🎄 Merry Christmas, my dear readers! 🎄
I want to sincerely thank every one of you who follows my stories, leaves comments, favorites, and supports my work. As a small way to give back, I've prepared a special extra chapter as a Christmas gift for you.
This chapter is my way of showing gratitude for every read, every theory, and every emotion we've shared along the journey. You bring these stories to life far beyond the words, and that means more to me than I can put into words.
May this Christmas be filled with peace, inspiration, and joyful moments. Let's continue this adventure together, with many more chapters, arcs, and emotions waiting for us in the year to come.
Thank you for being here. Truly. ❤️
Merry Christmas and happy reading! ✨📖
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The car's engine purred softly when Ryan started it.
The parking lot lights faded behind them as the car sped along the narrow road, flanked by ancient trees that arched like shadows over the street.
For a moment, the interior of the car was enveloped in that comfortable silence that only existed between two people who truly knew each other. Elena pulled his jacket closer to her body, inhaling, without meaning to, his characteristic scent. The kind of scent she remembered vividly from before... and that, for some foolish reason, she had missed.
Ryan noticed, but he didn't comment directly. Instead, he changed the subject...
"You still have that weird habit of rolling up your sleeves when you're nervous..." He said suddenly, still looking at the road.
Elena widened her eyes and let out a weak chuckle.
"Huh? I thought you were talking about old habits, but it seems they're not that old after all." She looked at her own hands, already with her fingers gripping the sleeve of his jacket without her noticing. "Yeah. I guess I still do that..."
"You do." Ryan shot a quick sideways glance, his smile widening. "And you also bite your lip when you're trying to hide that you're thinking about something."
Elena felt her face heat up immediately.
"I'm not thinking about anything...." She retorted, too quickly.
"Uh-huh." His tone was teasing, almost playful: "Whatever you say."
Elena huffed, lightly pushing his shoulder.
"Okay, I'm done talking to you."
"Promise?" He raised an eyebrow, feigning seriousness.
She couldn't hold back the laughter this time.
The city lights became more spaced out as they approached the residential streets.
The sky was clear, full of stars, and the cold wind seeped through the window cracks like a timid whisper.
After a few seconds of silence, a comfortable silence filled with memories, Ryan brought up another topic, as if he were simply browsing through the memories that arose along the way.
"You know, when I passed by your house today, I remembered that broken bench that was on the porch. I remember we took it outside back then and used it to sit in the shade. And then you unfortunately ended up breaking it... I mean, you swore to your parents that 'it wasn't you' who broke it."
Elena widened her eyes, surprised that he remembered that, something she herself had almost forgotten. And no one could blame her; any girl would prefer to erase embarrassing moments like that from her memory.
"Ryan... that was years ago. Could you please not bring that up?" She asked, with an embarrassment she tried to hide, but that slipped through her voice.
"Yeah... It seems you still won't admit that you jumped on it when you tried... what was the name of that thing again?"
Realizing he wasn't going to stop teasing, Elena blushed slightly and gave him a slap on the shoulder, in a gesture more resigned than irritated.
"Idiot... I was trying to do that cheerleader trick, okay? It's not my fault the bench decided to break right then..." She grumbled, looking away: "My mom and dad were more worried about me getting hurt than about the bench. My dad even tried to fix it after you left, but... it didn't work out very well. It ended up becoming firewood...."
"So that was the end of the cheerleader trick bench....?" Ryan raised an eyebrow and said: "A shame it ended up as firewood...."
Elena let out a defeated sigh, still flushed.
"Yes... it became firewood. Literally." She ran her hand over her forehead, laughing at herself. "And my mom never let me forget that day. I remember she always said: 'Elena, you weren't born to be an acrobat, dear. Leave that to Caroline'."
Ryan snorted a short laugh.
"Caroline would have turned the bench into a stage, not firewood."
"Exactly." Elena turned her face to him, with a soft smile blooming: "And you know that better than anyone."
The curve of the road changed, and now the Skyline traveled along a more illuminated stretch, revealing the old houses of Mystic Falls asleep under the orange glow of the streetlights.
The silence returned for a few seconds, until Elena, absentmindedly fiddling with the sleeve of his jacket, let slip:
"Do you remember the day Caroline made you carry all those boxes to the back of her yard... just because you were the only one who had 'enough muscles'?"
Ryan made an almost instant grimace.
"I do remember. She said they were 'light' things, but when I opened the first box, I almost broke my back."
