'm laughing so hard.

"Alright Alyse, you're up. Tell us an embarrassing moment." Gray says, trying to get the laughter away from him.

"I don't know if I can top singing a song about being blind to a blind girl..." She trails off, and I chuckle at how Tyler tries to morph into his chair.

"Oh I think you can." I say, wiggling my eyebrows at her.

Being best friends with someone for five years leads to you knowing every little thing about them, so I could name about ten embarrassing Alyse has done within the past month. The only hard part would be picking just one.

Alyse mulls it over for a second before her eyes light up and she knows exactly what she's going to say.

"Okay, so y'all know how I went those few months on like a sugar high and I would drink soda and eat candy every day?" She asks, and we all nod, except for the Love's.

"Alyse on a sugar high? Thank god I was still in juvie." West mutters, shoveling some turkey into his mouth.

We all chuckle at him and Alyse continues.

"Well during that time my teeth got, like, super yellow. I was tutoring this fifth grader with a lisp and I was trying to teach him how to make the 'ch' sound." She explains, glancing around the table. "And obviously to say 'ch' you have to show your teeth, and I was saying it over and over again and he just kind of stared at me. Finally I stopped and asked him what he was staring at, and he asked me if I was rich." She pauses and takes a sip of her drink, and we all wait patiently to hear the rest of her story.

"Obviously I was super confused, so I furrowed my brow and said no, and asked him why he thought that. And he said, and I quote, 'well you have gold teeth, so you must be rich!'" She scowls when she finishes the story.

Casper about chokes on his food he laughs so hard, and I think that's what makes the rest of us laugh so hard our faces turn red. He starts coughing and I'm quick to pat his back and make him drink some water, and he coughs out a thank you.

"Well your teeth are beautiful now." Toby compliments, and she smiles up at him and kisses him.

The rest of us groan out in annoyance and they scowl at us. "Oh shush, y'all are just-"

"Tired of watching our best friends make out with one another." Gray interrupts. "I mean at least West and Raine have the decency to do it in a somewhat private manner."

I blush and glance up at West, and I'm not surprised to see him smirking. He looks down at me and winks, taking my hand under the table. He threads our fingers together as Gray and Alyse argue, and he rests our hands on his lap, rubbing the top of mine with the pad of his thumb. He gives me a secret smile, one I know he has just for me, and my stomach flips.

"When you start dating that Katherine chick you will understand!" Alyse exclaims, crossing her arms with an annoyed huff.

Gray doesn't miss a beat. "We already are dating."

"Wait what?!" Alyse and I exclaim at the same time.

"I asked her out the other day, and now we are officially boyfriend girlfriend." He explains proudly.

"And you still haven't brought her to meet us?!" Alyse yells, throwing her bread roll at him.

It hits him in the nose and falls into his lap and he scowls at her. "Was that necessary?" He asks calmly.

I answer for her. "Extremely." He just stares at me through slightly narrowed eyes.

"Raine, you're lucky I love you." He says.

I raise a brow, "Why is that?"

"Because if I didn't, my green bean casserole would be in your hair and this salad would be up your nose." He threatens.

"I didn't even throw the roll?"

He narrows his eyes, "Doesn't matter. You would be blowing lettuce out of your nose for weeks."

My lips lift into a smirk and I lean into West's side. "Nah, West wouldn't let that happen."

West chuckles and lets go of my hand to place his arm around my shoulders. "I don't know, Sunshine. It might be pretty funny."

A scowl forms on my face and I sigh.

"You really suck."

"You really love me."

"Do I?" I question.

"I mean, I assume that's what that love struck look you give me means. You know, when your little doe eyes look at me as if I'm the best thing that could have happened to you." He quips with one of his most aggravating smirks ever.

"I got the look from you." I retort.

His smirk lifts and he chuckles, kissing my head. "You're right."

"That one is totally going in your photo album." Libba all of the sudden says, and I direct my attention to her. She has her eyes glued to her old iPhone 4 with a satisfied smile on her lips.

"Mom." West begins, and she looks at him with her brows raised.

"Yes?"

"What photo album?" West asks, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

Her eyes widen for a split second and she looks down at her plate. "What photo album, West? When did you hear me say that?"

