Mickey’s POV:

“Ooh, wait, I got you something,” Alex announced and pulled his arm out from underneath me before sitting up on the bed. He reached down and stood up to shrug his boxers on. With the fabric now covering his lower half, he jogged up to his backpack which was at the foot of my closet, rested against it sloppily.

“But it’s Christmas,” I groaned, complaining, and tried to reach out to pull him back, but he was already way too far away.

“Exactly, that’s why I got you a gift!” he laughed and harshly pulled open his bag to start looking for whatever he was talking about.

“Fine,” I sighed and sat up myself. Since it didn’t seem like we were going to be going back to what we were doing before any time soon, I put on my panties and grabbed the shirt Alex was wearing before and threw it on as well.

“Hey, hang on! Just cause I’m giving you a gift doesn’t mean you have to put on clothes!” He tried to stop me after he had turned back around with a wrapped box in his hands. I, however, was already sitting back on the bed with my legs crossed.

“You’re the one that started it, it’s only fair,” I retorted and pulled my hair out of its bun only to replace it with a ponytail.

“Okay, okay, true,” he gave in and joined me on the bed, sitting in a similar fashion directly across from me, and held out the box to me. “Merry Christmas.”

I smiled back and carefully took the box from him. I was unsure exactly how to react but also didn’t want to seem ungrateful. In my nineteen years of life--almost twenty--I had never exchanged gifts on Christmas with anybody other than my extended family. And even then, most of the time, my family opted for the ‘we-don’t-know-what-the-fuck-you-want-so-here’s-ten-bucks’ gift. Of course, it was better than Christmas at Michael’s. Back then Christmas was just another day full of empty promises. I didn’t get the experience of running down to a tree with gifts underneath it as a kid. I was lucky if I came downstairs and found two dollars next to the ashtray.

However, this was the first Christmas I wasn’t going to be spending with my parents since my mom got full custody of me again. Usually, we’d go back to Texas to spend it with our extended family. So, I’d have to endure my aunts and uncles with their ‘festive spirit’ for an entire week. This time was the first time I got the option to stay at home. So, I did. Alex was in a similar situation. His parents flew back to England and he decided to stay back. We spent most of the time together at my house. This evening, however, we were going to part ways. I was going to have dinner with Rian and his family, who generously offered to have me over and join their family Christmas dinner, and Alex was going to spend that time with Jack. So, that was probably why Alex was giving me a gift now. I just wasn’t prepared for it.

Yet, I still cautiously picked at the tape so I could carefully peel it away without ripping up the paper completely and making myself look like a savage. After I had completely removed the festive red and green paper, I was left with a black box. Alex was watching me in anticipation as I slowly opened it to find a necklace nestled in some black cushiony material. There were two small circular gold charms on a chain, one pressed with an ‘A’ in it and the other with an ‘M’.

“Oh,” I said as I took a closer look, unsure what to expect.

“You don’t like it…” Alex breathed out in defeat.

“No, no, I do,” I quickly told him, taking hold of his hand, “I just never wear jewelry.”

“Fuck, how didn’t I realize that?” He groaned and rubbed his face with the hand I wasn’t holding. “And here I was thinking I was giving you something lame cause it seems like the easy way out.”

“I’ve never really been given a gift before either…” I mumbled, still looking at the necklace. I slowly dropped his hand and pulled out the thin chain instead, scared to break it. “Well, my parents usually give me something physical because they don’t trust me with the money, but everybody else…”

“Would you rather have me return this and give you money?” Alex joked awkwardly to try and lighten what for him seemed like a bad situation.

I shook my head and put the necklace on, struggling a bit with the lock, but managing to do it before having to ask Alex for help. “I guess I’ll just have to get used to wearing this. It’s nice.”

“Are you sure you like it?”

“Yes.” I gave him one single nod, feeling the two charms between my fingers, before remembering something. “Hold on a sec, I have something for you too!”

“Wait, you have something for me?” He frowned, now being the one who was taken aback.

“Well, yeah, sorta,” I corrected and scrambled towards my desk, looking for what I had for him. “You know I’m completely broke because I am getting my car fixed and still have to pay my parents back for the money they lent me for it, so it isn’t something as nice as this necklace. I actually had it for your birthday, but we never got around to that, so I hope you don’t mind me giving you one thing for both.”

“Hey, look, I wasn’t even expecting a gift from you, and based on what you told me our your family, I was correct to think that. The fact that you even thought about it is exceeding my expectations.”

