It had been a few days since I hadn't been to school as I've caught up with a viral fever. My dad checked in with the authorities and the school let me give exams through my home and I enjoyed my leisure time in my house away from high school and those teen dramas. I was getting better now.

Shawn would visit me frequently as he had to commit his time to his practice and then to Quinn as he was concerned about her grades falling down. I wouldn't lie though, I missed having his attention.

Well, on the bright side, Christmas was around the corner and everyone got busy with their shopping for Christmas Eve, may it be the decorations or the clothing. And I, on the other hand, was made to stay in my PJs and not leave the house for another two days.

I squeezed my eyes shut, pretending to sleep when I heard the thumping of footsteps from the stairs.

"Wake up, sleeppyyyyyhead!" Shawn sang on top of his voice.

I didn't reply, carrying on my act.

"Maya..." He called, reaching my hand and pulling me up to sit.

I forced extra weight attempting to land back on my bed again but his grip was too strong for me to actually pull it off.

I groaned and sat back, rubbing my eyes, pretending to have been awakened just now.

"Spare me the act. I know you were not sleeping, Maya!" He smirked.

"I really hope you have a good reason for invading my peaceful privacy." I growled.

"Indeed. Because..." He said, unfolding his hand from aback that I didn't notice until now, extending a small box towards me, "I got you a gift."

I raised my eyebrows in surprise.

I took the box from his hands and started to unwrap it. Inside the box was a small crystal ball with fairy lights arranged in a crisscross and inside it was a very cute couple under a heart-shaped pink tree. It was so cute.

I looked up at him for some kind of explanation.

"Think of it as an apology gift for not being able to visit you as much as I would have liked and I bought it as soon as I landed my eyes on it when I went to Mrs. Evans's that night to check if you were still there waiting for me." He said.

"That's very... thoughtful of you," I remarked. "I'm gonna name it Crystalline."

"Wha... You know you're a weird girl right?"

"You're weird!" I retorted.

"Whatever! Now get your cute butt off of your bed and let's go for breakfast."

I climb off my bed, stepping inside my fluffy slippers while eyeing him in anguish for his overbearing bossiness.

"You should be grateful that I'm an angel fallen down on earth just for you." He boasted, with his chest held high.

"You're more like the devil for me," I replied cheekily.

He just smirked and turned to look towards the door.

"Let's race who reaches the table first." He suggested.

"I'm in."

"Ready... Set... Go!" We raced towards the dining hall and undoubtedly, I won regardless if they told me otherwise.
                               ~

"I'm so bored!" I mumbled to myself. I wanted to do something but I couldn't find anything interesting.

"Hmm... Think Maya, think! What could you do today? Is there any new movie coming out today? Or do you want to rewatch TVD? Argh, think!" I started talking to myself,

"But for that... I have to check the date!"

I'm a genius!

I picked up the small desk calendar and started scrutinizing the day with the date.

"Holy shit!" I gasped as I stumbled down on my seat.

"Today is December 17!" I remarked which came out more like a question.

I immediately stood up and plucked the car keys from the key holder and stormed out of the house.

I pulled over my car to the nearest decor and gift shop and bought whatever important stuff I needed, paid for them, and took off.

As I exited the entrance, I collided into a big masculine figure, our heads crashed and I accidentally stepped into his foot.

What is it with me bumping into people?

"Oh shit! I'm sorry. Are you okay?" A raspy voice asked with a worried tone.

Damn that voice... was one hell of a voice!

I looked up at the tall muscular figure while rubbing my head. His courteous smile highlighted his chiseled jawline and his light blonde hair complemented his porcelain skin just fine and his piercing dark amber eyes looking right through me.

"Y-Yeah. I'm f-fine. Sorry, I'm a klutz." I stammered, my expressions mortified.

"Not as much as me." He replied with a sheepish smile.

I let out a chuckle and so did he.

"I'm Niall." He said, extending his hand.

"I'm Maya," I replied while shaking his hand.

His phone rang with a call and he motioned his hand gesturing to me that he had to pick it up.

I signaled him that I needed to leave and he pursed his lips and motioned a thumbs up.

