Fighting For Life

by Kylie Alyssa Forte

  Dana didn’t say anything as she sipped on her coffee, she just looked at us. I was getting extremely uncomfortable under everyone’s silent stares.

  “Not your girlfriend my ass,” his uncle Chris finally said, laughing hysterically.

  Dana instantly chimed in laughing as well, almost spitting out her coffee to her laughs.

  I felt my body relax at their amusement. Amusement was good. Amusement usually meant good things.

  “Sooo . . . presents time?” Cece begged, jumping up and down animatedly.

  Dana gave a small smile and nodded at her youngest daughter.

  Everyone shuffled quickly into the living room while Cece ran directly for the tree. I found a spot on the floor pretty close to the warmth of the fireplace. I sat there and savored the feeling, memorizing it in my head to remember for later when I had to go back out to my life.

  Cece and Aiden began handing out the presents. I watched as everyone got theirs excitedly. I also chose the fireplace spot because it was far away from the tree. I knew that I had no presents under there. Still, I was very content being a spectator to the events. That Christmas had already been the best Christmas of my whole life, so really, nothing else mattered to me.

  After a few more moments, Aiden finally sat down next to me while he slid four presents towards me.

  “What’s this?” I asked skeptically as I examined the packages. They all had my name scrawled across the top of them. I was utterly confused.

  “Your presents,” Aiden said, furrowing his eyebrows together and speaking slowly.

  “Mine?” I asked, having to swallow back emotions.

  He nodded with a simple smile.

  “Okay Aubry . . . I don’t know how your family does presents, but we usually take turns opening them. We let each person open all of their gifts, then the next person, then so on. Obviously, Cece was going first because she won’t shut up,” Dana explained with a fond smile to her little blonde-headed daughter.

  Cece practically demolished all of the wrappings on the paper within moments. It made me giggle at her excitement. Everyone was happy to see the little girl open all of her things with so much joy.

  Everyone took their turns, and I watched on in awe. I had never seen people look so happy before. It was such a lovely sight to see. I could watch their smiling faces and love for one another for the rest of my life.

  Before long, everyone in the room was looking at me. I instantly began squirming under their gazes.

  “What?” I leaned over to Aiden and whispered.

  He chuckled at me and shook his head slightly. “It’s your turn, Aubry.”

  My turn? I had never opened a present before, besides the one from the night before, so I didn’t know what to do. Was I supposed to devour it like Cece or strategically open it like Robert had? The longer I sat there contemplating it, the weirder I looked. My anxiety levels were suddenly increasing, making me want to hyperventilate.

  With no words, Aiden reached over and stroked my back reassuringly. That was all it took for me to bring myself back to earth and look at my boxes.

  I took a deep breath, trying not to think, and picked the box closest to me. It was medium-sized but pretty light, so I really had no clue what it was.

  To: Aubry

  From: Robert (Pawpaw)

  I smiled widely at the words on the box and tore into it calmly. It revealed a rectangular white box, and I was super confused. I opened the box and unfolded the black T-shirt that was nestled inside of it.

  The T-shirt had swirly big prints on it: Chess champion (for now)

  I couldn’t help but to laugh at the thoughtful gift.

  “I still haven’t got that rematch yet! We’ll see after that . . .” Robert said to me, laughing harder.

  “Thank you!” I said, smiling from ear to ear. I couldn’t believe that he got me something. How sweet!

  I picked up a litter box wrapped messily.

  To: Aub

  Love: Cece

  I was excited to see what the thoughtful little girl did for me and tore into the box greedily. Sitting in the small jewelry box was a cute little homemade bracelet. In colorful beads, it spelled out mine and Cece’s name with hearts all around them.

  I smiled widely at the girl with so much love. “Thank you Cece! It’s awesome! I’ll never take it off!” I giggled and got Aiden to tie it onto my wrist.

  Cece looked pleased with herself.

