A/N: WOOHOO! More than 100 reviews already! Thank you so much!
DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING!
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ANGEL'S POV:
"There are exactly twenty days 'till Christmas, guys! I'm counting down!" Angel Schunard squealed. They had all gathered at his house to study for a Science test together. His father hadn't returned home from work yet and didn't know about the gathering. He never liked it when he wasn't informed about things...Angel could only hope his father's reaction would be calm and collected like he had been the past couple of days.
Maureen nodded enthusiastically. "I've made my list of stuff for Santa Clause to get me already!"
"You still believe in Santa?" Joanne asked.
Maureen shrugged. "I'd like to...it brings a certain kinda magic when you try to fall asleep on Christmas Eve...And you feel warm and fuzzy inside. You know?""
"No," Roger said flatly, reaching to grab a cookie out of the plate Angel's mother had brought upstairs to them.
Mimi laughed. "You're a dummy, Rog." She smiled at him and he smiled back, quickly looking down at the floor.
"Aren't we supposed to be studying instead of watching you two flirt and spread lovey-dovey cooties?" Maureen glared daggers at Roger.
"What the heck are 'lovey-dovey cooties'? That phrase doesn't even exist, dude!" Roger muttered.
"It does in the Dictionary of Maureen Johnson, so there!"
"Guys, guys, stop!" Mark broke up the fight between the two friends. "Okay, I'm gonna ask the first question and pick who I wanna ask it to. Tom, what's every living thing made up of?"
"Cells," Tom answered. Mark nodded and gave him his notebook so that Tom could ask the next question.
"Hey, Angel, what's the difference between a vertebrate and invertebrate?"
They continued the answer-then-ask method for a full hour (Roger, who hadn't bothered to even glace at his notes, had gotten most of the questions wrong), until there was a knock on the door, interrupting them. The door opened and Angel's father was standing in the doorway.
"Angelo, I didn't know you had company..." He looked around the room at all the kids, unflinching, his expression unreadable.
Angel blinked, standing up. "Uh, mom was home when I came back from school and I asked her if I could have everyone over to study. She said that it was fine...she made us cookies and everything before she went shopping."
"She never called me at work and told me," Mr. Schunard replied.
"Um...I thought...she...would have..." Angel was feeling a combination of fright and embarrassment...he was wondering if his father would do anything bad when there were people around...
He motioned for Angel to come closer to him. Angel gulped and walked towards his father, and glanced back at his friends who were all staring wide-eyed at him.
Mr. Schunard grabbed Angel by the shirt and pulled him closer, whispering in his ear, "Next time, you tell your mother to freakin' call me. I wanna know when there are damn people in my house. You hear?"
Angel nodded quickly, and his father shoved him away and walked out of the room.
"Angel, you okay?" Tom asked after a long moment of silence.
Angel looked up from staring at the ground and smiled a little. "Yeah. I'm fine." He wandered over to sit down next to Mimi. "Whose turn was it again?"
Silence.
"Come on, guys, you weren't like this before. If you're gonna sit there and feel bad for me because my dad's being an idiot, you might as well just leave," Angel snapped.
More silence.
"It's just..." Joanne finally said, in almost a whisper, "It's so horrible...how he treats you and stuff."
Tom sighed loudly and looked down at the ground.
"I'm used to it," Angel said, "Don't worry about me. Cheer up! You guys are never like this. Most of the time you're either happy, hyper, or ridiculously spontaneous."
"What's spontaneous?" Roger asked.
"Random," Mark answered, adjusting his glasses.
Roger nodded in realization. "Oh, right. I knew that."
"Angel, you know we're here for ya, right?" Mimi asked, flinging an arm around her friend's shoulders.
Angel smiled. "Yeah. Yeah, I know."
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TOM'S POV:
They ended up studying for another hour, and, feeling confident about the Science test, the group of friends decided to call their parents to come and pick them up. They all said goodbye to each other and soon it was only Joanne, Tom, and of course, Angel left in the house.
"My mom's always late," Tom muttered.
"Mine too," replied Joanne quietly. She looked outside and said, "Oh, there's my mom! I had an awesome time, Angel, thanks for having me over!"
"No problem. See ya tomorrow, Jo!" Angel waved goodbye to her friend.
Joanne slipped a piece of paper into Tom's hand before slinging her backpack over her shoulders and running out the door.
Tom looked at the piece of looseleaf in his hands. It was folded neatly—very typical of Joanne Jefferson. He slowly opened it up and read what it said inside. There, in neat cursive writing, were the words:
I like you. More than as a friend.
He blinked, rubbed his eyes, and then read the note again. It couldn't be possible. Not Joanne Jefferson...not the Joanne he knew. He didn't know what to think...
He hadn't noticed that Angel had been reading over his shoulder. He whirled around.
"Holy crap, you scared me!"
Angel smirked. "She used the note method. Short and sweet. Good for her! Took her a little while to tell you though..."
"...You knew?"
"You should know by now that I pretty much know everything. Ooh, there's your mom!" The smirk still on his face, Angel ushered a bewildered Thomas Collins out of the house.
Before he started walking to his car, Angel asked, "So, are you gonna write back? Talk to her?"
Tom turned back towards Angel. "I dunno. What do you think I should do?"
Angel giggled and threw his hands up dramatically. "Do what your heart tells you!"
Tom smiled and waved goodbye. He knew that Angel had been joking when he had made that statement, but as he made his way to his car, he wondered if that truly was the best thing to do.