He scrunches his brow and shakes his head, "You just did, like ten seconds ago."

She purses her lips as if trying to remember and then shakes her head. "No, I don't think I did."

"Mom, you literally just said-"

"Eat your salad, West. You need to get your greens." She scolds, pointing towards his plate with her fork.

OoO

I dip the washcloth into the water and pull it back out, quickly wiping off yet another plate from dinner. I'm currently cleaning the last of the dishes by myself, Alyse ditched me to play Twister in the living room with the boys, and Libba had to leave about a half an hour ago for work.

Our dishwasher is completely full, so the last few plates I'm forced to clean by hand. There's something absolutely revolting about having left over food touching your wet hands as you clean off the plate...

"I've been sent to fetch you from your house mom duties." A deep voice sounds out, and almost instantly after strong arms wrap around my body and I feel familiar lips on my neck.

I close my eyes and sigh contently, leaning back against West's chest as he continues to pepper kisses up and down my neck. I crane it to the side to give him better access.

"You've been washing the dishes for the past thirty minutes, I've been all alone in there." He mumbles against my skin.

I lick my lips as he brushes his lips against my sweet spot.

"You've had..." I trail off as he lightly kisses my skin, darting his tongue out and swirling it around.

"I've had?" He questions, blowing cool air on the wet skin.

"Um, you've had Gray and..." I say, my voice sounding breathy as he lightly nibbles my sweet spot. I bite back a moan, and I can feel his lips lift into a smirk.

"It drives me crazy to know I have this effect on you," he murmurs against my skin, placing a hard kiss on my neck before spinning me around to face him. "All I want to do is kiss you, and kiss you, and kiss you some more."

I swallow, my eyes trained on his lips. "Then why don't you?"

He closes his eyes and forced himself to pull away from me. "Because I was sent in here on a mission to bring you to the living room by Toby. And, as much as I love you and your lips, I don't want him to walk in on us making out yet again."

I don't try to hide my disappointment and it causes him to chuckle. He gives me a much too small kiss and takes my hand. "Don't worry, Sunshine. We have a whole night to ourselves, don't we?" He asks with a wink that has me blushing like crazy.

I think there was more to his words than harmless flirtation, because I definitely see something more in his eyes.

He brings me to the living room and we walk in to see Casper sitting on the armrest, spinning the board while Alyse, Toby, Tyler, and Gray are all trying to stay up. They honestly look like a human pretzel, and I start laughing as soon as I walk in. Tyler has his face smashed into Toby's back, and Gray has his hand dangerously close to Alyse's boobs, while she has her head almost against Tyler's ass.

"Raine, I swear to god if you're taking a picture right now I will-" Toby growls, but he gets cut off by the flash.

"Cheese!"

"Kill you." He deadpans once the flash captures this amusing moment.

West chuckles and slides his hand around my waist as he sits on the opposing armrest of Casper. I stay standing up but lean against him as Casper spins the board again.

"Alright, left hand blue!" He says, his lips lit up in a giant smile.

"No. No I refuse. Spin again." Tyler demands, shaking his head.

Alyse lifts her head and cranes it to be able to glare at him. "You have no choice, Ty."

"I do have a choice and I choose not to." He argues.

"Just put your fucking hand on blue!" She exclaims, reaching over and doing it for him, which just results in everyone falling into a twisted heap.

"See? That's why I didn't want to freaking do it." Tyler mumbles, trying and failing to remove himself from where he sits sandwiched between Alyse and Toby.

"At least now I remember why I always hated this game." Toby grunts, pulling himself and Alyse up.

She springs up and accidentally steps on Gray's hand in the process, causing him to yell out in pain before recoiling his hand and cradling it against his chest.

"That was fun," Casper comments with a wide smile.

I notice West glance at him with a smile of his own and he reaches over to ruffle up his hair.

"See? I told you we wouldn't be alone on Christmas or Christmas Eve, Casper." I hear him say.

Casper nods at him and glances at the others. "I like them, they're nice."

West chuckles and follows his gaze. "Yeah, I like them too."

I feel my lips tug into a small smile and I start gently playing with West's hair, and he starts to rub his thumb on my waist. He glances up at me and I smile gently.

"I love you," I mouth.

