Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ The Final Chance ❯ Chapter Eleven: Christmas Gifts ( Chapter 12 )

Disclaimer: Warning! Fluff alert! Fluff alert! Warning! XD Also, this is a Christmas chapter (even though it's only September in real life…) so yah. Anyways, mush alert! XD *giggling already* Gah just go read already will you?! XD

 

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Chapter Eleven: Christmas Gifts

 

The room was peaceful, soft Christmas music playing on the small stereo, the tunes of Carol of the Bells drifting through Ryleigh's mind. Only the small desk light was on, the curtains drawn, leaving the room bathed in a soft, orange glow. Ryleigh lay sprawled on her stomach, elbows resting against her beds pillow and the book containing the story of the elf and the halfling held in her hands, her dual eyes scanning through the pages slowly, deliberately, though she wasn't actually seeing the words written across the pages.

 

The blonde's mind was far from the book held in her hands; in fact, it was centered around a certain red head at the moment. Since the night of the thunderstorm, things between she and Zade had been slightly… was tense the word she was looking for? Ryleigh wasn't sure. She had woken to the sight of a bare male chest, her head tucked tightly under said male's chin and Zade's arms wrapped tightly around her waist, keeping her body pinned closely, but not uncomfortably, to his. As per usual, Ryleigh's face had flushed a lovely cherry colour, but before she'd had time to wiggle away, her movements had in turned caused Zade to awaken.

 

This had in turn led to a very awkward silence between the two, Zade's face turning a red that matched Ryleigh's as he stared down at the girl, both subconsciously leaning forwards only to jump apart when Lorie had slammed open the door, screeching about Ryleigh seducing her brother. This had only further added to Lorie's seeming hate of the older woman, and as such, when Ryleigh was forced to go Christmas shopping with the younger girl (an experience she hoped to never relive), they'd been silent roughly 99.9 percent of the time.

 

That had been the day before; now it was Christmas Eve. Earlier, at dinner, Ryleigh had been sad when Zade had ignored her for most of the meal, only glancing at her from time to time while speaking animatedly to Lorie. A shiver ran through her at the way he'd looked at her just before he'd excused himself from the table and headed off in the direction of his room, her cheeks flushing red suddenly. Ryleigh had retreated to her own room soon afterwards, taking a brief shower and changing into a pair of red and black snoopy pjs before flopping into the position she was in currently. Though she was used to being alone on Christmas Eve (since Nathaniel and Glen always went away), Ryleigh found herself longing for company.

 

Zade's company. Since she'd come to Andrew's house with him, the few moments she'd spent with the red head had been her happiest ones.

 

`Besides,' she grumbled mentally, allowing her head to flop forwards onto her pillow with a sigh, `He is the one who invited me here in the first place… I wonder what he thinks of me…' Sighing again, Ryleigh rolled, opening her eyes at stare up at the ceiling. She bit her lip in thought. She was beginning to realize that what she was feeling for Zade was more then a simple crush, and though that thought scared her slightly, it also made her feel warm.

 

Ryleigh had never known the love of a parent, nor that of a blood related sibling; having a friend whom she considered her `brother' couldn't make up for this. Though she had trouble admitting it, even to herself, her heart longed for love; for someone to be there for her when she was down and needed comfort and reassuring.

 

She'd never told anyone about her fear of thunder; no one knew. Except for Zade. Zade, whom she'd once been weary of, Zade, whom had seemed like such a jackass the first time she'd met him, Zade… the one who made her cheeks turn red and her heart beat just a little quicker when he joked or complimented her.

 

`He probably just thinks of me as a friend,' she thought sadly, rolling again and sitting on the edge of her bed, staring down at the creamy carpet below her bare feet, `He only comforted me out of concern for a friend…' Getting up and heading to her stereo, she let the tunes of the nutcracker suite play for a few seconds more before clicking the off button.

 

Ryleigh blinked in surprise when the sound didn't stop, it simply became quieter. Realizing that the music was coming from somewhere outside her room, Ryleigh quietly opened her bedroom door and snuck out, following the music. She tip-toed past Andrew and Lorie's bedrooms, not wanting to wake either of the possibly sleeping people and carefully made her way down the stairs, avoiding any places where her weight might cause a creak.

 

Reaching the bottom, Ryleigh glanced around and spotted light coming from the entrance to the living room, the music, now slightly louder, coming from within. Moving forwards, she opened the door further and peaked in, blinking.

