7-Christmas!

Courtney smiled, leaning into Alan's ear as she passed him in the hallway. She stopped for a moment, trying her best to reach her lips to his ear exactly.

"And they called it...Puppy love..." She whisper-sang into her so-called best friend's ear.

"Excuse me?" Alan laughed, turning to face Courtney. She had a goofy smile on her face.

"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about." Courtney told him. She folded her arms and balanced on her right hip. "You. Like. Arianna." She said, breaking up each word in the sentence so he could understand clearly.

Alan was shocked.

"I-I...Uh...Er...No." The teen male replied.

"Well, Mr. I-I...Uh...Er...No, why not?" Courtney took a step closer, almost interrogating him over why he didn't like her cousin.

"Because, Courtney," Alan stepped forward, closing the already tiny gap that had been between them, "we come from two completely different worlds. I'm a Tracker and she's who I should be Tracking."

Courtney rolled her eyes. Trust her to pick friends who just loved to overreact and be well known as drama queens.

"So?" Courtney asked, her voice almost sounding desperately pleading. "She likes you, you like her, WHO CARES WHERE YOU COME FROM?" Courtney threw her hands in the air and Alan took a step backwards in shock.

"S-She likes me?"

"Yeah..." Courtney breathed out. "Haven't you seen her eyes? They always turn pink around you. That means she's in love with you!" Courtney practically screamed at him. Of course, it wasn't Alan's fault he was behind on it all.

"With me?"

"No, with Santa Claus." Courtney's voice was dripping in sarcasm, something Alan was used to getting from said girl. "YES WITH YOU!"

Alan stopped for a moment, trying to take the news in. The two had only met a few days ago and were sworn enemies. Now he was being told that she was in love with him, and he liked her back! It just was not possible.

"And what can I do about it?" Alan asked. Courtney's lips curled into and almost evil smirk, something she had obviously picked up from being around Duncan for too long.

"Don't worry, I got it covered."

A small flash of blonde ran straight from the master bedroom, down the halls and into the lounge area, almost running straight into the door as she did so.

"MOMMY!" Belle cried to her mother. Courtney was sat on the sofa, smiling down at her daughter. "LOOK! LOOK! LOOK!" The young girl squealed, pointing over to the pile of presents that were all wrapped up underneath the Christmas tree. "SANTA'S BEEN HERE!"

"Really?" Courtney gasped, the smile not leaving her pretty little face. "Should we see what he got you?"

Courtney was so happy to see her daughter so happy. The two crawled down on their knees, sitting by the tree as Duncan cam skidding along the floor on his knees, sitting on the other side of his daughter.

The small family of three wanted to celebrate Christmas properly, together, as a family. They were quite happy to do so at the Palace, as long as they were all there, and so was the rest of their family and friends.

"Merry Christmas." Alan whispered a smile on his face as he leaned against the opposite side of the door frame to Arianna.

"Merry Christmas to you too." She whispered back.

Courtney looked up out of the corner of her gleaming onyx eyes. She could see Arianna and Alan talking by the doorway and was not going to let this opportunity go to waste. She raised her hand and gave it a small flick. A small green bush, complete with three cherry red berries, appeared over their heads.

"Would you look at that, mistletoe." Alan smiled sarcastically.

"I wonder how that got there." Arianna asked, rolling her head over her shoulders and turning to look at her cousin.

"Oh look." Courtney stated innocently. "Alan and Arianna standing underneath mistletoe, whatever could happen next?" She smiled, along with the two in the doorway. Belle and Duncan were too bust ripping apart presents.

Alan shook his head, turning back to face Arianna. Her cheeks were starting to burn a little red, her brain finally understanding the situation she was holding herself in. Alan didn't let that stop him, though. Her carefully snaked his arms around the blonde's waist and pulled her close to him.

Their lips crashed together in a fiery heat. It was as if they had both wanted each other for a very long time, which they had. Sort of.

Arianna didn't hesitate to wrap her arms around Alan's neck. The two were engaged in such passion, it was as if everything else around them melted away.

