Evan didn't dare put his gift from Ryan under the Christmas tree in the living room, but that didn't stop him from glancing at it every now and then. He kept wondering what could be in it, but try as he might, he had no idea what Ryan could give him. It was too small to be a diary, and he had no idea what else he could give him based on their previous conversations.
One way or another, he was in a good mood, which he tried to chalk up to the festive atmosphere in front of his parents, and he had no idea if it worked, but he more or less didn't care. His parents were happy, he was happy, and even though they were locked in the house together, they managed not to fight so far.
Their Christmas was looking really promising so far. He and his father decorated the Christmas tree together while his mother prepared the holiday dinner. It was their tradition since Evan's mom said she didn't like being bothered when she was cooking, so she kept little Evan and his dad busy decorating the tree. Besides that, Christmas music was playing on the radio, which Evan was sure would get on his nerves again by the end of the holidays, but he didn't mind at the moment.
Dinner time was approaching, and it was followed by a meeting of the whole pack at the Christmas tree in front of the pack house. It was the only gathering of the pack that Evan didn't mind, as it was more like a neighbourhood gathering than a sect.
After that, they mostly moved either to Angie's house or back to their house in the company of the Liu-Yarrow family, which consisted of Angie, her seven-year-old brother Mason, and their parents. They tried to change it every year, but the principle was still the same. They all gathered in the living room, talking, drinking hot cocoa with marshmallows, and some fairy tale was playing on the TV in the background. That was Evan's favourite part, and he was looking forward to it even more since they were all going to be at their house this year so he could show Angie the first gift from his mate.
Before that, however, he had one more gift, which he planned to give today to someone who has become special to him. And before he knew it, the opportunity to do just that came along.
He and his parents were among the first to arrive at the large lighted tree, but despite the fact that there weren't even fifty wolves there yet, loud chatter could be heard everywhere. The whole atmosphere was complemented by soft snowflakes that were flying, and Evan noticed that some people were walking among the others and giving out various goodies that they had baked at home. Even the Bludds did not lag behind in this tradition and brought home-baked cookies. Fortunately, his mother took over the handing out of them, and he was not given the task.
"I have to find my friend." He turned to his father who was standing near him talking to his own friends. He nodded his understanding, and so Evan made his way into the crowd to find the obnoxious boy he had grown to like seeing for some reason. He assumed that he would be among the first here, as it used to be at other meetings, and he was not wrong. He found him very quickly, standing next to his parents with a neutral expression. Evan didn't expect him to look particularly excited, but he still didn't look like he was in a festive mood either. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that even though there were many young people around their age, Michael still chose to stand near his parents.
"Michael," he addressed him before he came to him so that he could notice him. Plus, it was a subtle ploy to lure him away from his parents since he wasn't ready for any official introductions to Ryan's family yet. Fortunately, the black-haired boy decided to cooperate and went to meet him.
"Hey," he greeted, and Evan nodded in return. In his hand, which was in the pocket of his windbreaker, he was clutching the gift he had for him and was thinking about how to start this topic so that it wouldn't be weird. Just a few months ago, Evan would have preferred to avoid him at all costs, and now he had a Christmas present for him. What an irony.
"Nice conversation," Michael commented after a moment of silence, and Evan couldn't help but roll his eyes.
"Shut up," was his reply. Some things just didn't change.
Michael raised an eyebrow as if to indicate that this was a stupid answer, but he didn't decide to go back to his parents, so Evan took it as a success.
"I have something for you," Evan decided to get to the point and not put it off any longer as he assumed it was going to be awkward either way.
The black-haired boy seemed surprised by his statement and was probably wondering if he had heard correctly or, from how well Evan got to know him, he probably thought he was out of his mind.
"Here." He finally made up his mind to pull the poorly wrapped gift out of his pocket and hand it to him. Michael carefully took it from his hands as if it was going to explode at any moment, and instead of looking pleased, a grimace appeared on his face.
"It's not gonna explode," Evan couldn't help but comment, rolling his eyes again, though Michael couldn't see as he was fully focused on the gift in his hand. He didn't answer him, which was surprising to Evan as he assumed he would somehow insult him, but he didn't. He was surprisingly quiet, and Evan began to worry about him.
"I didn't get you anything," was the first thing Michael finally said after a moment of silence. His gaze finally moved from his hands, and he looked at Evan in front of him, still looking confused.
Evan shrugged and said, "It's just a little something anyway." He wasn't lying. Although he didn't plan to give him anything at first, he remembered Ryan's words and his concern and began to think about it. It was more or less a coincidence, but he saw something that he thought Michael might like and decided to buy it. It was nothing extra, just a keychain with a wolf on it, and on the other side was the inscription Sometimes you forget that you are great, so this is your reminder. Apparently, this Christmas he was giving everyone something with an apt inscription.
