A/N: Gimme a Y-A-S-S-S-S-S because here's a new chapter that's pretty long that's actually pretty meaningful. Yeah, proud about this one *pats self on the back*

Reviews and faves and follows are greatly appreciated, loveys. Read in 1/2 page width :)

BTW If you're interested in Twilight (esp. Seth Clearwater) I got another story that needs some love. I really love working with that one, too, and I promise it gets more interesting. It's called Outlaws in case you wanted to check it out on my profile!


Chapter 11.

Oxford Comma


"Junk food?" Donald asked, as he inserted a DVD into the player.

"All good." I said, as I set down the bowls of popcorn onto the coffee table. "Our feast is set." I smiled, admiring the spread of junk food and sodas.

"Great." He said, glancing down as well.

"How's our line-up?" I asked, looking over to the stack of DVD's.

"Randomized." He said, taking a handful of popcorn and throwing it into his mouth.

It's been about a month since I agreed to just be friends with Donald. The sailing's been pretty smooth; he hasn't tried anything with me and only taunts me here and there.

Today, we were having a full-day movie marathon. I did really well in rehearsals yesterday, so I left my dorm at 7 AM with Colby, and went to the Treble house in my pajamas, with a duffel bag for extra clothes. I let Colby down on one of the sofas, where he was enjoying the doggie treats I packed for him.

"Today is gonna be perfect." I sighed, leaning back on the couch when I grabbed a bowl of popcorn.

Donald did the same, and selected 'Play Movie' on the TV. We were going to watch Karate Kid.

"Ugh, I love this movie." I said, crunching on my popcorn. "Did you get the whole series?" I asked, looking at Donald.

He was already looking at me. "No, they only had that one on-hand." He said.

I nodded, reverting my attention back to the TV. He was seated a foot away from me, with Colby in-between us - but I could sense this distinct feeling emanating from him.

I stared at him, biting my lip.

He did a double take at me before returning his attention to the screen. "What's up?" He asked, cocking his eyebrow and tossing more popcorn in his mouth.

I stared at him a bit longer then turned back to the TV. "Nothing. I just know that Jesse would kill me when he wakes up and finds us doing this without him." I laughed, lying.

He smiled. "Let him be jealous."

I smiled, shaking my head.


"You guys really hurt my feelings. I don't know what to say to you traitors." He said as he was having a hearty breakfast of Cool Ranch Doritos and soda.

"Don't be such a baby, Jess." I said and threw popcorn at him while keeping my eyes locked on the screen. It was now our third movie, Inception.

"This is our thing, Cate." He whined mindlessly, eyes glued to the TV.

"Hey, you have maras with other people too, cheater." I pointed at him accusingly, then sunk deeper into the sofa. "You're so possessive, Jess. No wonder Beca feels that way about you." I teased.

"Ohhhhhh snap." Donald laughed.

He snapped out of his trance to look at me. "What? What did Beca say?"

I shrugged my shoulder and rolled my eyes. "Stop being so rude, Jess, we're trying to watch a movie here, gosh." I waved him off.

He rolled his eyes as well. "Fine, whatever. I'm heading to the mall today. Do you traitors need anything?"

"I'm good." Donald said, eating more popcorn.

"Sour Patch, please." I said, looking up at him. I then turned to Donald. "The one thing I had to forget and it was my Sour Patch."

Colby barked, jumping up to Jesse's knees.

We all looked at him.

"Cole, buddy, I can't understand you." He laughed, squatting to scratch his head.

Colby whimpered and rested his head on his paws, lying down.

"I'll just get him some more treats." Jess said to me.

"Don't tell me; tell the dog." I laughed, turning back to the TV.

"I'll get ya something, alright?"

Colby barked happily.

He chuckled, standing up and leaving.

"He was totally jealous." I said, laughing.

He laughed as well. "Hey, did Beca really say something about Jess? Brothers look after brothers ya know."

"No, I made that up."

He chuckled, shaking his head. We sat in comfortable silence, and after a couple scenes, I was resting against him. "I don't really understand this movie." Donald admitted, looking at me a tad nervously.

I laughed. "I've watched it six times and still don't get it either. But it's fun to watch. I mean, there's Joe Gordon-Levitt and Leo DiCaprio."

I felt him chuckle and shrug in agreement, and he asked me questions as we watched.

"What's next?" I asked sitting up, setting my now-empty bowl aside.

"Uh," he said, checking the case. "School of Rock."

"Ah! I love that one yes yes go." I squealed happily, grabbing a pack of marshmallows.

He chuckled, and inserted the disk. He sat beside me again, and we watched the movie.

It was around eight o'clock in the evening. Hat and Jesse have been out for hours now. So, it was just us in the house, and I lay down with my head on his lap.

"Do I make a comfortable pillow?" He joked.