He smiles and mouths it back. "I love you too."

"Time for the tree." Toby states with an award winning smile.

Once the tree is lit and the ornaments are all placed on it, Toby lifts Casper and let's him place the star on top. Even if everyone just met Casper tonight, they have all taken an immediate liking to him, and he to them. I see the way Alyse watches Toby interact with Casper, a small, thoughtful smile playing at her lips as her eyes show that she's elsewhere; most likely imagining a future where Casper would be their own son.

Now we're all watching Christmas movies in the den, the Christmas Tree shining in the corner. West and I are under our own blanket with Casper snuggled between us, Alyse and Toby are sharing the love seat with the comforter she brought down from his room, and Tyler and Gray take up the rest of the seats.

Casper yawns and curls deeper into the thick blanket surrounding us.

"Tired, buddy?" West asks, glancing down at him.

He nods and smacks his lips, letting out a tired sigh.

"You ready for bed?" He asks quietly.

Again Casper nods in response and snuggles into West's side.

"He's not the only one." Toby comments quietly, nodding to Alyse and Tyler.

Alyse is cuddled against Toby, only her head peeking out of the blanket, and Tyler is slumped on the recliner, his arms flailing out at the sides with his mouth open and collecting drool.

"I'll take Casper upstairs, but Tyler's on his own." West says with a small chuckle.

Casper groans quietly and moves away from West to curl into my side. "I want Raine to take me." He mumbles tiredly.

My heart melts at his words and I have to hold back an 'aw.'

"Are you okay with that, Sunshine?" West asks, glancing at me through raised brows.

I nod and get out from underneath our blanket, lifting Casper carefully into my arms.

"His overnight bag is in the guest room." West says, standing up as well.

I nod and start on my way towards the steps, following Toby who walks up the stairs with Alyse cradled lovingly in his arms. I assume Gray and West will attempt to take Tyler upstairs, and it's a sight I would pay to see. Walking into the guest room, I set Casper down and pull out his pajamas from his backpack, giving him some privacy to change before walking back in.

"Thank you, Raine." Casper yawns as I pull the covers up to his chin.

I sit on the edge of his bed and tilt my head. "For what?"

He gives me a tired smile. "For letting me stay for Christmas."

I lean down and peck his forehead in response. "You're welcome. But I would do it again in a heartbeat. You know you mean a lot to me."

He blushes and grins. "You mean a lot to me too."

"Goodnight, Casper." I say softly.

"Goodnight Raine."

I glance to the door when I see Gray and West breathing heavily with a snoring Tyler hanging on their shoulders. They continue to walk into the room and dump Tyler on the second bed, and I watch as they both crack their backs and let out a breath of relief.

"That boy must eat rocks or something, because he weighs a fucking ton." West mutters, shaking his head. He walks over to Casper, says a quick goodnight and then walks out of the room and most likely towards my bedroom.

"I can grab the roll-away bed, Raine." Gray offers, noticing my drooping eyes. "I know you're exhausted."

I smile gratefully at him and nod. "Thank you, Gray."

He smiles back and I start walking towards my own room where West is changing into sweatpants and an old and battered t-shirt. He looks up when he hears me enter and a smile graces his lips, but I see a troubled glint to his eye.

"Hey Sunshine." He says quietly, walking to me. His hands find my waist and I rest mine on his chest, searching his eyes.

I instantly notice that something's off and I frown. "What's wrong?"

He sighs and gives me distracted smile. "How'd you know something was wrong?"

I tilt my head. "I love you." I say, "Simple as that."

A small sigh passes his lips as he looks off to the side. "Casper and I are super generous that you're letting us stay for Christmas Eve and the first part of Christmas morning, and trust me it means the world to me, but I can't help but think about the fact Casper won't have any presents under your tree."

I furrow my brow sympathetically and frown. "I never thought of that..."

"I mean, it's not like he doesn't have any presents, he does have a few, they're just all at our house." He says quietly.

"Why don't you go get some of them?" I offer up. "It's only eleven fifteen, you could go and be back before midnight."

His eyebrows raise slightly in surprise, "You wouldn't mind?"

"Why would I mind?" I ask, my brows knitted together in confusion.

