A/N: I promised a new chapter by Christmas and here it is...Yay!

okay...I have just a little rant...I get that as a writer, you can't please everybody. I understand that not everybody is going to like or love your story. But when I get a review that says: "I hate your story, I didn't even read it, but I hate your story", I get pissed. Not only is that just plain ignorant and stupid, but that is rude to me and my writing. You don't have to like my story and I'm okay with it if you don't but DO NOT leave me a review that says you hate it but you didn't even read it. I adore constructive criticism, really I do, but saying that you hate something without even reading it is an insult, not criticism. And I, for one, do not have the time or the energy to deal with rude and ignorant people right now.

Okay...now that I have that out of my system...Happy Holidays!

Oh God did I start to love the taste of licorice and Dr. Pepper. It had been a favorite junk food snack of mine for years but tasting it on Vaughn's lips practically made me addicted to it. Or maybe it was Vaughn.

It wasn't my first kiss -I wasn't a complete geek. I have had a boyfriend before (a fair few if I do say so myself) and I had kissed said boyfriend(s) enough times to know that the way Michael Vaughn was kissing me was different. Very. Very. Very. Different.

His hands gripped my waist tightly as my arms tightened around his neck, forcing him closer to me. Let's just say that he didn't put up much of a struggle. Actually, he came willingly and after some gentle probing, slipped his tongue into my mouth.

If my eyes were open and not closed in bliss, I was sure that I would have seen fireworks he was that good. Slowly the world was becoming a blur of water, faint splashing, and the sounds of a crowd until there was nothing but me and Vaughn and those oh-so fascinating moves his tongue made with mine.

I don't know what it was that made me pull away. Maybe it was the burning on the back of my neck from people's stares. Maybe it was his hand that had somehow found its way to the hem of shirt and didn't show any signs of stopping its journey upward. Maybe it was that little voice in the back of my head that believed profoundly that love did not exist and what I was doing with Vaughn would lead to such ridiculous feelings and that voice got away from the hold the rest of me had on it. Or maybe it was a combination of all three but whatever it was, I jerked away from him very suddenly.

He wasn't expecting it, I could tell. He had fallen into that kiss just as far as I had if not farther. His eyes –have I mentioned that I love his green eyes dearly?- eyed me confused. I glanced around, telling him silently that it was all the people around that had caused me to pull away. He bought the excuse and nodded slightly, exhaling. It was then that I noticed that his grip on my hips hadn't lessoned though my lock on his neck had.

We stood staring at each other for what felt like several minutes (I'm not sure if it really was that long) before I said, quietly, "I have to get home." I paused, then added when he frowned a little, "Curfew."

He nodded, "Yeah, I should be getting home too."

Wow, this is awkward.

He let go of me and we climbed out the fountain, and then walked to his car in silence.

Yep, very awkward indeed.

I hesitated at the passenger door and looked at him over the roof of his car. Was it okay for me to get in soaking wet? I know if I had a car, I wouldn't appreciate that.

"What?" Vaughn asked, staring at me confused.

I held up a bunch of wet hair and replied sarcastically. "I'm just a little bit wet."

He laughed and abandoned the driver's side of his car for the trunk. He opened it, pulled out a couple towels and tossed one of them to me.

"You have towels in your trunk?" I asked, after catching the towel and immediately putting it to work on my sopping hair.

"I do play hockey, Bubble-Yum." He replied, grinning at me and toweling off his own hair.

I laughed and opened the passenger door. After putting the now slightly damp towel on the seat, I slid into the car and waited for him. He got in a couple seconds later and stared the engine immediately.

Even though my house is a good half hour from the ice rink, Vaughn got us there in fifteen minutes flat. I need to talk to that boy about his speeding habits. Oh God, that was very possessive of me and possessiveness comes with the whole messy relationship thing. Damnit.

I sighed and started to reach for the door handle when Vaughn placed a hand on my elbow. Confused, I turned to him. He was watching me with this look that I couldn't quite identify and he asked, "Don't I get a good night kiss?"

I laughed and unable to resist that voice and that face, I leaned over and kissed him. Originally I had intended for it to be a short, sweet, simple kind of thing, but Vaughn had other ideas. His hand somehow, found itself on the back of my head, gripping my hair in a not all too horrible fashion and his tongue took on a mind of its own. It found its way back into my mouth again and we played tongue wars for probably a good five minutes.

Smiling, I pulled back, unwound his hand from my hair and exhaled deeply. "Good night, hockey boy." I said, pushing my door open.

