A/N: As promised, here is more Josh. Among other people :) There's even more of him in the next chapter.

Thanks so much to ReneeFF and WolfGirl1335 for pre-reading. You girls are the bestest ever!

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and all that (a little early, but oh well) to all of you wonderful readers! Enjoy the chapter!

In This Skin

Chapter Eleven

Feliz Navidad

I wanna wish you a merry Christmas
From the bottom of my heart.

-Feliz Navidad – Jose Feliciano

Josie

I was glad I slept a little bit on the way through Utah, because once we hit Arizona, I was wide awake. I was excited to see the snow that had covered Utah hadn't stuck here.

Mom took a turn driving after the sixth hour. Dad was asleep in the passenger seat and Eli was passed out with his earphones in. I kept counting down the minutes until we finally reached Aunt Leah and Uncle Sam's house.

I got out of the car and all but attacked Hannah who had run out to meet me. She hit me so hard the wind was knocked out of me, but I didn't care. I wrapped my arms around her and held on tight as we jumped and screamed and maybe even cried a little.

"Oh, my God, I missed you so much!" she cried.

I nodded and just held her tighter. I didn't realize until we pulled apart that Josh, Aunt Leah, and Uncle Sam had come out, too. Uncle Sam was using his hand to measure Eli, probably saying he'd grown since the last time we were here. Dad was hugging Aunt Leah and Mom was being crushed by Josh. I smiled to myself and moved around Hannah to say hi to everyone else. I got to Uncle Sam first. He hugged me and gave me the same spiel about being taller.

Aunt Leah pounced when Uncle Sam was done with me. She had to touch my hair, saying it was longer and a little darker. She hugged me tightly and asked me about Kyle. I wasn't really sure what to say, especially with Dad standing right there and me maybe still feeling a little bitter, so I settled with a brief, "He's okay" before I could get away.

Then came Josh. He pulled me into his arms like he'd done a million times and squeezed me hard. I smiled and hugged him back.

"Hey, Trouble. I missed you."

I leaned back, curving my back at an odd angle to see him. "I'm sure you did. Could you get any taller? Jeez."

He laughed and stood on his toes like he did every time I asked that question. "Yes, I can. And I really did miss you." He stood back down on his feet. "How's life in Seattle?"

I shrugged and took a step back. "It's life."

"Yeah? I hear you got yourself a boyfriend." He lightly punched my shoulder. "Good job."

I snorted and walked in the house with everyone else. "Shut up."

Even though we'd all had some sleep on the road, we were all still tired. The guest rooms had already been set up for us. Mom and Dad got the actual guest room while I was rooming with Hannah and Eli was with Josh in his old room. He and his friends had been roommates in town somewhere for a while. It was only supposed to last until he could find his own place, but he'd been there for a little over a year. He came to stay with his parents for the holidays.

We crashed and woke up again somewhere around three o'clock.

I spent the rest of the day with Hannah. Since she was cooler than me with her driver's license, she drove us to the mall where I spent half my allowance getting some last-minute Christmas gifts. I got a few little souvenirs for my friends back in Washington as well.

"So tell me about this Kyle dude," she said as we browsed another shop.

I shrugged. "He's cute. He's nice." I picked out a shirt and looked it over. I showed Hannah and grimaced. She laughed. "He might die when we get back to Seattle."

Her eyes widened. "What did he do?"

I huffed and put the hideous shirt back. "He didn't do anything. Not really bad, anyway. He came over Friday night—which really shouldn't have been that big of a deal, but apparently it was since Mom and Dad were gone and I was supposed to watch Eli. But I did watch Eli, and I fed him and made sure he went to bed before sunrise." I sighed in frustration and started looking through jewelry as I continued talking. Hannah looked with me, nodding her head to tell me she was still paying attention. "But that wasn't enough for Dad; I broke a few rules, had my boyfriend over, and so Dad threatened to kill him."

She smirked. "That's what dads do, isn't it? Threaten bodily harm to anyone who so much as touches a hair of their precious daughter's head? Did you guys . . . y'know . . . do anything?"

"No." I grimaced. "Well, okay, we made out, and Kyle . . ." I looked around to make sure no one was listening in. "He touched me. It wasn't that big of a deal, and when I told him to stop he did. But Dad's acting like the guy broke into the house and raped me."

Hannah sighed and shook her head. "Why are the guys in our family such over-reactors? I had this boyfriend once, Kevin. We were getting pretty serious one night, and he kept trying to stick his hand up my skirt, right? I pushed him away and told him like three times that I didn't want to go too far before he pushed me down and actually tried to . . . well, he tried. I kicked him in the balls and punched him. He ended up running away crying. So nothing happened."

