Amaya's POV

Even though there had been some rocky points in the time spent in the company of the Thompson's yesterday, the good times were there to keep everything in balance. So only thinking about the positives, I climbed out of bed with a pure smile on my face.

I opened the curtains to let the light seep in and to help myself wake up. With one look outside it was easy to decipher that it was a cold morning. Layers of frost coated the precisely cut grass, driveway, and the sleek company car parked out front.

And leaning against the already running car looked to be one of the drivers I had seen yesterday. He had gloves on and was reading a newspaper while his breaths of fresh air gave off puffs of white clouds. It was probably below freezing outside, but the man acted as if nothing bothered him and as if he was immune to the bitterness that winter was bringing to the state of New York.

I continued to watch him as he folded up his newspaper and tucked it under his arm. He stood as still as a statue before I saw Will's familiar figure emerge from the Thompson residence and saunter out to the waiting vehicle.

The chauffeur immediately opened the silver-handled door and tipped his hat before Will slipped inside. The door shut behind him immediately and the driver rounded the Cadillac to the driver's side. It didn't take long before the car pulled out of the driveway and was on it's way.

The chauffeur was probably taking Will to work. He did say he had somewhere to be early today. On the topic of things Will, the last thing her had said to me..."never let him go" still bounced around in my mind. What could it possibly mean? I assume it's along the lines of not breaking up with Theo, but why would I ever do that? He's the best thing that ever happened to me.

Before I could give it any more thought, there was a knock on my door. I shut the curtains before rushing to answer it. I was hoping it was Theo, but when I opened the door it revealed the butler from last night. I tried to hide my disappointment, but it didn't take long for my excitement to return when I saw the big silver platter in his hands.

I was hoping it was food. How I was already starving this early in the morning was beyond me.

"Good morning, madam." He bowed his head like I was royalty.

"Good morning, sir." I chuckled at the thought of me even being royal. I'd be like Princess Mia in The Princess Diaries, if not worse. "What have you got there?"

I pointed to the covered dish in his hands, only growing more curious with time.

"Oh! This is just my way of saying thank you! You surprised me yesterday. You really did. No one around here ever says thank you, so in return for your gratitude I wanted to give you some of my own." He smiled politely and I immediately felt kind of proud for being the one responsible of giving him such a positive change in mood.

"Oh, you didn't have to go through all that trouble. I was just being polite." I smiled back to him.

"Sure I did. I just wanted to say thanks," He admitted. "May I come in and set this down for you, miss?"

He nodded towards the desk in my room and I realized the platter might be getting heavy.

"Oh! Yes! Of course. Come on in." I stood aside enough to let him pass so he could set the platter on the elegant desk in the corner of my room.

"I had the chef whip this up for you," He said as he set it down. "I really hope you enjoy."

"I'm sure I will. Thank you so much." I smiled to him.

He nodded in return and with that he was out of the room in a flash. I chuckled at his kind gesture and closed the door to my room before returning to my desk and removing the cover of what I'm assuming was some breakfast.

As soon as I removed the lid, mouthwatering gusts of the food in front of me invaded my nostrils. I already knew I was going to love this meal just by one look at the food. The chef had somehow arranged my plate like an artist. It was all perfectly spaced and the foods even looked like they were color coordinated.

In the exact middle of the plate there was a stack of sweet-smelling waffles with the perfect amount of syrup and cream piled on top. To the side there was a mini bowl with raspberries stacked perfectly with a small mint leaf to accompany them.

I took a mental picture to remember what was probably going to be the best tasting and most expensive breakfast of my lifetime. I couldn't wait another second before snatching up my fork and knife and digging in.

It took me all of five minutes to complete the meal, and if they had a ratings site, I'd give the kitchen staff here a review with a gazillion stars rather the usual measly five. But looking at the clock, I saw that time was really flying by and it was probably in my best interest to start getting ready for the long day ahead of me.

I tidied up the plate the best I could, and recovered it before I proceeded into the shower. I had already decided on an outfit for the day, so as soon as I had dried my hair and slipped into the preplanned outfit that Tucker and Annalee had helped me arrange before we'd left for New York.

