To Infiniti & Beyond

Chapter Fifty-Four

The slew of "Merry Christmas" messages from friends and family grace my phone screen throughout the day. I'm not big on Christmas. Actually, let me rephrase. I'm not big on pretending to be a family a handful of times out of the year.

I have no issue with the few family members who make an effort to be present in my life outside of the holidays. It's everyone else I have a problem with.

I don't enjoy the comments my uncles make wondering whether or not my ripped jeans are half off. I don't enjoy my aunts telling me I should've gone to college. I don't enjoy my older cousins asking about my love life.

The day drags on. When dinner time finally arrives I'm beyond relieved. At least the food isn't half bad. The second my little cousins are done unwrapping their gifts, the "goodbyes" couldn't get out of my mouth quick enough. My mother's Italian and German families are just lucky I don't pull from my dad's Irish heritage and say goodbye without actually saying goodbye.

Driving home was enjoyable because I had Jake to keep me company. The slushy roads from half melted snow were the opposite of enjoyable though. We made it home in one piece and that's all that matters.

Waiting around for Grayson to be done with his family's festivities is so boring. I admire how he actually enjoys his family time though, it's nice that they're all so present in his life. I personally would find that overwhelming, but good for him.

I fill the void by deep cleaning my room before getting ready to see him tonight. I left on my makeup from today's events, threw my hair up in a messy bun, and retouched the curls of my face framing pieces. My outfit now consists of buttery soft blue flare leggings, and his black hoodie which supports blue in the image on the back.

When I finally hear his car pull up at 9pm, I practically skip to the door. I hate skipping, it's unnecessarily girly, but he brings out my feminine side and I sort of enjoy it.

"This looks familiar." He tugs at my - his - hoodie.

I tap my chin, "hmm, I wonder why." I smirk and he chuckles before pulling me in for a kiss.

"I didn't know if we were doing gifts or not, but I couldn't help myself." I grab his hand and lead him to my room.

On my bed sits this trendy thing called a Burr Basket - a basket filled with things he'll enjoy, but it's got a winter theme to it. In the white bin with blue snowflakes, the basket holds: a navy blue nike hoodie (that I will totally be stealing), gray nike sweatpants, his favorite candy, his favorite chips, two joints I bought off of Jaxon, a keychain of his car, and a framed picture of us from our time in Florida.

He sits down on my bed. I sit next to him and throw my legs across his thighs as he opens it. The more sentimental the item, the bigger his grin gets. He's so adorable, he deserves the world.

"Baby, you didn't have to do this." He pulls me in for a kiss.

I smile, "I know, I wanted to."

"I'll be right back." He kisses my temple before gently moving my legs off of his.

A short while later he returns with a paper bag in hand. "I'm sorry the presentation isn't all that great, but I think you'll like what's inside.

He got Aston new toys! I take the toys out and plaid pajama pants are revealed, not one, but two sets. "Awe! You got us matching pj's, how cute!" I pinch his cheek closest to me.

"Keep looking."

There are chocolate covered pretzels with a red bow on them from the fudge shop, two candy canes, two packets of hot coco, and one pack of the Pillsbury sugar cookies.

"I thought this would give us something to do before watching a christmas movie tonight." he shrugs.

"This is perfect, Gray, thank you!" I hop up, "come on, let's go preheat the oven!"

Aston sits outside of the kitchen playing with the new toys Grayson gifted him. While the oven preheats and the water for the coco boils, I sit on the counter with Grayson standing between my legs as we discuss what movie we'll watch.

The coco takes barely any time to prepare, we bring it back to my room and put it on my nightstand to cool before cuing National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. By the time that's ready to go, I send Grayson out to shut off the oven. He returns with four fresh baked and deliciously smelling cookies.

We change into our matching pj's right in front of each other with no shame. I mean, he's seen me in a bikini, so what's the difference?

We settle against my wall lined with pillows until we're done snacking about 30 minutes into the movie.

I lay down and Grayson props himself up behind me with pillows so he can still see the movie as he holds me. He pulls me closer to him and throws the blanket over us. I sigh contently, "I love you."

The realization smacks me in the face the second the words leave my lips. I shoot up, now sitting upright, I frantically stumble over my words, "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean for that to come out! I don't want you to feel pressured you don't have to say it ba-"

In the midst of all my rambling, Grayson sat upright, locking eyes with me the whole time. He cuts me off with a kiss that takes my breath away.

When our lips part, he looks at me intently. "Kie, it's okay." His hands remained cupped around my face. His thumbs move back and forth across my cheeks in a soothing way, "I've been in love with you for some time now. I just didn't want you to feel rushed into saying it back."

I pepper his face with kisses.

This boy loves me. I love him. We're in love!