I swore to myself that if I ever met this Kevin dude he would pay dearly for trying to hurt my Hannah.

"That was like a month ago, though. When Dad found out, he called the boy's parents and there was this great big deal made out of it. When Josh found out . . . well, let's just say he showed up one at school one day with a black eye and wouldn't talk to me for a week. He said he got jumped in the alley, but I think we both know that's not true."

I nodded. "I don't think either of us will ever get married. All our boyfriends will be scared away one way or another."

She laughed and nodded. "That's so true."

When we got back to the house, Mom and Aunt Leah were already cooking for Tuesday and Wednesday. Hannah and I disappeared into her room to wrap what needed to be wrapped and talk some more about our lives. We talked about friends and how some were better than others and a little more about our boyfriends. She gushed about her latest boy toy, Travis. Travis was a tall football player with brown hair and green eyes who liked to buy her roses.

I wasn't tired Monday night after dinner. Josh and Eli went to play video games in his room while Dad and Uncle Sam were talking about something. Mom, Aunt Leah, Hannah and I sat on the couch to talk like we used to do so many times in the past.

Mom and Aunt Leah sat on either ends of the couch while Hannah and I crammed ourselves in between them. I leaned against Mom with her arm around me while Hannah leaned against her mom. It had started as a discussion about school and classes and terms and had somehow gone from that to clothes to makeup to jewelry to dating to boyfriends.

I was a little uncomfortable as I talked about Kyle. I wasn't sure why; it wasn't like I didn't share every intimate detail of my life with these girls anyway. And yet I found that I didn't want to say how I felt when he kissed me or how happy it made me when he held my hand. I did anyway, and I frowned when Mom and Aunt Leah laughed.

"Don't laugh at me." I pouted.

Mom hugged me. "We're not laughing at you, honey. I'm laughing because I remember feeling that way with your dad. It's an exciting time, having your first boyfriend."

Aunt Leah stretched out a leg and put her foot on the coffee table. "Me, I had to wait several years. My first boyfriend was a pain in the ass and I never felt the gushy, lovey crap. It was my . . . fifth boyfriend that I felt that with. His name was Carl." She sighed dramatically. "Oh, he was a handsome boy."

Hannah scrunched her nose. "So my dad's name was almost Carl?"

Leah laughed. "Hell no. I was only seventeen at that time. I'm pretty sure I only felt those things because he was good in bed."

I felt my cheeks flame. This was usual talk for Aunt Leah; she'd censored herself less and less as Hannah and I got older. I figured I was only embarrassed because of Friday.

"That's gross, Mom."

"It's the truth. Then there were others and even more came after that, then finally, your dad came along. He was something else, I'll tell you that. He was like this lost little puppy; he looked so sad. I figured I could cheer him up, so we went home and—"

"Whoa, Mom," Hannah sat up and held up her hand. "I do not need to hear details about you and Dad."

Leah chuckled. "I was just going to say we went home and started the best thing to ever happen to me."

"Yeah, I'm sure that's all you were going to say," Hannah mumbled.

"I felt all that lovey-dovey crap with him. Every last bit of it. I still do, when he's being nice." Leah smiled. If there was a couple more prone to fighting than my parents, it was my Aunt Leah and Uncle Sam. But it was so obvious they were still crazy about each other, and they'd been married two years more than Mom and Dad had.

Mom sighed. "I feel it with Jake, too. He still knows how to make me swoon."

"I want a relationship like yours and Uncle Jake's," Hannah said. "The first guy I get serious with I want to be the one I spend my life with." Hannah was not an easy girl no matter what her dating habits were. She might go through boys like tissue paper, but she never went past second base with any of them. I admired her for it.

"I got lucky, Hannah," Mom said. "I got really lucky. We both had to fight pretty hard for what we wanted, too. It certainly wasn't a walk in the park."

"But it all paid off in the end," I added.

Mom kissed my head. "It most certainly did."

"Can I ask you guys something?" I heard myself ask a moment later. Mom and Leah nodded. I wasn't even sure I wanted the answer to my question, but I really was curious. All the talk about it at school had me wondering. "What's sex like?"

Mom cleared her throat and looked at Aunt Leah. Leah looked a little shocked, too, but more like she'd already had to answer that and wasn't sure if she was allowed to tell me what she'd told Hannah. Hannah was smiling at me. She reached out and took my hand. A couple seconds of silence passed before Leah sucked in a breath.

"Well, that depends, honey. I mean, I don't want to lie and tell you it's the worst thing you could possibly imagine, because it's not. But it's also not worth exploring at your age."

I shook my head. "Oh, no. I was just curious. Some of my friends have been talking about it. I know some who have done that. Some of them say it hurts and others say it doesn't."

Mom nodded. "It can, sometimes. My first time was horrible."

