Struggles

Chapter 6

James's POV

When I got off the phone, I was almost in tears. She told me I'd never lose her. But what if I do. There's no way to get her back from the dead. 'No' I told myself. She's not dead. Emily would've told me. I looked over at the photo beside my bed. It was Christmas Eve. She had just cut her hair. Riley wore a material jacket. It looked thin, like she was going to freeze, but she insisted that she was fine. She wore a white infinity scarf around her neck. I had a grey winter coat on and dark navy blue finger gloves, the thin kind. As I thought about it more, the night came flooding back.

**********flashback**********

We were at my house. We were opening the presents from Riley, I told her not to get anyone anything but she didn't listen, and she was opening the countless ones from me, even though she told me not to get her anything. Janna, my 13 year old sister, opened a box containing a top, that I'm pretty sure was designer. "Thanks Riley!" She exclaimed. Riley smiled. Jenny, my 5 year old sister opened the holiday Barbie for 2014.
"Thanks." She said hugging Riley. Riley gave her a hug back and sat beside me on the couch.
"Here." She handed me a small, prettily wrapped box. I opened it to see two parts of a heart. Put together they said R+J. She picked up the J half. "You put this on your keys." She explained. "And I put the other half on a bracelet."
"I love it." I told her. "Except. I want the R half. So when I look at it, I'm reminded of you." I said. She nodded, smiling, and passed my the half with the R on it. She put the other half in the box and put it in her purse. "Open this one." I told her.
"James. This is the fifth present you've given me." She said.
"We can tell who James spent all this money on this Christmas." Mom joked. Riley laughed.
"Is it the one with the blue snowman?" Jenny asked.
"Yeah." Riley answered.
"If you don't want it I'll have it." She said. Riley smiled.
"I wouldn't mind giving some of these away. James I'm drowning in presents." She said. I shrugged and shoved the box into her hand. She rolled her eyes and unwrapped it. She pulled out a box of Pot Of Gold chocolates. They're her all time favourite chocolates. She smiled at me and opened the box. She took one before offering everyone else one. My dad smiled at me and Riley.
"Remember when we were like them." He said grabbing her hand with the one that wasn't holding a cup of hot chocolate. Mom smiled.
"Yeah." She said sipping her chai tea with her free hand.
"James. How many more are there?" Riley asked.
"Well. I have 4 for you to open tomorrow. And one more for tonight." I told her. She rolled her eyes. I passed her the white box.
"James. This says Pandora." Riley said. I nodded in an 'I know' sort of way. She slowly opened it, revealing a bracelet, her exact size I may add, already filled with charms representing her. "James." She exclaimed as I clasped it around her wrist. "How much was this?" She asks.
"The real question is how did I get your exact wrist size." I said as I looked at it around her wrist. She glanced out the window behind us, overwhelmed and drowning in gifts. She tapped my shoulder.
"James. It's snowing." I turned around. Sure enough there was a thick blanket of snow on the ground and still a heavy amount falling. It was surprising. We hadn't had a white Christmas in 5 years. "Cmon." She said pulling me from the couch. She returned a moment later with my coat. She was already wearing her coat and scarf. I rolled my eyes as I put my coat on. I grabbed my gloves and we went outside. My parents joined us in 2 minutes. I looked at the heavy snow falling, but something above is had caught Riley's attention. "James." She said quietly. I turned and looked up. "Mistletoe." Sure enough there was a couple pieces of mistletoe tied to a string hanging above us. I smiled and stared at her. She looked so pretty with the snowflakes in her hair. I leaned in and our lips connected. That's the exact moment my mom took the photo.

***********reality***********

I looked at the photo for another minute or two before placing it back beside my bed.

Sorry for not updating for a while. It's Christmas and I'm really busy with family and friends and last minutes shopping. Here's an extra long chapter to make up for it.