first of all, thank you so much for the almost 4k reads! can I count on you guys to make it up to 4K before 2017? that would be the perfect Christmas + New Year's gift to me and that would literally mean the world to me! before I forget, to avoid any confusion with the chapters, the last chapter will be set to occur on December 5th. and now this chapter fast forwards into Dec. 20+. enjoy and happy holidays!

aaand because i'll be gone for the holidays, for the first time in forever, i'm updating thrice in a day! i'm really excited for Christmas! how about you guys? anyway for those of you who had missed out on Chapter t e n, its up now! Thanks to @LukeMcAnn for informing me! i have since reuploaded the chapter! so without further ado, this is the longest chapter i've written.

To Hailee,

Sorry I couldn't wake you up. I just wanted you to know I left early. It's around 7 am and my mom's gonna be home sooner or later. Text me when you read this.

Shawn.

The cold air brushed past me as I stepped out of Hailee's house; reminding me that Christmas was just around the corner. Realizing Christmas was only days away and I still had nothing to give my friends, I dropped by the local mall to pick out gifts. There were only 5 people on my gift list this Christmas anyway.

1. Mom

2. Aaliyah

3. Camila

4. Hailee

5. Cameron

I sighed at the last person on the list, remembering debating over whether I should or should not include him. I bought a huge teddy bear for Aaliyah, probably just as tall as her, and a diamond necklace for Mom. Now to think of it, since I had been saving up all year, I guess it was worth it. Aaliyah's definitely gonna love this.

I had absolutely no idea what to give the last three people on my list. Sighing, I paid for the items as I loaded them into my car. I crossed off Mom and Aaliyah for the list and headed home.

I was greeted with a surprise hug when I entered the house; my hands full because of the large bear. "Hi, sweetie." Mom greeted me. "How's everything been going?" I didn't want to talk to her just yet—still upset because she was with someone new now but I managed to slip out the words, "Fine." My eyes searched the living room for Aaliyah as I dropped the huge teddy bear onto the couch.

"Is that for Camila, Shawn?" Mom teased.

I shook my head as my cheeks flushed red, "No, Mom. It's for Aaliyah. Where is she?"

"Upstairs sleeping. We had a long flight."

"When will you be heading to Canada again?" I said trying to bring up a new topic as I hid the bear behind the Christmas tree. "The day after tomorrow." she frowned. "But Aaliyah won't be coming with me. I might not spend Christmas with you and your sister, Shawn."

"You've already missed Thanksgiving. I won't be surprised if you'd miss New Year's too." my voice was sharp and cold. This was the first time I had ever talked back to my mother.

"Watch your tone, Shawn Peter Raul Mendes."

I flinched at the name. My father's second name Peter which happens to also be mine. I let out a sigh and headed upstairs, carrying the small box of jewelry comfortably wrapped hidden in the sweater I held in my hands. I knocked on Aaliyah's door not waiting for an answer.

"What's up?" I smiled and the same reaction spread over her face.

"Shawn!" she enveloped me into a tight hug. "I've missed you. And I'll be missing Mom. I'm sorry we had to spend Thanksgiving without you. But there were no flights set to fly because of the storm."

"I understand." I gave a reassuring look. "But hey, I got a present for Mom before she leaves on Friday." Taking the hidden box from its hiding place and revealing the precious but fragile necklace was amusing to see Aaliyah's reaction.

She was in awe.

"It's beautiful." she gasped.

I smirked, "I know."

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms like the child she is. "Way to kill the moment, Shawn."

"Gladly."

---

23rd of December

{a/n: yes, this is a thing now haha but im only going to do date stamps for this looong chapter hihihi}

We went to send Mom off at the airport today. Mom didn't want me to drive so she hailed a cab. We hugged and said our farewells and she was about to board but something inside me made me call for her. Then I realized.

Her gift.

"Mom," I paused, "Wait."

Handing her the gift, I embraced her into a hug. "It's from me and Aaliyah. Merry Christmas." She hugged me and tears formed in her eyes, showing her wrinkles despite the makeup she wore. "Thank you. Where did you get the money for this?" She took the gift-wrapped box in her delicate hands.

I smiled and simply shrugged before embracing again. "We'll miss you." Aaliyah said, joining our hugging session.

