Hey again everyone! So sorry this is late but better late than never? A huge shout-out to Pumkingking5 and Simone for reviewing! Also a huge shout-out to everyone who have favorited and/or followed the story! Hope you like this chapter:

Monday December 24th
Christmas eve

Gabriella's POV

As I stepped out of my room the next morning, the whole atmosphere of the castle had changed. Walking over to the railing and leaning my hands on it, I looked down. On the floor below there was a medium sized Christmas tree standing there, beautifully decorated with ornaments and lights. I turned my head as I heard a door close and Troy walked out of his room.

"Good morning and merry Christmas," he said and gave me a soft kiss on the cheek.

"Good morning and merry Christmas to you as well," I said and gave him a soft smile. Troy leaned on the railing beside me and looked down at the tree.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" he asked and I nodded almost mesmerized. It was only then that I turned towards him and noticed his left arm in a sling.

"Oh no," I quacked "What happened?" I question looking into his eyes. He was as calm as ever.

"Nothing happened, it swelled during the night. Most likely because I moved it too much yesterday," he reassured me with a smile and my shoulders dropped as I relaxed.

As we entered the dining room there was only Calvin and Kathleen sitting there eating. "Good morning," Kathleen greeted us as we entered the room. Calvin only nodded as he took a sip of the cup in front of him.

Troy and I collected a plate each and sat down beside each other on the table. "What happened to your arm dear?" Kathleen questioned taking a sip of the juice in her glass.

"It swelled during the night. It is only a little more than a week since the surgery," he explained to them and Calvin gave him a look.

"Sure, because that's what happened," Calvin spoke and I was clueless as he had, most likely, switched to Japanese.

"Give it a rest," Troy replied obviously annoyed by what Calvin had replied.

"Boys. Whatever it is. Cut it now. And why not speak English?" Kathleen said strictly giving the two of them a stern look. I got an awkward feeling that whatever just happened, Kathleen had just scolded the two of them.

"Because she doesn't speak Japanese." There was something in Calvin's voice that sent a small shiver down my back. Troy placed his right hand on my thigh and rubbed it up and down reassuringly.

Quietly Calvin emptied the cup and collected his plate and putting them on a cart that stood nearby. "Merry Christmas," he said with a short nod and left the room.

I didn't know what just happened, except that there most likely had been a small argument ongoing.

"Oh dear," Kathleen said shaking her head slightly reaching for her cup. Troy and I started eating our breakfast and Kathleen left the dining room as she finished.

"What did you and Calvin speak about?" I questioned uncertain taking a bit out of the egg.

"It doesn't matter," Troy answered dismissively taking a drink of his tea. "Don't worry ok?" he questioned and I nodded a little doubtful.

A couple of hour later and Troy along with his family had left to attend the Christmas parade in downtown Iwaki. "Hey Gabriella," Makayla said as she found me with my book.

"Hi. merry Christmas," I told her giving her a smile.

"Thanks, merry Christmas to you as well. What are you doing?" she questioned with a small frown.

"Just reading," I answered casually placing the bookmark in it before closing the book and fully looking up at her.

"I was looking for you actually," Makayla said and now it was my turn to frown. "Oh?"

"I wondering if you wanted to watch the Christmas parade with me? You know since I reckoned you haven't watched it before," she said and a smile grew on my lips.

"I'd love to," I told her happily and rose from the chair I was sitting in.

Together we sat down in a living room and Makayla turned on the TV finding the right channel. The camera panned over the different fleets that were passing in the snowy streets. There were fleets with different bands playing music, Santa clause with his reindeers, -that threw packages out to the kids- and different snow themed figures that were there to entertain the children.

The camera also showed a brief glimpse of Troy and the rest of his family as they stood there watching the parade all having a smile on their faces. "Do you have anything like this in America?" Makayla questioned turning towards me.

"No," I said shaking my head. "We don't even get snow in Albuquerque. Just a week ago there came about 10 centimetres I think Troy said it was, and that was a lot of snow for Albuquerque," I explained and Makayla looked stunned.

"I can't imagine," she stated completely flabbergasted. "I could never imagine Christmas eve without snow."

We continued watching the parade and Makayla answered questions and told me about various traditions of the parade. As the hours went by, the two of us had a great time and I truly felt like I had gained a new friend that could last a lifetime.

