Songs for this chapter:
• Love Is Everything - Ariana Grande
Chapter Twenty-Seven:
Lexi's POV
"Lexi! Wake up! It's Christmas!"
The door to my bedroom bursts open and my brother comes running in, looking like a complete and utter idiot.
It's sometimes hard to believe that he's turning nineteen in less than a week and yet he acts like a little kid the majority of the time.
"It's too early. I desperately need my beauty sleep," I retort, yawning as I sit up in bed.
Charlie rolls his eyes at me as he walks into my bedroom, inviting himself inside. He leisurely takes a seat down on the edge of my bed beside me, and I scowl at him as he picks up my ring from where it's resting on my bedside table.
"Do you know what Bryce got you for Christmas?" Charlie asks me innocently, chuckling, and I snatch my ring out of his hand.
I slip it onto my ring finger, a smile suddenly growing on my face as I examine how the beautiful pink diamonds sparkle in the light slipping in through the curtains.
Perhaps it isn't as early in the morning as I had assumed.
The fact that Bryce somehow manages to find me a ring that looks to be a cherry blossom branch is almost enough to make me tear up due to how thoughtful he always is.
I love this man with my whole heart. I know that I'm never going to be able to love anyone else.
"I told Bryce not to buy me any gifts, actually. I don't want him to spend any money on me for unnecessary reasons," I answer my brother, pulling the long braid that my hair is in over my shoulder before unfastening the elastic.
I begin to run my fingers through my hair, loosening the braid. When I look back to my brother, I find him watching me with a knowing smirk on his face.
"What?" I ask him bluntly, and he laughs some more before he now decides to reach for my cherry blossom necklace, resting directly beside where my ring had just been.
I slap him in the arm before he touches the necklace.
He chooses to ignore the fact that I had just hit him, instead answering my question by saying, "I don't understand why you're so opposed to the idea of your rich ass boyfriend buying you a Christmas present, Lex. Did you buy him anything?"
I can't help but to scoff at his question, slipping out from under my duvet and standing up from my bed. I drop the elastic that had just been in my hair onto my bedside table, heading towards my vanity to retrieve my hairbrush.
"Of course I bought him stuff! Who do you think I am?" I ask, running the hairbrush through my hair as I glare at my brother.
He's staring at me intently once again, and I'm still trying to come up with some snarky reply before he asks, "Are you seriously wearing his clothes right now?"
I glance down at my body, looking at the clothing that I had slept in last night. Sure enough, I'm wearing a pair of Bryce's grey sweatpants and the white hoodie that I had stolen from him nearly a year ago, during that trip in high school.
I stick my tongue out at my brother, setting my hairbrush down on my vanity before heading back towards my bed. I retrieve my cherry blossom necklace from my bedside table, and I watch as my brother stands up from my bed and makes his way back across the room as I fasten the necklace around my neck.
I consider changing into my own clothes before heading downstairs to face my family, but once I consider the impact that wearing Bryce's clothes in front of Adriana and Addison may have on them, I swiftly decide against the idea.
"Hurry up! I want to go open presents!" Charlie whines from the doorway.
It takes all of my strength to not give him the middle finger.
🌸🌸🌸
Adriana and Addison are giving me a strange look right now, but I continue to stroke the smooth leather of my new pair of character shoes.
They clearly don't understand the joy of getting a new pair of character shoes. I guess that it's something that only a weird theatre geek like me would get excited about.
But as I look down at the LaDucas, made of Italian leather dyed a cherry blossom pink, it's hard to not let out another obnoxious girly scream.
I had told my mom about having these shoes made ages ago, as the pink colour had to be custom ordered, and the fact that she actually remembered makes me happier than I can put into words: for some reason, it feels like another step towards a normal mother-daughter relationship between us.
This feels as though my mom is finally embracing my future career in theatre, and that makes me so freaking happy.
I know it's crazy to want another pair of shoes so expensive when I had splurged and bought a similar pair in a regular colour two summers ago for when I was in The Phantom of the Opera, but I have a feeling that the pink shoes will be a lucky charm for me.
Because whenever I wear them, I'll be reminded that both my parents support my dreams now, as well as my boyfriend who gave me this damn cherry blossom necklace all of those years ago.
Someone is suddenly tapping me on the shoulder, and I turn around in my seat to find my mom standing behind me. She has a smile on her face as she glances towards the shoe in my hand, and I gently set the shoe back in the box with its pair before fully turning my body to face my mom.
