Not Just Another Cinderella Story

25. Christmas Eve

CHELSEA

"Thank you so much for dinner," Anne said, giving me a hug and Harry a kiss on the cheek before they left. "We'll see you soon!" The door closed quietly behind them, and I let out a silent breath, happy they enjoyed dinner.

"That wasn't so bad, right?"

"That was great," I said, grinning. "Now get to bed, we have presents to open in the morning." I quickly brushed my teeth and took a hot shower, climbing into bed beside Harry, who was already asleep. I curled up next to him, feeling myself warm up quickly. "Goodnight," I whispered.

"Chelsea! Chelsea get up!" Harry yelled, jumping around on the bed. "Present time!" He was grinning like a little kid on... well, on Christmas morning.

"I'm up!" I pulled on long pyjama pants over my shorts, and headed downstairs. There was a plate of french toast sitting on the dining table, a bowl of different cut up fruit, whipped cream, and a bottle of syrup.

"You said this is what you normally have on Christmas morning, so..." Harry said, shrugging like it was no big deal.

"You remembered?" I told him a few days before Thanksgiving, if I remembered right.

"Of course. Now dig in," he said, setting down two plates. I grabbed two slices of french toast and piled them high with blueberries and raspberries, covering it all with syrup and whipped cream. I saw Harry eyeing my plate suspiciously. "Does that taste good?" he asked, as he took two slices for himself.

"It is the singularly most delicious breakfast in the history of breakfasts." I took a bite, relishing in the sweet and sour combination of fruit and syrup, and the slightly salty french toast. Harry took a bite after me, looking surprised that it actually tasted good.

"This is surprisingly good."

"When have I ever failed you?" We finished breakfast quickly, and Harry dragged me to the tree. "You go first, I said, seperating the presents into two piles. He unwrapped the first one, a gorgeous wallet from his mom and Robin. I snapped a picture quietly, without him noticing, as he unwrapped a few more. Some ironic presents from the boys along with a pair of expensive looking shoes, a few vintage records from friends. His were gone, except for two from me still under the tree. Soon he was urging me to open my own. I started with my mom and dad's, and gasped at what I saw. It was a delicate rose gold jewelry holder, a little tree with wide leaves and little birds. I grinned widely as I moved on to the next five, one from each of the boys. Louis had gotten me a fancy white and black dress, which hit mid-thigh, and was gorgeous. Zayn got a long, more casual maxi dress, black on top and a beige and grey bottom that resembled a large. scarf wrapped around my waist. Liam's present was an iPad mini.

"Holy crap," I said, whispering. "I can't take this from him..." Ignoring Harry's protests, I called Liam.

"Hello?"

"I can't take your present. An iPad mini? That's way too much..." I said. 

"It's not that much more than the watch you got me," he argued back.

"No, Liam,"

"No way, Chelsea. You did so much for us, you don't even understand, okay? You helped our friend, and there's no way we can repay you for that, we can only try. Now I have a Christmas breakfast to eat, bye!" He hung up before I could say anything else. I sighed, looking at the sleek Apple product, and setting it down beside me. The next was Niall's. It was a black acoustic guitar, with silver details on the fretboard. Attached was a note.

Merry Christmas! Maybe we can jam out sometime... Niall. XX I smiled, because ironically, I had also gotten him a guitar. It was a black and blue electric with his name engraved in the neck. There were a few gift cards from acquaintances back home, and a small package from Tyler and Dylan. It was filled with pictures, and little souvenirs from all around the world. Sri Lanka, India, Africa, the Amazon, Greenland, and Iceland. I smiled as I looked over each of them fondly.

"Just one more person now," Harry mumbled, holding out a few packages. I took them, starting with the medium-sized one. It was a jacket, from Burberry.

"Harry, this is beautiful," I said, slipping it on. It was super cozy and very soft. At the bottom of the box was a pair of sparkly diamond earrings, that were obviously expensive, from Swarovski. "Thank you." I gave him a little kiss on the corner of his mouth. He handed me a second one, which was pretty big. Inside was a large, framed, black and white picture of us together in L.A, backs facing the camera, looking out at the ocean and sunset. It was a perfect picture, and didn't seem like something beautiful enough to just happen in real life.

"Do... Do you like it?" he asked nervously.

"I love it. This means so much more to me than an expensive jacket, or diamonds, because there's thought put into it, and it came straight from your heart." He brought his hands up around my cheeks, cupping them gently.

"Well I'm glad you like it, but there's one more part. It's too long to read now, but read it later, when I'm on tour, okay?" he said, handing me a small brown leather notebook which I had seen him write in before. It was filled, no more unwrinkled, white pages.

"Are you sure?" I asked, holding the book carefully. It held his own feelings, his deepest thoughts. He nodded absentmindedly, zoning out. "Okay, thank you. Now open your presents, small box first." He pulled out the necklace I had gotten him, it was a silver necklace with a black anchor hanging on the end. "Because no matter how big your head gets, I'll always be here to anchor you," I joked, shoving his shoulder slightly. There was also a watch from Rolex, silver with gold detailing.

"Thanks," he said, wrapping his arms around me, and kissing my temple, making me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

"There's one more thing, but you gave me the idea to wait until you go on tour to read this. So here." It was a black scrapbook, something I had been laboring over since the third day I met him. Ticket stubs, secret pictures, copies of menus, and my own handwritten notes and memories decorated the pages. There were small souvenirs taped to some pages as well.

"That's mean babe!" he whined, looking at the book with longing. "I can't wait that long!"

"Well you're going to have to, 'babe'," I said back. He sighed deeply, before placing his lips over mine sweetly.

"Merry Christmas, Chelsea."

"Merry Christmas, Harry."

***

"Chelsea?" Harry called out. It echoed slightly through the apartment.

"I'm in the washroom!" I was cleaning out my hair, beauty, and makeup supplies, throwing away anything I never used, or had kept for more than a year. That was one of my New Year's resolutions. Harry came in, fuddling his fingers nervously.

"Um... I need to talk to you, about something..." I put down the empty foundation bottle in my hands, and looked at him. His nerves had transferred to me. "Well, we kind of have some last minute interviews and photo shoots, and a few rehersals, before I have to leave on tour." I knew where it was going.

"And when are they?"

"Um... Well they start in three days."

"So basically, the entire week we had planned to go to Korea." He sighed sadly.

"Yeah, pretty much."

"When did you know about this?"

"Um... Since before Christmas." My eyes narrowed in anger.

"You know, I don't even care that we can't go, but you knew about it for almost two weeks, and you thought it be smart to tell me three days before we go?" I rolled my eyes and pushed past him.

"Wait, Chelsea, I'm sorry! I just... I didn't want to ruin Christmas, or New Year's..."

"But you wouldn't have! You wouldn't have, if you told me as soon as you found out!" I sighed, exasperated.

"I'm sorry." He pouted, and who could resist the pout?

"You're lucky I love you." I smiled a bit, tiptoeing to give him a kiss.

"I sure am."

Okay, yeah, this chapter sucks. I needed to introduce the presents though for later so... Yeah. Sorry about that.

Next chapter will be on Sunday, August 25th.