Tommy had been more than happy to pretend that the Christmas dance didn't exist, that it had been canceled by the light snowfall that had been going on all day, until he saw Melody walking down the stairs. The sapphire dress made her skin glow, the heels she'd be wearing held in hand, her eyes sparkling at the look of shock. Reaching the landing she took his hand and spun, the hem of her dress lifting around her knees, laughing when Tommy wrapped an arm around her waist as she came to a stop. The bright flash of a camera going off didn't even register, nor did the soft smile on his lips as he slowly looked her over.

"You look amazin', babe." Words husky, he leaned down to kiss her, coming to an abrupt halt when the second blinding flash registered. "If you ever get famous, I ain't goin' anywhere with you."

"Yes you will, you wouldn't trust anyone else to look out for me and you know it." Pressing her lips against his quickly, she slipped out of his grip to grab her coat and shove her feet into her boots. "Hurry up and get your jacket, Papa says you can borrow the car as long as you promise not to crash it."

She teased him most of the dance for the four close calls on their way to the community center due to hidden ice, using them as black mail to talk him into dancing with her after he'd sworn that short of death he wouldn't. Ignoring the other couples on the floor, and instead concentrating on his feet, Tommy made it through one dance and considered his job complete, only to have his hopes dashed when Melody's arms wrapped firmly around his shoulders and she kissed his cheek. Despite the muttered complaints, he enjoyed the way she fit in his arms, her voice soft in his ear as she sang along with the song. It helped immensely that she'd guided them to the edge of the dance floor near the door where a cold draft blew in and few people were brave enough to visit. Grabbing his jacket from where he'd tossed it, he wrapped it around her shoulders after feeling her shiver, rolling his eyes at Melody when she cuddled it close.

"This band kind of sucks." She whispered into his ear, the dancing more of a swaying hug as he nuzzled her neck. "I don't think they've managed to keep the pitch consistent through any of the songs."

"What's that?"

"Can't you hear it? It's like they're not even trying!"

"I'm in the middle of something else." Tommy grinned when she shivered, sliding his hands down to lift her, teeth grazing the crook of her neck playfully. "I think your stuff sounds better anyways."

"Really?"

"Yeah, especially when you don't even mean to, like when we're doin' homework and you just start singin' 'cause you're gettin' frustrated." Laughing when his ear felt hot from the flush on her cheeks, he pulled back to kiss her, confused when she didn't kiss him back. "I'm just sayin' it's cute, that's all."

"Do you ever think about it?"

" 'Bout what?" Tommy asked completely lost at the abrupt topic change, even more so when she wouldn't meet his eyes and hid her face in his shoulder. "Can I get a hint?"

"You know, it."

"Oh."

"I was talking to Tabitha, and she did it with Jacob, and then I was thinking about it but I didn't want to say anything because it's just kind of weird to talk about, right? But I like when we're kissing and-" Melody trailed off, and he felt her swallow hard before continuing. "If you want to we could, I mean I heard it hurts but I'm pretty sure I could handle it? Not that I'm saying you'd hurt me on purpose but-"

"Holy sh- You're just goin' to drop this on me like that? You can't just- Jesus H. Mel..."

"So, you don't want to?"

"I didn't say that." Setting her back on her feet, he grabbed her wrists and made her move back enough that he could see her face again. "I'm just a bit- Is this 'cause I made that joke about tyin' a ribbon around my-"

"No!" Giving him a light shove, she pulled his jacket tighter around herself, gaze dropping to the floor as her fingers gripped the edge so hard the zipper bit into the soft flesh of her fingers.. "Maybe. A bit. But I was thinking about it after the shed thing, too! And I just- Do you want to?"

"Right now?"

"Oh my God..."

"Okay, good. Not right now." Hand scrubbing over his face, he stared at her for a minute before nodding, his words at first muffled by his palm. "Yeah, I think about it a lot, but it ain't like it's the only thing, Mel. I think 'bout how you look while you're smilin', and singin', and stuff, too! Can't you just have figured this out or somethin'?!"

"Well how else was I supposed to figure it out? It's not like I'm psychic or something."

"You couldn't tell that I want to-" Completely done with the conversation, he let out a soft huff of laughter, reaching out to grab her to pull her close as he resumed the slow swaying motion they'd been doing before. "How 'bout this; we do one more dance, then head back to your house and you can open your present?"

"What if I want to after our parents go to bed?"

"I don't know why you'd want to wait 'til they went to bed to open you're present, you seemed real excited about it earlier." The moment the words were out of his mouth he felt like an idiot, his whole body going still as his mind flooded with images that had his cheeks flushing and left him clearing his throat to stall. "You're not goin' to let this go, are you?"

"If you want, we can act like I never brought it up."

"It's a bit late for that." Tommy muttered, rolling his eyes. "Now I'm goin' to be thinkin' 'bout it all the time wonderin' if you were serious or bein' a girl and thinkin' it was the 'thoughtful thing to do'."

