It wasn't as though Warren expected his father to welcome him with open arms and tell him he loved his son just the way he was, but honestly, was a little bit of affection too much to ask? Granted Warren arrived unannounced at the house, well, sprawling mansion, but he was the son, the only son, and still his father treated him with distance and caution.

His father told him about his latest project, which was trying to find a cure for cancer. Ambitious much? Warren told him about teaching economics, and Dr. Worthington frowned, saying that Warren should be training to become the next CEO of Worthington Labs. He never bothered to ask if that was what Warren wanted.

His father told him that some of Warren's old girlfriends were calling on his father, asking where Warren was, but his father hadn't known. Warren told him he was staying in New York at the Xavier School for Gifted Youth, and that he had no interest in seeing any of his ex-girlfriends. His father asked him about women, and Warren said he was not in a relationship, but that he had become close friends with a girl named Thea. Thankfully his father did not ask anymore questions about her because Warren wasn't sure what he would say.

Overall, the meeting was more formal and less family-like than Warren had intended.

The flight back to the mansion was long and a bit cold, but Warren was happy when he landed on the rooftop. He could smell cookies baking and apple cider, two wonderful clichés of the holiday season. The smell only got stronger as he made his way to the living room. A bunch of students staying at the mansion for the holiday season was watching "It's a Wonderful Life" on the television. There were mugs of cider and a platter of assorted cookies on the coffee table.

Warren walked into the kitchen to see another platter of cookies on the counter and some of the older students hanging around.

"Hey guys," he greeted.

"Warren! Have a cookie," Kitty said cheerfully, opening the oven to check on the next batch of cookies.

"Kit, if you keep opening the oven, the cookies will get weird," Thea said from her stool at the counter.

"These look good," Warren said, defending Kitty. He grabbed a chocolate chip cookie from the plate and headed over to the stool next to Thea's.

"Thea made them," Peter replied from next to Kitty.

"Really?" Warren said skeptically, tasting the cookie. It was soft and moist and quite good.

"You don't think I can make cookies?" Thea asked.

"I didn't think you'd make cookies on Christmas Eve. It seems too much in the holiday spirit for someone who hates Christmas," he clarified.

Thea shrugged. "I hate Christmas, but I love Kit," she said simply.

Warren was confused.

"This was my Christmas present from Thea," Kitty explained, closing the oven. "I've wanted Thea to teach me how to make her cookies for a long time, so she finally agreed. She bought all the ingredients and made a batch of each kind with me, and now I'm doing it on my own," Kitty explained.

"Hey, I'm helping," Peter defended.

Kitty smiled widely and stroked Peter's arm. "No, you're distracting me," she said.

"A good distraction though," Peter said.

"Of course," Kitty cooed.

Warren stifled a laugh and Thea rolled her eyes silently.

"So what kind of cookies did you guys make?" Warren asked.

"Chocolate chip and peanut butter. We made one batch of sugar cookies, but since those take so long to make, Kit's not going to try making those until later," Thea answered.

"How diverse," Warren commented. "So what else did you do today?"

"I talked with my parents on the phone. And then I gave Kitty her present. We've been making cookies for at least three hours," Thea said.

"Your parents?" Warren had no idea she had parents because she never talked about them. He had assumed she was orphaned like so many of the people at the school. Why would she never talk about them?

"Yes, Warren. All people come from parents. One mommy and one daddy," she said, as though teaching a child about sex.

Warren nudged her for heckling him, though not hard enough so that she fell off her seat. She smiled at his response.

"You never talk about them, so I figured I shouldn't pry and see if they were around," Warren said.

"You not pry?" Thea teased.

Warren smirked but did not say anything.

"Anyway, yeah, I have parents. I'm lucky, you know? People here, like Jubilee, don't have what I do," Thea said.

Warren knew Thea well enough now to fill in the rest. Thea was blessed with a family and yet she thought she was a walking disaster who couldn't get her life together. Jubilee on the other hand, had lost everything and still seemed so happy. Was his assessment close? He'd bet money on it.

"How often do you talk with them?" he asked

"Not enough," she said.

"Where are they?"

"Abroad," she replied vaguely.

There was silence in the conversation in which Warren had expected her to begin asking him questions about how his meeting with his father went since they were discussing family. But no question like that came. Thea's focus instead seemed to be on Kitty and the cookies.

