-Thanksgiving-

Abbie's POV

     When we were all seated at the dining room table, I enjoyed the few moments of awkward silence because I knew this would be the last, seeing as Joyce sat right across from me. No matter where you are, if Joyce was around, she would definitely make sure to keep things interesting. And she sure did.

"Um, if you guys don't mind, I would like to share my family tradition with all of you," Joyce looked innocently between my mom and dad. "Sure, Joyce," my dad answered, sending her a reassuring smile.

I was still so confused as to how my parents couldn't see behind her fake personality. All they saw was the sweet innocent side of Joyce Marie Raymond, which was all an act. She really didn't have a sweet side.

"Well," she started, biting down on her lower lip. "My parents and I usually go around the table and say why we are thankful for everyone sitting around the table with us."

"That's really sweet Joyce," my mom said, a gracious smile on her lips.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. I know it's Thanksgiving, and it's supposed to be a time to say thanks to everyone in your life and everything that you have. But I just couldn't be 100% thankful when Joyce was feet away from me.

She is and will always be an evil manipulative person. Nothing about Joyce makes me feel appreciative. All she does is treat people like the shit on her shoes.

"I'll go first," she announces with a sickly sweet smile.

She looked to her left where Noah was sitting. Taking his hand in hers, she grins, raising their locked hands above the table. "Noah, I am thankful for every single thing about you. You are the best boyfriend any girl could dream of. I am so grateful that you chose me."

Except you're missing one minor detail Joyce. He told another girl he loved her. He was going to break up with you for her if she had said those three words back. Unfortunately, she didn't reciprocate the feelings. So he stayed with you. Of course, now would not be the time to point this out and Lona would be upset if I even made it known that I knew what happened between my brother and her. So I kept my mouth shut as she continued.

"You are an amazing son, brother, and boyfriend. I love everything about you. Your hair, your eyes...I love you Noah. Even on your cocky days."

Everyone laughed at that. Everyone but me. I was thinking about one thing.

She's only on the first person, and everyone gets a turn. By the time we're done, the food is going to be cold.

                                                                                     * * * *
     Fifteen minutes later, it was my turn. I spent that time to go over everyone and why I'm thankful for them. And yet, I still had nothing to say about Joyce. I guess I'll just wing it.

I sit straight in my chair, sighing heavily. "Okay, I'm sorry, but I'm going to keep things kinda short. I'm starved." Everyone muttered under their breath silently agreeing with me. Except Joyce. She just glared at me, waiting for me to start.

"Well, Mike..." I turn to look at him to my right. "Mikey, I am very thankful that I was born first. I remember when we were younger, we used to fight a lot, like all siblings do. But I specifically remember always pulling the "I'm older" card when you tried to boss me around. And you always fell for it." Mom and dad chuckled loudly, nodding their heads in agreement.

Mike just narrowed his eyes and stuck his tongue out. "But in all seriousness, I am thankful that you're my brother. Even if we do bicker 24/7, I still love you and appreciate everything you do."

His frown turned into a smile, and he patted my head. "Love you too sis."

Swatting it away, I look to my left. "Dad. I am thankful that you're not as strict as most of my friend's parents. I am grateful that you are always there for me, no matter what time of the day. I appreciate that you work long hours to support for us. I love you."

He smiled, patting my hand gently. "I love you too Abbie."

"Now mom," I start snickering. "I am thankful that you put up with my attitude, and my complaining. I want you to remember that I will always appreciate your effort and love no matter what kind of mood I'm in. Also, I am extremely grateful that you were always there for me when I felt like I was going to fall down the stairs in my cast."

She laughed, then looked at me with a wide smile.

"Noah, I am thankful that you always try to teach me right from wrong. Even though most of the time you are wrong. Thank you for helping me with my homework and for asking me if you need to beat anyone up when I'm upset or mad. I appreciate your effort to know how I'm feeling and all that. And I know I shouldn't say this..."

I glance at Joyce before continuing. "I am so glad that you brought Malona with you to the hospital. If you hadn't, we still wouldn't be talking. Malona is like my sister, and I owe you for that. You helped us reconnect."

No one said anything. Noah stared at me, no emotion showing whatsoever.

I know I shouldn't have mentioned it, but I never got to thank him, and now I did.

"And Joyce." I say, holding her gaze, my lips in a thin line. "I am grateful that you tried to bribe me with expensive things. At least it showed me that you were trying to make a small effort to get me to like you more than Malona. Even though that will never happen, thanks for trying. But you can stop now."

I mimicked her sickly sweet smile, placing my napkin on my lap. "Now, let's eat."

