Chapter 28: The Christmas Party

Chapter 28: The Christmas Party

I sat on the couch alongside my friends, listening to the Christmas music and talking excitedly about the upcoming holidays. The music suddenly lowered in volume and Isaac was caught singing along in a horrifically offkey tone. He didn't stop though and only continued as if given an opportunity to have a solo. He only shut up when Demetrious covered the twin's mouth with his hand.

"Because Colton has to leave in a few minutes, we're going to exchange gifts for secret santa," my brother announced. We all got up and made our way to the table behind the couches, which had a gift for each person sitting on it. Some were wrapped while others were placed in gift bags. I still wasn't sure who was my secret santa but I was Oliver's and his gifts sat in a blue, snowflake decorated gift bag at the center of the table.

"For you," Isaac sang as he helped distribute the gifts. He handed one to Camilla and she looked at the tag to find that her secret santa was Oliver. I immediately checked him off the list of my potential gift givers. It's narrowed down to Camilla and Sidney.

"For you," Isaiah spoke, handing me a pretty red bag with a reindeer on it.

"Thanks, Cam," I smiled at her as I held the gift in my hand. When everyone recieved their gifts, we all opened ours on the count of three.

"Awesome!" Miles exclaimed.

"Socks?" Isaiah asked.

"The fluffy kind!" Isaac retorted and I could tell that Isaac was his brother's secret santa.

Mine was a cute shirt I'd seen in the store not too long ago but didn't have time to purchase. I never bothered to go back and buy it but my friend bought it for me. I grinned at her, thanking her again. Oliver practically tackled me with a hug, practically smashing his mug against my back as his arms clamped aroud me.

Because Isaac and Isaiah invited Sam, they decided to buy him a gift. But because they know absolutely nothing about the red head, they bought him a reindeer mask and a whoopee cushion. He seemed quite happy with his new gifts so I wasn't going to scold the two boys on their decisions.

When everyone settled down from the frenzy of finally finding out what their gifts were, we began seeing Colton off. Occasionally someone would say "I'll see you next year" to which we'd all groan and cringe. As Colton was leaving, Axel decided to step out to use the bathroom. I contemplated whether or not I should follow after him and quickly exchange gifts before returning to the party. There hasn't been many opportunities and leaving outright with him at my side seems a bit awkward, especially because Sam is here. Speaking of the innocent boy, he was sitting beside me talking excitedly about what Christmases are like at his house. I was listening for the most part.

I suddenly decided that I should run upstairs and exchange gifts with Axel. I waited for Sam to have a break in his explanation before lightly touching my stomach. "Sam, I've got to go to the bathroom. I'll be right back."

"By bathroom do you mean hook up with Axel?" Isaac queried from a few feet away, where he was resting in a chair. Sam immediately grew awkward and I knew he took note of the fact that Axel wasn't in the room, either. "Say 'bye' while you can Sammy. Once she leaves, she's not coming back."

"That's not true," I told Sam, shaking my head. He looked extremely uncomfortable. The entire time, the guys made small jabs at him that would've been funny had Sam actually been close with them. But from an outsiders perspective looking in, they were petty, immature jokes that simply made things awkward.

"You're not over her yet, Sammy?" Isaac questioned and Sam sighed as he grabbed his bag from beside him.

"Actually, I think I'm just going to go. I've got to get up early tomorrow, anyway," he mumbled and quickly brushed passed me and Isaac. I looked at the boy a few feet away from me with narrowed eyes.

"Really?" I snapped.

"He can't take a joke?" Isaac whispered. I rolled my eyes as I followed after Sam, who was already in the kitchen when I reached the steps. I managed to reach him before he could get in his car.

"Sam!" I called and he stopped walking, turning around.

"What?" he asked, looking tired and upset. His large eyes were glassy and his shoulders were slumped and I wondered if he was going to cry.

"I'm really sorry about the guys. They're really immature. I told them not to say anything but-," he quickly cut me off.

"Did you even want me here? Or was I a last minute invite?" he asked and I opened my mouth before closing it. "Honestly, Alexis."

"I wanted you here Sam but I didn't want you to be uncomfortable. I know how the guys are," I explained.

