Not a Love Story

Fifty-One // Presents

Oliver Greene

The days counting down to Christmas were dwindling away. Mom and I were sitting on the couch, both reading while Henry was in his room, the sound of him shouting at a video game and the crackling of the fireplace the only noises in the house. My reading was interrupted by a knock at the door. Mom looked up at me, confusion on her face.

"Were you expecting anyone?" she asked. I shook my head as I set my book down, making sure to mark the page as I did.

"No. I'll go check." I said, heading for the door. I opened it to reveal Ben, a smile immediately growing on my face when seeing him.

"Hi. I wasn't expecting you." I greeted, opening the door wider to let him in.

"Who is it, honey?" my mom called from the living room.

"It's just Ben." I called back, closing the door as he toed off his shoes.

"Just Ben? Am I not special anymore?" he asked, feigning hurt. I rolled my eyes and smiled.

"Shut up." I mumbled, pressing a light kiss to his lips. I noticed a few gift bags in his hand, making me quirk my eyebrow upward in confusion. "What are those?" I asked, gesturing to the bags.

"Presents. For you guys." he said, just as my mom joined us by the door.

"Oh you didn't need to do that, Ben." she told him.

"I wanted to. Here, this one is for you, Beth." he said, handing my mom a bag.

"Thank you, sweetheart." she replied.

"Well I'm curious, open it." I told her, shifting to stand next to Ben, wrapping my arms around his waist in a makeshift side hug. I felt him kiss the top of my head as my mom begrudgingly agreed and began to pull the tissue paper out of the bag.

"This is lovely! Exactly what I've been looking for, thank you, Ben." my mom exclaimed, pulling out a box of her favorite teas she's been looking all over town for. "Where did you find it?" she asked, turning the box over in her hands.

"I was out of town visiting my grandparents and a store near them had it. I remember Ollie mentioning that it's your favorite, so I thought I'd bring some back for you." he explained. I felt my heart swell, touched by his kindness.

"This is very sweet of you. Thank you." she said, pulling him into a quick hug and out of my grasp.

"No problem at all." he responded, a bright smile on his face.

"Well I'm going to go make a cup of this to drink while I read. You two have fun." she said, winking before heading to the kitchen. I groaned, turning towards Ben to see him laughing.

"Want to go to my room?" I asked. He nodded and followed me up the stairs. I closed the door behind me while he sat on my bed, setting the other bag down next to him. I sat across from him, folding my legs into a criss-cross. I frowned, looking at the bag. "I don't have a gift for you yet." I admitted.

"Who's to say this is for you?" Ben teased, the smirk on his face giving it away as he handed the bag to me. "Open it." he instructed. I gave him a questioning look, confused by his cryptic nature.

I carefully took the tissue paper out of the bag and pulled out a blue sweatshirt with yellow letters across it reading Michigan Football. I smiled and looked at him, still slightly confused.

"Football? You know I'm not that much of a sports fan, right?" I teased. Ben chuckled and nodded.

"Yeah, but I thought you might be if your boyfriend is on the team." he said. My eyes widened and my jaw dropped.

"What?" I whispered.

"I got the call a few days ago. They offered me a spot." Ben smiled.

"Michigan? Michigan offered you a spot?" I asked carefully, worried he was joking. He nodded.

"Michigan offered me a spot. And I committed." he grinned.

"Oh my God! Ben, oh my God!" I cried, the sweatshirt forgotten as I flung forward and wrapped my arms around him. He chuckled in my ear, wrapping his arms around me. "Wait!" I exclaimed, pulling back to look at him. "When did you meet with them?" I asked, confused.

"They came for a home visit the same week as Wisconsin, Florida and Colorado." he sheepishly admitted. I lightly slapped his shoulder.

"You jerk! Why didn't you tell me?" I exclaimed.

"I didn't think they'd offer me a spot. And I didn't want to get my hopes up. But the coach called me the day after the game to talk, so I guess it went well." he said, shrugging. I nodded, understanding, before wrapping my arms around him again.

"I'm so proud of you." I whispered, nuzzling my nose into his shoulder.

"Thanks, Ollie." he whispered back. I pulled away to look at him again, smiling.

"We're going to Ann Arbor together in the fall." I whispered. Ben nodded.

"Yes we are." he confirmed. I leaned forward, connecting our lips together, both of us smiling into the kiss.

"My boyfriend is a Michigan football player." I muttered against his lips. Ben lowly chuckled.

"Well my boyfriend is going to med school at Harvard." Ben retorted, earning a laugh from me.

"Gotta get through undergrad first." I replied. Ben rolled his eyes.

"Okay, okay." he mumbled, connecting his lips to mine again.

Everything in this moment felt so, so right. I felt like my life was finally starting to fall into place piece by piece. It was that exact moment, as Ben and I gleefully laughed and exchanged chaste kisses, that my heart swelled and I knew this is what I wanted. To be with Ben, forever.

"I love you, Ben." I whispered, my heart skipping a beat as I did, holding my breath and hoping he'd say it back.

"I love you, Ollie." he whispered back, both of us widely smiling at one another.

****

Hi so this has 60k reads now?!?!? Um what??? A week ago it was under 4k and now 6 0 K ?? ? You guys are AMAZING, I literally cannot thank you enough!! Everyday I wake up and I'm so stunned to see all of the comments and votes and people adding NALS to their reading list. You all have made this week so amazing and full of joy for me, I'm so beyond incredibly grateful<33

Thank you, thank you, thank you for the support and love!! I love you all beyond belief:)

x, Anne

p.s. please feel free to continue commenting and voting and sharing! reading all your comments is the best part of my day:)