"I'll miss you too. Be good and stay safe. I'm sure your presents are just somewhere hidden in the house. Bye, I love you!" she hugged us one last time before heading onto her cab.

"Bye, Mom!" we called out.

I put my arm over Aaliyah's shoulder. "Wanna go to the Cinema? Rogue One is showing." Her eyes sparkled, "You have tickets?"

"Nope, but I have money." I smiled.

---

Aaliyah fell asleep in the car on the way back home and for a good thirty minutes, my hands didn't leave the steering wheel. The temperature was really cold outside and as I breathed in and out I could see some fog come out of my nose. Aaliyah twitched and I took off my coat and draped it onto her. It looked like some mini blanket as she curled on the back seat, sleeping soundly.

I got a text from Mom afterwards saying to take care of my sister and that she had arrived safely at Canada. After an hour, I gently woke Aaliyah up. "Hey," I smiled from the front seat. "You've slept enough."

She nodded before getting off of my Audi. I killed the engine and stepped out of the car. It was freezing! Having only a cotton T-shirt and pants on, I shivered and ran towards our house's main door. I thank our house heater so much. I found my coat lying on the couch next to a sleeping Aaliyah.

Aaliyah's asleep again? I chuckled and went upstairs to fetch her blanket when I saw the little present wrapped messily in Christmas wrapper on top of her desk. It said:

To: The best brother in the world

Hey Shawn, thanks for being the best brother. I could have not asked for more; and I'd certainly will not trade you for even Louis Tomlinson to be my brother. Although, he'd be great too. But anyway, I'd still choose you. I love you! <3

Love,

Aaliyah

A grin spread across my face. It took all will power not to tear open the wrapper. Instead, with the blanket in my hand, I gently closed her bedroom door and hurriedly went downstairs and tucked her in.

I checked my phone only to frown to see it dead. I plugged it in and decided to throw the plastic covering the bear away. I went upstairs to my room to get the gift card I had bought and wrote:

Aaliyah,

Sorry but I'm not really good with cheesy letters so I'll keep this short. Here's the expensive bear you wanted. I saved up for it. I know, I am the best brother in the world. Merry Christmas, I guess? Love you.

Shawn

I laughed afterwards. It looked stupid, it sounded stupid but who cares? I'm not usually good at being sweet and everything to my sister. I tried.

I attached the card onto the tag with the brand as I set it once again, to its hiding spot. She'd have to wait until tomorrow midnight, I guess.

I smiled just to frown as I forgot I still had 3 people to give gifts to.

Damn.

I dialed Hailee's number immediately. "Can you be here in ten?"

"Well hello to you too."

"Hi," I rolled my eyes, smiling.

"Sure."

Then she hung up on me.

I waited.

The doorbell rang and a rush of excitement filled through my veins as I opened the door. I was greeted by the cold air and a brunette. I opened the door a bit wider to let the lady in. Her coat was doubled and her boots reached up to her knees.

"That cold?" I raised a brow smirking.

"I walked." her voice echoed through the room.

"Shh, Aaliyah's asleep. Also, I have to show you something." I flashed my smile and pulled her upstairs to my bedroom. I took a small box from my drawer and kneeled down on one knee.

"God, Shawn, you're crazy." she chuckled. "Get up."

I opened the box revealing a guitar pick. "This is the very guitar pick I used to play at your party months before. We were singing a duet, remember? Hailee?" my breath short and I tried my best not to burst out laughing, "will you play for me?"

She burst into laughter and soon, I had joined her. She punched me and wiped up tears from laughing. "Idiot. I thought you were gonna propose or something and I suck at guitar! I've only had like, two lessons."

I stood up and handed her my guitar. "Play." I instructed playfully.

And she did, strumming a bit of a song I haven't gotten to know yet. I liked the tune. "What's the song?"

"Oh, I'm not yet finished with it."

So this song was hers. "The melody's beautiful. Do you have any lyrics planned?"

"No, not yet. I was thinking on working with the melody first before I start with the lyrics and I've got some ideas on what this song will be about." she smiled. "It will be about...someone."

"Who?" I asked curiously.

"Someone...special.", she chuckled nervously as she stopped strumming.

I took the guitar and started strumming some of my unfinished songs too. "The song's really awesome. I can't wait to hear it, you know."

"I've written one before," I said standing up and laying the guitar on the floor. I went over to my desk and pulled out a two-paged sheet music. "Do you wanna try to play it? The chords aren't that hard."