"Can you tell me something, Alexis?" he inquired and I nodded. "How long have you liked Axel?"

"A couple years," I mumbled quietly and he nodded as he stared at the ground.

"So when you agreed to go on a date with me and then go with me to homecoming, you had no interest in me?" he continued and I looked at him.

"Sam, it's not like that..." I trailed.

"I was just something to pass the time?" he asked sadly.

"I was trying to get over Axel and Cam thought introducing me to you would help," I told him.

"The whole time, I thought that maybe you were getting over Axel and I actually had a chance. Hell, I would've been happy to be the rebound, but I couldn't even be that," he expressed. "You didn't really stop to think about my feelings, huh?" He wore a wry smile as he kicked at the sidewalk beneath his feet.

"Sam..." I trailed, unsure of what to say. "I'm sorry."

"Me too," he mumbled. "But it was nothing personal, right?" I lost my voice in my throat as I stared at him and he began backing up. "I guess I'll see you around school, Alexis."

I wanted to stop him but I had nothing else to say. I watched as he got in his truck, started it up, and pulled away from the curb. I stared as he drove down the street, not bothering to look away when he disappeared in the trees. I felt horrible. Axel was right. I shouldn't have spent all that time with him and entertained the idea of us being a thing.

I entered the house, completely disregarding the open basement door. I made my way upstairs, pulling off my stupid outfit and crawling into something more comfortable. I yanked open the window and crawled out onto the roof, laying and admiring the stars.

"I thought I'd find you out here," Axel's voice sounded from inside my room. I listened as he climbed through the window. He settled beside me, stretching out and placing his hands behind his head. "So...what's up?"

"Nothing, just wallowing in self pity. I was enjoying myself a bit too much at that party," I replied as I shot him a look. He smiled at me and I shifted so that I was laying with my head on his chest.

"Are you okay?" he asked. I felt the vibrations of his words as my ear rested against his body.

"Not really," I mumbled.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I don't think Sam and I are friends anymore. He says I hurt him and he's right. I feel horrible. I couldn't even provide him a decent explanation," I explained briefly. "I should've taken your advice and just stopped hanging out with him so much."

"We're in the same boat, me and you," he muttered, confusing me. I furrowed my eyebrows as I tried to decipher his words.

"What?" I asked.

"We both hurt someone who liked us," he explained. "But mine is worse because I hurt my best friend."

"You didn't know I liked you until after," I told him, though I wasn't exactly sure he meant the whole Victoria situation.

"I'm still hurting you, aren't I?" he asked and I shrugged.

"I'd say more playing with my feelings than anything," I explained.

He winced before speaking. "Ouch."

"I'm just being honest," I told him. "I never know what you feel."

"I guess I owe you an explanation right?" he started. I stared at the sky, wondering if I was prepared for whatever he was going to say. I didn't want to start crying in front of him if it came down to it but for some reason, I felt like it wouldn't end like that.

"Yeah," I replied, feeling a sense of fear growing in my stomach.

"Where to start...where to start..." he mumbled as he racked his brain.

"Definitely not from the beginning. We don't have that much time. It's almost midnight and you've got to get going soon," I responded.

"How about from when you told me you liked me?" he asked.

"Sounds like it could fit within the time constraints..." I replied, earning a chuckle from him.

"When you told me that you liked me, I was shocked. Obviously, the guys would joke about it and stuff but I never actually thought you really did...until, you know, the night at my house when Victoria came trying to swing on us. But I didn't think of you in a romantic way back then. I kind of just saw you as a friend, kind of like a sister I guess," he explained. I internally cringed when I heard him say this. This doesn't sound too good. "But after a while, I could see how the guys thought you liked me. It wasn't too obvious but you could just tell, I guess. At first I thought it was going to be weird. I thought that, since you told me you liked me, you'd try to avoid me and not talk to me and such, but nothing really changed."

I resisted the urge to tell him to hurry it up and instead nodded my head and went with a much calmer response. "So...?"

