It was Christmas morning and any hope of getting to sleep in just a little late was ruined by the voices of the younger ones running around yelling that it's Christmas.

I forced my eyes open and rolled onto my back, noticing that the bed beside me was empty. Usually, I was awake before Grayson but I guess he beat me to it this time.

Within seconds of me questioning where he could be, he answered for me as he came walking out of the bathroom. "Good morning," he said with a smile.

He was already dressed for the day in a pair of dark blue jeans and a nice light gray button up shirt. His hair looked damp, but still fixed nicely. "You look nice," I told him.

"Thank you." He walked over to the bed. "Mom wants to take pictures, so she said we had to dress up." He rolled his eyes.

My feet hit the cold, wooden, floor and I forced myself to stand. "Guess I better get dressed, too. Seems like there's already a party going on downstairs." The excited cheers I heard had been replaced with Christmas music and lowered, happy, voices.

"You don't have to wait on me. You can go down," I told him, watching as he sat on the bed and leaned against the frame.

"I know, but I'll wait anyway," he said giving me one of his little grins. He really did have a cute smile.

As I changed into a pair of leggings and a red sweater, and then put on a quick pat of makeup, I thought about how I didn't get Grayson a gift. I wasn't sure he even got me one, which I would be fine with, but he invited me here out of kindness and I didn't even get him the smallest gift.

I applied some makeup, keeping it fairly natural, and then left my makeup setting on the counter to deal with later.

It wasn't until I stepped out of the bathroom and back into the room that I felt like an ass. Grayson was standing beside the bed with a small wrapped gift in his hand.

"Please tell me that's not for me," I said, not realizing my poor choice of words until he frowned. "It's not that I don't appreciate it, because I really do," I began as I walked over to him and sat on the bed, "it's just that I didn't get you anything." I looked up in time to notice his frown leave. "I tried, I just couldn't think of what to get you, and now I feel so bad because, if that is for me, I have nothing to give you."

"Ellie," he, finally, spoke with a laugh. "It's fine. I don't care that you didn't get me anything."

"You don't?"

He shook his head. "You came and spent Christmas here instead of running off to the other side of the country. That's good enough for me." He held the gift out to me. "Now, shut up and open it."

I took it from him and unwrapped it, not bothering to save the paper from any damage. It was a small black box and I stole a quick glance at him, him staring down at the box with a small grin and a glimmer in his eye. I took the lid off and noticed a smaller box, taking it out and holding it as I eyed the object in my hand. There was no doubt what was inside, considering I'd never seen a small box like this hold anything else.

I lifted the lid, the light hitting off the small diamond. My brows arched. "Grayson," I began looking up at him, "are you proposing to me?" I asked, the words coming out blander than meant to.

His eyes widened. "What no!" He looked panicked. "I just saw it and thought of you, but I didn't-"

"Grayson," I laughed. "I'm kidding," I told him and his panicked demeanor disappeared. I took the ring out and slid it on the middle finger of my left hand. "How did you know my ring size?"

"I might have talked to Lana." He sat on the bed beside me. "Which is why it fits perfectly on your middle finger and not your ring finger," he stated.

During the summer, last year, Lana and I were so bored we went into a jewelry store and measured each one of our fingers, but I never expected her to remember the size of mine. Does it make me a bad friend for not remembering hers?

I held my hand out and looked at the ring; it was a rose gold band with one small diamond in the center. "Grayson, this is amazing and perfect, but I can't accept this."

"Why not?"

"Because this had to have cost you quite a bit of money." I'd seen enough jewelry in my lifetime, having a mother like mine, to know that this ring, without a doubt, had a price tag upwards of eight hundred dollars.

He shook his head. "That doesn't matter." His hand reached out, stopping me from sliding the ring off my finger. "I wanted to get it for you."

My hands fell in my lap. "Yeah, but," I began as I turned to face him, completely, "you already agreed to pay rent on an apartment for us while I found a job and-" I paused, my eyes growing as I realized what I said.

"Wait, so you do want to get an apartment with me?" His smile grew wide.

"Well, I didn't plan on telling you that, yet." I was waiting to tell him until after the busyness of the holiday, but him spending that much on a gift for me had my brain all out of whack.

"So, that's a yes?" he questioned, completely ignoring what I'd just said.

"Yes." I tried not to smile, but the excitement in his voice and the smile he wore from ear to ear was too much not to smile at him. In a way I was excited to be roommates with him, something about it seemed like it would be fun, though I'm not sure what made me come to that conclusion.

"Is this your Christmas gift to me?" he asked, carrying himself a bit more serious, "because this is better than you spending Christmas here with my family. Not that it's not great, because it is." He shook his head. "No, this is better than any gift I've ever received."

"Okay, calm down there, buddy," I said giving his leg a few pats.

"I can't." He smiled, once again.

I chuckled. "You look like a kid in a toy store."

"I feel like one."

The door swung open, pulling our eyes away from each other and to the door. "If you two don't hurry up grandma Georgia is going to have a fit. She's ready to open presents," Leanne told us before disappearing just as fast as she appeared.

"Guess we better go down, then," I told Grayson as I stood up and headed for the door.

Downstairs everyone was sitting around the living room and Grayson and I took an empty spot on the floor near the couch.

I watched as Leanne and Mrs. Pierce passed out the gifts to everyone, smiling when I noticed the smiles of Max and Lucas. It's crazy how identical they are in appearance, yet are so different. Max was going on about how he hoped it was some new video game he wanted, and Lucas was hoping it was some book I'd never heard of before.

I sat and watched everyone holding their gifts, ready to see what each person got, but my view was blocked by Mrs. Pierce standing in front of me.

She held a wrapped gift out to me. "This is for you."

"Me?" I questioned not expecting to get anything, which I was fine with.

She nodded. "Of course, dear."

"Thank you." I took it from her and she walked away. The tag said it was from Dale and Rhonda, and I looked at Grayson. "I didn't get your parents anything, and they got me something. Now I feel bad."

"Don't. The last thing on their minds is you not getting them something. They don't care," he said before nudging my arm and saying, "now open it. Everyone else already opened their gifts and all eyes will be on you if you don't hurry."

I looked around the room at everyone focused on what was in their own hands, but a sense of urgency to open my gift came and I tore the wrapping paper off. Grayson might have been joking, but I didn't want to take my chances.

The box was plain and blank, giving no indication to what was inside, so I took off the lid and noticed the light gray color, of some type of clothing. I pulled it out and held it at the top letting it fall to its length, noticing it was a sweatshirt dress. It was simple, yet was made of some of the softest fabric and looked invitingly comfy.

Judging by the length I wasn't sure if Grayson's parents realized that it was meant to be more of a dress type of sweatshirt, something you could wear with bottoms, but they weren't needed, you know, the type that was just long enough to cover everything that needed to be.

"Grayson helped pick it out. It seemed rather long for a sweatshirt, but he insisted on it," Mrs. Pierce pointed out to me.

"Oh, he did? Well, it's lovely. Thank you and Mr. Pierce so much," I told her and then turned my attention to Grayson who stared down at me with a smirk.

"I remember you in that oversized sweatshirt that was just inches away from giving away everything, and then when I saw this, I just knew it was perfect," he told me wearing a look as though he was imagining me in it.

"Okay, stop imagining it, weirdo." My face scrunched up and he grinned.

"Maybe you'll wear it all the time when we're living together." He winked.

"Maybe." I shrugged. "Just not when you're around."

"Oh, that's not fair." He looked at me hurt. "I picked it out just for you."

I blew my breath. "More like for you."