I felt like I was nothing but a small child again, sitting, legs crossed, on the floor, with both my and Connor's presents in my lap, leaning back against the side of the bed.

Connor stood, hovering, over me. "Sit down," I said softly, patting the floor next to me. "You're making me nervous," I added, when I noticed the way he was looking at me.

He gave a slight smile and joined me on the floor. "So…" He started grinning all of a sudden. "Do you want to go first?" he asked, nodding towards the presents.

I laughed. "No, I think you should, actually," I said, not quite sure what to say if he asked why. "Here." I held my present out to him, trying my best to display a sweet and loving smile on my face. Not that I wasn't capable, it was just that I had just gotten up, I wasn't much in the mood to maintain a bright smile on my face.

He opened it eagerly, not caring if the paper was torn or if the tape I had used to seal the box was ripped. I watched as his grin grew wider. "They're…they're gloves," he said, flipping them over again and again, feeling the material, to make sure they were just right.

I didn't see what could possibly be wrong with them. They were just gloves. Just simple black gloves, cut off at the knuckles. Exactly like his old ones had been.

He looked up at me, after finishing examining the gloves, his eyes wide, his whole face lit up. "Um…thank you…thank you, Abs," he said, stammering slightly as he spoke.

I smiled back at him. "That's alright," I told him, watching as a confused expression came across his face. "But-But I've already got gloves."

I just stared blankly at him. I didn't have to say anything. He wasn't stupid, he could figure it out by himself.

A shocked, horrified look made its way onto his face. "Oh, Abby, you didn't!" He sprang up from where he had been sitting on the floor and hurried over to the trash can on the other side of the room.

I followed after him. I'm not sure why I was rushing. It's not like I would've thrown his gloves away up here. "Connor, they were raggedy…"

He turned around and started to laugh as soon as I was standing next to him. "There were only two holes in them," he said, chuckling, even though he had the most pathetic look on his face.

I laughed along with him. "Come on. Let's go and…open the rest," I said, patting him on the shoulder.

I moved back over to where I had been sitting before, this time getting a pillow from his bed to support myself.

I looked down and smiled. I was still wearing Connor's jacket.

It hung so loosely on me. I had to roll up the sleeves just to be able to see my entire hand. It didn't fit me at all, I knew it never could. But, at the same time, I didn't want to take it off. It had a sort of effect on me, it was…comforting.

"Now it's time to open yours, yeah?" He came and sat down next to me again.

I nodded. "Yeah." I looked at the presents that sat on the floor next to me, picking up the larger of the two. I tried my hardest to guess what could be inside. I couldn't.

The wrapping paper wasn't taped down properly, the box wasn't closed. For some people, this would have caused them to not want to know what was inside. For me, it only made me more eager to find out. I don't know, maybe I'm just weird.

I could see it through the top of the box, or some of it, at least. Red fabric peeked out from between the cardboard flaps.

As I pulled it out of the box, I finally realised what it was. It was a scarf. A red and black plaid scarf.

"Aw, thank you, Connor," I said. "How did you know I wanted one?" I asked curiously. I hadn't told him, or at least I thought I hadn't.

He shrugged. "Well, for one, you're always wearing mine."

I smiled apologetically at him. "So…you've noticed, huh?" He nodded. "Mmhmm."

"Go on, Abby, open the other one," he told me. I hated how he was prodding me. I didn't know what he was in such a hurry for, it was just a Christmas present.

I nodded. "Alright," I agreed. "What is it?" I asked him, shaking the box in an attempt to guess on my own, without him having to tell me.

He shook his head. "I can't tell you that. You've got to see it for yourself," he said, almost teasingly.

The box was light, almost weightless. And it was small and square, like a jewelry box. Oh god…

I was almost scared to open it. My best guess could only be that it was kind of jewelry.

I tried talking myself out of the fear, the anxiousness associated with opening up the box. It wasn't working.

What was I planning on saying…if it did turn out to be a bloody ring? I highly doubted it, but there was still a possibility.

The box suddenly felt heavy in my hands. It slid and stuck in my sweaty palms.

Connor just sat there, grinning at me. "What is it, Abs?"

I shook my head, trying to laugh it off. "Nothing. Sorry," I said softly.

I took a deep breath, tore off the paper, opened the box. And breathed a deep sigh of relief.

It was a necklace. It reminded me of one of those charm bracelets that I used to love wearing when I was younger. It was just a simple, silver chain, with three simple, silver letters. A-B-S. I chuckled. "Course."

