Never Too Late

Chapter 5.2: Surrender

                So our Christmas break went quite well. Of course, we had to spend Christmas at our homes in Neptune. Alex planned to spend Christmas with mom and me. Dad and Red couldn't come until the next day because of their own family. Alex and I had just arrived at home when mom finished cooking dinner for us. I hadn't really heard how Laura's Christmas went, but I called earlier, and she said she was doing fine. They were completely brushing off the pregnancy thing. Anyway, Alex, mom, and I were having our Christmas eve dinner at home. We were just enjoying the whole dinner, but most importantly, I was drinking too much wine again. Why was mom okay with me drinking wine anyway? Alex wasn't really going to stay at his house in Neptune. He was okay with sleeping on the couch, so we wouldn't have to drive him back to his house which was probably why mom was okay with me drinking wine.

"So how are your grades, honey?" mom started while we were enjoying the Christmas dinner she made.

"I passed all of them." I laughed. "Not too high, but they're pretty good."

"How about you, Alex?"

"Pretty good too." He smiled. "I passed all of them too."

"That's great!" she said as she grabbed some presents from under the table, and she handed them to us. "By the way, I have some gifts for you guys!"

"Aw, thanks!" Alex said as he stood and went to the living room to grab his Christmas gifts for mom and me. "I also brought presents for you guys too."

"Thanks, mom." I said as Alex got back and handed us his gifts. "Aw, thanks, Alex."

"Thank you, darling." Mom said as she eagerly opened her present. She saw that it was a big video tape, you know, like the 90's kind of tape. "It's a video tape."

"Liyah and I worked hard on it." Alex sat down.

"Watch it when we're not here." I laughed as I was about to Alex's present. "I actually know what this is."

"Yeah, you saw me wrapping it." He chuckled. "I thought you'd like it."

"Oh, I was right!" I pulled out his present. It was a black sweater that says 'I'm With Stupid' and an arrow pointing to the left. "Is that why you sat at my left?"

"Yeah." He smiled. "I hope you like it."

"I love it, Alex." I chuckled. "Now I can stop talking to Laura and just sit next to her."

"Thank you for this gift too." Mom said to Alex. "I don't know what's in this... hopefully, not porn, but thank you."

"Thank you for your gift too." Alex said as he opened mom's gift for him. I opened mine too, and when we opened it, it was just... I don't know. Mom got us white shirts. Mine had Alex's picture in it, and his had my picture in it. It was like a couple's shirt. Alex looked happy. I didn't know if he was pretending, but I was truly happy. "Thank you, miss! This looks cute."

"Aw, is this a couple's shirt?" I adored the shirt.

"Yeah." Mom nodded and smiled. "That's for staying strong. Most relationships these days don't even last longer than months, but you two have been together for more than a year now."

"Yeah." I turned to Alex and smiled. He stared back at me and kept winking. It was really adorable. Deep inside, I was wishing that he wasn't pretending, that he actually liked the idea of the shirt.

Anyway, after we cleaned up the table and the dishes, mom said she wanted to go to bed. Usually, that means we were supposed to lock up and all, so she went, leaving me and Alex alone in the living room with the warm chimney fire and the Christmas tree. I was sitting on the couch, and Alex was sitting on the floor near the chimney, getting some heat. There I was, building the confidence to talk serious with him, but with my half drunkenness, I could feel myself doing it easily.

"Alex." I called to him, and he turned. His eyes sparkled with the fire, and it got me so turned on again. I had that urge to grab him and have sex with him on the couch.

"Yeah?" he said as he slowly tried to stand. I couldn't talk, so Alex stood and walked to me. "What's up?"

"Hey..." I said as he sat next to me and stared at me. I tried to breathe again. "Do you like the shirt?"

"The shirt or the sweater?"

"I know you like the sweater." I smiled. "I'm asking you about the shirt. You don't have to keep it just for mom, you know."

"What are you talking about? I love that shirt!" he giggled at me, and I could feel myself wanting to surrender. "Especially because you're in it. Do you not like your shirt?"

"Alex..." I paused because it was getting hard to breathe and think again. I couldn't rely on my brain. I just had to listen to what these strong heartbeats say. "I don't wanna lie, I love that shirt too."

"Wait... so you're saying you like the idea of the shirt?" he looked really curious, and I was loving every moment of it.

"You know, it's amazing how they believe so much about this functional relationship we're supposed to have." I said. "That I don't think I want to break down the truth to them because of the amount of expectation they have for us."

"Liyah..." he captured my attention. His eyes were gazing and piercing right through me, again like he was reading my mind. I was about to surrender. "Is that really the reason why you don't want to tell them the truth?"

I looked for him for a second, and he was eagerly waiting for my response, but I could feel my chest getting tight. I couldn't breathe. My heartbeats were going crazy that I was starting to worry if he could hear them. I couldn't talk, so I just shook my head and said with the smallest air I could gather in my throat. "No."

He slowly moved his hand on to my cheek, and I could feel him leaning to kiss me, and I surrendered. The temptation was killing me, so I leaned onto him. I felt his lip touch mine, and we kissed. His hands went down to my waist and my hands latched on his chest as we went wild with the kissing. He started weighing me down on the couch as we continued kissing, and his body was getting on top of mine. I held him real tight.

We stopped kissing for a moment as we panted for air. Then, he began to move up and carry me. I felt like a little princess as he walked to my room while carrying me like a fire fighter saving a helpless woman for a burning house. I held my hands around his neck and stared as he looked straight to my room. He opened the door and carried me inside. He stopped walking and stared at me as the door was slowly closing. He gazed and smiled at me while I tried to catch up to my breath. I smiled at him as I figured what was about to happen. I could feel the temptation around him. I could feel his heartbeats around his body. I could feel the wind as it was blowing the door shut.

And the door closed...