"You like them?" she asks me, walking around the couch and lifting the box of shoes to then set them down on the coffee table. I realise that she's done so to make room for her to sit down beside me on the loveseat.
I nod, grinning at her. "I love them so much, Mom. I can't thank you enough."
Her smile somehow grows wider, and I'm surprised by how sly the tone of her voice is as she tells me, "I think that there's something else I have to tell you that will make you really happy."
I feel my eyebrows raise up, and when I glance across the room towards the twins, I find them evidently eavesdropping.
When I narrow my eyes at them, to my surprise, they look away from my mom and I.
I then turn back to my mom, who has a mischievous twinkle in her eye as she says, "We're going over to Leo's house for Christmas dinner, tonight."
I freeze, almost unable to take the information in.
My voice is quiet and sort of shaky as I ask, "So I get to see Bryce today? I get to spend Christmas with my boyfriend?"
My mom continues to beam at me as she nods her head. "Yes, you do. Leo figured it would make you and Bryce happy to have Christmas dinner together."
I finally allow myself to let out that obnoxious girly squeal that I had been holding in.
Bryce's POV
"Jesus fucking Christ, Dad. I keep telling you that you don't have to buy me shit for Christmas and yet you always do!" I hiss, leaning back in my seat.
My dad chuckles, sliding the small box across the coffee table and towards me. "Open the damn box, kid. You're being difficult. I know it's not as personal as the guitar that I got you last year, but I still know you better than you think."
I sit up in my seat again, staring my dad in the eye. "I fucking love that guitar, you know. It's really the only acoustic that I play anymore."
My dad smiles at me, nodding his head towards the box still resting on the table. "Open it up. I'm fairly certain that you already know what's in the box anyway."
I roll my eyes at him, picking the box up from the table. I carefully tear away the wrapping paper, trying my best not to rip it, which just causes my dad to scoff at me.
I choose to ignore him, discarding the wrapping paper to reveal a watch box.
I look up to find my dad watching me intently, a wide grin plastered across his face.
"Really? You bought it for me, Dad?" I ask, unable to hide the astonishment in my tone.
He nods his head at me, and I pop open the top of the box to reveal the watch that I had been going on about for ages.
I lift a finger to trace along the gold bezel, encrusted with gems because I'm a dorky bastard who fucking loves sparkly watches.
I also seem to be an incredibly lucky bastard, considering that I have the best dad in the whole fucking universe.
"Thank you. Fuck, thank you so much, Dad. I honestly can't believe that you remembered which watch it was," I murmur, finding myself becoming transfixed by the watch in my hand.
"No problem, kid. You should know by now that I pay damn good attention to you, though," he says with a wink, reaching to grab his cup of coffee from the table beside the couch.
I carefully lift the watch from the box, taking a closer look as I examine it in my hand. "Damn, it's gorgeous. But this is really too much, Dad. You didn't have to do this for me."
I gently place the watch back into its box, turning to my dad. He takes a sip of his coffee before letting out a sigh. "Don't worry about it, Bryce. I wanted to buy you something nice, and I blame myself for your watch obsession anyway," he insists.
One more glance towards the watch and I can't help but to give in.
I stand up from my seat, taking a few steps towards where my dad is sitting on one of the other couches. I take a seat beside him, pulling him into a tight hug before he even had a chance to react.
"I love you, old man," I say, resting my head against his shoulder.
He chuckles, giving me a squeeze. "I love you too, kid."
When I slowly pull away from his embrace, I smile at my dad for a moment before standing up and heading back towards the other couch. I sit back down where I had previously been seated, plucking the watch box off of the coffee table to continue to examine the watch like a fucking creep.
I hear my dad take another sip of his coffee, and for some bizarre reason, it reminds me of Mateo.
Probably because that blond bastard appears to have a caffeine addiction, but who am I to judge him for that?
"Did you buy Mateo anything?" I ask, making sure to keep my voice low enough that there isn't any chance of Mateo and Elena hearing our conversation from where they're chatting in the kitchen.
My dad nods, taking another sip of coffee before answering me by saying, "Yes, actually. Elena has asked what I was buying you, and it turns out that Mateo can appreciate a good watch as well."
It suddenly hits me how fucking snobby this conversation sounds.
"This conversation is making us sound like pretentious, rich white people," I comment, and my dad barks out a laugh in response.
