Note: Merry Christmas! This is a lovely angst filled, yet happy ending little one shot. There is a touch of Reid/OC, but the real story is about the friendship of Caleb and Pogue. No slash!
Last Christmas
"Once bitten and twice shy
I keep my distance
But you still catch my eye
Tell me baby, Do you recognize me?
Well it's been a year, It doesn't surprise me Last Christmas
"Merry Christmas" I wrapped it up and sent it
With a note saying "I love you", I meant it
Now I know what a fool I've been
But if you kissed me now
I know you'd fool me again
I gave you my heart
But the very next day you gave it away
This year
To save me from tears
I'll give it to someone special."
"Ok, call me crazy," said Reid Garwin,"But I do not think the family is going to believe Caleb is sober." Reid then walked over to the maroon antique sofa that Caleb was sprawled upon, and poked him in the side. Caleb waved his hands around wildly and mumbled something that sounded like 'bastard.'
"Wow, Reid, I thought we could just stick some sunglasses on him and nobody would notice the fact that his eyes are glazed and he can't walk right!" Pogue Parry replied very sarcastically.
The date was December 24th, 2009, better known as Christmas Eve. As every year, one of the families of the covenant hosted a Christmas party. For years the honor had been given to the Simms or Parry family. Evelyn Danvers had insisted on hosting it at her house this year, though. In the Danvers's home, the carols were blaring, the cookies were baking, the mistletoe was hung, the presents were wrapped, and the talk was cheery. Gathered in the manor were various members of the covenant families. Not all was bright and cheery, though. This was the first Christmas after the death of Jonathan Danvers. The event had taken place not even two months ago, and was still fresh in the minds of the guests, especially Caleb Danvers. It was common knowledge that Caleb spent every Christmas Eve sitting up in the scary old house with his unnaturally aged father. Obviously, Caleb had been drinking quite a bit of alcohol to dull the day.
"Shut up, you two," Tyler (the worried voice of reason) said, "We have got a ton of family out there, and a very drunken Caleb in here. Hopefully nobody will notice the hostesses' son is missing."
Caleb then rolled onto his side and gave a low moan. Pogue walked over and kneeled down next to him. The boys were hiding out in a parlor in the back of the manor.
"Hey, you ok in there?" Pogue asked, as Caleb wearily opened his eyes. "Where's Dad?" Caleb mumbled. The boys exchanged glances, and Reid said, "Well, now we have a drunken and confused Mr. Perfect. Could this get any worse?"
"Could what get any worse?" A feminine voice behind them said. The three boys looked to the door to see Elizabeth 'Liz' Danvers standing there. The daughter of Jonathan's younger brother, Liz was the same age as the boys, and unbelievably quirky. Fortunately, the back of the couch hid the inebriated Caleb from his cousin.
"Um, the weather?" Tyler answered half-heartedly. Liz looked out one of the grand windows behind the boy's and said, "There is an inch of snow on the ground and it is not currently snowing."
"We didn't want to tell you this but we were referring to your looks and personality." Reid interjected with a smirk. Truth was Reid had been insanely turned on by Liz all evening. The normally tomboy brunette was wearing a skimpy little emerald green and ruby red dress, with hair perfectly done and makeup perfectly applied.
Liz placed her hands on her hips and glared at Reid, "Very funny blond-boy. That's just pish-posh. Now what are you three musketeers worrying about? And where is the fourth one?" At that exact moment, Caleb rolled off the couch and landed on the hardwood floor with a loud thud. Liz began to walk toward the couch, but Reid picked her up and literally swept her off her feet.
"Reid Benjamin Garwin! If you ruin this dress I will push you so hard-"
"That's what she said!" Reid interrupted, as he carried Liz out of the room. Pogue and Tyler could hear them bickering all the way down the hallway.
"Ah, young love. Now back to reality. Is Caleb ok?" Tyler asked, as he bent down and lifted Caleb into a sitting position. "I'm, uh, fine. Just give me a minute," Caleb slurred. The statement made sense, though. This relived Pogue and Tyler's worry quite a bit.
"Come on, there isn't much we can do for him. Tyler, go get some coffee. We'll have him drink that. Although I think no amount of coffee in the world is going to sober him up," Pogue said, and Tyler hurried away. Pogue then leaned Caleb against the couch and sat down beside him.
"Caleb, I get the strange feeling that when you said 'I'm perfectly fine, I'm coping with my father's death, he wasn't much of a father anyway,' you were lying," Pogue said bitterly. He knew his friend was in a messed up state, but Caleb lying to him hurt.
Caleb blinked several times and then replied, "Pogue, you don't get it…."
"Your right, I don't. I don't see how you couldn't tell your closest friends that you were hurting and I don't see how we couldn't see it. Don't you dare say your not hurting either, because your drunken ass begs the differ," Pogue said. The two sat in silence for a moment, and then Caleb rested his head on Pogue's shoulder.