"So where's my Christmas present?" he asked, directing the conversation elsewhere.

Thea frowned. "I didn't buy you anything," she said.

Warren couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed.

"I figured anything I bought for you would be stupid," she explained. "But there's something I want to give you."

Warren's ears perked up. "Oh?"

Thea smiled shyly. "Yeah."

Warren nudged her impatiently, and Thea gave him a quizzically look.

"What?" she asked.

"Present," Warren said in a whiny though eager voice.

Thea sighed with exasperation and got off the stool. "Kit, are you going to be okay here?"

"Yeah, fine," Kitty said. She and Peter were currently engaged in a poking war, and Warren would not be surprised if the cookies in the oven burned from being ignored.

As Thea and Warren walked out of the kitchen, Warren said, "That's an elaborate gift."

Thea shrugged. "Kitty's worth every bit. She's always been there, and I've realized that I haven't done the same for her."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I had no idea that Kitty and Peter were actually going out on dates and whatever. I mean, a week ago I had no clue that she liked him," Thea said as they walked towards their rooms.

"Ah," Warren said.

"I blame you completely," Thea added lightly.

"What?" Warren asked. Why were guys always blamed when girls were having difficulties?

"We're spending too much time together," Thea explained.

"And that's my fault entirely," Warren commented dryly.

"Yep."

Warren made a hurt face. "So are you breaking up with me?" he asked feigning despair.

Thea smirked. "No, honey, I'm just saying we need a breather," she bantered.

Warren laughed and draped his arm affectionately around Thea's shoulders. He felt her back stiffen momentarily at the contact before relaxing. He frowned for a moment. You'd think after all this time something so small wouldn't make Thea tense up, but apparently not.

"So what'd you get me?" Thea asked.

"Hm, presumptuous aren't we?" Warren replied.

She was still not asking him about his trip to see his father. Did she not care or did she expect him to bring it up?

"No, not presumptuous. Just very certain," she replied cheekily.

"Of course," he said.

He had spent a lot of time thinking about what to get her. She was a difficult person to shop for. The typical female present of jewelry was inappropriate because she didn't wear any. Clothing was a lost cause because she didn't pay them any particular interest and because Warren was no judge of size. He could imagine presenting Thea with a nice cashmere sweater and having her call him a dumbass for buying such an expensive gift in the wrong size. So, Warren was pretty stuck, until he had a stroke of genius. The Powers That Be smiled upon him for once.

"So…?" Thea pressed on.

"Not until I get mine," he said.

Thea narrowed her eyes as though prepared to fight, but instead it seemed she let this instance go.

"Fine."

They walked in companionable silence with Warren's arm still draped over Thea's shoulders. Since she was a little less than a head shorter than him, her shoulder was a very comfortable place to place his arm. He should have thought of this sooner.

"So the time with my father was weird," he began, figuring he'd bring up the topic if she wasn't going to.

Thea tensed up again, and Warren couldn't figure out why.

"Oh?" she asked.

"Yeah. There's so much distance between us. It's always been there, but now, I don't know. I guess I thought after I asserted myself, he's be proud of me and respect me for that. Instead, he seems to just…I don't know," Warren said.

"He's probably just confused about what to say. I'm sure he saw this Christmas playing out differently than how it is," Thea said diplomatically.

Warren snorted derisively. "Yeah. He saw me wingless and taking the winter holiday from training to be the next CEO of the company," Warren said derisively, finally letting out a bit of his frustration.

Thea looked up at him with obvious sympathy in her eyes. It was weird to see sympathy because he never saw that before from her. She was so no-nonsense usually.

"You're his son, I'm sure he loves you no less now," Thea said.

"Maybe. I just wish he respected me," Warren said.

"That's earned," Thea said simply.

"Yeah."

"He'd be an idiot not to respect you at least a bit," she said. "You stood up for yourself. You're living your own life now, separate from him. That deserves respect even if he doesn't agree with your choices."

Warren smiled at Thea's encouraging words. "I wish you came with me, even your poor small talk would have broken the tension."

"Oh, I highly doubt that," Thea said.

"I talked about you."

Thea stopped walking and Warren's arm around her shoulders was yanked back a bit as he was still moving forward.

"Why would you do that?" she asked urgently. Her body was shaking and her eyes were wide with alarm.

Woah, what just happened here? "Uh, because he was asking me about girlfriends and I said I didn't have one, but that I was close friends with you," Warren said.

