He got a tattoo for me. A permanent tattoo that will stay on his body forever. He's so dámn precious. And I think I maybe kind of might really have some major feelings for him perhaps.

I know, I know, he's my best friend and that's so cliché. But can you really blame me? He's perfect in practically every way. He got a tattoo for me for fúcks sake. How can I not fall for him when he does adorable things like that?

Thing is though, I can't tell if he feels the same way. He has a tattoo for Liam and tattoos for the rest of his family, so maybe this is like that. Just for his best friend. Not because he likes me.

So, obviously, I'm just going to silently pine over him for the rest of my life.

Yay.

Today has been perfect. After opening our presents this morning, we cooked a huge breakfast and ate it together. Bella and I had a FaceTime call with Dad afterwards and we got to see him and Mack. Reece, Anna, Liam, and Max called the rest of the Carters as well and I said hello to them all. Then we all FaceTimed Amanda who is spending her Christmas with Mark at her house.

But the best thing is that she told us they're coming to New York as well! Mark has family in New York, so he was planning on coming here for New Year's anyway. So Amanda decided she would join him so they can both come visit us.

For the rest of the day, we played board games and watched Christmas movies before having Christmas ham for dinner which I helped Mom cook.

And now I'm standing here in my room on Christmas night, hugging the boy that I have feelings for. Wearing the necklace he bought me. After he showed me the tattoo he got for me. Can this day get any better?

"Hey, Sunshine," Reece murmurs suddenly, his deep voice filling the air. I hum softly, letting him know that I'm listening. "Are you sure you're okay with the whole tattoo thing? I know it's kind of a lot, but-"

"Reece," I move my head back from his chest and look up at him, "First of all, I love the tattoo and I love that I mean so much to you for you to even want to get a tattoo for me. And second of all, it's your body and only you get to decide what you want to get tattooed. It's just a bonus that I happen to love it."

He nods, smiling down at me softly. Dammit, those dimples get me every time. I rest my head back on his chest, this time on the right side so that I can trace the tattoo. It really is beautiful. It's simple with only a little shading. It fits perfectly between the rest of the artwork on his chest. Like it's meant to be there.

Reece tightens his arms around my waist, thumbs rubbing gentle circles on my hips through the fabric of his hoodie that I'm wearing. I want to stay here in his arms forever.

"Hey, guys," Liam walks into the room but stops when he sees us. A smirk lifts his lips, "So you finally told her."

Reece tenses, "Yes. I showed her the tattoo."

Liam's face falls for a second before he continues, "Right. Anyway, everyone's heading to bed now, I just thought I'd let you guys know. Also, Anna is sleeping in our room tonight."

"Why?" Reece asks, eyebrows furrowed.

Liam grins, looking cheeky and sheepish all at once, "She wants to cuddle."

Reece sighs, "Okay. Tell everyone goodnight from us." He wraps his arms tighter around me. I smile. I don't want to move right now.

Liam nods and heads back out of the room, closing the door behind him. I sigh quietly, pulling away from Reece slightly to look up into his eyes. "Are you ready to head to bed?"

"But Anna..."

"You can stay in here with me... If you want."

He smiles, nodding. We each go about getting ready for bed. I change out of my jeans and into sweats while he's in the bathroom and he does the same while I'm in the bathroom.

Once I'm makeup free and we have both brushed our teeth, I snuggle into bed before him. Reece grabs my laptop from my desk and hands it to me as he slips into bed beside me. He sits up against my headboard and I rest my head on his shoulder as I open my laptop and put in my password. I open up Netflix and start up episode eight of Suits. Reece and I started watching it together the second night he was here. He comes in here every night to watch it with me.

I swear I'm watching way too many TV shows at once.

Reece's arm slips around my waist as the episode starts and he pulls me closer to him. He presses a kiss to the top of my head and I end up grinning like a fool. This man will be the death of me.

~

Mark and Amanda arrive in New York on the 28th of December. Anna and I take Mom's car to pick them up. Let's just say there's a lot of crying. And none of the tears come from Mark.

But can you blame me? I've been away from my best friend for almost two months!

We head back to my apartment and we all have dinner together before Mark and Amanda take a taxi to his grandparents' place where they'll be staying.

The past few days that they've been here have mostly been spent at our apartment, making the most of the time we all have together. It's now New Year's Eve and we're getting ready to go to Ethan's New Year's party he's throwing at his house.

Reece, Amanda, Anna, Liam, Mark, and me are all going to the party tonight. My mom has taken Bella and Max to watch the ball drop tonight. We were planning to join them before Ethan told me he's hosting a party. We all agreed to spend New Year's at his party.

Amanda, Anna and I are now in my room, getting ready to leave. I check my phone and see that the time is now 9:23. The party starts at 9:30 and it's about a five minute drive to his place.

I finish curling the last strand of my hair and hold it in place while it cools for a moment before letting it drop. I've kept my makeup quite natural, adding a little bit of glitter eye shadow and a pink lip gloss.

I'm already in my dress for tonight. Anna, Amanda, and I went and bought our dresses yesterday. Mine is a black glitter fabric mini-dress with sheer long sleeves and a low, wide neckline. I'm also wearing some nude stilettos and I'll wear my winter coat over the top.

"Okay, which shoes with the dress?" Amanda asks, walking into the room wearing a stunning black dress with mesh long sleeves and two different shoes on each foot.

I look down at the shoes and see that on one foot, she has a black stiletto and on the other is a nude heel with a strap around the ankle. "I think the black ones," I tell her, "That dress is gorgeous by the way."

She grins, "Thank you, so is yours. And I was thinking the black as well."

