Frozen Heart

Chapter 51 ~ "He's Not Over You"

Grace

"Happy birthday Chelsea!" We all call as she blows out the candles on her cake. So far, this might be the nicest party I've ever been to. The view from the roof had to be fantastic if the one from our room was anything to compare it to. 

I couldn't believe we had our own room, all things considered, we probably would have been fine bunking in with everyone else but the privacy was nice. 

"Cut the cake!" Josie encourages and Chelsea starts to dish up the fancy cake. These were the days I knew I'd look back on for the rest of my life. Nik rests his hand on my knee and I smile, resting mine over his.

The cake was delicious, I knew that everything we got to do tonight would be incredible, Chelsea always wanted the most out of everything and that she wanted things done right. This party was no exception, dinner in the hotel restaurant had been fantastic and I knew we'd be in store for even more later tonight.

"You like it?" Nik asks, nodding his head to the cake and I smile with a nod.

"Yeah, my god it's so good." I mumble, finishing my piece and he pushed his half-eaten piece over. "No, it's okay. You finish it." I encourage and he smiles.

"I'm good, I'm pretty stuffed after dinner and I love you, so I insist." He says and I laugh.

"Gross." I tease and he squeezes my knee with a chuckle. "I love you too." I tell him, gladly taking his cake and eating it. 

"Presents!" Kristin insists, pushing a bag across the table. "Mine first Chels." She says and we all get out our gifts for her. She insisted she didn't want anything, and I knew for sure that she didn't need anything, but she was our friend so it was important to show her we cared.

Most of the guys forked over a card with either money or a gift card inside. Nik and Alex bled me for ideas on what to get for her, I encouraged a few things I knew she liked like candles or jewelry. We get to Grayson's gift and he slides it over quietly, avoiding her eyes. It was in a box and the whole table waited patiently to see what he'd gotten her. 

She pulls off the lid and opens it up, gasping and pulling out a glass sun catcher. It was rather large, maybe the size of a dessert plate? It was of what looked like a dove in front of an ocean scene with a pink border. 

"Oh wow." She mumbles, shaking her head in disbelief. Nik looks confused and I lean over close to whisper in his ear.

"You remember how she lost her grandmother last year?" I whisper quietly and he nods. "Chelsea was really close with her, she inherited her collection of sun catchers, they're in this box under her bed. Her grandmother used to-"

"Have them all up in her bay window." He mumbles finishing the sentence for me. "Since I met Chelsea, she'd go down to North Carolina every summer and stay with her for a month in her beach house." He adds and my heart swells at the intimate present.

The dove was her grandmother, the beach was the one she lived on in North Carolina and the pink border was because she'd passed from cancer. It was a tribute for her, it was better than any other gift at the table.

"Happy birthday." He tells her and she smiles, wiping away a stray tear. 

"Come here, Gray." She mumbles, waving him over and gives him a quick hug. "Thank you." We all hear her say and he looks almost uncomfortable. For the longest time I always thought Grayson just had a crush, that he thought Chelsea was attractive.....but now I felt like I was witnessing a different type of connection. He really did care about her. 

None of the other presents after that felt nearly as extravagant but the tension defused eventually. Chelsea's planner comes down to gather us a few moments later and before I know it, I'm heading up the elevator to the roof.