“I’m not having anymore,” Keely announced, sending a sharp look at Colton.

“What?” he reacted as she may have expected, wearing a stricken look. But he still tried to find her cup to pour in more rum, no eggnog anymore, giggling at him Keely kicked her empty plastic cup off the coffee table. “C’mon,” he complained, “You had like two shots three hours ago, you could drive or something.”

This time her look was confused as she leaned back into the fabric couch. “That’s the point; I need to drive back to hotel eventually.”

“No, no you don’t,” protested Colton.

“Yes, yes, I do,” she replied firmly, sinking back into the couch, farther away from Seth.

“Actually, you don’t.”

At the sound of Seth’s voice that had become rough after the long show, Keely felt a shiver run up her spine as she spun her head around so quickly her neck cricked.

Wincing she watched as he smirked at her, making her eyes drop to his lips. Really, they looked much too tempting, on that perfect border of being thin and full to make them all the more inviting.

Feeling herself blanch at the thoughts running through her mind, Keely dragged her eyes up to his, the gold shining amused as he continued to look at her evenly. His smirk broadening even further he ran an absent hand through his hair, the locks standing up on end before slinging his arm over the back of the couch.

This time she resisted the urge to shiver, clenching her jaw tightly when she realized how very close she’d gotten when she’d been trying to get away from Colton. Their sides were almost touching on the couch, the arm he had over the back was brushing her tangled hair. And Keely could almost feel the parts of their bodies that were so close coming alive with electricity.

When he quirked his eyebrows at her stare, bringing his cup to his lips casually with his other hand, she finally dragged herself from the daze.

“What do you mean I don’t?” she questioned, grimacing when her voice came out slightly breathless. However the hoarseness that she’d gained from the show hid it fairly well. She didn’t know why her voice was rougher than Seth’s though. It seemed to be a curse; her voice would be coarse and croaky after just single shows while Seth’s always stayed the same with maybe a hint of hoarseness along the edges. She could only guess it was from the fact he’d had his voice trained for touring long before she’d ever even let someone listen to her music.

Still his eyes didn’t leave her face as he drained the cup. “What I meant was exactly what I said; you don’t have to go back to the hotel.”

Trying to not act like an obsessed fool around him, Keely attempted to look calm as she leaned back into the comfortable cushion of the couch even though her body was tight as wire at the proximity. “And where am I supposed to go?”

“You can stay here.”

She arched one eyebrow at him, retorting, “And sleep on the couch? No thank you, I’ve been sleeping in those bunks on the bus long enough, I think I’ll opt for a bed.”

His expression becoming cocky, Seth replied, “You’re welcome to share my bed.”

Resisting the very strong urge to roll her eyes, Keely elbowed him lightly in the stomach, simply saying, “Pig.”

He smirked, switching his empty cup from hand to hand so he could pass it to Colton over her shoulder for a refill. “Seriously, though, it’s snowing like mad out there, you shouldn’t be driving in it. There’s even a choice of guest rooms.”

“I’m not staying at your mother’s house,” she told him firmly.

“I bought the house, so, technically, it’s mine.”

This time she didn’t resist the urge to roll her eyes. “Doesn’t matter, I’m going to go back to my hotel in a minute,” she told him, her voice becoming absent as she pulled her cell phone from her damp jeans that were clinging to her legs.

Glancing up when he reached around her, Keely watched his quarter filled cup be passed back to him. She sent him a fleeting glance to see his eyes looking far away, fixed on the fire instead of the television where some Christmas program had Colton and Marco’s undivided attention. Sighing, she watched him take a deep drink from her cup.

She wasn’t exactly the picture for absolute sobriety either, but the way she drank was different from him. Not to mention her amount of drinking was actually a lot less than most people her age, especially seeing as she was a musician on tour, she’d only gotten drunk three times in the months that had passed since she’d left home. And two of those times had just been with friends, the rest of them being with friends although she’d never drank at those times to the point of being called drunk.

Having a beer with friends wasn’t bad, having rum with – or in their case, without – eggnog at Christmas was far from being a bad thing, it was fun. But when Seth was drinking alone and thinking about his past, it worried her. That wasn’t healthy. That wasn’t good for his sanity either. Not to mention his career since those fights were worrisome too. It had been stupid for her to drink alone back in Vancouver when she’d been thinking of her mother, but that had only happened once.

Hadn’t he himself once classified himself as a ‘chronically hungover musician’ to her?

Abruptly Keely noticed that his eyes were looking straight back at her, apparently catching onto her stare.

Instead of flushing she just moved held his golden hazel gaze for a long moment, holding her breath thoughtlessly. Letting out a long breath, she finally tore her eyes away from him to look down at her phone.

For a moment she floundered, why was she looking at her phone again?

After blinking blankly at the screen, Keely remembered the task at hand and began searching through her missed calls. But the last one she’d received was from Maureen yesterday. No one had called her since that phone call with her family before the show.

Sighing, she rubbed her temples wearily. What on earth was that supposed to mean?

Not knowing what else to do, she just shoved the phone back in her pocket, looking around at the scene.

Marco was sitting cross legged in front of the coffee table, his mouth hanging slightly open as he stared at the television. On her left, Colton was holding his hand determinedly steady, his eyes so focused he was going cross-eyed as he poured the alcohol into the cup he was holding sturdily against his leg. Then to her right Seth was holding his cup in front of him, staring darkly into the red cup.

Her nose crinkling in confusion, she looked around one more time before decidedly speaking up. “So... this is your Christmas tradition?”

Nodding mutely, Marco continued staring at the TV; Seth’s eyes didn’t as much as flicker so she fixed her gaze on Colton. Biting his tongue between his teeth, he squinted as he attempted to pour, his hands shaking despite the precautions he’d taken.

Shaking her head at him, Keely snatched the cup and bottle away from him. Being quite sober, she poured the three fingers worth, repeating her question patiently.

“Kind of...” he answered, frowning as he thought about it. “When we were kids it was just eggnog, and we’d have to stay at either my parents or Marco’s because our parents, well, mine and Marco’s, were wrapping presents at the other ones house. We used to just drink eggnog even though it was disgusting and watch those really old Christmas movies. It was when Seth first discovered rum that the eggnog became less and less every year.”

