Chapter 9: Patching the little things

Dustin laid on his bed, yawning a bit. A few hours had past since he had opened all his present and he was back being bored and alone again. Groaning, he rolled over and starred off out the window. The snow was still falling, more and more by the minute. A soft tap on the door caught his attention, turning over, Dustin sat up and listened against as it got louder.

"Coming." He spoke out loud, "Give me a sec."

He threw himself off the bed and towards the door, for once he was excited that someone was on the other side of the door. Opening it up, a little girl threw herself at him. Dustin caught her and spun her around, stumbling back a bit.

"Dustin!" She spoke cheerfully, Dustin noticed it was Lily she was holding, "You ran away!"

Dustin bent down and cleared the bangs from her eyes, "Lily, what are you doing here?"

"She wouldn't shut up if I didn't let her come in." Tori appeared at the door with a few presents, "Hey Waldo." She smiled and leaned against the door panel.

Dustin glanced up, grabbing Lily by the hand and leading her towards the door. Pushing Tori and her out, he closed the door and went out in the hallway with them.

"Why are we out here?" Lily grabbed a present from Tori's hand.

Dustin just smiled, "Uh, my room is a little messy. No where to really sit." He scratched his head and glanced at Tori, "So what are you two doing here?"

"Merry Christmas." The tall blonde shoved the presents into his hand, "You left before we could give you these."

Lily lifted hers up, "Here's mine!" She screamed, "I hope you like mine the best!"

Smiling, he grabbed Lily's present and placed it on the rest, setting it down near the door. The awkward silence began to fill the room as the three of them stood around. Tori took a step forward, bending down to Lily's height.

"Hey Lily, can you go wait in the car with mom and dad? I want to ask Dustin something."

Lily nodded and quickly skedaddle down the steps and outside. Tori stood back up, clearing her bangs and looking back at Dustin. He remain silent, feeling a bit out of place but not so much as he usually was.

"Where heading over to Shane's for a Christmas party." She finally spoke up, "Was wondering if you want to go?"

He bit his lips, "I don't know. I don't think it's such a good idea."

She took a step forward, "Please. I would really like you to go."

He sighed and backed away, heading towards the door, "Maybe. There's a few things I have to do first."

"Well if you do, I'll save you a dance." She smiled and walked towards the steps, "Hope to see you there."

He watched from the edge of the steps as she walked down and towards the door. Stopping, the blonde turned and smiled up at him one more time. Dustin felt a warm sensation, he was really happy that she wasn't forcing him to go. Forcing him to come home anymore, that she seamed to understand that he will come back when he was ready. Dustin had all the time in the world, or at least he felt like it was all the time in the world. He grabbed the presents and brought them inside, closing the door behind him. Turning, he shuffled through the mess and towards his dresser. Taking out a piece of paper, he looked down at it. Reading it, it wrote, 'National Cage Fighting Match. Prize: 500 dollars.' Folding the paper again, he grabbed his new sweater he got for Christmas and bolted out the door. Exiting into the cold, he began walking towards the arena. He had to participate in the match, he was running low on money. Stopping in front of the large round arena, he looked up and sighed. The snow fell in his hair, he pushed through the crowed and inside. Tons of people were in the stands, everyone was ready for a good match.

"Hey it's Rotciv!" A man shouted, "He's going to win!"

"Not against the Blue Bay Harbor champion." One whispered to a person behind him, "Rotciv is going down."

He took a deep breath, "Here goes nothing." He muffled under his voice.

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Tori and her family had arrived at Shane's home. Cars were parked everywhere in front of the two story white house. Tori climbed out and looked at the red trims that went all around the house, she then turned and watched her little sister run up the drive way.

"Come on honey." Mrs Hanson spoke, "It's cold out here."

Tori began walking up the drive way with her parents. Opening the door, they were greeted by Shane.

"Hey Tor!" He exclaimed, "Come in!"

He moved aside and the family entered. They entered the cozy kitchen where Mrs Clarke, Kelly and Mr. Watanabe were standing.

"Hey everyone." Mr Hanson waved, "Looks like most of the people are here."