We had paired an off-the shoulder classic red sweater with a pair of medium dark jeans, some brown combat boots, and a simple gold watch. It was a cute outfit that I couldn't have possibly have gathered together on my own, but with the help of my friends the impossible became possible.

I curled my hair in loose curls, but out of laziness, I decided not to wear makeup.

Looking in the mirror, I smiled at my reflection in the adorable outfit. I would have to ask for Tucker and Annalee's help more often.

My quiet morning soon came to an abrupt end when my phone suddenly started ringing. I walked over to my nightstand where it was currently charging and noticed someone was attempting to videochat with me. I unlocked my cell and saw it was Annalee's number that was on display.

I quickly answered the call hoping that everything was alright back home.

"Annalee?" I questioned anxiously.

Her face immediately popped up, but her hair was a mess and her eyes still looked sleepy. I assumed she had just woke up.

"Hey, Amaya. What's up?" She replied with a sleepy smile on her face.

"Oh, nothing much. Just woke up and got ready for the day. How about you?" I chuckled noticing a stray hair standing straight up on the top of her head.

"I just woke up, but Tucker insisted on calling you as soon as our eyes opened." She yawned before Tucker suddenly came into the picture. I watched as he plopped on the couch beside her and made himself comfortable.

"Oh, Tucker's there?" I asked confused.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry about that. I meant to tell you, but I didn't want to spend the first night here all alone, so I invited Tuck over. I had him sleep on the couch. I hope that's okay."

"Yeah. Totally okay. He can stay as long as he wants." I reassure her with a smile. "How's everything going? How's Gracie? Oh! And any word on the application?"

"Lots of questions," Anna chuckled. "But to answer all your questions, it's all going great here. I spend most of the time curled up in a blanket binge watching Netflix and drinking hot cocoa. I'm trying to get in the holiday spirit here."

I laughed as she brought a mug to her lips of what I'm assuming was another cup of cocoa. Annalee had made it strictly clear how much she hated coffee.

"But onto the next question." She whispered something to Tucker and he nodded quickly before getting off the couch.

"What are you guys up to?" I questioned suspiciously.

"Oh, nothing." She acted innocent but her smile said otherwise. Suddenly Tucker re-entered the picture with Gracie in his hands. He sat back down beside Anna and grinned like a child.

Gracie looked as perfect as could be, and especially cheery in her cute little reindeer ears and red and green Christmas sweater.

"I picked up her holiday outfit. Really clashes with her fur color, wouldn't you say?" Tuck questioned as he modeled my pup in front of the camera.

"Oh yes, definitely." I laughed and smiled at how cute my dog looked. "Hey, Gracie! I miss you."

Her ears suddenly perked up in surprise and her tail shot up and wagged as she recognized my voice. Even Grace still looked a bit sleepy with her eyes barely open and it was safe to say she was too sweet for her own good.

They put her back onto the floor and by the sound of he hurried little paws on the floor, I'd say she ran off somewhere to fall back asleep.

"She misses you guys," Anna admits. "But no worries I'm keeping her entertained until you get back."

"Happy to hear that. Thank you for watching her, Anna."

"Eh, it's nothing. You've helped me more than anyone, so I'm just returning the favor." She smiled genuinely.

Before I could say anything she jumped up excitedly. "Oh, and before I forget! The application! I got something in the mail yesterday from the university, but wanted you to be watching while I opened it!"

She ran off before I could even respond and I just laughed at her excitement. I had almost forgot Tucker was there since he had been so quiet, which was very out of character of him.

"You okay, Tuck?" I asked concerned.

His eyes widened like my question caught him off guard, but he quickly recovered. "Yeah I'm fine. Just zoned out a bit."

"You sure?" I asked.

"Positive! Now let me see what outfit you got on! You better have kept those outfits in the right order or I'm gonna be seriously-"

Before he could finish his sentence I quickly showed him my outfit with a small laugh. "See? Everything is all together."

"Good girl. Damn I'm good with outfits!" He bragged but scooted closer to the screen. "How's his family been though? Is his brother as equally gorgeous?" He waggled his eyebrows as he whispered.

"He's very handsome." I chuckled.