Dinner with all of Troy's family as a joyful experience full of laughter and talk amongst everyone. Troy and I didn't end up beside each other but it didn't matter because I got to talk to Makayla and Kathleen. After desert had been served it was after nine in the evening and Araya had fallen asleep in Bridgett's lap.

"I think I need to put this little one to bed," Bridget said and lifted up Araya before rising from the table.

"Speaking off, should we head over to the sitting room?" Alexander asked and people nodded agreeing as we all sat down in the sitting room that had more than enough space.

"Oh that reminds me. I have to get something," Makayla excused herself and left before people had even sat down.

"I have something for you too," Troy told me quietly and I looked at him. "You want to open it now?" he questioned and I nodded.
"We will be back a little later," Troy told his relatives and we intertwined our hands before leaving the room not noticing the smile on Kathleen's face.

Sitting down on the bed in Troy's room, I handed him the squared package. "You want me to go first?" he questioned and I nodded with a smile. Somehow he managed to open the package with one hand and once the brown book fell out of the wrapping paper he turned it around and smiled as he saw the front of it.

"A year at East High in Albuquerque," he quietly read out and opened it to the front page where there was a picture of the gang taken quite recently. Looking through the next couple of pages there was pictures, dates and small stories from when he first came to East High.

"I love it, thank you so much," he said and gave me a kiss. "When did you have time to make something like this? It must have taken you quite some time," he said and I nodded with a little smile.

"It was easy once I found what I wanted to include, but the hardest part was keeping it a secret from you. As you can see there is a good portion of empty pages, so I figured you could add as the year continues and then you have something to look back on," I told him and he couldn't stop smiling.

"I absolutely love it," he stated closing the book carefully putting it beside him. "This is for you," he said giving me two presents.
One of them were pretty similar in size to the one I gave him and the other one wasn't much bigger than the palm of my hand. I took the biggest one and unwrapped it. A copy of Stars of Magic laid beneath the wrapping paper.

"How did you know I had lost mine?" I questioned and he chuckled a little.

"You never lost it. Look inside," he said and I opened the cover of it.

"To Gabriella. I hope you find Etrea just as fascinating as this book. Best wishes Maryl Laflamme" I read out. "It was you who stole my book," I continued with a laugh.

"All with good intentions of course." "Thank you Troy. That is so cool," I grinned and he just smiled at me.

I reached for the smaller box and carefully took of the wrapping paper to reveal a white jewellery box with some brand printed in gold on the top. Carefully opening the box, the little light in the room hit the small necklace that was inside the box. It was a silver T pendant with a small red gem in the corner.

"Wow. It's beautiful Troy," I breathed taking it out of the box. "Normally I would ask you to put it on but…" I said and Troy just smiled. I pushed my hair aside and fasten the necklace around my neck.

"Thank you it's beautiful," I thanked him and I gave him a kiss.

"How is Christmas so far?" he questioned and I smiled. "Wonderful," I said touching the necklace and looking down on the book.

"That reminds me. I have something for your parents," I told him finding the small package.

"What is it?" he asked curiously studying the small package. "You have to wait and see," I told him with a wink.

As we entered the sitting room both Makayla and Bridget had returned. Makayla smiled at me as the two of us returned sitting down in one of the sofas

"Thank you Makayla," Kathleen smiled as she put the present away.

"I also have something for Gabriella," Makayla said stepping forward handing me a small package.

"Me?" I questioned a little surprised. "Thank you," I told her as I accepted the present. Opening the wrapping paper, inside there was a small paper box. Opening that one too it revealed a snow globe of the castle. The base of it was grey with the Etrean flag.

"This is amazing," I said with a smile. "Thank you," I told her and we shared a hug.

"I also have something for Lucille and Jack," I told them and gave the present to Lucille.

"How thoughtful. Thank you," Lucille said accepting the package. Peeling off the wrapping paper she pushed it aside to reveal a book. Looking through the first couple of pages Lucille smiled and looked back up at me.

"Is all of this American recipes?" she questioned and I nodded. "Most of them. There are also some Mexican recipes from my family," I explained to her and she went over to hug me.

"Thank you so much. This is lovely," she thanked me as Jack and Amelia looked through the recipes.

I briefly looked over to where Calvin sat and the look he sent me wasn't friendly.

Why had he suddenly become so hostile towards me? What had I done towards him?

Hope you all liked the chapter even though it was delayed. Why do you guys think that Calvin is suddenly so hostile towards Gabriella? Please leave a review telling me what you think, I love reading your comments!
-FreeFlyingWriter