A/N👑: *She updates an eternity later: hopes her loyal readers are still present...* Sorry I can't update as much, school is really throwing off my schedule :/ If you want to comment on how much I suck, I don't mind, honestly I understand. *Caution* Too many errors to count!
5093 words.
Chapter: 28- Christmas Spirit
❤Sarah's POV❤
I woke up hotter than I'd ever felt before, and instantly I knew why. Somehow during the middle of the night I'd ended up pressed against James' side, his arm slung across my body and our legs tangled together.
Honestly it was strangely comfortable but it was too hot. With James' extra body heat, being under the covers, and the fact that I was wearing his t-shirt on top of a negligee I was burning up. Groaning I tried to pull away from him, but he pulled me tightly towards his bare chest, pulling me as close as I could possibly be while he let out a content sigh. I smiled a little, but it was quickly lost as the temperature rose and on top of that I felt the urge to relieve my bladder.
I tried to shuffle out of his arms, trying to be as gentle and quiet as I could so as not to wake him up, but instead he held me even tighter than he was before and giving up I chose to just wake him up.
"James." He only responded a little to me, before he peacefully settled back down and snuggled more into the sheets. "James!" This time he flinched a little before he lazily opened his eyes, blinking at me with an unfocused gaze before he sent me a lazy grin.
"Hmm? Good morning Angel..." He smiled before he let go of me, leaning back to stretch himself out and then rolling out of the bed. Glad that I was finally able to escape the heat I was just as quick to get rid of the comforter and slide out of the bed, quickly walking into the bathroom attached to his room.
When I walked out James replaced me in the bathroom, and leaving him to do whatever I walked out of his room and towards the kitchen. I was feeling a little more starved this morning than usual so as soon as I entered the kitchen I began looking for something I could make. It was actually quite rude, rummaging through his cabinets without asking, but I wasn't really thinking about manners right now. Plus I'd be making him breakfast too so what could he do?
Sighing I decided to make a simple breakfast: pancakes with eggs and some sausage. I was told once before when I used to have sleepovers with friends that I could make the best pancakes in the world, but having not cooked anything in a while I was a little wary I'd burn everything. I mean yeah I knew how to bake, but everyone in my family did as well, and it didn't seem as much of an achievement.
I slowly began getting all the ingredients and utensils I'd need out, and by the time James joined me in the kitchen I'd already made a plate of pancakes and was starting on the second. James was still wearing what he was before, a pair of sweatpants slung low on his waist and no shirt, and I had to admit it looked good. But it was distracting so I quickly turned around focusing on not burning the food.
It should've came as no surprise when he wrapped his arms around my waist. Laying his head in the crook of my neck his hard chest pressed into my back, and I jumped, almost dropping the spatula I was holding into the pan.
"James!" I quickly chastised him, shaking my head as I felt his reverberating chuckle in my chest.
"Sorry Angel. What are you cooking?" I shook my head at his meek apology, he didn't sound sorry at all.
"What does it look like I'm cooking?" Grinning up at him, I jumped when he swatted my thigh. Ouch that stung.
"Don't be mean." I swatted him back, this time on his arm though and with my spatula. "Fück that hurt!" James jumped away from me rubbing his arm. I grinned up at him, before repeating his words.
"You don't be mean." Laughing I turned back to the pancake only to find I was burning the food. I quickly cleaned the spatula before I flipped the cake, sad to see that it was already black on the side and letting out a sigh I picked it up throwing it away.
"Karma comes back to get you in mysterious ways." Looking over at James who was smiling at me while he lent against the counter I shook my head at him.
"You know you're right, that's why I deserve one of these." I quickly picked up one of the four pancakes he'd requested on his plate, transferring it to mine.
"Hey! That's my food!" He tried to come take his pancake back, but when I went to swat his hand this time he quickly backed away. "Hey, no need to get violent..."
"I made it. Therefore it's mine." I sent him a small smirk, pouring more batter into the pan.
"Well if that logic applies to everything..." James came up behind me, his hands lying on my waist, close to the bottom of his shirt. "I bought it, therefore it's mine." James whispered in my ear before his hands traveled to the bottom of his shirt, sliding it up my thighs.
"Wait a second!" I tried to stop his hands, but James just grabbed both of mine in one of his own, reaching behind me to turn the stove off before walking me back to the living room.
