Girl Crush

Chapter 34

 Dani sat on the couch, her legs curled under her as she watched Eddie pass out gifts from under the tree. Him and Uncle Wayne always came over to join her mom and her on Christmas since it was just the two of them and it was just Dani and her mom. They had spent Christmas Eve with her grandma yesterday and it had been a long day with a lot of riding in the car. Dani had gotten some new strings for her guitar, a sweater she had been eyeing when they went shopping over Thanksgiving break, and a few cassette tapes she'd wanted. It had been a wonderful evening but she found herself missing Eddie even more than usual.

This last month had been intense, but it had also been the happiest of her life. Her and Eddie could not get enough of one another. Last night had been the first night she had slept without him since this all began. It was like the flame had been burning for so long for both of them and now they were a raging inferno that couldn't be quenched. If people thought he was handsy with her before, it was nothing to what he was now.

Dani couldn't believe how easy everything was. She had expected there to be some awkwardness as they navigated this new path they were on. They had spent so long being careful around one another, maintaining the aura of friendship. Shouldn't it be a bit odd to suddenly be making out at every turn, hands slipping under clothing to find any bit of skin they could? But no, it wasn't. It felt right in a way that nothing in her life ever had. It felt like this was exactly how it was always meant to be. Dani couldn't explain it and she didn't really care to.

She smiled watching Eddie. He had been enjoying finding each gift and delivering it to its designated giftee. Dani suspected he really enjoyed wearing the hat. He looked so cute with his Santa hat perched on top of that wild mane of hair. Uncle Wayne had gotten Dani a big atlas since she would be in the navigator seat on their trip. He had given Eddie a gift certificate to get a full tune up on his van prior to their trip, insisting that they needed to make sure everything was in top shape before driving the old van across the country.

Dani's mom had gotten her and Eddie brand new sleeping bags. They were really nice and would be perfect for chillier nights when they hit the desert. Dani had made Eddie a collection of mix tapes, a bit of all the music they both loved so they would have plenty of options while spending hours in the car together. Dani enjoyed a lot of Eddie's music but she branched out a bit and listened to everything. She was definitely going to need a break from the head pounding tones of heavy metal on their long car trip every once in a while.

"Uh-oh, one last present," Eddie said with a grin, walking toward her, waving a package in his hands. "Santa brought an extra special present for an extra special lady."

He set the package in her lap, planting a kiss on her lips and flopping down next to her. He slung his arm around her shoulders, leaning back, spreading his legs open wide. The smile on his face was wide and eager.

"Well, open it!" he exclaimed, his leg bouncing in excitement, shaking the entire couch.

"Okay..." she laughed, "you're awfully excited about my present."

"That's because I know what it is because I got it," Eddie replied. He bumped his elbow into her again and again. "And I did really good this time so open it!"

Dani chuckled to herself. Eddie had always done good when it came to presents. Not having much money to work with, but being a very creative individual, he often made things for her and Dani had treasured every single one. He had written her a song about their friendship when they were fourteen. He had made her a wooden jewelry box last year. But her favorite had been two years ago. After her dad had passed, she had been pretty down about Christmas. Eddie had gifted her an adventure box, filled with little envelopes that were labeled with each month of the year. She would open one and find out what adventure they were doing and she had looked so forward to it each time the first of the month rolled around. He'd said he wanted her to have something to be excited about, something that would make her smile and be happy about the next year. He'd known it would be hard for her to find much joy looking ahead to a year without her dad.