"I don't know. I mean, I know you're tired and want to get to bed and all that. You've had one hell of a long day, Sunshine." He mutters. "I don't want you worrying about me."

I shake my head, "I can't sleep until everyone else falls asleep anyways."

West looks at me with confused eyes. "Why is that?"

"I'm the Santa this year." I explain.

He cocks his head and scrunches his brow. "That didn't clear much up for me, sweetheart. What does that mean?"

I feel my ears heat up at his new nickname and I explain. "Every year we have a 'Santa' which is the person who stays awake to put all the gifts under the tree. This year it's me, and I have to wait for everyone to be asleep to do so." I say through a yawn. "So I'll be up for another hour or so."

I see a smile appear on his lips. "Looks like I'm going to grab some gifts, then."

His small smile is contagious and I feel it spread onto my lips. "I guess so."

A short half an hour later, I see headlights through the window in the living room and I hear West's engine roar into the driveway before cutting off. I hop off the couch, I decided it would be best to wait for him downstairs to resist the temptation of falling asleep, and go to the front door to open it for him. When he steps out of his Jeep, my eyes zero in on the three presents he has tucked under his arms.

He jogs up the front steps, narrowly avoiding slipping on a stray piece of ice, and steps into the warmth of the house. Shutting the door behind him, I offer to take the gifts from his hands so that he can remove his thick winter coat and dust the snow that has dotted his hair with white.

"Thanks," he breathes as I take them from his hands.

We walk into the living room, and West glances at the tree still vacant of presents. "What ever happened to being the Santa?" He asks, looking down at me in confusion.

I yawn deeply and set the three presents down on the coffee table. "I was waiting for you to get back, and I heard Toby and Alyse talking in their room."

With a nod, West grabs the gifts from the table and places them under the tree, kneeling next to it to see if he placed them appropriately. "He has about seven more at the house, but I didn't want to take them all over here so our mom can still see him open some of them." He explains, glancing over at me as he stands up.

"I have two for him, too." I say, sitting down on the armrest of the couch, scratching a random big bite on my leg.

West smiles and glances back at the tree. "So he'll have a fair five presents under the tree."

I turn my head to look towards the stairs and yawn again, "I think it's about time I grab all the presents and place them under the tree." I say, standing up.

West's eyes follow my moves, "Do you need me to help?"

I smile gratefully but shake my head, "No, I want you to be able to see the tree for the first time in the morning."

He sighs but nods, and he starts on his way for the stairs. "I'll be waiting in our room then." He says, and I swear I see the hint of a knowing smirk on his lips as he starts up the steps.

I ignore the smirk and instead go towards the closet where everyone placed their gifts. We each got one for each other, and I'm sure my dad sent one or two through the mail for Toby and I, but those won't come for a few days I bet. I start carrying the boxes varying in size towards the living room, and once I have all of them I start placing them around the tree the best I can.

When I finish, I stand straight up and admire my work. I was able to spread the gifts out to make the tree look filled to the brim, and I was sure to hide Casper's gifts in different places so he can be even more surprised when he finds all of them. As I continue to scan the tree, my eyes land on one certain gift, lost in the pile of others, and I quickly snatch it from the rest, placing it safely off to the side.

I don't want West to open my gift to him tomorrow morning. I want to be able to see his reaction with just him and I, and I completely forgot about my plan to give it to him tonight until just now.

I lift the small package and cringe at my failure of a wrapping job. I think I used more tape than paper... I start to walk upstairs, a giddy smile forming on my lips when I think of the surprise that will show on West's face when I show him his Christmas present tonight. My excitement outweighs my exhaustion, and I do a little skip as I reach the top of the steps. I place the gift behind me as I get to my door, and I push it open, my giddy smile unable to be hidden.

However, the smile drops along with my jaw as I walk into the room.

In front of me stands West, rose petals spread on the bed as he stands with a sheepish smile, holding a present in hand. "Surprise," he says quietly as not to wake anyone else.

I close my mouth and a soft smile forms on my lips as I pull his gift from behind me, and we both laugh lightly.

"You beat me to it," I comment, walking towards him. My eyes flicker to the rose petals on my bed and I send a side glance to West, smirking slightly. "The rose petals are a nice touch."

I take note to the blush that dusts across his cheeks and he scratches the back of his neck.

