A/N: Hi all. My goal is to get this whole story out by Christmas. Can I do it? Probably not. But here's hoping! Oh, and I changed some of the lyrics here (I put "girl" instead of "man," etc.) but I'll probably end up scrapping the introduction/lyrics thing because I'm starting to run out of lyrics to use! Read and review!

A face on a lover with a fire in her heart
A girl undercover but you tore me apart

They were seated on their favorite bench in the park, the same bench they'd sit on when they were children. It was a gorgeous spring day; the sky was a brilliant shade of blue, the freshly cut grass swayed in the soft breeze, and the birds' lovely symphonies echoed in the air. The sweet scent of budding flowers tickled Brittany's nose. Everything was perfect.

She sighed lovingly toward she leaned near him.

"I'm glad you stopped fighting it," Alvin said in that low, sexy voice that made her toes curl.

"So am I," Brittany said. She closed her eyes and puckered her lips…

Brittany gasped and sat up in bed. Reality slowly started to sink in as she looked around her old bedroom. Sunlight poured through the cracks in the blinds, signaling that it was daytime.

She glanced at the digital alarm clock next to her bed. It was almost eleven o'clock in the morning.

The Chipette sighed and laid back, her head sinking into her fluffy pillow.

"Calm down," she told herself as her heart beat slowly returned to normal. "It was just a dream."

But the by the way her body had reacted, one would think it was a nightmare. Her heart pounded and her forehead was covered in a thin layer of sweat. Most girls would feel giddy after having a dream where they were in love; but Brittany just felt sick. It was almost as if it had scared her.

Brittany buried herself under the heavy blankets, not wanting to leave the warmth of her bed. She wished she could stay under her cozy covers all day. Hell, she wished she could hide there the rest of winter break.

She groaned at how pathetic she was being.

Brittany got up, put on her old robe (which was pink, of course), used the bathroom, and made her way into the kitchen. Miss Miller was peering into the refrigerator, shaking her hips back and forth while humming a catchy tune Brittany didn't recognize.

"Miss Miller?"

The old woman looked up. Her eyes widened at the sight of her adopted daughter, the girl she hadn't seen in nearly a year.

"Why, Brittany," she said, her voice tinged with a Southern accent. "When did you get here, darling?"

"Yesterday afternoon," Brittany replied, sounding more than a little confused. Eleanor and Jeanette had told her Miss Miller knew she was coming, and made it seem like she didn't want to see her.

"Oh come here, sweetheart!" Miss Miller closed the fridge door and enveloped Brittany into a tight hug. "I've missed you so much!"

"I've missed you too," Brittany said. Miss Miller still smelled like cherry Chap Stick and flowery perfume. Brittany used to think the mixture of scents was weird, but she suddenly found it soothing.

When they let go of each other, Brittany asked, "I thought you knew I was coming home yesterday, Miss Miller."

The old woman laughed. "Oh, I just got my days mixed up. Silly me!"

Brittany smiled. She was glad that Miss Miller wasn't upset with her. She may have not been the perfect guardian, but she was the only mother figure Brittany had.

Still, she found it odd that her sisters would lead her to believe Miss Miller was mad at her. She made a mental note to ask them about it later.

The small television set on the kitchen counter showed a commercial of Santa Claus setting a present under a Christmas tree. It instantly reminded Brittany of something very important.

"Miss Miller," Brittany said.

"Yes dear?"

"Why don't we have a Christmas tree?"

Miss Miller frowned. "Why, dear, why would we need a Christmas tree?"

Brittany raised her eyebrows. "Uh, because it's Christmas. Or at least, it will be in two weeks."

Realization hit Miss Miller. "Oh! You're right! We need a tree!"

Brittany stared at her former guardian, unsure of what to think. Miss Miller had always been pretty spaced out, but never like this. She never forgot what holiday was coming up. They didn't decorate the house as elaborately as the Seville's did their home, but they always had a Christmas tree in the living room by the second week of December.

After eating a bowl of cereal with Miss Miller, Brittany took a long, hot shower. She had missed being able to do that; at UCLA, she had to share the hot water with all the other girls living in her dorm. And even as a 19-year-old, Brittany did not do well at sharing.

She then got dressed and put on make-up.

Now what? She thought.