  The next box was the biggest one of the bunch. It was in a bigger rectangle box than Pawpaw’s gift was in.

  TO: AUBRY

  FROM: BRI AND DANA

  I opened it up, and there was a gorgeous black velvet short dress in the box. I picked it up carefully and examined it closer. It was long sleeve with the hem stopping above my knees. The front was just plain fabric that tapered at the waist slightly, the back, however, had no fabric going across it. It was a very beautiful dress, and I admired it lovingly. There were also some black lace flats sitting in the box as well. It was absolutely beautiful, but where would I wear it?

  “Its gorgeous!” I said, smiling up at the both of them.

  I truly meant it. It was simple and understated, but also fierce and daring with the back.

  “We figured that you didn’t have anything to wear today because I’m sure Aid didn’t tell you to bring something nice.” My gaze shifted to Aiden who looked sheepish. “But we saw the dress while we were out the other day, and we both thought it was so pretty . . .”

  I was speechless that they had even thought of me, much less got me something so pretty.

  “Thank you so much!” I exclaimed.

  “We just hope it fits,” Bri added nicely.

  Then there was just a medium-sized square box left.

  Aubry

  Was the only thing written on it. I looked at the box carefully. I was sure pretty sure that it was from Aiden. I mean, that was the only obvious explanation.

  I gasped when I saw what was in there . . . a first edition Pride and Prejudice book!

  I felt tears prick my eyes. It had been so long since I had even read a book, something that I used to live for. For me to have received one of my absolute favorite books was heartwarming.

  “I kind of figured that you already have it, but I hunted down this first edition for you,” Aiden said, rubbing his neck awkwardly with hope in his eyes.

  “No, I actually don’t own a single copy at all. It’s one of my absolute favorites!”

  “I know, I remember you telling Bri that . . .” he said awkwardly with an uncomfortable smile. “There’s another thing in there.”

  I furrowed my eyebrows and pulled out a smaller jewelry looking box. “But you already got me the book?” I said, confused.

  “I got you something else too.”

  “No, I—”

  “Aubry,” he cut me off before I started.

  I opened the box with no more arguments and my eyes immediately met his when I took in the beautiful necklace that was in the box. The pretty necklace had a beautiful blue pendant on it that shimmered and shined in the lights. It was almost the exact same color as Aiden’s eyes.

  I was absolutely speechless as I looked at the boy in wonder.

  I could see him getting uncomfortable at my silence, and he shifted nervously. “Well . . . I remembered that you said blue was your favorite color. I saw that and automatically thought of you. I wasn’t completely sure of which shade of blue was your favorite, but this one just screamed you to me.” Aiden said, explaining himself.

  I was still speechless as I checked out the pretty necklace. I had never owned something so beautiful. It was perfect.

  “T-Thank you, Aiden. It’s perfect! Absolutely beautiful,” I managed to croak out as even more tears filled my eyes.

  The emotions of the day were finally catching up to me, and I was completely baffled at how nice the guy was being to me. He was doing so much for me by letting me celebrate with his family, giving me the extravagant gifts, and protectin
g me. He was being so amazing. That definitely wasn’t helping my small crush on him.

  Aiden smiled a goofy grin at my genuine thanks. He was obviously relieved.

  “Thank you,” I whispered to him when I wrapped my arms around him tightly. He gently returned the hug. “Seriously, thank you for everything, Aiden.”

  ***

  Aiden

  The shock and awe on her face as she opened each and every one of her presents was absolutely the most genuine thing that I had even seen. She was so pure and precious. How could no one else see what I was seeing?

  When she finally got the presents that I got her, I wanted to disappear. What if she didn’t like them? What if she thought they were too much? I mean, they weren’t exactly what a friend would get another friend.

  There were so many worst-case scenarios going through my mind. When I finally looked back up to her after she tore into the box, I knew that she was enamored with the book. The way she looked at it was in pure adoration and love, at least I got one thing right.

