Hey guys! I thought I would have this up earlier but exams got in the way so I did the bulk of the writing this week. I'm really hoping to have the next chapter up quicker, but you all know how that goes...

Reviews:

lorienlegacies96- I don't really know how long it's going to be yet, but it's not ending anytime soon, and it's certainly won't end without some kind of warning for you guys. Thank you for the idea, it's very good and I may have to put it to use if you don't mind :) And I wasn't planning on Maren having an ex-boyfriend because the stuff with John is new for her. Thank you for the kind review and for keeping with the story. I also really like your ideas, I love to hear what people think about the story and where it should go :)

YasiYasi- After I read your review I realized that I haven't addressed it yet, so I put it in this chapter. It's only a little insight but don't worry, there will be more of the subject eventually. Thank you so much for the review, and I hope you continue to enjoy the story :)

I.wish.I.could.be.Number.Five- You always leave such long reviews and I love reading them! Thanks for giving all of your opinions, I really appreciate it to all ends. As for the ideas, you are actually the second person to suggest somebody from Riley's past show up, so I guess there is a good chance of it happening :) Maren's past is also something that I planned to expand on more, so that suggestion is definitely something I'll keep in mind! Thanks again for the review and ideas :)

Guest- Sorry, no John and Maren in this chapter, but there'll be more couple action going on in the next, I promise! Thank you for the review!

As always, thanks everyone for reading and reviewing. Reading what you guys think always makes my day! Sorry that there's really not a lot of any pairings going on in this chapter, but there will be next chapter.

Anyway, that's it from me, read on :)

Marina

"You're going to kill yourself."

"Stop saying that. I'm not going to kill myself."

"Yes you are. You're going to fall and die."

"Maren, I literally do this every year."

"Well your house is like ten feet off the ground. This is different."

"The only thing that's different is that it's a bigger ladder."

Maren snorts as she tilts her head back to keep track of Riley, who is currently near the top of what must be a twenty foot ladder, holding a bundle of Christmas lights in one hand, clutching to the edge of the roof with the other. It's my house that we're decorating because my aunts are coming over in a couple days and would be appalled if no Christmas lights were up. I'm scared of heights, Mom obviously couldn't be bothered, Ella is too young, and Maren... well she just didn't want to do it. That left Riley. I told her multiple times not to do it, but after a few times of getting "Nah, this will be a piece of cake" as a response, I gave in. I'm kind of regretting the decision now though.

"Yeah, and it's a different house, different lights, different weather..." Maren goes on and I watch as Riley stretches to the left to click in a patch of lights. I suck in a worried breath. "Different probability of death..." Maren continues with a smirk. I hit her arm and she shrugs innocently.

"Hey, I've totally got this. There's nothing to worry about." Riley calls back down. At that moment, the ladder suddenly shudders into a shifted position due to her leaning, and she thrusts the other hand to the roof ledge to hang on. My hand shoots out and grips Maren's arm as I have half a heart attack. Riley is silent for a moment. "That was bad timing."

Maren crosses her arms, seemingly amused. "So do you want me to start writing your eulogy now or later?"

"I trust your judgment."

I send a warning look to both of them. "Nobody is writing a eulogy." I insist. Riley shrugs and stands back up straight again. She doesn't seem to notice when the ladder shifts with her, but I wince. I lean over to Maren and quietly add, "Yet."

"You know, I'm really glad you already have these click-in things on the house. Makes it way easier." Riley says as she clicks in another section of lights, oblivious to my comment.

I tilt my head to the side so it's easier to look up at her. "What do you usually use then?"

"Hammer and nails."

My eyes widen but I see Maren clench her jaw to hold in a laugh, probably thinking of how funny it would be if our friend had to maneuver up the ladder with lights and nails. She finishes clicking the lights in as far as she can reach and starts to come down so she can move the ladder.

There's not much snow on the ground right now, but the impression our boots make in the snow is easy to see. It only snowed yesterday, hence the rush to put up the lights before we get more. Around here, it's not winter until it's winter. But when winter comes, we're basically just thrust into the season without any gradualism. It's not exactly that we get a lot of snow, it just gets cold super quick, and since we live by the ocean, it's a damp kind of cold. It's weird because just a week ago I was standing outside in a hoodie and sneakers, and now I'm in a jacket and boots and everyone is putting their Christmas lights up. It's only the beginning of December.

Riley climbs the ladder again once she's moved it's position, starting the dangerous maneuvers again with little to no worry. Bored, Maren picks up some snow from the ground and works it into a ball with gloved hands.

"R, catch." She tosses the snowball up before I can tell her not to.

Riley turns just in time to shoot out her hand and grab it, leaning back enough to have me suck in another breath. Maren laughs and Riley grins, happy that she manages to catch nearly everything anyone throws at her. Goalie reflexes I guess.

"Please don't." I chide worriedly.

