Chapter 2: Here We Go

"Okay. Deal."

Sammy appeared taken aback by my answer. He was looking at me like I told him we were going to Disneyland, but once the words sank in, his face lit up.

"Just try not to fall in love with me." That was a joke. Like he could ever be in love with me. He was practically like a brother to me. I stood up from the bathroom floor and flipped my hair over my shoulder as I stepped through the door.

I spun on my heel with a giggle escaping my lips to see a sad glint floating around in his eyes. It disappeared as quickly as it came. He replaced it with a ghost of a smile which anyone with half a brain could tell was fake.

"Please. Me? Fall in love with you?"

I put my best acting skills forward and theatrically slammed my hand into my chest. "I am hurt. I mean, look at me." I circled a finger around my face, gesturing toward my high cheekbones, plump lips and caramel-light brown eyes. "I'm adorable."

I picked out his nicest shirts and found his suitcase on the top shelf that my five-three figure couldn't reach. I threw my arms up like a little girl waiting to be picked up by her dad. Of course I could use his desk chair, but what could be the fun in that? When I didn't hear footsteps behind me, I twisted my body around to face him. "Hello?"

He leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed and a bored look on his face, but perked up when he realized what I wanted him to do. "Are you being serious right now?"

"Dead ass. I'm sorry I wasn't blessed with a six-foot height like you were so..." I snapped my fingers and gestured for him to stand behind me.

Even with my back turned against him, I knew he was rolling his eyes and throwing his head back. Despite that, he still obliged. He lifted me up from under my underarms high enough to snatch his suitcase before putting me back down.

There wasn’t much of a selection of nice clothes. Most of his wardrobe consisted of hoodies. A few sweaters that were hidden in the back caught my attention and I tossed them into the suitcase. I checked the time on my phone and noticed it was half past noon, which meant that we were already thirty minutes off schedule.

"Why are you packing so many nice clothes? Can't I just pack hoodies?"

If he thought he could get away with that, he was sadly mistaken. Until my eighteenth year, she would make my sister and I wear cute sweaters every time we went out. Even if it was to get groceries. She cared far more than I did about what people thought. God forbid, one of us went to the store in a hoodie and a pair of sweats, she wouldn't speak to us for the rest of the day.

"Ha!" I wore a bright smile that switched to a serious face in a heartbeat. "Yeah, no. You haven't met my mother. Every time we go out during Christmas time, she acts like we're going to meet the King of England. I'm like 'Mom, if I want to go to the grocery store in my pajamas, I will.'."

Sammy and I traipsed toward my car in the nearly-empty parking lot and didn't waste time turning the heater on.

Even though we were only outside for a brief amount of time, I still yearned for the heater to permeate throughout the interior. "We need to take a trip to the store first for snacks. I left the muffins and lattes with..."

My lips couldn't form his name. It would've tasted liike poison on my tongue. At the thought of him, my heart sunk to my feet and shattered across the car floor.

Sammy must've my sudden mood shift when he placed his hand on top of my forearm that was resting on the center console. It only took a second for the leftover heartbreak to melt away as soon as he touched me.

Sammy was always able to do that. It was like a superpower. If I was stressed out about an exam or feeling homesick, which I did a lot when I first started college, he'd simply lay a comforting hand on my wrist and all my worries would melt away in a fraction of a second.

We arrived at the store and I ran right in with Sammy lagging behind me before I could freeze into an iced sculpture. I went straight for the candy and junk food aisle and gathered my favorite candies for the road trip. Everyone in my family knew how much I loved sweets.

There was a picture of me that mom had somewhere in the attic of me surrounded by candy for my third birthday and a bright smile. It was a running joke in the family that I would most likely get diabetes. My hands went for the Oreos, chewy Chips Ahoy, sour gummy worms, gummy bears and Reese's pieces.

"What are you trying to do? Get a cavity on the way there?"

I disregarded his comment and, with a spring in my step, pushed the cart to the cash register. Thankfully, the line wasn't too long. Most of the city was already settled in their houses and in front of the toasty fireplace, wrapped in their favorite plush blankets to keep warm before the storm hit Boston.

We started a race toward the car and I was the first to make it inside and out of the twenty-degree breezes.

"I hope you like Christmas music, because I got my Christmas playlist on Spotify all ready to go." I connected the phone to my car and started to play Justin Bieber's version of Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree. Shaking my shoulders to the intro music, a smile formed on my face and I was prepared to perform a private Christmas concert for my best friend.

"Rockin' around the Christmas tree at the Christmas party hop. Mistletoe hung where you can see, every couple has to stop. Rockin' around the Christmas tree. Let the Christmas spirit ring. Later, we'll have some pumpkin pie and we'll do some carolling."

I belted out the rest of the lyrics. When we stopped at the first stoplight, I didn't care that people were staring at me.