Handing the bottle and cup back to Colton, she sent a smirk in Seth’s direction. “How old were you when you discovered rum?”

“Twelve,” he replied unemotionally, not glancing away from the mug.

Keely stared blankly at him and asked shocked, “Twelve?!”

Finally he looked up, meeting her eyes and sending her a twisted grimace that she assumed was meant to be a careless smirk but failed greatly. “It wasn’t exactly difficult to find around my house, was it?”

For a moment she continued to stare at him, but he simply raised his eyebrows at her, bringing his drink to his mouth again. Resisting the urge to slap herself in the cheek to bring herself out of the daze, Keely composed her expression looking back to the room in general. “So your parents still do this?”

“I guess,” replied Colton, happily wrapping his hands around the cup and bringing it to his mouth. “We haven’t actually all been home for a Christmas since we were seventeen.”

“Are you serious?”

“Touring and making music is a full time gig, Keel.”

Frowning as she felt the sick feeling well up in her stomach, Keely let her eyes fall on the window, watching the snow continuously fall thickly without ever really seeing it. Would that be what it’d be like for her? When she was twenty one would she look back and say that she hadn’t been at home for a Christmas since she was seventeen?

But even they saw their parents more often than that, despite everything, they went home for visits or their parents went out to New York. However, with the way her relationship was progressing with her father, would it really be that easy to just head home? Yes, he’d called her tonight, but she’d tried calling him for months before that and he’d never answered. And just tonight he hadn’t called back and neither had Joe or Haley.

Feeling her stomach clench uncomfortably at the thoughts, Keely pushed herself up from the couch. “I’m going back to the hotel, I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” she announced.

“Do I really need to quote Baby It’s Cold Outside?” Seth asked in a bored tone, draining his cup.

For a moment, Keely didn’t like the way her stomach automatically flipped at his words. She’d always found it wearing and annoying when men said ‘baby’, it was all too common and plain, but when Seth said the word it sounded sexy, especially in the slightly worn after show voice. “Oh, no way in hell,” she said trying for an easy going exterior, “I’m much more stubborn than that.”

“Not quite a mouse?” he asked smirking.

Rolling her eyes, Keely just skirted past him, grabbing her leather jacket she’d slung over the back of the arm chair.

But when she looked up, Seth was tossing his empty cup, hitting Colton square in the forehead with it. While the offended party swore ripely, he just shoved up from the chair, making his way to her.

“Seriously,” she told him firmly, flipping her jacket on easily before shoving him in the chest lightly. “Go get drunk, have fun with your friends, I’m leaving.”

“And I’m serious,” he responded, his tone matching his words, “You shouldn’t drive in it.”

“I’ll be fine,” Keely assured him, sneaking past him to the hallway.

Still he didn’t give up that easy, following her at a steady pace. Rubbing her forehead in annoyance, she stuffed her feet into her shoes. Why had she even thought he would listen to her? Had he ever before?

“You’re not even that good of a driver,” protested Seth, standing in front of the door, his arms crossed over his chest.

Ignoring the fact that his shirt was still ever so slightly damp from the show and clinging onto his distinct stomach muscles, Keely sent him a narrowed eyed look. “I find that quite insulting you know.”

He opened his mouth to argue more, yet she just let out a defeated sound and stepped forward. Clenching her jaw in hopes that her actions wouldn’t make herself blush, Keely fixed her eyes on the door as she pressed her body against his, reaching around to grip the door handle behind him.

Yes, it was quite distracting with Seth’s hard lean body pressed against her, but she forcibly kept her mind about her and yanked on the doorknob.

Surprisingly, it was fairly easy to make him move out of the way. Still not looking at him, Keely felt a smug expression lighting up her face; she’d never thought she’d be strong enough to make him move. But, disregarding the cold blast of air, she found herself freezing before she’d taken so much as one step out on the porch.

She couldn’t so much as see her car, only the large lump of snow where she assumed it was buried.

Not needing to glance to the side to know it was Seth who had stepped beside her, Keely felt her nose crinkle slightly as she continued to stare blankly. “It really did snow a lot, didn’t it?”

“I told you so,” Seth answered, his turn to sound smug. Glaring, Keely turned her head to him as he folded his arms over his chest protectively against the chill blaring in on them. “Now can we go inside? It’s fucking cold out here.”

Losing her glare, Keely looked out considering. “I could walk; it’s not too far...”

“Oh, shut up,” he advised, hooking an arm around her shoulders casually and pulling her inside.

“It’s your mom’s house,” she whined, even adding in the four year olds’ voice, “It’s going to be so awkward.”

Seth rolled his eyes, letting go of her to slam the door shut. “I’m sure she’ll prefer that to you killing yourself trying to walk home and getting run over by a snow plough.”

“That’s doubtful,” Keely muttered under her breath.

“What?” asked he blankly, clearly not hearing her words despite that sharp hearing that could detect a flat note anywhere.

Sighing, Keely shrugged off her coat. Who was she kidding? She didn’t want to dig her car out and then try to drive it nor did she want to be run over a snow plough although it was doubtful one would be out this early in the morning, it still wasn’t a pleasant prospect. Plus she didn’t exactly hate spending time with Seth anymore.

Sending him an innocent smile, she replied, “Nothing.”

He sent her a quizzical glance, but then continued to walk back to where his friends hadn’t moved.

Following him with her hands stuck into the pockets of her jeans, Keely fell into her previous seat between Seth and Colton. Although this time she was sure to be evenly spaced between the two as Colton passed them their cups, once again filled.

“I think I might drink too much,” Seth observed, staring down at his cup thoughtfully.

No one responded.

Being reminded of a song, oddly Keely kept silent, the song wouldn’t bode well for their, at least his, futures.

Abruptly Colton nudged her side, asking, “Baby It’s Cold Outside?”

“Baby It’s Cold Outside,” Keely agreed, lifting the glass and looking at the television screen where the original Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer was beginning, Marco making sounds of excitement.

