Chapter 4: That Darned Mistletoe

"Love lights more fire than hate extinguishes." -Ella Wilcox

"I finally met Derrick Harrington," Massie announced, opening the door to Kristen's bedroom.

Kristen shut her book close and turned around, her face a mixture of confusion and frustration. "Huh?"

Massie smiled deviously, slowly walking toward her sisters bed. Once she got near it, she belly-flopped on the soft bedspread. "He's really cute, you know."

"What in the world are you talking about?" Kristen asked, a frown forming in her blond eyebrows.

Massie bit her lips, hugging her knees to her chest. "I especially like the way he smiles. You know, mischievously but innocently at the same time."

Kristen honestly thought her sister had gone insane. As Massie continued to ramble on about Derrick's "cute" features, she couldn't help but think how much she wished that Derrick would fall off a cliff. First, he makes her boyfriend dump her. Then, he turns her ex-best friend to his side. And now he cast a spell on her sister. I'm so lucky, Kristen thought sarcastically as she shook her head.

"And he's really nice, too. He helped mom carry our shopping bags to the car," Massie continued, an unreadable glint in her amber eyes.

"Mass."

"Mom still can't believe you don't like such a nice and handsome boy."

"Massie."

"He told me to say hi, by the way. Don't you think that's so conside-"

"MASSIE!"

Massie's eyes widened in surprise as she innocently replied with a, "What?"

Kristen was fuming by now. How dare she "what?" her? Kristen had always made sure to tell Massie how Derrick turned her days from happy to frustrating ones. You know why? To avoid this happening. To avoid her sister falling in love with the darned blonde who always complicated her life. The worst part was, that Massie already had a boyfriend —who was about to be dumped by a worthless soccer goalie.

"Why are you all of a sudden talking like a girl who just fell in love?" Kristen asked, trying hard not to raise her voice.

Massie inspected her recently manicured nails. "What are you talking about?"

Kristen blinked and decided to ignore Massie's obvious attempt to annoy her. And for a minute I thought she liked him, Kristen mentally laughed. As if. Besides the fact that Massie was one year older than Derrick, she was obviously in love with Landon Crane, her cute college boyfriend.

"Okay, I'll go straight to the point," Massie sighed after sensing Kristen's determination to ignore her taunts.

Kristen nodded, re-reading the same paragraph over and over again, trying to get Massie into thinking she didn't care about what she thought of Derrick. When in reality, millions of questions concerning him were floating in her mind. Massie had once mentioned that Kristen might be in denial about a crush on Derrick (which was ridiculous and disgusting, by the way), and she didn't want Massie to think that.

"Does Derrick always try to outsmart you in class?"

Kristen clutched her book tighter as she nodded, trying to hide the scowl that was threatening to form in her pink lips.

"Does he always come up to you in the hallways for no reason at all?"

"Yup," Kristen murmured.

"He always interrupted you when Dempsey and you were about to go all lovey-dovey with each other, right?"

And he made him dump me, Kristen thought bitterly, giving Massie a curt nod.

"And he-"

"How is this going straight to the point?" Kristen exclaimed, setting her book down.

Massie smiled. "It's settled, then."

"What's settled?" Kristen raised her voice even higher.

Massie leaned closer, a smirk slowly forming on her face. "That Derrick thinks you're the prettiest girl in school. That Derrick wants you all for himself. That Derrick wants to kiss you and hold you tight and-"

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, YOU PSYCHO?" Kristen screamed, pressing her hands against her ears. If she heard another of Massie's delusional fantasies, she was going to vomit all over her brand new summer dress.

"I'm saying that Derrick has a crush on you!" Massie held up her arms above her head excitedly, as if she'd just discovered the cure for an incurable disease.

"No he doesn't," Kristen insisted, getting up on her knees. "He made Dempsey dump me, remember? He makes my life a living hell every time I step foot in class! He turned my best friend against me!"

"He was jealous about Dempsey having you. And he obviously pushed you to the pool so Dempsey wouldn't reunite with you. And the reason why he always gets higher grades than you? He wants to impress you!" Massie reasoned.

I shook my head violently. "I won't care if I stain that pretty dress of you with puke."

"You won't puke because you're obviously in love with him, too!" Massie exclaimed, happily.

And that's how you get Kristen to tackle you and hit you uncontrollably with pillows.

"I….don't….like….Derrick!" Kristen said in between whacking her sister with her favorite (and hardest) pillow.

"MY HAIR!" Massie shrieked, trying to get Kristen off her.

"Girls," they heard their mother call out sternly from downstairs. "If one of you ends up hurt, I'm not rushing to the hospital."