Maren catches the snowball when Riley drops it back down and immediately tosses it up for me to catch. I don't notice until all I have time to do is let it bounce off my hand in a hasty attempt to catch it.

"Stupid sporty people." I complain while I dust off my gloves.

"You were a sporty person once." Maren reminds me, picking up another bit of snow.

I give her a look. "It was a different kind of sport."

"Oh, that's what we should do!" Riley suddenly exclaims from the top of the ladder. "We should make a skating rink!"

Maren raises an eyebrow to go along with her crossed arms as she watches Riley descend from the ladder once again. "As if we need more hazards for you." She flicks the new snowball at her lightly, leaving excess snow stuck on her flannel jacket. Maren and I actually have proper winter jackets on, but between the plaid and the faded jeans, Riley looks like she's about to go cut some lumber. She moves the ladder again and this time we follow since she's gone a little too far away. Plus, my feet are getting cold standing in the one spot.

"There's not really enough snow yet anyway." I reason, even though we could probably accomplish the task in the ankle-deep snow if we really tried. It's honestly too much work to pack down all the snow, and since we don't have a tarp, it would take a lifetime to get it hard enough to hold water.

"Yeah." Riley admits, grunting a bit as she has to stretch dangerously to hook in the lights, but she doesn't notice. That girl has serious problems in the common sense part of her brain. "A snowman then." She suggests.

Maren snorts. "What are we? Five?"

"Hey!" Riley turns around so fast the ladder shifts quite a bit, and even Maren's eyes widen. She takes a hand off the roof to point at Maren. "Nobody is too old to build a snowman."

Maren smirks, putting her hands up in a surrendering gesture until Riley turns around again, apparently satisfied. As soon as Riley stops looking I watch Maren's expression fall quickly and her breath fogs in front of her as she lets it out a little heavier than normal. I have a feeling she only agreed so Riley could get back to focusing on her balance.

Maren and I both turn our heads as the front door opens and mom steps out. I remember she has a shift today. She doesn't see us as she turns around to lock the door, so I wave a hand.

"You don't have to lock it." I call. She looks our way and Maren waves a little at her surprised expression. I guess she hadn't been expecting us to be hanging out outside considering the new season.

"Oh." She says, taking her hand away from the door and starting toward the driveway. "Why are you guys-" Her voice and steps falter when she notices Riley on the highest rung of the ladder. I watch her eyebrows furrow. "What is she doing?"

Maren smirks, looking up at our friend who has already gone back to her task after a brief notice of the new development. "Being an idiot." She replies.

"She's putting up Christmas lights." I clarify.

Mom's eyebrows shoot up and I can't blame her. The last person to put Christmas lights on the house was Dad after all. "Oh." She repeats.

I nod and shove my hands in my pockets, looking at the snow on my shoes. Even Maren -who I'm not sure knows the word 'uncomfortable'- clears her throat, unsure. There's an awkward silence for a moment until our resident tension-relieving expert speaks up from the ladder.

"You know, Miss T, these click-in things are pretty handy." Riley takes one foot off the rung so she can turn sideways, still holding onto the roof with one hand. I refrain from yelling at her to be careful for the hundred time, and instead settle for holding my breath as her foot dangles a tad too far for my liking. She smiles like the awkwardness was never there. "Where'd you get them?" She asks.

Mom appears to think for a moment. Eventually she shakes her head. "I don't know. Cray is the one who bought them." She shrugs and I swallow my surprise at her bringing up Dad.

"Oh okay." Riley nods, still smiling. "Well, if you find out could you let me know? Because I think my hammering skills are past the point of improvement." She jokes.

Mom only smiles tightly, glancing back at the car, no doubt deciding she's stayed long enough. "Be careful, Riley."

R grins and shakes her head. "Why does everyone keep saying that?" Mom turns to go, but I can hear her chuckle on the way to the car. It startles me for a second, and I realize it's because I haven't heard her laugh in a while. "Have a good shift!" Riley calls.

She sends a wave without looking and gets in the car. Riley starts again with the lights while Mom backs out of the driveway. As soon as she's gone, Riley spins back around with raised eyebrows, displaying that she was only doing it to look casual. Maren looks in the direction the car went and then at me.

"Does she know about Joseph?" She asks.

"Kind of." I reply.

Riley looks confused. "How can she kind of know? You either told her or you didn't."

I sigh as she starts to climb down. "She knows he exists." I correct. "And she met him once, but it was before we were dating."

Considering her reaction the first and only time Mom met the guy, I've become extremely more careful about when I bring him to the house. I make sure she's gone, and leave way before she's supposed to come back.

"So she doesn't know you guys are together?" Maren asks. Riley moves the ladder and starts the climb again. "Are you going to tell her?"

"I don't really see the point." I say, and it's true. Telling her would just be a waste of my time as far as I'm concerned. I'll tell her if she cares enough to ask, but I wouldn't say it's the first thing on her to-do list.

"Why? You think she won't like him?"