When there he gently laid me down on the couch, before his body covered mine. I was going to push him off me, get up and finish cooking, but he stopped me from doing so while simultaneously stopping my whole thought process. James quickly smashed his lips against mine, his hands slowly rubbing up and down my thigh at the same rate as his lips moved against my own. Immediately I groaned into his mouth, and when he deepened the kiss I couldn't stop myself from wiggling against him, trying to create more friction than our bodies already had.
My arms tried to go behind his back, to pull him even closer to me, but I was stopped once again. James held my hands in one of his own, raising them above my head before his other hand slowly began inching towards the end of his shirt.
When he reached the hem of the shirt he slowly began pulling it up over my negligee, despite my mumbles of disagreement.
"James, don't."
"Why not?" His breath was hot against my ear, making a shiver rack through my body as I tried to come up with a coherent answer.
"B-because it's e-embarrassing..."
"What are you hiding under here that could possibly be embarrassing?" As if to answer his own question James finally pulled the t-shirt up and off my body, his movement freezing as he stared at me.
Quickly my hands tried to cover my body, hiding as much as I could from his prying eyes. It didn't provide much coverage though as I was wearing a sheer lace negligee, and feeling more insecure than I'd ever felt in my life I was quick to avert my gaze, looking away in embarrassment.
James didn't say anything to me, instead his hands slowly reached down, removing mine from covering myself, before he stared harder at me. If his hold on my hands wasn't preventing me I would've covered myself again but all I could do was watch him stare at me.
I was about to get up and call it quits when he smiled at me. I don't know what it was, but when he smiled, like legit full out white teeth, eyes crinkling smiled at me, my heart stopped. My breath caught in my throat, everything in me focusing in on that one thing, his smile.
When he saw he had my attention his smile grew impossibly bigger, and the next words that came from his mouth had my heart stopping for a whole other reason. "You're beautiful."
And in that moment I believed him.
Pulling him down by his hair I practically slammed our lips together, but James didn't seem to mind, he was right there along with me.
As his lips moved against mine his hands began to slowly move down my side, trailing down until they reached my hips where they lay. James then began slowly kissing me, drawing them out before he completely stopped, instead trailing kisses to the sides of my lips, down my cheeks and onto my neck.
I groaned, pulling his head closer to my neck when he kissed a very sensitive part of my neck, and I couldn't help but to moan even louder when he repeated the process. Just as I was about to throw all caution to the wind, and just ask for him to take me, my thoughts were interrupted.
"Hey James, man we were just wondering if you and Sarah- OH MY LORD, AND ALL THAT IS HOLY, FORGIVE MY VIRGIN EYES!"
I was quick to push James off of me, which ended with him landing pretty hard on the wooden floor, and I quickly grabbed his discarded t-shirt, using it to cover myself.
James was standing up a second later, not even seeming to notice he was just pushed to the floor. Instead he was yelling at Ty while he simultaneously tossed me the extra blanket thrown on the side of the couch.
"What the fück Tyson! How many times do I tell you not to barge into my house unannounced!"
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I definitely won't do it again, considering I don't want to be scarred for life!" Ty then began to walk around the room, with his head dramatically in his hands, going on and on about how he needed to bleach his eyes to un-see the 'un-seeable'.
It was then I finally noticed that Mia was here as well, and wrapping the cover tighter around my body I gave her a tight lipped smile, still a little embarrassed about everything.
Mia just laughed before sending me a wink and walking over to plop down beside me. "Sorry, we interrupted you when you were about to get some." Looking at her in shock I softly hit her shoulder, before shaking my head furiously.
"No, we- we were not about to do that."
Mia laughed at me, before she smiled with a devilish twinkle in her eyes. "Sure. That's what they all say."
"Whatever. I'm going to go get dressed then finish cooking breakfast, you in?" Getting up, I silently made sure the blanket covered everything before I walked to the bedroom, shaking my head at James and Ty's antics. In the five minutes we were talking they somehow ended up in the kitchen, devouring all of the previous food I'd made and I was not going to enjoy remaking everything.
"Yeah, I'm definitely in. Ty refused to buy me anything to eat on the way here." Mia followed me into the bedroom, and while I grabbed some clothes to change into in the bathroom, she just stood outside the bathroom, waiting for me.
"Why wouldn't he buy you anything? That's cruel."
Mia let out a small chuckle before she went on. "That's what I said! Anyways he said it was something about being late."
"Ah that reminds me, why are y'all even here?" Pulling the jeans and sweater on I took a moment to look in the mirror, wincing at the bird's nest that was my hair. I grabbed a brush, brushing my hair into something that resembled a high ponytail.
