The night was perfect.

It was like for the next few hours, everyone was just happy to be together and celebrating the end of the year. Occasionally I'd look around to make sure Mom was okay, and every time I'd find her with their parents or one of the neighbors, talking and laughing like she had never been sick at all. If I was given anything, the best thing I could have seen tonight was her having a good time.

After finishing my first glass, I put it down on the counter, looking around for another clean one.

"You want more?" Josh asked, leaning in close. I shook my head, filling it with water and taking a sip.

"No, I don't want to be drunk tonight." I said softly. "I want to remember everything." His eyes went wide for a moment, biting down on his lip as he smiled back at me, nodding.

"Me too." He said, kissing my cheek. I couldn't help but smile, my heart starting to beat faster. How much I loved getting to be like this with him at one of their family parties, something I had dreamed about my entire life, finally getting to celebrate Christmas like this together, even if we weren't officially together.

Not yet at least.

"So when do I get to give you your gift?" I asked, reaching over and gently grabbing onto his shirt, pulling him in closer. I felt one of his arms wrap around me, his hand now gently grabbing my waist, pulling me up against him.

"Later." He whispered. "You get the last gift of the night."

My heart jumped.

That was all I wanted.

Getting to be with him at the end of the night, just the two of us alone finally getting to exchange our gifts with each other as so much more than just friends.

"Hey.." I then heard from behind us. I turned around to see Sam coming up to us with a small box in his hand, wrapped in bright red paper and tied together with a green ribbon. "Would you mind if I.. um.. borrowed Jaime for a few minutes." He giggled, motioning towards their tree. Josh shook his head, playfully pushing me towards him with a grin.

"But not for too long." He said, winking at me. I playfully rolled my eyes, going back over and pulling him into a quick kiss before following Sam across the kitchen and into the living room.

"You know, you really didn't have to get me anything, it's okay." I said, sitting down on the floor next to the tree. He sat down in front of me, carefully placing his gift onto my lap, his eyes never once straying away from mine as they stared back with such excitement.

It reminded me of the years when we were younger; he was always so excited around Christmas time, not even so much for himself, but he always loved seeing how excited everyone else got when they opened their presents. It was just one of the many things I loved about him, just how much he truly enjoyed the happiness of others.

"Maybe I should go first." I laughed, reaching over and grabbing one of the boxes I had brought out of the bag and handing it over to him. He shook his head, his smile growing.

"Jaime, you know you didn't have to-"

"Oh, shut up and open it." I said, nudging it closer to him. He smirked back at me, his cheeks burning red.

"Fine." He sighed, now slowly unwrapping it.

"Oh my god, you're unbearable." I laughed, reaching over to help him. He quickly pulled it away.

"Last I checked this was my gift." He said. "And if I want to take my time-"

"Alright, alright." I sighed, watching him as he carefully removed the wrapping paper like he was planning on saving it for next year. But I knew he just loved savoring the moment; sometimes the anticipation of a thing was even more exciting than the thing itself.

I hoped that wasn't the case with us.

When all of the paper had finally been removed and pushed to the side, he slowly lifted the lid and peeked inside the box, his eyes instantly going wide and a huge grin spreading across his lips.

"What is this?" He asked, now pulling out the new bass strap. I sat back, watching as he inspected in closely, until finally his eyes lit up when he flipped it over.

"Oh, Jaime.." He sighed, peeking back up at me, trying his best to hide his grin.

"Do you like it?" I asked, crawling over next to him. He nodded, holding it back up to his face, closely examining the golden stitching that read

I'm always here for you.

Love, Jaime.

"I love it." He said softly, looking back over at me. I felt my face get hot as a flustered smile escaped from my lips, quickly moving away from him, leaning back up against the couch again. He bit down on his lip, finally breaking his stare as he brought his attention back to the strap.

"Just a little something to remember me when you're back on the road." I shrugged. He nodded.

"You know I don't need this to remember you, Jaime." He sighed, finally putting it back into the box. "But thank you. I love it. I can't wait to use it."

He then reached back over, pushing his gift to me back into my lap. I couldn't help but laugh, shaking my head as I unwrapped the bow, quickly pulling off the wrapping paper.

"No need to rush." He giggled to himself, now crawling over next to me, his body almost up against mine. I could feel my face getting hot again, but I kept my attention on the gift box, carefully opening the lid.

"Sam.." I somehow managed, pulling out a brand new video camera. "W-what.. what's this-"

"Okay, so.. we all know you can write things, or so we've heard. You've never let me read anything so I can only take your word for it, but.. I think it's time you start making your own things and stop relying on Josh for that." He laughed. "You can even film me if you wanted. But.. I just want you to know that.. I'm always here for you too, and I believe in you, and I never want you to limit yourself. When you find whatever your 'thing' is, I know you're going to be amazing at it, but.. you won't truly know until you try everything, so.. here you go."

I couldn't believe it. I had never seen a camera this nice before. Not in person at least. Not for me. This had to have costed him.. way too much.

"Sam, I can't-"

"Yes you can." He said simply. "I want you to have it. My only condition is.. whatever you make with it.. I want to see it, okay? I don't want you hiding your talents anymore." I bit down on my lip, nodding as I peeked up at him, hoping that I could contain my tears for as long as possible, but it was no use.

"Please don't cry." He giggled to himself, quickly reaching up and wiping my eyes. "Because then I'll start to cry and that'll just be embarrassing. You can just say 'thank you,' and we can leave it at that, okay?" I nodded, wiping my eyes again before reaching over, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him into a tight hug.

"Thank you." I sighed. "It's way too much.. but thank you." I then felt his arms wrap around me, holding me close, his hand gently moving up and down my back.

"You're welcome." He eventually said, giving me a gentle smile as I moved away. "I know everything is going to work out. Don't worry."

Somehow, when he said it, it became easier to believe. Josh and I still hadn't heard back from the school, and it left me wondering if we weren't accepted, if we would even hear back from them at all. But it was the holidays, and every day I tried my hardest not to think about it.

And every day I failed.

"Am I interrupting something?" I heard from behind us. My heart jumped at the familiar sound of the once raspy voice that always managed to have such an effect over me, and unfortunately, probably always would.

"No.." Sam finally said, moving away and pushing himself up from the floor as Jake made his way over to us, waiting for Sam to leave the room before sitting down in front of me with a small box in his hands.