The Forever of Ella and Micha

tradition.” He exhales a breath of smoke that floats toward my face. “Maybe we can all come back here during Christmas, decorate the house, and have a nice dinner like we just had.” He pauses, seeming nervous. “What do you two think?”
    Dean flicks a glance at me and then shrugs. “Whatever. Sounds good. Although I’m not promising anything. I’ve got a life of my own.”
    My dad doesn’t respond and it gets quiet again. I laugh under my breath. This is probably how it’s going to be with us, at least until we can all get over our issues. Things will be weird, we’ll have a hard time being around each other, and we’ll probably say things that are hurtful.
    But what makes me able to handle it is the fact that I have people in my life who are there for me. I have Lila. And Ethan. And Micha. I can tell him about everything and I know he’ll make me feel better, he’ll listen, and he’ll be there for me.
    I back toward the fence. “I think I’m going to go next door for a while.” I climb over the fence and they watch me, perplexed. “And I like the idea, Dad, about the Christmas thing. It sounds good. Count me in.”
    He nods and continues with his cigarette as Dean leaves him and goes into the house.
    I enter Micha’s house without knocking, just like I did when I was a kid. He’s sitting at the kitchen table eating a piece of pie he must have snatched from my house before he left. His blond hair hangs in his beautiful aqua eyes, and the way his mouth moves makes me want to kiss him.
    He sets the fork on the plate as he looks up at me and his eyes widen. “God, you look like you’re freezing. Your cheeks are all red and your lips are purple.”
    I press my lips together to warm them up. “I was standing outside for a while talking to Dean and my dad.”
    He pulls a face as he puts his plate in the sink. “How’d that go?”
    “Okay.” I shrug and walk across the kitchen to him. “No one said anything mean, so that’s always an added bonus.”
    He rinses off the plate and then turns the faucet off. “Are you okay?”
    I wrap my arms around him and embrace him with everything I’ve got. “I am now.”
    His arms fold around me and he tilts my chin up to give me a soft but succulent kiss. When he pulls away, his eyebrows are knit. “Did you smoke?”
    I bit my bottom lip to hide my guilty conscience. “Umm… kind of.”
    He waits for me to explain and when I don’t he kisses me again, probably enjoying the taste. “What do you want to do for the rest of the night?” he murmurs against my lips.
    I consider his request. “I want to lay in bed with you.”
    He takes my hands and leads me down the hallway, giving me exactly what I want.

Micha
    I have a surprise for her for Christmas, but I’m not sure how she’s going to take it. My mom actually gave it to me tonight as a present. At first, I thought she was fucking insane, but she assured me she was indeed sane.
    “I think you should give it to Ella,” she said, handing me a little black box. We were sitting on the couch across from each other while Thomas sat next to her, drinking a beer. “It was your great-grandmother’s.”
    Thomas wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pretending to be interested. “Yeah, girls love that shit.”
    I opened the box and it was exactly what I thought. “Not Ella… she’s going to fucking flip if I show this to her.”
    “Micha Scott, watch your language,” she warned, waving her finger at me. “And I think Ella loves you more than you think.”
    “I know she loves me.” I snapped the box shut and shoved the box back in her direction. “But she’s not going to like this.”
    She declined to take the box, crossing her legs as she leaned back into Thomas. “I’ve never told you the story of your great-grandmother, have I?”
    I sat the box down on the table and crossed my arms, slouching back into the chair and propping my boots up on the coffee table. “No, but I have a feeling you’re about to.”
    “You’re such a wise child.” She sighed. “Whenever my mom used to talk about her, she’d refer to her as the lucky one in the family. I don’t know if you know this or not, but I come from a long line of women whose hearts were broken.”
    “That isn’t helping you with your point,” I told her, and Thomas chuckled as he fidgeted with one of the ornaments on the tiny Christmas tree balanced on the end table.
    She rolled her eyes and opened the box, so the ring was staring