Riley scoffs at Maren's question. "Nobody can not like Joseph."

"You're only saying that because you're like the female version of him."

Riley coughs in surprise and I have to laugh because I kind of agree, though I can definitely see parts of them that are very unalike too. "That is not true!" She protests, but not looking back because she's probably grinning too.

"Oh I don't know." I say. "His favourite colour is green..." I trail of, knowing they have that in common.

"No it's not." Riley says disbelievingly from the roof. Maren is laughing.

"It is."

"Oh God." She presses her forehead to the edge of the roof, seemingly in despair. "Well I guess that settles it then."

"Hey, there's worse people to be like." I offer.

"Yeah, you're right." She agrees, going back to hooking in the lights after her exaggerated epiphany. "I mean, I could be like Maren. And that would just be-" A well-aimed snowball to her back cuts off her words. She's unsurprisingly not mad, only turning around with a laugh as Maren dusts off her hands. "I expected that." She admits. Seeing a raised eyebrow from Maren, she smirks. "You should really work on your aim though. The hit was a little bit off center."

The next snowball hits Riley in the back of the head.

John

"This one!" Joseph points at a large tree with a huge grin on his face. I look the plant up and down for a moment before glancing at him.

"You do know that thing is taller than my ceiling, right?" I say.

Joseph's arm drops. "Well I do now."

He continues walking, disappearing into another section of the tree farm while Stanley comes out of an aisle right next to me, looking bored.

"You know, Costco has a really good selection of trees." He says, pointing a small tree branch at me.

"Dad wants a real tree." I explain for what must be the tenth time since we arrived fifteen minutes ago.

"Why?" He complains. He tries to hit me with the floppy tree branch but I snatch it from his hand before he can, letting it fall to the ground. "They're always so messy. Plastic doesn't leave a mess." He continues, apparently indifferent about the confiscation of his weapon.

"Dad wants a real tree." I repeat even though I know my father couldn't care less about the material of a decorated plant in our living room. Mom liked having real trees, so every year we get a real tree.

"Eh, whatever dude." Instead of attempting to understand the extremely simple concept, Stanley just chooses to ignore it. Shoving his hands in the pockets of his un-zipped coat, he turns from side to side, seemingly confused. "Where's Joseph?"

I look at him, exasperated for a moment because we're at a Christmas tree farm, and he only seems to absorb that fact when it comes to complaining about it. "Looking for a tree." I say.

"Oh." Stanley replies. "Well, we better not lose him."

"How would he even get lost?"

"I don't know, Johnny. He might think it's a forest."

I continue my search without responding to that.

"Hey! I think I found one!" It's Joseph's voice that rings through the farm, making several people turn their heads at the volume.

I start toward the noise with Stanley reluctantly in tow. I don't know why he chose to come along in the first place, but he's here now wether it convenient or not. I honestly find the scene quite nice. The air around us is frosty and it smells like snow and pine needles. There's also a certain level of satisfaction that comes with feeling the cold on my face but not under my jacket, or the way my speech is visible as a fog in the air. It's tranquil actually.

We reach Joseph, who gestures to his new choice of tree with flourish. He's so excited he's found something that I don't have the heart to tell him this one is far too short. I nod and smile. "Good job. It's definitely a contender."

"I knew it." Joseph replies with obvious pride, giving his selection a once over. "Shall we nail down the other finalists?" He asks. It seems his determination can't be tamed after one right move, so I nod.

"Lead the way."

Joseph immediately gets looking again, rubbing his mitten-covered hands together and scrunching up his shoulders. If that doesn't display his discomfort in the temperature enough, he's also buried in his wool cap and jacket zippered right up to his chin. He looks absolutely freezing, and I start to think his motivation to find the right tree may be on account of getting some warmth. While I wear a toque and have a pair of gloves on, my jacket is open at the neck and is pale in comparison to Joseph's attire. He's never liked the cold, poor guy.

"Hey, what about this one, Johnny?" Stanley stops next to a tree that's shorter than me and almost see-through. He waggles his eyebrows. "Quite the charmer isn't she?"

I chuckle, not feeling nearly as bad when I say no to him. He's clearly not suffering as much as Joseph in the cold, his jacket unzipped fully and a hat haphazardly covering his ears. I'm pretty sure he only wore gloves because I told him he'd have to help carry the tree if we got one.

Up ahead, Joseph has stopped smiling, constantly rubbing his hands together. "So, how are you and Marina going?" I ask him, mostly to distract him from the cold which he seems so affected by.

It works and he grins at once, slowing down so he can walk closer to us. "She's too good for me." He says, shaking his head. "Did you know she can cook? Like really good."

"Well I hope you spare her from any of your cooking." Stanley says dramatically. "The poor girl already deals with enough from you."

"Hey, my cooking is good!" Joseph defends.

"Whatever." Stanley dismisses. Joseph seems like he's ready to continue his defence but Stanley points to a tree. "Hey, this one is good!"