"Can we just assume your right?" Caleb asked tiredly. Pogue smiled a bit and said, "You mean can we assume that this Christmas is hell for you, since it's the first since your father died less than two month's ago?"
Caleb laughed bitterly, and then said, "Yeah. Sounds mmmgood to you?"
"Yeah, sounds great," Pogue replied, reminded by Caleb's slurring how drunk his friend must have been. "Dude, how many drink did you have?"
"Four coke's with rum, whatever it's called…I forget…"
"God, you can not hold your liquor."
"Shut up," slurred Caleb. With that, he passed out on Pogue's shoulder. The two sat in silence until Tyler came back with the coffee fifteen minutes later.
"God, Ty! Where did you go to get coffee, freaking Starbucks?" Pogue said, his shoulder falling asleep under Caleb. Tyler set the mug of coffee on an end table and said, "No, even farther, the kitchen. I got stopped by a million relatives. You and Caleb went to visit Sarah, and Caleb is staying there for the rest of the evening. Am I good liar or what?"
Pogue raised his eyebrows, "Reid came up with that story, didn't he?" Tyler laughed and said, "Sure did. Liz is confused shitless, but she's going along with it. Those two are flirting like mad. Reid is sure keeping her busy. Now let's get Caleb on the sofa."
Tyler picked up Caleb's feet and Pogue picked up Caleb's arms. The two boys lifted their friend successfully onto the sofa, and Caleb did not roll off.
"I'm sure there is a blanket around here somewhere. Tyler, don't drink that coffee. You will be up all night," commanded Pogue, taking over the job of leader since Caleb was in no position to lead.
"Are you serious? I went through hell to get this coffee and nobody is going to drink it?"
Tyler questioned, as he picked the coffee-filled mug off the stand and held it up. Pogue stopped his search for a blanket, walked across the room, took the mug from Tyler's hands, and chugged it.
"There, are you happy now? Let me rephrase that. You better be happy now," Pogue said, obviously at the end of his rope. Tyler smirked, "I'm just peachy!"
"You've been spending way too much time around Reid, baby boy," Pogue said, as he pulled a blanket from a tiny closet. He tossed it to Tyler, who laid it over Caleb.
"I agree. That boy is a menace. How is my drunken cousin?" Liz said, as she casually entered the room. The boys were startled, but they soon recovered.
"What-what do you mean?" Tyler stuttered, who even after many years of being best friends with Reid Garwin had not gotten used to lying.
"Oh please, I'm not an idiot. I can put the facts together. That thump earlier was Caleb falling off the sofa. Besides, I stole a sip of his drink earlier and it was NOT just coca-cola," Liz said, as she leaned against the back of the sofa Caleb was laying on. "These last few days have been hell for him. I could tell. He needed to do something to let out some grief. Frankly, I think he really wanted to do something reckless. Like run up the down escalators, or use the power. Using was what killed Uncle Jonathan in the end, though. So that wasn't an option. My father was always envious of the power as a kid, personally I can not imagine why. Anyways, I knew something like this was coming," Liz explained, as she stroked her first cousin's hair.
"How the hell did you pick up on all of this and we didn't?" Pogue asked with a bite to his voice. Liz smiled softly and replied, "I'm a girl. Not to mention the fact that my mother is a physiologist, and actually told me about it. If you're wondering why I didn't stop him, it was because he needed this. Now, the hangover he's going to have tomorrow he could do without, but hey, you can't always get what you want. Or at least that's what the Rolling Stones say."
"You mean the Kidney Stones, they're so dang old. Stupid girls," Tyler said, as Liz laughed. "Men need women, and women need men. That's-"
"Here, Lizzie! Here Liz-Liz! Lizzie-poo! Come out where ever you are!" Reid called from somewhere out in the hall. Liz rolled her eyes and shouted, "Reid, what the hell do you think I am? A dog?"
Reid then appeared in the doorway, and looked quite surprised. "Shit, figures you'd end up in this room. A dog is right, Liz. You are quite a bitch."
Liz stuck her tongue out at Reid, who walked into the room and took her hand. "What do you say, princess. Since your dearest cousin seems to be sleeping soundly, shall we dance?" Reid asked Liz, as he already led her out of the parlor. Liz laughed and said, "Why, aren't you just a sweet-talker? Ok, big foot, let's see how much you smash my feet this time."
"It's funny to see Reid in love," Tyler said, once the couple was out of earshot. Pogue chuckled, "You got that right. It's ironic that he fell for Caleb's cousin, too." Tyler sighed, and walked to the doorway. "You ready to go back to the party?" He asked. Pogue shook his head and replied, "Nah, I'm going to stay here. Someone should stay with smashed boy. You follow the love birds; see if you can get them under mistletoe." Tyler saluted Pogue, and then left the room.
Pogue pulled a book from a book shelf, and began to absentmindedly read. He spent the rest of the night with his best friend. Caleb wasn't the best conversation but that was ok with Pogue. As long as next Christmas wasn't like the last, he was fine with it.