He smiled back at me, "Good night, Bubble-Yum."

I laughed and stepped out of the car. He returned the laugh before putting the car in drive and speeding off. Normally, it would be weird for the guy not to walk the girl to her door after a date –yes, this was officially a date now- but after my first hockey lesson a month ago and the odd looks and questions from my sisters and mom, we decided that he would not walk me to the door anymore.

Grinning to myself like some love-sick teenager –that had better not be an accurate description of me- I wandered slowly up to my house, only to be snapped out of my daydream by yelling. Just great, Aimee and Kady were fighting…again. I sighed, a little disappointed at being ripped from dreamland –I can't be a love hating girl all the time- and opened the front door. "Mom! I'm home!" I yelled.

I think I was ignored because now that I was inside, I heard not just Aimee and Kady's loud voices, but Mom's as well. And there was no 'Okay dear' in return.

"Kady, you cannot throw your life away like this!" Mom yelled.

Confused, I decided to risk it and wandered into the living room, the source of all the fighting. The chair –I think I shuddered when I saw it- was occupied by a very livid looking Aimee while the couch held Jeremy and some mystery guy (probably Kady's man of the hour) and Mom and Kady were standing in the middle of the room, looking like they were going to explode at any second. Most everyone ignored me, except for Jeremy who nodded in my direction and waved slightly. I returned the wave and wandered over to the couch, plopping in between him and mystery guy.

I love watching Mom/Kady/Aimee fights. It's like a sport. I would pay money to watch these fights.

"I'm not throwing my life away!" Kady replied, angrily.

Aimee snorted. "How blind are you?"

"Shut up, Aimee!" Kady yelled. I swear I saw a vein popping out of her forehead. "This doesn't concern you at all."

"It does when you're trying to steal my thunder," Aimee shot back.

Was that a Friends reference? Cause if it was, you really need to stop watching TV Aimee. I turned to Jeremy and whispered. "What's going on?"

"Kady eloped." Jeremy whispered back after some hesitation.

Wait…huh? She did what now? Eloped? Seriously? Wow…Kady did have a problem with the rules and conventional things but eloping? And here I thought I was going to be the maid of honor at her wedding. Well, there goes my dream…yeah, right.

"Seriously?" I asked, raising a disbelieving eyebrow. Jeremy nodded, slowly.

So that's why Aimee is so pissed. She was counting on the fact that she would be the first to get married. Well, thank you Kady for putting a stop to that.

"Girls!" Mom snapped. Mom was not a woman you wanted to cross and I avoided it as much as possible. "Kady, what about your future?"

"What about it?" Kady retorted.

"Married at nineteen does not look good on a college application." Mom replied.

Kady visibly ground her back teeth. "Who said that I'm even going to college?" She replied. Oh…that stung.

Mom glared her. "Kady Marie Bristow, if you think that you're not going to college, you have another thing coming."

Kady sighed, sounding very frustrated. "What are you going to do about it, Irina?" She asked. Oh…Kady was really mad if she called Mom by her first name. "Go tell Jack on me and try and make him make me cooperate?" She was on to mocking Mom now. Not the brightest idea. I think I'm going to go with the wise choice and side with Mom in this argument.

Mom looked like she wanted to punch Kady and probably would have had Kady been anyone but her own daughter. "Your father would be very disappointed in you, Kady."

Hmm…Aimee was being unusually quiet over there in her corner on the chair from hell.

"What does she care?" Aimee said, suddenly, with a bitter tone. I think I spoke too soon. "She doesn't care about anyone but herself."

Wow…my family's full of bitchy women.

Kady made a strangled sort of noise and lunged for Aimee's throat. She managed in succeeding in slapping Aimee across the cheek. I was a little disappointed; I wanted to see a good catfight. Maybe I should get popcorn for this…

Aimee gasped, reaching for her afflicted cheek and glaring at Kady venomously. "You bitch!" She cried, jumping to her feet and yanking Kady's hair.

Kady made a squeak of pain and retaliated by slapping Aimee again. Yeah, I definitely need popcorn. Aimee looked like she was going to kill Kady with her bare hands but Jeremy and mystery guy jumped in and pulled my sisters kicking and fighting away from each other. Scratch the popcorn.

Mom eyed them both with her famous death glare. "I am ashamed of you girls." She said, monotone.

Kady wrenched free of her mystery guys arms and glared at Aimee. "I didn't have to tell you, you know." She spat. "I thought I'd give you the 411 but now I know to just leave you out of my life." She turned to her mystery guy and added. "Come on, Brian. We're out of here."

