It was the weekend and I had spent as much time as I could locked away in my dorm. With the weather changing the snow had really started to come down, now.

I had just talked to Aaron, who found it necessary to remind me more than once how nice the weather out in LA was. If you could hit someone through the phone, I would have hit him, though my fist would have, more than likely, been more damaged than his arm would have been.

Lana and Derek were out together doing who knows what. Grayson had stopped by to bring me lunch and a hot chocolate before heading to the gym with Tyler, which was sweet. I had told him I wasn't stepping one foot outside unless I absolutely had to. It looked like a blizzard out there, well I mean not exactly, but close enough.

I was sprawled out on my bed doing some work for one of my classes. The room was quiet so I could focus. The funny thing was, I was attending college with no idea what I wanted to major in, but it was my first year, so I had some time to think about it.

I heard the door open. "I just got the weirdest phone call," Grayson said.

I looked up to see him shut the door and stand there looking over at me. "You really should knock. I could have been naked."

"Exactly the reason I don't knock." He slid his phone into his pocket and walked over to me. "In hopes that one day I'll throw the door open and you'll be naked."

I shook my head and closed my textbook as he sat down on my bed. I pulled myself up to a sitting position. "So, what weird phone call did you get?"

"It was from your mom."

My eyes widened. "What did she want? And how did she even get your number?" I shook my head. "Never mind. It's my mom. Of course, she got your number."

"She told me she would give me fifteen thousand dollars to break up with you."

"Wow." I chuckled. "The price seemed to go up."

His brows furrowed as he looked at me. "What do you mean?"

I shrugged. "When my brother was eighteen, he was dating this girl senior year, and the day of graduation my mom offered her ten thousand dollars to break up with him."

"Seriously?"

I nodded. "What did you tell her?"

"I told her no." The way he spoke sounded like he couldn't believe I would even ask him that question.

"You did?"

"Of course I did." He looked at me like I had grown another head. "Did you, honestly, think I would agree to that?"

"Well, I mean, we aren't really dating." I looked off to the side of him. "It would be easy money."

"Ellie," he sounded surprised, yet a bit irritated. "Do you really think that low of me?"

"No," I told him, and I really didn't. "It's just she broke up with my brother for the money, and they were actually dating."

"What?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yeah." I nodded. "He loved her, too, and she broke his heart." I could feel that same pain I felt years ago as I watched my brother in pain over her choosing that money over him. "That's why he moved right after graduation. Not because of her, but because of our parents."

It was so hard watching him suffer through that heartbreak of losing the girl he loved all for money.

"I would never do that to you," he told me.

"We aren't even dating, Grayson."

"I don't care."

His words warmed my heart. I mean, it's true, we weren't dating so if he were to choose the money then that was just easy money and he didn't even have to break up with me for it, but it still would have hurt. To know that money meant more than me, even if it would have been a fake break up.

"So, what did she say when you told her no?" I asked him. I was curious, obviously.

"Nothing, she just hung up on me."

"Oh." I opened my textbook back up and started on my work, again. I didn't want to talk about my mother anymore.

"So, what are your plans for Christmas break? It's coming up pretty quick."

"Aaron asked me to come stay with him."

"Oh."

"Yeah, and I would love to, but I don't know." I scribbled down an answer to one of the questions; only thirty more to go. "I mean, he has his fiancé and they have their newborn baby. Also, they're going to visit her family for Christmas and I don't want to impose."

"Well, you could always come with me to my parents' house."

I raised my eyes from my paper to look at him. "I could?"

"Yeah. Why not?"

Before I could answer the door swung open and Lana's voice filled the room. "Ellie, I have an idea!" She stood in the doorway with a wide grin as Derek stood behind her with his hands in his pockets.

How many times was that door going to be thrown open just for one of us to have some great revelation that needed to be shouted out? "What?" I asked her.

"You should come spend Christmas break with my family!"

"I should?" Did I just get invited to three different places for Christmas in the same day?

"Yeah!" She came and sat on my bed, in between Grayson and my textbook, pushing him further down the bed. "It would be so much fun. I know you hate having to spend it at home with your parents."

"Well," I caught Grayson staring at me and I looked between the two of them. "Well, I-," I began but my phone started ringing cutting me off.

It was Aaron calling me and I answered it. "Hey!" I thought I would be happy with him calling me considering the situation I was in but the first thing he said was, "so have you thought about coming here for Christmas? I would love for you to come!"

I sighed. "I would love to come spend time with the three of you," I began as Grayson and Lana kept their stares on me, "but you guys just had a baby, and you're going to spend time with Vivian's family. I don't want to intrude." I looked away from their stares. "And I've been invited to spend Christmas with two other people." When I said that I looked back at Grayson and Lana to see them looking confused but then they looked at each other.

"Two other people?" he questioned. "Is one of them your boyfriend?"

I rolled my eyes. "He's not my boyfriend, Aaron."

Lana leaned in closer to my phone. "Might as well be."

"Was that Lana?" Aaron questioned me. "Let me talk to her!"

Lana must have been close enough to hear because she snatched my phone from my hands and jumped off the bed with a smile. "Aaron!" she cheered through the phone. "No, they aren't dating, but they act like they are."

"We can hear you," I told her.

She waved her hand at me in dismissal. "Yeah I know. They're both just acting like fools."

"Did she just call us fools?" I asked Grayson to which he just looked down at me with his brows raised.

"Ellie's not looking for a relationship," she mocked me.

My head shot towards her. "Did you just mock me?" I turned to Grayson and Derek. "Did she just mock me?" I turned back to Lana though she wasn't paying me any attention. "I don't even sound like that."

"Yeah I know." She paused. "It was great talking to you, too. Love you, too! Bye!" She hung up my phone and walked back over handing it to me.

"Did you two have fun talking about me?" I grabbed my phone from her and tossed it on the bed beside me.

She nodded. "We always do!" She took her place back on the bed. "So, what is this about two other people asking you? Don't tell me this guy asked you." She used her thumb to motion behind her at Grayson.

"This guy?" Grayson chimed in.

"Lana, you and your family are going skiing."

"Yeah, but you can come with. My family won't mind."

I shook my head. "No. I'm not doing that. Besides, Derek is going too, and I'm not going to be the third wheel."

Her shoulders slumped. "Well, we won't be leaving until a few days before Christmas. At least come spend that time with us!"

"That's like a week and a half." I laughed.

She shrugged. "I don't see the problem."

"If I say yes will you be happy and leave me alone?" I asked and she nodded in excitement. "Okay, then. Yes."

"Yay!" She clapped her hands.

"Then you can spend the rest of the time with my family and me." Grayson smiled.

"If I don't agree will you keep on at me about it until I say yes like I know Lana would?" I eyed him and he nodded. "Fine, then yes," I told him and his smile grew wider.

Well, I guess my Christmas break was going to be spent splitting my time between Lana and Grayson. Not that I really minded, well spending time with Grayson's family was a bit of a scary thought. I had only met his parents. As for Lana, I've spent enough time with her family to know what to expect.

***

Ellie is spending time with Lana and Grayson for Christmas. What are your thoughts?

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