Chapter Two

"Dad!" Ellie cried happily the moment her dad stepped off the bus. She lept into his arms and hugged him for the longest time.
"Hey honey. I missed you. What's been happening while I was gone?"
"Nothing important. I'm so glad your home."
"I am too. C'mon, I wanna see how my lovely wife's been doing."
Of course Mrs. Nash kept herself happily sober since the night before. They shared greetings, and within 10 minutes they were on their way home. What better time to ask her dad to hold an event in the next 48 hours?
"Dad?"
"Yeah, Ell?"
"I was wondering if I could invite my boyfriend Sean over for dinner tomorrow night?"
"I wouldn't mind at all, but doesn't he have his own family to spend the holidays with?"
"Actually...no. He lived with his brother Tracker since he was, like, 8 or something, but in June Tracker moved to Alberta. He's been living on student welfare since but Tracker's gonna stay with him until New Years. He's coming home later tonight."
"Well, I guess there's no reason not to invite them over. Call Sean tomorrow after Tracker comes back."
"OK."

Ellie was more than excited to spend the holidays with Sean. The moment she woke up on Christmas Eve she grabbed the phone and called Sean. It was around 10 am, so she was pretty sure he'd be awake.
"Hullo?"
Ellie was embarassed. She woke up Tracker.
"Hey...Tracker. Is Sean up yet?"
"Uhhhmm...I dunno. Lemme check."

Ellie heard a light 'thud' as Tracker set the phone down. She listened for Sean's reply to Tracker, and waited for him to pick up the phone. She matched what was audible to hber adorable Sean dashing to the phone so quickly and laughed to herself.

"Hey cutie."
"Hi Sean. My dad said you and Tracker could come over tonight for dinner."
"Cool."
"Yeah...but, we kinda...have a tradition. Gifts on Christmas Eve. Sorry I didn't mention it before."
"Oh...no problem. Me and Tracker could leave before then."
"No! I mean...well, that's the thing. I wanted you to stay. You and Tracker."
Sean pondered about that for a moment. "I'll stay. But..."
Ellie paused, waiting for Sean's responce."...But what?"
"Um...never mind. I'll tell you later."
"OK. Bye."
"See ya tonight."
Both of them hung up at the same time. Ellie beamed and ran upstairs to change. Sean, on the other hand, turned around, expecting to see a confused and bored older brother.

And he did.
"We're gonna spend Christmas Eve dinner with Ellie's family and stay while they exchange gifts and stuff is that ok with you? K. Good." Sean explained swiftly. On attempt to go back to his room without having to explain any further, Sean found himself dangling six inches above the ground.
"Yeah. I totally understood that. What now?"
Sean sighed. "Ellie invited you and I over to her house for dinner tonight, but her family doesn't open gifts on Christmas, they open gifts on Christmas Eve. And I promised I'd stay."
"And why did you promise that?"
"Because I completley and fully understand that being a guest in a household is rude during a special family event." Sean answered, as if he'd been given this lecture many times in the past.
"That's what I wanted to hear. Now go call her back."
Tracker dropped Sean on the ground and handed him the phone, which Sean took upstairs.
"Hi Sean."
"Hey. Tracker sent me to call you to explain a false story about him having something really important to do that I have to do as well that we can't possibly get out of so we have to leave right after dinner."
"Figured. But at least we can spend the whole afternoon together tomorrow, right?"
"Of course. But after you're done opening gifts and whatever you guys do, meet me outside The Dot tonight, K?"
"I'll be there aorund 9:30."
"OK. Bye."
"Talk to you later."

Sean reached up and pressed the doorbell in. He was dressed in a white shirt and jeans, but Tracker had slid off his beanie on the way out to the car. He tied a bandana around his head in time for Ellie to open the door, which Tracker decided was pointless to argue over.

Ellie opened the door with a smile on her face. Still clad in as gothic as her parents would let her stay, her hair was down and neatly combed, and her parents pryed off her chokers and replaced them with a loose silver chain. She was wearing a plaid skirt, black boots and a white long, bell-sleeved shirt.
"You look lovely. I took the liberty of buying you a few things on our date a couple weeks ago." Sean smiled and handed Ellie a small gift box. Ellie gushed and kissed Sean on the cheek.
"Come in. My parents are almost done cooking and dinner will be ready in about 10 minutes.

During dinner, Tracker engaged himself in pleasent conversation with Ellie's parents. They seemed very approving, wihch made Ellie very happy.
"So, Sean, how do you stand in the midst of all this?" Ellie's dad inquired.
This caught Sean by surprise. He was engrossed in imagining how his date with Ellie after dinner would go. "Hmm?"
"Your living status. Don't you think you'll ever get lonely, living by yourself?"
Ellie sent a death glare to her dad, knowing he should have had some common sense as to whether or not he should actually ask her boyfriend if he likes living alone.
"Actually, no. I invite my friends over when I get bored. I know how to live off the student welfare properly, and I go out when I know I have enough. But thanks for asking."
Mr. Nash looked satisfied. Sean leaned over and whispered to Ellie.
"So? What's with your dad? He seemed...worried. That I live alone."
"Don't mind him, he's a parent. You know how they get."
Sean raised an eyebrow.
"Sorry...I mean...well, you know. Right?"
Sean rolled his eyes and returned to eating.

"Hey Sean! Over here."
Sean spotted Ellie calling to him and jogged over to her. The moon was full, making Ellie's eyes glisten. Small bits of snow fluttered downward, and by the coating on her hair and specks on her jacket, Sean knew he'd kept her waiting. It was only 9:35, so she must have gotten there early.
"Hey. Whatcha got there?" Sean aknowledged a small item in her hands.
"The gift you gave me. I didn't want to open it without you being there."
Sean smirked. "Well, hold onto that. Come on." Sean wrapped and arm aorund Ellie's waist and led her into his car.
"I'm taking you somewhere special."
Sean pulled into the school parking lot. He parked the car, got out, and opened Ellie's door.
"Such a gentleman." Ellie giggled.
"Don't get used to it. The whole deal with December. It kinda rubs off on me."
Ellie follwed Sean up the revene. He found the marked clearing, and kicked the stick out of the way so Ellie couln't tell he actually planned where to go. Talk about cheesy.
"I've...always been a night kinda guy. I was born on the night of a 'blue moon'."
"That's pretty cool."
Ellie really liked the gifts Sean bought her. The keytag, a few chokers, a Happy Bunny button that stated 'School prepares you for the real world. Which also sucks.', and a gift cerftificate for Spencers. Plain crap.
Laying down in a random tree, staring up at the stars, Ellie fell fast asleep in Sean's arms. He pulled a small box out of his pocket and pulled out a gold chain suspending such a silver pendant that it shone black, carved as a rose. He wrapped it around Ellie's neck and clasped it shut.
"Merry X-mas El." He whispered.

Oh uh...I find convineince in the characters being able to drive...even though oddly enough it seems like they're still 14 or 15. So...just pretend this is a year after...Holiday or so. The 'grade 9s' are now 'grade 10s' and they already took their driving courses. Oh I dono. They can drive.