"Did you say anything about me?" she pressed on impatiently.

"What? No, nothing except your name is Thea and you are a girl and my friend," Warren said, thoroughly confused as to why she was acting this way.

Warren watched as her stance relaxed and her deep breathing calmed her obviously distraught nerves.

"Nothing else? Nothing about what I look like or my abilities or anything like that?" she asked cautiously.

Warren frowned with confusion. "No, nothing like that. What the hell is going on?"

Thea was silent for a while as she seemed to collect herself and her sanity. She still hadn't answered Warren's question.

"I don't like being talked about," she said evenly.

"No shit," Warren replied confusedly.

"I'm sorry. I just…you caught me off guard. Just, in the future, don't talk about me," she requested.

"Why?"

Thea gave him that look she gave him the night they had their fight. It was the I-want-to-tell-you-but-I-just-can't look. It was a frustrating look. Warren knew he needed to drop the subject for her sake, but what about his sake? What about his confusion?

"Okay," he muttered. Why was a peaceful walk to their rooms together so difficult to find these days?

"Thanks, Warren," she said quietly. There was a pause where Warren didn't know what to say. Thea, however, jumped in again. "C'mon. Your present," she said happily, grabbing his hand and dragging him the remaining few feet to her room.

She opened the door and went over to the small nightstand by her bed. Opening the drawer, she pulled out a small pack of white paper. "Now, keep in mind I am but a poor girl in this world," she said as a caveat.

"Okay."

She looked at him critically before handing over the packet.

The rectangular packet resembled the shape of a small pile of money bills. The front page said, "Open Me." Warren did as he was told. On the back of the first page, there seemed to be some rules. "All of the following must be redeemed within a year. None of the following may be redeemed until the giver receives her Christmas present." Warren laughed. What was she doing? The next page said, "This voucher is valid for one three-course meal to be made by the giver for the recipient."

Warren laughed with delight and looked up at Thea. She looked uncertain, but sort of encouraged by his response.

Warren turned the page again. This time the paper said, "This voucher is valid for one car wash by the giver should the recipient ever get a car." Warren laughed even louder. The other pages in the packet contained similar services Thea would perform, but also things that Warren would do for Thea: "This voucher is valid for one instance in which the giver will grade the recipient's class papers", "This voucher is valid for one instance where the recipient buys the giver something pretty", "This voucher is valid for one cooking lesson by the giver for the recipient", "This voucher is valid for one instance where the recipient takes the giver flying (again)", "This voucher is valid for one activity of the recipient's choosing that the giver must do, barring all dirty thoughts in the recipient's dirty mind".

Warren laughed heartily at all of the vouchers. Turning the page to see the last one, he stopped laughing and read it over and over again. "This voucher is valid for one secret of the giver's to be told to the recipient, and the giver means a big secret."

"You really mean that?" Warren asked carefully.

Thea looked at him and smirked. "I wouldn't have wasted the paper otherwise."

Warren grinned, knowing that somehow Thea's walls were coming slowly down. "Thanks. This is really, really great," he said.

Thea smiled with relief. "I'm glad you like it."

"But you know, you're gift is encouraging us to spend more time together. And you just said we should be spending less time together. You can't keep on yanking my chain like this, Althea," Warrren said teasingly.

Thea smirked. "You like being yanked."

"That sounds so dirty."

Thea laughed. "It does," she conceded.

"So all that talk, about not hanging out as much, you didn't mean it?" Warren asked. It so hard to get a straight answer out of Thea, which was one of the reasons he asked so many questions.

"Yeah, I did. I just think we should, you know…"

"See other people?" Warren supplied with a wry smile.

Thea smirked. "We're not breaking up," she deadpanned.

Warren smiled widely at the fact that Thea was still willing to humor him with continuing the banter. "No, never," he said haughtily.

"I just want to be there for Kit. This thing with Peter, I hope it works out. But if it doesn't, I don't want her to, you know, be alone," Thea explained.

"And I agree. I'll beat Peter to a pulp if he hurts her," Warren said protectively. He couldn't help but feel a bit brotherly towards Thea's closest friend. Kitty was the one who helped him understand Thea in the first place, so she was basically responsible for the beginning of his friendship with Thea.

"You mean rhetorically, I hope. Peter can turn into steel," Thea reminded Warren.

