Well here is the update that you have been waiting for since September (i'm sincerely sorry, I know what it's like to like a story and the author hasn't updated it in ages...) I'm terrible, I know. But better late than never right?

Thank you to my previous reviewers and readers! Y'all's continuous support keeps me going. Also to those who have constantly sent me personal messages to update. Your persistence has thus motivated me! So thank you!

A special thank you to my reviewers: Lonna, Lasting Violet, Pickles333, Guest, xxxMusaRockz, Fairy Princess Moon, Blueshinymoonlight, Guest, musariven fan, xxx-benedictsbrothersfan-xxx, and SplendidForever. Seriously, y'all are amazing.

Chapter X

It was morning.

Musa woke up to the sun shining in her eyes. She winced at first, trying to block out the sun shining in her eyes. After a few seconds, she fully opened her eyes, embracing the new morning.

She went to lift her arm up but was stopped by a force that was weighted down by gravity.

Why did her left shoulder suddenly feel heavier than what she was used to in the mornings when she woke up? Remembering the events that had happened the night before, she widened her eyes and held her breath. She was almost certain she was going to explode- her insides were tumbling and her heart was going to beat out of her chest. Slowly, she covered her face with her hands and started breathing slowly. This was not helping; she felt a larger urge to throw up.

Was there anyway the ceiling would collapse on her? She didn't need to check her body for clothes as the 800 thread-count Egyptian sheets felt nice against her completely naked body.

Was there anyway out of the situation? Musa wanted to scream.

How could she let this happen? Why, how, why?

Turning her head slightly, she stared at Riven's half naked body. His body stirred and she responded to his movement by closing her eyes and pretending not to be awake.

Groggily, he shifted his body and rolled towards her. He extended his arm and wrapped it across the sheet, over her stomach.

Musa let out a slight squeak. So much for pretending to be asleep... Maybe if she acted fast, she could smother herself with the pillow and not have the face the situation that was brewing.

"Morning," he whispered into her ear. God his voice was so sexy when he was sleepy.

The urge to throw up was growing. Taking a deep breath, she tried acting cool, almost like this was a usual routine between the two of them.

"Morning," She whispered back. He rested his head onto the crook of her shoulder and neck.

"You know, you are such a bed hog," He laughed, nuzzling himself closer to Musa. Why was he so comfy?

"If I recall, this is my sleep spot. You're lucky I shared with you. That down there is yours," Musa pointed to the makeshift bed on the floor.

"I should throw you out of this bed," Riven smirked, tracing his fingers along her neck and down the side of her arm and back up towards her chest. Musa eyed his hands. He was sending shivers up her spine.

Acting as if this was a thing that happened frequently, Riven rolled over and was positioned on top of her. He stared into her eyes for a few seconds and then leaned down. He met his lips with her. Eager, she warmed up to his kiss.

"This reminds me of last night," He breathed into her ear.

Musa grinned while kissing him. She pulled his body closer to hers and embraced him.

Riven's lips continued to be on Musa's until his work phone rang. If it was his cell phone he would have ignored the call, however it was his work phone and he needed to answer it. He reached over Musa's body toward the night stand and grabbed it. Bringing it to his hear, he said, "Hello."

He let out a long breath and it was forever before Riven spoke. Musa had great hearing, but even she couldn't hear what the other person was saying on the phone. Riven had made sure of that.

Trying not to make the situation anymore awkward, Musa turned her head and stared out the window as he conversed with whoever he was on the phone with. Oh God, what if someone walked by the window outside. Not that it would happen that early in the morning, but if it did, they would see a lot more than what they had planned too.

Now Musa was paranoid. What if his family had heard them last night? That would be totally mortifying. Riven's voice startled her out of her own thoughts.

"Already, I've been gone for four damn days," Riven hissed.

"How could you fuck up that bad?"

"He did what? When? Why? How did we find out?"

He heaved a sigh and lowered his head. "So what is the damage?"

"Great," Riven snapped. "All right, bye."

"Uhh, Riven, are you okay?" Musa asked softly, refraining from playing with his hair.

"I'm fine, just stay where you are okay?" Riven responded, closing his eyes. Defeated, he lowered his head and the small smile that he had was now lost.

"I can't go anywhere, you're on top of me," Musa countered.

Letting out a slight chuckle, Riven lowered his head over her body and stared the pillowcases. Reliving old habits, Musa extended her arm and began softly rubbing his back. They stayed in that position for so long, she almost forgot about how wrong the situation was and they were not actually together.

...

But then she remembered.

"Are you dressed yet?" Musa grumbled, standing in the doorway ready to go outside. Walking out to Riven's family was equivalent to the walk of shame. Actually, it was the walk of shame.

"Never did I think of the day where you would be ready before me," Riven grumbled, grabbing his tshirt out of his bag. Musa glanced at Riven's chest one more time before he pulled the shirt on over his head.

Musa stepped out first, followed by Riven, who was not actually with the conversation.

"How did you two sleep?" Lisa questioned. Everyone in the room was eyeing the two. The past few days they had been the first ones out of bed and today they were the last two. Neither of them seemed to mind.

Musa felt her face go warm and Riven delayed the response. He must have been recalling the previous nights even also.

"Musa's a bed hog," Riven groaned, poking her in the side.

"What happened to you sleeping on the floor," Layla laughed, pointing out the obvious.

Musa's face went even redder. She slightly turned her head and looked at Riven, waiting for him to come up with an explanation.