  However, she had barely even moved after getting the book out. Was it wrong? Did she actually not like it, and I was just a crappy eye-reader? Her eyes began to fill with tears. Ah, shit. I messed up.

  I just started to ramble. She wasn’t speaking so I had to be the one to fill the void. I wanted to explain my reasoning to her. That’s what they always say, right? It’s the thought that counts.

  She cut me off with the most beautiful smile, “No, I actually don’t own a single copy at all. It’s one of my absolute favorites!”

  I wanted to giggle like a schoolgirl with the way she was looking at me. It lit up my whole world. “I know, I remember you telling Bri that . . .”

  I gestured to the other present that sat in the bigger box and held my breath when she looked at me weird. She wanted to argue with me, to say that what I had already gotten her was too much, but I didn’t want to hear her say those things. She was worth every bit of it.

  She opened the box hesitantly. I saw that she wanted to continue arguing, but my family being there stopped her from being her usual stubborn self. Thankfully, because if the girl truly believed in something, there was nothing that could sway her. It was something that annoyed the hell out of me but made me really respect her as well.

  She stared at the present with wide eyes. I saw the adoration she looked at the necklace with. I could see her overwhelming emotions rush through her expressive eyes.

  Still, I couldn’t help but be nervous of her opinion at the simple necklace.

  She then looked up at me with the same adoration. It knocked all the breath out of me as she stared at me in the eyes, completely speechless. The look in her eyes made me want to never give her a reason to lose that beautiful expression ever again. It was meant to be there, at all times.

  “I remembered that you said blue was your favorite color.” I felt the need to explain myself at her continued silence. “I saw that and automatically thought of you. I wasn’t completely sure of which shade of blue was your favorite, but this one just screamed you to me.”

  A wide smile spread on her face as she glanced between me and the necklace.

  “T-thank you, Aiden. It’s perfect! Absolutely beautiful,” she finally spoke, her tone choked up.

  She flung her arms around me in the sweetest, most genuine hug that I had ever received.

  “Seriously, thank you for everything, Aiden.”

  I couldn’t explain how amazing her arms felt around me. Everything about her made me want her more.

  I wasn’t sure how long we had stayed hugging. It had to be a while, because eventually, a throat cleared from beside us before she pulled away from me, leaving me cold.

  “You did good,” my mom complimented as I helped Aubry put the necklace on carefully.

  “For real? Are you sure that you didn’t have help?” Bri asked while she eyed the necklace skeptically.

  I frowned at her and rolled my eyes at her laugh, knowing she was joking. I loved how more carefree and laughable she had been since we had our talk. The whole family, really. All thanks to the one girl who saw us for what we were.

  I brushed off my thoughts and opened my few gifts. There wasn’t much to them. I had asked for books about sports medicine. Mostly, my mom had also given me one about running a successful business and one on psychology, and my grandparents had given me a hundred bucks in a card. It was a lot less than I used to get, but I didn’t actually want much. I just wanted to quit being so angry.

  “Wow . . . Well, this is a change,” Grams said loudly. “Usually it’s just car parts. Now look at you, my little scholar.”

  I felt a wave of sadness wash through me, making me feel unreasonably angry. “That was mine and Dad’s thing,” I said in a clipped tone, making me feel bad for snapping. “Sorry . . .” I wasn’t sure what to continue that with, so I just looked down in shame.

  “Thanks everyone for the gifts. This has been a good Christmas so far.” I paused and sighed at the topic that had just been brought up. “Even though . . . you know.”

  I stalked to my room to get away for a moment. I needed a moment to calm myself down and to let my grief subside. He was supposed to be here. My father was supposed to still be with us.

  When I had finally reemerged out of my room after a half hour of trying to forget the way I thought that it was supposed to be, Aubry was nowhere to be found. It was barely eight in the morning on Christmas, so I had no idea where she could have run off to. I almost began to panic, thinking that my crappy mood had run her off. I felt bad, I didn’t want to ruin her Christmas.

