In the middle of taking out the ingredients, my doorbell rang. I washed my hands before going to open it. To my surprise, Reece stood there with a sheepish smile.

"Hey Harley! Merry Christmas!!" He says

"Hey Reece? Merry Christmas to you too..." I say "So uhm...what are you doing here???"

"I...I was bored and alone." He smiles sadly

"Oh...yeah." I felty pity and sympathy for the guy standing in front of me.

I completely forgot that Reece was going through the same thing as me. While his friends were off celebrating with their families, we were both celebrating alone in our own houses. Unlike me though, Reece's parents didn't die. Reece ran away for a reason I do not know.

"Are you busy? Do you think I can hang out with you?" He asks hopefully

"Sure! I need the company and the help" I let him inside, and he turns to me

"What do you need help with?" He asks

"Well I was planning on being a nice and giving person this Christmas and making tons of food for those who can't afford a good meal" I smile proudly

"Nice!!" He says "But can I suggest who we give it too?"

"Sure"

"Can we give it too Kaden and his family?"

Kaden and his family have financial issues. I heard that his father left them in the dust and took all the money with him. Kaden turned to drug dealing after the incident in order to help with the money problem.

"Sure, Reece." I smile widely

He rolls up his sleeve and smiles widely.

"Let's get started then!"

.

.

.

Reece makes the salad while I make the sauce for the chicken, and the rosemary bread bakes in the oven. We work in silence, talking from time to time. I don't know about him, but there was an awkward tension between us. It was as if he wanted to say something, but didn't want to at the same time.

"Hey Harley?" He finally speaks up

"Hmm?" I hum in response

"I know what happened between you and Jaxon..."

My shoulders tense up and I stop my stirring. Flashbacks of that day come back to me. I sighed; my problems and sadness coming back to me.

"Oh..."

"When the girls said the party was off, we decided to go visit him."

"Mhm..."

"He told us all about it."

"Ah..."

"We thought you really liked him"

"Key word: LIKED" I start talking

"I...I've moved on a long time ago. I realized that there was never a chance for us to ever be in a relationship." I didn't dare continue the long list of reasons. I don't even want to have this conversation.

"You didn't even give him a chance. How could you come to such a conclusion already?" He says

"Have you forgotten what he has done to me?" I turned off the stove and turned around to face him

"Just because we're all friends now, doesn't mean we can erase the past. It can't erase his rejection. It can't erase the times where he flirted with me, took me out on dates, and whatever just to get some information out of me. It can't erase the times where he'd talk shit about me to you and your friends. We're friends for a gew months, but he did that for YEARS. A few months isn't gonna erase all the years he's done."

I couldn't control it anymore. I've been holding it in and keeping it in my head for some time now. I guess what he said just made me snap. I couldn't control it anymore. I began spouting out the thoughts and feelings, but it was only half of it. The half of me that sided with my heart just stayed hidden. I didn't want to say it...and I don't know why.

Reece had nothig to say after my blow up. He just looked down at the forgotten salad. I turned back and continued my sauce.

The tension was thicker than before. We continued our work in silence and in separate. I took a deep breathe as I began finishing up the chicken and vegetables. I felt myself grow more and more relaxed. Cooking always helped my to relax myself.

Once I finished cooking the chicken and the vegetables, I felt that I was calmed down and relaxed. I stood next to him and lightly tapped his arm. He glanced next to me, and I began speaking.

"I'm sorry that I snapped. I couldn't control nyself. In the spirit of Christmas, let's put all the upsetting things past us. What do you say?" I say. He looks at me dead in the eye and I almost thought that he was gonna get mad for some reason. I didn't expect him to poke me in the cheek with the spoon covered in sticky salad dressing.

"I say okay" He laughs as I glare playfully at him

"Now I'm gonna get more pimples" I whine

"Bish where?! Your skin is as smooth as a baby's butt" He says. The tension between us was completely lifted in just a few seconds.

"Honey that's called make up. I seriously find it so impossible to have baby soft skin as a teenager. If you're a teenager, you HAVE to have pimples." I say

"Yeah...some are just really good in hiding it." He chuckles

"True fact!!" I exclaim

We have a laugh and continue cooking. The kitchen has never felt so alive, and my apartment has never been so full of chatter. We talked and talked. The spirit of Christmas present in the both of us.

Once we were done cooming everything, we made our way to Kaden's house where we were going to spread our joyful, cheery, and temporarily free of complicated problems spirits to a family that needed it.

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