Two hours later, Keely was lying awake in the comfortable bed, her eyes tracing nonexistent patterns on the roof.

Just an hour previously Colton and Marco had departed drunkenly down the road, arms hooked around each other’s shoulders as they made their way home. And after an awkward conversation where she couldn’t even meet Linda’s eyes, Keely had quickly parted for the guest room, stealing one of Seth’s shirts as she did so.

And that lead to her staring at the roof.

Her throat was so dry she was almost afraid to make a noise in case she found what it sounded like.

All she wanted was to make a break down to the kitchen for a glass of water; the show had really taken its toll on her voice and throat. But the last time she went into that kitchen for water was clear in her mind and that wasn’t something she wanted to repeat.

Not to mention the fact she was wearing Seth’s black The Yardbird’s shirt with nothing else, she didn’t exactly have her pyjamas waiting at his house. Plus her jeans were still damp from playing a show while in the snow and were hung over the end of the bed. Yes, the shirt went down to the mid thigh and her habitual set of pyjama shorts she wore on the bus were shorter than that, but the fact she might meet his mother while running through the house in her underwear and Seth’s t-shirt was simply mortifying.

Yet at that moment, Keely gulped, a dry feeling running down her throat and making her wince.

Grimacing, she threw the covers off of her, stepping as lightly as a person with her lack of gracefulness could and made her way to the door. She may not want to meet Linda wearing this, but it also happened to be eight in the morning and the rest of the people inhabiting the house had only gone to sleep at six in the morning, so it was doubtful that anyone was up.

Opening her door cautiously, Keely poked her head out of the door, finding the hallway dark and empty; she let out a sigh, tip toeing towards the stares. Her decision was made by the fact that she was her voice, and she couldn’t abuse it by refusing to get water in the middle of the night.

With that deciding factor she hurried her step, sprinting down the stairs quickly. The faster she got there the faster she could hide in her room, right?

But Keely found herself skidding to a stop steps from the kitchen.

A dull light was shining from the doorway, making it clear someone had the lamp turned on.

Wistfully she wished that someone had just turned on the light and forgotten about it or that Seth was in the kitchen. After all, he didn’t sleep often, it was possible. Anyone but Linda, even if she didn’t like the woman on general principle, she couldn’t face her in the kitchen after that last conversation.

Figuring she should at least check before she fled like a scared child, she shuffled forward, stepping into the doorway.

Biting back the groan, Keely managed to not smack herself in the forehead with great difficulty.

Of course it had to be Linda, when did anything just go easily for her when it came to this family? The woman was sitting at the kitchen table facing Keely, but her head was down, the blonde hair creating a curtain around her face as she read a newspaper, sipping a steaming beverage from the a plain beige mug.

Realizing she’d been still standing there much too long, Keely pressed her lips together and tried to move away from the doorway without being noticed.

However Linda’s bored voice stopped her.

“You’re not good at sneaking up on people, are you?”

Wincing she folded her arms in front of her chest, stepping to the doorway but not moving any further. “No, no, I’m really not.”

The woman sighed, finally looking up and pushing her hand through her hair and away from her face as she did so. Keely just blinked at her, the familiar movement Seth did daily catching her off guard when seeing it from the woman.

“What do you need this time?” Linda asked, breaking through Keely’s slight daze.

“Water,” Keely answered honestly, her voice cracking on the word. Awkwardly, she let her arms fall away from their defensive stance and tug at the bottom of Seth’s shirt as the woman looked at her, a confusing expression on her face. “The show was really long and all the boys gave me afterwards was rum, my voice is dying.”

Linda regarded her a moment longer than necessary, her unreadable expression not so much as faltering. “It’s in the fridge,” she said after what felt like an eternity, finally looking away from Keely.

Letting out a relieved breath when no longer under the woman’s scrutiny, Keely stepped hesitantly into the kitchen, still pulling at the bottom of the shirt in hopes to make it just a little longer. At the fridge, she hastily grabbed a bottle of water, soaking her throat instantly as she chugged down the water a little too fast.

“Uh, thanks?” she offered uncomfortably, stepping as far from the table as possible while making her way to the doorway.

She was just about to pass the table when Linda’s voice froze her again.

“I don’t hate you,” the woman said, her hand on the coffee cup but she was no longer looking at her newspaper.

Confused, Keely turned around, looking at the woman blankly. Cupping her elbow with her hand, she just watched, noticing how much older Linda looked than her age, the deep cut wrinkles aging her far too much. And her blue eyes just looked tired.

“Ah... no, I didn’t actually,” she murmured awkwardly.

“Well, I don’t hate you, and I apologize that my behaviour made you think I did,” the woman apologized, her voice blank. “Do you want some coffee?”

Quickly shutting her gaping mouth as she didn’t want to look exactly hapless around Linda, Keely shook her head. “No, but thanks, I do want to sleep tonight.” Despite her refusal, she pulled out the chair across the table from the woman, making sure to pull down her shirt before she sat. She wasn’t oblivious; she knew there was more to this conversation than the offer of coffee.

“I’m sorry,” Linda continued, her voice abruptly sounding more sincere as they stared at each other across the table, sitting stiffly in their seats. “It’s just that he didn’t ever have anyone to protect him, and maybe it’s too little too late, but I’m trying my best to do it now.”

Not needing to be informed of who the ‘he’ in the equation was, Keely nodded slowly, not breaking the tight gaze.

“You know, you’re the first person he ever told about his childhood?”

Instantly she shook her head, adamantly denying it. She was just her; there was no way she was important enough in his life for that. “No,” she protested, “I wasn’t the first one. What about Marco and Colton plus their families?”

Yet Linda too responded with shaking her head. “No, Keely, they all found out by accident. Seth isn’t exactly an open person-”

“None of us are,” Keely interrupted.

“I figured that,” replied the woman, sending her a knowing look that made Keely squirm slightly in her seat. “I might not have been much of a mother at all to him after his father died, but I do know my son well enough to know that he’s never told anyone, except you. I didn’t even know what to do when he brought you home; I’ve never met a girl from his life before.”