I finally found the two things I wanted to give. It was nothing compared to the beautifully wrapped gift he had given me. There was no wrapping paper involved and the plastic had a few scratches, but I personally would have loved getting the gift I was giving him.

I climbed back on the bed and handed him the CD case and the loose piece of paper on top of it face down so he couldn’t see either immediately. “I know it isn’t much, but I promised to make you a drawing. And I happened to have two copies of this CD, but it’s my favorite one. I don’t know if you’ll like it or if you already have a copy, but I love it.”

Alex first turned over the paper to see the skeleton I drew holding a pumpkin in one hand. A big grin grew on his face. However, a frown appeared on mine as I took a look at it.

“Wait…” I wanted to take it back from him, seeing an imperfection on the skull, but refrained from doing so. “No, no, if I take it back and fix it, I’ll work on it for another few hours.”

“I don’t see anything wrong with it,” he shrugged in return, “I love it. Thank you.”

“You asked for it.”

He admired it for a few more seconds before also taking a look at the very blue cover of the CD. “Weezer… I’ve heard of them, but I don’t really know their songs.”

“Well, they are pretty great,” I told him, not even caring if he was unsure he’d like it. “It actually came out eleven years ago. I might have been nine back then and not known about it at all, but I love it now.”

“That is a long time ago,” Alex agreed and flipped over the CD to check the back and the tracklist. He, however, said it more like it was a negative thing.

“You listen to Blink, their first album came out in the same year, and Green Day’s first was even before that. Don’t judge a CD from its cover.”

“Oh, how cheesy.” He stuck out his tongue at me and gave in. “But I promise I’ll give it a listen at home.”

“Why not give it a listen now?” I smirked and snatched the CD from him before jumping up and skipping to the old CD player I had found in a box a few weeks before and moved to my room.

I opened the case and pressed the button to eject the disk drive before popping the CD out of its weird metal contraption, trying my best not to break it. Although I wasn’t proud of it, I had accidentally broken CDs or DVDs before while trying to remove them from their case. Every single time it broke my heart, especially if it happened to one of my favorite CDs. It would be just my luck to accidentally snap Alex’s gift in half, but that luckily didn’t happen. A few seconds after I pushed the tray back in, the first acoustic guitar notes came from the speakers.

Alex listened while I knew exactly what was coming and was waiting for his reaction. When the electric guitar suddenly kicked in, he seemed surprised and confused. His brows were furrowed just a little, trying to take in the music completely. I took it as a win. Sure, he wasn’t enjoying it as much as me, but he didn’t seem repulsed.

Before we even reached halfway through the second verse, he commented. “I have to warm up to it, but it’s definitely not bad.’

I nodded a put down the case on top of the CD player so we wouldn’t forget it later. “I believe there’s one song on here you probably know.”

“Yeah?” He looked amused, like he wanted to know which one it was.

“I’d let you hear it… but the skip button is broken. You’ll just have to wait six more tracks.”

“Oh, it’s broken now, is it?” He challenged with a smirk. “Or do you just want me to listen to all the songs?”

Before I could answer, he was up on his feet and playfully attacking me, trying to get to the skip button. I blocked him, knowing that if you happened to press hard enough at the right angle it would work, or you just had to keep going back a track before you got to the one you wanted. It turned in him grabbing me between his arms and tickling me. I couldn’t stop the giggles from escaping me as the music continued to play in the background.

But, just like always, our moment was short-lived. The doorbell rang three times and Alex let me go so I could go down to open the door. However, I wasn’t just going to go. It was Christmas Eve, for god’s sake. Who the hell was ringing the doorbell? Nobody in their right mind would do that unless they were coming over for dinner. And nobody was coming over for dinner.

I stomped to my window and opened it--not having to worry about it being locked because if I was going to sneak out, I would use the front door without my parents being home. I could just barely see the top of Rian’s head. “The fuck are you doing here?!”

“I wanted some peace and quiet, but I can hear I won’t get that here!” he shouted back at me, referring to both me screaming at him and the loud music.

“You’re fucking stupid if you think you can get that here,” I insulted as he looked up to glare at me. “I’m coming down.”

I closed the window again and turned around to look at Alex. “Your friends always interrupt.”

“If I’m correct, they’re your friends too,” he responded as he looked around for some more clothes to put on. Since I was already wearing the shirt he had put on that morning, he had nothing else to wear but some jeans.

“Well, shit.” I scrunched up my nose and left my room. “This is why I don’t do friends.”

“That’s a lie,” Alex said as he followed me down the stairs, through the living room, and to the front door. “You don’t do friends cause you’re afraid you’ll get stuck with somebody as awesome as me.”

