FTB

"Hi." Kaylynn sighed when Mack answered.

"What's wrong?" He frowned.

"I can't come over until like later." She explained. "Candice waited last second to ask me for help with Aaron's gift."

Mack sighed quietly. "It's alright!" It wasn't. "Just come when you can, babe."

"I'll try to come over earlier." She huffed. "I'm really sorry."

"It's okay." He tried to convince himself. "See you."

He hung up. Kaylynn let out a growl. They had barely seen each other in weeks. She missed Mack, but she couldn't bail on Candice. Kaylynn helped Candice when she could. She wasn't really there though. She felt bad. She knew she wasn't being fair to Mack. Her phone buzzed. It was a text from Sam.

Aaron and Candice are the worst couple in the world.

She chuckled. He wasn't wrong. They always did this and then bought something similar to what they got the other last year. Candice got a new piece of jewelry, perfume, and a book every year since they had started dating. Aaron got five rolls of hockey tape, a gift card to a sports store, and tickets to a hockey game. It was always the same. They knew what they liked and they didn't need material things to show that they cared about each other.

"What do you think about me just buying him a gift card?" Candice asked.

The same question as always. Kaylynn nodded. Candice sighed, leading Kaylynn to the counter. Kaylynn waited for her next thought. Candice gasped, reaching for the tape in the basket along then check out area. She turned to Kaylynn.

"Get that so you can wrap something for him." Kaylynn chimed, like always.

So that's what Candice did. They were done shopping for Aaron. They walked through the mall to get to the parking lot. Candice stopped as they walked past a store. Kaylynn looked back. She was staring at a men's watch. Kaylynn smiled.

"Let's go get it for him." She said as she walked over to Candice.

"Do you think he'll like it?" Candice bit her lip.

"Definitely. Come on." Kaylynn dragged her in.

Candice went to talk to someone about the watch while Kaylynn looked around. She browsed through everything. She saw chains. They were in the men's section. She chewed on her lip as she looked at it. Mack would love it. She knew the chain his dad had gotten him when he was a kid had just broken. She decided to grab it, even if she already had some things for him.

Danielle was stressing out about something too. Michael was coming over for dinner. It wasn't Christmas yet, but her parents had invited him over to help decorate her tree. This was a big deal. Her parents had loved Nic. She was scared they'd want nothing to do with Michael because of that. But Michael was better than Nic. She felt her heart stop when she heard the doorbell. She ran down to answer before her parents.

She nearly ran them over getting to the door. She pulled it open with a smile. "Hi." She cooed up at him.

"Hey." He smiled, pecking her lips. "I got my mom to pick this up for you." Michael said to Dani's parents as he extended a bottle of wine with a bow on it. "I hope you like red."

They thanked him and took it into the kitchen. Dani rolled her eyes as she closed the door. "The way to my parents' hearts isn't through their livers." She teased, wrapping her arms around him.

"Just a respectful gesture." He smirked, kissing her.

Michael and Dani sat at the table with her parents. Her mom kept getting up to go check on dinner. Her parents had already cracked open the wine. Danielle squeezed Michael's thigh when she noticed. Her dad yelled at her to keep her hands above the table. Michael laughed. Dinner was finally served and Dani's older siblings emerged from their rooms. Both had already met and liked Michael, but they had to pretend they hadn't. Danielle wasn't supposed to have guys over until her parents knew them. And she definitely wasn't allowed to throw or attend parties.

"So. Michael, how are your grades?" Dani's mom hummed, setting her fork down to lace her fingers together.

"Uh, they're not the best right now." He sighed, playing with his food with his fork.

Danielle gave him a look. Her parents gave him and her one. "What's your average? You know Danielle has a perfect one."

"Yeah, mines not as good as hers." He chuckled. "I have a ninety six average right now, but that's only because my grade twelve psychics mark is only a ninety."

"Danielle told us you were only a junior." Dani's dad said in confusion.

"I am. I took grade twelve psychics because grade eleven was easy last year." Michael shrugged as he ate.

"You never mentioned he was smart." Dani's mom said to her.

Dani shrugged. "I forget sometimes when he talks." She admitted, looking at Michael.

He smiled, raising his brows at her. They continued eating before they went to decorate the tree. Michael sat on the floor and pulled Danielle down to sit between his legs. She looked to her parents but neither said a word. The two of them started decorating. They noticed the family had faded out and it was just them. Well Danielle noticed. She grabbed Michael's arm to stop him from hanging something up. he looked to her and she kissed him.

"My parents really like you." She told him.

"How do you know?" He challenged, wrapping his arms around her.

"Because they left us alone." She rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, and they are expecting us to finish the task of decorating the tree." He stated, pulling away from her. "Let's put the star up." He handed it to her.

"Neither of us can reach." She crossed her arms.

"Get on my shoulders." He squatted down.

"This is gonna end bad." She sighed as she did as he asked.

He was strong as he lifted her. She held onto his head with one hand, and the star with the other. He was stable so she let go. She lifted the star to the top of the tree and set it on. She could tell this was gonna be one of the best holidays she'd ever had.

Notes