Swallowing the lump that had grown in her throat during the words, her eyes searched the older woman for signs of deceit, but she couldn’t find any. Leaving that alone because she honestly didn’t know how to respond to it, Keely began to speak, but her voice died in her throat. Gathering her courage – though she wasn’t sure how much she had – Keely held the woman’s gaze, “Why?”

“Hm?” asked Linda, her eyes crinkling in confusion.

“I don’t like you,” stated she bluntly, not seeing any reason to beat around the bush now she’d already taken the leap. “No, I can’t hate you either, you’re his mom and he’s one of my best friends. But I still don’t like you, because I can see how much you love him and the fact that he still loves you more than anything despite everything he’s been through.”

Unless she was very much mistaken, Keely saw a sudden expression of shame come into the woman’s as she looked away. “So, I’m asking you why,” she carried on, “Why did you let everything happen to him when you love him so much? Why did you let it happen to yourself?”

Suddenly Linda’s eyes flashed to her, and she snapped, “Some things we don’t talk about.”

Knowing she’d probably crossed the appropriate line a long time ago, she nodded understandingly, her eyes dropping to the table.

But suddenly a sigh broke from the woman across the table before she softly said, “Things aren’t that easy, Keely.”

Bringing her eyes up once again, Keely watched as Linda rubbed her temples absently, looking towards the darkened window where the snow was still continuously falling. “I know,” she replied, talking in almost a whisper, moving her eyes to stare out the window as well. “And, just to clear things up, I’m not a drug addict, I’ve only been arrested those two times, I have never slept with your son or any of the boys and I’m not pregnant with your grandchild.”

“What?!” exclaimed the woman, making Keely look at her to see Linda’s eyes bulging.

Shrugging sheepishly, she wrapped her finely boned fingers around the water bottle. “That was the latest thing I read that the paparazzi put out. I am most definitely not pregnant, and I don’t plan to be... like, ever.”

“Oh, okay,” said Linda slowly, that indecipherable expression coming back as the woman searched her face.

“Well... I’m going to sleep,” Keely announced, feeling awkward again.

Rising from her seat, she made her way out of the room, tugging on the bottom of the black shirt as she did so.

But somehow she doubted she’d be sleeping very soon; there was quite a bit to think over.

As it so happened, it didn’t take her long to fall asleep.

The stress of dealing with Linda, her anxiety with her family and the exhaustion that came after the sheer physical exertion that came with a show all combined together to knock her out the moment her head hit the pillow.

And in turn meant she didn’t wake up until late in the afternoon with a song buzzing obnoxiously in her ear that she couldn’t even decipher. Her mind feeling awkwardly detached from her body with the even more mused sleep schedule she was getting, Keely forced her head up from the pillow, her vision blurry at first but after a few moments of absolute determination, she made it clear again.

Seeing three o’clock plastered on the bedside clock, she gave a loud groan as her mind quickly did the math to find she’d had a grand total of seven hours of sleep. Not nearly enough after the previous day.

Scowling at her cell phone flashing on the bedside table, Keely slapped a hand on it, dragging it towards her as she wiped a hand across her cheek, grimacing at the drool she found. Most of the time she never drooled in her sleep, but every once in a while it happened and it wasn’t a pleasant thing to wake up to.

“Hello,” she greeted grumpily, falling back face first in the pillow.

“Well, hello to you too.”

Her brow furrowing, Keely didn’t lift her head so her voice came out muffled as she asked, “Joseph?”

He chirped back brightly, “Morning sunshine.”

“Too happy to be optimistic,” she grumbled back.

“Early? It’s one in the afternoon already; I’ve been up since five.”

In a matter of fact tone, she stated, “You’re sick.”

As he chuckled in her ear, Keely forced herself to roll over. Already feeling more awake, she began to feel the excitement of talking to her best friend, making her heart quicken in her chest. “So why are you calling me at this awful hour?”

“Wishing you another merry Christmas, Keel,” he answered smoothly. “And how is it awful? You said you’re in Wisconsin, that’d make it... three there. What time did you go to bed last night?”

“About eight thirty in the morning,” she replied evenly.

“What-” he began, but she quickly cut him off.

“Why didn’t you guys call back last night?” she asked hesitantly, not knowing if she really wanted to know the answer. “You said you would...”

Even though they were thousands of miles apart, Keely could almost see him giving a shrug, he was her best friend after all she knew him better than most. “We watched the show, but the Seth Ryan guy said that you guys would be playing after the program stopped so we didn’t know what time you’d be done or what you’d do after.”

Nodding Keely told him vaguely, “Eggnog without the eggnog.”

“Ah,” Joe breathed knowingly, “Rum?”

“Rum,” she confirmed, a grin pressing on her face.

“So – oh, wait, your dad wants to talk to you. Hold on a second.”

At the mention of her dad, Keely felt her heart crash in her chest, but when she heard their muffled talking on the other line, she found her interest waning as she glanced back at the clock.

It had been agreed before that they – meaning she, Marco’s family along with Colton’s – would come to Linda’s house at about four in the afternoon. It gave the separate families to have their Christmas mornings together before gathering together to share gifts as Christmas dinner was made for them to have at about six. Apparently Linda was a much better cook than her son and was giving Liz the year off from cooking, although it was yet to be seen how Marco’s mother took this.

Bets had been made that she would take over the cooking process. No one was betting against it, just about how long it would take. Keely was down for thirty minutes.

Rubbing her hand over her eyes as the men on the other line continued to talk but she couldn’t decipher what was being said, she gave a loud yawn. She was actually grateful that she’d slept in so late. First of all it meant she didn’t have to hide away bored in her room while Seth and Linda had their family Christmas, but she wasn’t sure how to talk to Linda after their conversation the night before, or rather early morning.

Everything was confused now; she didn’t know what to think. Having an honest conversation with the woman had thrown her a curve ball to be sure. So while she was still working on that in her head, Keely figured it would be better to have interaction with the woman while in the large group of people.

“Keely?” asked a voice from the phone that was pressing against her ear.