"James didn't tell you?"
"What?" Confused I walked out of the bathroom, staring at Mia, who was now leaning comfortably against the wall beside the door.
"Every year we've known each other we go shopping for Christmas presents."
"Oh."
"Yeah." Staring at Mia I took a moment to take this in. James, Ty and Mia had been friends for years, in those years they'd gone shopping together every single Christmas. Even though James and I had originally planned to spend today inside just lazing around and maybe baking, I couldn't possibly make him stay here with me while his friends went on their traditional shopping spree without him.
That just wasn't fair, so sighing I gave in, accepting the fact that we'd just have to laze around another day. Plus this was as good a time as any to finally finish my Christmas shopping. This way it was a win, win.
Smiling at Mia I shook my head in understanding before I walked out of the room. When Mia and I arrived back in the living room I could see James was dressed as well. Instead of his sweatpants he'd changed into some jeans and he wore a simple black t-shirt that showcased his muscular physique and tattoos.
Wondering how he'd changed when I'd been in the bedroom I let it go, assuming he just came in and got clothes when I was in the bathroom. Walking into the kitchen I could see that James and Ty had immediately begun following me, and sighing I began making pancake batter from scratch. Surprisingly I found that it didn't really bother me that much considering I now had Mia to help me and keep me company while the boys just conversed by the counter, sitting on the bar stools.
"James, I'm telling you if she can cook, bake, and still manage to look amazing she's a keeper." Confused, I stopped in the middle of the conversation Mia and I were having, I could tell she paused as well, thrown off by what her boyfriend just said.
"Tyson Madison. How many times do I have to tell you not to talk about my girlfriend? She's mine, plus you have Mia, if you have problems take it up with her not me. I'm not your girlfriend or the therapist you talk to when you fück up in your relationship." Shocked I stared at James, before turning back to Mia who was looking at me in a similar fashion. We both stared at one another intently, taking in our faces before we burst out laughing, while I could hear Ty yelling at us, the embarrassment he felt leaching into his voice.
"How many times do I have to say it was only one time!" I was still too busy laughing at them, right alongside Mia when I looked up at Ty's face. His whole face was as bright and red as a tomato, and at seeing just how embarrassed he was I couldn't get a hold over the giggles I was just starting to control, bursting out in uncontrolled laughter.
Looking at Mia beside me, I saw she was pretty much in the same boat as me as she looked at her boyfriend.
"Ty, baby, I wouldn't say forgetting our anniversary then ditching me to play soccer a one time thing. You do it almost every year."
"And for that I'm extremely sorry." Ty pulled Mia towards him, wrapping her in his arms while he leaned his head in the corner of his neck.
"Yeah, yeah. You're just lucky I haven't left your sorry asś yet."
"You're exactly correct, what would I ever do without you."
"I don't know, I'm surprised you can even get dressed without me." Rolling her eyes Mia playfully looked up at Ty who leaned down to her ear. I don't know what he said, but when he came back up he had a cocky smirk on his lips and Mia was blushing red. She pushed him away before coming back to help me plate the food I'd finished, and looking at her still red face I sent her a wink, but she just rolled her eyes at me.
Finally we both finished cooking breakfast and we sat around the kitchen. Mia and Ty sat at the small dining table while James and I took the bar. Even though it was slightly louder than I wanted it to be because the boys were shouting across the kitchen at each other, I still found I loved the atmosphere. I wouldn't change it for the world.
Smiling I dug into my breakfast, blushing when everyone did the same and immediately began telling me how good my pancakes were. I just waved them off before continuing to silently eat, and stopping I looked up at James.
Like I found he was practically always doing nowadays, he was staring intently at me. When he saw he'd caught my gaze he smiled, and after sending him a small smile back he grinned even wider, before turning back and engaging with Ty in conversation.
💋💋💋💋💋
James pulled me closer to him as we walked around the mall. Ty and Mia were walking in a similar fashion ahead of us.
"Sorry you had to come with us." I looked up at James, who was looking down at me regretfully.
"It's OK, don't worry about it. Besides, I needed to do some Christmas shopping of my own." James let out a sigh of relief at that before we turned the corner, walking into the food court.
"Do you want to eat before we shop, or afterwards? Either way I'm fine with what you choose..." I thought about for a second. Well I did need something to look forwards to, and I still didn't like shopping so I guess it was a better decision to eat after we were done. That way we could rest, eat, and then leave immediately after.