* * * *

-Malona-

     Fifteen minutes later, we were pulling into a familiar parking lot. I arch an eyebrow when the car comes to a stop. It was 8:20 PM and the sun was long gone. I peer out of the windshield into the darkness ahead. "What are we doing here?"

Drew just smirks, slipping out of the car before rushing over to my side. He tosses the door open, a grin playing on his lips. "Come on," he says, taking my hand in his.

He leads me further into the darkness, the moon as our source of light. When the concrete slowly starts to transform into something softer, my feet sinking in, I know exactly where we are.

Looking up at Drew, I smile. "Boulder Reservoir?"

He nods, gripping onto my hand tightly. Without a word, he leads me through the sand of the beach. "I-I wanted to show you that I remember all of the times we spent together. I wanted to show you that I remember where we first met a year ago."

When he comes to a halt, I turn to see what he's looking at in front of us.

"Oh my god," I mumble under my breath. Drew must have heard because he raised his hand, rubbing the back of his neck while he started to ramble. "I-I mean, if you don't like it, we can go somewhere else. We can see a movie, or go to an actual restaurant-"

I cut him off when I stood in front of him, placing my pointer finger to his lips. Leaning up, I place a gentle kiss on his cheek. "It's perfect."

He relaxes instantly, replacing the frown with a huge smile. "Good," he mused, gesturing for me to sit on the blanket spread out for our picnic at the beach. "Because I want you to tell me what you think of my cooking."

When we both get settled in, I reach for his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Oh, you cook?"

He looks down at me, his brown eyes beaming. "Only for you."

I laugh, trying to hide the fact that I was blushing. "So, we have a lot to choose from here," he states with wide eyes.

I watched as he started to unpack all of the tupperwear from the picnic basket, carefully moving the candles off to the side.

I stared at him intently, a smile playing on my lips.

When he glanced at me, he raised an eyebrow. "What?" he questioned, taking the last container out of the basket.

"I'm just thankful for this. For you...I-I mean our friendship or whatever."

I quickly looked away, mentally face palming myself. Why, why, why would I say something like that? He hasn't even asked me out yet! Maybe he won't ask me after all because he knows just how awkward I can be.

I hate the fact that I can't have feelings for someone without making a fool out of myself. I mean, other than Noah, my ex-boyfriend's didn't really know just how crazy I was. A social crazy-weird sort of way.

I really like Andrew. I don't want to mess this up, but it seems like I might have done just that. He probably thinks I just friend zoned him. Oh gosh, why am I so awkward? Why can't I be like Taylor or Callie? They are both so confident with themselves and have boys drooling over them.

And most importantly, they don't make a fool out of themselves in front of their crush.

I was pulled from my thoughts when Drew brushed his thumb across my cheek, making me look at him. "Hey, it's okay Malona."

I relaxed at that. Maybe I didn't ruin this after all.

"So," he started, pointing at the containers as he began to inform me what was in each one. "This one has carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and croutons for the salad in the tupperwear next to it. This one is a fruit salad, and here's the main meal-lasagna. I know it's your favorite. Then we have red velvet cake. Oh, and we can't forget about this." He pulls out a bottle of Barefoot wine. Sweet Red Wine.

I smile, biting my lower lip. "Awesome." I don't even bother to ask how he got it.

With that, we both dive into the food.

* * * *

-Abbie-

     "So, Abbie. How long do you have to wear those casts?" The barbie asks, making me freeze, a spoon of mashed potatoes inches away from my mouth.

I lower it before glaring at her. She cheerfully stuffs a fork full of cranberries into her mouth.

Yuck. They're almost as gross as her.

I glance at my right arm before mumbling, "the cast comes off of my arm in a week. The cast on my leg comes off in two."

The cast on my right arm would have come off sooner if I didn't end up having Carpel Tunnel Syndrome. But I did. The first three weeks after getting out of the hospital were the hardest. I couldn't move or feel my hand. It was like every muscle in my hand just became weak and gave up.

The doctor had informed my family and I that it was most likely caused by my movements during the crash. Naturally, I reached my hands out when the car started swiveling around, bracing myself. The doc said it was what anyone would do.

But thankfully the therapy helped. I had to do exercises throughout every day. If I said it was easy I would have been lying. Now, my hand is almost healed and my sprained arm is healed fully.

As for my leg, it takes time to heal. I had crutches for the first four weeks, but when I went to my fourth to last check up, they said I could walk on my feet without them, only the cast. Now I only have two checkups left.

Joyce smiled, taking a long sip of her water. I rolled my eyes.

"Why?" I suddenly asked.

