AN: Angsty, I know. But sometimes, we can all use a friend — especially around the holidays.

ooo

Kathryn listlessly paged through the offerings on the vid and took another sip of her whiskey. A glance out the window: Still drizzling, with wisps of fog crowning the street lights.

Reports were sitting on her desk, but the idea of working on them tonight struck her as pathetic. She was debating an early bedtime when the front door buzzer sounded and set Ollie to barking.

"At this hour?" she muttered as she checked the camera feed. "Tom?" She almost didn't recognize him with the beard.

"Hi," he said hesitantly. "I could use a cup of coffee; was wondering if you'd like to join me? If you're busy, I …"

"I'll be right there," she said, and practically ran to the door.

He had the slightly disheveled look of someone who'd been drinking. He'd also been outside for a while: His fleece jacket and baseball-style hat were wet, as was the small duffle slung over his shoulder.

Tom murmured his thanks as he stepped inside and bent over to give Ollie a quick head scratch. He glanced at the Christmas tree in the corner of the living room. "I wasn't sure you'd be home," he said.

"Mom's in the Floridas; Phee's at the in-laws. We'll celebrate on New Year's," she explained. "Get out of that wet jacket," she mock-ordered. "Coffee's on me."

She left him to set up the coffee. "Have you eaten recently?" she called. "No, I suppose not," he replied flatly.

She made him a sandwich and brought it along with the coffee. She studied him as he ate: The poor man looked like he hadn't slept much. She wasn't surprised. Tom had been uncharacteristically quiet the past few months, and Harry had alluded to trouble at home. Apparently, it all blew apart: B'Elanna left and took Miral. Tom filed for divorce. "And a happy holiday to all," she thought sadly.

"Taking a walk in the rain?" she asked. He shrugged. "I moved out of the apartment today. Sent my stuff to storage."

"I'm sorry," she said softly, then a disquieting thought hit. "Do you have a place to go?" She knew Harry wasn't back until February.

"I'm supposed to go to my folks' house. But they're spending the holiday with Kathleen's family on Betazed. I couldn't be in that house by myself tonight. Too many bad memories, I guess. So I just walked around, stopped in the occasional bar for a drink. I ended up in your neighborhood and thought I'd take a chance."

"I'm glad you did," she said sincerely. "You're always welcome here, you know."

She watched him relax as they talked over coffee refills and a box of Christmas cookies, a present from mom. Ollie took up position next to Tom, laying her head on his leg — he was feeding her the occasional cookie, which Kathryn ignored. He didn't talk about why his family fell apart, and she didn't push.

He finally looked at the chronometer on the mantle. "Oh, hell, it's late. I should get out of here," he said as he moved to get up.

She looked at the chronometer, too, and winced. "I'm pretty sure that the shuttle and transport services shut down early this evening. And I doubt your dad left his personal transporter on, or I'd send you over."

He frowned, then shrugged. "I can try for a taxi."

The words fell out of her mouth. "Look, I do have a guest room; you're welcome to stay tonight, and tomorrow, if you'd like."

He smiled gratefully. "Thanks. I don't want to intrude on your plans, though."

"Outside of calling my mom and walking Ollie at the Botanical Gardens; haven't seen the Christmas displays …" She shook her head.

His blue eyes darkened. "That's not right, Kathryn."

"I'd say the same for you, but here we are. If you're here, we'll have a decent Christmas dinner. Not to mention that I haven't whipped your butt at pool for a while."

He smiled for the first time that night. "All right, you have a deal. I hope you have something in the house to cook," he teased.

She pointed him to the guest room and the clothing refresher; then took care of the evening chores and prepared for bed.

She was about to get into bed when she heard the refresher buzz; a few moments later, Tom appeared at her door, holding his jacket.

"I wanted to say thank you. I really appreciate this," he said.

"Ollie and I are both glad that you're here," she said warmly.

He nodded. "Well, good night. And Merry Christmas," he added before he headed to his room.

She got into bed and reached down to give the dog a goodnight pat. "Well, Ollie, I don't know about merry, but it could be a good Christmas after all."