One Last Chance | Book 3 | Sal Vulcano

Ch. 31

It was now New Years Day. James had forced me out of my own house for about two hours. I don't know why, but to me it seemed important for him. I had absolutely no clue on what was going on, but I just went along with it.

"So...what are we going to do now?" I asked James, scooting up from my seat.

"I don't know!" James shrugged with a goofy grin. "What do you want to do?"

I thought about it for a little while. I had a half hour before James had to take me back to my house. I thought about it for a few minutes.

"Ooh! I know!!!" I said with a small grin.

James' smile faded. He saw the evil idea in my head. "Addison...what are you going to do?"

"You'll see." I replied.

>><<

"Addison, this is one of dumbest things you could ever do!" James yelled at me from the top of the hill.

"Oh don't worry! It's not like you have a ton of fans watching you!" I yelled, wrapping my arm around my body from the coldness of the weather.

Everyone who came to see James roll down a hill in a shopping cart was excited. I had my phone recording in my hand as we waited for the man to come down the hill. We could all see the frightened face of the one we call ferret.

"Come on Addison! Can we please do something else?! I'm freezing! And this is dangerous!" James said cowardly.

"James, we are surrounded by snow! You will be fine!" I smiled deviously.

The crowd around us started to chant "Murray, Murray!" and I joined along. This was exciting, but we had to wait for the man to push himself away and down the hill. To be perfectly clear, the hill wasn't even that steep. So if he were to get hurt, it would probably be a small bruise.

Finally, after fifteen minutes of waiting, James grew some balls in the cold and pushed himself down. The shopping cart went fast, but slow enough not to hurt him in the end. James screamed like a little girl the whole way down. But the funny part was at the end. The wheel the cart James was in hit a rock, flipping the cart forward and sent James flying. Luckily he landed safely but was covered in snow. The whole crowd cheered and laughed. I went over and helped him.

"How was that for a ride?" I asked through fits of laughter.

"Addison, I am never going out with you ever again." James said with a small smirk.

"I want to see that happen." I replied sarcastically.

James went over to his fans and took pictures for a half hour. By then we were ready to head back to my house. We said bye to everyone and headed for a taxi. When I got home, Joe and Brian stood on the porch with goofy grins. I raised an eyebrow at them when I got out of the house.

"What are you guys doing?" I asked.

"A little surprise." Joe said as Brian cane towards me.

"What kind of surprise?" I asked with curiosity.

"A good one." Brian said with his geeky grin. "Now close your eyes."

"Why do I need to-"

"Because we want you too!" Joe yelled at me. "I'm freezing my ass off Spears!"

I could hear James, Brian, and even Joe chuckling. They really wanted me to emerge the house. So, I closed my eyes.

"I'm covering your eyes with my hands too, because we don't trust you." I heard Brian say behind me.

I felt his hands go in front of my eyes. They were warm and smelled like glue. After what felt like five minutes, Brian finally started to push me forward a little bit.

"Watch the steps." He warned me.

I felt like a blind person. I moved my foot around, then took a step. Then I felt my surroundings again, then took another step. I felt Joe take my hand when I took my last step. James was beside me chuckling, grabbing my other hand for support as well. I knew I was in the house when the hot air hit my face. Someone closed the door behind us as someone else started taking off my winter coat and scarf off. Brian's hands still stayed on my face.

"I feel like Belle from Beauty and the Beast when she sees the library for the first time." I referenced.

"We're almost ready. Just take a few more steps." Brian said directing me forward.

He stopped, then took his hands off of my face. "Can I look?"

"No." All three men said in unison.

I felt a pair of hands on my arms, turning my body in a direction. The hands let go of me, then I heard the three of them whisper.

"What is going on?" I asked.

"Addison, this is a gift from all of us. We knew that you were upset about your tree, so we wanted to do something special." James said.

"So, we want to wish you a Merry Christmas." Joe said.

"And a wonderful New Year." Brian finished. "Open your eyes."

When I opened my eyes, I saw a bunch of lights. But when my vision came back to normal, I saw a whole new living room.

My tree, that was ruined and bent, was fixed and straight. The bulbs on that were once shattered to pieces were fresh and new. The lights were bright with dancing colors. Behind the tree, which was a blank wall, were hanging lights with pictures attached from them. Between each picture was a small popcorn kernel. The pictures were all of us from the past seven years together.

I covered my mouth, my eyes filling with tears. I was absolutely happy. This was the most wonderful thing ever.

"What do you think?" James asked, his voice hushed.

My eyes averted through everything as I uncovered my opened mouth. "I love it. I'm absolutely speechless."

"Addison, you're going to make me cry." Joe said as he wiped his eyes.

"These are happy tears." I chuckled as I wiped my tears. I took another glance at everything. "Wow. Who came up with this?"

"Brian did." James said.

I shod my head towards Brian. "You thought of this?"

"It was to make up the mess I made at Christmas. I knew you hated the fact that everything was destroyed, even your heart. So I had to patch it up somehow." Brian said quietly.

I stared at Brian for a few moments, just smiling at him. Brian Quinn, the man who ruined my Christmas this year, brought everything back to life in my heart. This is why I could never let go of Brian, and I surely wasn't going to let go of our friendship. I went up to him and gave him a huge hug.

"Thank you so much." I squeezed him.

"It was my pleasure." Brian replied, giving me a squeeze as well.

I pulled my head away from Brian's chest and looked at Joe and James. I chuckled at them. "Come here you two."

Joe and James smiled as they joined us into a group hug. I was never going to loose these friends, ever. They were my family now, and I couldn't thank them enough.