Disclaimer: nope, not mine

Hey , forgot to put this in the first chapter but this story will be a bit AU, because Craig obviously isn't going anywhere. Tahnk you to everyone who reviewed the first chapter, especially those who followedover from "Eggnog..." here it goes,

"Hey Smelly, wait up! A male voice called out to Ellie as she was exiting The Dot, black coffee to-go in hand.

Smelly. It was an insult really. He was saying that she stunk, gave off a putrid odor, caused flowers to wilt as she walked by, and all the other things that being "smelly" implied. Okay, so maybe she knew that's not what he meant, but still.There was still the fact that her name was Ellie and HE called her Smelly, and it was so utterly pepto-bismal-y and rhyme-y and cutesy and she-

She loved it. Craig Manning had an affectionate pet name for her and her alone. Sure, she had heard him call Manny "sweetie" and "baby" but come on, those were so generic and overused. He could call any girl "sweetie" (not that he would, of course) but he only had one Smelly.

"Smelly, hey I'm glad I found you, I was hoping that you'd be here!" he said with a smile as he caught up with her, cheeks red from the brisk last day of December air, and chin good and scruffy after not having to shave for school for a few weeks. She loved guys with beards.

"Hey Craig, what's up?" she inquired, lacing her fingers around the cheap styrofoam to-go cup in an effort to extract a little warmth from it. Damn, it was cold outside, why hadn't she worn gloves again?

"I wanted to make sure that you and Jimmy were coming to the party at Marco's tonight."

Jimmy? Why did he want Jimmy to come? Didn't he remember Marco's last party, the one where Jimmy hadn't been in attendance and where he, Craig Manning, had kissed her, Ellie Nash, under the mistletoe? Or maybe that was just it, maybe he did remember and that was why he was so anxious for Jimmy to be there, to keep Ellie away from him.

"You know Craig," She answered with a certain huff in her voice, " Jimmy and I are only "talking." It's not like we are going out exclusively or anything, and even if we were I am perfectly capable of going to a party by myself thank you very much! I don't need to hang around and be some guy's arm candy for the night. But to answer your question, yes I am going, but as for Jimmy if you want to know you'll just have to ask him yourself.

Raising his arms in front of his face to protect himself, Craig was obviously taken aback by Ellie's outburst. Good going Nash, open mouth, insert foot.

"Calm down there little lady," he said with just a hint of a smile on his face as she stood feeling like a complete fool and trying to appear enrapt in drinking her coffee, which by now was lukewarm and disgusting. "I was only asking because you and Marco are friends, and Jimmy and Marco are friends, and you and Jimmy, and Marco are all my friends and I just wanted to ring in the New Year with my friends!"

Friends. What a cowardly word, Ellie mused to herself as Craig continued to ramble. "I like you, but as a friend", "I think we are better off as friends", and "can't we still be friends?" what a bunch of crap, she thought. Then came from Craig's mouth one particular statement that jolted her out of her cynical daydream and back down to earth.

"And since Manny and I have decided to take a little break from "us," I figured it would be fun for the whole band to hang out tonight."

Wait, what? Did she just hear what she thought she did? No way, she had had one too many catastrophic New Year's for her luck to suddenly take a turn for the better now. Quit it with the internal monologues, Nash, he's still talking to you!

"Yeah," she replied coolly, trying to play if off as though Craig and Manny's "Break" wasn't the best news she had heard all season. "Well, I'm not too big on New Year's, but I know Marco would throw an absolute fit if I didn't go. He does get so worked up over the holidays."

"Well, I for one am glad you are going to be there," Craig said, his eyes glittering deviously, "I certainly had fun hanging out with you at his Christmas party, and after all, a guy's gotta have someone to kiss at midnight. See you in a coupla hours, Smelly!"

And with that he was gone, jogging down the sidewalk as though he didn't just cause the unshakable Ellie Nash to spit out her coffee all over the place.

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