Before locking herself in the bathroom, Kristen gave one final glare at Massie.

"Just admit it, you think he has a really cute smile!" Massie taunted as Kristen shut the door.

"Never," Kristen muttered. She began filling her bathtub with water and soap, trying to get her mind off what Massie had said. Because maybe it was true that Kristen liked Derrick's smile.

Maybe she thought it was "brighter than the sun", as Claire would say.

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"Kris, look at the Christmas tree!" Josh exclaimed, pulling my arm toward the living room like an extremely enthusiastic five-year-old.

"Okay, okay," I chuckled, setting down my hot chocolate mug. "Just don't rip my arm off."

Josh immediately let go of my arm. "Sorry."

I fluffed his already scruffy hair and half-smiled. "It's okay. Now what are you so excited about?"

We reached the living room and my eyes instantly widened. In front of me, stood the most beautiful and shiny Christmas tree I'd ever seen.

"I did it all by myself," Josh told me, a proud smile on his face.

Not taking my eyes off the tree, I breathed in. "No way. You've never decorated a Christmas tree in your entire life."

Josh placed his hand on my back, gently pushing me forward. "I know I usually make my maids do it, but your mom asked me for help…and I just couldn't say no."

I lightly punched his buff shoulder. "I guess that's just one of your other hidden talents."

And just like that, Josh's five-year-old attitude was replaced by his snobby one. "I know, right? Who know how many other talents I have, dying to get out? I should put all of my abilities to test, maybe like that-"

"Nice Christmas tree, Josh," Massie cut in, walking into the living room. She was dressed in PINK sweatpants and shirt, her hair up in a tight pony-tail.

"Working out?" Josh asked, caressing one of the tree's branch. I rolled my eyes good-naturedly at this.

"Oh my God…please don't tell me you forgot," Massie begged, sitting down on the sofa.

"Forgot about what?" we both asked in unison.

Massie's eyes widened. "Guys…today's the dance rehearsal. It starts off at ten a.m., and it's already nine o' clock!"

Josh and I looked down at our pajamas, a troubled look crossing our eyes. I know Massie's always been quite peaceful, but when she gets mad…it's better to migrate to another city. Or to another country, just to be safe.

"Nice pajamas," Josh whispered, checking out my Carebears assemble.

"Yours are way nicer," I countered, pointing at his Spiderman pants.

"Guys, this is not the time to discuss about pajamas! I know you might not be attending the wedding, Josh-"

"What?" I interrupted, gazing at Josh.

Josh shrugged apologetically. "I'm not sure, but I might have a movie project coming up the twentieth. Hopefully, my manager will contact me to tell me it'll start until January."

"He'll explain later," Massie muttered angrily. "GO CHANGE, NOW!"

We both scurried off (I swear, I heard Josh whimper) into our respective bedrooms. Before I opened my door, Josh turned to look at me.

"By the way, I hung a mistletoe in the kitchen's entrance," Josh informed me. His tone became deep and flirty. "I hope we get caught underneath it…babe."

He winked before slipping into his room. I began to shake my head, trying hard not to laugh.

After entering my room, I quickly put on the outfit I usually wore when I went to the gym and, after loosely braiding my hair, ran back downstairs.

"Seven minutes...that's a new record for you, Kris," Massie approved, sipping a glass of water. "Unlike your friend."

I sat down next to her. "I bet Josh's still in the process of picking out his underwear. Don't worry, he'll come down in…thirty minutes, or so."

Massie giggled, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. That's when I noticed the beautiful diamond ring in her finger. Guess Derrick has a good taste in jewelry.

"Nice ring," I commented.

Massie's face brightened as she inspected it. "Thanks."

"You know, you never told me how he proposed…or how you met, for that matter," I told her.

Massie grinned, a dreamy look flashing in her eyes. "It's the best first meeting I think I'll ever have. It's quite funny, actually. Remember that daredevil phase I went through a couple of years ago?"

I nodded, and commented sarcastically, "Your best phase yet."

"Shut up," Massie laughed. "Well, I had already tried out every imaginable extreme sport…I had even bungee jumped off a helicopter."

I grimaced, instantly imagining myself in that position. I quickly began feeling dizzy. After thunder, my fear of heights is the greatest of all.

"I had just one thing left on the list. And that was to skydive," Massie continued.

I smiled, knowing what was coming next. Massie had actually mentioned this in one of her visits to L.A. —minus meeting Derrick, of course.

"I was so excited. I thought it was going to be the best experience in my life!"

"Until you stepped foot on the jet."