I tilt my head at his selection. It's actually not too bad considering his insistence to leave. "Alright, it's a finalist." I say. Stanley seems surprised but doesn't mention it, only sticking his tongue out at Joseph to display his competitiveness.

"It's not better than mine though, right John?" Joseph asks.

I pause, conflicted because Stanley's choice is better. "I think it's a tie." I finally decide. The lie is to spare Joseph's feelings, but it seems to only makes him more determined. Strangely Stanley is more into the hunt after that too, and they both go their separate ways immediately, each one hoping to find the best tree faster than the other.

I start in my own direction after they leave, walking through numerous tress that I deem either too tall, too short, or too thick or thin. I know it might sound picky, but it was always a big thing for Mom, so I feel like the least I can do is put a bit of effort into the task. It's just the respectful thing to do.

"Got one!"

"Me too!"

I can't see either of my friends but I can hear their shouts from two different directions in the small area. I try to decide which direction to yell in before giving up and just calling out in a random direction, feeling like I'm shouting into the void.

"Make sure they're not shorter than me!" I call. I wait for a response but after hearing none, I assume both their findings didn't meet the expectations. I go back to my own search with my hands in my pocket.

I walk down the aisle for a bit before turning a corner and seeing a familiar face talking to someone with a smile. Sarah Hart looks like she's helping a customer when I look. I don't know her that well but I talk to her sometimes in a couple of my classes.

As I look at her I'm suddenly reminded of something Maren once said about everyone in the school having a label. When I asked her what I was she had just looked at me weird. "You're the school's one and only nice jock." She had said and I laughed. I forgot to ask her what she labeled herself as.

Well, if everyone in the school has a label like Maren believes, Sarah Hart must be the school sweetheart. She's nice to everyone and I've never seen her without a smile, and she's often never without a camera either. She doesn't have one now, which looks weird to me, but I guess it would be even more weird to bring one to work.

She finishes talking to the people and spots me, still smiling kindly. I wave and she ambles over. "So I guess you work here?" I ask. She shrugs as we walk along.

"Not really. My Dad does so I kind of just come to help people out." She explains. "Speaking of which, I heard you were looking for a tree."

I feel my eyebrows furrow and I look down at her. She's shorter than Maren. "How'd you hear that?"

She laughs a little, looking around and reaching a hand up to shift the wool hat on her head. Long blond hair spills out from all sides. "Your friends are pretty loud."

"Oh, right." I say. I don't mind talking to her because she's easy to make conversation with. She never crosses any lines and she always seems to know what she's talking about. "Well, do you have any suggestions?" I ask.

"Hmm, I don't know, I've only been around the place a hundred times..." She jokes. I chuckle while she nods her head in the direction of one of the aisles, smiling. "Come on, I've got one in mind."

I follow her around a few turns, reminded of when Maren led me through the grocery store. Sarah helps me without complaint, and I know Maren would too but not before a fair bit of teasing.

Sarah stops in front of a tree and I look it up and down, finding that it's almost a perfect height with full branches and a nice shape. It's the best one I've seen out of the finalists I've picked out, and I know it's the one I'll get.

"You make it seem so easy." I tease. Her response is interrupted by my friend's shouts, again from two different directions in the area. How do they both manage to find trees at the exact same time?

"Found one!"

"Same here!"

Sarah laughs as they both shout out their success at the same time, and I roll my eyes. "It's alright, I got one!" I shout back. I can hear faint sounds of disappointment but there are no arguments. They both must be eager to leave.

"So, I'll go get someone to help you out?" Sarah asks. I'm about to say yes until the voice of my friend cuts me off.

"No need, Darlin." Stanley appears out of nowhere, kind of startling me with how fast he managed to find us. He saunters down the aisle with a smirk, most likely noting my surprise. He stops by the tree and points at it. "This one?"

I nod and without another word, he pulls it from its' place with two hands. "Wait, someone is supposed to wrap that for you-" Sarah starts to correct his actions but let's her words fall when he hefts the tree up and begins walking with purpose toward the counter. "Alright then." She says, watching him go with a chuckle. I roll my eyes at him yet again.

"Sorry about him." I say, shaking my head. "And thanks for helping me find something, I probably would have been here forever otherwise."

"Don't worry about it." She replies kindly. She looks around and notices a couple of people to our left.

"Duty calls, huh?"

She laughs, turning back to me with a guilty smile. "Yeah it does. I'll see you when school starts up again, John." She starts backing up.

"Okay, see you later." I wave and only then does she turn around.

I jog to catch up to Stanley, who moves surprisingly quick for a quy carrying a tree that's bigger than him. I run into Joseph on the way and we both continue until we walk next to him. He accepts my offer to carry half the tree.

"Dude, was that Sarah Hart?" He asks.

"Yes."

"Thought so. You know, I might try with her if she wasn't so into you."