She didn't know where her sisters were, she didn't feel like calling up any of her old high school friends who were possibly in town, and she obviously couldn't hang out with the Chipmunks. Brittany didn't know what to do. For the first time in a long time, she didn't have any plans.

The doorbell rang, and since no one else was home (she wasn't sure where Miss Miller had went), Brittany opened the door. Simon was standing on the porch, bundled up in a puffy blue coat and scarf. He was holding what looked to be like a text book.

"Hi Simon," Brittany said, still feeling awkward about the whole crying-over-the-phone thing.

"Hello," Simon replied. "Is Jeanette home? Last night she asked if I could lend her this book."

"She's not home," Brittany said. "But you can come in."

Simon shook his head. "No, that's fine." He handed Brittany the heavy book. "I'd appreciate if you gave this to her. Thanks."

Brittany watched him walk away. She quickly had an internal debate with herself whether to call him back or not. She was bored and wanted to hang out with someone, even if it was dull old Simon. But "hanging out" with Simon was probably as fun as watching paint dry.

But he's better than nobody, Brittany thought.

"Simon!" Brittany called. "Wait!"

Simon turned around and waited for her to speak.

"Are you doing anything this afternoon?" Brittany asked. Her breath made little puffs of fog every time she spoke into the cold air.

"No," Simon said suspiciously. "Why?"

Oh God, Brittany thought. This is going to be weird. I need an excuse…

Her eyes shifted toward the living room. It looked naked without a Christmas tree. Honestly, who didn't have a Christmas tree at Christmas time anyway?

"Want to come with me to get a Christmas tree?" she blurted.

Simon raised his eyebrows. "Pardon?"

Brittany rolled her eyes, annoyed at how lame she sounded. "We need a Christmas tree," she explained. "Do you want to help me pick one out?"

The intelligent chipmunk frowned. "Isn't this something you should do with your family?"

"They're busy," Brittany said. She hated how desperate she sounded. "But I thought it would be nice to have someone come along. So, what do you say?"

Simon, still looking skeptical, shrugged his shoulders and said, "I'm not sure why you chose me of all people, but I suppose I have a few hours to spare."

"So that's a yes?" Brittany wanted to make sure.

"Yes," Simon confirmed, sounding a little reluctant.

Brittany grinned. "Great. I'll get my coat."

Simon walked over to her. "Wait, you want to leave now?"

Brittany looked at him as if he had just asked her if the sky was blue. "Well, yeah. Why not?"

"Well, for one thing, we don't even know where we're going or what we're looking for," Simon pointed out.

Brittany rolled her eyes again. She was already regretting inviting Geek Boy to come along.

"We're going to a Christmas tree farm to get a pine tree," Brittany said, grabbing her coat. "What's so complicated about that?"

"Which farm?" Simon asked. "And what kind of tree? A big one? A small one?"

Brittany buttoned her coat and stepped into her boots. "We'll figure it out."

Simon looked at her feet. "Are you sure you should wear those?"

"Why not?" Brittany challenged.

"Well," Simon said, "it's just that they're leather boots, and chances are that we'll have to walk through a lot of snow. They might get ruined."

Brittany let out a dramatic sigh and went in the hall closet. She pulled out her dirty old pink snow boots she hadn't worn in a year.

"Happy now?" Brittany asked as she put them on.

Simon shrugged. "I was just making a suggestion, Brittany."

Brittany rolled her eyes. "Can we take Dave's SUV?"

"I'm sure that won't be a problem," Simon said.

Why can't he ever just say a simple yes? Brittany wondered as she followed him out the front door.

…

An hour later, the unlikely companions found themselves wandering around a local tree farm.

"What about this one?" Simon suggested, pointing to a tall evergreen.

Brittany tilted her head as she studied the tree.

"It's missing some branches on the bottom," she said.

Simon frowned and looked closer.

"It isn't that noticeable," he said. "If you place it at the proper angle…"

"I don't want it," Brittany snapped. Then she caught herself for acting so harshly toward him. "I mean, I think we should keep looking."

Simon sighed, obviously regretting that he had agreed to accompany Brittany on the errand.

"What do you think of this one?" Simon pointed to another tree, a little bit smaller than the one he had previously shown her.

"Too scrawny," she dismissed.

"You know," Simon said impatiently, "back at your house you made it sound like this wouldn't be difficult. You led me to believe that you wouldn't be so peculiar about this."