In slight surprise, she jolted on the bed, being too wrapped up in her own thoughts. But she quickly recovered and a smile spread across her, warming her right down to her toes. “Hi daddy,” she greeted warmly.

“Hey,” he responded gruffly, but she could hear the smile in his voice despite it all. She knew her dad very well too. “I guess... merry Christmas.”

She brushed her bangs away from her eyes carelessly, feeling quite contented as she laid on her back relaxed as she spoke to what felt like a long lost family. “Merry Christmas to you too, then,” she replied.

“You’re not... alone for Christmas are you?” her dad enquired, rather clumsily.

“No, I’m not,” she assured him, “You’re not either, right?”

“I’m spending it with Joseph’s family; Evelyn agreed to cook for us – me this year again. Who are you with?”

Keely nodded even though her couldn’t see, pleased wasn’t a strong enough word to describe how she felt knowing that he wouldn’t be alone. “Well, I’m alone right now, but I was snowed in at Seth’s house last night so I’m hiding in my room right now, but I’m going to have dinner with their families.”

“Their families?” he questioned.

“Yeah, the guys from the tour,” Keely explained, “Their families live in Wisconsin and I was invited for Christmas.”

“That’s nice.”

Suddenly Joe’s voice cut in, “Hold on a second, I’m going to put you on speakerphone.”

After a couple moments of bickering from her two men back home that made her laugh, she was told she was officially on speakerphone.

“I wish I was home for Christmas,” Keely blurted out to them. But after a moment, she couldn’t help but wonder if her words had been honest. Did she really want to be at home for Christmas?

Yes, she wanted to be with her family, she missed them more than she would have believed now that time had slowed down long enough for her to think about it. But at the same time, no, she didn’t want to be home for Christmas... She wanted to be right where she was. She wouldn’t have flown home even if there had been time, there was no way she would have let Seth be here alone. Because as much as he loved his mother, it was obvious that he was far from happy here.

And he probably didn’t need to have her there anyways, he did have Colton and Marco, but she wanted to be there for him even if he didn’t know it.

“We wish you were too,” said Joe, interrupting her internal musings, her father making sounds of agreement.

Smiling despite her thoughts, Keely pushed the blankets off of her, placing her phone on the mattress as she crossed her legs and put it on speaker phone. “I would sing you Merry Christmas Darling but I don’t think I can pull it off, you get my meaning though, right?”

“You pulled off a Christmas carol last night,” Joe pointed out.

Closing her eyes as if morally insulted before she realized they couldn’t see her, Keely said, “That’s not the same. It was made as a war protest song, it’s the best Christmas song I’ve ever heard but it’s not a carol.”

But before they could answer the reality of Joe’s words came down upon her, making her heart beat hastily again. “So that means you watched the show, all of it?”

“Yes,” answered her father quietly, “You were great.”

She was sure that Joe wouldn’t know what it meant, but Keely felt as if the smile might stretch her face as her stomach warmed in happiness. Those simple words meant more to her than her Joseph could understand, and that was all because she hadn’t told him about her mother. But she could tell Seth, he’d know, he’d understand. Hell, he’d probably understand much better than Joe even if they both knew an equal amount.

“Why does that guy, Ryan, call you rebel?”

Joe’s question caught her off guard as she was basking in the warmth that the comment had created, making her intelligent response, “Huh?”

“Seth Ryan, he called you rebel, why did he do that?” Joe pestered.

Her brow furrowed in bewilderment. “When did he call me rebel in the show?”

“It was between some song about a parrot-”

“A parrot?” she asked incredulously.

“You guys were talking about Polly and a cracker...”

When she closed her eyes this time, it really was in moral insult. “The song Polly is not about a parrot, Joseph! That’s Nirvana; you know that song you listen to my music all the time!”

“Mostly because you made me,” he answered breezily before continuing, “But, yeah, he called you rebel right after that. He looked at you and asked, “Play me a song, rebel?” and you just kind of laughed and asked if he was sure he wanted that then you started playing some song that I’ve never heard.”

She rubbed her forehead exasperated. “You’ve never heard that song because it’s one that’s going to be on my album. And yeah, rebel is my nickname.”

“Why?” enquired both Joseph and her dad at the same time.

“It’s a David Bowie thing.”

“What?” they said in unison again.

“But don’t think of the pants from that movie Labyrinth, those were just disturbing. Just think of the music, it’s much easier to understand then.”

They made more sounds of confusion, though this time it made Keely laugh. It had been so long since she’d been without someone who would at least understand a part of what she was talking about. It was hard to put a censor on herself.

Yet the conversation was still a good one. They stayed talking easily; going from Joe questioning her about the show, both of them pestering about the rumours, the three of them talking about how the farm was holding up back home as well as how Joe’s training was going. It was nice to talk to them; it made her smile even it frustrated her at the same time, she really did miss them. Keely only wished that Haley was there with them.

As the time stretched out without her realizing, Keely jumped violently when there was a knock on the door. “I’m on the phone!” she called out.

But that didn’t seem to be enough to stop the person on the other side of the door, because the doorknob was just jingled. Then it was shoved open to reveal Seth wearing a plain white shirt and black sweat pants, sending her an expectant look.

“What the hell Seth?!” she exclaimed, her cheeks heating up as she tugged the shirt down over her legs from where she’d been sitting cross legged. “Why did you come in?”

“You didn’t say not to,” he pointed out reasonably, “You just said you were on the phone.”

“Do I have to tell you I’m not wearing any pants next time?!”

Without speaking Seth just smirked at her, arching an eyebrow.

“Oh, go to hell,” she snapped at him, catching onto the unspoken innuendo. But she was very thankful that he didn’t say that one aloud, it would be awkward with her father and Joe just on the other line.

“Why is he in your room if you’re not wearing pants?” asked Joseph on the line, not sounding too pleased about the situation.

This time her blush was much deeper. “Misunderstanding of people’s stupidity,” she assured her friend, sending Seth a harsh look that only made him laugh. “And now, get out of my room, Seth.”

