Forty-Four

"Should you even be at school right now?" Buddy questioned as I hopped into his car.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"You can sleep in first period."

"Yeah, well, after the doctor, I wound up falling asleep, and I woke up at four. Couldn't fall back asleep, so I've been doing homework since I woke up."

"Gee, what a great way to start your day."

"Fuck off."

"How did your appointment go?"

"Great." Since I didn't get any actual sleep since Friday, I was a zombie throughout school yesterday. Devon and Buddy were basically my crutches. One always had their arm around me, supporting me. I zoned out through all of my classes. I tried to pay attention so I wouldn't fall behind, but it was impossible to. It would have made no difference if I stayed home and slept, but I wished I did.

Devon insisted on taking me to my doctor's appointment. I was worried about him missing work, but he said Dan told him to take the day off and make sure I was okay. Buddy offered to drive me instead, but I was glad that Devon insisted on going with me. As much as I loved Buddy, it was getting harder to see Devon. I'd take any time I had to be with him.

The visit was moderately short. Dr. Kasim came in, took my vitals, and asked me questions about my sleep and work load. She agreed with Devon and Buddy about me needing to get more sleep.

"I told you so," he exclaimed, smiling cheekily.

"Shut up."

"Did she give you anything?"

"No, she doesn't want me to take pills right away since she thinks it could just be stress from the amount of work I have this month. If it still continues after, she'll prescribe me something, but she doesn't want me to take them if I don't need them. You know? Opioids, and everything," I explained. "She told me to stop drinking Five Hour Energy's. Thinks that could be part of the problem as well."

"No shit. You shouldn't be taking that crap, regardless."

"Well, I need something to wake me up for my concerts!"

"Drink some coffee or pop or something. Doesn't the adrenaline help enough?"

"Not enough. I need to make it to the end of the concert. I can't take something halfway, or I really won't be able to sleep."

"Just promise you're going to take better care of yourself."

"Just a few more weeks of this, and then we're back to one to two concerts a weekend."

"Two still seems like too much."

"Maybe it is, but at least I will get either Saturday or Sunday off. If I have one day where I can relax and not do anything, I'll be good to go."

Sighing, Buddy pulled into a parking spot and said, "Don't be afraid to tell your bandmates you need some time. They're not the only ones in the band. If you need a break, take a break."

"Thanks, but I'll be fine."

"Mel-"

"It's just three more weeks. I can handle this. This is what it's going to be like when I'm famous."

"Yeah, but you won't have to deal with school."

While school was making my work load more stressful, I couldn't worry over quitting either of them. I would not be a drop out; I would graduate from high school. And I would not quit the band now that I was finally in one. I'd tell them at rehearsals that after these next few weeks I wouldn't be able to do the 'three concerts a weekend' shindig until I graduated. They'd hopefully understand.

"I'm in the eye of the storm right now," I said, sticking my nose in the air.

"Quit being pretentious. I get it. You're not going to slow down. Just take better care of yourself now so you won't have a million problems in the future."

"Fine," I groaned.

I skipped going to my locker and walked Buddy to homeroom. Devon wasn't in the room yet, only a few students. They all stared at the giant black box with a purple ribbon on his usual desk. We both walked up to it, and rather than his name on the card, it was mine.

"I think someone wanted to give you something," he mumbled as he sat down.

I took off the lid of the box, dropping it as I gasped and pulled out a hand knitted blanket that was the exact shade of purple as my lipstick. I hugged it to my chest, gleaming at Buddy. "I know who did this."

"Are you going to tell me?" he chuckled.

Before I could say it, Devon walked into the room. Shoving the blanket back in the box, I ran up to him and jumped in his arms, wrapping both my arms and legs around him. "Thank you for bringing me this."

Hugging me back tightly as he approached Buddy's desk, Devon laughed. "Of course. Rena finished it last night, and she begged me to bring it in for you."

Hopping out of his arms, I pulled the blanket back out of the box and wrapped it around my shoulders. "I love it. It's the best Christmas gift I could get."

"I'm glad."

I hummed. "Now all I want to do is give you yours."

"Why don't you?" Buddy asked.

We both faced him, and he shrugged. "There's no rule that says you have to give each other your Christmas gifts on Christmas."

