Fly Like A Hawk

Chapter 62 - December 25th

I got up from my seat on the couch and fished a present out from underneath the tree, I'd wrapped it in shiny Christmas paper just the day before and attached the glittery tag. I placed it on my pile then reached for the one beside it, stacking it on top and moving back to my spot. I handed Demetri the first parcel, flopping back into Eli as I did then held up his, smiling up into his happy face as he planted a kiss on my forehead and accepted the gift. Demetri unwrapped his first, peeling away the layer of wrapping paper to reveal his gift that had taken me days to find. He smiled up at me excitedly and stroked the packaging carefully.

"You didn't..."

"I did, found it somewhere in Montecello in Utah and had to get my mom to drive me up there to go get it."

"What is it?" Eli asked as Demetri excitedly held it up, the gold of its certification sticker glimmered in the light of the fire.

"A first edition copy of the first ever Dungeon Lord comic!" He cried excitedly, once again stroking the plastic protector cover. I felt Eli laugh, his chest heaving up and down at his joy. I tilted my head back and smiled at my distorted view of his face.

"Now you. Open yours." He rolled his eyes and shifted, removing his arm from around me as he sat up, I did the same thing, twisting as I sat straighter to see his face when he opened it. He frowned as he removed a soft, brown plush from the bag. "It's not much, I thought I'd humour myself."

"What are you talking about?" He chuckled, depressing the cat and listening to it as it spoke. 'Your karate may not be better than mine, but it'll always be the best to me. I love you, Eli.' He smiled at me, and I could just about see the glittering tears in his eyes.

"You wanna know what it's called?" I asked, as I flipped it over to show him the back of it, "Y/N Junior."

"Wait, is this-"

"The same as Hawk Junior the cat, yeah, but look..." I got to my feet and glanced down at him, "Hold on a minute," I returned swiftly, carrying Hawk Junior in my hand to show him. "See she has one eye as well but hers is on the other side so..."

"Together they make a pair." He chuckled at that and pulled me towards him, planting a kiss on my lips before returning to examining the plush cat.

"I thought that maybe since now you have Y/N junior, I could have Hawk junior." I looked up at him and made a grab for the calico cat plush I had handed over.

"No way. He's mine. A kids gotta have their dad." I shook my head playfully and laughed, snatching the cat from his hand and hugging it close.

"No, he's mine and I'm never letting him go." I chuckled up at Eli, who laughed along, "And I'm never letting you go either, so you better get used to it". Suddenly, his face lit up and he pushed past me so that he could get up from the couch and grab his presents. He tossed one to Demetri and brought mine back over to me, sliding into the space he had left and holding it in front of my face. I took it from his hand and eagerly peeled off the tape, pulling a small but long box from the wrapping. I pulled the little white bow that held the lid on undone and removed the lid to find a tiny silver bracelet.

"I didn't wanna go with a ring because you know, marriage and everything and a necklace just wouldn't work when fighting so...I chose that." I smiled down at it, reading the words to myself as I tried not to cry, 'I love you to the stars and back - Eli.' I held my breath in an attempt to hold the tears in and realised that the chain was made out of a tiny replica of the solar system. We'd worked on that project together back in fifth grade, our first joint effort.

"Oh, Eli, it's beautiful will you put it on for me." He smiled as I held the box up for him and he fastened it around my wrist, "I'll wear it forever." I whispered, smiling up at him and planting a kiss on his lips.

Demetri cleared his throat and held up his gift from Eli, a green t-shirt with the words "binary brothers" written across the front and Demetri written on the back. "I humoured you too." Eli admitted, smiling slightly as he slid up his jumper and showed Demetri what his shirt said. It was matching and on the back I presumed it said Eli. I smiled between them as Demetri shrugged into his.

"Ok, I guess it's my turn." Demetri mumbled, getting up and removing the final two presents from beneath the tree, he tossed them over to Eli and I and we began to unwrap them as he retook his seat. I pulled out the piece of paper from inside of the sparkling Christmas paper and a smile immediately lit up my face.

"Hawthorne 6 tickets?" I asked, chuckling to myself as Eli held up exactly the same ticket.

"Yes, well, since you went to see Hawthorne 5 without me, I figured I would get you tickets to the next one, only I'm coming as well and your not going to see it without me this time."

"Your never going to get over missing Hawthorne 5, are you?"

"Nope, not for a very long time." Eli and I both laughed and I took a moment to appreciate both of them, realising how lucky I was to have both back as my friends.

"You guys are the best." I muttered, smiling between them and they both smiled back.

"Yeah, we know we are." Eli laughed back and after that we spent the rest of the night playing Christmas games and chatting, it was the best Christmas ever and I hoped that it would never end.