I waved him goodbye and he reciprocated with a tight smile as I pulled over my car and drove off.
                                 ~

It took me around half an hour to reach the desired destination. I somehow managed to pull out my phone amidst the uncountable bags I held and dialed his number.

He picked up the call in the fourth ring. "Yo, Wadup?" He chirped from the other side of the call.

"Guess where I am right now?"

"Wait wait! Lemme guess. 'Phasmatos Tribum, Nas Ex Viras Sequita Saguines Ementas Asten Mihan Ega Petous'
Shit! I couldn't locate you. Are you in some anti-magic territory?" He asked sneeringly.

"Ding ding! That's absolutely correct. And that anti-magic territory happens to be your house! So get your ass down here and open the damn door." I ordered.

"Geez, okay." He said and disconnected the call. He took almost three minutes to open the damn door.

"What took you so long?" I complained as I barged in his living room.

"Geez, woman, relax! I was in my bathroom when you called." He said while shutting the door.

"What were you doing in the bathroom with your phone- Ugh, you know what? I don't even want to know." I sickened the thought that arrived in my head.

"Haha, you asked for it. I was sitting-" I cut him off before he could continue by covering his mouth with my hands.

"I don't want to know!" I cried.

"Haha, okay okay chill." He now looked over the bags that I've been holding still now, "What are those?"

"It's Chloe's birthday, silly! I bought some decorations and gifts for her birthday party."

Shawn's expression softened and shifted into despondency.

"We didn't celebrate Chloe's birthday after that day." He said softly.

My expressions changed faster than I thought was humanly possible and before I could get on my over dramatic self, the reason behind it just clicked my mind.

"Shawn..." I trailed off, feeling bad for that poor girl. I shook my head and adjusted my composure before continuing, "I know it was hard for all of you but that was three years ago. I remember it was on her 3rd birthday. I understand how difficult it must have been for all of you. But Shawn, she's just a little six years old girl. She... doesn't deserve this. She is too young to understand any of it and not celebrating her birthday will only add gloominess to her life. She's just a little girl who would wish to have a small birthday party with her family and friends. Is it too much to give it to the little girl?"

There was a suffocatingly long silence before he sighed and widened his mouth to speak.

"You're right. She deserves all the happiness in the world. And I will try to give it to her as much as I can." His lowered eyes now look up to mine softly. "Thank you for doing all this for her, Maya. For me." He said softly.

"That's what are best friends for," I said while giving him a soft hug.

"Oh! So you finally consider me as your best friend, huh?" He smirked.

He will never quit his sarcasm on anything!

"Yes," I answered directly without any cheeky reply.

He was surely at a loss of words as his expression shifted by my straightforwardness.

"Shall we start?" I asked, looking around the house.

"Hell yeah!" He smiled and ransacked the bags that I bought for the decorations.
                                  ~

It took us nearly four hours to completely finish up with the decorations, but I was satisfied.

"Finally!" Shawn sighed, his both hands resting on his waist.

"Do you think she will like it?" I asked anxiously.

"Are you kidding me? She's going to love it. She will probably keep this in the same way for a week or so." He replied with a smile, his breathing still heavy from the load of work.

"Did you inform all her friends and mention the time?"

"Yes, I did."

"What about the costume guys? Did you specify to them that they have to dress as Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse?"

"Yes."

"Did you-" He covered my mouth with his hand to shut me off.

"Shush. I've done everything you asked, so calm down. Geez, girl, you're like a bridezilla."

"Wait what? How am I a bridezilla? This is not even a wedding!" I exclaimed in anticipation.

"Oh, you get the idea what I mean. And I won't be surprised if you become one at your own weddings."

"I really doubt somebody would actually marry someone like me. I mean, look at me!" I said, blowing the possibility off, though my own words hurt me somewhere down in the corner.

"I highly doubt that. Who wouldn't want to?" He said wittily.

"I don't believe so," I remarked gloomily.

"Why do you think so low about yourself?" He asked, raising his eyebrows, his tone displaying a hint of annoyance.

I didn't want to answer that. I didn't want to bring myself into that situation just yet. Sometimes, the answer hurted more than the question. And it was something that none of us were prepared to hear. It wasn't the right time to go there. Not yet.

