Best Kept Secret (Best Kept #1)

Chapter 20: Pinch Me

Song: Bloodstream by Ed Sheeran

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I don't care how old you are, but you love waking up on Christmas morning. You feel like a little kid again, just waiting for your parents to wake up so you could open presents. I'll probably feel like that even when I'm eighty years old. I'm just a huge fan of Christmas, I guess.

Just as I walked out of my bathroom after washing my face and brushing my teeth, my mom was waiting for me. She had a huge smile on her face and it made me smile too. "Merry Christmas, honey." She walked up to me and gave me a quick hug.

"You too, Mom." I hugged her back for a moment.

When we pulled apart, she still had a smile on her face. "Look out your window."

"Uh, why?" I asked.

"Just do it, Lucy." She started to push me to the other side of my room where my window overlooked the backyard.

"What could possibly be in the backyard?" I questioned, but still padded across my floor to the window.

As I pulled back my curtain, I was greeted with the sight of white.

Snow.

It was a thick blanket on the ground of our backyard. And I scanned the area surrounding us, only to notice it was only in our backyard. It was beautiful, but I was too confused to even process everything. "Um, how exactly did this happen? Did you and dad do this?"

Mom shook her head. "It was a good idea though. Go outside."

I didn't bother changing out of my pajama shorts and tank top before running downstairs. The excitement was overwhelming. My bare feet met the pavement of our sidewalk and then into the grass where I started to run towards our backyard. A sudden chill seeped into my spine, but I was too excited to notice it. I stood at the edge of the snow, in the small line of grass, and searched for the only person that would've done this.

Benji appeared on the other side of the yard, slipping from behind a tree he was hiding behind. He smiled at me and my heart fluttered in my chest. "How—I don't—I can't believe you did this."

"It's not exactly picture perfect," He said and walked up to me slowly. "But I had to. Just to see that smile on your face."

He didn't even make it to me before I ran and jumped in his arms, wrapping my legs around his hips. "It's perfect." I gripped his face and kissed him. "I still can't believe you did this."

His arm went around my waist to hold me steady. "It was worth it. Seeing your reaction was definitely worth it."

I smiled and kissed him again. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

"You're welcome." He pressed another long kiss to my lips.

I dropped back down to my feet. "This is probably the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me. And the fact that it was your idea makes it even more special. How'd you do it?"

"My dad rented a couple of snow machines for the resort, some sort of kids party I think." He waved a hand to dismiss it. "He can't return them until after New Year's so I borrowed them. It took awhile to get this much, but like I said, for you it's worth it."

I didn't want to cry, but it was hard. "How long have you been here?"

"Four hours give or take. But your mom was really nice. She brought me coffee and even made me breakfast."