"It was a box of her mom's books," Elena completed, laughing. "And you still didn't have the courage to complain."
"I didn't. She would have killed me with that look of hers."
"Well... we're talking about Caroline," Elena sighed, the smile still present: "She's always been the most enthusiastic. Like today at the Grill, when she got all teasing about the ride..."
She changed the subject upon remembering recent events and turned her gaze back to Ryan, who was driving beside her.
"Don't pay attention to that, Ryan. She just wanted to draw attention, you know how she is. Sometimes she overdoes the drama, but deep down it's because she cares too much. About everything. And about everyone..."
"Yeah... I know, it might not seem like it. But I know how to handle Caroline..... Well, I had a few years to learn how to deal with her...."
"A few years, hm?" Elena repeated, with a smile that tried and failed to be teasing. "That sounds like someone who gained... experience."
He let out a brief, low laugh.
"Experience and resilience. Because dealing with Caroline requires both."
Elena laughed loudly, leaning her body back in the seat, relaxing a bit more. The memory of her friend was so vivid that she could almost hear her tone of voice echoing in her head.
"She has that way. Intense, dramatic, exaggerated. But also... she feels everything strongly. Especially when she likes someone. Mainly when she likes someone." Elena said this with a different softness, more contemplative: "So sometimes she puts too much energy where she shouldn't."
But then, Ryan took a deep breath, without changing the gentle tone of his voice.
"But enough about Caroline...." He turned the wheel, entering a calmer street: "I want to know about you, now that you mentioned what happened at the Grill.... I couldn't help but think. How was it with Matt?"
Elena stared at the dashboard for two seconds before answering.
"It was... fine." She slowly closed her fingers, still holding his jacket. "He was... mature. More than I expected, to be honest."
"Hm." Ryan didn't sound jealous or irritated. Just attentive: "So you guys managed to talk okay, then?"
"Yes..." Elena let out the air slowly, as if relieving an old weight: "We... understood each other, I think. It became clear that both of us were trying to make something work that was never really right for either of us."
Ryan made a small sound of agreement, keeping his eyes on the road.
"Matt's a good guy."
"He really is...." Elena looked out the window, watching the diffuse lights passing quickly: "Just... it wasn't meant to be us...."
"And you're okay with that?"
Elena thought. A thought that lasted less than a second, because the truth came before the reflection.
"Now... I am." She repeated the same answer she had given before, but this time with a small, genuine smile: "It was the right decision."
Ryan smiled too, as if satisfied with that answer.
"I'm happy for you."
They turned another corner, now very close to the center.
The tires touched a smoother stretch of the road, and the car's movement slowed almost imperceptibly. Ryan tilted his chin forward, indicating something through the windshield.
"We're here."
Elena lifted her gaze and blinked, immediate surprise taking shape in her eyes.
Ahead of them rose five floors of light concrete and clean lines, a building too modern for Mystic Falls' standards. The glass rooftop reflected the glow of the streetlights, creating an almost unreal contrast with the colonial houses around and the other less modern buildings.
"Wait..." Elena furrowed her brows, looking from the building to Ryan and back to the building. "Is this where you... live?"
Ryan slowed down the Skyline and stopped, opening the garage with the remote. He rested one arm on the steering wheel, watching her confused expression with some amusement.
"Well, you seem surprised."
"Do I?" Elena let out a disbelieving laugh. "I am surprised. This here... Ryan, this didn't exist before. At least not when you lived here."
He gave a slight affirmative nod.
"Yeah. It didn't exist."
Elena turned fully toward him, absorbing the image of the building once more. In her mind, Ryan's house appeared....
"But... what about your house? The old house in the center, where your family always lived?"
The confusion in her voice was genuine.
Ryan took a deep breath, but his smile was calm.
"It was sold."
"Sold?" Elena repeated, incredulous: "Just... simply sold?"
"Yeah." He shrugged, as if reporting something casual: "When it was decided that we'd go back to Japan, my dad thought we didn't need a house here anymore. He took the money from the sale and invested in building the building."
He pointed with his chin to the illuminated facade.
"That one there. I believe he built it thinking about renting it out, but not everyone wants to live in a small town like Mystic Falls. I think only those who grew up here — or really understand the charm of the place — would love living in this kind of environment..."
Elena remained silent for a few seconds, observing the structure again, while agreeing in her heart with Ryan's words; it wasn't every day that someone moved to Mystic Falls....