“It’s-”

“Technically your house,” she mimicked, rolling her eyes, “Blah, blah, blah. Now get out.”

Apparently he was in quite the good mood because he just grinned at her. “Not that easy, rebel, everyone’s showing up for Christmas. I was designated to drag you downstairs.”

“I’m on the phone with my family,” she told him, hoping her dad and Joe didn’t hear the apologetic not in her voice.

“I bought you a present,” he pointed out.

“You bought me a present, what kind of a present?”

“Too big to fit beneath the tree,” Seth replied.

Chewing on her lip, Keely shook her head.

Apparently knowing what she was going to say before she spoke, Seth hastily started speaking. “Get them on webcam on the computer.”

“What?” she asked confused.

He shrugged, “Colton’s family are doing it with his older sister until dinner. You can borrow my laptop to set it up.”

Feeling quite pleased with the option that was bringing her family and her makeshift family together for Christmas, Keely asked excitedly, “Joe, do you think you could do it?”

“Yeah, but-”

“Great,” she exclaimed happily, “I’ll talk to you in a minute.”

Hanging up hastily, she scrambled up from the bed, but only remembered she was still not wearing pants when she saw Seth watching her closely with an expression she couldn’t understand on his face.

Blushing she pulled down the shirt from where it had ridden up high up on her thigh, pointing to the door with her other hand. “Get out,” she ordered.

Holding up his hands in defeat, Seth turned around and exited the room.

Not having anything else to wear, Keely kept on the shirt she was wearing, but she pulled on her now dry jeans from the night before. Feeling much too eager to wait around, Keely hurdled downstairs, almost tripping down the stairs as she did so.

When she got to the living room, she found it alive with activity, the three families stuffed inside it contently. Keely saw Seth giving Colton his laptop and ordering him to find a way to make everything work, it made her smile as she watched. But very soon she was greeting everyone in the room, giving hugs and kisses to the cheeks as if they hadn’t seen each other in weeks although they’d seen each other just yesterday. She was even introduced to Colton’s older sister who had the curly bronze curls as well over the computer.

In just a few moments Colton had gotten everything set up with Joseph, letting her see the faces of her family for the first time in months. Her eyes traced Joe’s blonde hair all the way to his firm cheek bones and broad shoulders to her dad with his dark hair that was beginning to grey and a new beard he’d grown in that was scruffy and most certainly grey. And she didn’t miss her father’s bewildered look, he knew less about computers than she and was yet to understand how to turn on the laptop she’d gotten him for his birthday a few years before.

Feeling as if she was showing off some fine collection, Keely introduced everyone to her family happily. But she couldn’t help but notice the stiffness that her father and Joe had in their shoulders while the people on her side looked so relaxed, joking with each other as well as the people over the webcams.

“What ever happened to presents?” Colton demanded sometime later.

Keely was sitting cross legged on the ground close to the laptop with her family propped on the coffee table, looking across at Ewan. The rest of them spaced haphazardly across the room, except for Liz who had taken over cooking. Keely won that bet.

She rolled her eyes at him, but stood up all the same. “I’ll go get them,” she sighed, “They’re not going to be wrapped, but they’re in the trunk of my car.”

“I’ll come help you,” volunteered Seth, pushing up from his armchair.

Smirking, she glanced over at him. “Since when do I need help?”

“You always need help,” he countered, hooking his arm around her neck easily and tugging her away from the living room. “You should be happy; I’m going to lose the mint spot on that armchair to help you dig out the trunk of your car.”

Grimacing, Keely remembered the pile of snow on her car.

“Okay, I do need help.”

Hastily pushing into her shoes and putting on her leather jacket, she watched as Seth slipped into a hoodie before opening the door for her.

Digging out the car hadn’t been an exaggeration; she and Seth worked from opposite sides of the car. Although they had admittedly taken a break from uncovering her car when Keely had flicked snow at him as she giggled, instigating yet another snow fight.

Laughing Keely kicked in the air ten minutes later as Seth swung her around from his arms wrapped tightly around her waist.

“Do you give up yet?” he asked, his breath tickling her neck.

Even though she shivered, she grinned, answering, “Never,” before throwing them off balance as she kicked out.

Apparently Seth hadn’t been expecting her move, because they tumbled to the ground, thankfully into the softly piled snow. Happy for the soft padding, Keely rolled over beneath him, giggling, finding that he’d stopped himself from squishing her beneath him by putting out his arms to block the fall.

“Who won do you think?” she asked breathlessly.

Grinning, he replied, “I think it was an even tie.”

“No,” she shook her head, “I definitely won. I mean, I made you fall, when has that ever happened before?”

Seth arched an eyebrow, not moving from where his arms were propped on either side of her body, holding him up easily, their legs in a tangle in the snow. “Do you really want to start that all over again?”

Keely smirked, “I’ve got a competitive streak.”

Sending her a mockingly threatening look, Seth dug his hand into the snow, coming up with a handful of snow.

Squealing instantly, she threw her hands up over to guard her face. “No, no, no, it was a tie! It was a tie!”

When she heard him laughing, Keely peaked out from beneath his arms to find that he’d dropped the handful of snow. Letting her arms fall away from their protective stance, she smiled easily up at him.

Reaching up casually, she brushed her thumb over his cheek, wiping away the snow that had remained there.

Only then did she realize their position on the ground fully, him hovering just slightly above her while she had her legs hooked with his in the snow. Blinking she looked up at him, finding his eyes focused and intent on her face as she absentmindedly brought her hand up to brush the messy dark hair away from his forehead.

Not knowing which of them was moving, Keely watched as they moved closer, his eyes dropping downwards as her hand moved around to dig her hand into his soft hair.

“What are you guys doing?”

Jumping at the sound of Marco’s voice, Keely dropped her hand away from his hair and brought both hands up to shove Seth in the chest, forcing him to sit up, falling to the side. Hastily jumping up from the ground, she brushed her hair away from her face, looking up at where Marco was smirking broadly on the porch.

“We’re just getting the presents,” she told him, her eyes narrowing on him when she saw the look on his face. “We’ll be inside in a minute.”

