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He kisses Mom on the cheek and escapes out the back door without another word to me.
I watch him through the window, praying that he'll turn to look back for me.
He doesn't.
He disappears from my view when he slams the door to his house.
Have I ruined everything?
Desperate for advice, I text my friend.
I think I screwed things up. I slept with my neighbor who's friends with my mom and dad. I want to be with him, but they'll be pissed and he'll lose his friends. What should I do?
Mom sets a plate of my favorite foods in front of me. Without Gavin in my life, I barely notice. "Eat up, dear. I'm going to wake your father. He has some last-second shopping to do before we go to Grandma's tonight."
I'd completely forgotten about the big family party.
All I want to do is bury myself beneath the blankets in Gavin's bed and apologize for being a chicken earlier. I'd beg him to take me back until he couldn't resist, but I'm going to need to spend the day at the party instead, and Christmas is tomorrow so who knows when I'll have a chance to see Gavin again.
My phone beeps. I look at it while shoving a piece of bacon into my mouth.
The hot neighbor? If you want him, go get him. When was the last time any man got you excited? Don't throw that all away just because you're afraid of your parents. Grow up. Go talk to him and see what he wants to do about it all. Good men are hard to come by. Go win back your Prince Charming.
Buoyed by her encouragement, I grab another piece of bacon and make a dash for the door.
Gavin
"What the hell is wrong with that girl?" I ask as I angrily tug on the strands of Christmas lights and only end up tying them into a tighter knot.
First, she raced up the stairs without waiting for me. Second, she ignored me in front of her mom! All of my dreams of spending my life with her had come crashing down around me. Rather than starting a fight in front of her mom and risking ruining her Christmas break, I'd stomped home.
All alone.
Whatever happens, Maisy's Christmas won’t be ruined because of something I do. I could never hurt her like that.
I finally get the lights untangled and toss them at the tree. What's the point in even decorating if Maisy isn't here?
After all my years alone on Christmas, I suddenly can't imagine the holiday without her. I'm tired of being the third wheel at friends’ parties or scrambling to round up some date who I never end up talking to again. All I want to do is settle down with my baby doll and never leave her side.
I hold up the angel Christmas tree topper and glower at it. They call this an angel? They must've never met Maisy before.
I throw the angel across the room right as the doorbell rings. I ignore it until I realize whoever is outside isn’t going to stop pressing the damn button until I answer.
Yanking the door open, I yell, "What the hell do you—"
My words are cut off when I see my angel standing before me, tears hanging from the corners of her eyes. Forgotten is my anger. All I can focus on is doing whatever it’ll take to make her stop being sad.
"What's wrong, baby doll? Come in and tell me how I can make it better."
I take her hand and pull her into my home with renewed hope. Somehow, someway, it'll be our home soon.
She pulls away from my grip. "You left me. How could you have just walked out?"
Her words are a sledgehammer to my heart. Flailing to control or even understand the warring emotions rattling around inside me, I snap back. “What the hell do you expect me to be? Your secret fuck-buddy? While pretending nothing is happening between us in front of your mom?”
She flinches at my words and turns back toward the door. She’s going to flee to the safety of her childhood home.
Forcing myself to regain control, I quickly call out to her. “Please stay. We need to talk.”