"Wait... does that mean you never rented it out?" She asked, trying to understand better.
Ryan shook his head.
"Yes, it had never been rented until my arrival. Like I said, it seems no one really wanted to live in this place, and Mr. Tanaka thought it was a good idea to leave it unused. Maybe he thought about selling it in the future, when the property was more valuable..."
He let out a short, almost humorless laugh.
"My dad has always been... peculiar with investments."
"Peculiar?" Elena arched an eyebrow.
"Okay, more stubborn than peculiar." He corrected, relaxing in the seat: "I still think he didn't want to put any strangers in the building. Result: the building stayed empty."
Elena blinked, renewed surprise.
"Empty? But then..." When she realized the obvious answer, the sentence came out more slowly: "When you came back to Mystic Falls..."
"They gave it to me." Ryan stated this as if he were saying someone had handed him an old toolbox, not a five-story building in the center of town.
Elena was completely speechless for a few seconds.
"They... gave you the building."
"Yes."
"The entire building."
"Uh-huh."
She blinked again.
"Ryan."
"Hm?"
"This is... insane."
He gave a crooked smile, as if he had heard that assessment before.
"I thought so too."
The silence that followed wasn't uncomfortable; it was a necessary pause for Elena to reorganize all her thoughts. The family of the guy beside her had always had plenty of money; before, they lived in a huge house with a pool and everything, and they were easily one of the richest families in town, alongside the Lockwoods.
But still, even for them, giving an entire building to their own son was something surprising.
Ryan guided the car into the underground garage, the gate closing behind them with a muffled metallic creak. The floor lightly reflected the white light from the motion sensors, and the spots were almost all empty, except for one, right next to the one he chose.
The Skyline slid into its usual spot, coming to a gentle stop.
And that's when Elena saw it.
Parked beside it, black as fresh ink and gleaming in an almost indecent way under the garage lights, was an impeccable 1967 Impala. The bodywork looked so polished that it mirrored the ceiling, and the chrome details shone as if the car had come out of a showroom that morning.
Elena got out of the Skyline and stopped immediately, resting her elbows on the open door and tilting her chin over her hands.
"Wow..." She let out in surprise; "Tell me this car isn't yours too."
It was half incredulity, half enchantment. The kind of reaction she had when seeing something too beautiful to exist in Mystic Falls... and certainly more expensive than anything she expected to find in the garage of someone she knew.
Ryan closed the Skyline's door with a firm motion.
"It is." He replied calmly: "This one's my baby."
Elena widened her eyes, straightening her body immediately.
"Your baby?" She pointed at the Impala, as if needing to confirm they were talking about the same car: "Although I don't know much about cars. I know this car is... it's a classic. It must be expensive, right?"
He laughed, locking the Skyline's alarm before walking over to her.
"Although I have a rough idea of the value. I didn't pay anything for it. This was another gift from my parents."
Her reaction was immediate.
"Another?" Elena repeated, shocked, almost stumbling over her own words: "Wait, they gave you an entire building and a classic car? Who does that? What kind of parents do that?"
"The kind that feels guilty for raising their son moving from country to country all the time." Ryan raised his hands in a resigned gesture. "So... they compensate with real estate and old cars."
She blinked a few times, processing.
"My God." Elena rested her hand on her forehead, but the smile that appeared soon after was wide, almost childlike. "I can't believe you have an Impala....? It's an Impala, right?"
"Yes, a 1967 Impala. My dad bought it and had it restored while I was still in Japan. He said it was so I'd have something 'decent' to drive when I came back." He made air quotes. "Decent."
"Hm... you and I need to review the meaning of the word 'decent'." Elena murmured, still admiring it. She approached the Impala, lightly touching the cold metal. "Seriously... I never imagined you driving something like this."
"Why?" He crossed his arms, with a smile that betrayed the teasing: "Do you think it suits me or not?"
Elena stared at him, then at the car, then back at him.
"It does." She admitted, sincerely. "More than I'd like to admit, actually."
He tilted his head slightly.
"That sounds like a compliment."
"It is." Elena smiled sideways. "And you're going to pretend you didn't notice."
Ryan laughed softly, that short, discreet kind of laugh, but one that lit up his eyes.
"Come on." He made a gesture with his head, pointing to the elevator at the back of the garage. "The penthouse is on the top floor."
Elena still looked one last time at the Impala before following Ryan.
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