𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐲 𝐋𝐢𝐩𝐬 ✓

63

Eli and Tatiana told us that they couldn't stay until actual Christmas, so we decided to exchange presents between all of us a few days before, the day that they had to leave. Treating it like actual Christmas, everyone drank rum and eggnog last night, excluding me. We all opened one ridiculous gift from Tatiana and Lexi, which was matching onesie pajamas for all of us, which they insisted we wear to bed so that we could take a picture in the morning.

We all slept in this morning and decided we would get up once Tatiana announced the arrival of herself and her brother. I lay awake in bed, running the backs of my fingers across Lexi's bare skin. She can't sleep in clothes because my body heat is too much, or so she says, so our onesies are currently on the floor and the blankets are pulled up just enough to cover her chest. She shivers slightly when my fingers touch her neck, and her eyes open, telling me that she is awake.

"That feels nice." She murmurs, closing her eyes once again. I continue my movements and stop abruptly when I hear the front door slam open and Tatiana scream: "Wake up bitches!" I groan. Who the hell thought that it was a good idea to give the banshee a spare key.

We both chuckle and get out of bed to immediately put on our pajamas before Tatiana thinks it is a good idea to break down the goddamn door. I admire Lexi's body as she zips up her onesie teasingly, slowly hiding her stomach and chest from my eyes. She giggles and opens the door, heading to the bathroom to make herself look presentable and I follow. We brush our teeth and she washes her face.

Everyone else is already sitting in the living room around the tree. Maddox and Reece decided to sleep here for whatever reason but we didn't argue. Faye is in the kitchen cooking breakfast with Luke and I join the guys while Lexi goes to see if they need any help, pecking me on the lips before she goes.

The girls carry our plates into the living room as we all take seats on the couch. Lexi grabs the remote and sits next to me, putting on The Santa Clause for us to watch as we eat. We're all visibly happy. I can't say I've had a Christmas like this in a long time. Everyone is acting like kids again, and it's fun.

After we eat and clean up, we set up a camera and take what feels like millions of photos in front of the Christmas tree, all of us in our matching outfits looking ridiculous. We pull out one gift for each person, handing them out one by one so that everyone has one and we go around in a circle opening them. Lexi opens a pretty big box, pulling out a blue Polaroid camera and a shitload of film from Maddox, which she absolutely loves. I shake my head with a smile on my face, wondering how Maddox manages to keep this side of himself hidden from most people. The gift is obviously something that Lexi will cherish because good memories mean a lot to her, but she would never buy that camera for herself. Anything expensive that Lexi owns was given to her as a gift. It reminds me of the wall of photos in her room which must be the inspiration behind the gift.

Everyone looks pleasantly shocked by their gifts, ranging in prices depending on who bought them. I go last and open my gift which is from Lexi. I look at her and smile before ripping off the wrapping paper and ripping apart the box which only contains another wrapped box. I roll my eyes, "Are you kidding me?" I ask looking at her and shaking my head meanwhile she just pastes on an innocent look and shrugs.

I continue this process repeatedly until I finally get to just a simple envelope big enough to fit a card. I carefully open the envelope and then the card, revealing two plane tickets to England. I need to stop opening cards from this girl. I turn to Lexi in surprise and stand up, picking her up with me and spinning her around in absolute delight. Putting her back down, I kiss her deeply but quickly, not wanting to make anyone uncomfortable. She grins widely up at me.

"So you like it." She states, not hesitant at all considering my reaction.

"I love it!" I laugh, looking back down to the card.

Two tickets home, non-refundable, no expiry date is what's written in her handwriting.

"So we can use these anytime?" I ask her, still reeling from the shock. This is so big for me, being able to fly home whenever possible. With my sister's schooling, we often don't have enough money for us to fly back and forth, it's easiest for me to fly out there, but I always make excuses so that they don't have to worry or feel guilty about money.

"We?" She asks.

"Of course we, who else would I take." The guys grumble from beside me but I ignore them. She smiles up at me and hugs me. We sit back down and the rest of the group comments either on our display or her thoughtful gift for me.

We continue opening gifts, and now my leg is bouncing impatiently, wishing that I didn't have to leave my gift for last. I can tell that Lexi is getting restless to find my gift under the tree, and when all the gifts have been opened and she didn't get hers from me, she can't hide the disappointment on her face, and I can't hide the excitement on mine.

This confuses her, I can tell as she looks at me. She silently wills me to explain and I wordlessly get up and walk out of the apartment. She almost gets up to follow but Faye stops her. I turn back to see her looking more excited now, knowing that I have something for her that I was hiding.

Keeping her gift with the neighbor just for the morning was Tatiana's idea so that we wouldn't either have to bring it in or go back to get it at the hotel. I knock on the door and her neighbor Mrs. Frye answers almost immediately, excitedly handing me Lexi's present and wishing me "good luck" with a big smile on her face. I thank her and leave. Pausing outside the door, I make sure everything looks perfect.

She's going to freak out.