Sorry it's taking so long; it's killing me to write all this romantic stuff lately, and I was busy yesterday. I appreciate your reviews! And again apologize for taking so long.

WARNING: the following part of this authors note contains nothing pertaining to SwaC
I finished the fourth book of FABLEHAVEN and am both astonished and shocked beyond words at such an unexpected plot twist. I did NOT see that coming.

And I think I have a crush on Raxtus HAH!

Sonny

It's a bit awkward waking up in someone else's bed in their house on Christmas. Especially when you're pretty certain you kissed them the night before. But, I wasn't even sure I had; it had felt like a dream.

Well, if it wasn't a dream, Chad was doing a pretty good job hiding it. It had to be a dream. Besides, I don't even like him…right?

But as I leaned against the wall, absently rubbing my arm as I watched Chad drink his orange juice, I kept remembering him coming in while I was on the brink of sleep…

"Oh. Hey, Sonny! Didn't see you there!" He gestured towards the orange juice as if to ask if I wanted any. I shook my head. "Well, Merry Christmas."

About to utter a similar greeting, I noticed my phone vibrating over on the coffee table where I had left it. "Merry Christmas, Chad," I said, walking over and picking up my phone.

Seventeen texts, all from my mom. I opened them and started reading, cringing a little each time.

"Something wrong, Honey?" I could swear he said.

"Huh—what?"

"I…said, 'something wrong, Sonny?'"

"Oh…right…um, it's just my mom…she wasn't supposed to come home until the thirty first, but she texted me last night apparently…and this morning, when she arrived and saw I wasn't home…"

"Oh. So you're in trouble, I presume."

Presume? "Well, no, I'll just say I was at a friend's house and she'll assume it was Tawni. Um, I should probably call her and get going."

---

Getting back into my same clothes that morning gave me a deep desire to shower. I'd called my mom, who, as I had assumed, was freaking out. After giving me a short phone lecture on why I should always tell her when I'm planning to sleep over, my mom demanded I come home right that minute. However, I wasn't done here.

"Merry Christmas, Sonny," Chad bid, unsuccessfully disguising his disappointment. After I left, he would be alone again. Or maybe he was sad to see me leave because…no, that had been a dream. Right?

"I'm not leaving just yet."

He perked up a bit. Now I was really confused as to our supposed encounter last night.

"I wanna see you open your gift from me!" I cheered, dashing for the tree and coming to an abrupt halt on my knees, like a child would on this morning. Chad joined me by my side and I felt an unmistakable sense of butterflies. I wasn't going to deny it, I liked him, at least a little.

"Well…okay, then," he said, picking up the little black box and swiftly snapping the blue ribbon which drifted to the ground, and lifted the lid. His brow crinkled as he held the humble bracelet up, seeing the single bead sparkle in the light. "It's…it's actually really nice, Sonny. Thanks."

I blushed. Come on, he was just saying that, right? But Chad wasn't nice enough to do that…right? "You're welcome, Chad."

I picked up my things and headed for the door, but Chad called out, "Sonny, I um…"

Turning around, eager to hear his words, I stepped towards him. "Yeah?"

"Uh…Merry Christmas. Hap—happy New Year, too."

I kissed him on the cheek. "Merry Christmas, Chad."

The hopeful yet confused look on his face made me decide last night hadn't been a dream, and I kissed him again, this time on his lips, quickly. Then he hugged me to him and we kissed, more passionately this time, and I dropped everything I had been carrying, closing the door behind me as we continued, finally breaking apart when the back pocket of my jeans started vibrating.

A bit out of breath, I fished out my phone. "Yeah, Mom. Sorry, I'm on my way." Chad gave me a longing look as I collected my things again and left.

---

"Sonny Bunny!" my mom screamed as I came through the door, holding onto a cheerful smile. She received me in a warm embrace. "Baby, I've missed you! Merry Christmas, Sweetie!"

"Hi, Mom! You too," I greeted. It was so good to see her again, I nearly cried. I hadn't realized until now how much I'd missed her.

"The tree looks wonderful! How did you get a real tree all up and decorated by yourself?" she asked.

"Oh. Chad picked it out, actually. He helped me set it up." Immediately I regretted even letting my mom know I'd had a boy in our apartment. However, she was so full of holiday cheer that she didn't seem to notice.

She asked me how I'd been, what I'd done, and shared with me about her trip as we sipped eggnog. The whole time she told me about Wisconsin, my thoughts were on Chad.

---

"Well, these are nice presents. I should probably get started on thank-you cards."

"Wait, Hon, there's more," my mom said, getting lower on her knees and pointing towards the back of the tree.

Sitting all the way in the corner was a small box wrapped in red-and-white striped paper, with a metallic crimson bow placed on a corner. I reached back beneath the tree for it, and once I had it in the light I could see that Chad had given it to me.

I looked at it a moment before opening it, my eyes stinging with tears. So, was I really the reason Chad had broken his not-so-generous stride?

I sat agape in wonder of the beautiful necklace in my hand. On a simple silver chain hung a circular stone, orange in one concentrated area and fading to yellow at the edges. My mom's eyes were perfect circles.

"Who gave you that?" she asked, mostly rhetorically as we both admired the way the stone glistened in the light.

"Chad."