“Sure, sure,” he called back.

Even when he walked back into the house, Keely continued to stare after him, what was that supposed to mean?

“Hey, rebel,” said Seth from behind her.

Spinning around as quickly as she could in the snow, she found him shoving what was left of the snow off her car. “I need the keys,” he explained, looking at her with a serious look in his eyes.

Nodding mutely, Keely dug them out of her pocket, tossing them to him.

She gathered the presents silently, grabbing them by the plastic bags that they were still in before making her way up to the house. Leaving Seth to lock up her car before following her inside the house, it wasn’t until they reached the living room that he’d caught up.

“Santa!” exclaimed Colton loudly, forcing everyone’s attention on them.

Keely crinkled her nose, trying to act like her heart still wasn’t crashing against her chest from the moments before. “I didn’t know I’d grown so much facial hair.”

Colton just rolled his eyes at her, demanding, “Give me my present.”

Shaking her head ever so slightly, she passed him his plastic bag before doing the same for Marco, but when she turned around to give Seth’s present to him, he was nowhere in sight. Shrugging, she dropped it beneath the tree before grabbing the perfectly wrapped presents the boys had gotten her.

Taking up a seat on the empty space on an ottoman, Keely began tearing at the wrappings of Marco’s present.

Finding a t-shirt, at the top of the box, a grin spread across her mouth. Of course Marco would get her a concert shirt, she was after all addicted to them, it was pretty much all she wore unless she had a reason to be dressed up. Snatching it up, Keely hastily unfolded it, holding it up in front of her.

Scowling, Keely bunched the shirt in a ball, throwing it a Marco who was laughing like a madman on the ground, clutching his stomach. “Go to hell,” she told him, watching as the Ke$ha shirt hit him in the head for little to no effect.

“It was a joke,” Marco gasped between laughs, “Look at the rest.”

Although she sent him a glare, Keely began to dig to the bottom of the box.

In moments she found that he had redeemed himself as she was drooling over a vinyl copy of The Police’s Ghost in the Machine as well as the entire box set of Radiohead albums. As for Colton’s gift, he’d gotten her a new Beatles shirt as well as a vinyl of Led Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy. Apparently it wasn’t very hard to shop for her, but she was more than happy, she just wanted to hug them to her chest.

“And for you,” said Seth’s voice from behind her.

Whisking around, Keely meant to look at him, but her gaze was caught at the present he dropped on the ground beside her.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she breathed, reaching her hand out to run along the smooth wrapping paper. Although it might have been wrapped and hidden, there was no denying what the present was.

Grinning Seth nudged it towards her. “Nope, one hundred percent serious, rebel.”

Even knowing it was probably childish, Keely snatched up the plainly wrapped guitar case, ripping the paper away from it.

Making a noise of excitement in her throat she paused when all the paper was gone, looking at the shiny new case. Even that was enough to have her ecstatic, but it wasn’t enough to stop herself from opening it hastily.

And when she found what was inside, Keely let out a little whimper, running her finger along it.

Since Fender had started making them, she’d been drooling over the Road Worn Stratocasters. But this, this was much better. It was obviously an old guitar, the black and white paint chipping along the body, giving it that battle worn look that she’d admired about one of Seth’s guitars so long. Like it had seen so much music and needed to have someone hold it so the music could come to life.

This time Keely really did hug it to her chest.

Not knowing what else to say, she looked up to see Seth standing a few feet away, looking at her with a slightly anxious expression on his face. “Thank you,” she mouthed to him silently, watching as the worried expression left his face to be replaced with a smile.

Marco was looking at it with a slightly confused expression on his face. “Why would you want a beat up old guitar?”

She shook her head vehemently, but just waved a hand at him, placing the guitar in her lap comfortably so she could begin to play. At first she just strummed a couple chords that were obviously brand new and had just been put on the guitar, but she found it to be perfectly in tune. It didn’t matter that the electric Stratocaster was so quiet when there was no amplifier, especially when the conversation around her had blossomed again and was raging loudly. She just wanted to play.

“You disappoint me,” she heard Seth say with a sigh, but she was only listening to his words with half an ear as she began to play her song Only Lose. “How many times have I shown you Stevie Ray Vaughn music? His favourite guitar was a beat up old Stratocaster, then there’s Jimi Hendrix that used to light them on fire...”

“But why would you buy one as a gift?” came Joe’s voice from the speakers of the laptop.

Keely shook her head again, looking up casually as she continued to play. “Joe, I love this, I didn’t ever think I’d get it, it’s the perfect gift.” Redirecting her gaze to Seth, she nodded to the plastic bag beneath the tree, saying, “Well, that’s your gift, you’ve kind of upstaged me though.”

He shook his head at her as he grinned before picking up the bag and sitting down on the ground, leaning his back against the window pane. Although she would have liked to watch him open the gifts, she was much too focused on her guitar as she switched over to another one of the songs off her upcoming album.

Finally managing to tear her eyes away from the gorgeous instrument, Keely kept playing steadily through her album, glancing up to look at Seth.

He was holding the silver pick in his hands, flipping it over lightly.

Grinning sheepishly, she said, “You needed a better guitar pick. I had it engraved, like SRV, but you’re SMV.”

Smiling, Seth looked up, showing the dimple in his left cheek abruptly to her.

He looked like he was about to talk but just that moment they heard Linda calling for his help from the kitchen, something about Christmas china.

Slipping the stainless steel pick into the pocket of his sweatpants, Seth shoved up from the ground, skirting around the people littered in the room to where his mom was calling. But when he was passing her, Seth paused, looking down at her, the golden highlights of his eyes shining brightly.

She gave a sheepish shrug. “My presents aren’t as good as the guitar, but, yeah.”

“Are you kidding me? I don’t know where I would’ve found that vinyl, plus the Jim Morrison book is great and I love the pick, rebel.”

Grinning, she looked back down at the guitar, keeping up in her playing as he moved to the kitchen.

A few minutes later, Keely was still playing devotedly, being stuck on her album but she was sure after she finished with all her songs, whether they were on the album or not, she’d move onto covers.