"Lets be honest, the floor is very uncomfortable," Riven responded, walking towards the kitchen. He ignored the rest of the comments his family made. His family gave Musa a look of questioning and she shrugged her shoulders. It was apparent that his prior conversation on the phone was the fault to his mood.

"There is breakfast on the kitchen island," Lucas shouted.

"Is it to early for vodka?" Riven grumbled, picking a piece of bacon off of the tray and nibbling on it.

He paced back and forth for a few seconds around the kitchen and pulled out the bar stool. He sat down and rubbed his temples.

Musa shrugged her shoulders, not quite knowing what to say, "It's never to early for vodka."

"Good," Riven opened up the refrigerator and grabbed out the orange juice and the bottle of vodka. Eagerly, he reached next to the refrigerator and grabbed a glass. Pouring most of it with vodka, he topped it off with orange juice.

Musa didn't ask questions. Not that she had expected him to open up the refrigerator and to pull out a bottle of vodka. Instead of reciprocating, she grabbed herself a plate and pilled on the small food items that she could stomach. She was still on ease from the night before.

Slowly, she walked over and set next to Riven. Neither of them said anything. She ate in silence and he drank in silence.

After doing the dishes, (mostly Musa did the dishes) Musa and Riven were in the living room. After sorting through movies and arguing over what movie to watch, Riven finally put into the movie I'll Be Home For Christmas into the DVD player.

They sat closely on the leather couch together. Musa pulled her legs into her body and leaned into Riven's chest. Riven extended his arm out and placed it around her body. He drummed his fingers against her arm. There was clearly something bothering him.

Musa tried focusing on one of her favorite Christmas films. Riven's consistent tapping and staring out the window pushed Musa overboard. Clearly he wanted to talk about it without being the one to bring it up. Riven was just like that.

After several more minutes of him staring off into space and him tapping nervously along her arm, Musa reached for the remote and paused the movie. She turned her body towards Riven and stared at him in the eyes.

"Riven, what's wrong?"

He laughed bitterly, "Why do you think something is wrong?"

Musa gave him the knowing look. "You haven't stopped tapping on my arm since the film started and you drank vodka for breakfast. Is that a good enough indicator?"

Riven leaned his head back into the sofa. "It's nothing."

"Well if it's nothing, then lets watch this damn movie and stop tapping on my arm," Musa shot him a look and reached for the remote to click play again.

"It's my damn job," Riven grumbled.

Musa smirked to herself, she knew just how to get Riven to talk.

"I haven't been home in almost two years. I've barely been gone for a few days and the company has gone to shit. When I took this promotion this fall, I didn't think I would have to deal with all of this bullshit."

Musa nodded her head, following along to what he is saying.

"I feel like I need to leave today. There is such a large mess that needs to get taken care of today."

"What type of mess?"

Clenching his fist, "Not one the janitor can clean up. My partner, Baltar embezzled thousands and thousands of dollars from the company. He gave all of our security passwords and files to our competitors. My boss, wants me to come back to help clean up the mess. Since he was my partner, I have to do most of the bidding. I have to meet with the executives of banks, from my company, and the law enforcement. They want to do a background check on me to make sure I was not a part of this business. If Baltar tells them I was a part of this scheme then I am technically wanted and they can arrest me until further notice."

Musa grabbed his hand and held onto it with hers. "Riven, there is nothing you can do. Your boss should know better and know your character and integrity. They can do the check without you being there. Your corporation is a million dollar corporation, they probably have already started searching through your phone records, computer records and files. There isn't much more you can do right now."

"Right now, everyone there is being investigated. I need to do something, I can't just sit here and watch it all fall a part."

"You cannot go back without spending Christmas with your family. Your parents and grandmother would be devastated. They haven't seen you in how long?"

"But work," Riven grumbled. He was never one to ignore his job, especially when he was in charge. This was his future and career that was on line.

Gripping his hand a little tighter, "I know this is a tough situation for you and the company and if I were in your spot, I would be panicking. However, it is Christmas Eve. There is nothing you can do about it right now. Almost all of the banks are closed and will be until after Christmas. You would be making empty phone calls. Besides, it would be hectic catching a plane and getting everything around. It would be a stalemate."

"I mean, my company would be able to get access to get everything cleaned up. He wants to send a private jet now."

"Riven, you cannot sacrifice another holiday because of the job. You need to be with your family. I'd kill to be with mine right now." Musa realized what she had said. She did not want to turn the conversation around and it be about her because it was clearly not.

"What I mean is that you haven't had the chance to spend time with your family like this in a really long time. It's been so long since you have decorated a tree, hung Christmas lights, frosted cookies, and sang Christmas songs as a family. Christmas is a tradition for your family. Why would you want to miss out on that?"

"They need me, I don't know what to do," Riven frowned.

"I'm not saying that you shouldn't worry or neglect your job, because I'm not. What I'm saying is that right now there is not much you can do. Enjoy the time with your family and the day after Christmas worry about it. You can call the banks, resetting passwords, and working on hiring someone new in two days. I know you will do what you need to do and what you think is best; but remember, everything will be okay, I promise." Musa looked straight into his eyes.

"Thanks Musa," Riven leaned over giving her a hug. Why had he given this up two years ago?

This is another short chapter, I apologize. I was very tired writing this tonight, but I really wanted to get it posted tonight. I will post another chapter in a few days. I have decided to break the part of Christmas Eve down into three chapters.

I'm super excited for y'all to see what the rest of this story has in store for its readers.

Anyway, read and review!