Due to a change in user names, this story is being re-posted. We started this last year, and haven't updated in a while, so I don't know if you'll remember it. Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

Thanksgiving Pie

Co-written by Somos Pollo and MakatiBird

Somos Pollo's A/N: Okay, be prepared for weird. This all started a few days before Thanksgiving, and MakatiBird and I were IMing back and forth, and we mentioned pie and stuffing, and all the things we love about Thanksgiving, and we happened to mention our favorite IaHB characters, and what they would do if they all got together for Thanksgiving, and the fact that there just aren't enough holiday fics out here on ff.net, and there was kind of a dare, and well, this story was born. We each wrote different sections, and put them together to make a story. I hope this makes sense. It was a blast to write.

Disclaimer: We're not insane really. Don't own anything. If we did, the show would in no way be canceled. Well, that said, what are you waiting for? Go read! And review, of course.

Thanksgiving Pie

Chapter 1

Plans and Preparation

Val seemed awfully quiet at the station that day, Tyler noticed. Brooke just seemed moody. She snapped more than normal, got upset over a small mistake on Hank's paperwork, and was just plain grumpy. I wonder what's going on with them. He wondered. There must be something going on at home. I'll have to talk to Val. He grabbed a basketball and invited Val to go out to the court behind the station with him. She nodded in reply and followed him out.

"What's up?" Normally when he asked her out to the court to shoot baskets was when he had something on his mind.

"I was just going to ask you the same thing."

"What makes you think anything is wrong?" She asked, dribbling the ball and shooting.

"Well, for one, you've been extremely quiet all day and Brooke has been snapping at everything. She's not one to easily loose her cool."

Val sighed and sat down, leaning against the cool brick wall that surrounded the basketball court. She decided that she may as well tell him what was bothering her. Maybe getting it off her chest would help. Tyler sat down beside her, concerned.

"My parents have to go out of town for a week. They leave tonight. It's an emergency with the business. There is no way they can get out of it. It could mean the future of their business."

"But today's Monday and Thursday is…"

"Thanksgiving. I know. It will be the first Thanksgiving we haven't spent together." Val said, close to tears.

Tyler gently put his arm around her and she rested her head on his shoulder. They just sat there, Val taking comfort from his warm embrace. His mind raced, trying to think up something to help her out. "Who said we have to celebrate Thanksgiving on Thursday? What about Wednesday? The squad, plus Caitie and Brooke can have Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday."

She looked up and met his warm gray eyes. "Really? That would be awesome."

"Yeah, we have to check with the others, but I'm sure Mom and William would let us use the house. We could have everybody make a dish, so no one person has to make everything."

"This is going to be so great. Thank you so much. I need to go tell Brooke." She smiled and they stood up. She gave Tyler a quick kiss on the cheek and then raced off to tell Brooke the good news. He stood rooted to the spot, watching her retreating back. That was just a kiss between friends, right? She was just grateful for the whole Thanksgiving thing, right? Friends. He tried to convince himself that while he tried to pass of the tingling sensation on his cheek as November air.

* * *

"Okay guys," Brooke called for attention at the end of the shift the next day. They had no school that day because of Thanksgiving, so their shift only lasted until one. Everyone was there, including Caitie. Their parents had all given permission for them to have a Thanksgiving party at Tyler's the next day. "Everybody is going to bring a few things, so Tyler doesn't have to cook everything."

"Val, for the sake of any food you might make, Tyler's with you."

There was a chorus of 'thank goodness' and 'yes' around the room.

"Hey! I'm a good cook," Val defended herself.

"Val," Tyler reminded her, placing a hand on her arm, "you burnt water."

The room erupted in laughter and Brooke began handing out assignment sheets. "Tyler and Val, you guys are in charge of the Turkey, gravy, pumpkin pie, and cranberry sauce. Jamie and Caitie, you guys have the stuffing and a pie. Whatever kind you want, except for pumpkin. Hank, you're in charge of anything potatoes. Be creative. And I'll take care of green beans and fruit compote. That should be everything."