"Do other girls actually do that?"

"I don't know, but you ain't like the other girls so I wouldn't put it past you. In a good way." Realizing that the odd taste on his tongue, was his foot slowly but surely being inched down his throat, Tommy sighed, unresisting when she cuddled close again, arms looping around his shoulders. "You know most girls want to talk about feelin's and bein' together forever, but you... You want to talk about fuckin' and I don't even know where to start with that."

"Well you talk about it with your guy friends, right? Why is it any different talking about it with me?"

"I don't want to have sex with them, that's what's different!"

He could practically feel the happiness that caused her in the way she shook with laughter as she pressed a kiss to his throat. Muttering under his breath about girlfriends, and just girls in general, he ignored the broad grin he could feel against his jaw when she kissed him again. Hands sliding around her waist, he couldn't help the hesitancy behind the kiss when she pressed closer to him, her fingers playing with his hair. Tommy chuckled when she went still, her eyes opening wide at the feel of him through the dress slacks he wore.

"You know we don't have to, right? I mean I'd like to but it ain't all that important."

"Yeah, I know."

"Good." Relieved that the out of the blue discussion was over, he wasn't prepared for the feeling of her fingers tentatively moving down his chest and stopping around his navel. "Mel... Stop, thought we just said-"

"That we don't have to, I know, but," taking a slow breath, she slid her fingers lower, stopping when they came in contact with his belt. "I kind of want to."

"I don't think this is a 'kind of want to' thing, Melody."

"Alright, fine. I want to."

"Jesus!" Taking hold of her wrist, Tommy stopped her descent and held her hand away from him as he tried to remember how to breathe. "You been drinkin' without me or somethin'?"

"No." He felt a stab of guilt over how small her voice sounded, the way she pulled away from him to stare at the ground. "I just figured if I asked, you'd be okay with it, and it'd just sort of happen."

"At the fuckin' school dance..."

"No! Don't be-" Yanking her wrist away from him, she glared at him before staring moodily at the ground. "Why are you making this so awkward?"

"Me? I'm not the one who brought it up out of left field, or almost groped you in front of everyone!"

"That's a bit much, don't you think?"

"Fine, not everyone, but there's always someone lookin'." Not liking the way she was staring at him, or the tell tale blush that was stealing across his cheeks, his voice was harsher than normal with embarrassment. "I bet there's at least one group of girls gigglin' over the fact we're over here in the corner, which means five."

"Tommy?"

"What?"

"Are you- Well you know... Are you a-"

Her eyes widened when his hand clamped over her mouth, the arm that had only loosely been circling her waist, tightening as he moved them further into the corner. He didn't move his hand away for a long while as he stared down at her, even when he did it was slow with the silent understanding that she wasn't to continue that line of inquiry.

"So, that's a yes."

"That's a 'Shut up and stop talkin' 'bout it'."

"Well that's a good thing isn't it? I mean, it'd be nice if one of us knew what they were doing, but it's kind of-"

"Stop, just fuckin' stop, okay?" Feeling offended when Melody started laughing, Tommy scowled at her until she stopped. "I don't know why you're fuckin' laughin', it ain't funny."

"It kind of is..."

There was no stopping her laughter, it was random, and each time that it happened Tommy scowled and glared at her. Even on the ride back to her house, after he'd turned on the radio to the first station that wasn't half static and blared it, she still tried to talk to him about it and he shut her down. It wasn't until they were pulling into the driveway that she finally turned the radio off with a twist of her wrist and stared at him expectantly.

"What?"

"So you are."

"Yeah, alright? For the love of Christ, can we just not talk about it anymore?" Flicking his gaze in her direction when she shifted, his hands slowly slid off the steering wheel, realizing that she was sliding across the seat towards him.

"Then we're done talking about it."

Arm going around her as she slid to sit sideways on his lap, Tommy stared at her surprised, eyes slipping towards the obviously open blinds of the living room window then back to her.

"Someone's watchin' and I'd rather not be sent home, alone, on Christmas."

"They're not going to send you home, Tommy, we haven't done anything yet."

Giving her a doubtful look, he opened his mouth to continue arguing and then had his words die on the tip of his tongue when her hand slowly smoothed down his chest. There had to be laws against this, serious laws, the kind that made sure girlfriend's didn't lose their minds and start groping and things like that. Not that he stopped her when she leaned the short distance that had their lips meeting, his fingers digging into her thigh as he tried to pull her closer. He didn't even make a token effort to stop her when she pulled his shirt loose from the waistband of his slacks and smoothed her hand over his stomach.

"Mel..." His hips shifted restlessly, a low groan in his throat when she nipped at his lower lip, hand lifting to tangle in the hair do that she'd spent an hour on at least, and destroying it in a matter of seconds as he took control of the kiss.