I look back in shock. She's into me? I know Marina hinted at that too once but I've never gotten that vibe from Sarah. As far as I know she's friendly like that to everyone, it's not like I'm some kind of exception.

"I really don't think she is." I dismiss. Stanley only grunts but I don't look back to see his expression, which is probably sour, evidence of his disagreement.

Even if Sarah was 'into me', I don't know if I would be interested. Sure she's nice, and obviously very pretty, but I don't know. Everything just seems too comfortable with her, too polite. I can see her natural goodness, her drive to be kind and to make everyone feel welcomed, and she does. Maybe that's why I don't feel anything, because her kindness is on full display all the time. As opposed to Maren, who chooses her acts of kindness carefully and then tries to ignore the fact she did anything at all. Plus, Maren is a different kind of pretty. More hard edges than warm smiles.

Suddenly, I realize what I've been doing. The entire time I was talking the Sarah, I was silently comparing her to Maren. I'm already painfully aware that I like Maren, but what does that mean for my opinion of Sarah? Do I like her too? Am I just trying to justify not liking her? Am I comparing them both to find out who's better? All of these things run through my head and by the time I give up on finding the answers, we arrive at checkout and I feel like an ass for even wondering about the queries.

I push the thoughts from my mind as I take in the cashier's confused expression as he watches us lumber over with the tree in hand. When you choose a tree you're supposed to get somebody to come to the spot and wrap the limbs together so it's easier to carry. I suppose it's not a common sight to see somebody taking their tree right from it's place and bringing it to the counter, branches spread wide in its full glory. Well, Stanley has always been a bit of the rebellious kind, even when it comes to disobeying the guidelines in a Christmas tree farm apparently. Come to think of it, his actions may have more to do with pride.

"You couldn't find anyone to wrap it for you?" The cashier asks when we stand in front of him, Stanley standing the tree up with such force I fear he may be trying to replant the thing.

"Nah, we don't need that." Stanley dismisses with a wave before I can say that yes, wrapping the limbs up would probably be helpful. "Let's just pay for the damn thing, shall we?" He's grinning, obviously proud of his petty rebellion. The cashier nods and tells me the price.

When I'm done paying, Stanley wastes no time putting the tree up on his shoulder, beginning a stride toward the car with a bunch of branches in his face. He declines any offers of help and I realize why when he waves to a group of girls at the entrance. It seems that he thinks being able to lift an entire tree casually on one shoulder puts on quite the show. It is a pretty big tree, but I have a feeling this display has to do with hinting at the size of something else. Joseph looks at me and rolls his eyes. I nod.

"Got any rope, Johnny?" Stanley asks when we get to the car.

I resist the urge to inform him that I'm not an idiot, and anyone whose planning on tying something onto the roof of their car logically brings a rope on the journey. Instead I just open up the back door and pull the mess of rope from the back seat. Stanley basically throws the tree on top of the car, dusting off his hands afterward.

"Wait..." Joseph tilts his head to the side, squinting his eyes a little. "Isn't the tree supposed to face the other way?"

I sigh because he's right, the trunk of the tree is supposed to be facing forward, and Stanley put that part on the back of the car. He allows us to help him change its' position on the vehicle since there are no ladies around he feels the need to impress at the moment.

We tie the tree to the rack on the roof of the car, jumping inside with a sigh of relief from Joseph when the heat kicks in. "I think I want to hibernate." He says randomly, looking determined. "Skipping all this seems ideal."

"Good luck with that, Joe." Stanley reaches up from the back seat and claps Joseph on the shoulder with mock enthusiasm. I sigh loudly as I look out the windshield. "What's wrong?" Stanley asks.

"You should have let him wrap it?" I explain.

"Why?"

I shoot him a look. "Do you really need to ask that question?"

He finally looks at the windshield, where my view of the road is replaced with a cluster of green covered branches. "Oh. Well, I mean... your house is only like, what? Ten minutes away? Just uh... drive by looking out the windows."

"Stanley."

"Yeah?"

"Go get somebody to help."

"Yeah."

Maren

Riley whistles as we walk up the walkway to Marina's house, the lights on the house making the snow on the lawn look like Christmas threw up on it. It's only just getting dark now but they're still a bit too bright for my liking.

"The house sure looks nice." She admires her handy work with a smile.

"You said that last time." I mutter. "And the time before that..."

"But this time it's special." She insists, then with a hint of melodrama, "There's magic in the air."

I arch an eyebrow at scene around us. "There's snow in the air." I correct flatly.

Riley rolls her eyes and nudges me with her shoulder, obviously not noting how little space there is within the shovelled part of the walkway. The snow is only up to the middle of my calf but I still wouldn't like to step in it. "You know what I mean." She says, grinning. "It's Christmas, Maren."

"Yes, I think I've picked up on that." I reply, squinting up at the lights twinkling in the house.

"You could be just a little happy."