Tyler glanced at the clock. "Shift's over, guys." They gathered up their stuff and prepared to leave to get their part of the meal ready. Val was going over to Tyler's house, and Caitie was going to Jamie's. Brooke was going to Nick's house to work on her part of the meal, because no one would be home at the Lainer's. They all went their separate ways and agreed to meet at Tyler's the next day at noon to start their early Thanksgiving.

* * *

Later on, Tyler sat at the table, tossing raw cranberries into his mouth, one by one. He made sure to finish the tart berry before flicking the next one. Flick, catch, chew, swallow. Flick, catch, chew, swallow. That went on for a few minutes and Val walked into the kitchen.

"Okay, I guess it's time to make the cranberry sauces." She said. Tyler continued to eat the berries.

"Have you ever had raw cranberries?" He asked between tosses.

"No, but I love cranberry sauce, it's so sweet." She said.

Tyler stood up and started to get everything together to make the sauce. "Go ahead and try one."

Val, meanwhile, grabbed a small handful and popped them in her mouth.

"Be careful, though, only take one at a time, they're really tart before you cook them." He warned, his voice muffled because of the fact that his head was in the cabinet as he went on his search for the right mixing bowl.

Val, about to bite down, couldn't make out what he said. "What?" she asked as she bit down on the five berries in her mouth. Her taste buds seemed to explode, the tart flavor enveloping her senses. She let out a muffled yelp.

Tyler turned around to warn her, but it was too late. He had to bite his lip so hard it almost drew blood to keep from laughing at her pained expression. Her whole face involuntarily seemed to cave in. Her lips puckered and her eyebrows furrowed, eyes squeezed tightly closed. She gulped down the remains of the cranberries and Tyler rushed to get her a drink, which she gratefully accepted.

"I'm sorry Val, I tried to warn you." He said, biting back chuckles.

She glared at him. "Are you laughing at me?"

"No, no. Of course not. No laughter. Perfectly straight face. No laughing whatsoever." He said. Trying his best to keep a straight face. Needless to say, he failed.

"Tyler. Luke. Connell. You so are not laughing at me. Laugh and face the wrath of Val." She said, grabbing a hand full of cranberries and pelting them at Tyler. They ran around the kitchen, pelting cranberries at each other. The ended up, somehow, rolling on the floor, tickling each other. Val ended up lying on top of Tyler on the dining room carpet. Their eyes locked, and they froze, just staring into each other's eyes. They leaned closer, and closer…

The timer on the stove beeped, signaling that the pumpkin pie was ready. They both jumped, and Val quickly climbed up from the somewhat compromising position. The moment was broken.

"We better check on the pies," Tyler said. And they both returned to the kitchen, as if nothing had almost happened between them. Well, they didn't say anything. But inside, thoughts swirled.

* * *

"They trust us to make stuffing and a pie?" Jamie asked Caitie that afternoon with an evil glint in his eyes. "They didn't specify what kind of pie, did they?"

"Just not pumpkin, Tyler and Val are taking care of that." Caitie clarified. She recognized the evil glint that said he was up to something. "Just what do you have in mind?"


"Well, they're always saying we're slackers, right?"

"Aren't we?"

"That's beside the point. We should really give them something to talk about. They said we have to bring a dish, and they told us what to bring, right?"

"Your point?"

"They never said we had to bring more than one dish…"

"We have to bring stuffing and pie. What are you getting at?"

"Stuffing and pie." He said with an eyebrow raised meaningfully.

"What? Stuffing pie?" She said with a laugh.

He raised both eyebrows and smiled.

"What? Are you serious? Are you insane?'

"Maybe… see I was thinking…"

* * *

Meanwhile, as the two rebels plotted their sinister pie, Val and Tyler were having troubles of their own.

"Tyler I really think that this is a bad idea." Val said, nervously playing with her ring. "I mean, in theory, putting the temperature at 500 degrees in the broiler to cook the turkey faster does make sense, but didn't they teach us something about the dangers of doing that in home EC?"