I cringed because I knew who her first time was with and I really didn't want to hear about my mom and dad like that. But I'd asked and it wasn't like I could expect them to talk about someone else's experiences. "But you still did it again."

"Well, yes, but because I love your dad. I don't think it would be worth doing anything with someone if you didn't love them." She glanced at Leah.

Aunt Leah smirked. "I experimented a lot, I'll be honest. I can't recall it ever hurting. It can be uncomfortable sometimes and maybe even a little sore afterward. I think it depends on a lot of different things, both physical and emotional. Remember that regret can be a bitch, too."

I was a little confused. "So it hurt for Mom but not for you?"

Mom nodded. "Yeah. I'm smaller than Leah, and there are plenty of other reasons. Physically, it pretty much comes down to how the two of you are built."

I had a feeling we were headed into territory I didn't want or need to know about. Thankfully Hannah chimed in before Mom could continue.

"All you really need to know is that it might hurt your first time, it should feel good eventually, and it better not happen until you're older and with someone you love and trust more than anyone else in the world."

Leah smiled proudly. "I told her that."

Mom laughed. "That's good advice." She tugged a strand of my hair. "So listen to your cousin and your aunt."

I smiled. "I know how wise they are."

"Speaking of wisdom," Leah said. "It's one o'clock in the morning. We should go to bed if we want to have fun tomorrow."

I still wasn't that tired, but I got up and went to change with Hannah. After a round of goodnights and hugs, we turned in. My bed was a mattress laid out in Hannah's room, on the opposite wall from her bed. I dragged it over so it was right next to her bed. We laid awake for a while longer still talking about random shit before she fell asleep. She always fell asleep before me. I smiled and turned on my side, snuggling deeper under the covers, and closed my eyes.

I woke up the next morning to the smell of bacon and pancakes. My nose led the way to the kitchen where I saw Josh standing in front of the stove making breakfast.

"Look at you being all Suzy Homemaker," I said as I grabbed a plate.

He snorted. "Shut up. I can still spit in yours."

"I'll make you eat it if you do."

"My knees are quivering."

I held out my plate expectantly and waited for him to drop a fresh pancake on it. He smiled at me when he did.

"Nice hair, by the way. The bride of Frankenstein would be envious."

I stuck my tongue out at him and went to sit with Dad and Aunt Leah at the table; they were the only other two awake. It didn't take long for Mom, Eli, and Hannah to get up. Uncle Sam got up close to an hour later.

I spent the day with Hannah again. We drove around the neighborhood and met up with some of my old friends who didn't have other plans that day. Kaylie and I jumped around and talked wildly about high school.

We had been instructed to be home by dark, so we got back at around six o'clock. We ate dinner, then we all gathered in the living room to open our Christmas Eve present. One a piece was the rule. I stared at the presents under the tree and wondered which ones were mine.

I watched with a smile on my face as Eli opened his present. I could hardly believe Mom and Dad had broken down and bought the little shit a cell phone. There were strict rules, they said, and the service would be shut down while he was in school. I smirked. Mine wasn't.

I was beyond thrilled to find that they'd gotten me a new phone, too. My current one was a crappy hand-me-down that used to be Mom's a billion years ago. The new one was something I'd had my eye on for a while. I was disappointed to find out that I'd have data service cut off while I was in school; apparently my parents didn't trust me to not play games or surf the Internet in class.

Hannah loved her new stilettos and spent a half an hour practicing to walk in them. Josh had opened the emergency bow tie I got for him. Mom and Aunt Leah were given jewelry while Uncle Sam and Dad both got a pen set that was supposedly really nice. It sounded boring to me.

I spent the rest of the night transferring all of my contacts to my new phone and texting everyone on it just because I could. Kyle said he was having fun with his family and that he missed me. I smiled and texted him a kissy face.

Even though we all knew Santa wasn't real, Hannah, Eli, and I were still eager to get to bed so Christmas morning would come faster. I could tell Josh wasn't really looking forward to spending the next few hours putting shit together, but he was the one who had volunteered.

Christmas morning was an exceptionally happy time, just like every year. When Hannah and I got up at five o'clock, we peeked into Josh's room to get Eli then crept to the living room to check everything out. There were some things that stayed the same no matter how many years passed. Since I could remember, both Hannah and I always got a new dress on Christmas morning. We would always wear our new dresses to see The Nutcracker the day after Christmas. We both gasped when we saw what was waiting for us.

Eli went right over to some kind of art easel while Hannah and I found our dresses. Mine was a gorgeous black thing with silver beads on the shoulder straps and around the bust. Hannah's was light blue with a halter top and sequins on the bodice. The skirt was long and layered.

Eli, Hannah and I went through the mass of new presents under the tree to determine which one belonged to whom.