Good point. "One can do amazing things with the right motivation," Warren said wisely.

"Touché. But enough talk. I want my gift, Mister."

Warren became jumpy, hoping that she would like her gift. He led the way over to his room and pulled out a large gift wrapped box from his small closet after they entered.

"Here you go," he said, placing the large cube-shaped box in front of Thea's form that was sitting on the edge of his bed. The boxed was covered with snowflake wrapping paper.

"Holy shit," she said, amazed.

She kneeled down on the floor and ripped the paper gleefully off of the box. Warren never saw her look so eager. He had expected that she would look down on the idea of giving and receiving gifts as being stupid or something like that, but it was certainly not the case.

"For someone who hates Christmas, you sure are good at celebrating it," he commented as he joined her on the floor.

Thea looked over to him one all the paper was off of the cardboard box. "I hate Christmas because of the pressure to give stuff. Stuff should be given whenever you feel like giving stuff. I hate all the commercialism. I hate that my family isn't around," Thea explained.

Warren hadn't intended on Thea's reply being so serious. "I understand. But Kitty's around…and…me," he said weakly, his voice becoming very soft at the end. Why couldn't he be stronger, more confident, when he spoke about sensitive things? Perhaps because he realized he was being a bit presumptuous to equate Kitty's and his presence in Thea's life to her parents'.

Warren felt Thea's small hand on his knee. She had a small smirk on her lips but her eyes were open and bright. "Why do you think I'm not miserable right now?" she said.

How could she do that? How could something she say, and all the things implied from what she said, make him feel so goddamn happy?

"Now, what the hell is in here that makes it so heavy?" Thea asked, opening the box.

Her eyes widened as she picked up one of the books at the top. "Holy shit," she said softly. She grabbed the one underneath, and the one underneath that, and soon she realized that the entire box must have been packed with books. And not just any books. Fantasy books. And not just any fantasy books, fantasy books she didn't own. Warren took great pride in knowing he had added forty-six new books to her collection.

"How…how the hell did you know I didn't have these? How did you know I liked these authors?" she said, picking up every single volume and skimming the back cover to read the summaries.

"Well, Kitty has this amazing ability to walk through walls," Warren began explaining. "We broke into your room. I copied down every author and book you had, went to the book store, found the missing parts of series you already owned, stuff by the same authors, stuff by similar authors. I talked with one of the workers there and according to him, you tend to like medieval fantasy with dragons and magicians and sword fighting that is more centered on the characters than the politics of whatever land the fantasy is taking place. So then I got anything that seemed to have those elements. I tried really hard to round it out to fifty books, but the rest didn't seem right," Warren said.

Thea looked at him in amazement. "You wrote down all the books I own? That must be…"

"A hundred and three."

"My God," Thea mumbled, still in shock.

"You flatter me," Warren said, using the line Thea had used when they first met.

Thea's eyes lit up at the memory. She flung her arms around Warren's neck and squeezed. Warren was quite taken aback by the display of affection, but he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her until she was partially sitting on his lap. She was warm and smelled like baked goods. He thought she would pull away, but instead she rested her head on his shoulder.

"You're fucking amazing," she said quietly.

Warren felt her breath on his ear as she spoke those words and his ego swelled with pride. The appreciation in her voice surprised him. True it had taken him a lot of effort, but he hadn't really thought about it being a lot of work. He liked the whole experience because he had learned things about her in the process.

He squeezed her tighter. She felt so good on his lap. All girls should feel this good on a guy's lap. Well, perhaps not. Nothing would get done if that were the case.

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Author's Note: Just to clarify, just because I said the climax of the story will not be Thea and Warren getting together doesn't mean they won't get together. What I meant was that even though them getting together is an essential part of the story, the pinnacle (I feel) will not be that. Instead, it will be experiences that will make the two stronger people for each other (I know that's vague). To create this story and not have the characters get together is cruel and not my style at all. The important thing I want to stress though is that I'm not only trying to craft how a relationship forms, but the people forming that relationship. Often I think stories get swept up in the relationship part and don't bother to delve into why these characters are the way they are and do what they do. So, hopefully in the end, there will be two believable, well-rounded characters with a nice relationship. The journey to there will be the challenge. Also, Jubilee will be coming back in the next chapter. And secrets will be revealed soon. Please review, I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thank you for all the wonderful reviews. You guys taking the time out to read my story is SO great and I can't thank you enough.