"Definitely the black," Anna agrees, stopping beside me. She's wearing a cream-colored long-sleeve dress with gold sequins all over it.

"Perfect." Amanda puts on the matching black stiletto and smiles at the two of us, "We look hot."

"We do." I agree, "Are we ready to go?"

Both girls nod, so we grab our phones and head out of my room, toward the living room. Reece, Liam, and Mark are already there waiting, watching TV when we walk out. All three pairs of eyes snap towards us when we walk in. Watching the way Mark looks at Amanda and Liam looks at Anna, it makes me a little sad. I want that. But the person I want that with will never look at me like that.

While the two couples get lost in their own little worlds for a moment, I turn my attention to Reece. His bright turquoise eyes are wide as his gaze slides down my body, all the way to my feet before slowly trailing back up to my eyes. I see him gulp and I wonder if maybe there's a slight chance he's as attracted to me as I am to him. Maybe the physical attraction is there, but I don't think he will ever like me like that.

He stands up and walks over to me, not stopping until the toes of his shoes are almost touching mine. Even in my heels, I have to crane my head back to look him in the eye. I drop my gaze briefly to regard his outfit choice. He's wearing black jeans with a light blue button-up that brings out his eyes and some black boots. He looks good.

"You look beautiful, Sunshine," Reece murmurs, gaze dropping down to my neck for a moment. He smiles slightly before reaching out and gently taking the sun pendant on my necklace between his fingertips. He nods slightly to himself before he lets it drop back down and rest on my chest, digging his hands into the pockets of his jeans instead.

I smile up at him, "You don't look too bad yourself."

He chuckles softly, casually letting his gaze drop over my figure once again before his eyes snap up to mine. He tilts his head to the side slightly, "Won't you be cold?"

"I'll wear my winter coat. I'll be fine." I tell him with a smile. Speaking of – I excuse myself to head back to my room and grab my black coat, shrugging it on over my dress. When I walk back out, I look at everyone with a smile. "Are we all ready?"

Everyone agrees and we head for the door. Reece puts on his coat and is the last to leave before I close the door behind us, locking it. We decide our best choice for transport will be the bus, as the six of us won't fit into a taxi, and we don't want to have to pay for two taxis both ways.

We take the elevator down to the ground floor and walk out, heading out of the main lobby of the apartment building. A shiver runs down my spine when the doors open and we step out into the cold winter air. I step closer to Reece who is already walking beside me and slip my hand into the crook of his arm. He has both his hands shoved in the pockets of his coat and I mimic the action with my free hand.

When we arrive at the bus stop, there are already people sitting on the bench, so we stand and wait for a minute or so until the bus arrives. I move even closer to Reece as the harsh wind whips around us, resting my head on his shoulder. He turns slightly so we stand facing each other, lifting his arm that I'm not holding and placing it on the small of my back to keep me in place.

The bus soon arrives and we all clamber on. The bus isn't too busy, so we manage to find seats together. Anna and Liam sit together with Reece and I behind them and Amanda and Mark across the aisle from us.

It's only a short bus ride, so we arrive at our stop five minutes later. We all get off the bus and walk a little down the street until we arrive at Ethan's house. It's already bustling with people from my school, music thumping through my body before we even walk in the door.

When we walk in, Reece goes to take his coat off at the door, but I stop him, with a gentle tug of his shirt. He stops, looking down at me with furrowed brows. I nod towards a door to the left, "Let's put our jackets in Ethan's room. We don't want them to be taken by some drunk guy later tonight."

His mouth forms an 'o' as he realizes and he nods in agreement. The two of us offer to take the others' jackets as well, and they thank us, handing them over before walking further into the house. I lead Reece into the room, using the key Ethan told me he put on top of the door frame. He doesn't want anyone going into his room and doing God knows what without him knowing.

We dump the others' jackets on the end of his bed before shrugging off our own jackets. I add my coat to the top of the pile after Reece has taken off his coat before turning to him with a smile.

Reece returns my smile with a beautiful one of his own, dimples appearing for me. His gaze dips over my body once more and when his eyes connect with mine again, his eyes are soft but with a fire in them I don't think I've ever seen before. "You really do look beautiful, Sunshine."

My cheeks instantly catch fire and I drop my gaze briefly before looking back up at him from beneath my lashes. "Thank you, Reece."

His smile widens and he steps forward, wrapping an arm around my waist. He presses a soft kiss to the crown of my head, murmuring, "I'm just speaking the truth, Sunshine."

I smile, grabbing his hand and tugging him towards the door, "Come on, let's dance."

Reece sighs, but follows me out of the room anyway, "You know I don't like dancing, Sunshine."

I turn to him when we make it to the living room where the music is loudest and there is a large group of people dancing, "I know. But I love dancing, especially when it's with you," I smile up at him softly, "So will you dance with me?"

His gaze drops to my lips briefly when I tug my bottom lip between my teeth and he gulps. Slowly, he nods, eyes dragging back up to meet mine. I grin, pulling him further into the crowd behind me. I stop when I find a small spot for us to dance and turn back to face him. Reece's hands immediately move to the smallest part of my waist, pulling me closer to him. He ducks his head down so that he can rest it on my shoulder as he starts swaying from side to side.

I giggle, but don't hesitate to hook my arms around his neck, matching his movements, "Why are we slow dancing?"

I feel his shoulders move in a shrug, "I prefer slow dancing with you."

My heart jumps in my chest, as if it is trying to get to his. I scold myself in my head. I can't let myself react like this. No matter how many sweet things he says or how many adorable things he does, he will never see me as more than a friend. I just have to accept that.