His grin grew wider, his eyes lit up. "Do you like it?" he asked, laughing nervously.

I nodded. "Yeah." I chuckled again. "Yeah, Connor, I do."

"You picked this out yourself?" I asked him. Far as I knew, he had never much been the type who knew his way around jewelry of any sort, much less necklaces.

Even more suspicious was the fact that I loved it. It was perfect. It was nothing fancy, a no-frills sort of thing, but, in a strange kind of way, it was unbearably pretty.

Somehow, he had managed to find a necklace that so perfectly reflected my personality.

I could see myself wearing it all the time, never taking it off. I would wear it to work, and if and when someone asked about it, which I already knew that they would, or even if they didn't, I would simply say, "Connor got it for me."

I knew how childish this was going to sound, but, frankly, I didn't care.

"Well, no, not exactly," he admitted, smiling sheepishly at me.

I couldn't help but laugh at the look on his face. He actually thought I might get mad. "I thought so."

"Well, I-I did pick it out, but I'm not the one who bought it," he tried to explain.

But it just made me even more confused. "Then who bought it?" "Sarah."

"Sarah?" I couldn't see why Sarah would be buying me a necklace, even if Connor was the one who had picked it out.

He nodded. "I gave her the money for it at work, and she went and bought it during her lunch break."

I laughed at the thought of Connor paying Sarah in some tucked-away corner of the ARC so I wouldn't find out. "I see. And when was this?"

He thought about it for a moment. "Last week. It was on…Tuesday, I think."

I nodded understandingly. I remembered now, Sarah had been gone all throughout lunch. And hadn't come back until a few minutes later.

I found myself laughing, making me realise that I had never stopped laughing from before. "Well, thank you, Connor."

He grinned and nodded. "Do you want some help?" he asked, when he saw me struggling to put the necklace on myself. I nodded. "Please."

I watched him as he got up and sat up on the bed behind me, his knees on either side of my shoulders.

I reached behind me to hand him the necklace. I didn't bother looking, didn't figure I would need to. I knew he would stop me before I had a chance to grab anything else besides his hand. Or, at least, I hoped.

His hand was cold and slightly clammy as he took the necklace out of mine.

He laid the chain gingerly across my neck, being careful not to touch the back of my neck unless it was absolutely necessary. And when he did, when it was necessary, he let his hand linger there for a moment, as if he thought I wouldn't notice.

I couldn't help but to say something. "Connor, your hands are cold," I complained, more to see him squirm at the fact that I was noticing their being on my neck than anything else, having to reach back again to bat his hands away.

He backed up the slightest bit. "Sorry," he said nervously, fastening the back of the necklace quickly. "There," he said proudly.

I got up off of the floor, it was beginning to get uncomfortable.

I grinned as I placed my hands on the bed to support myself and leaned in to kiss him. "Thanks."

I loved how confused he always looked after I kissed him. He would tilt his head, blink a couple of times, and then, as soon as I looked back at him, he would be beaming.

I walked over to the other side of the room and looked at myself in the mirror. I smiled when I saw how perfectly the necklace fit me. It blended in with everything about me, it looked like it had always been there.

Connor came up behind me, that cute little grin of his plastered on his face. "It looks good on you," he said to me.

"It does," I agreed, nodding. "I'm still wearing your jacket," I reminded him.

"I know you are," he answered. "You know, you can keep it if you want."

I pulled it tighter around myself. "Really?" He nodded. "You don't mind?"

"Course not," he answered, shaking his head. He chuckled. "What's mine is yours, yeah?" he joked, elbowing me.

I couldn't help but laugh. "Alright, Connor," I said softly.

He moved closer to me so that we could both be seen in the mirror.

I smiled at how good we looked standing next to each other.

I propped my elbow up on his shoulder, laying my head on my arm like it was a pillow. Connor slid his arm around my waist.

In the old days, probably just a couple of months ago, I would have minded. I would have pushed him away, found some excuse to leave the room.

But now, it didn't bother me. To be honest, it was actually kind of…comforting. This kind of thing was normal for us, an everyday occurrence.

In a sense, we were like little ids that had known each other forever. We knew everything about each other, looked out for each other, and deeply cared about one another.

We were best friends. That odd variety of best friends that was made up of two people that loved one another but were too afraid to say it, but nonetheless best friends.

And, as far as I was concerned, it could stay like this as long as it needed to.