Forever's Not Supposed to End

Hayley's point of view

I woke up with a smile on my face and Matthew's arms around me.

It was very early on Christmas morning, and like a little child I was far too excited to get back to sleep now I was awake.

I picked up Matthew's cellphone and glanced at the time. It was 7.18 am.

Far too early to wake him.

As gently as I could I peeled myself out of his arms and out of the bed, tiptoeing into the kitchen to make a cup of coffee for myself.

I paused in the living room, switching on all of the Christmas lights. Bright colours filled the room and I grinned to myself at the thought of the day to come.

I couldn't wait to give Matthew his present.

We had all sworn we weren't buying each-other anything, as money was really tight for the twins, but we all knew deep down it was a lie and that presents of some form would be given.

I sat on the edge of the couch, sipping my coffee, glancing out of the window I noticed the fresh snow that was still falling and mentally added a snowball fight to the days itinerary.

I jumped slightly as the front door of the apartment opened.

It was Nathan, he shook the snow out of his hair and smiled at me.

"Merry Christmas," he said quietly.

"You too. Where have you been?" I asked as he pulled off his coat and shoes.

"Uh... well... for a walk by the river. Just thinking about stuff, but I don't want to talk about it. You too excited to sleep?" he asked, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"Yep, and I don't want to wake Matthew just yet," I said, shaking my head.

"Oh, well thats too bad," he smirked, opening the window and collecting a large handful of snow from the window ledge.

"Nathan?" I questioned as he made a dash for Matthew's bedroom. I followed him, barely able to contain my laughter as I realised what was about to happen.

"Hey Matthew?" he said loudly, holding the snow above Matthew's face.

Matthew's eyes fluttered open slowly, then focused on Nathan's handful of snow.

"Don't you dare," he mumbled, closing his eyes again.

"Um, too late," laughed Nathan, dropping the snow.

Matthew leapt at his twin, pushing him backwards into the wall. Nathan fell over and Matthew fell on top of him, both of them laughing as they wrestled, until Matthew froze and clamped both hands to his head.

"This rough housing is all fun and games until someone gets hurt," I scolded, picking Matthew up and prying his hands away. His eyes were closed tightly and he was swaying slightly on his feet.

"You OK?" I asked quietly.

"I think I just got up way too fast," he said, opening his eyes slowly. I used my fingers to push some of the snow off his face and he smiled.

"It's Christmas," he stated.

"I know," I smiled, both my hands settling on either side of his face.

"And I get to spend it with you," he smiled.

"I feel so loved right now," pouted Nathan.

"Maybe if you hadn't snowballed me while I was sleeping, I'd be happy to spend the day with you too," laughed Matthew.

"Be nice, I suppose I can share you if I have to," I smirked.

"You're amazing," he grinned, kissing me lightly.

"Um, guys, ew," said Nathan, pushing us apart.

"Would you let me kiss my girlfriend? Please?" sighed Matthew.

"Not if I have to watch. No kissing until after presents," grinned Nathan, dragging us both into the living room to the small pile of presents under the tree.

We all sat around on the floor around the tree, Matthew placing his hand on my knee, his fingers absent-mindedly tracing small circles as Nathan divided up the presents according to who they were labelled for.

As we all tore into our presents, I noticed Matthew snatch up a small, neatly wrapped box and hide it under his leg.

My heart jolted. It looked almost the right size and shape to be a ring box.

He wouldn't. Would he?

It didn't take us long to get down to our last few presents, the ones from each other.

"So, I hate you and I didn't get you anything," I said to Nathan, then laughed as his face fell.

"Except this," I smirked, throwing him the large, squashy present I was hiding behind my back.

"Scared me for a second there," he laughed, feeling the present carefully.

"Just open it," sighed Matthew. I noticed his hand stray to the box hidden under his leg once again.

I felt a nervous lump rise in my throat and my palms start to sweat.

Could this really be about to happen?

Nathan finally tore open his gift from me, his mouth falling open as its contents was revealed.

"You didn't," he gasped.

"Yeah, I kinda did," I smiled at the grin on his face. Matthew squeezed my hand and kissed my cheek.

"I saw you eyeing it up at the store weeks ago, and figured it'll look badass on stage," I grinned as he pulled on the black leather jacket. It was a little too big, but all the twins clothes were.

"Thank you so much," he smiled, taking the jacket back off and folding it carefully.

"I guess I kinda got you a touring present too," he smiled, handing me a box.

I opened the box. It was a microphone, wrapped in orange tape, with yellow swirled around the orange.

"Thought it'd be a bit more fun than a plain black one," he said as I leaned over and hugged him tightly.

"I love it, thank you," I smiled, kissing his cheek.