"I was." I defend. "But then I heard jingle bells for the hundredth time and now I'm just annoyed."

"Well be un-annoyed!" She says cheerfully. "Because-"

"It's Christmas!" I interrupt with mock enthusiasm, though I make sure to keep my expression flat.

Riley grins as we reach the door. "Now you're getting it."

She reaches up and knocks on the door while I roll my eyes. I can hear an exchange of yelling going on inside which I assume to be a debate about who's going to open the door. It opens a few moments after, Ella standing there, grimacing at the cold.

"Merry Christmas!" Riley rushes in and in mere seconds Ella is engulfed in red flannel as she's wrapped in a tight hug. She laughs as Riley rocks from side to side, pulling Ella along with her movements. I chuckle and close the door behind me when I walk in.

I smile as Ella, now released from her entrapment, comes over to me, hugging me too. I put one arm around her, squeezing her shoulder gently before she lets go, wishing me Merry Christmas. I'm not the sentimental type, but when a kid as good as Ella gives you a hug, it's really a crime not to respond.

Riley and I both take off our jackets and boots, and she starts walking into the kitchen with a purpose. "Hey, Mar! Guess what?" She calls.

"It's Christmas?" Marina replies.

"It's Christmas!"

I roll my eyes and I picture Marina doing the same, though she probably finds a bit more amusement in her excitement than me. We always come over to Marina's for a bit on Christmas Day just to see each other since we usually don't even get gifts for each other. Once we realized that the money we spent on gift cards for each other just ended up equalling out, we agreed to stop it. We usually do bring something over for Ella though, most times something to do with her art, like professional drawing pencils or a kit or something. This year we got her this special paper that's supposed to be made just for lead drawings. All I know is that it's a weird material and twenty sheets were fifty bucks and we got her two packs. Both Riley and I payed for one each. She hugs us both again when we give it to her and immediately runs up to their room to try it out.

When I follow Riley into the kitchen I find Marina behind the little bar-like section of counter they have, with stools on one side and the kitchen on the other. She's cutting vegetables. Riley gives her a half-hug even though we all saw each other literally two days ago.

"Merry-"

"Do not finish that." I warn, and Marina raises her eyebrows as I interrupt her greeting. "I swear, if I hear that word one more time I'm going to throw up."

Marina chuckles and Riley rolls her eyes, coming back around to sit in the stool next to mine with a grin. "And will that happen before or after you steal Christmas?" She teases. I glare at her while Marina laughs, but I can feel myself smiling, finally giving into her excitement. She seems pleased at that before turning to Marina. "Do you need any help?"

"Uh..." Marina looks around her workspace as though it will give her some answers. "Well someone can help me peel carrots and somebody can peel potatoes." She says, and I notice she's just started with the carrots.

Riley looks like she's about to choose, but I cut in. "I'm doing the carrots."

"Ugh, I was going to choose that." She whines.

"I know."

I get up from my stool and go over to the sink to wash my hands while I hear the continued grumbles of my friend behind me. Marina directs me to a peeling tool in the drawer and Riley wrinkles her nose at me because she has to use a "boring knife". I just start my duties when Marina's phone buzzes from the edge of the counter. She looks down at her hands and then mine, sighing.

"Riley can you check that?" She finally says. Riley -now the only person with clean hands- walks over, grabbing the phone and immediately sitting down on a stool again. She arches an eyebrow.

"It's from Joseph." She says, and it sounds like a warning. "You sure I'm not going to witness any obscene images?" She waggles her eyebrows and I hold in a laugh as Marina clears her throat in surprise, ever the saint.

"No, he doesn't do that." She says.

"I wouldn't judge." Riley replies honestly, and way too casually.

"Experience?" I tease. She winks jokingly and I laugh.

She types the password into Marina's phone and sighs when she opens the text app, seemingly disappointed. "Sorry Mar, it's just a text. No pictures for you today."

"Bummer." Marina replies sarcastically.

Riley starts reading out the text. "Hey Sea Girl." She pauses and tilts her head at the screen, a giggle accompanying her words as she says, "Aw, that's really cute."

Marina sighs. "Please continue."

Riley grins but does as she says, this time with no interruptions. "Hope you are having a good Christmas Day. And there's a smiley face." As soon as she's finished reading, the phone buzzes with another text. "It's no rush but call me when you get the chance." Riley looks up, ready to comment on it, but the phone buzzes in her hand again and she looks down at it. I find amusement in how she tries not to be irritated by the frequent messages. "Oh, and tell Ella I said hi."

Marina looks at the ceiling. "Joseph says hi." She yells. I can hear a muffled 'tell him hi', but there's nothing else. I guess she's still using her Christmas gift.

Riley opens her mouth to speak but the phone buzzes again and she sends a threatening expression down to the screen for interrupting her. "And Maren and Riley too."

"Did you tell him we were coming over?" I ask.

Marina chuckles. "No, I guess he just assumed."

