It had been two days since I read Ally's journal. Two days since that random lady told me to tell Ally how I feel. And it was the day of the Christmas party. It wasn't really a full on party though. You see, Ally, Trish, Dez, and I all have our own special family traditions for Christmas Eve and the day itself. So Ally decided to organize a gift exchange for us as close to Christmas as she could without messing up our traditions. The 23rd.
I paced nervously around my room, probably making lines in the carpet, but I didn't care. I stepped on one of the many crumbled balls of paper lying around my room. Swearing lightly, I picked it up and threw it in the overflowing trashcan. I heard my mom yelling for me downstairs so I grabbed my guitar and booked it out to the car.
The party was fantastic. Ally had outdone herself, as always, with endless amounts of food and each one of our favorite drinks. Thank God she did too, because Dez ate like he was going to die tomorrow. I guess I ate a lot too though…
When it was time to exchange gifts my palms got sweaty. Dez and Trish both glared at each other before pulling out the exact same ugly hat and shoving it toward the other person. Ally and I nearly fell out of our chairs with laughter as they both stared incredulously at their identical gifts. After a while, they got over the shock and turned to retrieve their next presents. Trish handed Ally a small box, which she opened to find a star shaped necklace. She smiled and hugged Trish tightly and I couldn't help but be a little jealous. I hadn't gotten a hug like that for days! Wait…was I seriously just complaining about being jealous of Trish? God, what's happening to me?
Dez gave me a picture of him and his chicken. He told me I could keep it by my bedside and always think of him. I honestly don't know what is wrong with that kid. I gave him a card that said he could go to that crazy sandwich place in the mall and make one of his famously disgusting sandwiches. He loved it.
Trish and I exchanged gifts. She got me some sort of recording device that messed with your voice so that you sounded like a chipmunk, it was pretty awesome. I had gotten her a gift card to one of her favorite stores because, really, what else do you get Trish? She squealed in delight and hugged me. We thanked each other and watched as Ally and Dez exchanged.
Ally had gotten Dez a pair of zig-zagged green and red pants, which he immediately rushed off to the bathroom to try on. Ally rolled her eyes and sighed, slipping one of her fingers through the sloppily rapped present in her lap and opened it. Dez had given Ally a pair of fake glasses. They weren't the cute ones that they sell in stores now though, they were these huge, thick-framed, pointy-ended, grandma glasses that would look absolutely ugly on her. She laughed at the sight of them, but quickly stopped as Dez entered the room again, wearing his new pants.
"Thank you Ally!" he cried in delight. She laughed and reached up to hug him. She pulled away and then turned to the tree in the back of the room. Oh no. I was so nervous. Since her back was turned, I wiped my palms against my jeans, hoping to be able to act relaxed when she handed me her gift.
It was wrapped in bright yellow paper, my favorite color. There was an orange bow on top (my second favorite) and smiley faces were all over the wrapping. I chuckled and tore through the paper. Opening the box, I found…another box? I looked up at her and she covered her mouth to cover up her tinkling laugh. I glared at her playfully and returned to opening my present.
There were three boxes that I opened before I got to what had to be the last one. It was a small rectangle. I ripped through the wrapping paper, not even glancing up at Ally, knowing that she would have a satisfied smirk plastered on her face. It was some sort of case. I finally looked up at her and was surprised to find her not smirking, not even smiling. She was biting her lip and looking at the box in my hand nervously. I turned my attention back to it, wondering what exactly it was. I flicked it open and smiled to myself. There was four new dog tags in the small box. Each one was engraved with the names of the four members of team Austin.
I reached out and pulled her into a tight hug. She wrapper her arms around my neck, mine around her waist as we hugged for longer than anybody else had hugged her tonight.
I smiled in satisfaction as I pulled away. She was blushing. Walking over to my guitar, I slipped the dog tags over my neck and grabbed the neck of the guitar. She looked confused, so I just shook my head.
"Alright guys. I honestly had no clue what to get Ally for Christmas. But then I met this old lady at the store the other day and she told me some things and well…Ally just listen to the song. I swear I mean every word." And with that I started strumming.
She seemed shocked, it was a slow song, especially for me. I smiled right before I started singing.
You know I'd fall apart without you 'Cause I wanna wrap you up
I don't know how you do what you do
'Cause everything that don't make sense about me
Makes sense when I'm with you
Like everything that's green, girl I need you
But it's more than one and one makes two
Put aside the math and the logic of it
You gotta know you're wanted too
Wanna kiss your lips
I wanna make you feel wanted
And I wanna call you mine
Wanna hold your hand forever
Never let you forget it
Yeah, I wanna make you feel wanted
Her eyes were wide, her face was probably the most flushed I'd ever seen it, but she looked absolutely stunning. I couldn't take my eyes off of her, but somehow I knew that Dez and Trish had snuck out of the room. Something clicked in my brain right then, and I realized they had known all along. I shook my head and smiled wryly, still staring at her. It seemed she couldn't take her eyes off of me either.
Anyone can tell you you're pretty When I wrap you up As good as you make me feel And I just wanna wrap you up
(Yeah)
You get that all the time, I know you do
But your beauty's deeper than the makeup
And I wanna show you what I see tonight
When I kiss your lips
I wanna make you feel wanted
And I wanna call you mine
Wanna hold your hand forever
Never let you forget it
'Cause baby I wanna make you feel wanted
I wanna make you feel better
Better than your fairy tales
Better than your best dreams
You're more than everything I need
You're all I ever wanted
All I ever wanted
Wanna kiss your lips
I wanna make you feel wanted
And I wanna call you mine
Wanna hold your hand forever
Never let you forget it
Yeah, I wanna make you feel wanted
Yeah, baby I wanna make you feel -
Wanted
'Cause you'll always be wanted
By the end of the song I could see she had unshed tears in her eyes. I grinned widely and set my guitar down. I walked over to her again and wrapped her in a gentle hug. She buried her head into my shoulder and I swear she must have been able to feel my heart pounding. This was the one thing that could make or break everything we had.
"You said you meant every word right?" she asked, face still hidden. I nodded, not sure if that answer was one she wanted or not. She pulled back slightly and all I could think was Oh shit, I've ruined everything. She's going to tell me to leave and that she never wants to—
But then something happened that I never would have expected. Especially not from Ally Dawson. She pressed her lips lightly against mine, kissing me. It was shy, tender, careful. But it was a kiss.
I pulled her closer to me (if that was even possible) and wrapped my hands around her waist. She smiled into the kiss and pulled her head back just enough so she could talk.
"Merry Christmas Austin. Thank you."
"You're welcome," I whispered as I touched my lips against hers once more.