Nick pulled the sleigh to a stop in front of the Romoli's house and then turned to his girlfriend to say, "Okay, movie time!"

Ana smile back at him. She couldn't believe Nick had agreed to a romance movie marathon with her, but she was ecstatic that he had!

As the couple exited the jeep and walked towards the house, they discussed what movie to start with and, by the time they'd reached the front door, Ana had convinced her boyfriend to give 10 Things I Hate About You a shot.

When they entered the house, though, all thoughts about movies fled. Something was off. It only took Ana a moment to realize what it was: Baby was supposed to be home today, so why was there no overly-excited five-year-old greeting them?

Nick, who'd initially been too busy removing his shoes to notice his girlfriend's tense stance, looked up at her and frowned. "Is everything okay, Ana?"

"I'm not sure," she replied, deciding that the best thing to do would be to check the main living areas before freaking out.

Then the sound of swords clanging together rang through the house and Ana's eye's widened. What in the world?

After a brief exchanged of worried looks, she and Nick rushed of, following the noise of fighting through the house to its source.

The sounds lead them to the family's living room where a completely unexpected sight greeted them.

Aster and Jack were cuddled up on the couch, with Baby sitting by Jack's side, watching The Princess Bride.

At least, they had been watching the movie, but Ana and Nick's frantic charge into the room had drawn all eyes from the TV to the newly arrived duo.

For a moment, the only noise was the fight scene currently taking place on the screen, but then Jack said, "Hey guys, is everything okay?"

The question broke Ana out of her surprised stupor and she nodded lightly being asking, "What are you two doing?"

Now it was Aster's turn to speak, sounding more than a little amused when he said, "Movie marathon. It is Valentine's Day, after all."

"You, but, I, huh?"

All three members of the couch where smiling now and Jack decided to explain before his boyfriend could have too much fun. "Aster told me about your tradition and I thought it sounded fun. Plus every restaurant in town is packed, so we were gonna make dinner here. Your mom said it was okay, especially since we offered to watch Baby for the night."

Ana was still stunned, but Nick was smiling. "It seems like we all had the same plan."

"Ana, were you gonna force Nick to take my place?" Aster asked while pretending to sound wounded.

"I thought you were gonna do something with Jack!"

"I am doing something with Jack!"

Now everyone was laughing, save for Baby who's been confused by the teenager's actions and had decided to just watch the movie instead of trying to figure them out.

When the laughter had died down, Jack said, "Hey, if we're all having a movie marathon, we should see if Sandy wants to join us!"

Ana shrugged and grinned widely as she replied, "Why not? The more the merrier!"

The idea was agreed upon by all and Baby was left to watch the movie alone while Aster and Nick went off to pick up Sandy and the ingredients for a massive dinner. Seeing how there was no need for all four of them to go, Ana and Jack stayed behind to start the prep work for dinner and to make a few surprises of their own.

By the time the boys got back, warm mugs of tea and hot chocolate were waiting for them along with a pile of carrot cake muffins.

"Carrot cake?" Nick asked, looking sadly at the muffins while Aster happily stuffed his face.

Ana smiled and said, "Jack called dibs on making his treat first, but the chocolate chip cookies will be out shortly."

Then her smile faded and she glanced at the clock on the wall, only just realizing how long she and Jack had been messing about in the kitchen. "What took you so long anyway?"

Sandy rolled his eyes at the question. If it hadn't been for him, they would've taken even longer, but he didn't need to offer any explanation, Aster and Nick's reactions told their significant others everything.

"How long did you two spend fighting over what to get?" Ana asked while treating the duo to an annoyed frown.

"He wanted to get nothing but meat!" Aster exclaimed, pointing accusatorily at Nick, "Like he'd never even heard of a balanced meal!"

"That's way better than your pasta lover's idea! There's no love there, only bland and tasteless noodles."

"That's what sauce is for!"

Ana and Jack exchanged amused glances before looking at Sandy. The smallest member of their little group just gave them a pained smile and shrugged.

After a few minutes, when it appeared that the argument wasn't drawing to a close any time soon, Ana stepped between the bickering men and said, "Alright, next time I'm making you a shopping list! Now please tell me that you actually managed to buy something worth eating."

"He wouldn't give up on the meat idea," Aster explained sullenly.

"And there was no way we were just getting noodles," Nick added.

"So we let Sandy pick the food."

Nick gave his Australian friend an amused look and said, "Well, if we're being honest, it's more like Sandy got the food while we were bickering."

Aster glowered, but nodded in agreement before finishing with, "Long story short, we're having tacos."

Ana and Jack exchanged relieved smiles and then shooed their boyfriends out of the kitchen to go watch movies with Baby while they cooked. Though Aster and Nick were both decent chefs, it was clear that trying to get them to work together was probably a bad idea.

Sandy, on the other hand, was allowed to stay and even crowned head chef since the tacos had been his idea.

Dinner was prepared in short order and the couches in the living room were pushed to the sides to make a wide space for Ana to lay down blankets on. By the time the Romoli's were leaving for their dinner party, the five teenagers and Baby were happily having an indoor picnic.

It hadn't been the way the gang had planned to spend their Valentine's Day, but it was perfect all the same, even if Aster and Nick fought over every movie choice.

Jack's eyes shot open. He could feel a wetness streaking down his face that meant he must've been crying, but he couldn't move to check. He was too terrified. His heart was pounding, his limbs were trembling, and the little piece of his brain that wasn't racing in terror assured him that speaking aloud was not an option.

He wasn't sure how long he laid there in silent terror before he was finally able to drag himself out of bed, but it felt like hours.

Instead of walking downstairs for tea like he usually did, though, he walked over to his window and stared out at the snow covered world. A light dusting of powder had fallen sometime over the night and the sight calmed him a little, though nowhere near enough.

After letting out a deep sigh, he turned around and looked at the suit hanging up against his closet, a sight that made him shiver.

What time was it, anyway?

5:34am according to his clock. Less than four hours to go…

How had the trial gotten here so fast?