Brittany shrugged innocently. "I just want this tree to be perfect."

"Perfection isn't always realistic," Simon pointed out.

"It is for me," she mumbled, channeling a bit of Old Brittany. She walked in another direction as Simon followed.

She kept asking herself why she had brought him along anyway. All he did was keep showing her ugly trees. Brittany wanted the Miller's Christmas tree to be large, beautiful, and perfect. Didn't everyone want their trees like that? Simon just didn't seem to get it.

The cold air nipped at Brittany's nose and stung her cheeks. Delicate snowflakes began to fall from the white sky. She wrapped her scarf tighter around her neck as she made her way through the thick snow. She was secretly glad that she hadn't worn her nice boots; they would have been stained with salt and wet snow.

She looked ahead and saw a lonely evergreen standing proudly a few feet away. She smiled and looked at Simon.

"That's the one!" Brittany said. She hurried over to it, admiring the tree with each step she took. It was tall, but not so tall that it would take over the house. All of the branches were in place, each one full of rich, dark green needles.

"Isn't it beautiful, Simon?" she asked, gazing at the tree as if it was a movie star. She had never been this excited over a stupid pine tree before. Usually when the Millers picked out their tree, Brittany would whine and complain every step of the way, saying it was too cold and begging her sisters to hurry up and pick a damn tree. But all of a sudden getting a nice Christmas tree meant as much to Brittany as shopping for the perfect pair of high heels.

"It's nice," Simon said. He examined the price tag. "Don't you think it's a little expensive though?"

Brittany looked at the tag and scoffed. "It's nothing. I made a lot of money interning for one of the fashion magazines in Europe."

Simon's eyes widened. "I didn't know you did that."

Brittany shrugged. "No one does."

"Why?" Simon asked. "I mean, that's quite an experience. Why wouldn't you tell anyone?"

"No one asked," Brittany simply answered, feeling a little hurt. She had done a lot of wonderful things in England, but hadn't talked to anyone long enough to tell them about it. And while Old Brittany would have bragged about these things non-stop, New Brittany chose to keep her poise and not say anything until it was brought up.

"Well," Brittany said, noting the concerned expression on Simon's face, "let's buy this thing and go home."

Simon nodded. He chopped the tree down with an axe and they began to walk to the main entrance of the farm. They were quiet as they walked; the only sounds were their boots crunching into the snow and the tree being dragged behind them.

"Thanks for coming with me," Brittany said, hating how quiet it was.

"You're welcome," Simon said. "It was… fun."

Brittany laughed. "No it wasn't. Most people wouldn't say shopping with me is fun, even when comes to tree shopping." She looked at him. "You were a good sport though."

"I tried," Simon said, returning a grin.

They fell into another silence. Brittany took a deep breath. She figured she should just get this over with…

"Thanks for calling me earlier this year," she said. "That was nice of you."

"You're welcome," Simon said again.

Brittany swallowed. "But, um, there's something I was wondering…"

"What?"

"Well," Brittany said, "I was just wondering why you would call me. I mean, it's not like we're really close friends or anything, and it was your brother who… well, did that to me. I guess I just don't know why you of all people decided to talk to me."

"First of all," Simon said, "just because Alvin is my brother doesn't mean I take his side on everything. What he did to you was wrong." Simon pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. "Second of all, just because we aren't particularly close doesn't mean I don't care about you."

Brittany blinked out of surprise. "You care about me?"

"Of course," Simon said. Strangely enough, he didn't sound uncomfortable admitting it. "I've known you and your sisters since I was a child, Brittany. You're practically like family. You all mean a lot to me."

"Oh," was all Brittany could say. For some reason, she felt a little disappointed that Simon had clearly said that Brittany and her sisters meant a lot to him. It made her feel less special that he making it sound like they were all on the same level in his eyes. "Well, I appreciated it. The call, I mean."

"I'm glad," Simon said, still pulling the tree through the snow.

"I'm sorry I cried so much," she said, slightly embarrassed. "That was probably weird for you."

Simon shrugged. "I didn't mind. I knew how upset you were."

Brittany had an urge to ask Simon if Alvin was ever upset after she left, but she stopped herself. She didn't want to be giving anyone ideas that she actually still cared for that jerk.

"Well thanks for just listening," Brittany said. "I just really needed someone to listen."

