The Addict And The Shadows

Chapter Thirteen - Merry Christmas

And we did.

***

We are a week into winter break and we have been Rock climbing, Sky diving, outdoor movies, shopping at midnight, go-karting. It's been the most fun I've had in a long time. Elijah has relaxed more and told me more about his family, my heart breaks for him. Even though they are alive, they hate their child and that is something I could never relate to.

Today is Christmas Day, we went to the mall yesterday and bought Christmas decorations, food and presents. We put a mini tree up in the living room and decorated it whilst Christmas music played. It was beautiful. I had just woken up and it was 8:23 am. Elijah definitely would not be awake so I took the opportunity to make us some pancakes. I wouldn't say I'm the best cook but I'm close enough. After three batches of mixture, they were finally ready to eat.

I opened his bedroom door and he lay fast asleep. He's going to kill me.

"Merry Christmas" I shout as I jump up and down on his bed. He slowly sits up, groaning very dramatically "I made us pancakes" I say whilst jumping off the bed, his eyes lit up and he soon was in the kitchen putting honey on his food. I'm more of a Nutella on pancakes kind of gal but I can tolerate it.

After he shovelled his pancakes down, we sat on the couch and decided to watch a Christmas film. Shock, I know. All we do is watch films. I quietly grabbed his present and put it on his lap before he realised. He looked down and then back up to me.

"Surprise" I chuckle "Merry Christmas" He looks at me suspiciously as he begins to tear open the paper. He pulls the wrapping off and it reveals a large box, he pulls the lid off and moves the tissue paper out of the way. A real leather jacket is folded inside, his eyes gleam as he turns it round where red letters spell out 'Cassidy' his last name. I'm not going to lie, it definitely destroyed my back account but it was 100% worth it to see this reaction.

"Faith" he breathes out and looks at me, a twinkle in his eye.

"Try it on!" I yell at him. He slides the jacket over his black pj shirt and it fits perfectly. Wow. He looks handsome. I feel like a proud mom. I clap my hands in excitement "look in the pocket" I point to the small opening. He reaches in and pulls out a small box, he opens it up and gets the black guitar pick out. It matches his jacket with his name engraved on the back of it. I don't actually know if he plays but I've seen a guitar sat in the corner of his bedroom, I hope he does because I'm sure it would sound beautiful.

"Thank you so much Faith" he gives me a genuine smile, pulling me into a hug "this means a lot. I got you something too" he pulls away and goes into his room, soon returning with a large gift bag. He passes it to me and I throw the tissue paper onto the floor, pulling the items from the bag. Four large hoodies. This boy. He has my heart "I didn't have a lot of money so I donated you my hoodies"

"Thank you. I love them" I chuckle and give him another hug. He is so thoughtful. Bless his soul. I pull one of them on and snuggle into it.

By the time we finished two films, it was time for dinner, Christmas Dinner. My favourite thing other than hoodies. I had started cooking the food earlier so all we had to do was serve it up, I went into the kitchen and split the food, piles on our plates, I placed the plate in front of Elijah and he began to dig in. I poured us both some whiskey and began to eat.

For the rest of the day, we went on a walk around the empty campus and continued watching more films. It was now 8 pm and we were on the roof top, snuggled in layers of clothes. The sight of Los Angeles on Christmas Day is beautiful, it feels so much better, the lights to much brighter. We watch the view as I pull out a blunt and light it, Elijah knows about my addictions, he doesn't judge, plus I've been smoking and drinking less regularly. I feel like he understands me. Ugh, I love my best friend.