A week later it was Christmas. And Diana was feeling more depressed about being alone than she ever had before. Not only was she alone without her mother for another year, but she wasn't home either.
"Another year and I'm going to cook a full course meal for one person and eat leftovers for a week and a half," Diana thought to herself. "God I'm pathetic."
She heard another bang from next door.
"Well what if….. no that's stupid. Like they'd wanna spend Christmas with a solo bachelorette." Diana sat down. "But what's more pathetic," she thought suddenly. "The girl who eats Christmas dinner for a family alone, or the girl who's too shy to ask the culinary impaired neighbors if they want to eat something worth eating."
Giving an exasperated sigh, she sat up, and put on some shoes, and walked over to Connor's door.
Murphy was the one who answered it. He looked incredibly surprised to see her, which, after she thought about it, seemed to make sense. He, after all, had no idea who she was.
"Um…. Hi…" she began, not entirely sure what to say to anyone besides Connor. "I don't know if Connor told you about me… um… I'm Diana…. I live next door."
Murphy stared at her blankly.
"Um… he isn't around is he?" she asked hopefully. Murphy's silence was making her incredibly nervous.
"Diana?" Connor's voice broke the silence. Diana nearly melted in relief. Murphy backed away, still looking a little confused. "What are you doing here?"
"I just…. I know how you said that no one you live with can cook, and I'm probably going to be….. well, you know… by myself again, and I just wanted to know if you guys wanted to um… eat… dinner… I mean… spend Christmas…….. with… you know… me." She stopped, pretty sure she had covered all the bases. Connor seemed amused at how flustered she was.
"I thought you'd never ask," he said gently, calming her down. "I'll just get us dressed so we can enter your apartment without contaminating anything and we'll hang out for the day."
Diana sighed. That was just what she was hoping for. She nodded happily, still a little miffed when Connor closed the door without giving her a kiss. But A) men are idiots, she thought, and B) he'd be over in twenty minutes or so anyway, so what did it matter.
"Get dressed," said Connor when he went back into the kitchen.
"What the fuck for?" Murphy still had a hangover from the night previous.
"We have… plans for today?"
"Well thanks Connor, why don't you tell me what the fuck's going on? Who was that?"
"Neighbor." Connor was distracted, trying to find clean pants.
"Well how the fuck do you know her."
"Eh… I've seen her around," Connor grinned victoriously, brandishing clean pants. He threw them at Murphy. "Brush your teeth."
"Why are we doing this again?"
"She's alone today. She hasn't got any family. There's no reason for her to be alone. And she can cook," he added as an afterthought.
"She can?" Murphy brightened.
"Yes. I've gotta wake up Da. Grab some beer, she doesn't drink it. And try not to curse!"
Murphy raised his eyebrows.
"Diana this is my brother Murphy," said Connor, gesturing to the now smiling MacManus brother. "And this is my Da."
"Tis a pleasure to meet ye lass," said Da, shaking Diana's hand. Diana grinned.
"And you. And you Murphy." She shook Murphy's hand.
"I'm sorry about earlier," he said. "Connor didn't tell us much about ye at all so I kinda drew a blank."
"It's okay. You probably would have been confused even if you had known who I was. I was just so awkward." Diana laughed nervously. "Well," she gestured to the room. "Make yourselves comfortable I guess. I've just started some of the simpler… um… food? Just now… so…"
"We'll be fine," said Connor, almost wincing at how awkward the situation had suddenly become.
"Exactly," said Murphy, catching on. "Besides, we brought beer."
Diana laughed, and looked at Connor.
"Would it be okay if I… I mean… can I help you in the kitchen?"
"You mean and teach someone in your family to actually cook edible food? Absolutely," said Diana, feeling a little better now. Connor smiled sheepishly and followed her into the kitchen. Murph plopped himself down on the sofa, and Da took the armchair.
"Is that okay?" she whispered to Connor when they'd reached the kitchen. "Them being in there? I mean… I feel like I should hang around but I have to finish this."
"They're fine," said Connor. "Murph and Da can always find something to talk about."
"Oh good, then I won't feel like such a spaz."
Connor laughed, and then proceeded to stare, open-mouthed, at the sight that was the kitchen.
There was stuff everywhere. It seemed like every single kitchen appliance was running, and it looked like Diana had been at work for more than a day. There were three pies on the table, and a turkey in the oven, and vegetables of various assortments lying about cooked and uncooked.
"Hey, the shrimp's just about ready… open the freezer and you'll find it."
"Shrimp? For Christmas?" Connor looked stunned.
"Hey. I refuse to change my routine for you Boston dwellers. In L.A. mom and I had shrimp. So here in Boston we're going to have shrimp and… here," she thrust a bowl of something at him. "Turn on the stove, we're going to fry these up."
"What are they?" Connor looked bewildered.
"Oysters."
Da and Murphy seemed only barely able to contain their laughter when Connor came out bearing a tray of shrimp.
"She said she wanted ye to be able to eat something," he said shortly, and Da could tell he was a little embarrassed at having been turned into a busboy. And when he did go back into the kitchen Da and Murph really did laugh, though Murphy's had a bit of a bitter tinge to it.
"It's almost ready, but I think maybe another hour before we actually start into all of this," she gestured to the kitchen. "What?" Connor was staring at her and smiling. "What!"
"Do you have any idea," he said seriously, "how absolutely beautiful you look when you're orderin me around?" He walked forward and wrapped him arms around her.
"I'll do worse than that," she laughed, kissing him. "But first, help me mash potatoes."
"Now that I can do," he grinned again, catching the utensil she threw at him.
"Jesus darlin," said Da, after having the first mouthful of turkey. "Where did ye learn to cook like this."
"My mother," said Diana happily, grinning as she watched all of their faces.
