Christmas brought great joy to Dustin. He was overly hyper, bouncing around the living room like an excited puppy. Probably due to the fact that Will bought him a thousand dollar photography camera.
Which Will hadn't mentioned he was going to buy for him beforehand. I'd been just as surprised as Dustin.
"What?" Will said defensively when I gave him a wary look upon seeing the gift. He was sitting on the armchair, scratching Sherlock behind his ears. The traitor had opted for Will's lap instead of mine.
"You're spoiling Dustin," I accused, but without much menace.
Will jutted his chin, a habit I noticed he did to seem more stubborn. "I'm not spoiling him."
"Oh, you so are," I responded with a grin. "Look at you. Trying to suck up?"
Crossing his arms, Will sent Dustin a fond look. "I just like seeing him happy. After all the two of you have gone through, it's nice to know he can act like this."
This caught me off guard a little and I had to swallow down the lump that formed in my throat. Will was right. Dustin usually was never this enthusiastic. In fact, he hadn't been this happy in a long time. Sure, he hadn't been depressed when it'd just been the two of us, but ever since we'd moved to this house and met everyone, he'd become much livelier. I had, too.
"How did you even know he was into photography?" I questioned, watching as Dustin snapped a few shots of the Christmas tree.
"I seen his room before, Katie," Will responded with a small smile. "It's not hard to deduce after seeing all the photos on his walls."
That was true. Dustin had a lot of prints on his walls, some of his own making, some he'd bought from the few art shows he'd been to. It was something I teased him about, but secretly I was pleased he'd gotten interested in something artistic and not weed, or whatever high schoolers were doing these days.
"Kate! Will! Say cheese!" Dustin called, popping up behind us with his camera, ready to snap a photo.
Will quickly wrapped an arm around my shoulder, crushing me to his chest. "Cheese," he said, smiling brightly at the camera.
I just barely managed to force a smile onto my face by the time Dustin pressed down on the shutter button. He fidgeted with the camera for a moment, then paused, squinting at the screen. Then he broke out into laughter, doubling over and clutching his camera. "Katie! Your face! It's so perfect!"
And he sounded so happy and content and carefree, my heart clenched. A lump formed in my throat and I had to swallow it down forcefully. Fortunately, Will spoke so I didn't have to. "Really? Let me see?" Letting go of my shoulder, he went over to Dustin and peered at the camera screen. And then he began chuckling. "That's quality."
"I don't want to see it," I said, holding up my hand. "I think I'll spare myself the embarrassment."
"Suit yourself, but this is going on my wall," Dustin replied with a grin. "Oh! I almost forgot to give you guys your presents! I'll be right back!" After he gave me a pointed look, he ran out of the room.
Will stared after him for a few seconds, a fond smile on his face. "I love your brother."
And if his expression was anything to go by, I believed he really did. "I do too," I told him with a grin. "Even if he's a little bitch sometimes."
"Little brothers," Will said by means of explanation.
"Yeah, I guess," I murmured, crossing my arms and cupping my elbows. "Um, so I got you a few gifts too, but um, they're really not that great."
Will rolled his eyes. "Why don't you let me decide that for myself?"
"They're in the kitchen," I said, walking through the doorway that separated the two rooms. Will's presents were on the living room table, so I grabbed the smaller one, and handed it to him. "Saw these online and thought of you."
Grinning, Will unwrapped my first present to him. It was something simple— just a six-set of hazel colored ceramic coffee mugs with inscribed onto them, along with a picture of a teacup with steam coming out of it. I held my breath, eyes on Will's handsome face, waiting for a reaction. His grin widened and he picked up one of the mugs, inspecting it. "You even personalized them for me?"
"Figured you could use them at the shop, or you know, something," I said quietly, feeling somewhat embarrassed. "Do you like them?"
"Absolutely."
"That'd good."
"They actually remind me of you, too," he said, smiling crookedly at me. When I gaze him a questioning look, he pointed to his eye. "Hazel."
A small smile crossed my face as I took notice of that as well. "I didn't do that on purpose."
He raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Sure you didn't."
Pursing my lips, I turned away from him, retrieving the second gift from off the table. I fiddled with it in my hands, rethinking giving it to him. "This one, um..." Already I could feel my cheeks warming. "Matt mentioned, um."
"Oh, Jesus," Will sighed, putting a hand to his forehead. "Do I even want to know what it is?"
I flushed, shoving it over to him quickly, steadily avoiding his gaze. "I didn't want to listen to him, but on the off chance he was right, I didn't want you to be without... and he told me to buy something cute, but..."
Face void of any emotion, Will peeled of the wrapping paper, and unveiled a rolled up cylinder of boxers. "I'm going to kill him."
My eyes widened and I stared at Will, horrified. "Was he lying?"
"No, but damn it, that's not something need to buy for me," he said, his face coloring scarlet.
"I don't mind," I responded, still feeling awkward, but a little relieved. "I mean, I buy boxers for Dustin all the time." And yeah, I wasn't doing either of us favors by comparing Will to my little brother. "That is. I put a lot of thought into these?"
