Christmas was around the corner and I had taken a few days off work beforehand to help my mom and dad get everything ready. Normally we would spend Christmas with the Agreste's one year and we would have it in our house the next. This year it was at ours, so we had a lot of preparing to do. As far as I was concerned it was still going ahead, no one had said otherwise.
I was glad for these few days off. It meant that I didn't have to bump into Jason at work. I didn't know if I could face seeing him without breaking down. I just hoped Liz gave him a chance to explain and talk things through. And I didn't want to be in the way of that so thought it best to stay at home.
It also gave me some time to reflect on what I wanted to do and what my future plans were. Everyone in the office suspected there was something going on between Jason and I and they seemed to be okay with it but I still didn't feel comfortable about people knowing. I had been thinking for a while about doing a postgraduate course in . Something I had always wanted to do when I was younger was be a teacher and the perfect opportunity had now presented itself. This was my chance to chase my dream and the more I thought about it the more excited I was getting. There was just a lot of research and paperwork to do before I committed to anything.
I spoke to my parents about it and they were happy with the decision of me pursuing further education. At least without Jason and Liz in my life this would keep me preoccupied. My heart broke thinking about losing my best friends but I suppose there wasn't much that could be done. I would eventually move on but knew that would take some time.
Today had been a productive day which helped keep my mind occupied. I had baked cookies and cupcakes and had tidied up my room. I'd even helped my mom pick out the Christmas decorations to display around the house. It had been a very busy day for sure.
Jason had tried to call me a few times, but I messaged him back telling him I needed some space which he seemed to understand. He didn't mention anything about Liz, I just hoped that their relationship was back on track.
Once I was done with everything, I flopped down on the couch sighing in contentment as I looked around at my handy work. I was pretty pleased with myself and thought I deserved a little break. I took the remote and switched on the television hoping to numb my mind. I groaned as I flicked through the television struggling to settle on anything.
I didn't pay attention when the doorbell rang, knowing my mom would get it. I could hear her make her way to the door and there were muffled noises in the hallway as she greeted the guest. I didn't even bother to think who it could be assuming it would be one of the neighbours asking to borrow something.
My mom walked into the room and without taking my eyes off the television I asked "Who was it? Was it Deirdre asking for some flour again for her baking?". When I didn't get a response, I turned to look at my mom. But instead of seeing my mom I gasped as Liz stood in my living room, flecks of snow covering her jacket.
"I haven't come to borrow flour, but I have come to give you this" She said handing me a beautifully wrapped gift. I was in too much shock to take the present from her. I just gawped at her, my jaw almost dropping to the floor. She was the last person I was expecting to see here. Since I hadn't heard from Liz since I last went up to apologise, I assumed she longer wanted anything to do with me. But here she was in the flesh. My mind was still comprehending this as she sat down beside me, leaving the present on the table.
"What are you doing here?" I finally asked dumbfounded, not really knowing what else to see.
Liz gave a small chuckle "I've come to give you your present dummy, what else does it look like?"
My mouth opened and closed like a fish, trying to think of something sensible to say, but I just couldn't get the words out. Liz could see this and laughed.
"I suppose you weren't expecting to see me here, were you?" I just shook my head slowly, worried that what would come out of my mouth next would be word vomit. "I suppose I should start with an explanation as to why I am here"
"Yeah that would be good" I chuckled
"So that day you came around to mine, I did some thinking. A lot of thinking" she laughed "And I even had a long discussion with Jason about everything. What you said was right. Jason Is my brother and I should have given him the chance to explain everything. To be honest I just saw red and didn't want to speak to anyone or hear anyone else's side of the story. I even discussed at length with Ian about how I may have overreacted and should have given both you and Jason the chance to explain. You have to understand it was so weird seeing you together like that with my brother. But once he explained everything, I could see how much he cared for you and now I'm sick of seeing him moping around the house, so you better call him real soon" She laughed.
At that moment I felt like crying tears of joy. But I knew I wasn't out of the woods just yet. I'm sure we had a long way to go to repair our friendship, but this was a step in the right direction. "I still feel bad about everything that's happened. Everything was just handled so badly, and everything went out of control."
"Look at it this way, at least we can look back on this in the years to come and laugh about it. If you think about it is quite a funny story" She chuckled.
"So, does that mean there's still a future for us?"
