America's Young Bloods

Yule Shoot Your Eye Out

Rose's POV
I woke up, it was cold. I was alone in my bed, and I scanned the room. All my wrapped presents were scattered on the floor.

It was Christmas. I smiled as I remembered the events of last night.

Pete and I set up the tree and made cookies last night, now we could decorate the Christmas tree.

I always loved Christmas, especially here in Chicago.

Snow was falling, and the whole house smelled of pine needles and chocolate.

I went into Pete's room without knocking, and jumped onto his sleeping figure.

"Wake up! We need to decorate the tree and make food," I laugh.

He groaned and sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes.

*****

"I like this one," I say, pulling a light blue ornament out of the box.

The tree was halfway finished, and it had white and blue ornaments to make it look more like winter.

He smiled and placed the star on top of the tree, with the help of a ladder.

I admired it. It was really beautiful, in the corner.

I plugged it in and all the golden lights illuminated the dim room.

Smiles on our faces, we walked over to the kitchen to start dinner. It was noon.

"I called the guys, they should be over later. Even Andy seemed excited." His face perked up at the mention of Andy, we both haven't seen him in a couple days and we were starting to get worried.

We made all sorts of stuff, Pete being a big help to me. We made sure to include the vegan option for Andy, and the vegetarian option for Pete.

I had placed all my presents for the boys under the tree. I had one for Grace, it was a necklace. I remembered it was still in my room, so I ran to grab it.

I stood there, turning the box repeatedly in my hands.

I untied the red ribbon around the black satin box and opened it. Inside was an emerald necklace, my sister's birthstone.

Grace would have loved this.

I missed her so much.

I got an idea, and I walked back to the living room, necklace in hand. I placed it around the star of the tree, so it looked like the tree was wearing it. It looked pretty there, and my sister was a star, she is a star.

I smiled to myself and sniffled as I sat on the couch, absentmindedly flipping through TV channels.

******

The guys had gotten here, and we all finished Christmas dinner.

We decided to go out and have a snowball fight before opening any presents.

We made teams: Andy and I, Patrick and Joe, and Pete wanted to be solo. I laughed and stepped out into the crunchy, wet snow. I immediately packed a tight snowball and flung it at Joe, making it hit him in the shoulder and break.

Joe decided to get me back, to which Pete threw a snowball at Joe, trying to protect me.

This in turn caused Patrick to throw one at Pete, making a huge chain reaction.

I was hiding behind Andy, to no avail. I tried making a wall of snow, successfully. All the snowballs thrown at us were hitting this large wall of tightly packed snow.

The guys were groaning about how using the snow to make defenses is unfair, but we just laughed. They were just jealous.

******

Once we were inside, I made everyone hot chocolate. We all sat around the tree and picked up our presents. I got Andy a new pair of drumsticks, I gave Joe some Star Wars collectables, Patrick some comics and a tuner, and I gave Pete a dragon ring made of real silver.

They all ripped theirs open at the same time, earning lots of hugs.

"Thank you!"

"This is so awesome!"

"Merry Christmas."

I laughed and opened mine.

I got some new boots from Andy, some CD's from Joe, and a heart necklace from Patrick.

"Thank you guys, I love all this," I hugged them and they nodded.

"I'm going to get your present, be right back," Pete says, walking into his room. I completely forgot he didn't give me one, but it was okay. I sat back up on the couch.

The three boys snickered which made me give them a confused look. That made them laugh even more. Before I could say anything, Pete walked out, no present in hand.

He sat beside me, and before I could say anything, he put a finger to my lips.

"Rose, I'm going to give you your present. I just have to tell you something," I nodded, and he continued.

"When I met you on that warm summer day in 2003, I didn't think life could get any better. I had met a pretty girl, that's all I wanted. But then I realized you were different. You didn't want me to treat you like most other guys do when they find a girl with a pretty face. It wasn't long until I realized that. I tried my hardest to be the best friend I could to you, hoping one day, I could bring out the real Rose. The one who is way smarter, more beautiful, and more perfect than you lead everyone to believe. I knew there was more down there, I just had to keep searching. I found it, eventually. 4 years after that you let me move in with you. After living with you every day for 5 years, I got to know your habits, your favorite shows, how your lip quivers when you're nervous. I got to know everything about you, and I'm honored to say you're my best friend. I know you better than I know myself. And I would never take back a minute of the time I spent with you. You're the nicest person I know, and by far the most beautiful."

He stopped for a minute, and I smiled widely and engulfed him in a hug. Once I pulled away, he continued.

"Rose, I know we're best friends, but I want to you to be my best friend for life," he was on one knee, and I gasped.

In his fingers was the most beautiful diamond ring you've ever seen.

"Rose, marry me?"

Tears were streaming down my face and I made no effort to stop them. I pulled his face to mine and kissed him.

"Yes."

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Hey guys! Okay so this is the last chapter!!! But I am working on a sequel and it will be up shortly. Thank you to everyone who took the time to read this book! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️- Keri

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