Hailee scanned the paper on my hands and gently snatched it from me. "Shawn, these lyrics..." she continued up 'till the last verse. "they're beautiful. I'm guessing you wrote this for Camila too, didn't you." her tone playful now. And my mind replayed a scene before when I truly hurt her. I shook the thought of my mind and smiled. "Thank you," I said warmly, "but that wasn't actually meant for Camila. To be honest, she helped me write it."

"It's beautiful. Sorry if I'm gonna ruin it with my horrible amateur guitar skills." she joked. "And Shawn?" her eyes met mine. "Thanks for the pick, it's really beautiful."

"You're welcome. Merry Christmas I guess. I'm just glad you like it. Now don't be such a—"

*loud thud from downstairs*

We both matched gazes before rushing off downstairs to see Aaliyah lying on the floor, groaning. I chuckled and murmured under my breath, "Clumsy pig."

---

It was before dinner when I dropped Hailee off to her house. Now I've got to find a gift for Mila. I got back home and found Aaliyah watching TV.

I sat down beside her. "Aaliyah?"

"Yeah?" her gaze didn't move from the TV.

"What present do you think would Camila like?"

Now I got her attention. She quickly muted the TV and faced me. "What? You still don't have a gift for Camila?" Her expression was indescribable. It looked like she was about to be hit by a truck, but hopefully not.

I scratched the back of my neck. "Yeah. I have no idea what to give her. I can't just go to the mall and buy something from Macy's or what. It has to be something special. And, I'm also on a budget so..."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it." she interrupted. "But I may have something in my room."

She motioned me to follow her to her bedroom but stopped me suddenly. "Wait here."

I knew why. She didn't want me to see my present and her sweet note.

Too bad I already did.

I chuckled at the thought and after a minute or so, she came out holding a card. "This, is a limited edition Zara gift card. With this, you can get the limited edition perfume they have." She talked like a saleslady.

"Limited edition's not gonna do it. I need something--"

"I wasn't done yet.", she hissed, "You can give them a photo of you and they'll print it on the bottle with her name or, Shamila, if you'd want. They can even print hearts!"

"The ship name sucks."

{a/n: no it does not! haha}

"Whatever." she rolled her eyes before smiling. "Well, here. Go get her heart."

What? I raised my brow and cocked my head at her. And for the first time, I nodded. I agreed. I agreed to what she had said. I agreed to her saying 'go get Camila's heart'. I might as well die now.

---

It took them an hour and a half to finish printing the photo on the bottle and printing Camila's name. Well, actually, it took them fifteen minutes. The rest was spent on me ordering pizza and traffic. I got home at 8pm, dinner literally on my hands. "Aaliyah!" I yelled, "Pizza for dinner. Get your butt down here."

I placed the box on the kitchen counter and left the plastic with the bottle inside on the couch. I gathered two plates and two forks and sat down. After a while, I was on my fourth pizza when Aaliyah came down.

"What took you so long?"

"I had homework?" she retorted.

I snorted. "Yeah, right. You were probably busy gossiping. Eat up."

I cleaned up afterwards and did the dishes, my phone beside me. I was almost finished when I felt the vibration on the table and the screen lighting up. The caller ID said Mom.

I slid it to answer and put her to loudspeaker. I yelled for Aaliyah and she came down at once. I glanced over the time. 12.23am. "Hi mom." I said as I dried my hands.

"Hey sweetie." I could imagine her sweet smile now. "I still haven't had a chance to open your gift yet. But I'm excited to see what's inside of the box. Thank you, Shawn."

"You're welcome, Mom. And that gift is from both of us. Although I used my money." I joked.

"We'll split on it,"Aaliyah interrupted. "So how's Canada? Oh, great?"

Her voice trailed off as she snatched the phone and made her way to the living room to talk with Mom.

I made my way upstairs and my face fell instantly. "Shit, Cam. I forgot to mail his present."

I took the CD from my desk labeled Cameron and took an envelope as I slid the CD through. I made a quick drive to the Dallas's and slid the envelope into their mailbox. Written on the envelope was :

To Cameron

The song we wrote together back when we were elementary. You never did have a copy of it, did you? Merry Christmas! I've did some revisions then. Hope you like it.

Shawn.

