Waking up on Christmas morning to Derek's peacefully sleeping face was something I never imagined. Since we are older and have no little children in the house, it's nine am and I just woke up.

Derek's head lays on the pillow next to mine, his mouth is slightly open, which makes me suppress a laugh, and his arm is hanging over my waist. Originally my back was to his front but once I woke up I turned around to wake him up. Watching his eyes twitch and his mouth close, his eyes flutter open and a soft smile grows on his face.

His dark hair is all messed around from sleep but I love it. It takes no effort for him to look good, he just is. I should rephrase that and say he is good in all ways, not just his looks.

He moves his head down and wraps his arm tighter around me, making it so he is hugging me tightly to him. His lips go to my neck and he pecks his lips there. "Good morning," he whispers.

Chills run down my spine at the sound. "Good morning," I say brightly. It's Christmas Day! One of my favorite days of the year. "Are you excited to open your gift from me?" I ask.

He lifts his head and scoffs sarcastically. "Psh yeah," he says and I laugh.

A knock sounds on the door and I almost have to push Derek off me. There's nothing worse than your parents catching you in bed with a boy. And yes, I know I am an adult now but for me, it's just awkward.

Derek also seems a little embarrassed as my dad peaks in the room. A small amused smirk forms on his face and he shakes his head. "Your mother told me to wake you two up," he says. "And seeing as you were not in your room, Ash, I looked here."

A blush rises on my cheeks and my dad laughs. I look at Derek who is also smiling. They live to tease me.

Derek and I get out of bed and head downstairs to the smell of coffee and cinnamon rolls. Derek and I take a spot next to each other on the couch and we look under the tree at the gifts.

My mom walks in all smiles and is holding two mugs. "I know Ash doesn't like coffee so I made her hot chocolate," she says. "Would you like some Derek?"

Derek smiles and nods, tossing me a knowing look. "Yes, thank you." She hands us the mugs and sits next to my dad near us.

My mom sips her mug. "How did you two sleep?" She asks suggestively.

"Mom," I groan.

Derek chuckles. "We slept great," he says and then puts a hand behind my head, caressing my hair. "That bed is very comfortable."

I do have to agree with him. The bed is even better than mine and the mattress in my room is newer.

"Good," my mom says. "I'm glad.

My mom and dad share a look and I shake my head.

"Okay!" I say. "Enough sleep talk. Presents?" I ask excitedly. I immediately get up to grab Derek's gift, that I put under the tree, and hand it to him.

He watches my excitement and chuckles. "Is it a bomb?" He asks.

"Derek," I say. "Why would I get you a bomb?"

What is it with this guy and bombs geez.

He snickers. "I'm messing with you," he teases.

I roll my eyes. "Yes we know that," I say. "Open the gift!" I say.

I hear my parents laugh from behind me. "Okay, okay," he says in defense.

He tears open the paper and opens the box. "A hockey puck?" He asks, examining it, confused.

"Look on the back," I instruct.

He turns it over and his eyebrows shoot up. "It has my initials and number on it." He looks at me smiling. "Ash that's so cool." He says excitedly.

I smile nervously. "I wasn't totally sure what to get you so I thought of something creative I could do for you." I say and shrug.

It took me forever to figure this out. That's another reason why I was stressing finals week because I still didn't finalize how I was going to do it. But luckily I asked around and made it happen. It has his initials DKC on it for Derek Kade Collins, and the Teakwood logo accompanied but his number 15. I'm very glad it turned out how I pictured it and I'm glad he thinks it's cool.

"I love it, thank you." He says, smiling fondly at me. I can see the debate in his eyes whether to kiss me or not so I make the decision for him and kiss him.

He melts into it as I do and once we release from each other our eyes twinkle lovingly.

The rest of the morning goes by smoothly and is very relaxing. I got lots of nice gifts from my parents like clothes, makeup, and more college essentials. They also got Derek a really nice hoodie which he really appreciates. He does love his sweatshirts.

