Honestly, Angelica did not give a damn about business customs in Japan. Her mother would disapprove. Charlotte always said that the Japanese were very valuable business partners. Angelica, however, did not want to do this stupid presentation for this stupid class. She was just ready for the semester to be over. She always threw herself into her work when she was feeling dejected, until the papers and books and everything made her forget about the sadness. This time, though, it wasn't working. She sighed and ran a finger along the spines of the books lining the shelf. When she found the call number she was looking for, she grabbed the book and added it to the top her precariously tall pile. Yes, time to go. At least she'd gotten the books, that was a start. She'd go home and have some hot chocolate and take a nap and then maybe work on her presentation some…or maybe she'd work on it tomorrow. Or after Thanksgiving break…

As she made her way down the stairs to the main level of the library, Angelica wondered why she was even feeling so sad. She shouldn't care what they thought of her…they weren't even really her friends anyway. Which made her wonder who her friends were…

At least she and Susie had made up, more or less. And the audition was still on. And Angelica really was happy for Susie, even though she was hurt that everyone apparently thought she had ruined Chuck's life.

Still lost in thought, she tried to set her pile of books down on the counter gently (though with little success). She then reached into her purse for her student ID and handed it to the clerk. However, when she realized who it was, Angelica's fake smile faded.

"How are you today?" asked Chuck's Halloween date. She gave Angelica a cheery smile, despite obviously being very sick. She took the ID and scanned it. Angelica held out her hand silently when the girl handed it back to her, still lacking for something to say. The dark haired girl stamped all of the books, sniffing and coughing the whole time. After a slight hesitation, Angelica took them without a word and walked out. When she got out the front door, a blast of icy wind hit her. Angelica scowled and wrapped her fur coat tighter around her. The unusual weather worsened her dour mood. Why didn't she say anything to the girl? All the things she'd wanted to say since Halloween. How could Chuck like her? What the hell did he see in her? And why do I care? she wondered sourly. She clutched her books to her chest and, head down, made her way down the steps.

"Angelica?"

She looked up and, of course, there stood Chuck.

"Hey." she said, taken aback.

"Hey…"

"Hi…"

He laughed awkwardly. "Yeah, we've established that…The greeting part is over now."

"Yeah…I guess so."

"Studying?" he asked, indicating the mountain of books.

"Researching for a presentation." she replied, as if this were an everyday meeting, as if this wasn't the first time they'd spoken in nearly a year. "What about you?" She eyed his arms, in which he carried of a pack of tissues, some cough drops, and a small bouquet of wildflowers.

He tried to make the flowers less noticeable. "Nothing…just studying…"

Angelica knew he was going to see his girlfriend, and that he had brought her stuff to make her feel better since she was sick. And she was jealous. Which was absolutely ridiculous. She was wearing a $4,000 fur coat that Peter bought her. Yet she was jealous of cough drops and cheap flowers.

"Are you going home for Thanksgiving?" he asked.

"Yes," she said quickly, "And Peter's coming with me. My parents are dying to meet him."

"Ah." he said as the realization hit him that Peter must be her boyfriend. Of course she'd have a boyfriend. Why wouldn't she?

"Yeah, I wanted to stay at the Hilton near home, but Peter's being all cute and old fashioned, and wants to stay with Mom and Daddy. But we'll drive down in his limo, at least."

"Well…that'll be nice."

"Yeah…well…I guess I'm gonna go…I'll see you around, Finster."

And, with that, she was gone.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Angelica swept the brush through her long ponytail once more and touched up her lip gloss, as if she were going out, instead of merely down to breakfast with her family. However, she always wanted to look her best around Peter. Women always told her about getting to that point in the relationship when they didn't care what they looked like in front of their boyfriends. They talked of walking around in baggy pajamas with no make-up on. They raved about intimacy, and the complete comfort of it all. Angelica herself had never gotten to that point. And she didn't care to. She preferred to look good. She'd absolutely die if Peter saw her in baggy pajamas.

She stood and adjusted her cream colored Marc Jacobs sweater. One more look in the mirror, and she finally made her way downstairs. She smiled when she found Peter breakfasting with her parents. They'd hit it off since their arrival last night, and things still seemed to be going well. "Good morning." she said cheerfully. She kissed her dad's cheek and sat down next to Peter. "Morning, Darling." he said, passing her a plate. "Your mother's made croissants. Have one." Angelica bit back a grin. Her mother's "homemade" croissants came from a bistro down the street. "Thank you," she said, taking one and giving him a peck on the cheek. She poured some orange juice into her glass and took a sip. "So, what time are we doing the whole Thanksgiving thing?"

"Actually," said Charlotte, the excitement evident in her face, "Peter has the most wonderful idea."

Angelica grinned. "Oh, he's just full of those."

"I was thinking," said Peter, "That we'd go out for Thanksgiving dinner—there's this great French owned vineyard not too far from here that has a charming little café and even a chateau with rooms for rent, if we decide to stay the night."

Angelica's parents were looking at her expectantly as if they were the children and she were the parent, with the power to grant or deny them this treat. She couldn't help but laugh. "Oh…Yeah...I guess that'll be alright."

"Great," he replied, "And it'll save your mother from having to do all that cooking—"

Angelica looked up from buttering her croissant and rolled her eyes. "You don't cook, Mom. We go to Uncle Stu's for Thanksgiving every year and you know it."

Charlotte scoffed. "Oh, that is ridiculous.…" She stood and made her way to the phone. "Though, I guess I better call Didi…"

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"I come bearing gifts," said Chuck. "Let me in!"