"We should shop, and then eat. Is Mia and Ty coming with us?" Looking ahead of us where the couple seemed to be in a world of their own, I watched as James shook his head.
"No, they're going to end up shopping together, and we'll go by ourselves. I'll just text them to tell them we'll meet back up here to eat together before we leave." Nodding my head I went up to Mia before saying goodbye and then doing the same with Ty. After that James grabbed my hand, pulling me behind him as he began walking towards Lord knows what.
Finally he stopped dragging me, and looking up at the store we'd stopped in front of, I saw it was a jewelry shop.
"Are you getting something here?" Looking at James with curiosity I saw as he nodded his head.
"Yeah, I'm Christmas shopping though and I don't want you to see my presents, so I can't show you anything exact though."
"What do you mean? You didn't get me anything here, ... right?"
"Umm...do you want the truth, or a lie?"
"The truth of course!"
"Then yes, I did."
"James, I told you I don't need expensive things-"
"Yeah, yeah I know. But I already paid for it and picked it out so I'm just coming to pick it up. Plus I've already gotten something for Alison and Franchelsca so..."
"James!"
"Hush, if we don't hurry I'm going to miss my appointment!" What the hell? Appointment? I didn't think you had to make an appointment at a store in the mall... better yet I was pretty sure you didn't really need one.
Shrugging my shoulders I was about to walk away from him, but James just grabbed my hand, dragging me behind him into the store. Amazingly enough instead of the regular jewelry store in a mall, like a normal person would think there would be, there was instead something much more bigger. And by bigger I mean much more expensive.
You would think after how much time I've spent with James I would come to accept just how much he spends his money in ridiculous ways, but this was too much. Way too much to accept without seeming or feeling like a gold-digger.
"Wait, James?"
James stopped, albeit right in front of an employee, but he still did and he turned back to me. "Yes Angel?"
"I hope you know I mean it when I say I won't accept this. It's too much."
"I hope you believe me when I say I'm still getting it." And with that James told the employee he was here to pick up an order he'd made. After that, as said employee began ringing up his items, which I couldn't identify, James was annoyingly narrating everything he was doing.
"Now I'm reaching into my pocket. I'm pulling my wallet out, I'm getting my credit card. I'm handing my card to the clerk, she's ringing my order up, it was accepted so I'm signing-"
"James if you don't shut up!" Marching away from him, I went outside the store, leaving him to be obnoxious by himself. I mean seriously, all I said was I didn't want to accept an expensive gift from him, and instead of complying with my wishes he denies them and goes on to mock me! Oh my God he can be such a jerk!
After a few minutes of standing outside the store James came out, looking like a puppy that just got kicked. "Look, Angel-"
"I'm not talking to you." Turning away from him I began walking away from him, heading in a random direction I hoped would lead me away from his childish behavior.
"Wait, Angel-" Pulling away from his hand that clasped my shoulder, I kept on walking, not even looking back at him. "Come on Sarah, don't be that way! Please!"
I turned around so fast I was surprised I didn't get dizzy at the sudden shift in my vision. "What do you mean 'don't be that way'? How about you not be that way!"
"Sarah, wait, just let me explain."
"No! You let me explain. Dammit James! I'm trying to do the right thing here! It's not that I don't want to accept your gift to spite you or anything, it's just too much. I'm not trying to be the goody two shoes here, but I also don't want to become the girl who depends on material items to know that you care for me! I don't need those types of things, hell I would've been content with a card. It's just I don't want to depend on your money, I don't want you to think that I'm only here for how much you're worth..." By the time I'd finished talking James himself was quiet, and I was right there with him, my voice significantly dying down the farther into my speech that I went.
"I'm sorry." Looking up at James, who was looking straight into my eyes, I could see the regret in his piercing green eyes. "I am truly sorry from the bottom of my heart. I know how you feel about the money, I know how much it doesn't matter to you, but it's not that I was trying to impress you or smother you. It's just I only want to get you something that reflects how much you mean to me, and that means getting nothing but the best for you. It's not just that though, I've had an amazing time with you so far, and I can't express how grateful I am that you accepted me, that you and your family took care of me. It just means so much to me Sarah, and this is nothing compared to how much that means to me."
When James was done talking it seemed both of us had calmed down. I could understand why he felt the way he did, but I still didn't want to accept his gift. Yet with one look at his face and I couldn't even begin to tell him no. Walking into his outstretched arms I hugged him close to me, breathing in his intoxicating scent.