I'm going to take a stab at being a detective and say that Brian was the one she eloped with and I'm going to go one step further and say that this Brian is the same Brian she was dating around Dad's wedding. Wow…that would mean she's stuck with this guy for about five weeks now. That has to be a new record or something. No wonder she married the guy.

Kady and Brian left without saying anymore. Aimee finally calmed down enough that Jeremy let her go. She huffed angrily. "I cannot believe her!"

Mom sighed. She sounded very tired suddenly. "Let's talk about it later, Aimee." She said, turning and catching sight of me. "Sydney?"

I nodded. "Yeah?"

"How long have you been home?"

"About seven minutes," I replied. "So, um…is Kady really…um, you know?"

Mom nodded, wearily. "Yes. She's really married and by the sound of it, she doesn't want anything to do with us."

Excuse me…us? You mean you and Kady and possibly Dad. Me, I am completely innocent in this whole thing. I wasn't even noticed until after Kady stormed out.

I nodded slowly. "I'm going to bed."

Mom nodded in response. "That's a good idea." I don't know if it was just me but my mom suddenly sounded twenty years older. And that kinda worried me.

I've said it once and I'll say it again. Marcia, my boss, is an evil bitch sent straight from the depths of hell to purposely make my life more complicated. If she wasn't bad enough during normal times of the year, the holiday season made her the crankiest thing to walk the planet. So instead of my regular twenty hour week, during the holidays, I worked every weekday from the minute school ended until about nine and then on the weekends, I had seven hour shifts per day.

One slightly good perk from my hellish schedule, I made a whole lot of money to buy my Christmas presents with. And being the procrastinator that I am, I have put my holiday shopping off until the week before Christmas. Can you say genius idea? Oh well, Francie had some shopping to do (unlike me, she had finished her Christmas shopping a very long time ago) and offered to pick me up after work and then we could go shopping together.

And that was in five…four….three…two…one.

"Yes!" I exclaimed, eliciting a laugh from the one year old I was entertaining and a glare from Marcia. I sent an apologetic look to her and smiled down at the baby. "I'm out of here." I said, quickly grabbing my bag and running from the daycare before Marcia could think of a reason to make me stay.

Francie was right on time. Another sign of God's good will towards me and I waved at her as she pulled up to the curb.

"Hey Syd," She said as I got into the car.

"Hey Fran," I replied, twisting in my seat to see if my favorite six month old was in the back seat. She was and she giggled when she saw me. "And hello to you too." Allison giggled again. I smiled and turned to Francie. "To the mall?"

"To the mall," Francie replied.

About halfway there, she turned and asked. "Any word from Kady yet?"

I huffed and shook my head. "No."

Francie laughed. "Six weeks."

"Yeah, yeah," I grumbled.

Instead of being a nice sister, I made a bet with Francie that Kady would come running back or at least call by the time two months had passed. Two weeks later and there was still no word from Kady. I wasn't too worried, I figured she'd come around. However, losing my bet with Francie was not an option.

Mom and Dad, however, were worried. They spent many an evening talking on the phone about something. I tried to listen in on their conversation once but the second I put the phone to my ear, both Mom and Dad yelled "Get off the phone, Sydney!" I hung up pretty fast. What I want to know is 1) how they heard me –I had the phone on mute!- and 2) how they knew it was me -again, it was on mute! I swear, my parents should be spies or something.

Francie laughed at me again, but left the topic alone as we searched for a parking spot –another curse of late holiday shopping- and then finally upon finding one, fighting our way through the crowds –more of the curse- to a designer outlet. Francie didn't really have the money to buy tons at designer places. Me on the other hand, I'm not entirely sure what my dad does for a living but whatever it was, he makes a crapload of money.

Francie grabbed the dressing room before I had the chance to really look around, so that meant I was on babysitting duty for the time being. I didn't care though. I like Allison.

My cell phone however…it's not in my good will at the moment.

Balancing Allison with one arm, I reached into my pocket and pulled out of the offending object. "Hello?"

"Sydney? It's Dad."

Crap. I did not want to deal with my father at the moment but considering I'm in a store, spending his money, I decided to let him have five minutes. "Yeah?"

"What are you doing?"

"Shopping," I answered, shortly and shifting Allison's weight a little.

Dad didn't comment on that. "You didn't forget about dinner tomorrow night, did you?"