“Hmm, but you’re not my friend…” I turned around just before we reached the front door. “If I recall correctly, we’ve been doing things this entire week that friends don’t do.”

“Friends with benefits, though,” he pointed out.

“Yeah, but that situation calls for no feelings. I’m assuming we do include those.” Although I literally just had to walk three more steps and reach out my hand to open the door for Rian, I was just stood in place. “...Or do we? Maybe we’re just friends who do have sex with each other and just add kissing and ‘cuddling’? Mind. Blown.”

“I’m pretty sure that isn’t the case. I don’t know about you, but this is way different than having casual sex with a few people,” Alex laughed and closed the space between us, starting up the kiss that never was just a few minutes before.

It was stupid to think we wouldn’t be interrupted again, especially with Rian just a few feet away on the other side of a door I promised to open.

He started banging loudly on said door and shouted, “yo, let me inside! It’s freezing out here!”

I pulled away from Alex and turned to do as requested, however Alex kept his arms around my waist as he let me make the movements needed. While I finally opened the door, he put his chin on my shoulder as if trying to look at who it was.

“Ugh, gross,” Rian scoffed and pushed past us without giving any greeting or thanks. “You guys are literally wearing the same outfit. And I don’t mean matching. I mean you’re both wearing one half of one outfit.”

“Hey, if I knew you were coming over, I would have stayed naked and opened the door like that,” I told him jokingly, as if it would be any better.

“I do not want to see that!” Rian looked disgusted, and not in the denying way where you are faking it. No, he really wasn’t attracted to me. But, hey, the feelings were reciprocated.

“I do,” Alex smirked, still glued to me despite us having moved back into the living room, fairly close to the kitchen, and sneaked a kiss onto my neck.

“If I knew your horny ass was going to be here, I would have stayed with my family who’re going insane right now,” Rian complained.

Finally, Alex did separate himself from me and pointed back in the direction of the front door. “My car is literally out on the driveway, it’s been there for the past four days, what were you expecting?”

“It doesn’t matter,” I interrupted. “Rian, now that you’re here, I need your help with something.”

“Do I have to?” He sighed in annoyance.

There was something up with Rian. First of all, he came over voluntarily without warning. Usually, he randomly showed up just to have made a deal with my parents, or he told me before he came over, whether that be on the phone or through our windows. Secondly, he was acting like a whiny bitch for weeks now. He could only complain and find reasons to get mad at people. That was my job, not his.

“Yes,” I nodded and grabbed his arm to pull him to the stairs with me before giving more instructions, “Alex, you stay here. Rian comes with me.”

“Why?!” Alex whined with a long moan as I started disappearing up the stairs with Rian in tow.

“Just stay there,” I shouted back.

I pulled Rian into my room. It was quite a mess. My clothes were all over the floor, mixed with Alex’s. My desk had paper cluttered all over it, it being even worse after I had tried to search for the gift I had gotten for Alex. The sheets on my bed were rolled up into a ball at the end of the bed, one pillow in the middle of the bed and the other hanging over the edge. To top it all off, the music was still blaring from the speakers.

“Oh my god, that is loud!” Rian shouted, covering his ears.

“Ahw, it’s my favorite song,” I pouted as 'Buddy Holly' was coming to an end, yet still paused the CD and immediately ejected it. After it was back in its CD case, I dropped it in Alex’s bag so he wouldn’t forget it later. It would suck ass if it would be left and forgotten in my CD player--I usually listened to the music on my iPod.

“Okay, I don’t know what your family is like,” I told Rian and opened the second door to my closet, the other was already open. “What should I wear?”

“Really, coming me to fashion advice again? Can’t you as a girl just tell what you should wear based on what I’m wearing?” He breathed out heavily and gestured to his outfit consisting of dark jeans, a button up shirt, and a zip-up hoodie. I was unsure if that hoodie was part of what he was wearing inside or if he had put it on to go outside.

“Umm… yeah… I don’t know any of that shit. Usually, I don’t give much of a fuck, but you guys invited me over cause my family isn’t here. I have to put in some effort.”

“You know what, it doesn’t matter. Wear ripped jeans and the sluttiest t-shirt you can find. At least that will take away all the attention from me. My mom’s freaking out about all the food, my brother is telling stories, and it’s causing the rest of my family to ask me what I’m going to do next. I don’t know what the fuck I’m going to do!”

“Weren’t you guys going to give this band thing a shot? Isn’t that why you’ve been touring a lot?” I wondered, glad Rian had opened up by himself and that I didn’t have to do any of that shit.