Mr. Clarke entered the room with Porter, Shane's older brother, "Hey look who decided to show up." Mr. Clarke laughed.

The parents began to move into the living room as Cameron walked out from it. The former red ranger turned to Tori and him and leaned against the counter. Porter went over to the fridge and grabbed himself a drink.

"So is Hunter and Blake still coming?" Tori looked around, "I don't see them here."

"Hey Shane." His older brother took a sip before placing the glass down, "Where's your other friend." He asked curiously, "Uh what's his name. Dustin?"

"I don't think he's coming." Shane sighed a bit.

"Actually." Tori smiled, clearing her bangs, "He might show up." She grinned, "I stopped by his apartment."

"That's good." Cam responded, "Hey, isn't there another Clarke suppose to be here?" He looked around.

Shane shook his head, "My sister can't make it. She's stuck in the east for Christmas."

"And I was looking forward to meet her." Hunter's voice echoed behind them, "What a disappointment."

Everyone turned around and saw Blake and Hunter walking in. Shane rolled his eyes.

"She's not your type." He replied.

"Nor is she in your league." Tori snickered, "Sorry."

"Funny." He sarcastically responded, giving her a dirty look, "Did we miss anything?"

"We brought some cookies." Blake held up the tray, "Took 3 hours and two tries."

"Yeah, you should have tasted his first batch. It smells like Shane's feet. " Hunter grabbed a cookie and took a bite out of it, "Which is more then I can say."

"I resent that!"

"Hello?" Another voice echoed, along with a knock, "Anyone here? Hope this is the right house.."

Everyone turned to see Marah, Ryan and Kapri standing at the door. They waved and smiled as they rushed forward to greet everyone else.

"You guys made it!" Tori hugged Marah, "I'm glad."

"Weather is getting pretty crazy out there." Kapri handed them a bowl of food, "Good thing we got here just in time.

"Traffic is brutal." Ryan added in, "Anyway. Where's the folks? I wanna see them."

"There in the living room dude." Cam pointed.

"I'll show you." Porter waved Kapri and Ryan along, "Come on."

Marah turned, "Any word from Dustin?" She asked eagerly.

"Ask Tori." Hunter leaned against the wall, "From what I hear, she knows more then anyone else here."

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Dustin slammed against the black bars as he twirled his body to dodge an attack. The crowd was cheering as he began to circle the arena cage. He had been fighting for a while now, the champion in front of him was stronger then he thought. Dustin back flipped out of the way from another attack, blood and sweat ran down his face as he backed against the cage. He was tired, exhausted but he couldn't give up. He needed the money, the crowd kept cheering louder and louder for him. He shifted his eyes towards the large man in front of him. The man was wearing a black mask and a black karate outfit. He was one tough opponent, and Dustin hadn't exactly brushed up on his ninja skills.

"Your mine." He shot forward and threw a punch, "Time for you to lose."

Dustin caught the fist in midair, twisted his arm and flipped him over. Dustin then jumped out of the way from a counter attack and hit against the cage. Rolling out of the way, he grabbed the warrior and threw him across and ran forward. Ducking, he threw a punch into the fighter and blocked an attack. The place began to rumble as Dustins' rage began to boil. The fighter began to lose his balance, Dustin took the advantage and dropped kicked him back and against the bars. The fighter fell to the ground motionless.

"And the winner is Rotciv!" The announcer began to scream, "And we have a new champion!"

The referee lifted up Dustin's arm, the crowd continue to scream The fighter stood up, ripping off his mask and revealing his rugged face. Standing up, he stormed towards them.

"You cheated." He shouted, "That prize money is mine!"

"How did I cheat?"

"You shook the ground somehow." He growled, "The money is mine."

"You'll have to pry it from my cold dead body."

"That can be arranged." He turned and stormed off.

Dustin watched as he quickly exited. Sighing he turned back to the crowed and raised his arm and smiled happily at his victory. A half hour had past and he found himself standing outside of the arena. He stuck the new sweater on and looked around. He had nothing to do, he didn't feel like going back to his apartment. He decided he didn't have much to lose, to go and see Tori at the party. Ninja streaking off, it was a matter of minutes before he ended up in front of Shane's house. Breathing heavily, he looked in the window to notice they were all gathered in the living room, near the Christmas Tree. Bitting his lips, he knocked on the side door near the kitchen.