Once we eat breakfast and get our comfy, but nice, clothes on we head to my aunts again for the day. This time it's only my aunt, uncle, cousins and my grandparents as yesterday was the whole extended family side of my moms family. My dad's family live in California and we usually can't travel that far every year. So for the most part, holidays are spent with my moms side and phone calls and mailed presents are the norm from my dad's side.

Since yesterday was a little more chaotic, I didn't get to show Derek around my aunt and uncle's grand mansion. I mean, if I'm being honest, it's not a mansion, but it could be if you think of it that way.

We reach the backyard and Derek's jaw drops. "They've got an ice rink in their backyard?" He asks, shocked.

I nod. "Yep, with their all star hockey player and a figure ice skater," meaning Hallie. "They invested in it."

We hear the slider open from behind us and Jordan walks out with a cocky smirk on his face. "Like what you see Collins?" Jordan asks.

Derek looks at Jordan and smirks as well. "Dude, you've got it all."

Jordan chuckles. "My life sure doesn't totally suck at the moment." Jordan says.

I roll my eyes. Jordan is like the brother I never had. Since we spent so much time together growing up we could be more siblings than cousins. Jordan was always Mr. Popular and the star athlete. I was the smart cousin and then Hallie was the figure skater. We all get along but there's always the annoyances.

Hallie joins us a little bit later and she's talking on the phone with her boyfriend, Mark. She holds out a finger saying to give her a second and says goodbye.

"How's boring Mark doing?" Jordan asks.

Hallie rolls her eyes. "He is not boring, Jordan, so quit it with that."

Jordan scoffs and shakes his head.

I look at Derek who still admires the ice. I walk up close to him. "You wanna skate?" I ask.

He looks at me and raises his eyebrows. "We can?"

I nod and Jordan smiles. "Dude yeah! Let's do a shoot out!"

Derek smiles and follows Jordan to the shed that holds the hockey gear and equipment. Hallie walks up to me and folds her arms over her chest.

"So he's good to you?" She asks.

I nod and smile. "He is, we have a lot of fun together. I'm very comfortable around him."

Hallie smiles. "That's great, A."

The boys return a moment later in some pads and helmets, holding sticks and Jordan has the pucks.

"What's goin' on out here?" My aunt Alice asks from the door, looking at Derek and Jordan on the ice.

"Shoot our mom!" Hallie calls. "Get the fam out here! It's gonna be good!"

Aunt Alice rushes back inside and returns with the rest of the family. My mom, dad, uncle, aunt, grandma, and grandpa all take seats on the outside seating and watch the boys go at it.

Jordan is at the net first and readies himself for Derek's shots. "Come on babe you got this!" I yell.

"Knock 'im out Derek!" Hallie yells.

Derek smiles in my direction while Jordan glares at Hallie and I.

Derek takes his first shot and Jordan blocks it. He takes another and this time it goes in. A chorus of cheers come from my family.

"Enjoy it while it lasts, bro." Jordan says in an arrogant tone.

Hallie and I roll our eyes at each other and Derek takes another shot. It passes Jordan. Another passes. And another. Jordan can't keep up. I smile watching Derek do what he loves. Like he is always on the ice, he is mesmerizing. I know he's not doing much but hitting the stick but just by his body language you can tell this is what he loves to do.

My whole family cheers him on and once Derek shoots his last shot past Jordan the family erupts in cheers. Derek shakes around the ice in excitement. I clap and cheer for him while Jordan looks defeated. Good, someone needed to humble him.

"Hey! I thought you were my family!" Jordan complains, amusingly.

"Oh Jordan, you were good too honey." My grandmother comments and everyone laughs at Jordan's funny frown through his helmet.

Next Derek takes the net and the first few shots Jordan gets past him but the last few Derek defends them all perfectly. It's almost like he recognized Jordan's patterns.

A little later, after Jordan finally admits his defeat, the boys get changed and we all head inside. Derek comes to my side, hair a little damp with sweat, and kisses my cheek.

I get on my tiptoes to whisper, "See, don't worry about Jordan this season."

He smiles and pecks my lips.

We enjoy the rest of the day spending Christmas with my family and soon we will be back at school. Back to reality.