"You remember how we kissed the first time? In the truck?" he asked and I nodded. How could I forget? "I don't know why I did it. I think I was just, you know, in the moment." I cringed again but this time I had a physical reaction. My face contorted a bit and he noticed this. "But it made me realize that maybe I had some kind of feelings for you. But because you told me that you were trying to get over me, I figured it'd be best to just ignore it and wait for it to go away. So, as time went on, I would do little things to test the waters and see how you felt, to see if you were still interested. You responded in the way I'd hoped."

"And you hoped that I still liked you?" I asked for clarification and he nodded before continuing.

"But then Sam came into the picture and I got nervous. You liked me for a few years, yes, but that just made me feel like you'd just give up on me and go after Sam, feeling like you didn't have a chance with me. And no matter how many times you told me you didn't like him, I still felt the need to hear it again and again and again. And just as I found myself feeling ready to tell you that maybe getting over me wasn't necessary, you start hanging out with him more. And then you told me that it was nothing big, that you're just two friends spending time together. So I planned on telling you and the day I wanted to do it, you were busy with- guess who- Sam. So I figured I'd wait for you to get back, and when you did, I was pissed because as soon as you walked in the door, your lipstick was smeared and I had a feeling that something happened. No, I didn't have a feeling- I knew something happened."

"Is that why you left so abruptly?" I asked and he stared at me.

"If you let me finish, you'll know," he replied sassily.

"Maybe if you would hurry up, I wouldn't interrupt you," I told him. He shot me a short glare before proceeding with the story.

"You asked me to go upstairs to talk. I tried to refuse because I didn't want you to tell me that you kissed Sam and that you liked him now, but I can't exactly say 'no' to you. And when you told me, I didn't want to hear anymore because obviously, I thought that if you kissed him, it meant that you liked him. Fast forward to the incident in the janitor's closet, you know, when you didn't kiss me back and used my own words against me?"

"When you left school early?" I asked and he nodded.

"Well...that was when I realized that I liked you. Like, full blown, crush on you, like you. Like, butterflies crush, you know? And everything I did from then on was because I wanted to see if you still liked me. And I told Holden, who told Isaac, who told Isaiah, who told Demetrious, who told Colton, who told Miles, who accidentally slipped up and told Dylan. That's when the whole family thing happened with you guys. My fault- sorry," he explained.

"So..." I trailed.

"So what?" he asked.

"So how do you feel about me?" I asked, specifically looking for a three word answer.

"I just told you," he responded.

"Yeah, in a ten minute speech," I replied.

"I like you," he clarified and I sat up. I looked at him, waiting for him to slap his knee and laugh in my face.

"Like seriously?" I asked and he nodded, slowly sitting up and using his hands to hold up his upper half. "For real?"

"No, for fake," he retorted with a smile on his face. "Yes, for real."

"You like me? As in like, like me? As in romantic like me?" I asked and he nodded again.

"I literally just said that," he responded. I felt a grin make its way to my face and I struggled to fight it, putting my hands over my mouth as it broke through. He was grinning too but he didn't bother hiding it. I had the urge to kiss him and I suddenly realized I could. Maybe we could even make out... "What are you thinking about?"

"Kissing you," I plainly admitted.

He smiled at me as his eyes flitted between both of mine. "Go for it."

I leaned forward hesitantly and he quickly did the same, not hesitating to press his lips against mine. He grabbed my waist and in the span of three seconds, I was sitting on his lap. I wasn't complaining though. One of his hands slid upward until he was holding the back of my head while his other hand gripped my waist. Both of my hands were clutching his shirt as I roughly pressed my lips against his, feeling my stomach tense and go wild with butterflies.

Our kisses kept getting interrupted by one of us breaking away to smile or laugh. At one point, my giggles were so strong that I rolled off the roof in a laughing fit while he sat there and stared at me. After a second, he too fell into fits of laughter as he laid down beside me. I turned to look at him to find that he was gazing at me. I pressed my lips to his again, determined to kiss him without pulling away to laugh.

I actually managed to kiss him without laughing. His hands were tangled in my hair as he pulled away to breathe. I left a trail of light kisses along his jaw and down his neck before returning back to his mouth. My stomach was tense and I pressed myself closer to him, enjoying the feeling of his mouth against mine, his body against mine. I could stay like this for a while.

We pulled away when we heard Holden calling for Axel. "I think I have to go," he whispered and I looked at him.