She flinched, placing her glass on the table. "I dunno. Just wanted to see how much longer you had. To see how well you were doing with it."

I scoffed, finally stuffing mashed potatoes in my mouth. "Sure. Like you care about anyone's well being. Remember what happened at-" I stopped mid-sentence, my eyes widening.

"D-did you just kick me?" I gawk at her with an incredulous look.

She shrugged, trying to hold back a smirk. "Oops, sorry."

Before I knew what I was doing, I shoved my spoon into my mashed potatoes and brought it to my mouth. The next second, the mashed potatoes were no longer on my spoon. But it didn't land in my mouth either . I snickered as I took in the sight of Joyce's potato filled face. "Oops. Sorry. I missed my mouth."

Joyce wiped her face frantically, Noah glaring at me as he started to help her wipe it off of her face.

"Abbie," my mom hissed.

I shrugged. "What?"

A satisfied smile appeared on my lips when the two fake lovebirds got to their feet. "Thanks mom and dad. For the meal. But I should probably get Joyce cleaned up and take her home." Noah narrowed his eyes at me.

My dad nodded understandingly while mom just stared at me.

I knew I would get an earful, but I didn't care. It was worth it.

* * * *

-Malona-

     Two hours later, Drew and I were beyond full. During our meal, we chatted about any and everything. I really loved that I could just talk to him without worrying about what he would think. He made it perfectly clear that no matter what I said, he would stick by me.

That just made me like him even more.

Now, I was sitting in between his legs, holding both of his hands on either side. Raising my hand to the chain around my neck, I smile in content. Drew's gift was a beautiful silver necklace with a purple gem in the middle of the heart shaped piece.

We were sitting in a comfortable silence. I was just itching to lean up and kiss him. But before I could do that, he needed to ask me that one question I have been waiting for.  All I wanted was to be his. 

Yeah, Noah was still a thought in my mind, but he has gradually started to just be a distant memory. But recovering from your first heartbreak takes time.

After a few more minutes, Drew started to twirl the ends of my hair. I leaned into him, never wanting to leave. His warmth radiated off of him, making my heart swell. He gently kissed the top of my head before pulling back and sighing.

"It's getting late. I should take you home." His voice sounded raspy.

I silently nodding. I didn't want to leave. But I knew we had to. I released his hands and stood up and he followed suit.

After packing everything up, we make our way to his car.

The ride was silent. The only sound coming from the speakers.

We eventually pull into my driveway.

Like he does every time he brings me home, he walks me to my door. Except this time I think it will be different. I hope.

We stand there for a few minutes just staring into each other's eyes. I wait for it. I wait for him to lean in.

A grin tugs on the corners of his lips as he stuffs his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. "I had a good time."

"Me too," I barely respond above a whisper, rocking back and forth on my heels. I was anxious now.

"Hey, uh. Do you maybe want to do something tomorrow? A few of my friends and I are going to check out this abandoned hospital. It's supposedly haunted."

I bite my lower lip thinking about it. "Don't worry, I'll protect you," He teases when he notices my uncertainty.

I lightly punch his shoulder. "I don't need protecting mister. I'm all for it. You just watch, the roles are gonna be switched."

He shrugs, looking anywhere but at me. "Probably," he mutters.

We both laugh at that. Then we stop. And we stare. And we stare some more.

Then ever so slowly, he leans in. My eyes flutter close when he's a mere inch away.

They fling open when Drew places a kiss on my cheek. My cheek.

I try to hide the disappointment. I must have done an okay job because he stares at me, a weak smile taking over his pink kissable lips.

"I'll pick you up at 5:30 tomorrow night."

With a small wave, he leaves me standing at my front door feeling very disappointed.

What happened? I thought he liked me. Maybe he doesn't like me enough to ask me out. After all, Andrew is one of the few guys I know that aren't looking for some one night stand.

The hope I felt moments ago is replaced with defeat when I swing open my front door and hear the sound of Drew's engine growing further and further away from me.

* * * *

The special bonus chapter has come to an end. I'm sorry, the last time I updated was almost a week ago! ;( It took time to figure out what was going to happen, and also because I wasn't feeling it to be honest.

That's why I made this extra long, as an apology. But some more bad news...like I said it's been almost a week since I've updated, but I've decided to take a few days off. I will still be on Wattpad, I just won't be posting.

I need a few days to gather my thoughts and ideas to make this story better. I hope you all understand :)

On the bright side, the next chapter will most likely reveal Andrew himself (or at least who I picture him resembling)! Be excited. Aha.

As usual, please leave your thoughts in the comments, like and share!

<3 You All!