"Mhmm." I nodded, giggling. "Very soft and lumpy." I teased.

"I am not soft!" He defended, and I sat up, laughing. "It's all muscle from the dancing and gymming." He replied coolly.

"I think it's fat." I said, picking up the empty bag of Doritos on his side and tossing it into the trash. "Wow, I'm gonna regret this tomorrow." I laughed, looking at my belly.

"You sure are, coz nobody calls me fat!" He said and attacked me, tickling my sides.

"Ahh!" I shrieked, erupting into a fit of giggles. "Donald sto-aahhhh!-p!" I was kicking now. I kept shrieking and giggling, glad at least that the others were gone. Otherwise, we would be in a predicament.

"Donald!" I shouted.

"Beg me to stop." He breathed.

"Never!" I yelled, breaking free from his grip and running to the kitchen.

"Not so fast," he said, grabbing me and lifting me up.

I squealed and started laughing and kicking again, as he tickled me.

He set me down, lying on the floor.

"Donald!" I scolded again, kicking from my place on the floor.

"Not until you beg for your release." He teased, locking me down by straddling my thighs to stop me from kicking.

"Please stop," I said breathlessly, still squirming.

"Please stop what?"

"Please stop tickling me, Donald!" I screamed, pushing his hands away.

He stopped, leaning on his arms at my sides. His face was only a few inches from mine.

"You are a piece of work." He panted as well, chuckling.

I giggled breathlessly, looking to the side so I didn't have to look at him.

"I'm home." Hat announced, entering through the kitchen door. "You two better not be doing-" he paused mid-sentence as he spotted us on the floor. I sat up, and I glanced between Donald and Hat.

"Uhm. Okay never mind I'll be back later bye!" He muttered awkwardly, leaving the way he came.

Donald and I looked at each other and laughed. He helped me up.

"I am so getting you back for that." I muttered, dusting myself off.

"Oh yeah? We'll see." He said, challenging.

I settled back on the couch resuming the movie, and Donald was beside me once more. "I summon thee, oh lumpy pillow." I said, raising my arm, beckoning him.

"Do you really want a round two?" He asked, holding his threatening claws up.

My mind reeled back to his text before, about a second date.

Yes.

"Nah, just get over here." I chucked, and he scooted over. I lay my head on his lap once more, and snuggled into him as he draped his arm on my shoulders. "But you really are cozy, you know."

He snickered and shook his head. He then reached over and tugged the blanket at my feet, covering my body with it. I snuggled into it.

"How cold is it right now?" I asked, staring out the window. The shadows of the trees were swaying, and there was frost creeping along the window.

"Below ten, I think." He said, rubbing his hand up and down my arm absentmindedly. The warm gesture sent shivers down my spine. We watched for a couple more minutes.

"So where are you going for winter break?" He asked, breaking my focus.

I looked up at him, then shrugged. "Just home. Nothing in particular." I said.

He nodded slowly.

"What about you?" I asked.

"We're heading up to Aspen to go skiing for new year's. On the twenty-seventh, I think." Donald said.

"Oh, cool." I said, then thought for a bit. "Wait, are you a Hindu?"

"Yeah, but not as hardcore. I love my steak." He laughed.

I giggled. "I'm Catholic." I said.

He smiled. "This is kind of silly to ask, but..."

"Tell me." I said, looking up at him again.

"...Is Christmas fun?" He asked.

I smiled. "Christmas is the best. Family all together, exchanging gifts and having a great meal. And we pray and other stuff."

"Sounds amazing." He smiled sadly.

"What's wrong?" I asked worriedly, sitting up.

"Nothing. Let's just finish this." He said, shaking his head and retracting his arm.

I kneeled beside him, looking at him. "Tell me. Whatever it is, it shouldn't be ruining your mood."

"It's just that my parents are always busy. Usually it's just my siblings and I since my dad's at work, and my mom spends Christmas with her family in Europe." He says casually, trying to hide his disappointment.

I nod slowly. "That's terrible." I say.

He nods in agreement. "Well, at least it brought us closer. They hate it when I leave for college." He laughs.

I smile.

"At least it's my last year here." He said. "Then they have me to themselves."

I laughed, masking my disdain for the thought. He'll be leaving...

I sighed to fill the silence.

"Umm... So, how are you so close with Bumper? Isn't he like, a class above you?" The movie ended, and I couldn't care less what happened.

He shook his head. "Actually, we're technically the same class. It just so happens that I took a five-year course. But we started the same year and got pretty close when we joined the Trebles."

Oh. So he's like a senior senior. Shit, he's four years older than I am!

"And your course is?"

"Medicine." He smiled lopsidedly, and I frowned. Gone is the carefree Donald I had grown accustom to.

"You don't want to be a doctor." I said, more as a statement than a question.

