Note: I do not own 'The Covenant' but do own my character. If wondering, it's pronounced the word 'are' with an 'n' on the end of it. I do take liberties throughout the story. Enjoy!

Since it was New Year's Eve and we were having the 'Aren & Reid's New Year's Birthday Bash' at Caleb's manor, we started to clean up. Aunt Evelyn had planned to go over to the Simms' manor where all of the other parents were getting together for their own party.

Since I couldn't really do much, I offered to go grocery shopping. Reid offered to drive me, which I think was a way to keep an eye on me incase something else happened.

"So, when am I going to get that birthday present that you were talking about?"

"I don't know. Why don't we play it by ear? Maybe something will happen at the stroke of midnight," I said, emphasizing the right word and Reid picked up on it.

At the grocery store, Reid kept putting things that we didn't necessarily need in the cart so I put them back. We didn't need mini sausage rolls, six different kinds of chips, peanuts, and cookies.

"Reid, I can't understand how you can eat all this and still look that good."

"Well, I expend a lot of energy."

"Really? Maybe you can help me with that one day. I have some trouble spots that I should work on."

"There's nothing wrong with your body."

We finished up at the grocery store and headed back to the manor. The others had the place all ready and they helped us in with the groceries.

"Why don't we all get cleaned up and be back here for 9? I'll cook dinner and then we can party," I said.

"Great. Will you need help with anything?" Kate offered.

"Maybe just picking out the right outfit."

"I've said it before but I'll help you get dressed," Reid replied.

"I think I would have better chances of getting dressed and not undressed, if I had Tyler's help."

I looked over and saw Tyler blush. Caleb looked back between Reid and me.

"I'm going to wrap my cast and have a shower. If any of you want to help with the party, I'll be done by 7 and will start dinner then."

I left everyone and headed upstairs. I turned on my laptop's stereo and grabbed the bag and the Saran Wrap to cover my cast. I did that and hopped into the shower. I washed my hair and shaved my legs because I was going to wear a skirt. The bathroom had fogged up from the steam so I had to wipe off the mirror. I turned around since I thought I saw someone in the bathroom with me.

I heard a ding from my laptop so I wrapped a towel around myself and went over to the bed.

KC says: Are you there? I wanted to say Happy Birthday and Happy New Year.

HotGirl says: Hey, Kellen. Yeah, I'm here. Just getting ready for the birthday bash. Again, I'm sorry that I didn't invite you.

KC says: Don't worry, Aren. It's New Year's. I understand. We've just met and it's not a good time to meet in person. Besides, I'm meeting up with some old friends tonight.

HotGirl says: That's good to hear. I need to get ready and cook some food with one hand. Happy New Year's.

KC says: You too. I'm looking forward to see you. It'll be nice to have an actual conversation than a computer one.

I signed off and pulled clothes from my suitcase. I decided on a teal green mini skirt and a short white tank top that ended two inches above the waist of the skirt. I rubbed lotion all over my legs to make them smooth. I brushed out my hair and put it into a messy bun before applying some lip gloss.

I could hear music coming from Caleb's room so I went downstairs to get dinner cooking. I was going to make rice and meatballs with Russian dressing. It's low key but really great tasting. I made a tossed salad as well.

Aunt Evelyn came down with Caleb awhile later. She said goodbye and headed off to the Simms' manor. Caleb helped me set the table and we talked.

"So, how's this thing going with Sarah? When did you start to date her?"

"I met her at a party before school started. Kate introduced us because they're roommates. She was there for me when Pogue had his accident and Kate was in the hospital."

"What? Were they OK?"

"Yeah. Pogue crashed his motorcycle and Kate had a reaction to something."

"Pogue doesn't crash. What really happened?"

"Where is everyone?" Reid yelled.

"In here," Caleb said.

With that, I was never told about what really happened. We filed round the table and had dinner. Everyone commented on how great it was and asked for the recipe. After dinner, everyone but Tyler and myself headed into the other room. I was just going to leave the dishes for tomorrow but Tyler offered to help me clean up.

"Why should a person with a broken arm have to deal with dishes if that person cooked dinner?" he said.

"Because no one else offered to do them. But the person with the broken arm is lucky to have someone who offered to help and is grateful for that," I said, smiling at Tyler.