Glancing back at Devon, he said, "He has a point. It's less than two weeks away, anyway."

"And I really want to give you yours."

"Me too."

"Come over before band rehearsal. I'll have it wrapped by then."

Smiling widely, he nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

"Miss Snider, unless you have changed your schedule again to have my class this morning, please leave so I can start," Mrs. Bustier said as she set her bag on the desk.

Devon kissed my cheek before sliding into his desk, and I grabbed the box and quickly left the classroom.

^^^

"If you're giving Devon his gift early, does that mean I get mine now as well?" Jeanie teased as she flopped onto my bed.

"Not if you're not going to knock before entering," I snorted. Turning around, I smiled at her. "I really think he's going to like it. Any writer would love one of these. Even if he only writes digitally."

"He's going to love anything you get him because he loves you. Plain and simple."

"I know, but I can still be nervous. This is the first time I've got a gift for someone other than you or my friends. I want it to be special."

"It will be. First Christmas' are always the best."

Plopping onto the bed next to her, I asked, "What was yours like with Rick?"

"Lovely," she hummed. "We went to Winter Wonderland together and listened to carolers and got our picture taken with Santa. We were originally only supposed to go to the mall to get Tomb Raider when it came out, but it became a sort of friend date. And that was around the time I realized I liked him as more than just a friend."

"And now look where you are," I said, as I nudged her knee with mine.

"Because you helped," she said, nudging me right back. "And now we get to spend an actual Christmas together as a couple. I'm so excited!"

"You have every reason to be excited."

The doorbell rang, and Jeanie popped up from the bed like a whack-a-mole. "He's here!" she screamed as she ran to the front door.

"I think I'm the one who's supposed to be excited," I called out to her, rolling my eyes as I stood up.

Devon walked into my bedroom as I grabbed his present. He had his in his hand in a little brown bag with a red and green ribbon. "I know the wrapping isn't the best, but this was the bag it came it, so-"

"I mean, you're just going to tear yours open, so who really cares about the wrapping, right?" I giggled as we sat on the floor. I handed mine to him first and smiled. "I've been looking forward to giving you this since I bought it."

Excitedly taking it, Devon unwrapped the paper surrounding a black leather journal with a bound strap. He gasped. Opening it, he flipped through the pages before smiling up at me. "I love it."

I smirked as I pulled a special pen out of my back pocket. "And I figure you're going to need something special to write in it."

Gasping louder, Devon snatched it out of my hand and tried writing with it. Calligraphy pens were more expensive than usual, but once I found a great price for one, I knew it would be the perfect gift. It was great to see Devon excitedly writing, making his strokes skinnier and flatter as he moved the pen like so.

"I love it so much. I've always wanted one."

"You never know what you can do with your writing, even if you do plan to become a doctor."

"That's very true." Leaning in, he kissed me softly and pulled away, muttering a, "Thank you."

"You're very welcome," I quietly moaned.

Chuckling, Devon handed me the bag. "I think you're going to want to use these tonight."

Pulling a small black container out of the bag, I opened it to find ear plugs for drummers. My usual ones worked okay, but they were getting old. It was going to be nice to have ones that actually worked. And when I slipped them in my ears, they fit snuggly. "Thank you."

He motioned for me to take them out and said, "Look at the sides."

My jaw dropped when I saw the 7 Years of Blood logo on the sides. "You got me handmade ear plugs?"

"You've been complaining about needing new ones. This way, no matter what, you'll always remember the first band you were in."

Such a small gift meant the world to me. Practical. Useful. My exact taste. Something I didn't know I wanted until I got it. It was as if Devon was just reading the next page, knowing what I needed before I did. Thoughtful and kind. Always there to support me on my dreams. Willing to do whatever he could to make sure I was comfortable.

Despite not being able to give him enough time, he continued to love me and make it known. I almost wondered how I managed to date such a generous man, how I got to be with this person and be able to have him love me back. I loved him. I loved him so much.

"I love you."

He lifted his head, staring at me with wide eyes and his mouth agape. "You do?"

"So much?" I croaked, crying as I hugged him.

He hugged me back even tighter. "I love you, too."