"Until I stepped foot on that darned aircraft," Massie repeated. "There were like ten other people there, but I didn't care. I began to panic. Everyone was trying to calm me down, telling me everything was going to be alright. But I didn't care, I wanted to step off that thing immediately."

I giggled, imagining one of Massie's panic attacks. She'd already have one before in a roller coaster, and trust me…it wasn't pretty.

"And then I felt this soothing hand in my shoulder," Massie continued, her voice getting softer. "I turned around just to find the most amazing hazel eyes I'd ever seen."

I grinned, letting out a giggle. Don't worry, I'm not planning ways on how to kill Derrick Harrington. We've actually become really close friends (to the point were Josh accused me of replacing him). It'd been a week since we talked in the attic, and every passing day, I looked forward to meet him at coffee shops or his hotel. The downside? Paparazzi were still trying to find me, and I hadn't mustered up the courage to tell anyone about them. So every time I spotted a suspicious person, I had to quickly hide in the nearest place and then explain everything to Derrick (who probably thought I was crazy, especially after accidentally entering a lingerie shop).

"And, well, he somehow managed to calm me down," Massie finished, looking into the distance.

I smiled brightly at her, truly happy for my sister.

"I'm ready!"

We turned to look at Josh climbing down the stairs, looking like a supermodel.

"You're not even gonna dance," I told him, standing up.

"I always try to look my best," came his reply before grabbing our coats and walking outside.

We finally reached the dance studio, where Mrs. Hotz, Derrick, Massie's bridesmaids; Alicia, Claire and Dylan (they'd become friends in yoga class), and Derrick's groomsmen; Dempsey, Cam, Kemp and Chris Plovert, were already waiting.

"Took you long enough," Mrs. Hotz told us once we entered. Mrs. Hotz looked nothing like her son. She was a bit plump, and her shocking blue eyes contrasted perfectly with her golden brown hair. She was wearing her usual button-down shirt and elegant pants, and her traditional playful smile was forming in her lips.

Derrick waved at me, which I gladly returned. I was really happy we were finally friends, and so was Massie by the looks of it. Her face was glowing like New York City at night.

"Alright...listen up, everyone," Mrs. Hotz began. "Here are the pairs for the wedding: Claire, you're with Cam; Alicia, you're with Chris; Dylan, you and your boyfriend will be together-" Insert Dylan's squeal here. "-and Dempsey with Kristen. Josh and I will demonstrate each step." She grinned. "Now…I want everyone to have fun! Remember, try to feel the music. Don't learn the steps robotically. We want it to look as natural as possible."

Dempsey materialized next to me, smiling. "Long time no see…well, except in the TV, of course."

I smiled back, trying hard to calm down the butterflies in my stomach. Not that I still liked him (he was dating Olivia, anyways), it's just that I'm going to dance with my ex-boyfriend who dumped me just because of a bunch of lies.

As if on cue, Derrick glanced at me. When he saw me looking, he gave me thumbs up.

"How're you doing?" I asked.

Dempsey nodded. "Fine. I've been really busy, though. Luckily, I managed to make space for the wedding."

The music began playing, and Josh and his mom began to dance expertly. A few hours had gone by, and between conversing with Dempsey and practicing my waltz, I have to say it wasn't so boring. I was actually enjoying myself.

"I have to clear something up." Dempsey cleared his throat, his tone suddenly nervous.

"Go ahead," I replied, trying to keep up with Mrs. Hotz's dancing.

Dempsey tilted his head. "It's about our break-up…you don't mind, do you?"

I admit it, I thought that him bringing up the past was a bit weird. But now that things aren't rocky between me and Derrick, I didn't mind. I shook my head.

"I know you overheard me and Derrick talking before…breaking up with you. And I'm pretty sure you heard the part in which he tried to make me think you were a bad person." He paused. "I didn't believe him, so I proceeded to ask why he was trying to make you look bad."

He sighed shakily, which made me feel as if I was about to be told something that would shatter my life completely.

"I hope he doesn't get mad at me for saying this," Dempsey murmured before looking up at me. "He told me he liked you…a lot. And that he couldn't bear to see his best friend dating his long-time crush. Apparently, he had noticed you ever since seventh grade."

I stared blankly at him, obviously not expecting that.

So Derrick used to like me…

I was honestly at loss of both words and thoughts. What could I say or think after being told that my future brother-in-law used to like me?

"I thought I should clear that up, since he's about to be part of your family and I don't want you to think he's a bad person."

I nodded, mustering up a smile. "It's alright…that does explain a lot."

Dempsey smiled, a relieved look of his face.