"Thanks," it sounded more like a question than a thank you, but Evan decided not to comment on it. Instead of answering, he just shrugged and watched as Michael took one last strange look at the small, wrapped gift in his hand before tucking it into his windbreaker pocket. Evan was quite glad he hadn't decided to just unwrap it, since that would have been even more embarrassing than the whole situation.
"Aren't you going to look for princess dumbass?" he asked, and Evan frowned at the nickname, though he was sure he didn't mean it badly this time. He and Angie found they had too much in common despite their differences, so Evan was sure he cared about her in some way.
"She's not coming anytime soon, so I plan on pestering you some more," he replied. Angie's father used to work longer on this day, so they had dinner a little later than Evan's family and therefore came later to the tree.
"If you think so." Michael just shrugged at his statement and Evan realized that they must have looked funny with how few words they exchanged and one of them always kept shrugging.
"Sorry I don't have more friends in this pack." Maybe it was the miracle of Christmas, but Evan decided that Christmas was the right occasion to call Michael his friend out loud for the first time.
Michael's face betrayed his surprise for a split second, but he quickly controlled himself and replied in the same tone as Evan before, "Sometimes I'm surprised you even have any."
"Oh, shut up. I happen to be pretty tolerable," was Evan's reasoning.
Of course, Michael didn't lag behind and promptly replied, "Maybe when you're sleeping." Although he was insulting Evan in his own way, it wasn't the same teasing as it had been a few months ago, when Evan wanted nothing more than for Michael to completely forget about his existence and not have to deal with him. This time it was almost their own little tradition. Plus, he still remembered well what Ryan had told him over coffee.
"I'm handsome, funny, and interesting. I'm sure only the people around me are blind," Evan remarked, though he knew there was no truth to his words. Not the part where he talked about himself since he didn't have so little self-esteem to not believe any of it, but the part about his surroundings was misleading since he was the one trying to avoid his pack and everything it represented.
"You're an idiot, sarcastic, and most of the time you don't notice anything around you 'cause you're thinking about nonsense," he corrected his statement. Evan couldn't help but smile at his remark. It was too true to be offended.
"Well, I can still be both," he responded promptly. And he was, especially the overthinking and being an idiot part, as only two hours later, he was sitting on his bed with Angie, biting his lip and burning the box in front of him with his gaze instead of finally opening it, even though he finally had an opportunity to do it after the whole day.
"Aren't you supposed to text him as soon as you open it? Still today?" Angie didn't keep the note to herself after he reached unsuccessfully again for the still-wrapped present. She was also curious about what Ryan had decided to give him and couldn't wait for Evan to unwrap it.
"I'm just worried that he bought me something cool and then opens a present from me and thinks I'm an idiot," he admitted. Despite his claims, he had no idea what else he would buy him even if he had a year to think about it. Evan had never had a knack for gift-giving, and it hadn't bothered him until now.
"He thinks that anyway," was his best friend's quick answer. Maybe she was just trying to ease Evan's nerves, but it wasn't helping.
"Just count to three," she suggested after Evan reached out again only to pull his hand back to him in a second. She was running out of patience, but in the spirit of Christmas, she decided to adopt a kinder tone.
"C'mon, it's Ryan. He gave you something you're one hundred percent going to like. You forget that he saw your world through your eyes. And he's going to like a gift from you, if only because it's from you." Her reasoning made sense, and Evan finally decided to listen to her, as he himself was too curious about what was inside.
He carefully began to unwrap the present, first the ribbon and then the Christmas paper with small Christmas trees drawn on it. He was so focused on it that he held his breath for a moment before he realized what he had done and breathed normally again. Finally, the paper was down, and Evan was holding a box in his hands that looked like something that should contain a piece of jewellery.
"It's too big for an engagement ring," Angie commented. Evan gave her an intense look that indicated her comment was not welcome. He was already nervous and didn't need to think about Ryan giving him something to represent their relationship. And certainly not an engagement ring.
Again, it took him a while to decide to open the box, but then when he did open it, he didn't know what to do first - scream with joy or cry. His mouth hung open, his eyes filled with tears, and his heart was about to jump out of his chest at any moment. Perhaps his reaction was exaggerated, but he had never received a better gift in his life.
There was a bracelet in the box. And not just any, but an exact copy of the bracelet worn by Isabelle, his favourite character from the book and the series. Evan carefully picked it out and placed it on his arm so that the silver snake wrapped around his wrist and its head rested on the back of his hand.
"There's also a note." Angie took a card out of the box that had something handwritten on it, but before Evan could react, Angie started reading it, but not out loud. Evan reached out to her, but she quickly turned away, so he didn't have a chance to see what was written there. He could only guess what it was from her reaction, which was the following - she burst out laughing.
He quickly grabbed the card from her hand to read it too, and since she couldn't stop giggling it wasn't a difficult task. His eyes quickly scanned the text, reading it, and like Angie, he couldn't stop laughing right after.
The card read: "I hope they won't have aheart attack from this."