Fortunately, Will just chuckled, evaporating any strange tension. He unrolled the underwear, shaking his head. "Katie, just next time, don't listen to my brother. He'll only try and embarrass you. And you're gullible enough to believe him."
"I'm not gullible."
"Okay, you're too kind to not believe him." As he said this, he unrolled a pair of boxers with moose on them. Raising an eyebrow, he turned to me.
I grinned a little, rubbing the back of my neck sheepishly. "I thought those were cute."
"I do too," he responded, his voice full of amusement.
"Right, well, I have one more present," I continued swiftly, before he could comment on any of the other pairs of boxers (one definitely said on the ass, and I really needed to pay more attention when I bought things). "I figured you'd need one of these sooner rather than later."
Just as I slid my hand into my pocket to fetch his last present, Dustin came barreling into the room, a medium sized cardboard box in his arms. "Okay, Will, I have yours now."
Will sent me an apologetic look before turning to Dustin. "Yeah?"
"Two things," my brother said breathlessly. "First, this." Holding out the cardboard box, he studied Will's face serious as the older man accepted the present from him. "Sorry I didn't wrap it. Couldn't figure out how."
"It's no problem," Will replied, unfolding the cardboard flaps on the box. After a moment of fiddling with it, it was open all way. Shifting it into one arm, Will retrieved two American Eagle sweatshirts out of it, one black and one grey, and a winter hat with matching gloves.
Dustin stared at Will expectantly, like Will's reaction would either make or break him. I couldn't help but smile at that.
"I love them," Will said simply and Dustin broke out into a satisfied smile. "Thank you, I actually couldn't find any winter gear in my house when I searched."
"You're welcome," Dustin said and held out a second gift, this time wrapped. "Don't open this one now. Wait until you're by yourself."
I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. "Why, what is it?"
"Secret," Dustin said shortly. "Your present is already in the Jeep. I got you new seat covers and a new stereo."
"Did you get those for me, or yourself?" I asked teasingly. Either way, I needed both of those things, so it worked for me. "And thank you."
Dustin shrugged casually. "Whatever."
"Now that Dustin's done, I'll give you my last gift," I said, gaining Will's attention. I held out my hand to him, and dropped a key into it. "Our house key. I know, I should've given it to you like, a month ago, but it slipped my mind until now."
Will kept his head down, staring at the silver key in his hand. It wasn't anything fancy, just a regular key. The guitar patterned ones and the Disney themed ones didn't seem to suit him. "Katie," he began in a quiet voice.
"Yeah?"
"This is..." He trailed off, lifting his head to meet my gaze. The affection in his eyes made my heart beat. "Are you sure?"
I forcibly swallowed. "Of course, this is your house now too, Will."
"I couldn't..." His gaze wandered over to Dustin. "How do you feel about this?"
Dustin gave him an incredulous look. "How could you even think I wouldn't want you to stay here? You're my idol, dude."
Dropping his head again, his hand curled around the key and he held onto it tightly. "Thank you."
Dustin's eyes caught mine and he gave me a hard look, conveying something I couldn't understand to me. He jerked his head in Will's direction, and then wrapped his arms around himself, faking a make out scene. I scowled and shook my vehemently, feeling myself blush. Dustin rolled his eyes so hard it looked like it hurt.
"Hey, do you guys want to watch one of the new movies?" I spoke, breaking the silence. A crushing feeling broke over me, like I'd just messed up one of the biggest chances in my life. Which I supposed was true, in some way.
Dustin looked disappointed but he grunted an affirmative response anyway. Will was for the idea too, all warm smiles and bright eyes. Apparently my gift meant more to him than I'd thought it would.
So for the better part of the day, the three of us curled up on the couch under a fuzzy M&M blanket and alternated between watching the shitty Christmas movies on T.V, the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, and the third Lord of the Rings movie. After which Dustin and Will broke out into an argument about whether or not Frodo was in love with Sam. Their bickering was amusing, so I didn't try to interrupt them.
Around nine o'clock in the evening, Will's cell phone went off. "That'll be Matt," Will figured warily. "Maybe I should ignore it."
"It's Christmas," I urged, trying not to roll my eyes. "Just answer it."
Grumpily, Will removed himself from between Dustin and myself and off the couch, heading into the other room, where his cell phone was charging. Dustin rounded on me almost instantly. "Why didn't you do anything earlier?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Yes you do."
"No, I don't."
"You do!" Dustin accused stubbornly. "It's obvious you like him, Kate. So why don't you do something about it? He likes you too."
I gave him a warning look, a silent warning to lower his volume. "Just leave it, Dustin."
He glowered at me and crossed his arms. "No."
"When did you turn into Cupid, anyway?"
"Since obviously you like him, but you won't do anything about it. I mean, come on, at least admit you have a crush on him."
Chewing on my lip, I trained my eyes on the coffee table. "I don't know, I mean, I guess, but it's just not the right time, Dustin."
" is it not the right time?" he demanded. "You haven't been on a date since Mom died, and you know it. And you only just started hanging out with people outside of class."