Though I continued to dance normally and laugh at Mrs. Hotz's and Josh's goofy attitude (the only thing they had in common), I couldn't help but think about what I had just been told. Dempsey's words kept repeating in my head every time I happened to catch a glimpse of Derrick. For some reason, that confession had shaken me up a bit.

I shifted my gaze toward Derrick. He was leaning down to plant a kiss on my blushing sister's forehead, which made Massie blush even harder and giggle. She placed her chin on his shoulder, to which Derrick responded by rubbing her back tenderly. As he slowly began to sway to the music, he closed his eyes and pulled her closer.

They looked like the perfect couple.

"Okay, guys! That's it for today. We're meeting tomorrow at the same hour, alright?" Mrs. Hotz announced, snapping me out of my thoughts.

As everyone began to file out of the studio, Josh walked up to me. "Did you like my dancing?"

I snorted, shaking my head.

"You didn't?" Josh questioned, feigning shock.

"Of course I did," I giggled. "You're awesome at dancing!"

Josh smirked, running a hand through his silky dark hair. He turned around and began to inspect his reflection, smiling at himself.

From the corner of my eye, I could see Mrs. Hotz smiling at us charmingly. I turned to look at the mirror, checking to see if I had something in my face.

"Don't worry, you're clean," Josh told me. "She's just convinced that we're in love with each other."

Before I could reply, Derrick appeared behind me. "Hey, Kris! Want me to give you a ride?"

I grinned at his reflection before turning around. "Sure."

Josh fake-pouted. "There you go, ignoring me again."

"Yeah…go sulk in the corner," I joked back.

Josh glared at me before droopily walking toward his mom.

"You guys are close friends, huh?" Derrick asked, opening up the door for me.

I zipped my coat. "He practically welcomed me to Hollywood."

"He's like your brother, then?"

I hesitated. Josh was really close to me…but for some reason, I couldn't see him as a brother. I began to slowly shake my head. "Not quite."

Even though the car ride home was filled with laughter and conversation, I still couldn't forget the fact that Derrick had a crush on me. I would've never ever imagined it. Sure, Massie always used to insist that he did, but I always thought that she was just doing it so we could get along. Turns out, she was right.

I was telling Derrick about one of my most embarrassing moments while shooting a movie when we got back home.

"Come in. Massie made her legendary hot chocolate today, and I'm pretty sure there's some left over in the kitchen," I invited him.

As we made our way up to the doorway, Derrick turned to look at me. "Dempsey told you, didn't he?"

How the heck did he know? I swear, he reads minds or something. I opened the door, deciding to play dumb. "Tell me what?"

Derrick cocked an eyebrow. "About my former crush on you."

I bit my lower lip, stuffing my hands in my pockets.

"It's okay, it doesn't bother me," he continued.

I nodded. "It really surprised me."

Derrick shrugged. "I know it did; you should've seen Dempsey's face after I told him that…I have to thank you, though."

I glanced at him. "For what?"

"I didn't know how to talk to you, and I thought that by becoming a good student like you, we'd have something in common. So I began to put effort into my studies…" he explained. "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have gone to England."

I stopped once we reached the kitchen's entrance. "And I wouldn't have hated you."

Derrick chuckled, turning to face me. "And maybe I would've had a chance with you…I was pretty disappointed the first time we insulted each other. I really liked you, you know? It's-"

And then he stopped mid-sentence as he looked up, his eyes slightly widened.

I looked up, and as my eyes settled on the mistletoe hanging on top of us, I wanted to torture Josh more than anything else in the world.

I looked at him sheepishly. "We don't-"

In that moment, though, his soft lips met mine.

It felt like the perfect movie scene that a director would kill for.

I quickly closed my eyes, finding myself kissing back. I just couldn't help it. He cupped my face in his large hands as I wrapped my hands around his neck. I even began to enjoy the kiss. As he began to caress my cheek, I felt as if him and I were the only ones in the room...

When Massie's smiling face flashed in my mind.

I quickly pulled away, but he held me firmly as he said, "I think I still like you."

My eyes widened. What had he just said?

I pushed him away and I did the first thing that came into my mind —run away and lock myself in the attic.

A/N: Wow...I think that this is the longest chapter I've ever written. Hopefully, you liked it :) By the way, I apologize beforehand for any mistakes, but I'm writing this at one in the morning. I know what you're probably thinking: go to sleep and write this at another time! Ha, I wish…lately, I've been suffering of insomnia :/ Massington fans: I'm sorry, I'll make it up to you in the next chapter...

Thank you so much for reading, tell me what you thought about this chapter in your reviews!