I looked deep into his eyes and hadn't noticed it before but they had some green mixed in with the blue. I flicked the water that I had on my finger tips at him and he flicked the dish towel at my butt. It stung when it connected and I grabbed the spot.

"Ouch."

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done it that hard."

"Normally I'd say kiss my boo-boo but I think the pain just moved to my lips."

Tyler came over and lightly kissed the pain from my lips. He licked his lips after and commented on the flavor of my lip gloss.

"Hey, Aren. Tyler. Are you coming? We want to start the movie soon."

The plan was for us to watch an old school movie, like Batteries Not Included or Short Circuit until it was almost midnight. At the appropriate time, we'd celebrate my birthday and then New Year's. We'd finish whatever movie we were watching and then start another one until it was nearly time for Reid's birthday.

During the first movie, I laid on the floor on my stomach. Reid was stretched over one chair, the couples were sitting beside each other on the couch, and Tyler was in a bean bag beside me.

"Aren, your skirt's ridden up. You should pull it down," Caleb commented.

"Thanks, Mom."

I could care less that my skirt was right up to my butt. I looked up at the clock and saw it was 11:50. I reached over and paused the movie.

"It's almost midnight. Sarah, can you turn the lights on?"

I pulled out a bag from near the couch and handed out blow horns and hats. At 11:57, everyone wished me a happy birthday and we turned the TV to a channel with a New Year's Countdown.

"10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…HAPPY NEW YEAR'S!" we screamed.

Sarah kissed Caleb and Kate kissed Pogue. I hugged and kissed Tyler. I did the same to Caleb and Pogue. I hugged the girls and saw Reid holding his arms out for his hug. I hugged him and as I went to kiss him on the cheek, like I did with all the guys, he quickly moved his head so I ended up kissing him on the lips. They were soft and supple. He held the back of my head and wasn't letting me go.

"Reid, man. Come off it. She's my little cousin. Do I have to physically separate you two?" Caleb said.

We pulled apart from each other and Reid looked over at Caleb. He smirked and drummed his fingers against his chin.

"We chipped in and got you something, Aren. I know you said no presents but you have to get something for your 18th birthday," Kate said.

Pogue went into the other room and carried in a large box. He set it down in front of me and I opened it. It was a kick ass stereo system.

"You guys really shouldn't have."

"You said that your dorm room was going to be party central and any decent party central has a stereo to play music on," Pogue said.

I hugged everyone to thank them for the gift. We finished up the movie and Reid picked out Rosemary's Baby for his birthday movie. It ended just before 3 and while we had 7 minutes until it was Reid's official birthday, the guys wanted to take Reid outside to show him his gift.

"Why don't we all go?" I said.

"Um…it's really only for the guys to see," Sarah said.

"Oh, really. Then why does it sound like you know what it is?"

"Caleb slipped up and said something about it one day. Come on, Aren. Let's go get the cake and ice cream ready and the guys will be back soon."

I didn't understand why they couldn't show Reid his present afterwards. The girls dragged me into the kitchen and we got everything ready.

"Happy Birthday, Reid," I said out loud at 3:07.

When the guys didn't come back by 3:15, I tried to go find them but Sarah and Kate kept me in the kitchen.

"If they aren't here soon, the ice cream's going to melt all over the table and I'm not going to clean it up."

The grandfather clock in the main hall chimed at 3:30 and the guys still weren't back from wherever they went. I took the time to go upstairs to my room and change into sweatpants and a sweatshirt. It was cold outside and I wanted to be dressed for it when I go looking for the guys. When I descended the stairs 10 minutes later, they were just getting back.

"Where the hell have you been? It's been longer than a few minutes. The ice cream is ruined and…"

I looked closely at the guys and they looked disheveled.

"What happened? Tyler, why is your lip bleeding? Pogue, your shirt's ripped. Why does Reid look like he's been hit by a bus?"

I stared at the guys and everything went black.

Note2: The recipe for the Russian dressing is: 1 Cup Kraft Russian dressing, 1 Cup apricot jam, and 1 pouch Lipton's Onion soup mix. Mix it all together and pour it over the meatballs. Let the sauce and meatballs cook for a bit and then enjoy. It's really good over rice.