"Too cheesy?"

I laugh quietly and shake my head, "Not at all."

He grins and looks down at the present in his hand, and I glance down at my own.

"You open mine first," I whisper before he can.

He chuckles at the fact I beat him to it and nods, placing his gift to me down on the bed as I hand him his. A smirk lights his lips as he judges my wrapping job, but he doesn't say anything and I wait nervously as he starts tearing into the small box.

He opens it up, and instantly I see his eyebrows knit together in confusion as he pulls out a dog tag necklace with a puzzle piece taken out of the center, the words 'you are my' engraved into it. He looks more closely at it, and my nerves slowly diminish as a smile lifts his lips, and he glances at me with tender eyes.

"Let me guess; you have the missing piece?" He asks softly.

I bite my lip and pull out my half of the gift from my pocket, the puzzle piece that fits into the dog tag necklace with the words 'missing piece' sprawled on it, and he chuckles quietly.

"Do you like it?" I ask, my voice quiet with nerves.

He walks towards me, his soft smile stuck to his lips, and he nods. "I love it. You really thought it through; since I'll have dog tags from the Marines." He admires, looking at it as it dangles in the air.

I can't hide my relieved smile, "I was worried you would be kinda weirded out by it."

West instantly shakes his head, "Sunshine, I got a tattoo for you. There's little chance I'll be weirded out by a 'missing piece' necklace."

"A henna tattoo." I point out. "You were too much of a wimp to get a real one," I playfully tease.

He simply chuckles and rolls his eyes at me, placing the dog tag necklace around his neck. "How does it look?" He asks.

I grin, "You look very sexy."

He raises a brow and smirks, his hands darting out to grab my waist. "Do I?"

I bite my lip and nod, my eyes flitting to his lips. "Now for my gift?"

He lets go of my waist and reaches down onto the bed to hand me the thin present, and I can feel his nerves rolling off of him in waves. I tear off the small amount of wrapping paper to reveal what looks like a letter. I scrunch my brows in confusion and interest as I open the letter up, and my eyes widen when I realize what it is.

West Love

AP English

"Is this...?" I trail off, glancing up at West for confirmation.

"My English essay? Yes." He says vulnerably. "Read it and you'll understand."

I do as he says and I begin reading the essay that started our relationship.

My Sunshine

Dear Mr. Patterson,

You told us to write about something that is of interest to us, and I instantly knew what, or rather who, I wanted to write about.

I could have chosen a number of things to write about. Cars, the police force, Juvie, but I decided to take your essay topic to the next level, and I used it as a way to get to know Raine Winter. She's known around the school for being the mute girl with sex crazed best friends who protect her no matter what, and that's the same thing I heard from anyone I asked. Of course everyone had their own variation of those words, but they all meant basically the same thing. They all told me who they thought Raine Winter was.

But the moment I saw her, I wanted to get to know her for her, not her lack of a voice or what others thought. Something about her drew me in; whether it was her laugh or her smile or her seemingly carefree attitude, I knew I had to get to know just who Raine Winter was.

So I used this essay as the perfect opportunity, and I asked her to teach me sign language. She was instantly skeptical so I quickly explained to her that I've always had an interest in sign language, it's always been something that's caught my eye. That, of course, is a lie. I've never been interested in sign language before I met her, and it truly wasn't that that I was interested in at all; it was her.

Given my reputation and my past, I knew getting her to accept my request would be difficult. For all she knew I was some crazed murderer who got off with easy charges, from my records you of course know that isn't the case. But when she decided to teach me, I felt like a little kid who was told he could pick whatever he wanted from the candy aisle.

Then I got to know her, and I think I knew I was a goner from the first time her bright blue eyes met mine.

I have a difficult past. I was the aftermath of a late night city rape, I had an abusive step father, I've gotten into the wrong crowd from a young age, and I've been to jail. Coming out of jail, I knew I was screwed up; but I also knew that I didn't have to be. Jail was the last straw for me, and I decided that I wasn't going to screw up anymore, but Raine helped me realize that I never was a screw up in the first place. She helped me realize, without the intention of doing so, that I'm not a bad person, I never have been. I was just dealt a rough card and handled it in the only way I knew how.