"What is the weirdest thing you've done in your life?" I asked, randomly asking the first thing that popped up in my mind to change the subject.

"Huh...?"

"Weirdest thing," I answered, widening my eyes, pretending to act naive.

"Hmm... I ordered a pizza with pineapple as toppings and ate it with ketchup." He responded.

"What!?" I exclaimed, at the top of my voice in contempt. "You seriously ate that?"

"You asked for the weirdest thing and I told you. And yes, I did. It wasn't really a good combination but I had to try."

"Just the thought of it makes me want to throw up," I said.

"Your turn." He said, turning towards me.

I thought for a minute to remember the last weird thing I did.

"So back in junior year, Olivia told me about this world-renowned therapist who was here in town so I got this crazy idea to visit her. I mean, with no rational thought I just took an appointment without telling anyone, not even my parents, and visited her and she told me some strange things which... are not important, and then she said that I will one day, travel across the seven seas just to find her." I said, reminiscing about the experience, "It was weird. I mean, why would I cross seven seas for her?"

"Exactly. You don't even travel seven streets across to meet me." He complained playfully.

I shoved him on the couch and walked off to recheck all the arrangements one last time. Well, I was a bit of a perfectionist after all.
                                    ~

Around 7 p.m, all of Chloe's friends gathered and started to build a tower of gifts. Waves of excitement rushed through me as I imagined the surprised, delighted expression on Chloe's face. I always wanted to organize a birthday party like this and I was glad that I got the chance on her birthday.

"Should I go and bring Chloe?" Shawn asked after confirming that all the kids and costume guys had arrived.

"Yes. And don't forget to blindfold her. She will love it." I suggested.

"Okay. I'm on it." He whispered and began walking towards the door but stopped suddenly when the doorbell rang.

I perplexedly raised my eyebrow as I looked around and confirmed that all the people on the list were already present.

Who might that be?

"Were you expecting someone?" I inquired him with a low voice.

"Yeah, I invited someone. That must be..." His voice trailed off as he walked nearer towards the door and I couldn't interpret the last word he said. That might be someone from the football team.

My mouth hung open when I saw Quinn walking in by the door and standing right beside Shawn, handing over her coat to him and exchanging a quick hug. I blinked a couple of times, ensuring that my eyes weren't tricking me.

The nerve... I supposed that this was going to be a family and friends gathering.

Well, I guess I was wrong. When did he even invite her?

He hung her coat in the wall-mounted coat rack and exited the door to bring Chloe. Quinn spotted me amidst the crowd and trudged in my direction.

"Hey, Maya!" She squealed and hugged me too tightly for my lungs to respire freely "You're here too! I didn't expect to see you here."

What the-

"Yeah, Shawn and I did the whole arrangement here so it kind of made sense to me to be here," I answered, trying my best not to sound rude.

"Oh! My bad." She said and looked around.

"You both did an amazing job."

"Thanks."

"I didn't know you guys were close." She said while looking at the birthday cake on the table.

"Uh... Yeah. Didn't Shawn tell you anything about me?" I asked in a dubious tone.

He better should have. Or else, I swear I'm gonna rip his head off!

"Umm... He might have. I actually wasn't listening. I was busy gawking at him." She answered with a mischievous smile.

I sighed in solace. Regardlessly, his head is safe for now. But that didn't mean he was off the hook.

I heard a knock on the door, which was an undercover message informing me that Chloe was standing at the door. I hurriedly switched off the lights and texted a thumbs-up to Shawn.

The doorknob turned open and the crowd cried "Surprise!" as soon as Chloe walked in and I turned on the lights.

She covered her mouth with both hands in utter excitement and started jumping on the balloon-filled floor. It took her nearly one minute to register the sheer excitement that rushed through her body before turning to Shawn and ran to him to hug him tightly.

"You did all of this for me, Shawnie?" She asked, her body still vibrating from the enthusiasm while her eyes glimmered in warmth.

"You liked it?" He asked as he knelg on both of his knees giving her a sweet hug. She nodded and hugged him back, resting her head on his wide shoulder while Shawn continued, "But, I cannot take the credit as it was all Maya's idea. She did all of this just for you."