My sister used to slide down in her seat and shield her face with her hand every time we drove somewhere together. It wouldn't matter because you could still see her cheeks heating up even through the window. The storm wasn't supposed to start until later, but snow was already drizzling down from the sky.

"James, hand me an Oreo."

Just as I predicted: the sound of his name leaving my mouth elicited the taste of poison. Sammy ignored me and continued to stare out the window. A green light reflected off my windshield so I slowly pressed my foot onto the accelerator. Stealing glances at him while driving, he looked exhausted. He kept nodding off and jerking himself up to sit straighter, but repeated that three times. "James."

Still no response, but I felt an odd taste in my mouth as I said it the second time and the little pieces left of my heart broke more. He wasn't falling asleep, but he kept his eyes opened and watched the trees and snow. My eyes were mainly on the road, but I kept checking for any kind of acknowledgement.

Nothing.

"James!"

Though I was satisfied I finally got a reaction out of him, I was mostly amused. He responded, but he responded by screaming like a little girl. His eyes were shooting daggers - nay, bullets, at me, but that didn't do anything to stop the roaring laughter that broke out of my lips. "First of all, you scream like a girl and second-" I managed to say through chuckles, but I couldn't finish my sentence because I was wheezing at that point.

"And second!" Sammy cried out.

My chuckles slowed to a stop, but my lips were still twitched upward in a grin. "Right. You have to remember that my family thinks your name is James so you have to get used to responding to that."

"Are you sure you're gonna be okay hearing that name?"

I let out a sigh. He was right. Each time I said it, it made me more sick to my stomach so how could I survive a few days of my family saying it without the image of him naked on top of my ex-best friend? I used to love that name.

Every time I would hear it, I'd think of my boyfriend who I thought loved me so much.

"Bailey, watch out!"

It didn't register in my brain that my eyes were becoming increasingly blurry until I noticed two bright lights heading right toward me. My breath hitched in my throat as I squealed and swerved away to the other side of the road.

Sammy was screaming - again, like a girl - and was holding onto the handle on the ceiling for dear life. My heart was speeding a hundred miles a minute, but that ceased when I wiped my eyes and my vision was clearer.

"Sorry." I felt his eyes burning the side of my face. I sensed that he was looking at me with sympathy clearly written all over his eyes. I couldn't look at him right now. I didn't need to be pitied. My focus was trained on the road ahead of me and my mouth was kept shut.

"Change of subject, what do I need to know about your family?"

I sighed in relief. The first half of the trip, I told him about how loud my family is starting at eight in the morning with my parents arguing about what to make for breakfast and my sister trying to control Oliver who chased her around the kitchen.

Then I talked about the annual Christmas party we host for close family and friends that included lots of alcohol. My immediate family weren't drinkers, but my aunt was a sappy drunk who always stood on the dining room table, expressing how much she loved this family.

The rest of the time, I spent belting out the lyrics to more music. "I don't want a lot for Christmas. There is just one thing I need." We were stopped at, yet, another stoplight and Sammy was filming from my side profile. "Don't care about the presents underneath the Christmas tree. I just want you for my own. More than you could ever know. Let my wish come true. All I want for Christmas is... yoouuuu!"

***

I didn't think much about (he shall not be named) and when I did, I didn't let him ruin my road trip. Christmas was my favorite holiday and I didn't want my heartbreak to interfere. However, that's the thing about heartbreak.

You could be having fun with your family, watching Christmas movies, decorating the house, then all of a sudden Boom! You're back to thinking about what you'd been trying to get your mind off of.

The images flood your mind until your knees give out and you collapse on the floor.

I wasn't a fan of driving for so long so I felt a weight lift off my shoulders when we pulled into my parents' driveway. We made it by the skin of our teeth too because the snow was coming down harder just before we left Boston, a prelude for the upcoming storm.

I relaxed into my seat and sent a text to my mom letting her know we arrived and that we'd be in in a second.

"Are you ready for this, Bails?"

I confidently nodded, but on the inside, I was nervous about lying to my family for two weeks straight. When I was a kid, I'd been caught in a lie many times because I wasn't good at keeping up the lie.

Now, since I was forced to lieabout who my boyfriend really was, I had this knot in my stomach before I started.

"Just a little warning, I texted my mom to let her know we made it and, obviously, they know you're coming, so they're most likely watching us through that window."

I pointed to the large window in the living room where I saw figures peeking through the curtains.

"Should we walk in holding hands?"

I nodded.

We exited the car and grabbed our bags from the back seat before meeting each other at the front to hold hands. I took a deep breath in as we approached the front door.

I used my free hand to knock and not even a second later, the door swung open with my mom at the other side.

"Finally, you're home, baby. I'm so glad you're safe." She pulled me into a hug so tight, I could've died of lack of oxygen. She pulled away and held my face in her hands. "Merry early Christmas."