And just like that Tucker was back to his old self, but I still knew something was up with him. But I wasn't going to push him. He'd come to me when he was ready.

Annalee re-entered the screen and she was excitedly holding a large manilla envelope. I watched as she quickly jumped onto the couch and started tearing the paper open.

"Ready?" She asked both of us and when we reassured her we both were she opened it and ripped the papers out. There was a whole stack of them.

I watched as her eyes skimmed the lines quickly and her lips moved while reading it. Her eyes bugged out and they moved from me to the paper and back, almost like she couldn't believe what was in front of her.

"I GOT IN!! I START CLASSES NEXT SEMESTER!" She screamed before she jumped off the couch and the papers shattered around her.

Tucker quickly got up with her and hugged her.

"CONGRATULATIONS, ANNA!" I shouted.

"Oh my gosh! Thank you so much! I can't believe this. I didn't think it'd happen!" I saw that there were tears now streaming down her face as she cried happily.

I continued to watch their celebrations through the screen and I started to wish I was with them. At least I had Theo here with me.

I was so invested in my conference call that I failed to hear the knock at the door. "Mya?"

It was Theo! Finally.

"Hey guys. I gotta go, but talk later okay?"

"Okay. Bye, Amaya!" Anna said in a high-pitched voice as she still reveled in the happiness of being accepted in the college.

"Sure thing, girly." Tucker said with a sad smile. "I miss you."

"Miss you too. I'll be back after Christmas, I promise." I chuckled.

"Better be!" He chuckled and waved before dashing off.

"Congratulations again, Anna. You earned it!" I told here.

"Thanks, Amaya. Have fun, okay? Just focus on Theo and not his evil family, okay? I'll try to keep the apartment clean and I promise I'll replace that vase I broke." She said quickly like she was trying to get the confession over with.

"Okay sounds good," I nodded but then I put everything together. "...Wait! What?!"

"Bye Amaya!" And with that the call ended.

Well good thing I had only spent five bucks on the thing.

I set my phone back down and went to the door to answer it. I put on a smile. It felt like it had been forever since I'd seen Theo. In reality it hadn't even been a whole day, but I was excited to see him.

I swung the door open and there he was. In all his handsome glory, his hair was styled perfectly with gel, which he usually didn't use. "Only on special occasions," I remember him telling me.

He was dressed in a white button-up under a gray sweater with the white sleeves rolled up just enough to give him that preppy look. To complete his perfect outfit, he had on a pair of just-right fitting khakis, some fancy shoes that probably cost half of my tuition, and an expensive wool coat was draped over his arm.

"You look mighty spiffy today." I winked to him and chuckled. A smile cracked on his lips and I felt proud for being the one responsible for that.

"And you look beautiful." He admitted before leaning closer, looping an arm around my waist and pressing a kiss to my temple. I closed my eyes as his lips seemed to linger longer than usual.

When he pulled away he had a look of sadness on his face, but before I could ask why he wiped a smile on his face. He walked around me and entered the room.

"I see you've already ate, and without me?" He gasped sarcastically.

"Yeah. Sorry about that. It was brought up to me, and you know I'm not one to turn down free food." I chuckled.

"Eh that's okay because I already ate too." He chuckled.

This conversation seemed to be going nowhere, and I don't know what it was but it felt like Theo was different from the guy I'd left at the dining room last night. But I just decided to change the subject.

"I'l take the dishes down in a minute, but what are we getting up to today?" I asked kind of anxious to get out of this house.

"What do you want to do?" He asked as he stepped closer to me and wrapped his arms around my waist.

All the feelings of difference just fluttered away. Theo was getting back to normal now, and I smiled knowing my boyfriend was on the verge of being returned to me.

"Hmm...any cool places around here?" I asked.

"The city is actually pretty close. Wanna go see New York City?" He asked like it was no big deal.

I hadn't seen the city since I was extremely young. I only remember hints of the Big Apple, so seeing it again like it was the first time sounded incredible.

"I would love to, but don't we have lunch with Ethel though?" I asked looping my arms around his neck.

"We can have her push it back an hour, and if we leave right now we can go see anything you want." He offered with a smile.