Shane turned, "Who could that be?" He grew curious.

A huge excitement whipped across Tori's face, as she quickly bolted towards the door in the kitchen. Hunter and Blake glanced at each other as they jumped from the couch and after her. Soon, everyone began to flood into the kitchen as Shane walked over and opened the door. Dustin turned around, and starred into the house at the dozens of eyes that were looking at him.

"Oh boy." He muttered to himself, before clearing his throats, "Uh hi."

"Dustin!" Lily screamed, barging through the crowd and towards the door, "You came! You came!"

"Come on in bro." Shane widen the door, "It's freezing outside."

Dustin remain silent as he entered. He glanced around and looked at everyone that was here. They all smiled and waved to him. He forced a smile and waved back.

"Dustin. Your hurt." Mrs Hanson pulled him to the side and looked at his face, "What happened to you?"

Dustin moved away, "Nothing. Nothing I can't fix."

Mrs Clarke turned to Porter, "Sweetie, go get the emergency kit so we can clean his cut."

"All right." He responded.

"Hey, you're a sight for sore eyes." Kelly stepped in, "How have you been?"

He shrugged, "I'm still alive right?"

Mr. Clarke raised his glass and began heading back to the living room, "Anyone who would like to join me may do so."

Mr Hanson laughed, "I'm coming." He moved and patted Dustin on the back, "Nice to see you again kid." He bolted into the room.

Mrs Clarke turned and checked the oven, a nice turkey was being cooked. She had been frantically moving around to get the food all ready. She turned and smiled at everyone.

"Kapri. Marah. Tori." She glanced at each of the ladies, "Would you give me a hand in setting up the table."

"I'll help." Kelly offered, "The food smells wonderful."

"Mom! I can't find the dumb thing." Porter's voice echoed from the stair well, "Where is it exactly?"

Shane rolled his eyes as he turned, "I'll find it."

Dustin watched as he quickly walked off. Turning, he looked away from Hunter, the two of them had not talk since their last incident and it was an awkward silence between the two. Kelly noticed it, she bent down and looked at Lily who was twirling around.

"Honey, wanna go and explore the house?" She smiled, "Let them boys talk?"

"I'll come with you." Blake picked up Lily, "Let's go find those presents."

"Yeah!" She screamed.

The three of them left, leaving Hunter, Ryan and Dustin alone in the kitchen. Hunter walked forward and stood next to him, pouring himself a drink.

"How's it going?" He asked casually.

"Fine." Dustin responded, "And you?"

"Same." Hunter took a sip, "Surprise you're here."

"Surprise your not trying to kill me." The brunette smirked, turning to look at him, "Is there a reason your talking to me?"

"I'm just trying to apologize." Hunter tried to stay patient, "Chill out."

"It's taking a while. Having a hard time?"

"I don't like admitting im wrong. Even if I'm." He patted Dustin on the back, "Nice seeing you again bro."

The brunette in yellow laughed as Hunter walked off with his drink. Turning his neck, he noticed Ryan was still there. His smile faded away.

"What are you looking at?" Dustin growled.

Ryan took a step forward, "Look Waldo, I'm not here to start anything." He spoke, "In fact I came to apologize too. I'm sorry for what I did at the wedding."

"Why the sudden change of heart?"

"Marah loves you as a brother. If she thinks you're a good person, then I mine as well give you a chance. If I had known that there was something between you two.."

"Forget it." Dustin waved his hand, "Don't worry about it. We all went at this situation the wrong way. I'm over it, I have feelings for someone else."

"So were cool?"

Dustin extended his hand, "Were cool."

The two of them shook, Dustin smiled, he was glad things were looking up. Coming over for the party wasn't a bad idea as he thought it was. Maybe he could get a second chance, try to get somewhere in life. He just had to try. Who would have thought.

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End Chapter. Last two chapters (or three) will be the final!