Riley laughs, her irritation disappearing quickly after the message. "I can take over the carrots if you want to call him." She offers.

Marina shakes her head. "Call him and put him on speaker." She gestures to the phone with the knife and Riley eyes it.

"Is that a threat?"

"Just call him."

Riley chuckles and goes into her contacts to call him. The phone only rings once before he answers, his voice as cheerful over the phone as I know it would be in person.

"Marina of the Sea!"

Riley smiles again at the nickname and I'm only amused because of how much excitement he's able to put behind a single greeting.

"You're on speaker." Marina informs him as she continue with her work, prompting me to as well.

"Oh, hey Riley. Hey Maren." He says. "Kind of thought you would all be together."

"Must be a couples intuition." Riley jokes, causing Marina to roll her eyes.

"Obviously." Joseph replies.

"Why did you want me to call you?" Marina gets back on track and I can almost hear the smirk in Joseph's voice when he responds.

"Maybe I just wanted to hear your voice."

"Right." Marina says flatly, but she's smiling.

Joseph laughs and relents. "Okay yeah, I-" suddenly he stops talking and I hear muffled conversation in the background. "Yeah, it's her." He says, then after a couple seconds, "No, I can handle this on my own... Yes I can- no, don't throw that at me."

"Is this a bad time?" Marina chuckles.

"No! No, this is great. Stanley is just being an idiot- Ow! I told you not to throw that at me!" A sigh is audible. "I'm going to the other room... Because you suck, that's why." It sounds like he runs somewhere and there's a click of what I assume to be a door closing. "Sorry about that. John and Stanley said hi by the way."

"Tell Stanley to piss off." I reply.

"The girls said hi!" He shouts to his friends. Marina and Riley laugh, but I roll my eyes. "Anyway, I have summoned you to propose an idea." He explains, finally getting to the point, which I think Marina is thankful for.

"Which is?" She presses.

"Instead of taking the bus out to the ski hill, Stanley wants to drive." He pauses. "As in drive all of us."

"Oh?" Marina raises an eyebrow. I'm more worried because I'm not sure I trust Stanley to pull out of a parking space, much less drive a car-load of people on the highway for eight hours. "Can his truck fit everybody?" She continues.

"No, we'd have to take two vehicles." He admits. "We can't take John's because it's his Dad's car and mine is in the garage. So we were hoping one of you would volunteer." He says hopefully, but quickly adds, "But you totally don't have to agree if you don't want to. Because taking the bus is alright with all of us, it was just an idea. Plus it's really inconvenient to take two vehicles anyway."

Marina and I both look at each other, and then at Riley at the same time. She glances up, confused. "What?"

"Doesn't Mavis seat eight people?" Marina says, using the van's nickname.

"Who's Mavis?" Joseph asks.

"Yeah, but it's been ages since she been on the highway." Riley ignores Joseph's question, looking unconvinced. "I'm not sure she can even get up to a hundred kilometres an hour anymore." At least she's aware of her van's issues. But if I'm honest, choosing between Stanley's driving and a janky van isn't exactly a dilemma for me.

"Oh, it's your van." Joseph clues in. We pay no attention to the phone sitting on the counter.

"I trust the van." I say.

Riley laughs. "You have never said that in your life."

"I trust the van more than Stanley's driving." I correct, remembering his motorcycle weaving through the cars in the school parking lot.

A chuckle comes from the phone. "That's a fair point."

Riley sighs and looks out the window at her vehicle in the driveway, as if she's deciding wether it's worthy enough to make the trip by sight alone. "Fine, but it's at your own risk." She relents.

Joseph whoops from the phone even though he's witnessed first-hand the jittery roughness that is Riley's driving. I'm happy too though, because it has to be better then spending eight hours on a bus or under Stanley's driving skills.

"I guess I'll let everyone know the plan then." Joseph says enthusiastically, but what doesn't sound enthusiastic when he's involved anyway? "Thanks Riley!" He adds brightly.

"Don't thank me just yet." She mutters quietly. He doesn't hear.

I can hear the click again and I assume he's walking back to wherever his friends are. "Hey, Riley said she'll drive us all out in her van!"

By the new clearness of the voices, I can tell he's closer to them than he was before. There's a quiet, "Oh cool" from John. Then a louder, clearly panicked voice cuts in. "Wait, what?". It's Stanley.

Joseph clears his throat as arguments can be heard in the background. "Anyway, See you Maren, Riley. Catch you later, Sea Girl." He hangs up before any of us can say goodbye. Marina and I look at Riley.

"When was Stanley in your car?" Marina asks since it's clear from his reaction that he's had some experience with it.

"When he came over for math tutoring sometime last month. I think he was a bit scared on the drive over." Riley chuckles. She stands up and gets a knife out of a drawer while Marina gives her directions to the potatoes.

"So how's that going?" I ask her. She heft's a bag of potatoes onto the counter with an exaggerated grunt, and I can't tell if it was because of the weight or the question.

