Friends Don't

Chapter Thirty

A/N: We've made it to 30 chapters! How awesome! I hope everyone is enjoying the story!

***

It was Christmas morning and any hope of getting to sleep in just a little late was ruined by the voices of the younger ones running around yelling that it's Christmas.

I forced my eyes open and rolled onto my back, noticing that the bed beside me was empty. Usually, I was awake before Grayson but I guess he beat me to it this time.

Within seconds of me questioning where he could be, he answered for me as he came walking out of the bathroom. "Good morning," he said with a smile.

He was already dressed for the day in a pair of dark blue jeans and a nice light gray button up shirt. His hair looked damp, but still fixed nicely. "You look nice," I told him.

"Thank you." He walked over to the bed. "Mom wants to take pictures, so she said we had to dress up." He rolled his eyes.

My feet hit the cold, wooden, floor and I forced myself to stand. "Guess I better get dressed, too. Seems like there's already a party going on downstairs." The excited cheers I heard had been replaced with Christmas music and lowered, happy, voices.

"You don't have to wait on me. You can go down," I told him, watching as he sat on the bed and leaned against the frame.

"I know, but I'll wait anyway," he said giving me one of his little grins. He really did have a cute smile.

As I changed into a pair of leggings and a red sweater, and then put on a quick pat of makeup, I thought about how I didn't get Grayson a gift. I wasn't sure he even got me one, which I would be fine with, but he invited me here out of kindness and I didn't even get him the smallest gift.

I applied some makeup, keeping it fairly natural, and then left my makeup setting on the counter to deal with later.

It wasn't until I stepped out of the bathroom and back into the room that I felt like an ass. Grayson was standing beside the bed with a small wrapped gift in his hand.

"Please tell me that's not for me," I said, not realizing my poor choice of words until he frowned. "It's not that I don't appreciate it, because I really do," I began as I walked over to him and sat on the bed, "it's just that I didn't get you anything." I looked up in time to notice his frown leave. "I tried, I just couldn't think of what to get you, and now I feel so bad because, if that is for me, I have nothing to give you."

"Ellie," he, finally, spoke with a laugh. "It's fine. I don't care that you didn't get me anything."

"You don't?"

He shook his head. "You came and spent Christmas here instead of running off to the other side of the country. That's good enough for me." He held the gift out to me. "Now, shut up and open it."

I took it from him and unwrapped it, not bothering to save the paper from any damage. It was a small black box and I stole a quick glance at him, him staring down at the box with a small grin and a glimmer in his eye. I took the lid off and noticed a smaller box, taking it out and holding it as I eyed the object in my hand. There was no doubt what was inside, considering I'd never seen a small box like this hold anything else.

I lifted the lid, the light hitting off the small diamond. My brows arched. "Grayson," I began looking up at him, "are you proposing to me?" I asked, the words coming out blander than meant to.

His eyes widened. "What no!" He looked panicked. "I just saw it and thought of you, but I didn't-"

"Grayson," I laughed. "I'm kidding," I told him and his panicked demeanor disappeared. I took the ring out and slid it on the middle finger of my left hand. "How did you know my ring size?"