"Do we really have to wait until everyone gets up to open them?" Eli asked.

I gave him a look. "Do you really have to ask?"

He smiled at me. "You know you want to, too."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean we will."

Hannah stood up quickly. "Guys, I heard something. Someone's coming."

We all scrambled to make it look like we hadn't touched anything. Josh laughed when he came in, and we all breathed a sigh of relief.

"I should tell you guys to go back to bed, but I won't. You still can't open anything till the grown-ups get up."

Eli whined. "But you're a grown-up."

"It's true," I said. "You are twenty-one."

He smirked tiredly. "Yeah, but I'm not a parent. You gotta wait for the suckers with kids." He yawned and went into the kitchen. Hannah and I sighed and looked at each other. She nodded like she knew exactly what I was thinking. We got up and I gestured for Eli to come with us to the kitchen. We made a cup of coffee for us with Josh, and I made some hot chocolate for Eli.

"Isn't your mom anti-coffee?" Josh asked me.

I shook my head and took a drink. I grimaced and turned to add more sugar. "No, she's just anti-bitter, nasty-ass drinks."

We all went to the table to sip on our drinks and talk about shit.

It seemed like forever before Mom came in the room. She smiled and hugged Eli. "Merry Christmas, guys. You've been awake long?"

I looked over at the clock. "Almost three hours."

She nodded and looked into the living room. "Your patience always amazes me. Thanks for waiting." She kissed Eli's head and started back down the hall. "I'll go get the others up and we can start."

"Yay!" Eli cheered. He bounced in his chair with a huge smile on his face.

Soon everyone was up and sitting around the living room. Hannah and I finally got to hold up our dresses to see if they'd fit. Just like every other year, they looked perfect. They were both long enough to reach the floor. We went through stockings and opened presents. Eli was happy to hand things out to everyone. Hannah liked the belly button ring I'd gotten for her. It was a banana-style ring with a hematite skull. I'd gotten Aunt Leah and Uncle Sam the same thing as I got my dad: A Pets with Tourette's book. Once I saw the pictures of adorable animals and their captions saying the most offensive swear words, it was a must-have. Dad and I had coordinated on Mom's present; I got her oval-shaped dangly earrings with turquoise stones on them, and he got her a matching bracelet. Eli was beyond thrilled with all the artsy stuff he got from everyone. Josh got some stuff he needed for his place with his roommates.

As for me, I ended up with a bunch of new eyeliner from Eli since he'd broken a lot of mine trying to draw with it, a new makeup kit, some really nice dangly earrings from Hannah with stars and lightning bolts on them, and a checklist book called You Are Good at Things from Josh. I flipped through it and laughed at all the shit I could check off.

After presents were done, Eli and Josh disappeared to play more video games. Mom, Dad, Aunt Leah, and Uncle Sam sat around the tree still talking. Hannah and I went into the bathroom to play with our new makeup. We'd go see Grandma Sue and Grandpa Harry, Uncle Seth and Aunt Paige, Grandpa Edward's grave along with Grandma Isabella, Grandma Sarah, and Grandpa Billy's graves, and other family in a few hours, but for now we could play.

"When was the last time you tweezed your eyebrows?" she asked me.

"Sometime last year, I think," I joked.

She held up the teasers and gave me an evil grin. I shrieked and tried to run away, but she caught me and held me down while she gave me her brand of makeover. When she was done, I got an idea.

"Now that my eyebrows are perfect, I get to paint your nails."

She smiled. "Okay."

This was where I'd get her. "But I get to pick the color, and you can't veto. You can't change it or pick it off until tomorrow either."

She gave me a suspicious look. "What's the color?"

I got into my bag and pulled out the Barbie pink nail polish Jennifer had given to me and held it up. "It even sparkles."

If looks could kill, I'd be a goner. I laughed at the evil in her eyes. "But I hate pink!" she cried.

"And I hate doing anything to my eyebrows. Come on. It's only fair."

She grumbled and let me. "My hands are going to stay in my pockets for the rest of the day."

I grinned. "Good luck eating."

When I was all done, she held up her hands and sighed dramatically. "This is so unfair. I can't believe you're subjecting me to pink. I thought you loved me." She pouted at me.

I stood up and patted her shoulder. "At least it's only until tomorrow. That color won't go with your dress, so you can change it after noon tomorrow."

"You can bet your ass I will." She continued to grumble for a while. She seemed to cheer up a little when we got back to our makeup. She let me do her eyes and she did mine. We ended up looking like whores, but that was okay for now. We made sure to take extra pictures on both our cameras so we'd have them to look at after I went back to Seattle.

A/N: Thanks for reading! The next chapter is all written and ready to go. I'll post it next week.