Sweatshirt- A Grayson Dolan Fanfic

Chapter 21

(Meadow's POV)

"MEADOW, get up!! It's Christmas!"

I ruffled underneath my bed sheets, slowly squinting my eyes, to see four, blurry teenage figures standing at the head of my bed. I then fisted my hands and rubbed them over my eyes, getting rid of the sleepiness.

After shutting my eyes, I opened them again to see my brother, Kendall, and the Dolan twins looking at my awakening.

"What are ya'll doing in here?" I said, stretching my arms across my bed before sitting up and rubbing my eyes some more.

"It's Christmas, remember," Kendall rolled her eyes at me, ready to drag me out of bed.

It was tradition. Kendall, Ethan, and Grayson would come to our house every Christmas where we'd exchange gifts and eat a lot of Christmas cookies. Then at 5:00pm we'd go to the movie theatre with their parents and we'd watch whatever Christmas movie was available. We've been doing it since we were seven years old. I completely forgot the fact that they came home with us yesterday after the party and slept over our house.

Speaking of the party, I spent the next three hours after talking with Ethan staring at Grayson, talking to people, and "fake flirting" with Cameron. But that's besides the point.

"Ok..ok, I'll get up. But you three," I pointed at the boys," need to get out."

Max through his hands up in defeat, quickly exiting the room with Ethan and Grayson following behind. As soon as they were out of hearing range, I groaned in frustration and threw my head back on my pillow.

"What's wrong, honey?" Kendall said in her mom voice, walking over to me before sitting on the edge of my bed.

"I forgot that Christmas meant they were coming!" I exhaled, stuffing my face in the pillows.

"Oh," she remembered. "You mean Grayson?"

I didn't say anything, and she knew the answer. I felt her small hands wrap around one of my curls and she began twisting it around her finger.

"Honey," she spoke, trying to reassure me. "You can't let a boy get in the way of your Christmas spirit. If he doesn't realize how amazing you are, he doesn't matter. What matters is the relationships that you've made with your closest friends and building those relationships in to something bigger and more important."

"Ugh," I sighed removing my body from its current state, so that I could wrap my arms around her. "I love you, K."

"I love you too," she giggled, wrapping her arms around me in return.

-

"Who's going first?" My mom asked, turning her head to see Kendall and I coming down the stairs. Kendall sat down on the couch next to Max, and he instantly wrapped his arms around her waist, bringing her closer.

I decided to be a little daring, and walked over to Grayson, plopping down next to him on the ground, in front of Max and Kenz. (Kendall) Ethan instantly whipped his head towards me and shot me a small grin.

"I'll go first," Ethan volunteered, removing himself from the couch he was sharing with my dad and took four small firsts from under the tree.

I'm not going to lie, but Ethan is a horrible gift-wrapper. It looked like he placed the gift on a sheet of wrapping paper and then crumpled the paper around it, before wrapping two tons worth of tape around it. He tossed one to me and then through one at Grayson like it was a football. He instantly caught it, but made a small grunt when the "iron-covered" present hit his chest. We all bursted out in laughter. (100 rolls of duct tape🙃😂)

     Max and Grayson quickly ripped open the wrapping paper, revealing a shirt for each of them. They were both black and Grayson's said "brother" while Max's said "Football Buddy."

     I could feel Kendall's eagerness, and knew she was as excited as I was to open Ethan's gift. However, the tape wouldn't budge, and it seemed as though every time I attempted to remove it, the tape would tighten its grip. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Kendall hand her gift off to Max, where he helped her open it. I also noticed Grayson staring at the horribly-wrapped object in my hands and I turned my head to face him. I moved my hands toward him, asking him for assistance.

     He gave me a slight nod before taking the present from me, his hand brushing on my finger. I felt instant sparks, like I always did when I touched him. I even felt butterflies form in my stomach, kicking and screaming inside. I turned my head in the other direction, feeling the heat rise in my cheeks while hearing the crinkling of the wrapping paper next to me.

     I felt a gentle nudge on my arm, and I turned back to see Grayson holding my present out, the wrapping paper being slightly opened, revealing a whole big enough to retrieve Eth's surprise. I placed my fingers inside, pulling out a cotton t-shirt that was also black. I held it up so I could see the white lettering that read, "I'm Half of Him."

     I turned around to face Kendz, who held up a similar t-shirt that read, "I'm His Other Half." I smiled at her, and then gave my attention to Ethan, who walked towards where he was sitting and pulled out the same black t-shirt that we all had, except his said,"These Two Make Up All of Me."

     A smile instantly appeared on my face as I got up from where I was to give Eth a hug. I felt the warmth of Kendall next to me, and I knew she had joined our hug. I heard choking noises from Gray and Max, who gagged at our mushiness.

"Y'all are just jealous that you aren't in this relationship," Kendall joked, slightly shoving Max after sitting back down next to him. Stifles laughs came from our parents in the background, where they sat at the couch, watching us in admiration.

     Ethan was probably the mushiest guy out of the three in our squad. He was thoughtful. Kendall was the calm one. Max is the SUPER athletic one. Grayson was the serious one, and I am the klutz.

We had other close friends like Cam and Chris, but they weren't as close as we were.

-

Our group was full of traditions. Every Christmas, Ethan gave us each a t-shirt, Kendall gave us funny hats or snap backs, Max bought us candy, I got gift cards, and Gray gave us something that represented who we are or his relationship with us. Then we'd always wear or bring the gifts that we got to the movies, where people would stare at us like we were insane. Anyways, It was Grayson's turn.

He passed out his gifts, saving a medium-sized box that he held with care, protectively lacing his fingers around it. He sat down facing me, holding his hands out, gesturing for me to take it.

I placed my hands on the sides of the rectangular, black box, gripping the top and bottom before resting it on my lap. I anxiously untied the red bow that held everything together, before gently pulling the top of.

I felt my mouth open wide, my hands covering my lips as a small gasp escaped from them. I looked up him, and saw him smiling while he propped himself up by leaning his arm on the seat of the couch.

I turned my attention to the glass photo frame in front of me as a 3D image took place. (I've seen these at kiosks in the mall. It's basically a thick piece of glass that has a picture in 3D in the inside.) Inside of the glass was an image of Gray and I laughing at his birthday party, me on his back from after we got out the pool.

I set the frame next to me on the ground before wrapping my arms tightly around his neck, instantly feeling his strong arms return the gesture. I felt a "flock" of butterflies roam in my stomach as I dug my face in the crook of his neck, attempting to hide the obvious blush on my face. Goodness, what is this boy doing to me?

1403 words A/N Ayyyeeee I'm sorry for the long chapter, I was trying to cram a lot of information into a "small" chapter...THANK YOU FOR 400 VOTES!!!! You guys are crazy amazing and I'm so happy that you guys are enjoying my book.