“So, Keely, why don’t we get to hear you sing?”

In surprise, she glanced up from the guitar, finally ceasing in the playing as she looked up to see Liz dropping into the couch across from her. “You got to see me sing last night,” she pointed out, sending a quick glance to the laptop where her dad and Joe got a full view of the room. They were speaking to Heather at the moment. Glancing back to the woman at hand, Keely began fidgeting with the necklace she wore around her neck, flipping the pick between her fingers.

Liz grinned, reaching over to pinch her cheek fondly. Keely was finding she still didn’t like that. “Not like that, darling,” she scolded lightly, “I meant like a private show. We’ve heard Seth sing about a million times with his guitar-”

“Hey!” exclaimed the boy in question, coming back into the room with his petite blonde mother following him. “Since when do you not want to hear me play?”

“Not like that,” Liz repeated, rolling her eyes, “But we’d like to hear her like that too.”

Sending a grin at Seth, Keely leaned back slightly on the brown ottoman. “Well, I would, but I would need an acoustic, you can’t really hear this one.”

“And I’ve got you one!”

In surprise, she watched as Ewan walked in the room, holding Seth’s black acoustic Gibson by the neck. She even caught sight of Seth watching him very closely as he did so. “Here you go,” Ewan announced, handing it to her.

Regretfully, Keely placed her new Stratocaster in its case, making a promise to take it out soon before placing the guitar in her lap. “Okay,” she told the group, all of them turning their attention to her for the private showing. She knew Marco, Colton and Seth probably weren’t excited to hear her play, they heard her all the time, but it looked as if their families were eager to see it. And she couldn’t tell if hers was or not.

For a moment she just pondered what song to play. She’d played all her original stuff last night plus almost every cover she knew, Keely didn’t want to repeat the night before.

“Okay,” she repeated, deciding on a song, “You need to keep in mind that I learnt this song by ear on the bus while those three were bickering about whether or not blowing up another toilet in a hotel room was just lame because they’d done it before.”

Heather laughed loudly, leaning back in the couch. “I’m sure that we won’t even notice if you get something wrong.”

“You won’t, but he will,” Keely said, pointing an accusing finger at Seth.

He just grinned in response. “I promise I’ll keep my mouth shut.”

“For once,” she muttered, making him chuckle. “Okay, here we go.”

Beginning to strum the beginning of Wheels, Keely stayed slightly hunched over the guitar even when she began singing, not looking up to them.

“I know what you're thinkin'

We were goin' down

I can feel the sinkin'

But then I came around

And everyone I've loved before

Flashed before my eyes

And nothin' mattered anymore

I looked into the sky

Well I wanted something better man

I wished for something new

And I wanted something beautiful

And wish for something true

Been lookin' for a reason man

Something to lose

When the wheels come down

When the wheels touch ground

And you feel like it's all over

There's another round for you

When the wheels come down”

Unintentionally when Keely finally looked up, she looked straight at Seth. Finding his eyes as intent on her as they had been when they’d been out in the snow, she felt her stomach give a flip although she kept playing without missing a note.

But when she began to sing again, their eyes met and once again they were holding each other’s gaze. And although she hadn’t meant it to turn out that way, she couldn’t help but feel as if she was singing right to him, the words feeling as if they were meant for her to tell him.

“Know your head is spinnin'

Broken hearts will mend

This is our beginning

Comin to an end

Well, you wanted something better man

You wished for something new

Well, you wanted something beautiful

Wished for something true

Been lookin for a reason man

Something to lose

When the wheels come down

When the wheels touch ground

And you feel like it's all over

There's another round for you

When the wheels come down

When the wheels come down

When the wheels touch ground

And you feel like it's all over

There's another round for you

When the wheels come down

When the wheels come down

When the wheels touch ground

And you feel like it's all over

There's another round for you

When the wheels come down”

Finishing the song, Keely placed the last few chords, finally looking away from him.

She didn’t know whether she felt moved or shaken, there was a big difference after all. But when she looked up, the answer didn’t become any clearer for her.

Because he was still staring at her even when the other people in the room were giving her a little round of applause and she couldn’t help but stare right back, not even noticing the others. There was a slight line between his brows as if he was trying to decipher something, but his eyes were stuck to her intently, making Keely feel like she wanted to simply walk over to him and throw herself at him or run away.

She wasn’t sure about that either.

Abruptly something did break the tension, making both their gazes snap away from each other.

“Dinner is ready!” Linda called out loudly, making Keely look over to her. But when she did, she found that the woman too was staring at her with an unreadable expression although it didn’t have the same effect on her.

Pulling in a shaky breath, Keely stood up putting the acoustic on her seat and moving to the laptop before kneeling in front of it. “I’ve got to go,” she said apologetically.

They too were looking at her strangely.

What was wrong with everyone?

“It was nice talking to you,” said her dad.

Smiling Keely said, “I love you guys,” before snapping the laptop shut.

Heaving a sigh, she stood up and followed the hoard to the kitchen. Yes, things were definitely getting more confusing.

- Ah, poor Keely, you're much more oblivious than you realize.

Anyways, I hope that was worth the wait! I was going to post some beautiful covers made for me, but I'm too bloody tired to do it right now, I'm sorry, it's 5:41 in the morning, I'm effing tired.
I will next time though, I promise.

I had something funny I was going to say, but I forgot now. I'm going to go have coffee with nailgun boy before he goes to work. How weird is that? He just got up to go to work and I'm just about to go to sleep. Maybe I won't have coffee, juice would be better...

Anyways, I posted a new story! Times Are Changing. It was based around someone telling me to write a story about me and Jared. Now, don't worry, the characters are nothing like us lol, that's just where the idea came from. Megan is a much better person than me and Jesse is much more interesting than Jared haha. I'm going to put it in the watty awards for 2012 so... yeah, lol.

Well, that's about it for now!

FRESH POTS! 

ME PILLOW!

ETERNITY WITH '64 PAUL, YOU GET JJ!

JOHNNY!

Lol, me pillow.

mad rantings, done. Have a brilliant day or night or wherever for whatever lol.