"The Stanley thing?" She shakes her head. "Yeah that's done. I'm over it." She sighs, and I can tell she's not lying.

Marina looks up in shock. "When did that happen?"

"When he came over for math tutoring sometime last month." She repeats with a shrug. My hands stop their work and I feel my eyebrows shoot up, feeling defensive for her.

"What did he do to you?" I demand.

Her eyebrows furrow and she starts skinning the potatoes over the garbage can. "Nothing really?" She glances over, her expression clearing when she sees my raised eyebrows and stalled work. "He didn't do anything bad, don't worry." She clarifies with a chuckle. Now Marina seems confused.

"Something had to happen." Now that I'm started my cutting again, she stops hers. "I mean, how long did that crush last? Two months?"

"Not even two!" Riley replies proudly, not aware that this isn't a situation for pride. "See? I told you it wouldn't last long."

"That wasn't the point." Marina says.

"Oh right." Riley gets her ideas straight again. "Like I said, nothing exactly happened. He was just being his normal self and I got sick of the flirting." She shrugs. "I mean, he's a good friend and all but it's just relentless."

"Never saw that coming at all." I mutter.

"But yeah, anyway that's it. On to the next one, right?" Riley jokes. I'm not sure she heard what I said.

"What an optimistic approach." Marina teases.

"I mean, I got to keep my options open."

I snort. "Of course, now that you're not interested in anyone the propositions will be endless."

"I know right?" Riley sighs dramatically. "How will I ever be able to fend everyone off?"

"I think just wearing your coat will do the trick." I suggest. "Nobody wants to date a lumberjack."

She throws a potato peel at me around a chuckling Marina, but it lands on the counter instead of hitting me. Then she shrugs. "I wouldn't mind dating a lumberjack."

We continue getting the vegetables ready until Marina says it's enough, and then we just sit down for two hours until supper is done. Riley and I don't actually eat here, but there's always enough food for her to take some home since neither of us can be bothered to do the whole Christmas Dinner thing.

"Are you sure you don't want any, Maren?" Marina asks me as Riley packs hers into a container.

"No thanks, I'm just gonna get some take-out and bring it over to Mom on her break." I say. Mom didn't work on Christmas last year and since the nurses take turns rotating who works on holidays, it's her turn this year.

"Ugh." Ella groans, having come back down about an hour ago. She rests the side of her head on a fist propped up on the counter. "Do you even realize how many days I'll be eating leftovers?" She shakes her head but then her eyes widen and she looks at Marina. "Not that it's bad or anything." She adds hastily.

"Right." Marina chuckles.

"Well I love leftovers." Riley says, which is obvious by the way she now filling up her fourth container of food. But it's a big turkey so there's tons to go around.

"Great, so we'll just ship it all over to you since Ella hates it so much." Marina shoots a look at Ella, smirking when her sister begins to explain herself.

"I didn't say that! I just meant that it's a lot and it's not as good heated up in the microwave-"

"Keep digging that hole, Ella." I tease. She sighs and gives up.

"Your cooking is great, Mar." She tries, defeated.

"Uh huh."

I smile at them before turning on my stool and looking toward the window, my mood turning sour when I see the snow falling outside in huge flakes. "Is it still snowing?" I complain.

Marina looks over from behind the counter, shrugging. "Looks like it."

"Ugh, I have to drive to the hospital in that." I groan. Marina looks amused at my complaining but Riley rolls her eyes. She was subject to it on the way over and will be on the way back too.

"Alright, that's enough negativity from you." She chides, stacking her containers in an unsteady tower. "I think it's about time I drove you back to Mount Crumpit."

Ella and Marina laugh but I look at Riley with raised eyebrows, halfway between tired and threatening. "Riley, if I hear one more Grinch joke..." I warn.

"It was only two." She defends, laughing. "Plus I think you guys would be good friends, since your personalities match and all."

I stare at her flatly but she just grins, undeterred. "What is it with you and Christmas anyway?" I hope to change the subject, taking another glance out the window in hope the snow has stopped. No such luck. "I mean, the whole thing is just over the top and the lights are too bright."

Marina laughs. "Oh God, you really are the Grinch." She says, leaning on the counter.

"Yeah, I'll let you know if I start growing any green hair." I mutter as Riley starts picking up her containers.

She arches an eyebrow teasingly at me as she walks past. "Now who's making jokes?"

"Shut up."

I follow her out to the porch where she puts the food in a bag she brought for that purpose. I put on my coat and boots while Marina and Ella come to see us out. Riley thanks her for the food and Ella thanks us for the gift again. I grimace at snow on the walkway when I open the door.

"More shovelling when I get home."

Riley nods. "Ba humbug and all that."

"R-"

"It wasn't a Grinch joke!"

Hey guys, that's it. The ski trip starts next chapter so I promise there'll be more couple stuff going on then! Thanks for reading and let me know what you think :)