Yes, I wanted help choosing clothes, but if that was my sole purpose, then Alex could have come up with us. Something told me this needed to be a private conversation between me and Rian. I was pretty proud that I could actually feel that. Who knew I could actually have conversations with people and actually tell when one was needed?

“But that’s just for fun,” Rian thought out loud and sat on my bed.

“Well, yeah, of course it’s fun.”

“No, I don’t mean that. This whole band thing. It’s for fun. The others are super serious about it. Like, they are set on being in this band. They aren’t even bothered with college applications, especially Alex. It’s the band or nothing for him. But, I can get into some good colleges.”

“Yes, so…?” I knew all this, but I needed to know what was bothering him. Well, I didn’t need to know, but he needed to get it off his chest. If there was one thing I learned from Alex, it was that that shit helped.

“So, do I want to risk it all and have a very high chance of wasting time going nowhere, or do I want to go the safe route and go to college and get a good job?”

“Huh… well, do you like being in the band? Do you like playing drums in a band?” I sat down next to him.

“Well, yes--”

“Do you enjoy playing shows and writing song?”

“Yeah, but--”

“So what difference does a year make? Go for a record deal and give it a shot. If this goes wrong, you can still go to college.”

“A year is a long time,” Rian stressed. “It’s long in a college-sense, but not long in a band-sense. It’s not like we’ll be recognized after one year as a band, but I will have finished first year in college. Even if I could go back after a year, what school would even want me anymore?

“Your grades won’t change after school, that’s set forever,” I told him. “And your age doesn’t matter one bit. I’ll be twenty when we graduate, that won’t mean I can’t go if I wanted to and knew what I wanted to do. Hell, there are seventy-year-olds going to college. But you can’t just start up another band and create such a strong bond with your friends-slash-bandmates. It’s possible, but it won’t be easy. If it all goes wrong, it will make one hell of a college essay.”

“So, you’re saying to just give the band a shot and if things go south, I can always still go to college?”

“Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m saying. If you really like playing in a band, go for it. If your heart says you want to be some scientist or something, then college is the better option.”

“Okay… I still need to think it over a little more. But I can always choose otherwise if the band doesn’t work out. The other way around will be way more difficult.”

“Right, so when they ask you again what you’re going to do, just say exactly that if you feel the need to justify your choice. Alex and Jack got into some huge fights with their parents, but it all worked out. You can do the same,” I advised and got back up. “Now, you do need to help with my clothing situation. I eventually need to return this shirt to Alex.”

“Okay, okay, alright, show me your options.”

Just over an hour later, we were out on the street. Alex was getting in his car to go to Jack’s and Rian and I were crossing the street to go to his house. It was pretty cold outside, although there was no snow anywhere close by. I was quite glad all I had to do was cross the street. Alex’s car was going to take some time to heat up, I did not want to have to wait that long.

Due to the situation being quite strange with Rian there, none of us really said goodbye to each other. It was like we just walked outside and Alex eventually deflected to get to his car.

“Hey, hang on,” Alex eventually called out while Rian and I were in the middle of the road, “we haven’t said goodbye yet.”

“Ugh, come one, it’s cold, I’ll see you again in two days!” I whined and wrapped my arms around myself to keep myself warm.

“We just spent four days together and I’m not going to see you for two more, that needs a proper goodbye!” he argued and jogged up to us. He pecked me on the lips while I started shivering, and he grinned evilly at Rian, “my best bud also needs a kiss.”

“No, I don’t.” Rian shook his head rapidly.

“Yes, you do.” Alex nodded and placed a big sloppy wet kiss on Rian’s cheek.

“Okay, now fuck off,” Rian laughed and pushed Alex back towards his car.

Notes

I'm back, and it's a long one!

While I was gone I...
1. Experienced a shitload of heavy earthquakes on holiday
2. Got attacked by a triggerfish while scuba diving (nobody got hurt), but saw a turtle
3. Got stung by fire coral while scuba diving with a horrible current and happened to get a horrible rash two weeks later (????), but it's finally going away again.
4. Wrote this long chapter
5. Practically never left the house because all my friends started university this week and I don't start for another month.

How are you guys doing?? I'm interested in any random stories.

Also, I see many new stories on here. Anybody want me to read theirs? I'm up for anything. I know, I technically can start them by myself, but I have been so demotivated to read. If somebody asks me, I will do it. Really. Like, just go for it. Even if it's something that hasn't been posted anywhere yet.