"I understand. I guess I could make an exception this time and agree to take your gift, but I hope you know this is the last time." I heard more than saw the smile in James' voice when he replied to me.
"Thank you." It made me smile when I heard his voice, and snuggling more into his chest I tried not to let the best get to me. The moment was just too real, to emotional, too James, and honestly I had no clue on how to deal with it. James made my heart clench, painfully so, and I was beginning to wonder if it was a bad or good thing.
I guess it was in a good way this time though. Even better considering throughout our whole conversation, not even one person was around to hear it.
💋💋💋💋💋
We all got in the car laughing as we left the mall. James and I ended up going to other stores, ones that actually sold things for reasonable prices, and after much discussion James helped me pick out Christmas presents for my whole family. I ended up getting Sam a new video game that he keeps talking about, Franny some new perfume that smelt absolutely amazing, and my mother some new diamond earrings since she lost her last pair. I was still a little hesitant about what to get my dad, but I ended up buying him a new watch since he's always losing track of time when he's at the bakery.
"So guys, you want to hang out on New Years?" I smiled, looking back at Mia and Ty. I was in the passenger seat next to James, and Mia and Ty were in the backseat, snuggled up against one another as we drove. James had his hand laced with mine, and looking over at him I caught his gaze so I could answer her. James just nodded his head in agreement as he turned back to the road.
"Yeah, sure. We can go." I heard the excited squeal from Mia in response and laughing I turned back to her. "So what are you two doing after this?" Mia sat up, pulling away from Ty who looked sad at her loss before answering me.
"Girl, we have to go meet with the 'rents. Since Ty and I started dating they're always around each other, and I think our mothers are planning our wedding." She let out a shudder at this and shaking my head at her I just smiled.
"Well I guess that's a good thing, it's nice that your families get along."
"Yeah, it really is." Mia took a minute to smile back at her boyfriend who reciprocated the action ten fold. Leaving the couple to do their thing I realized that we had already arrived back at James' apartment, and I was quick to get out the car. It took a ridiculous amount of time to arrive to and from the mall and I was happy to be relieved of the interior of the car.
I guess the others were thinking the same thing, because pretty soon everyone was joining me outside with their bags. James had gracefully taken my bags, which I had forgotten, and when I tried to take some off of him he refused so I just stuck with hugging Mia and Ty goodbye.
After they left James and I hurried out of the cold up to his apartment and I couldn't be happier in that moment than I was that he had heat.
"You get cold really fast, don't you Angel?" I looked over at James who was setting the bags down on the dining table, pulling and hanging his jacket up next. I tried not to get distracted by the way his t-shirt looked on him, instead focusing on the designs of his tattoos, trying to wrap my head around his question.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah! I get cold easily." James laughed at my response before he made his way to me, unbuttoning my coat and hanging it up next to his. At the blast of cool air that hit my skin goosebumps appeared, but James began to slowly rub my arms, making them disappear.
"So are you still up for baking today? We have a little time before we have to begin cooking dinner." Smiling up at James I shook my head in agreement.
"Always."
*******
Authors Note:
Okay, first of all I suck. Like seriously I know I do. Honestly even I feel sucky, this has been the longest I've ever went without updating and I'm seriously upset by it. I haven't been able to have enough time to update though because of school (my teachers really lay it on me thick) and just life in general but I can seriously say that during my breaks I will write as much as my mind can come up with. Since my updating schedule has literally been blown to bits, I'll try to come up with some accurate dates on when I'll probably be able to update next. Through Your Eyes is coming to an end soon, and I'm writing and rewriting the last few scenes, but I can't seem to perfect them just yet. I don't know how I'm supposed to finish this guys, I've never been one to finish something I started writing, but I know for sure I'll finish this book (I don't want to receive death threats). Anyhow, thank you guys so much for all the support this story has gotten when I was gone! We got to #44 in Teen Fiction, we've reached over 5k votes, and not to mention we're slowly building up thousands of comments. Thank you all so much! Just to throw it out there, no, I am not updating when I get a certain amount of votes on chapters, I'm just behind because of life, and I can't begin to thank you amazing readers. Anyhow don't forget to COMMENT&VOTE and I'm sorry for how long it took me to get this chapter out! I'm not sure how good this one turned out since I only had enough time to write during my lunch break at school, so please tell me!
Oddybody1221👑
Updated, October 22, 2016 (an eternity later I'm so sorry!)