"We didn't exchange presents yet," I whispered as I stared at his face, which was inches from mine. He looked at me before sitting up, pulling me along with him. We both climbed into my window, trying to be as silent as possible. I walked to the closet and retrieved my gift, watching as he slyly ducked out of my room and into the hallway.

I sat on the bed, watching as he entered my room with an extremely small gift bag in his hand. I wonder what it could be. "Okay, you open yours first," I insisted and he pulled the book from the bag.

"A...photo album?" he asked curiously and I sighed.

"I know, it's cliche and lame but I saw it online and thought it'd be cute to recreate with our friendship. Open it," I insisted and he lifted the gray album cover to reveal a letter from me. "Skip that and read it when you get home." Instead of listening to me, he cleared his throat.

"'Dear Axel,

I was afraid that I wouldn't have to buy you a Christmas gift this year because we weren't exactly friends. But I'm happy to waste, I mean, spend money on you. I'm not a sappy person so don't expect me to go in depth about how grateful I am to be friends with you again and how proud I am to call you my best friend. That's all I'm saying. Anyway, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Here's to another year of friendship, and hopefully many more.

- Love, Alexis, aka the (only) best friend you'll ever need.'"

My face was red as Axel read my letter to him. He grinned at me before continuing on with the book. The first picture was our sixth grade class portrait. I tried my best to improve the quality of the old picture, at least so that we could identify ourselves. In case he couldn't, I pointed the both of us out with sharpie drawn arrows and notes along the sides. He cringed at the picture and immediately flipped the page. It was from the first time we hung out. It was in the seventh grade and Dylan was also in the picture. It was my turn to cringe at my sharp front bangs and gelled down hair. I made sure to include school pictures as well as pictures taken at home. I managed to fill up three quarters of the album and when he flipped to the last decorated page, he quirked an eyebrow.

"I think you forgot a picture," he explained as he pointed to the Christmas page, which was red and green. However, the place for a photo was empty.

I pulled the polaroid camera from behind my back. "Actually," I stressed, "I was hoping we could take one now. I mean, I'm not wearing the clothes I intended to take the picture in but it'll have to do."

"You look fine," he responded. "So how do we do this?" he mumbled. I quickly gave him instructions as I snuggled up beside him, posing for the picture. However, the flash caught us off guard and my eyes immediately shut, as did his. He swore loudly and nearly dropped the camera. As the photo developed, he wrinkled his nose and I looked over his shoulder, laughing loudly. Both of our faces were crinkled up in pain and my hair was a mess from rolling around with him on the roof. "Redo?"

"Nope, no redos," I told him as I snagged the picture and placed it in the album. Once I finished, he pulled me to him and kissed the side of my head. "I love it," he whispered and I didn't bother fighting the grin. "Okay your turn."

He handed me the small bag, which I dug my hand inside and pulled out a small box and a card. I opened the car and the only thing written inside was a handdrawn smiley face, my name, his name, and the words 'I hope this isn't too much.' I opened the little box, which was clearly jewelery box and found a small ring inside. I looked at him and he gave me an encouraging smile as I slowly pulled the ring from the box. It had a medium sized, light blue gemstone and a silver band. I was sure that my eyes were wide as I examined the wring. Engraved on the inside were my initials.

"Wow..." I whispered as I slipped the ring on my finger. I looked at it before turning to Axel. "Thank you."

I was at a loss for words and Axel noticed this. "Do you like it?" he asked me and I nodded my head quickly.

"I love it," I responded as I looked at the ring that was hugging my finger. I quickly kissed him before my door was shoved open.

"Here they are!" Miles snapped.

"I thought you already checked here!" Dylan snapped at Holden, who shrugged.

"I did!" he retorted. "We've got to go."

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Axel replied as he pulled me in for a tight hug. When he pulled away, he kissed my forehead and grabbed his bag.

"We don't have all day," Holden retorted. "Everyone already left."

"Alright, alright," Axel replied. With one last grin at me, he slipped out of my room, followed by the other three boys. Dylan closed the door after giving me a suspicious look. Once I was sure they were downstairs, I squealed loudly. This is amazing.

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