"You're not wrong," he mutters, and I allow myself to join him in laughing.
"Lexi found the drawer of watches I have in my closet and she was very . . . startled. Impressed, too, I believe. She's fucking adorable. She probably thinks I'm some sort of Christian Grey now," I tell my dad, grinning at the memory.
My dad quirks one eyebrow up at me. "I didn't know about those books and movies until Elena told me about them recently. They seem quite interesting," he comments.
I bite down on the inside of my cheek to attempt to stop myself from speaking my mind, but it doesn't work out well for me as I quickly say, "Well, I feel as though that tells me a lot about your sex life, old man."
My dad scoffs, leaning back in his seat. He sips some more from his coffee before saying, "Stop calling me 'old man'. We both know that I look far younger than I am, Bryce, and I also believe that we both know that you yourself have a very intense sex life."
I huff at him. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever. You're still only two years off from getting the senior's discount, Dad," I say, having to take a moment to think of how I'm going to avoid speaking about Blossom and I's sex life.
I'm not embarrassed, but I know that the thought of my hand around her neck not too long ago is going to turn me the fuck on, and that would truly be an awkward situation.
Mateo and Elena save me from this conversation as they enter the room. Mateo is holding one cup of coffee and Elena is carrying two, which soon makes sense as she approaches me and holds out one of the steaming mugs for me to take.
"Thank you, Elena," I tell her with a smile as she then takes a seat down beside my dad on the loveseat. He instinctually drapes his arm around her shoulders and I watch as she snuggles up against his side.
I do have to admit that they make a damn perfect couple. I can see how fucking happy they make one another, and it makes me pretty happy to see my dad happy.
Mateo takes a seat down on the couch beside me, giving me a small smile. I smile back, watching as his eyes then dart to the watch in my hand.
I set the box down on the coffee table, taking a sip from the hot coffee in my mug. When I look back to Dad and Elena, I find them watching us intently.
My dad clears his throat and it draws everyone's attention towards him. "We're having company over for dinner tonight," he announces.
Elena doesn't seem surprised by this news, and our dad doesn't give Mateo and I much of a chance to consider who could possibly be our dinner guests before he says, "Lexi's family is coming over."
I blink a few times before I feel myself smile wider than I have in a very long time.
"Holy fuck! Really? I get to see my girl today? Thank fucking God! I wanted to give her her gifts in person today but I was worried that I wouldn't get a chance to. Thank you!" I exclaim.
My dad and Elena both laugh, but my dad shuts himself up quickly as a thought seems to strike him.
I watch as he reaches behind himself, retrieving another box from God-knows-where. The box itself is almost identical to that of the watch that I had just been gifted, but I have a feeling that my dad wouldn't have been quite cheesy enough as to buy both of his sons matching watches.
Truthfully, that would probably make me gag.
"This is for you, Mateo," our dad says, standing up from his seat. He takes a few steps towards Mateo, who also stands up when there is about a foot of space between him and our dad.
"Really?" Mateo asks incredulously, hesitantly taking the box from my dad's outstretched hand.
Dad nods at him enthusiastically, and I can see in his eyes how joyful he is as Mateo pops open the lid to the box.
He lets out an audible gasp upon seeing the watch. It's similar to mine, gold as well, but it doesn't have any of the gems encrusted in the bezel.
Mateo appears to be stunned for a moment, and when he eventually opens his mouth, his voice comes out as a hoarse whisper. "Wow, Leo. Thank you so much. This means a lot."
My dad has a strange gleam in his eye as he watches Mateo's face closely as his blond son examines the watch that he had just been gifted. When Mateo looks up and his gaze locks with our dad's, he does something I never would have expected.
Mateo pulls our dad into a hug.
My dad seems to be startled by Mateo's actions as well, but nonetheless, he hugs his son back as he quietly says, "Don't worry about it, Mateo. It's my pleasure."
To my surprise, I don't find myself getting jealous upon seeing my dad acting as a father figure to someone else.
For some strange fucking reason, it actually makes me happy.
A/N: I stayed up way too late writing this chapter but I just had to get all of my thoughts down. Whoopsies.
Anywho, I am beyond excited for the next chapters. The Bexi moments are going to be too freaking adorable. I don't think you guys are ready.
How did everyone feel about Mateo and Leo's brief bonding moment? It makes my heart happy :-)