I returned back shortly and grabbed my phone from Aaliyah, who was already playing Color Switch. "It's late. Go to bed.", I gave her a smile before dosing off in my own bed.

24th of December

I woke up the next day around noon. I took a quick hot bath, got dressed and grabbed my coat. Aaliyah was waiting for me downstairs, all dressed up. "I'm starving."

"That's why we're going to your favourite restaurant. The Italian one." I smiled.

It would cost me a fortune but Mom left me allowance to take Aaliyah to her favourite restaurant on Christmas Eve. So I did.

"Thanks, Shawn." she smiled at me gratefully as we exited the restaurant. "Have you given Camila her gift yet?"

"No. But she's coming for dinner tonight."

"Wait, you're cooking?" her eyes widened.

"Yes."

"This is literally the best day ever. You're cooking is just the best! Well, all thanks to that summer workshop you attended in France last year. If not, you might still burn the house." she teased.

I was bad at cooking. Was. But then my mom enrolled me to a summer workshop for the whole summer. I remembered her words exactly. "Don't come back unless you at least know how to cook a perfectly circle shaped egg."

Now my cooking skills are great.

"Who says it couldn't get better?" I said as I slipped into the car.

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see." the corner of my mouth twitched upward, forming a mischievous smile.

---

At around 4, I started cooking. I had over five dishes to cook. 3 requests from Aaliyah, 1 from Camila, and the last one, being my favourite.

It was quarter to six when I finished my last dish; placing them in a fashionable manner on the table. Camila's parents were busy with a business trip in Australia to be home in time for Christmas.

The doorbell rang five minutes later.

"You're early."

"Thank you." she smiled as she entered pass through me. "The food smells delicious. And, I like your sweater." she chuckled.

I rolled my eyes. I was wearing the typical not so suitable for teenage boys Christmas sweater that my grandmother had bought from Switzerland. I looked like an abnormally tall 5 year old wearing that sweater.

"Camila? Your present's upstairs. Wanna see?" I smiled.

She pulled me up to my bedroom. "Lead me to it!!"

She opened my bedroom door and I took a box sitting on top of my desk. "Hope you like it."

"Thank you," she didn't even glance upon to look at me as she started to open up the present. My hands met hers. "No, not yet." I said gently with a smirk. "We wait until midnight."

"What's this?" she giggled when she found the tag. "A note? When did you get all so sweet?"

My cheeks turned red and I scratched the back of my neck. "It's nothing, really. Just—"

But she read it, out loud. "To Mila, to my best friend, to my love, to the person who friendzoned me, to the one who has my heart. Stop being so cheesy, Shawn!" she giggled. She read the rest in silent, her cheeks now also red.

I don't think I would have survived if she had finished reading them out loud.

"Thank you." her voice gentle. She inched closer and pulled me into a hug. I messed with her hair and for a moment we just stood there, our bodies close. I thought of kissing her but I knew it would be inappropriate to do so since well, we were just bestfriends, nothing more.

I pulled away softly though it pained me. I didn't want the moment to end; I suddenly wanted time to freeze the moment our bodies filled the spaces in between us. I wanted to feel her close to me. I wanted to hold her.

"Let's eat?" I suggested.

She quietly nodded and smiled. It was as if something had changed. But it soon returned to normal when she and Aaliyah started to chatter. I rolled my eyes as I watch them carelessly argue about who was more handsome. Louis or Harry.

Psh, everyone knows I've got better looks than they have combined.

---

Time check: 11:59

"Aaliyah!" I shouted. "I have something for you!"

She excitedly went down the stairs and greeted me with the same box I found yesterday in her room.

"Is that mine?" I feigned surprise.

"Yes. Merry Christmas, Shawn!" she handed me the present, hugging me.

"Thank you," I pulled her to the back of the tree, "here's yours."

Her mouth agape, she screamed. "Oh my gosh, Shawn. You didn't!"

"But I did."

Camila smiled at the corner. I told Aaliyah to go to bed because I'll have another surprise in store for her in the morning. I actually didn't, I just wanted some alone time with Camila.

I went up to Camila and hugged her. "It's getting late. It's past midnight. Do you wanna stay here at my place? I can sleep on the floor again, you know."

"I'm good, and that would be nice. Thanks again, Shawn. For everything. I love it." her arms crossed.

With that, she kissed me on the cheek, "Merry Christmas, Shawn."