Over the course of the next few days, we crossed off a boatload of things from Alani's list. Scuba diving, paddle boarding, boating, kayaking, and tubing were all completed.

Ever since I had given Alani her Christmas present, she had been all over me. Not that I was complaining. I was thinking she felt guilty because she didn't get me anything, but I didn't care or expect her to. Underneath all of Alani's layers, she was a rule follower, and if we made a rule that we weren't getting presents, she was sure to follow it.

Now, it was New Year's Eve, and Alani and I were getting ready for the night. We usually went to bed pretty early, but tonight, we had promised Nadia that we would stay up with her and reign in the new year altogether.

Time square's New Year's Eve show was playing on the television as we sat around, drinking. Every once in a while, I would notice Alani yawning, which caused me to yawn too. By the time it was 11:00, my eyelids had started to fall closed.

"I have an idea!" Nadia exclaimed, jolting me awake.

"What is it, babe?" Jess asked.

"We should count down to New Year's Eve in the pool!"

"Why?" I asked.

"Because usually it's cold during the end of the year, and it's something new that we could try."

"I'm in," Jess said, grabbing Nadia's hand.

"Great! We'll meet you guy's out there," Nadia said before she and Jess went upstairs to change into swimsuits, Leaving Alani, Nelson, Victor, and me in the living room.

"I guess we should get changed," Alani said, standing up. I followed her into our room, and we sluggishly changed into swimwear. Once we got down to the pool, we found Jess and Nadia already in it.

"The water's nice and cold! It'll keep you guys awake until midnight," Nadia said, motioning for us to get in the water.

She wasn't lying about it being cold. The water felt like it should be frozen. As we waded in the shallow end, slowly shuffling to the deeper area, the water hit our skin, causing us to shiver. I had no idea how Jess and Nadia were already fully covered and smiling, but after a few minutes, Alani and I got used to the water. Nadia was right. It did wake us up. I felt more alert and not sleepy at all by the time Nelson and Victor got in. They didn't get in slowly. Instead, they cannonballed into the water, splashing us.

"What are you doing?" I asked Nadia, who had her back faced to me, and as she turned around, I saw what she was doing.

"Nadia, what the fuck are you wearing?" Nelson asked, laughing.

"Goggles," She replied, standing tall and proud.

"Are we six?"

"No. I thought it would be cool to see underwater. I brought extras. Do you want me to go get them?"

"Why not?" Alani said, laughing. When Nadia returned with goggles for each of us, she also suggested that we play underwater charades. We played until 11:59 arrived, and then we watched the New Year's Eve show from Victor's phone.

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1!" The phone blasted the sound throughout our area as we screamed and splashed around, celebrating the new year.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Alani said, looking up at me.

I caressed her face before kissing her softly. We both smiled into the kiss. After pulling away, our foreheads rested together.

"Happy New Year," She said.

"Happy New Year," I said back, smiling.

All good things must come to an end, and eventually, our trip ended. After we sat on a plane for hours, we were home. Alani asked to stay with me tonight, even though we had spent the last few weeks staying together. I guessed she wasn't ready to separate, and if I was telling the truth, neither was I.

"So, I was thinking that maybe next weekend I could meet your family," Alani said, looking hopeful as she climbed into my bed.

"You want to meet my family?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Because we've spent so much time together, I think it's only normal for me to meet them."

"I guess we could drive there," I said, running a hand through my hair. My parent's lived in Cincinnatti, so the trip was only about two hours, making it more manageable.

"Good. I'm excited!" Alani said, grinning before we both fell asleep.

"We did it!" I said from the bottom of a ski hill.

"I know!" Alani said, hugging me.

"Now, let's chill with the activities for a little while," I said.

"Agreed," Alani said, smiling because we completed her list. After going mini-golfing yesterday and skiing today, we finally crossed everything off.

Today was Saturday, and I had promised Alani that we would go to my childhood house for the weekend. The last week had been grueling, with so much work to do now that we were back from winter break, but we managed to get through it and still have time for activities.

"We better get going. My parents are expecting us in a couple of hours," I said as Alani tried to move along the snow in her skis.

A few hours and a lot of heating up later, we found ourselves a few minutes away from my parent's house.

"So, tell me, how do I win them over?"

"Hmm. Honestly, I don't think you will."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't think they're going to like you. It's nothing wrong with you. My parents don't like anybody, especially bold personalities like your own."

"There has to be something I can do," She said.

"No, not really," I said as we pulled into the driveway of my average-looking white house.

"Well, now you're making me nervous."

"Alani, don't be nervous. You shouldn't care what they think anyway."

"I know," She sighed as we got out of the car and made our way up to the entrance.

"You ready?" I asked.

"I guess," She said as we opened the door.