"She must have been fantastic. You're a better cook than me mum," said Murph.
"Aint that the truth," Da helped himself to the potatoes.
"What is this?" said Murphy, lifting up a bowl. "It's orange and gooey and… are those marshmallows?"
"Aye," Connor replied thoughtfully. "Try some."
Murph raised an eyebrow but put some on his plate. Diana giggled.
"I have to tell ye lass. I know I've never tasted your cookin before, but ye really have outdone yourself."
"Excellent," Diana smiled through her green beans. "It's been a long time since I've cooked for anyone but me."
"Well that's a relief," said Murphy. Diana stared at him, puzzled. "Because after this love," he raised his beer. "I'm sure as hell not letting ye cook for anyone else again."
Diana smiled, deciding not to look too far into that statement at this point, and just laughed when she saw the nods of agreement from Da and Connor.
"Connor," Murph teetered precariously on the edge of his chair, his cheeks red with alcohol. "Tell Diana about our last day in the meat packing plant."
"Oh God. Diana there was this woman… Christ I don't even know if you can even call her a woman."
"She kicked Connor in the nuts," said Murphy, laughing so hard Diana was really afraid he'd either spill something or fall of his chair.
"Would ye shutup? Now she won't even hear the story. Ye jumped the gun again Murph. Don't tell me to tell a story and then interrupt me."
"Sorry Connor," said Murphy through his giggles, and then he really did fall off the chair.
"Oh!" Diana snorted, a bit tipsy herself, and wandered over to the other side of the table to help Murphy get up from the tile floor.
"I think it may be time to go into the living room where they can't break anything," said Da, lifting Connor up off the seat.
"Let go Da, I can take care of myself," Connor managed to shove off Da and stand up on his own, and he stumbled into the living room and fell on the couch. Diana picked Murphy up off the ground, wincing a bit because he was so heavy. She deposited him roughly on the other side of the couch, and pulled in a wooden chair from the kitchen, letting Da claim the armchair.
"Do you mind if I have a cigar lass?" said Da. Normally Diana might have said that yes, she did mind. But she was so happy to not be alone in the house, and so much more drunk than she'd been in awhile that she just made a kind of salute with her left hand while she fell into her chair that he took rightly as permission to light up. Murphy lit a cigarette, and offered one to Connor, who turned it down.
"Would ye believe this idiot?" Murphy slapped his brother on the back. "The man stopped smoking no less than three weeks ago, for no apparent reason."
"Murph, come on," Connor looked embarrassed.
"No, seriously. And he disappears for hours at a time during the day. I've no idea where the fuck he goes. I mean Connor," he put his arm around his brother. "If you're nervous about telling me ye like lads, you've no need to be. I've known it for years."
There was a pause after this statement, and it seemed as though Connor's inebriated mind was just catching the meaning behind Murph's words. And once he did he shrugged off Murph's arm and shoved his brother away. Murph went to hug him and all at once the boys were scrappin on the floor.
"Are they always like this?" Diana asked lazily from the chair she was sprawled out in.
"Aye."
Diana was the first one to wake up the next day. The minute she opened her eyes she winced and rolled right out of her chair. The sun had been shining full blast right in her face. Da had falled asleep on the armchair, snoring softly. Murphy and Connor were still on the couch. Diana sat still for a moment, afraid to move lest she wake anyone, and then her need for coffee outweighed her desire for silence. She tip-toed to the kitchen and, thinking she might need it even if the family didn't want any, she made a full eight cup pot of coffee. She left her own in the kitchen and brought one out to the living room to see if she could wake up Connor.
She held the coffee in front of his face for about a minute before his eyelids flickered and opened. He smiled.
"Hey," she whispered. "I made you some coffee."
"Oh my God you are beautiful," Connor drew himself up out of the couch and leaned forward to take the cup.
"I know," Diana got a silly smug look on her face. She stood up and walked out to the kitchen, and Connor followed.
"Thank you," he said after a moment.
"For what?"
"For choosing to be with me instead of being alone today."
"Getting sentimental aren't we?"
"I guess." Connor downed the last of his coffee. It looked for a minute like he was going to say something else, but he stopped and just walked over behind Diana and poured himself some more coffee.
"Hey," Diana poked him in the side with a spatula. "Don't be too excited with that coffee. Your brother and Da will probably need some when they wake up. Which reminds me," she poked him harder. "Why haven't you told them anything about me?"
Connor thought about it for a minute, pouring a little sugar into his coffee.
"Well," he began, trying to find the words. "I just don't think they'd understand. They'd act a little funny because of the way I am with girls."
"What do you mean the way you are with girls?"
"Connor!" Murphy called from the living room. "Where the fuck are you?"
Diana flinched. Connor put down his coffee, relieved, and walked swifty to the living room, leaving Diana there with no answers.
"And speaking of no answers," Diana thought, stabbing a bit of leftover turkey with a knife. "Why can't I get a lead on the Saints. This is ridiculous." She could blame a bit of it on not knowing the area and not having the street connections to keep tabs on anyone, but the long and short of it was that she just wasn't getting anywhere. Maybe she could ask Connor…
Diana stood stock still. Connor… his brother and Da… he said…. OH MY GOD! Diana put her hand on her mouth. Oh how could I be so STUPID! Connor was a Saint, a SAINT, the saints she was FUCKING LOOKING FOR. Connor and Murphy MacManus and their father. She'd spent all this time trying to find them and they'd been living next-door. It was absolutely unbelievable. No wonder Connor hadn't told her that the people he was living with were his family. No wonder he'd joked about being a Saint. No wonder she never spent any real time with him when the crimes had been taking place, which lead to her next thought.
Connor, her friend, with whom she'd put quite a lot of trust with in the past few weeks, went out and killed people at night.
What the hell was she going to do?