Simon chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Brittany asked.

"Nothing," he said. "I've just never heard Brittany Miller say thank you for anything, let alone three times in a matter of minutes."

"Things change," Brittany said with a grin. "I've changed."

"Yeah," Simon said, sounding a little more serious. "You have."

Brittany couldn't quite read Simon's face when he said that. She couldn't tell if he was glad or disappointed.

"Well here we are," Simon said as he stopped in front of the warm barn where the trees were purchased.

Brittany hadn't realized they by the entrance until that moment.

After buying the tree and the long process of tying it to the top of the car, the duo drove home.

Brittany played with the tuner on the radio, trying to find a good station. She finally settled on a channel playing Jingle Bell Rock. Brittany quietly hummed along as Simon gave her a curious glance.

"What?" she asked, noticing his questioning look.

"I thought you hated Christmas music."

Brittany laughed. "When have I ever said that?"

"Every December since you were eight years old," Simon replied without hesitation.

The Chipette blushed. It was true, she usually made a big deal out of how annoying most Christmas songs were.

"I guess I'm just in the holiday spirit this year," she said. "I'm just feeling really pessimistic about this Christmas."

"You mean optimistic," Simon politely corrected.

"That's what I said," Brittany fired back.

Simon sighed, too tired to argue. "Right. And what has made you so optimistic about this holiday season, Brittany?"

Brittany grinned. "I'm a new woman, Simon. And even though last Christmas was a huge disappointment, I just know this Christmas is going to be amazing."

Simon slowly pulled into the Millers' driveway. "I hope it works out for you Brittany."

"It will," she said confidently.

…

"Wow," Brittany said breathlessly as she admired the beautiful Christmas tree in the living room. It was elegantly decorated in garland, tinsel, lights, and ornaments. Usually Brittany would have thought all the decorations put together would look tacky, but she and Simon had made the tree look classy.

"You were right about this tree," Simon admitted. "It was a good choice."

"I told you so," Brittany said with a smile. The smile widened as she looked at the beautiful angel that sat at the very top of the tree. "Isn't it the prettiest tree you've ever seen?"

"It's very exquisite," Simon replied.

Brittany rolled her eyes, once again wondering why the boy couldn't just give the simple answer of "yes."

"Well, I better be going," Simon said. He reached for his coat.

"Okay," Brittany said, half listening to what Simon was saying. She was still in awe by the Christmas tree.

"Good bye," Simon said, opening the front door.

The cold air rushed into the room, getting Brittany's attention. She made her way to the door, stopping Simon just in time.

"Thanks for helping me with the decorations," Brittany said. "It would have been impossible for me to reach all those high places without you."

"I'm glad I could help," Simon said.

Brittany nodded, unsure of what to say. She had spent the whole afternoon with the guy and still had trouble keeping a conversation with him.

"So," Brittany said. "See you around."

"Yes," Simon said. "See you around."

She watched him leave, heading toward his house across the street. She looked at the Sevilles' house and saw Alvin through the front window. Her heart began to pound as she quickly shut the door. She hoped he hadn't seen her looking at him.

Brittany went back into the living room. She sat on the couch and looked up at the pretty tree that she and Simon had spent the last hour and a half decorating to perfection.

And then she cried.

She tried her hardest not to, but she couldn't help it. There she was, sitting by this lovely Christmas tree, thinking that one nicely decorated pine tree would make her feel happy.

It didn't. It only made her think of how great things were going last year. She was close to Miss Miller and her sisters, she was in love, and she felt comfortable around the Seville family. Everything was so wonderful this time a year ago; now all of that was gone and no dumb tree was going to fix it.

"Get a grip," she told herself between sniffles. "Everything is going to be fine. You don't need Alvin to be happy."

Brittany took a deep breath and exhaled.

At that moment, she promised herself that would be the last time she would cry over the past. It was time to move on.

Alvin was history. Old Brittany was history.

With that, Brittany stood up and went to her room to start wrapping her Christmas presents. It was time to focus on the future once and for all.

Another A/N (lucky you!): Okay, if you haven't figured it out, this is leaning toward being a Brimon-type story, but I hope that doesn't completely turn off some of you mixed couple haters. It won't be strictly, 100% mixed couples. What do I mean by that? Well, you'll just have to stay tuned! Oh, and leave a review. I like those. :)