"Relax Val, the recipe says to cook it at 350, and when temperatures get that high, two hundred odd degrees don't matter anymore! And a broiler cooks faster then an oven. We have to get this bird done by noon you know." He slowly slid Val's perfectly dressed and stuffed turkey into the oven and shut the door. "Besides, we get to relax now. Everything else is ready." Val smiled and sat down on the counter top.

"You're right! I've set the table, and we can't make the gravy till the turkey's all done looks like Caitie's right- we're good at everything." She sighed happily.

Tyler chuckled, "Do you have any homework to work on? Like math or something? I could help you if you want." He offered. Val's face brightened.

"Really? That would be soo great! My math teacher was really mad at us about the scores on this test we took last week, and he gave us the entire chapter review on the quadratic formula- and we have to show ALL the work." She frowned. "I swear that man is evil! It's 30 problems longhand!" Val hopped off the counter and grabbed the offending Algebra 2 book out of her duffle bag. They sat down at the dining room table to examine her assignment.

"Man, I haven't done this in a while" Tyler commented looking at a particularly disgusting looking problem involving one too many exponents. "Val, do me a favor and grab my calculator lying on my desk in my room? I gotta remember how to do this." She rose from her seat at the table and walked quickly to his room, muttering something about demon math teachers and killing trees. When she walked through his bedroom door, she was shocked by the chaos that she found inside. Clothes were strewn everywhere, along with old assignments, CD cases, and oddly enough, the picture Brooke had taken of them after they'd fallen asleep next to each other on the couch while watching Breakfast at Tiffany's. She had to admit, it was a really cute picture. Her head was resting on Tyler's shoulder as they slept peacefully, and Tyler's arm was around her. "We make a cute couple." She thought happily, but then immediately banished the thought with a shake of her head. Tyler and her weren't even a couple.

"He doesn't like you, remember?" she muttered, tossing the picture aside again.

"Val? Did you say something?" Tyler called from the dining room.

"Huh? Oh, just, umm, singing." She lied quickly. "Where did you say that calculator was again?"

"On my desk." He replied.

"And that would be where? Under the pile of clothing or the stacks of papers?"

"Come on Val, my room isn't that bad."

"Tyler I think something's alive in here." She joked, gingerly stepping over his stuff and making her way towards his desk. She immediately spotted his huge complicated looking graphing calculator lying on top of a stack of old calculus homework, and went to grab it when a bright pink post it sticking to one of his books caught her eye. "Tyler-" it read, "Please clear up this room before your friends come over, all right honey? And clear up any mess you make in the kitchen. William and I made plans tonight, so that you guys could hang out with out us bothering you. Have fun! I love you Tyler-bear! ~Mom" Val stifled a giggle. "T-Tyler bear?" she choked, falling down on his bed in a fit of giggles. "Ooooh, he's gonna pay for laughing at me." She thought, an evil grin on her face. Val furiously fought to contain her laughter before bouncing happily out of the room, acting as if nothing had happened.

"Did you find it?" he asked. "Cause I think I've done half the assignment already." She took a seat next to him.

"I had a tough time navigation around your room. You should really clear it up, you know, we don't want Mommy's little Tyler-bear tripping over something and hurting himself, now do we?" she cooed. Tyler's head snapped up in alarm.

"What did you call me?" he gasped. Val saw the panic in his eyes and shot him an innocent smile.

"Who, me? I said nothing"

"Yes you did! You called me Tyler-bear." he accused. Her innocent smile turned into a wicked grin.

"Someone's got a new nickname" she intoned in a singsong voice.

"Val, tell anyone about this and I swear I'll-"

"But it's sooo adorable! Think about it 'Connell's in the end zone, he's at the 1054...32TOUCHDOWN TYLER-BEAR!'" she cheered, collapsing to the floor in hysterics. Tyler glared at her.

"That's not funny." He grumbled, burying his head in his hands so that she wouldn't see the small smile that crept onto his face. Val peeked over the edge of the table, concerned.

