Phoebe gathered the kids into the back of her cab. Ariel chewed her already stubs of nails. She was never very excited about these family gatherings. She didn't seem to fit within the group. She was the plain one. Her older sister, Fifi, had inherited their mother's quirky and confident personality, while her older brother had the musical talent Ariel decided came from their father –Phoebe had quite a different opinion - with musician good looks.
Ariel's cuticles were bleeding by the time the car had pulled up at the large house in Scarsdale. When they stepped out Mike put his arm around his twelve year daughter, knowing her signs of nervousness. She was his quietest child and he was a bit worried about her at times.
A few minutes after the Hannigan clan arrived, Chandler Bing pulled into the driveway bringing his and Monica's children Erika and Jack. Emma watched amused, as Erika was lectured by her mother for her choice of attire: a low cut black mini, and wedges. As always Erika worked her mother brilliantly, so Monica turned to Chandler.
"How could you let her out like that, she looks like she's going to have ones shoved in her g-string within two minutes!"
Erika smiled, "I'd never do that mom, chill."
Jack scoffed, "Yeah, she'd never do anything under twenties."
"Quiet, guys. Look Mon, this way if someone explodes the cake you won't be so distraught she ruined her dress." Chandler joked.
Erika grinned at her dad, "Exactly."
Erika loved teasing her mom, she loved her to bits but had always like winding her up. People who didn't know, said she got it from her dad. She would nod and smile, because of was possible that she had, just not it the way everyone thought.
Monica tried to get her daughter's outfit out of her mind and wondered how long she could keep Erika away from her mother, who was currently talking to her grandson Jack about his school football win last week.
Danny looked around the garden at the different mixes of people. He now knew what Emma meant about having multiple crazy Aunts. The dark haired woman with the seemingly rebel child seemed to be desperate to control the whole party, and Emma had also pointed out a woman called Amy, her mom's sister, who had apparently been a surprise arrival which had annoyed the dark haired woman to no end.
Emma smiled to herself as she looked at Danny. He seemed totally enthralled by everyone, looking around. She walked up to him and stood beside him.
"So, what do you think?" she asked him.
"Of what?"
"The party. You seem to be giving it a fair bit of thought and I'm interested to find out your opinion."
"Ahh. Well, it seems to be planned impeccably. And the people seem to be having a good time, with the exception of a few, but that just adds a bit of colourful drama. I'm very impressed."
Emma beamed at the way he spoke. He was so cute and nerdy. "I'm glad. So, I think the fam will be sufficiently sloshed in about a half hour, so we can go inside and do something else soon."
He looked down at her, and she realised suddenly how close to each other they were stood. His ocean green eyes looked so beautiful. "We?" he asked quietly.
She swallowed carefully. Her insides quivered and all she could see was those eyes. What was she doing? She didn't like Danny. Danny was Sophie's cousin. Danny was Danny. He was her rock, the guy who was always there for her. He was like a brother.
She blinked deliberately, "Yeah, the group. I'll go find everyone."
Emma rushed away as quickly as she could. That didn't mean anything, she told herself. It was just a crazy fluke, hormones or something. Or maybe it was a response to the trouble she'd been having with Marcus lately, her mind trying to think of something else. And his eyes... Well, they were the same colour as Marcus' after all. That was it. She just missed Marcus. Slightly flustered, she quickly found herself collide with a human sized wall.