"EWW!" Belle screamed out. That got their attention, both pulling away from each other.

"Agreed, baby girl." Duncan gagged, turning away, back to the presents under the tree.

Arianna casted her eyes downward, chewing on her bottom lip. Alan turned the other way, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly and clearing his throat.

Courtney smiled. And would have stayed smiling if a little white, purple and orange thing came crashing in through the window. It expanded in size and fell onto the empty sofa where Courtney had once been sitting.

"LEAH!" Courtney cried out, jumping up and hugging her cousin. "You're back!" The girl hadn't changed much. Her once long, bright ginger hair was now just past her ears, and going slightly brown towards the top.

"That's not important!" Leah told her cousin, sitting up and trying to catch her breath. "What is important is what I just saw."

"What did you just see?" Duncan asked, not really that interested in the conversation, but asking anyway.

"I saw-HEY!" Leah screamed, turning to face the doorway. "Your highness and the sexy Tracker making out in the corner, this involves you two, too." Arianna and Alan broke apart again.

"What, Leah?" Arianna asked. There really weren't a lot of relatives of Duncan and Courtney she did get along well with. Leah was one of them.

The Queen lowered her arms from Alan's neck to his waist, nuzzling her head into his chest. She tried to pretend to be listening to Leah, but it was quite hard with Alan's six pack right under her head.

"Heather." One word and everyone in the room froze up. "She was leaving the Academy with all her bags packed."

"Maybe she's visiting her family for Christmas?" Arianna suggested.

"No." Courtney shook her head. "Heather doesn't talk with her family."

"And you're not allowed to leave the Academy for Holidays, anyway." Alan added. He had his head rested on top of Arianna's, rubbing his hands up and down her spine.

"Then why are you here?" Leah asked, trying not to gag at the sight of the affectionate two.

"That doesn't matter." Arianna butted in. "What does matter is...What were you doing at the academy?"

Leah froze up. That was a hard question for her answer. Not hard as in she couldn't think of an answer, because she could. Hard as in she didn't particularly want to answer that question. But she knew she was going to be forced to one way or another.

"Well, I...Uh-"

"LEAH!" Courtney snapped.

"OKAY!" Leah cried. "Uncle Nigel was worried about you, so he sent me to watch over you ever since I got back last week." Courtney was shocked. "I've been down at the Academy ever since you and Arianna first went down..."

"Nice to know I have a family who trusts me..." Courtney mumbled.

A/N: This chapter is dedicated to my AMAZING! Best friend, Aaron. Thank you for an AMAZING! Day today :) I had a lot of fun and a real good time :) Thank you for everything :)

Uh-huh...I've been out to the cinema with Aaron today to see Pirates of The Caribbean; On Stranger Tides. LOVEED IT! LOL!

Seriously, good film...LOL!

Hmm...

Thank you to;

Aaron'sInAMineField: hehe! Pointless review...But a review all the same! LOL! Hope you liked the chapter, told you I wrote it for you ;) Thank you :)

Clarissa: OMG! I haven't seen it yet, I'm off to watch it as soon as I upload this :) LOL! I can. Not. WAIT! LOL! Love you, Clarissa ;) I shall not forget...I just need to think of a next chapter for it...LOL! Thanks :)

CyD12Inklover: hehe! I know...She does seem it...LOL! hehe! I shall KEEP GOING! LOL! Thank you :)

XxXYunocchi-and-TamoraXxX: haha! I shall definitely know where to come if I wanna know Japanese ;) LOL! Thanks :)

XxPurpleChickxX: haha! I know! Christmas really does come early sometimes...LOL! Hmm...Heather...a Physco...Whatever gives you that idea ;) LOL! I take it the performance either went badly...Or you're upset about not reviewing...Either way, CHIN UP! Its okay to miss a review every once in a while :) It's not like my updating is as perfect as it should be ;) LOL! If it's the band...You did FINE! And you can always do better next time :) LOL! Thank you :)

Okay! I must rush! I have a final Glee episode to watch!

You know what to do ;)

Thank you all soo much :)

Love, ChloeRhiannonX