She pulled away from the hug and turned her head to scan the room and ran towards me as soon as she spotted me.

I reflexively knelt down and pulled her into a hug as I swung her in a soft dangling motion.

"You did all of this for me, Maya? Thank you." She said as she planted the cutest kiss on my cheekbone.

"Yes. And that's because I wuv you." I mumbled as I tried to mimic her.

"I wuv you too." She said as she hugged me again.

"Even more than your brother?" I asked playfully as I shot him a teasing wink.

"More than Shawnie." She replied as she pulled away with a chuckle and he pouted.
                                    ~

The birthday party was a huge success. Chloe enjoyed every second of it and her blissful smile was everything required to light up my soul. She loved the gift the most that I gifted which was a frozen doll set that had all the characters in it as I knew how much she loved them.

Throughout the party, I tried to ignore Shawn and he might have sensed it as well that I was pissed and he knew it. I would engage in a conversation whenever he tried to approach me but yet it would throw daggers on my chest whenever he would return to chat with Quinn. I didn't know why that bothered me so much but it did.

I was collecting the trash when I felt a yanking on my wrist, someone pulling me into the nearest empty room. I squeezed my eyes to adjust to the sudden darkness and tried to study the figure that stood in front of me. Shawn gave me an empty glare and I couldn't figure what he was thinking.

"I don't know if it's just in my head or are you really trying to avoid me?" He shot me with his question directly, catching me completely off guard.

"What makes you think that?" I retorted, waiting for his answer to check if he could guess it right.

"I don't know. I have no idea why you would do that. Is it about Quinn?" He asked in a perplexed tone.

"Yes. It is about her. It is always about her. I thought this was going to be a private gathering. You didn't even tell me that you invited her. And it's not only just about today, you spend more time with her than you spend with me. You talk about her all the damn time. I don't know if you like her or something or just see her as a friend, and trust me I don't even want to know, but if you are trying to replace me with her, like really if you are trying to make her your new best friend then boy let me tell you-" He didn't let me continue my outburst my placing his finger on my lips, telling me to shut down.

"Damn girl! Chill down a bit!" He said, trying to hold his chuckle, "Jesus, what kind of silly things goes through that tiny little head of yours?"

Oh, you have no idea.

I shot him a glare while trying to compose myself.

Get your shit together girl. You do not act like this. I mentally yelled at myself.

I composed my posture and looked up straight into his eyes, demanding some kind of answer as I finally had my outburst.

"She can never be more than just a friend. Not even a best friend, not even a girlfriend." He said, looking up and reciprocating my gaze and continued after a pause, "And I really forgot that she was supposed to come to my place to pick up the notebooks she left the other day but I was busy preparing for the birthday so I asked her to come over to the party so that I could return it but it totally slipped my mind to tell you about it. And I'm just spending time with her as Mr. Johnson strictly advised me to for extra credits as he knew that I spend most of my time in practice rather than being in the class. And... I will never replace you with anybody, let alone Quinn. Because I barely think anybody could handle someone as great as me other than you and do you think that I, after so much of hard work, got you as a best friend and you and I will let you go that easily? Come on, give me some credit!" He clarified. And boasted.

I narrowed my eyes to gesture to him that I still wasn't entirely convinced.

"God! I will never replace you, Maya Matthews." He enunciated every word this time, letting a grin spread across my face.

We laughed together for a while and headed out to clean the gigantic mess that the little monsters created.

Hey guys, hope you are all doing good. But don't ask me as I'm doomed. I can say that it's my karma or something, I don't know, but I'm made to attend online classes for 8 and a half hours! 4 and a half-hour in the morning and the remaining 4 hours in the evening (╥_╥)
So, I'm really sorry in advance if I update late since I know these classes would suck all the energy out of me.

Ps: I had chosen the date Dec 17 as it is my birthday date xD

Anyway, I hope you all liked this chapter. And I officially announce that Quinn is out of the picture now. I just had to add it to spice up their relationship （＞ｙ＜）

Sneak peek: It's Christmas ～(^з^)-♡
Time for some new entries.

Feel free to vote and comment <3

I'll see you guys soon.
Stay tuned♡.
~Love ya( ˘ ³˘)♥~