  That was when I heard her, my mom, and Bri laughing in the kitchen. I just stood there, spying on them in the doorway for a few minutes. They were all busy preparing food for the big family dinner later on in the evening.

  That wasn’t what I was spying on, though. It was the easy and comfortable conversation that was floating between the three women. It was amazing how easily my family took to Aubry. It was like she had always been a part of us.

  After a few more minutes, I made my way into the living room to apologize to my grams as I left Aubry with my mom and Bri. I was glad that Aubry seemed to find comfort in my family and vice versa. It was almost like she always belonged there with us.

  ***

  It was several hours later when I finally went in to check on them in the kitchen. The closer to the kitchen I got, the better the delicious food smelled. I knew that I was not welcomed into the kitchen. Honestly, you forget to put water in the ramen once, and suddenly, you’re banned from the kitchen for life.

  When I walked into the kitchen, I smiled widely at the small girl, who was talking animatedly with my mom. Her long hair was pulled up in a high ponytail, and she was still in her pajamas, much like my sister. Aubry had a little bit of flour in her hair, on her cheek, and some on the sleeves on her shirt too.

  “Everything okay in here, Ma? It’s almost three, isn’t everyone going to be here at four?” I asked, looking between them all.

  My mom was looking very calm and rational, which was usually not the case when it came to Christmas dinner at all.

  Aubry smiled slightly as she picked up the bowl from beside her and poured it into a pan to hand to my mom.

  “Yes, everyone is supposed to be here at four. Thanks to Aubry, dinner will actually be on time this year,” mom said as she put the pan in the oven. They then softly hugged Aubry and Bri simultaneously. “Thank you for all your help today, you two! Bri, you can use my bathroom to shower in.” Bri immediately simpered off. “Aubry, you can use the hall one. Towels are in the cabinet above the toilet.”

  She walked past me with a smile, touching my arm softly as she walked by. I laughed silently to myself because of the white powder all over her, making her hair look grayish.

  My mom waited for her to get all the way down the hall before she looked at me and smiled. “You got yourself a good one there, Aiden.”

  “Mom, I told you we aren’—” I s
tarted, but she cut me off quickly.

  “Oh, cut the crap Aiden. You slept with her! Just slept. That’s something that you only do with someone you really care about. Y’all might not be together right now, but you need to fix that before she slips away . . .” She patted my shoulder quickly and began walking out of the room.

  “Now, I need to go get ready and so do you.”

  ***

  It had been too long; way too long. Where were they? What could they possibly have been doing for so long?

  All of the guests were there by then and still, neither Aubry nor Bri reappeared. Everyone else was standing around and chatting animatedly while I just looked around like a lost puppy.

  Even as Stephanie was pestering me and trying to get close to me, I was only thinking about Aubry. I was irrationally worried about her, even if she was only in my house away from danger, the girl was completely taking over my mind and making me irrational.

  Brandon and Tommy were trying to keep the blonde girl away from me. However, she was very determined to get near me.

  Stephanie had managed to somehow wedge herself in-between Tommy and me. The way her eyes were shining at me, made me want to gag a little bit. I rolled my eyes at her advances and looked around again, wishing for Aubry to appear to distract me from my step-cousin wanting to screw me.

  A movement caught my eye out of my peripheral vision, and I immediately looked in her direction. My eyes widened when I took in her form.

  She looked absolutely beautiful. Her hair was down in loose curls, she had on that pretty red lipstick that suited her so well, and the dress that my mom and sister got her fit her very well, making her look lovely.

  Everyone was practically silent as she made her way into the room. I could hear some of my more judgy relatives talking shit about bruises and scars. I didn’t care though. The only thing that continuously went through my head was the word, ‘beautiful’ over and over again.

  I quickly pushed Stephanie off of me as if I were on autopilot and met Aubry halfway. There were no useful thoughts going through my head, only her beauty. I couldn’t help but stare at her, she was stunning.