Bittersweet // Complete

46.

Chapter 46

** I thought of holding this one in, but then some people really won't be here for the smut so...**

Thanksgiving was never a big holiday for me growing up. Mom and I would dress up a little, with whatever part of the nicer clothes we could find, and we ate as much mash potatoes and canned gravy as we could manage to get our hands on. She was never big on turkeys, so we made those frozen chicken nuggets and ate it with mayonnaise instead of ketchup and that was a huge treat for us. I didn't think she would even have the energy to stay sober enough to be working on a turkey for that long either.

Once I became vegetarian, we switched to making vegetarian nuggets, but those never tasted that good, so we thought of picking a new side the next year. We had settled on trying to be healthy and eating mushrooms that year, only to never get the chance to celebrate Thanksgiving together. By the time I woke up in the hospital, Christmas was nearing, and Thanksgiving had long passed since then.

Having the whole house to myself, I had decided to treat myself to some fresh garlic bread made at home, and order pizza from Pizza Palace on my birthday. It was a quiet affair, with everyone busy preparing Thanksgiving meals for the next day. Plugging in Tangled for the hundredth time, I sat down on the newly disinfected couch, warming up into the fluffy comforter. The warm caramel milk was soothing my insides, and life felt like a Christmas movie.

Outside, I could see the snow, settling on the curbs. Soon enough I wouldn't have to step out of the house for classes, and life would be great again. The winter sun was high and still rising in the sky, and the day ahead looked nice.

When the doorbell rang, I didn't even have to spare a second thought who it could be. Noah walked in looking every bit devilishly handsome with his windblown hair and the remnants of snow melting on his hair and coat.

"Hey," I reached up for a kiss, only to be met by his cheek.

"You're the worst, you know?" he grumbled, sliding his fingers between mine and intertwining them, "Why didn't you tell me it was your birthday?"

Red coloured my cheeks.

"Slipped my mind?" I offered a lame excuse, "I'm not big on birthdays anyway."

"But I am." He insisted, taking a look around the house, "You're watching a cartoon?"

"Tangled is not a cartoon," I huffed, "and I love the movie."

"Okay, we can watch it later tonight. Go get dressed, we're celebrating your birthday whether you like it or not."

My heart warmed. Over time I'd stopped expecting much from birthdays. Thanksgiving was close, and then we never could afford two sober days for mom. She'd just writhe and shake and wheeze till she had some alcohol in her system, and the sight of it scared me enough when I was 8 that I never asked her to quit again. As long as she was with me, it was okay. Between my birthday and her life, it wasn't a hard choice.

The fact that Noah wanted to celebrate it made a small sliver of excitement roll in me, but I refrained from getting my hopes up. What if he had something planned, and I didn't like it? What if it involved ice skating or something? Fuck, I wouldn't last a second on ice. My uncoordinated arse would end up breaking at least three limbs in the first ten minutes.

"It'll be fun, trust me." He settled on the couch, shooing me away to my room.

"I'm going to go take a shower real quick." I announced.

"Can I join?"

"Fuck no," I had discovered rather quickly that shower sex was not my speed, and it probably never will be.