for, liar

Chapter 91

By the time we decided to go inside, we had lost all feeling in our fingertips and toes. Miles asked me to take a shower with him for the first time and I'm already enjoying our first Christmas together more than I should.

We cook breakfast together and watch the sun rise over the wooded area across from his condo. I had to make a risky decision on whether or not I wanted to spend Christmas with my parents this year. Considering the exhaustion from Thanksgiving, I decided to sit this one out and spend it with Miles and Maddy who also didn't feel any desire to see their parents for the holiday.

Miles drives me back home around lunch time where Maddy had been cooking since she got up early this morning. There's no more big Christmas parties, no driving across town, and no having to fake holiday cheer if you're simply down in the dumps this year; just me and my two favorite people lounging around the apartment in our pjs.

I pick up the remote and start scrolling through the holiday movie selection on Netflix to have something on even if it's just playing in the background. Miles kindly offers to set the table for Maddy while she finishes up the turkey. She was really nervous about cooking a Christmas turkey since she had only seen it done twice and has never actually done it before.

I sit down in the seat next to Miles. "It smells great, Mads."

She smiles and makes sure everything is on the table. We're going to have leftovers for days.

"I was thinking I should probably go see my mom and bring her some food or something. I'm sure you guys want alone time anyway."

I wait for a reaction or interruption from Miles but he stays quiet. We didn't really have plans for today and I don't want Maddy thinking she has to leave if she doesn't really want to.

"You don't have to go see her if you're not feeling up to it." I speak up.

She's always uncomfortable talking about her mom. I can tell she's holding back from what she really wants to say because Miles is sitting here. She shrugs her shoulders and cuts into the turkey. My mouth is watering just looking at it. I wasn't even that hungry until I saw all of this.

"This is amazing, Maddy. Feels just like home." Miles says in an attempt to cheer her up since she had grown quiet when we started eating.

After lunch, we gather around the living room to exchange gifts. I'm nervous about giving Miles his because it's actually the first gift I've ever given him. His birthday isn't until February.

I pull Maddy's gift out from under the tree first and set it on her lap. She smiles, thanking me before even getting the box open. I ended up buying her some makeup palette that she had been begging for, new art brushes, and a few cute sweaters I thought fit her style perfectly.

She squeals in excitement and jumps up from the couch to throw her arms around me. "Thank you! Oh my God! This is literally everything I wanted." She yells.

I laugh and pat her back to encourage her to calm the hell down. It's fine if she doesn't. I'm just glad to see her this happy for something that I gave her.

I walk over and hand Miles his. His eyes widen a little when he notices the size but I assure him it's no big deal and it just seems way more extravagant than it actually is.

He pulls at the wrapping paper and erupts in a fit of laughter when he lifts up the skateboard in his hands. "You bought me a fucking skateboard?"

He was more amused than anything. Exactly the reaction I was looking for.

"You've been saying you wanted to get back into it! I hope I got the right one. The guy at the skate shop was rude as hell."

He chuckles and sets it aside to grab my waist and pull me right onto his lap.

"Does that mean you like it? I didn't know what kind of design to get you so I got you some stickers to go on it."

I snatch up the envelope from the table to hand to him. He smiles and starts pulling out all the stickers that I managed to stuff in there.

"Some of them are restaurants we've been to together, places we've been, movies we've seen, and I even threw in a Myrtle Beach one."

"That is...adorable. Thank you, Bree." He kisses me and my stomach flutters.

Yeah it was cheesy as hell to get him a skateboard for Christmas but I thought it would be cute since he had talked about it before and we haven't really passed the mark on getting each other more intimate gifts. I didn't want to make things awkward.

"Your turn, bitch!" Maddy yells, jumping out of the recliner.

She grabs the last two remaining presents from under the tree and hands both of them to me. One is a larger box, light enough to possibly be a piece of clothing. The other is smaller and wrapped perfectly.

I open up the one with "from Maddy" written on the tag. I gasp when I realize what I'm looking at. She somehow managed to find and paint an old picture I had of me and grandma Bea from when I was in elementary school perfectly. I can feel my eyes tearing up as I stare at the immaculate detail she so graciously put in both of our faces.

"Maddy, this is incredible. I don't even know what to say. Holy shit, I might cry."

She laughs and I can tell the emotion was getting to her too.

There was a reason I shortened my name for her. She was the only thing that got me through my parents divorce and I owe everything to that. She was selfless, honorable, and had such a beautiful soul. Nothing could compare to that relationship and I felt like I lost so much more than a grandmother the day she passed away.

Selena was there when I got the phone call. I had to leave school and she begged our history teacher to let her walk me to the front office for my dad to pick me up. I was a complete wreck that day even though we sort of knew it was coming when she got sick. Knowing didn't make it any easier.

Selena had tried to calm me down when we were walking down there and all I could do was walk in silence. That was the first time I encountered a major loss in my life. I had time to prepare for it and it still remains one of the worst days I've ever experienced.

I never got to prepare myself to lose Selena.

"That one is from me, obviously." Miles says with a smirk.

I bite down on my lip and start slowly unwrapping the box. I hate to ruin his perfect wrapping.

I notice the logo immediately and pull the rest of the paper off. It's one of those retro looking Polaroid cameras that I never knew I wanted or needed until I was looking at it and thinking of all the possibilities that will come from it.

"There's one more thing." he says and stands up. "Come here!"

He grabs my hand and rushes me down the hallway to my bedroom. I laugh and feel my pulse start to quicken. What the hell am I about to walk into?

Revised;