 

The Christmas tree sat near the left edge of the fire place, its lights on and twinkling in the dark room, a fire crackling away behind the metal grate. Presents had been placed under the tree; not many, for there were only four people, and the ornaments sparkled in the vague light. The music came from the sound system placed on the opposite side of the room, but Ryleigh's eyes were focused on the bit of red hair she could see over the back of the couch. Walking quietly inside, the blonde stopped at the opposite end of the couch from where Zade was sitting, the red head leaning against the couch arm with a blanket over his legs. His chest was bare, and Ryleigh had to mentally remind herself not to blush at the way the fire light danced over the muscles under his skin.

 

Ryleigh wet her suddenly dry lips with her tongue, finally finding her voice, “Mind if I join you?” she asked softly, but the sudden question didn't startle Zade at all, the red head simply nodding, his gaze never straying from the fire place.

 

Moving hesitantly, she sat down at the edge of the couch, legs pulled up to her chest and her chin resting gently on her knees, eyes going to the Christmas tree. Neither spoke for a long time, stuck in the awkward silence, staring at either the fire or the tree. Finally, Zade chanced a glance at the woman sitting opposite him, struck by how she looked in the fire light. Her honey hair caught the flickers of light and magnified them, her eyes, blue and green, both echoing the fire's radiance in their own ways. He was drawn from his thoughts when he realized she was shaking subtly, frowning.

 

“You're shivering,” he stated, and, just as on the night of the thunderstorm, Ryleigh had no chance to react before Zade reached over and grabbed her left wrist, pulling her easily to his side of the couch against his side, draping his blanket over the both of them. Once more feeling like a tomato, Ryleigh allowed Zade to move her slightly, settling them both into a more comfortable position with Ryleigh's head against his shoulder and their legs spread along the couch.

 

“Zade…” Ryleigh started, only to have the words freeze in her throat when she looked up, loosing herself immediately to his smoldering honey gaze, feeling as though he'd pinned her to the spot and sent her heart on a rapid race. Dear lord… what was he doing to her? She only vaguely noticed when Zade's head started moving towards hers, his grip around her waist tightening and her own head tilting slightly.

 

Ryleigh's mind only kicked back into gear when his lips closed softly over her own, her eyelids fluttering closed at the sudden sensations running through her body.

 

`My first kiss…' she thought dreamily as he pulled away, once more tucking her head under his chin. She sighed, bringing her hand up to touch her lips, the feeling of his still left on their surface.

 

“Sleep, Ryleigh,” Ryleigh heard his voice murmur, feeling him nuzzle his face into her hair; this had a calming effect, sending the blonde swiftly into a peaceful slumber, Zade following shortly after.

 

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“Dad, can't I wake them?!”

 

“Shush Lorie, and not yet, I want to get a picture…”

 

“Oh fine…” The quiet voices drew Zade in consciousness, the red head wondering vaguely why he felt so comfortable. When he remembered, he grinned mentally, then remembered the voices. Opening one eye slightly, he was just in time to be blinded by the flash of his father's digital camera, blinking to clear his vision and opening both his eyes to glare at the older man. Andrew simply grinned, waving the camera back in forth in front of his sons face, the picture he'd just taken of Zade and Ryleigh shown on the small screen. Zade's hand snatched out to grab it, but Andrew jerked it away, Lorie silently dieing of laughing behind him. Zade's movement caused Ryleigh to wake up; her lids fluttering back to reveal blurry blue and green orbs

 

“Wha…?” she yawned, blinking slightly to clear her vision, glancing up and locking eyes with Zade.

 

“Morning,” he said quietly, smiling and brushing a lock of blonde from the woman's face, her cheeks flushing red as she remember where she was.

 

She groaned, hiding her face in the closest thing; which just happened to be Zade's chest. She heard Andrew and Lorie laugh, while she felt Zade's chuckle vibrating through his chest. She whapped him on the shoulder gently, feeling him run a hand through her hair. Ryleigh wondered why this gesture made her feel so calm.

 

“Alright you two, get up, time to open presents.”

 

“Yah! Presents!” Lorie agreed, diving for the tree while Andrew moved to sit in the arm chair nearer the tree. Ryleigh made to get up, squeaking when Zade suddenly scooped her up and stood before sitting on the ground, cross-legged, and placing her in his lap, sitting with his head on top of hers and his arms around her waist. Flushing again, Ryleigh glanced up at him and stuck her tongue out.