Dil surveyed him through the peephole of the front door. "I dunno…my horoscope this morning warned of a trickster attempting to fool me with a clever rouse."

"My ringing the doorbell and announcing my arrival is hardly clever."

"Touché. But how do I know you're not an alien?"

"I'm not an alien."

"That's exactly what an alien would say."

"Dil, let me in! These are heavy!"

"Ok, ok!"

He opened the door, albeit cautiously. Chuck pushed past him and set the box down on the floor just as Didi was walking into the living room.

"Hey, Miss Didi, Mom and Dad sent me over with these cans, for your school's food drive."

"Well, thank you, Charles. Why don't you bring them into the kitchen for me?"

Chuck sighed and picked up the heavy box again. When he finally set it down in a corner in the kitchen, Tommy walked in. "Oh, now you come," said Chuck. "Terribly convenient. I just finished all the work."

Tommy looked at Dil. "What is he crying about?"

'He's an alien.' mouthed Dil.

"Would you boys like some apple cider?" Didi asked.

"I'd rather have a beer," Tommy mumbled.

"What?"

"Cider sounds great, Mom. Thanks."

A few minutes later, the boys were sitting at the table, drinking hot cider, and Didi was back to work, bustling around in the kitchen. She was stuffing the turkey, literally up to her elbows in work, when the phone rang. The boys continued to talk in conspiratorially low tones, not one making an effort to answer the phone. Didi showed her first sign of impatience. "Don't everyone rush to get it at once!"

Tommy looked up, "Um…should I get it?"

Didi peeled off her gloves and, giving her eldest son a glare, answered the perseverant caller.

"Hello?…Oh, hi, Charlotte….mmhhmm…"

Chuck looked up, ever so slightly, then tried to appear disinterested. He looked at Dil and nodded, trying to feign interest in the abominable snowman that apparently lived down the street.

"Well," said Didi a moment later, who seemingly had forgotten all about her anger with her sons. "Drew and Charlotte aren't coming here for Thanksgiving!"

"Hmm." said Tommy, also trying to feign interest. "What a shame."

"Apparently, Angelica's boyfriend is taking them all to some fancy French vineyard—a terrible way to spend Thanksgiving, if you ask me." She went back to the turkey. "Thanksgiving is a time for family, and a big meal, not…wine."

Tommy laughed. "You're right, Mom…You need some help with anything?"

Didi smiled. "Yes, you can peel all these sweet potatoes, she said, indicating a large bowl.

"Great…"

Didi sighed. "I just can't believe Angelica's dating a millionaire." She said. "I suppose it's a good thing, but…my, how things change…"

Chuck froze, his mug halfway to his mouth. He gave Tommy a questioning look, and he received a sheepish one in return. He wavered, but then continued to drink his cider as though nothing was wrong. However, it was cold, and left a sick feeling in his stomach.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"Can I come in?"

Chuck lifted his head from his pillow, where he'd been contemplating smothering himself.

"No."

Kimi came in anyway, and closed the door behind her. "So."

He sighed. "So what?"

"Are you gonna tell me why you've been a butt face all day?"

"I haven't…"

"You know, Mom and Dad really missed us, and they put a lot of effort into Thanksgiving. And you go and act like a moody jerk all day, not even thankful one little bit."

He let his head fall back down. "Sorry." he said around the pillow.

"So, are you gonna tell me what's up?"

"No."

"Maybe I can help. Is it girl problems?"

He didn't say anything.

"Oh, it is, isn't it? So, what is it? Everything ok with Emmy?"

"Everything's fantastic with Emmy." he answered truthfully.

He hesitated. She waited patiently.

"Did you know that Angelica's dating a millionaire?" he asked finally.

"Oh…well, yeah."

"Dammit! Why didn't anyone tell me this?"

"Well…you seemed happy with Emmy…I guess we didn't think it was essential knowledge for you…"

"It's good to know my friends are deciding what I need to know and what I don't need to know."

"Hey, why should you care about her anyway? You just said things were fantastic with Emmy!"

He groaned and covered his face with his hands. "I don't know…I shouldn't care…after everything she's put me through." He sighed. "It's not like I want her back…it's just…I guess old feelings coming back up, nostalgia, you know?...things that were…things that could have been…"

Kimi scooted closer to her brother and chewed her lip thoughtfully. "Yeah…so. Um, guess what?"

"Hmm?"

"Dil pre-asked me to marry him."

He raised his head, all apathy removed. "WHAT?"

"Lower your voice!" she whispered, gesticulating frantically. "You'll wake the rents!"

"He asked you marry him?!"

"No," she said, "he pre-asked me to marry him."

"Excuse me?"

"He just said that, maybe, possibly, someday he might ask me to marry him…I guess he wanted to have an idea of what I would say…It's not a bad idea, really. People should discuss things like that ahead of time. Get an idea of what's going on in the relationship."

He grunted.

"So," she continued, "I was just thinking…maybe if you had pre-asked Angelica before you went out and got the ring and all, things would have gone differently…I mean, maybe not, but maybe."

He gave her a disbelieving look. "I didn't tell anyone I was going to …How do you know about that?"

She nodded sheepishly. "Tommy told Dil, who told Phil, who told Lil, who told me…"

"So everyone knows?!"

"Well, Susie doesn't know…and I'm pretty sure Angelica doesn't know…"

"Pretty sure?!"

"Ohmygosh, are you hyperventilating over there? Calm down, Big Brother."

"I'm fine." he lied.

"I'm sorry if I upset you…forget it…" She got up and finally left him in peace.

"Easier said than done…" he mumbled to himself, before throwing himself back down on the bed.