He still seemed a bit withdrawn, but I just chalked it up as to be the early hour. I assured myself he'd be himself again as soon as he was fully awake.

"Sounds good!" I smiled and went to pick up the platter, but he stopped me and took it himself. "I am capable of doing some things on my own, ya know?"

He just chuckled and walked ahead of me. "Hold on! Let me grab my coat!" I chuckled as I tried to my best to hurry and catch up with his long legs.

"Let's get a move on, Miss Dawson. Lots to see."

I followed closely behind him, excitedly ready to go see the city again.

We finally came to the kitchen and Theo dropped off the platter, just as I saw a man in a chef's hat walk by. "Did you enjoy the waffles, miss?"

"Oh, yes! They were delicious. You should write a cookbook." I suggested.

He chuckled as he continued to whisk a thick liquid in a bowl. "We'll see about that, little lady."

"Great to hear that. I'd definitely buy it!" I nodded to him before he walked off to the stove with a grin on his face.

"Good morning, my favorite lovebirds!" Ethel suddenly popped up from behind the chef.

"Good morning, Ethel." I smiled to her.

She rounded the counter and walked up to me. She took my hands in her's. "Don't you just look absolutely darling? Doesn't she, Theo?"

"She definitely does, Ethel." I looked over to him to see a smile blooming on his face as I felt a blush blooming on mine. She chuckled as she noticed my crimson cheeks before looking between the both of us. Her eyes remained on Theo's for a bit longer than mine, but cleared her throat to change the subject.

"So, what are you two up to today?" She asked as she dropped my hands and leaned against the island.

Theo looped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. "I'm taking Mya into the city to see everything."

"Oh, doesn't that sound nice?" She said with a small smile as she carried the platter over to a sink, but her eyes seemed to stay on the ground.

"Yeah. About lunch, I want to give Amaya the full experience so I was wondering if we could push our meal back about an hour?"

"Oh, that's fine. Just don't be late."

"Yes, mam." Theo mock saluted and I chuckled at his silly manner.

"Alright. Well you two better get going. See you later, okay?"

"Will do."

"See you later, Ethel." I smiled to her before Theo quickly led me out of the kitchen and held my hand as he led me down multiple hallways.

"Slow down, Theo." I chuckled as I tried my best to keep up, but we finally stopped when we came upon a door. It stood about 6 feet, was made of metal, and caused a dead end in this hall.

The door handle was even all decked out with a fancy security keypad on it. It looked like something straight out of a spy movie, which made me wonder what could possibly be behind this door that was so top secret or required so much protection.

I watched as he typed in the code and the door swung open. Theo offered me his hand as we stepped into the room that was engulfed in pure darkness. We took maybe two steps inside before Theo reached out and flipped a switch, which immediately caused rows upon rows of lights to flicker awake.

The whole room erupted with light and revealed two flawless lines of expensive cars. Majority of the vehicles were tones of silver, black, and white, but there was a few stray brightly colors of red, blue, yellow, and even an orange.

My eyes must've been wider than the sun as I stepped further into the room as I looked at all of the automobiles laid before me. I heard Theo chuckle from behind me as I continued to look around the room of vehicular beauty.

"Pick one." He said as he pointed around the room. "Although I think the Lambo is my personal favorite."

"Pick one? For what?" I asked confused.

"Well if we're going into the city, we have to get there somehow don't we?" He smiled.

"Oh, gosh. There's too many to pick from though." I bit my lip as my eyes darted from a BMW, to a Mercedes, Rolls Royce, an Audi, etcetera. The list went on and on. Some I didn't even know the brand of, but there was no doubt in my mind that they had high price tags.

"How about..." I closed my eyes, spun myself a bit to confuse myself a bit and pointed my index finger in a random direction. "That one!"

Theo laughed at my actions and stepped around me to point to which car I had chose. "Well at least we'll sort of blend in. I was praying you wouldn't pick the Rolls Royce. Dad had it custom made and if we wrecked it I'm 99% sure he'd disown me."

I opened my eyes to see what I had picked and it was a gorgeous car. I stepped closer to the car and reached out to touch it. I