"Hey hey hey quit frenching my brother," said Matthew mock-indignantly and I laughed and sat back next to him, kissing his cheek.

"Ew, Nathan cooties," he pouted.

"Aw shut up, you've already got Nathan cooties. I see the way you two cuddle," I smirked.

"We're not talking about that!" said Matthew quickly, picking up his present from me and weighing it in his hands.

"Hmm... well it's kinda heavy, but not really, and I get the idea that I shouldn't shake the box... so...hmmm, I don't know," analysed Matthew. Nathan buried his face in his hands and groaned loudly.

"Alright, alright, jeez," sighed Matthew, tearing off the wrapping paper to reveal the plain box I had put his present in.

He gave me a puzzled look and I smiled.

"Open it," I said quietly, placing my hand on his knee.

He slowly peeked the lid of the box open and upon seeing what was inside, immediately closed it again.

"You didn't," he laughed.

"I know you wanted one, but there's another reason for it," I said, preparing to tell him some big news.

"Go on," he said, opening the box and carefully removing the vintage style polaroid camera from the box, then noticing the note I had placed underneath it.

Let's make some memories.

"We-" I started, then paused as both the twins stared at me.

"We've been offered a headlining tour in Europe, leaving in three weeks, and the album drops in a fortnight," I rushed out. Keeping that as a secret from them had been nearly impossible, but telling them and watching them smile was a great feeling.

"Headlining in Europe? Holy shit I'm proud of you, my little superstar," grinned Matthew, hugging me tightly.

"Seriously, wow, amazing. And I can't wait to hear this new record, seeing as its such a closely guarded secret," he said, kissing my neck and sending a slight shiver down my spine, especially when I noticed that with him leaning forward I could see the badly hidden present very clearly, and it was definitely the right size to be a jewellery box.

Nathan noticed it too and his eyes widened.

"So, the camera is for you to bring on the tour and take a ton of pictures so we can remember every moment of it," I said as Matthew finally let me go and sat back.

"Sounds like a plan," he grinned.

"Where's my invite to go to Europe?" sulked Nathan.

"Um... well... you guys are kind of a two-part set. I assumed it was obvious there was no way I'd take one of you without the other," I grinned.

"Love you!" smiled Nathan, snatching the camera from Matthew so he could get a look at it.

"So... I guess this leaves my present," said Matthew. He looked slightly nervous, and it was making me nervous. My heart was pounding as he placed the box in my hands, looking at me expectantly.

I carefully undid the ribbon, and peeled back the paper that was covering the box. The box was plain black and gave nothing away.

There was total silence as I slowly opened the box, hardly able to believe my eyes when I saw what was inside.

"I can't accept this," I said, closing the box and trying to push it back into Matthew's hands.

"Well you have to," he smiled.

"I can't," I whispered, shaking my head, the first tear rolling down my cheek.

The box contained possibly the most beautiful necklace I had ever seen. It looked like either silver or white gold, and was a heart hanging from a thin chain, with a tiny diamond inside the heart.

"Um guys, don't mean to be a buzzkill, but what is going on?!" asked Nathan, bouncing slightly with excitement.

"Hayley, don't be silly. I love you," said Matthew, wrapping his arms around me.

"Yeah but it looks really expensive and I know you don't have a lot of money and it's so beautiful and I-"

"Shh." He pressed his finger to my lips gently, and looked deep into my eyes as I looked deep into his.

"Money means nothing, not compared to how I feel about you. You make me feel like there's no world outside, because my whole world is you. You make me feel safe, and valued, and loved and just all these amazing things I've never felt before. You're the most beautiful person in the world, right up there with this guy, but you might actually overtake him if he ever throws snow at me again," Matthew smirked as he pointed at Nathan.

"-and besides, you have to accept it, or I'll leave you," he laughed slightly.

"O-okay," I mumbled, opening the box and looking at the necklace again.

"It's so beautiful," I whispered.

"And so is the girl who's going to wear it," smiled Matthew, carefully removing it from the box and gently pushing my hair aside so he could fasten it around my neck.

"You two are so cute, I might actually cry," said Nathan, smiling at us.

There was a long pause where Matthew and I just stared into each others eyes. I still couldn't decide if his eyes were blue or green. They were both, perfectly mixed together to make their own colour, unique to him and Nathan.

"So... I'm hungry," said Nathan after a few minutes.

"Wait. There's one more present," said Matthew quietly, tearing his eyes away from mine and looking at his twin who looked completely confused.

I sat back and waited to see what was about to happen, my fingers straying to the beautiful necklace around my neck and my eyes fixing on the beautiful man who had given it to me.

I couldn't have been happier as I watched Matthew take a deep breath, ready to tell Nathan what the final present was.