Smile - CrankGameplays

36. Christmas

There was a certain cheer that was in the air. Maybe it was the snow, maybe it was the fact that he was gathered around all of his family again after a short month of being away from them. Or because all of his finals were over and he passed all of his classes, leaving one final semester to go before he graduated from college.

The twinkle of lights that wrapped around the Christmas tree, fitted with tinsel and all the homemade ornaments he had made as a child with his siblings, had encaptured the holiday perfectly.

He sat in his pajamas, just one of those traditions he did each Christmas morning where his family all sat around in the living room, holding cups of hot coffee and a plate full of sweets.

His two dogs sat on each side of him, heads resting on his lap as he took his hands and ruffled them through the curly locks of his best pals. They responded with constant nudging as they buried their snouts deeper into the fabric of his pants.

"Who's a good boy?" he giggled at them as he continued to scratch behind their ears, "Oh, thank you."

His mom smiled down at him as she handed him a large rectangular box, covered in festive looking wrapping paper. "Of course, sweetie."

He extended his smile over to his dad who was slowly unwrapping one of the many presents that sat under the lit Christmas tree, fingers tearing through the paper to reveal the gift inside

"What are Mark and Tyler doing?" his dad asked, eyes still focused on pulling the present out.

Ethan shrugged, "They're both back in Ohio hanging with their families. They also told me to tell you Merry Christmas."

"That's nice of them," she grinned, sitting back down in the distant recliner and sipping from the steaming mug.

"Yeah," he chuckled, "I'll be right back."

He reluctantly pushed the dogs away from his lap and stood up, stretching his stiff body out and heading towards the bathroom. He held his phone tightly in the palm of his hand as he opened the door and immediately shut it.

Ethan didn't even feel the need to use the restroom but he had to get away for a second, it was just too much. He loved being around his family, especially during this time of the year, but with the events that happened just a few weeks ago, it became hard to enjoy the time he had with his parents.

Reese completely left his life. Well, he left hers because no matter what, she would always be a part of his. And that killed him because he was the reason why they weren't friends anymore. He told her it wasn't going to work out because he didn't want to get hurt.

But her not being in his life at all hurt the most.

He sat on the edge of the tub and unlocked his phone, finding a new notification on his Instagram account.

He clicked the application and it started to load its content, new pictures popping up on his timeline that he would have to look through later.

A new request to follow him appeared and he clicked on the name with his thumb, eyes widening at the name.

"What the?" he mumbled, "Why would he?"

Tucker's Instagram handle floated at the top of the screen as he shook his head, completely in denial that he would want to follow his account.

Ethan began to scroll through Tucker's open account, finding pictures on top of pictures of the guy. There were some gym selfies, scenic ones, pictures with his buddies. He thought he might have missed them but he checked again, there was no way...?

There were no pictures of Reese.

Ethan was puzzled by this. They were together for four years and there was no type of picture to document their relationship. He clicked on the most recent one he posted and closely examined the picture before reading the caption.

It was him sitting on what looked like a porch, his million dollar smile flashing wide at the camera. In the frame, you could see one of his hands tucked under a baseball mitt. There was a girl who wrapped both her arms around his neck, her chin resting on top of his head. Her blonde hair cascading over her shoulders and barely touching his as she beamed at the camera, her white teeth almost blinding. This had to have been his sister but they didn't look too similar.

He stared intently at the photo, lifting his bushy eyebrows up in confusion as he finally read the caption;

"Merry Christmas from your favorite power couple."

So Reese and him... didn't get back together.

For someone that gave her a promise ring, he sure moved on quick.

He had a little over twenty-one days to find someone else and he wasted no time, considering he was already posting pictures together.

Ethan tried incredibly hard to keep Reese out of his life, almost to the point where he deleted her number. He had the strength to erase their text messages, no matter how many goofy pictures the two sent one another which almost persuaded him not to. They didn't have any pictures together which made it easier for him to not have to obliterate the literal memories where they documented the time they spent together.

The request appeared on Tucker's profile and Ethan's finger was reluctant to accept. It's not like Ethan posted much or anything interesting for that matter, it was mainly full of his dogs.

Did Tucker want to put everything behind them? Pretend he didn't threaten him on more than one occasion and beat him to a bloody pulp?

Probably.

Ethan locked his phone and walked back to the living room where his dogs patiently waited for him. His parents both offered small smiles as he took a seat back down on the floor, ready to pretend to be happy for the sake of his parents.

"That would be a good photo," his dad chuckled as he sat up from his chair, shuffling over to the ball of lit up Christmas lights that were tossed on the floor.

"What would?" Ethan perched up, not wanting to miss the opportunity to snap a good photo.

"Here, hold this." He grabbed a hold of the cluster of Christmas lights and set them in Ethan's free arms. "Here and wear this." He pinched the lone Santa hat on the floor and fitted it onto his sandy locks.

"Dad," Ethan laughed with a little joy, "What are you doing?"

He matched the cheerfulness with his expression, "Oh, stand still."

Ethan's smile would not leave his face as he watched his dad's hands adjust the winter hat, "Come on, dad, stop it!"

"Go stand in front of that wall."

"What are you...?" Ethan listened to his dad and stood in front of the black wall, not protesting any further of the picture he wanted to take.

"Smile."

But Ethan decided a smile was too original. He held the handful of lights in his hand, the cord dangling at his feet, and positioned them up towards his face, a look of pure awe replacing his normal expression. He gazed down at the clear lights in front of him as he barely opened his mouth to capture the true wonder in his eyes.

The flash stunned his bright eyes and Ethan looked away, blinking away the disappearing dots he saw in his vision.

"That was a good one," his dad commented, turning over the camera and showing his son the image.

Ethan was surprised at how well the picture turned out, "Yeah, thanks, dad."

The twenty-one-year-old snatched away the camera and immediately knew where to post it.

"Where are you going with that?" his mom inquired as she pointed to the camera.

"I need to post this to let people know I'm in the Christmas spirit."

His parents both exchanged confused looks with one another.

Ethan clicked the new picture and transferred it over to his phone, opening the app and typing away at a new caption;

"It's Christmas time."