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An Unexpected Gift

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The concert, for lack of a better word, sucked.

I can't even remember the name of the band. Craig met them in Vancouver and swore they put on an amazing live show. If a list of halfway forgotten covers counts as awesome, then it rocked. But it doesn't, and they didn't.

So we ended going for pizza and watching some Bollywood DVD of Marco's for the zillionth time.

Upside, I was home in time to study. Downside, I think I may written 'popcorn' somewhere in my definition of cold fusion. Eh, I'll still pass. Marco makes a great tutor, he's the only thing that's gotten me through so far.

Now I'm getting ready for Joey's Christmas party. And in some weird way, it feels like getting ready for my first date. And that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Especially given that Dylan is picking me up so we can meet Marco and head over together.

Sometimes I really don't understand myself. Why would I want to torture myself by hanging out with a houseful of people I don't know swilling eggnog like there's no tomorrow?

Yeah, like I don't already know the answer to that one.

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The party is exactly like I expected. A bunch of people, most of them middle aged, dancing around, grinning like out of season jack o' lanterns while I hide from Joey's drunk cousin who keeps trying to hit on me.

"Hey Grinch." Craig whispers in my ear from behind.

I whirl around and burst in laughter at the sight of Craig standing there in a Santa hat and the goofiest grin I've ever seen.

"I have an idea that may put a smile on that pretty little humbug face of yours." Craig grins at me mischievously and I can't help but return it. Craig's infectious when he's all happy and silly like this.

"What might that be?" I ask playfully.

"Present time." He holds a box up in front of me, silver with a huge black ribbon dotted with red and green stars. More stars. But at least the color palette's not that bad.

"Craig," I whine, "Christmas isn't until tomorrow."

He releases his breath in exasperation of my un-cheeriness. "I cant wait. Open it now. Please?"

With that he all but shoves it in my face. And he's still giving me that grin, so I have no choice but to gave in.

"Fine, but you have to open mine first."

"Deal." See, told you he was easy.

While I fetch his gift from under the tree (I stashed it here last week) I catch Joey's eye and he smiles at me.

When I give Craig the shiny blue package, he shakes it vigorously like a little kid. Eyeing me suspiciously, he rips the foil away.

"A CD." He sounds less than enthused, but Ican fix that.

"It's a DVD actually. It was Joey's idea. He found these and asked me to restore them and put them on there for you. I thought he should have been the one to give it to you, but he insisted I do it."

"DVD. Of what?" He's turning the disc over in his hands like he can unlock the secret merely by staring hard enough.

"Some old home movies he found. Of you and Angie … and your mom." I tell him.

Craig's entire demeanor changes right then. He looks up at me, face devoid of emotion, and says slowly, "My mom?"

Uh-oh. "I thought you'd like it, Craig, I never meant to upset you. I'm so sorr -"

My words are cut off by Craig throwing his arms around me and squeezing so tight I think he's about to cut off my circulation.

"Ellie," his voice is thick with emotion and he sounds dangerously close to crying, "this is the best gift I've ever gotten. Thank you so much."

Okay, the sappiness is about to set in. Should I stop it? Nah. It is Christmas after all.

"I'm glad." I whisper in his ear, letting my feelings get the better of me. I can hear the affection in my own voice, but Craig doesn't hear it. Sigh, he never disappoints.

"Okay, my turn."

Craig composes himself and hands me the box he held up earlier.

I begin removing the ribbon when he suddenly stops me. "Don't open that."

"Why not?"

"Because my present isn't half as great as yours. I feel silly now giving it to you."

Aw, sometimes he can actually be pretty sweet. "Craig …"

"I mean it. Yours was so … he looks down at the disc still clutched in his hand, "perfect. There's no way mine can even compare."

"Tough." I rip the paper off before he can protest further and become very, very confused. Why would Craig get me this?

"Palmistry?" I give him a look which I hope conveys my confusion, because I should probably get it.

"You seemed really into it at the mall." he said sheepishly.

Oh right. This is the look I pretended to read before the Manny debacle.

Hang on.

"I thought you said you'd had mine for weeks." I raise a suspicious eyebrow at him, daring him to lie to me.

"I did." he answers quickly. "I just thought you would like that."

Now I notice that there's something sticking out of the top, between the pages. I open it to find …

A plane ticket?

"Before you say anything," Craig says quickly, "it's a night flight, so you won't loose any sleep. And since your finals are over, there's really no reason to say no."

"You want me to come to Vancouver?" This is beyond bizarre.

"I've been dying to tell you, to tell everybody, but I wanted to wait until I gave you this. I'm going on tour before the CD is released. All of Canada and the US for six months."

"Craig, that's incredible!" I throw my arms around him, forgetting the fact that he probably has other tickets for Marco, Jimmy, Joey, Angie, Diane, maybe even Manny, tucked away in his suitcase. Forgetting that he just told me he's going to be out on the road for half a year. Forget all of that. Right now the only thing that matters is the fact that he told me first.

Hey, I'm the one that talked him in to going to Vancouver in the first place. I should get to see the fruits of my labor before the rest.

"Really?"

I shake my head at the skepticism in his voice. "Of course. And I would love to come visit before you leave. It'll be fantastic. And Marco will love it-"

"Whoa El," he cuts me off with a confused look, "you're not getting me here."

Huh?

"I'm not?"

"No. I'm not asking you and Marco to come visit me before I leave."

"You're not?"

He shakes his head, the smile that's beginning to break across his features throwing me off. But the next words out of his mouth bring me the realization crashing down on me.

"I want you, only you, to come to Vancouver. But not for a visit. I want you to come on tour with me."

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