I guess it's Fate

Chapter 19

Christmas Day
Jack POV
I wake up hearing a knock on my door. My eyes slowly open and I mumble for the person to come in. My mum appears in front of me with a smile and shakes me a little. "Jack, it's time to wake up. It's Christmas and your brother wants to open his presents", my mum tells me. I groan in response and slowly lift my head off my pillow. I stand from my bed and wrap myself in my robe. I walk downstairs and am greeted by my family who are sitting next to the Christmas tree. I smile and sit with them. My brother gives me the present "Santa" put under the tree for me. I thank him and start to pull apart the wrapping paper. Underneath the paper, is a box labelled PS4. I look at my parents and thank them secretly so my brother doesn't get any ideas about Santa not existing.

"Look Jack, I got the LEGO plane. This is so cool", my little brother says as he shakes the box in front of me. My family and I open more presents and then eat a delicious Christmas breakfast my mum made. "Jack, do you plan on seeing Liz today?", my mum asks me with a smile. "Yeah, she is coming here at 4 pm", I reply. "She's a lovely girl. Do you see this relationship lasting?", my dad asks. "Honestly, I do see us lasting forever but if I'm wrong and we don't, that's okay. We will always have our good friendship", I tell my parents and they nod. I know I keep saying that Liz and I will be together forever, no doubt about it, but not all relationships last like you want so I'm ready for the day, if it ever comes, for me and Liz to become just friends again. Any relationship with Liz is amazing so I don't mind what she chooses. In the end, I will always give Liz the choice to decide what happens between us because no matter what I will always have the same choice for us which is staying together for the rest of our lives.

After breakfast, I watch TV for a little while before getting ready to go to my grandparents house for our family Christmas lunch. I just dress in jeans and a t-shirt, putting my phone and wallet into my pockets. As I walk to the car, my phone buzzes in my pocket. Liz has sent me a Merry Christmas text with a bunch of emojis. I send her the same back and laugh. "Jack, your cousins are coming and you are the same age as one of them so I expect you to hang out with them", my mum says to me as we are driving to my grandparents house which is 3 blocks away from our house. "Which cousins?", I ask. "Connor, Jamie and Veronica", my mum says which makes me groan. "Ugh, no. I don't like them. Connor is a try hard, Jamie is a nerdy loser and Veronica is a stuck up 14 year old who thinks she knows better than everyone else. All of them think the world revolves around them because of the amount of money they have. I am not hanging out with them", I say and end the discussion before my mum can say anything. She agrees with me, everyone in my family does, but they are all too nice to say or do anything.

At my grandparents house, we all grab plates and pile up food onto it. I find a place where no one is sitting so I make it my dining area for today. Half way through my meal, someone comes and sits across from me. I look up to see Connor which makes me scowl. "Hey Jack, I haven't seen you in a while", he says and I smile to be polite. Connor and I are the same age and our parents always made us hang out since we were kids but I hated every minute of it. He's still the same annoying asshole and I do not want to deal with him, especially not on Christmas. "Hi", I say softly. "I was over hearing the adults talking and your parents said you have a girlfriend. Why are you lying to them? That's not going to make you look cooler", he say to me. "Why is that any of your business. Leave me alone", I say and get up to find a new spot. Connor follows me to my new dining area which makes me clench my hands. "I just want to know if it's true. Are you trying to look better than me in front of the fam", he says. "It's true. I have a girlfriend. Now you know so go away", I tell him and continue to eat my food. Connor doesn't leave, he just pulls up a chair and sits in front of me. I finish my food quickly so I can leave as fast as possible.

I talk to a few family members and then ask my mum if I could leave. If I stay here any longer I'll explode. "Jack, your not meeting Liz till 4 pm so your going to stay", she says to me which makes me groan. "Mum, I have talked to people and eaten. I also opened presents with all the cousins", I say. She shakes her head and turns back to my Aunty, continuing their conversation. I groan and walk to a secluded place so I get ignored by everyone. "Jack, hey, I haven't seen you in so long", my cousin Samantha says as she sits next to me. "Hey Sam, how are you?", I ask her. "I'm good. How about you?".

"I'm good. So what's new with you?".

"I recently got a boyfriend and it's going great so far but I have a feeling it's not going to last forever".

"That's okay though. Not everything lasts".

"Yeah, you're right. So do you have a girlfriend yet? I know how much you wanted one as a kid".

"I do but unlike your relationship, which I totally support, I know that mine will last forever".

"That's good. I support yours too", Sam says. We talk for the rest of the afternoon and catch up on what we have missed in each other's lives. Samantha and I used to be really close as kids but once we got a choice on going to family gatherings we both didn't see each other for years. I hate family gatherings so it was always me who never went. "I missed us. We were the best cousin duo but we lost touch because you are lazy", Sam says to me. "I'm not lazy, I just hate family gatherings because their boring", I tell her and she nods in agreement.

Sam and I exchange contacts and say goodbye as I leave the Christmas lunch. It's 2:30 pm which means I have an hour and a half to set up my bedroom for a romantic Christmas night for Liz. Yesterday, I bought roses and chocolate to make my room look more romantic like as if it were Valentine's Day. I throw rose petals all over my room and light a few candles. I turn the lights off and am greeted by the light from the candles. I place the box of chocolate on my bed, along with her Christmas gift. I sit on my bed and pass time on my phone till 4 pm. A few minutes after 4 pm, there is a knock at my bedroom door. I stand from my bed and open the door to be greeted by Liz. "Merry Christmas", she says and hugs me. "Merry Christmas", I say and kiss her lips sweetly. "Wow, this is amazing. It's like it's Valentine's Day", Liz laughs. "I wanted to make it romantic", I say. "It is very romantic and I love it", she says as she sits on my bed. "These are for you", I say, giving her the box of chocolate and her gift. "This is yours", Liz says as she gives me a small bag. I thank her and proceed to opening the gift. It is a silver watch, similar to the one I already have. My watch at the moment is broken and I have been planning to purchase another one but now I don't have to. "Liz, I love it. Thank you", I say and hold her hand. She smiles while stuffing her face with chocolates from the box I gave her. "Are you going to open your present or would you rather stuff your face with chocolate?", I ask her with a laugh. "That is a very hard question to answer which means you get no answer", she replies. She looks down at her gift and shakes the teal bag. She pulls the small box from the bag and opens it slowly. Liz gasps and carefully takes the necklace out of the box. She examines it and smiles, holding the necklace to her chest. "I love it so much. Thank you, Jack", she says and kisses me, tenderly.

Liz puts on the necklace and poses for me. "It looks great on you, babe", I say to her. She leans over and lays her head on my chest as I sit back against my pillows. "This is the perfect Christmas", she says as she wraps her arms around me. "It really is", I say, kissing her forehead. This is exactly how I imagined this magical day would go and I couldn't be happier.