The more I hung around Raine, I learned that I'm not the only one with a difficult past; Raine has been through hell and back, and somehow she still keeps that beautiful smile on her face. She lost her mother when she was only four years old, her father skipped out on her and Toby when she was twelve, and she lost her voice when she was thirteen.

When I learned about the death of her mother, I got sad. I got sad that she had someone to miss, and I got sad that she barely had the chance to get to know her. When I learned about her father, I got angry. I got angry that someone could leave his kids all alone and was too much of a coward to make up for her mother's absence. I got angry that he added another thing that threatened to bring Raine down.

But then, then I started to feel lucky. Because even with all the crap I've been put through, I still have my mother. She didn't give up on me and she certainly didn't leave me. The more I got to know Raine, the more I realized how much of an amazing person she is. Even with all she's been through, she never ceases to smile and laugh and be this Sunshine that brightens everyone's day. So if she could be so happy even with her past, why couldn't I?

I'm still waiting to learn about the loss of her voice, but it's never been a priority of mine. I'm content in waiting. I'm content in the fact she trusts me enough to tell me about her mother and father, that she trusts me enough to drive her to her mother's grave so she can be with her. That's the day I realized this isn't some silly little crush for me.

I guess this essay has turned from something that interests me into someone that has helped me without even realizing it. Someone that has brought a light into my life; someone that I'm falling for.

Falling for... I'm sitting here with a smile on my face, because this is the first time I've ever admitted that to myself. I guess it just occurred to me that I'm falling for the beautiful soul that is Raine Winter.

And, Mr. Patterson, it would be impossible not to.

I finish reading the essay, and I find that I'm at a loss for words. My eyes move to West, and I see the vulnerability that hides behind his eyes.

"Penny for your thoughts?" He asks, swallowing back the nervous lump in his throat.

Instead of trying to form my thoughts into words, I throw my arms around his neck and crash my lips onto his. He responds immediately by wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me flush against his body. His hands cradle me with tender protection, and his lips brush upon mine over and over again. He licks my bottom lip and I open my mouth to him, and our kiss deepens into something more.

This is the guy that I was terrified to meet. The guy that convinced me to go against all of my thoughts and teach him sign language. The guy that coaxed my most personal information out of me. The guy who has always been there for me without me even having to ask him. The guy who protected me when he didn't even know what was going on. The guy who I fell for. The guy who I love.

The amount of passion we devote to the kiss has me feeling weak in the knees, but it's no longer an issue as West pushes us back onto my bed, the rose petals all around us. His hands start to wander up and down my sides, and mine are all over his back and in his hair.

His lips are hungry on my own, kissing me with a fervent need that has warmth pool in my core. I can feel the love pounding between us, electrifying the air around us, and it makes me cling to him even tighter as his lips leave mine and begin to trail down down my neck. He latches onto my sweet spot, suckling and nibbling, and a low moan escapes my lips. West responds by rolling his hips against mine, and I surprise myself by doing the same, feeling the giant bulge in his sweatpants.

His hands squeeze my waist and move around to cup my butt, squeezing there as well as he starts to kiss back towards my lips. I feel a flashback threatening to rise in the very back of my mind, but as soon as West's lips meet mine again and he kisses me with everything in him, it fades away and all my thoughts are back on him and his intimate moment between us.

I start to rub my hands over his pecs and abs through his shirt. A deep, breathy moan passes his lips, and next thing I know he breaks our kiss to pull his shirt up and off his body, and his lips are right back on my own before I even had the chance to miss them. My hands dance across his skin, feeling his abs and burning all of his muscles into memory as I kiss him harder, with more longing and desire. His hands go to the bottom of my shirt, and he breaks our kiss to meet my eyes before tugging it off.

"Sunshine, you need to stop me now if you aren't ready," he forces out, his eyes dark with love and lust.

I shake my head, "I'm ready. I want you, West." I say breathlessly.

"No flashbacks?" He asks gently.

I smile, "No flashbacks." I confirm.

He studies my face for just a second longer, and then my shirt is across the room and his hands are all over my newly exposed skin.

Sorry to those of you who wanted smut- I wrote this original version when I was, like, 15 and was very much still a virgin. Smut ain't happening in this version.