"Merry early Christmas, mama." I stepped aside to introduce Sammy as James. He thought that he was nervous, with his fiddling thumbs and his bouncing knee, but he had no idea what was going on inside my stomach. The twinge inside hinted at an incoming giant knot. "Mama, I'd like you to meet James, my boyfriend."

I could feel Sammy's shoulders tense against mine at the word 'boyfriend'. He quickly recovered and held his hand out for her to shake.

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Underwood."

"Nice to meet you too, sweetie." She disregarded his hand with a slap and went in for a hug instead. My grandparents were full-blooded Italians, so my family was raised to be more affectionate than a simple handshake.

Shit.

Did I warn him about that?

"Did you do that on purpose, mama?" Kiley spoke. Her attention was on the mistletoe hanging in the middle of the doorframe.

The mistletoe that Sammy and I were standing under.

I froze like ice. My eyes bulged and despite the freezing cold breezes whispering against my face, heat flooded in my cheeks. We hadn't been here for a full minute and we were already expected to show affection. Holding hands was easy enough, but kissing? I'd never kissed anyone besides James.

Kissing my best friend was a weird step back into the world of kissing. I peeked at Sammy and his eyes were nearly out of their sockets. The color in his face drained as he stared at the hanging decoration in fear.

"I-We-I," Sammy stuttered. "We told each other that we wouldn't do PDA in front of you guys."

"Yes!" I cheered a little too loudly which earned strange looks on my sister's and mom's faces. "I mean, yes. We did promise that. I mean, you told us to never break a promise, right, mama?"

Mom thought about it for a second with her lips twitching into a smirk. "I'll make an exception."

I hesitated. I knew that we had to kiss, hold hands and do everything else that couples did, but I wasn't prepared for this. I swallowed a lump in my throat, but I covered it up with a fake smile. "Do we have to?"

Mom gestured toward Sammy, her smile long gone. "Just kiss him already."

My eyes flickered back to see him already staring at me.

He shrugged. "We can't break tradition, can we?"

Before I could blink, his lips were on mine.

It felt weird. A good weird. There were tingles when James kissed me, but it was nothing like this. I didn't just feel tingles. I felt electricity. Our lips molded together like they were meant for each other.

When I tried to pull away, his lips caught mine in another kiss. I wrapped my arms around his waist and I felt his hands on my lower back sliding up to cup my face. My heart stopped. While the cold air encased us, the warmth emanated from his body and seeped into mine through my layers.

He stopped, but a part of me wanted him to keep going. My eyes were kept closed until I finally opened them. His eyes were centimeters away from mine.

Our kiss was over, but we refused to let each other go. His hands were still on my face and my arms were still encircled around his torso.

Our private bubble was popped when mom and Kiley both awed at us. They both wore smiles on their faces and their hands were on their hearts. At least they believed that was real. I didn't know why, but a part of me, a teeny, tiny part, wished it was. I hoped that it would happen again.

Wait, I hoped what now?!

"I left you a Peppermint latte in the fridge, so you can heat it up in the microwave." Kiley pointed toward the kitchen.

It was like she read my mind. I'd been craving one all day, but I abandoned it in James' dorm, leaving my breath peppermintless.

As she was pointing to the kitchen, I noticed her painted nails. She told me that since she was laid off at work, she'd been getting into nail art, thanks to Pinterest. This new hobby came out of nowhere, but her Pinterest addiction leading her to a newfound interest in nail art didn't surprise me seeing as she awed at the nail art samples every time we entered the nail salon.

"Oh my God, I love your nails!"

"Awww, thanks. Do you want me to paint yours?"

I froze once more. I was only complimenting her nails. I didn't expect her to invite me upstairs to do mine and leave Sammy alone. With my mom. And my dad, wherever he was.

Every part of me knew that they were going to embarrass me with old photos and middle school pictures that were humiliating. Also, what would happen if Sammy spilled the beans after only one minute of being here?

"Right now?" Sammy and I didn't prepare enough on the way here. We practiced him responding to the name 'James', but that was it. That barely counted because he didn't respond until the third time. The rest of the time, I sang at the top of my lungs and stuffed my face with Oreos and candy.

"Yes, right now! I found the cutest nail design on Pinterest and I've been dying to try it on someone."

Without giving me a chance to reject, she took me by my wrist and pulled me upstairs. 'You're James,' I mouthed to Sammy before we made it to Kiley's old room. I couldn't risk him not remembering to keep up our lie and blurting out his real name. We would be dead meat.

She got out her nail polish pen and a sparkly red nail polish bottle from her makeup bag as well as a white one before pulling up the picture on her phone.

"So, tell me more about James, Bails."

"What do you want to know about him?"

"Well, I'd like to know..." she took a dramatic pause. "why you're lying to us."

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AUTHOR'S NOTE-

What are YOUR favorite snacks for traveling? Leave your answer in the comments!