Shit. Well, yes actually I did. And with good reason. Ever since I can remember, my family has had a Christmas dinner –three days early is not a Christmas dinner, I might add- with my dad's long time friend's family, the Devlins. Oh God, did I hate dinner with the Devlins. One, it was boring as hell. Two, I have a major dislike for the Devlins in general. Three, Travis Devlin. He's this retard who got it in his head that we were dating, keep in mind he was eight and I was seven when he came up with this. That's right, it's been nine years and the stupid ass can't get it through his thick skull that I have never been nor will I ever be his girlfriend. I have a good excuse now and his name starts with an 'M' and a 'V'.

"Of course not, Dad," I replied, smoothly.

I don't think he bought my lie –I'm telling you, he should be a spy!- because the line was silent for about a minute. "Tomorrow night. Six o'clock." He said, shortly.

I resisted the urge to give him a smart remark. "Okay, Dad." He hung up without saying good-bye. Typical Dad. I sighed and turned to Allison. "I say he's crazy." I said, pretending to be serious while talking to a baby.

Suddenly, two arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me against someone, someone obviously male. "I think you're crazy," He whispered in my ear before kissing my throat.

My first thought was to kick this psycho's ass but that was before I heard his voice and I couldn't help but grin. "Not in front of the baby, big boy." I teased.

Vaughn laughed and rest his head on my shoulder. "And how is my favorite date today?" He asked, jokingly. Just about two months now and the joke that he is dating Allison still stands.

I laughed. "Well, Allison is in a very good mood today. She's with her favorite Aunt Sydney."

"That's a good reason," Vaughn answered, seriously. "I would be in a good mood too if Sydney was around all the time." He started to kiss my neck again and I stepped out of his arms.

"Vaughn, seriously, not with Allison around." I gave him the look that said back off or else and he nodded.

I think I have found my one weakness. And his name starts with an 'M' and a 'V'. Two weeks ago, Vaughn was just my rather cute guy friend. Now I think he's my very cute boyfriend. He has been hanging out with me a lot. And now in addition to sitting with me, Francie, and Allison at lunch everyday, he tends to bring me chocolate as well. I like the chocolate. Well, I can deal with this. Just as long as Vaughn learns the rules and play nice. Other than that, I think that this might go my way.

"So…" He started, and I narrowed my eyes at him a little. "It's the weekend before Christmas and you're in a mall."

"So are you," I pointed out.

He nodded. "Yes, but I have a good reason."

"So do I."

"Let's hear it."

"You first."

He laughed. "I'm looking for a Christmas present for my sister. Now it's your turn."

I smiled, wistfully. "Well…I'm searching for a Christmas present…for everyone on my list."

He laughed again. "Am I on that list?"

"Of course. Am I on yours?"

"You have been since the day I taught you about the wonders of the Jedi Mind Trick." He replied.

I think I blushed –damn Michael Vaughn for making me blush, damn him!- and to cover it up, I busied myself with entertaining Allison.

"Syd?" He asked and I looked up. "What are you doing on New Year's?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. What kind of question is that? Well…I know what kind of question that is, but it's not one I've heard for awhile. "Nothing. Why?"

"Cause my Crazy Aunt Trish…" –I smiled- "…being the crazy person that she is, decided to have a New Year's Eve party this year and I want you to come."

"Vaughn…I don't know…" I knew what 'New Year's Eve party' meant and that was breaking the rules and not playing nice.

He shook his head, rapidly. "No, I didn't mean it like that kind of invitation." He said, quickly and if I didn't have as tight of grip on Allison as I did, I probably would have dropped her I was so relieved. "No…I just don't want to be stuck alone all night with my aunt and her crazy old people friends."

I laughed, a shaky laugh –I think I was still wearing off the party scare- and smiled at him. "And you never once thought of inviting Eric?"

"Of course I did," He answered. "He's coming too."

"Then you wouldn't be alone with your aunt and her crazy old people friends." I pointed out.

"True…but who would I have to kiss at midnight?"

I laughed. "I'll come but what about your other date?"

"You mean Allison?" He asked and I nodded. "Well…I'd much rather kiss her Aunt Sydney." I laughed. "And Eric would much rather kiss her Aunt Sydney's friend Francie." He does realize that Francie is more than just Allison's Aunt Sydney's friend, right? Let's hope so…

"Does that mean you want Francie to come as well?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yep, special request from Mr. Weiss himself."

"I'll ask her."

"Does that mean you're coming to my Crazy Aunt Trish's party?" He asked, hopefully.

"That means I'm coming to your Crazy Aunt Trish's party."