He looked at me, snickered, than shook his head. "It's complicated. It's noble, and it's what my parents want. They know I don't really want to be one, that's why they didn't push me to go to Oxford or Harvard or Yale, or Johns Hopkins and those other universities. They allowed me to join the Trebles so I wouldn't hate them." He let out a small scoff as he leaned on his elbows, which rested on his knees.

He could've gone to Harvard if he wanted to.

"Oh, Donald..." I said softly, then rubbed his back in consolation. I watched him as he stared at the rolling credits. "I assume that you really want to be a musician, yes?"

He looked at me. "I do singing as a hobby on the side, but I do take importance in being a doctor. I want to be independent when I graduate and not have to rely on their money."

I smiled, and hugged him. "I think that's beautiful." I said softly. It was an awkward but comforting hug: I was kneeling beside him, facing him, with my arms around him, and he twisted his torso to meet me, with his arms on my lower back. He smelled heavenly.

"I feel like a fool, Cate. Why do I talk like this around you?" He asked, and I pulled away, resting my hands on his /strong/ shoulders.

"What do you mean?" I ask innocently.

"I feel like I can tell you anything, and I can talk to you seriously like this. I don't even talk like this to Bumper." He laughed maliciously. "Thank you."

I smiled. "Well, I'm glad that I can be your comforting ear, as you can be my comfortable pillow."

He laughed, genuinely this time. And I smiled even wider. I liked seeing him happy. We just sat there, and I folded my knees so I sat on one, and leaned forward on the other.

He looked at me, and placed a hand on the knee I was leaning on. "Thank you, if I haven't said it already."

I grinned. "No, it's fine, keep saying it." I said, and he chuckled.

"Thank you. A thousand times." He rolled his eyes.

"I think a trillion would be more adequate." I said, sitting up.

"Okay, you're really asking for it." He said, and started tickling me once more.


I was eating the huge pack of Sour Patch Kids Jesse got me as we all watched A Walk to Remember. It was ending, and I was the only one sobbing my eyes out. The credits came on, and Hat turned the lights back. The guys were staring at my sobbing figure.

"After everything he went through!" I sobbed with my hand extended to the screen in demonstration.

"Uh, do you need a tissue?" Donald asked from beside me, laughing.

"Yes please." I said, and he stood up.

"You're too emotional." Hat commented, setting Colby on his lap as he fed him another treat.

"And you people are robots!" I said, wiping my eyes. Donald handed me the tissue which I took gratefully, and I wiped my nose.

"Don't make a sudden move, guys, it's like she has her you-know-what when she gets like this." Jesse whispered to the guys, who laughed in response.

I stood abruptly. "I am appalled, Jesse Swanson!" I shouted, and marched to the bathroom with my duffel. I heard them laugh louder in my wake, and I smiled myself.

I came out of the bathroom in a fresh change of clothes: a sweatshirt and gym shorts with knee-high socks. Tying my hair in a loose bun, I went back to the living room and laid out some old newspapers so Colby could do his business.

"What do we watch next?" Hat asked, sipping his beer.

"How about... Human Centipede?" Jesse said, holding up the case as he squatted beside the player.

"Ew! No way, José. Uh-uh." I said, then turned to Donald beside me, and hit him on the arm. "I can't believe you borrowed that!"

"Ow." Donald feigned injured.

"What about something less gruesome? Please?" I asked, and walked over to Jesse. "What's that?" I asked, pointing.

"Uh, Insidious." He said.

"I've never watched that." I said.

"It's not that scary, but I don't think you can take it." Jesse said smugly.

I huffed. "Try me."

Half-way in the movie, I was lying on Donald's lap again, with my feet on Jesse's. My face was half-buried in my blanket, and I was terrified.

I kept screaming in the jump-scares, and Donald continuously rubbed my arm in comfort. At one point, in the part where the red-mask guy was chasing them, I was already tearing up in fear.

The ending was just as shocking and spine-tingling to me as the rest of the movie, and I just buried myself in the sheet.

"Are you alright?" Jesse asked, tugging on the sheet.

I sniffled softly. "Ugh."

I heard them all laugh. "I thought you were gonna prove me wrong, Cate, you love a good scare." Jesse said.

I sat up, frazzled. "I do, and that was awesome. Doesn't change the fact I still got scared." I muttered dryly.

"Oh, so since you loved it so much, wanna hear the best part?" Hat asked, and I looked at him quizzically.

"There's a sequel." Donald whispered from behind me, sending chills down my spine.

"Oh, God, no! At least not tonight." I said, shaking my head wildly so more tendrils of hair fell out of my bun.

"Don't worry, I didn't even get it." Donald laughed, as Jesse looked through the movies again.

"How about Avengers?" Jesse asked, and we all agreed.

Exhaustion caught up with me thirty minutes in, and I fell asleep on Donald.


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