"Some of us like to take our education seriously—"
"And just because you do, doesn't mean you can't have a boyfriend," Dustin interjected flatly.
Sighing deeply, I placed a hand on my forehead and massaged it. "I don't know. It's just not the right time, Dustin."
For some reason, Dustin looked a little hurt by my words. Tossing off the blanket, he stood up, sparing me one last disappointed look. "If now's not the time, then when is? I'm going to bed. Tell Will I said goodnight." And with that he marched out of the room, head held high and stiff.
I stared after him for a few moments, not sure whether to be irritated or amused. Either way, I was definitely surprised. Dustin never really got angry at my lack of social life before. Why did it matter now?
Will sauntered back into the living room a few moments later, his expression becoming confused at the lack of Dustin's presence. "Where'd he go?"
"To bed. Probably used up too much energy this morning," I explained, feeling exhausted myself. "Matt good?"
"It wasn't Matt," Will said, smiling a little bit. "It was my father. Calling to say Merry Christmas."
I sat up a little bit straighter. "Your father?"
He nodded. "Yeah, just to check up and stuff. I told him about my house and that I'm staying here. He wants to meet you."
"He does?"
"Yup. I'm probably going to visit him next month at some point. You can come if you'd like, Dustin too. He lives down in Maine."
I'd never been to Maine. Grinning, I nodded my head. "Definitely." Hesitating a moment, I decided to ask him about his mother. "Has your mom contacted you today?"
He dipped his head. "Yeah, she sent me a text earlier. Just a simple Merry Christmas, but it's more than she usually does."
"That's great," I said with a smile. "See? You guys are better already."
"Well, even so, things won't be alright for a long time," he replied with a half-smile. "Which is fine."
Stretching on the couch, I let out a long yawn. "Hey, you up for another movie?"
Will smiled down at me. "Only if you are."
"Definitely, have a seat."
He moved to sit down, but suddenly paused, straightening back out. "Oh, I almost forgot."
I squinted up at him. "Forgot what?"
"The other present I got you," Will said distractedly, glancing around the room. "I'm pretty sure I brought it down here. It's pretty cliché, but I'm a cliché kind of guy, so you'll have to deal with it." Scrutinizing the room, he stalked out, entering the kitchen a gain. A few seconds later he reappeared with a small wrapped box in his hand. Tossing it to me, he offered me a sheepish smile. "Like I said, kind of cliché."
Curious, I slowly unwrapped the package, unveiling a golden jewelry box, from Kay's. My heartbeat picked up because jewelry from Kay's wasn't something you got a normal friend. Especially not something with diamonds, and yep, judging by the brief glimpse I caught as I opened up the jewelry box, it was a necklace with a diamond. Fortunately, it wasn't a big diamond. There was a small diamond heart attached to a silver necklace. I traced the precious stone with the tip of my finger, actually speechless. It was adorable. "Will," I began, but Will quickly covered my mouth with a large, warm hand.
"Don't say I shouldn't have, because that'd make his moment way too cliché," he interjected with a grin.
I pulled his hand off my face and smiled warmly at him. "Thank you. It's really cute."
Relief washed over his features. "Good. I thought for a second you'd think it was childish."
"Not at all," I promised him, unclasping the chain and placing it around my neck. After a few seconds of fumbling, I manage to re-latch it and the heart fell right below the hollow of my throat. Pushing myself to my feet, I made a bold move and wrapped my arms around Will. "Thanks again."
Will didn't hesitate to return the hug, placing his forehead against my shoulder. "No problem, Katie."
We stayed like that for a few moments longer, my heart beating faster and harder in my chest. Dustin's words floated into mind; Mostly because I was scared. Of rejection. Of ruining everything we'd just built. How could I willingly break that?
, a reasonable voice inside my head pointed out.
And then Will was pressing his body closer to mine, almost every limb pressed flush against each other. His removed his hands from my back, to lightly touch my elbows, trailing down to my wrist, and finally relocating to my waist, where he rested them. I pulled back a little, not in rejection, just to see his face. One of my hands went from his back, to his chest, just to see if his heart was beating as fast as mine was.
It was.
Then there was a flash of blue and I felt his lips press against mine, gentle, as if asking for permission. I pressed back into him, giving him an affirmative. His hands moved from my hips to my head, where one held my face in place, and the other carded through my hair. My hands moved to his shoulders, where they stayed, holding me up. My pulse was pounding in my veins, reminding me that this was happening, and it was happening .
There was a break in the kiss and I inhaled sharply, feeling a little dizzy. But I guessed that was what happened when you were out of practice. Then his lips were back against mine again and our lips were slotted together, fitting like two pieces of a puzzle.
And then Will is gone, stepping back and releasing me. Both of us are panting a little, both our cheeks flushed.
Then the reality of the situation hit. I stepped back, ducking my head. Had we crossed the line?
"I should, um, go to bed," Will began, shuffling on his feet awkwardly.
"Me too," I murmured, wrapping my arms around myself. "Grades come out tomorrow, better prepare myself with a good night's worth of sleep."
Will smiled a little, appreciating my attempt at humor. "Night, Katie."
"Night, Will."