"Tyler, are you ok?" she asked gently. "I mean, I was just kidding, and I wouldn't tell anyone about "Tyler-bear" his shoulders shook from the amount of effort it took for him not to burst out laughing, which only made Val worry even more. "You're not crying are you? It was a joke, I-I thought since you laughed at me about the cranberries it would be a good idea to-" Tyler lifted his head from the table, an idiotic grin on his face. Val, realizing that she'd once again been had, whacked him over the head with her math folder, which only made him laugh harder. "Idiot." She muttered angrily, folding her arms across her chest.

"Aww, come on Val, you thought it was funny to laugh at me." Tyler said playfully. She turned away from him.

"Yeah, but that was because of the cranberry thing and, and, I thought I hurt you're feelings! You made me worry for no good reason!" she pouted.

"All right, all right, I'm sorry. Look, I'll tell you the story of 'Tyler-bear' okay? Just, don't pout anymore, it's distracting." She swiveled around in her seat and rested her chin on her hands, looking at him interestedly.

"Oooh, spill it!" she commanded, happy that she got her way. Tyler sighed.

"Well, when I was little, like um three or four or something, I had this umm, huge bear, called Mr. Bear- he was as tall as I was and he had dark brown fur- anyway, one day my mom asked me why I took the bear everywhere I went, and I went and told her that it was because we were brothers- Mister Bear and Tyler Bear, and she kinda has called me that like, ever since." He shook his head in dismay. "Mom's just don't get it" he sighed again. Val noticed that his face had turned a brilliant shade of scarlet before he buried it in his hands again. "So know that you've heard the story and think that I'm this giant dork-"

"I don't think you're a dork." She replied honestly.

"Yeah, sure, whatever. It's fine. I am one."

"Tyler!" she said, frustrated, "I do not think any less of you just cause you have an embarrassing nickname! In fact, I think it's really cute that you're mom still remembers it. It adds to your appeal." He found the courage to pick his head up from the table.

"Really?"

"Yeah, really. And don't worry. I won't tell your big, tough football friends that you have a cute side." She said seriously, giving him a playful punch in the arm. "Besides, all kids have odd nicknames, I had a couple growing up. It's not big deal though I have to admit, yours is pretty, um, original." A weird smell filled her nose, and she sniffed the air for a second. "Did you light the fireplace or something? Cause I smell-" her eyes widened and she jumped out of her chair. "Smoke!" she shrieked, bolting into the kitchen "The turkey's burning!" Tyler followed in after her, and saw a thick cloud of smoke coming from inside his oven.

"How bad is it?" he yelled, searching in the pantry for the fire extinguisher.

"Ummm, I don't know, the outside is kinda done looking, but the inside is still cold- is that bad?"

"But, that's physically impossible! How can be burn something and undercook it at the same exact time!" he cried, abandoning his search for the fire extinguisher. "Open a couple of windows." He coughed, "We're gonna set off the fire alarm." Val collapsed tearfully on the counter.

"We ruined the turkey!" she sniffled, "Now what are we going to do? Thanksgiving isn't Thanksgiving without turkey!" Tyler examined the dark brown bird.

"I think we can save it." He announced. She looked up,

"Really?" she said hopefully, drying her tears. He nodded

"Just remember to turn off the broiler and set the temperature at 350 this time. That 500 degree plan wasn't the most brilliant of ideas." He said, placing the bird back into the oven and setting the timer.

"Tyler Connell! It was YOUR idea to cook the turkey the way we did last time! Don't you go blaming this on me."

"Yeah, well, you're the girl, aren't you supposed to have like, womanly intuition on how your supposed to cook a turkey?" he joked. Val scowled back at him.

"What, am I any less of a woman just because I can't cook a stupid piece of poultry?"

"Yes." He answered seriously, though she could see the smile in his eyes.

"You." She sighed, hopping off the counter and leaning against him. "Are a moron."

"And you." He replied, "Can't cook." Val giggled, and pushed him aside playfully. "Let's get back to that math homework."

* * *

MakatiBird's A/N: See, warned you, this get's odder as it goes along. Do you folks like what we have done? Chalk it up to our weird senses of humor. Pleeeease give us a review, even if it is to tell us that we need to be institutionalized!