"Of course there is silly, why do you think I'm here? I'm here to apologise for my outrageous behaviour. You know me, I take the saying go big or go home very seriously" she laughed. "So, this is me saying I'm sorry. I've missed you like crazy and I can't imagine my life without you. You've been a part of my life forever and we've still got a long way to go. I should have given you and Jason a chance to explain everything and I'm sorry that I didn't. Jason explained everything to me anyway and, well, what a crazy journey you guys had been on"
"Did he tell you about that night we all went out to the club?"
"I was there, remember? I saw that first kiss"
"Right. And did he tell you about the kiss at the basketball game"
"I'm so mad at Ian from keeping that from me. From now on I'm watching every sports game with him"
"And about the night he first met Max?"
"Oh yeah"
"And I'm assuming he told you all about Edinburgh" I winced.
"Yep. Those pictures you showed me now make a lot more sense"
"It was actually after those pictures were taken that everything happened" I clarified.
"I'd never seen Jason look at anyone like that before. That's why when I saw that picture, I was so confused. I didn't want to believe that my brother and my best friend were dating and were keeping it a secret"
"It wasn't like we wanted to keep it a secret. We were just waiting to see if the magic from Edinburgh would wear off when we came back home but if anything, it intensified"
Liz gave a small smile "Yeah I know. You should have heard the way my brother was speaking about you. I've never seen him speak about anyone like that before. He clearly cares a lot about you and I'm happy that he's found someone that he's happy with even if it is with my best friend"
"And is he okay with you being with Ian?"
"Yeah. He can see how happy I am with Ian and how much I love him. He knows Ian so well so he knows he would never hurt me. I suppose that's one perk of dating your brothers' best friend" she laughed. "I suppose we both now understand how happy we are in our lives and we just have to accept that. Neither of us expected to fall for the wrong person but we both realise that we fell for them for the right reasons "
"I'm glad things are okay between you and Jason. I would hate to imagine neither of you speaking to each other. You're more than just siblings' you guys are best friends and I would hate to think that I got in the way of that"
"You don't have to worry about that anymore. Just promise me that you won't tell me all the gory details of your relationship. I don't think I want to know anything about my brother in that way"
"Deal" I laughed "but that won't stop me from complaining every time he does something annoying"
"I can't wait for when we're older and we get to yap away about how our other halves are driving us crazy" Liz laughed.
It felt so good to be laughing again with Liz. I felt like it had been a lifetime since we last spoke like this. I didn't realise how much I needed her in my life, I would never take our friendship for granted ever again. She was more than a friend to me she was like my sister. We had grown up together and had been with each other through all the ups and downs. I couldn't imagine living the rest of my life without her. But if she wanted to, then I would have happily let her go if that meant she would be happy.
"I need to tell you about this crazy dream I had. I dreamed that we were older, and we were celebrating Christmas, but you weren't there to celebrate it with us. You had just had your first kid, but we weren't on speaking terms, so we didn't see your kid. You hadn't seen mine either and we were celebrating Christmas without you and it was just horrible" I cried out "And your parents had to choose where they were going to spend Christmas because we were still fighting. I felt so bad for them"
"Aw, my poor parents" Liz laughed, clutching her stomach. "That's such a crazy dream. Only you could dream up something like that. I can never remember any of my dreams"
"Well, I hope that whatever you dream, it's never as horrible as that" I laughed.
The television played in the background as we sat in a comfortable silence thinking about everything that had just happened. It was crazy to think of how we got here but I was so glad that our friendship was back on track.
"Do you really love my brother?" Liz asked, breaking the silence.
I didn't have to think of the answer to that question "So much Liz. I know this must be a weird discussion to have, but I love him. I really do" I said, hoping she knew how much he meant to me. "I'd never even thought about him as more than a friend but that first kiss at the club changed everything. After that, things changed between us and we couldn't ignore our feelings for each other. Remember how we used to talk about when we would find the right person, you would feel 'that click', well I finally found that with Jason".
"Well, if you finally found 'the click' then I suppose there's nothing I can do about that. Its official, he's the one." Liz smiled, hugging me tightly. I hugged her just as tight. I was so glad to have Liz back in my life. "Now, you better call Jason. He's been crying like a lost little boy asking me to make sure to tell you that you call him. I swear, he can be such a whiny baby"
I laughed, still not letting Liz go "Okay, but first, I just want to stay like this and make sure you don't leave me ever again"
"I swear, you and Jason are perfect for each other" Liz rolled her eyes as she laughed.