 

“Jackass,” Zade chuckled again, the vibrations sending shivers up her spine again. Ryleigh avoided looking at Andrew or Lorie as they exchanged gifts, pulling herself away from Zade (despite his protests) to crawl over to the tree and grab the gifts she'd gotten the other three, passing Andrew and Lorie theirs before crawling back over to Zade and handing him his.

 

The red head attempted to lift her back into his lap, but Ryleigh evaded his grasp, giggling quietly when he pouted.

 

“I want to see your expression when you open it,” she explained, the male sighing and nodding dramatically, waiting for his father and brother to finish opening theirs. Both thanked Ryleigh for their gifts (she'd gotten Lorie some earrings and Andrew some chocolates), they all turned to look at Zade. After examining the thin box, Zade tore through the wrapping paper, staring in shock at the painting.

 

“I hope you like it,” Ryleigh blushed, fidgeting with the end of her pj top, “Andrew told me about the photograph and I figured if I could fix it up you'd-”

 

“Ryleigh…” he cut her off, his voice sounding breathless, “this… this is…” Zade ran his hand over the painting of his grandparents, the likenesses' perfect in colour and in looks, nothing out of place; the original photograph had been badly damaged, so badly that you could barely tell what the colours were anymore. Placing the painting down beside him, Zade turned to Ryleigh and grabbed her in his arms, squeezing her tightly against him.

 

“Thank you…” his voice was so quiet she almost didn't hear it, but Ryleigh simply smiled and wrapped her arms around him in return, glad she had done something right.

 

“Oh! I almost forgot!” Somehow maneuvering her so that Ryleigh was once more sitting in his lap (she noted that he seemed to like having her sitting there), Zade turned and grabbed something from beside the couch, placing it in her hands. Ryleigh blinked down at the jewelry box, feeling her heart beat quicken again. It looked like a necklace box, but she'd never been given jewelry by anyone before, let alone a guy.

 

A guy who'd taken her first kiss no less…

 

Mentally shaking away that thought, she pealed away the wrapping slowly, placing it to the side and snapping open the box, gasping as she did so. She'd been right when she'd assumed it was a necklace, but she hadn't expected something so…. personal.

 

Inside lay a beautiful butterfly pendant, its wings made of four pieces of emerald with a small circle diamond at its centre, attached to a fine silver chain.

 

`Emerald… my birthstone… how did he know…?' Ryleigh didn't move, still in awe of the gift.

 

“Here,” Zade spoke from behind her, reaching around to lift the pendant from it's case, turning it and letting it hang, “let's see how it looks.”

 

Sweeping her hair to one side of her neck, Zade lowered the pendant to below her neck and brought the clasp back around, securing it and letting it drop, gently tugging her hair through so that it fell around her shoulders. Ryleigh looked down, touching the pendant gently; the length of the chain let it hang just below her collar bone, looking slightly strange against her pajama shirt.

 

“Zade…” Twisting to look at him, the red head was surprised to see tears gathering in her eyes just before she turned completely and hugged him tightly, clenching her eyes shut, “Thank you…”

 

“Hey, Ryleigh, what's wrong?” Zade asked, hugging the woman tightly, wondering where the sudden water works had come from.

 

She pulled back, laughing slightly and whipping the moisture away from her eyes, “Sorry, I didn't mean to break down like that…” she was cut off when he tilted her chin up, lost in his eyes once more.

 

“Its fine…” he murmured before kissing her again, both forgetting about the two others in the room, smiling at the two.

 

“Come Lorie, let's go get breakfast ready,” Lorie nodded, following her father out of the room, Ryleigh and Zade pulling away from each other shortly after, both out of breath and blushing.

 

Leaning his forehead against hers, Zade flashed her a lopsided grin, “I've got something to ask you…” Ryleigh blinked up at him, raising an eyebrow.

 

“And that would be…?”

 

“Will you be my girlfriend?” despite being slightly surprised, Ryleigh smiled brightly and moved her face closer to his.

 

“Yes.”

 

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Weeeeeeeeee X3!!!! *giggling like crazy* Fluff galore! Hope you peoples enjoyed! Ryleigh and Zade finally hooked up, woot! XD

 

Amariahellcat

 

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*gushes* How sweet!

 

~Snowy