He wasn't even sure he was remembering to breathe, not that it mattered, Melody was making that soft sound in her throat, and there was a hint of the fruit punch they'd had at the dance on her tongue. It wasn't helping anything at all that she'd threaded her fingers behind his head, twisting in his lap and making him flinch when her knee almost landed between his legs before diving in for another kiss. There was no getting tired of kissing Melody, his hands roaming up her back before smoothing back down to grip her hips and awkwardly try to pull them down, staring at her from beneath heavy eye lids as he pulled back long enough to catch his breath.

"Shit."

"What is it?"

Melody kissed the corner of his mouth, and he wasn't sure why but he liked that too, liked the way she played keep away before giving in to kiss him until both of their lips were swollen. There had been something, something that was important, but that soft sound was back, the one that sounded like she was humming something he couldn't quite catch. Whatever it was, it could wait just five more minu-

The two of them almost jumped out of their skin, Tommy's ears ringing from the screech that Melody let out, his cheek burning where her nail had caught it as she moved to cover her mouth. Standing outside the car door, an 'I'm going to lecture you within an inch of your lives' amused smile was Melody's father, jerking his head towards the house. Cheeks burning, Tommy helped Melody off of his lap, noticing that the driver's side window was fogged, the windshield barely holding on to a low opacity.

"Sorry, Papa."

Tommy didn't even bother trying to make an apology, slinking around her father to get into the house, making his way to the bathroom only to be stopped by his mother who smiled and tugged him towards the couch. Cursing a blue streak in his head, he quickly fell onto the couch next to her and pulled his shirt over his lap. He almost bolted when Melody's mother smiled and asked them about the dance, just thinking about it brought to mind the awkward conversation and his cheeks got hot as he took the cup from his mother's hand, taking a drink in a silent prod for Melody to do the talking.

If he'd known that the moment the women in the house were done talking about dances that it would lead to singing Christmas Carols he would have booked it, not that he was still suffering but he'd never been one for it. When his mother asked, he went with her to church and mouthed along, but they were actually expecting him to sing. The first time his voice cracked, Melody's dress sliding up her thighs as she tucked her legs beneath her before straightening the skirt, he slammed his mouth shut and sullenly refused to join.

All he could think about was sex, which was awkward because he was sitting next to his mother, doubly awkward because her parents were there as well. Jaw clenched, he tried to think about baseball, he'd heard that it worked, but then he started thinking about how good she'd sound singing the National Anthem, and then he started picturing her in some little slip that really did cover anyth- Clearing his throat, he ruthlessly pushed that away and tried to think of something else to try to not think about Melody. Desperately searching his mind for something he settled for their social studies teacher, feeling proud of himself as his blood started to cool, but then he remembered that Melody sat kitty corner to him in that class. Would hum softly and toy with the zipper of her sweater, and all he could think about was what if she wasn't playing with it but just pulling it down, letting it slide off of one shoulder...

"I need a drink!"

The unexpected outburst had four pairs of eyes staring at him, trying to puzzle out what had brought out the sudden declaration, the sound of notes from the piano still echoing in the air. All but throwing himself off the couch, he made his way into the kitchen, the flush that had just been on his cheeks earlier felt like it had spread all over. What he really wanted was a ice bath with cold water pouring down on him from the shower head. Unable to believe his luck that no one followed him into the kitchen, he all but crawled into the freezer once he opened it, a soft hiss coming from between clenched teeth as he pressed himself against the cold metal.

"Mrs. Golyn, the lady that always preaches on the corner by the store, um, fuck, Mr. Golyn. Oh that's fuckin' disgustin'!"

"What'd you find that got that reaction, Thomas?"

"Son of a-" Choking on the expletive, he looked around the door to see Melody's father staring at him confused. "Nothin', I, uh, my finger got stuck on the shelf for a bit."

"Oh... Well your mother would like to say good night."

"Yeah? Okay, just uh, give me a second I just decided on some orange juice."

When he finally made it out to the living room the only person left was his mother, the others apparently going upstairs for light's out. Feeling guilty beneath the worried look his mother was sending his way, his mouth twitched into a grin as he helped her stand, wrapping his arms around her and muttering Merry Christmas. Her grasp wasn't as tight as it used to be, but he still made light coughing noises like she was squeezing the life out of him to make her laugh.

Ten minutes later he was laying on the couch, the afghan haphazardly thrown over his lap when he heard Melody singing upstairs. All that hard work to cool his body meant nothing, his lips curling into a smile as he listened to her, pictured the dreamy smile on her lips, the way she'd be staring at nothing through her lashes. Dammit. Throwing the afghan aside, he threw himself off the couch and dug around behind the dining cabinet for her present, ignoring the incredulous inner voice that mocked him for being so transparent. Stairs taken two at a time, he crept down the hallway and gently twisted the door knob, slipping inside as he moved her present behind his back.