Author's Note: So this took forever? I'm sorry about that. I had it written up and then kept forgetting to bring it on my computer to make it not suck. Also, I changed Debbie's storyline (how Darren met her, that sort of thing- not her role in the story) to better suit my purposes. Since this did take so long for me to upload, I kept adding to it, and adding to it, and adding to it… so it's ridiculously long and could probably afford to be broken into two chapters. Oops. But anywho, here we are! There's probably going to be about two more chapters in this, plus an epilogue.

Review Responses:

-Nikochan23: Right? I love Steve. And your part is coming up soon… VERY soon. As in, next chapter. ;)

-Nooneneeds2know: "Choose" is such an… interpretative word. You'll see where she ends up very soon :)

-Animefangirl13.2006: I'm glad you like it and I'm sorry this took so long!

Darren ran to the window of the hotel room, staring out at the white flakes falling from the sky and floating gently to the earth, just beginning to cover its surface. "It's snowing!" He lit up with childish glee, turning around to face his traveling companions and ask, "Want to build a snowman?!"

"Uh… no." When Darren's face fell, Ezra crossed his arms, quick to defend himself. "Cold-blooded, remember? Snakes don't do winter."

"So bundle up!" When the suggestion didn't faze Ezra in the slightest, he glanced over at Michaela, who had collapsed on the couch next to him. He quickly went back to trying to persuade Ezra. "Come on, please? I don't need a coat. You can wear mine!"

"And how are the little kids already out there going to react to my scales?" His forehead rose where his eyebrows would be if he had them. "Do you think they'll run and scream? Or will they try to play with us while their parents call animal control?"

"You can wear a scarf. And gloves. You'll be warmer that way, anyway!" Darren frowned, realising that his friend was completely set on his decision. Once again, he turned to Michaela and added a hopeful, "Mikey?"

"We just came so far. I don't want to do any more walking."

The weak excuse caused Darren to scowl. He glanced over towards the kitchen, where Mr. Crepsley was getting himself set up with all of his collapsible cookware. "Crepsley?"

He didn't even bother to turn around as he reminded his apprentice of his inhibition. "Sunlight."

"You guys are the worst." Absolutely none of them so much as glanced up. "Seriously, you all suck." He got the hint that they were disinterested in him completely, and decided he wasn't going to wait around for them to respond. "Fine! Who needs you? I'll just go out by myself."

"I'll go next time," Michaela promised. She smiled at him, trying to assuage the guilt she felt for abandoning him on their first day in Crepsley's hometown. "We can go Christmas shopping. I saw a paper in the window of a shop the other day and apparently it's coming up soon."

"Fine." He stormed past them, somewhat surprised that they were actually going to let him go out into the city by himself. "Don't be surprised if I don't come back 'til late. I'm the king of snowmen."

"Be safe!" Ezra laughed when his comment caused Darren to slam the door behind him, even angrier than he already was. He turned to Michaela, a grin on his face. "Kids."

"Hey, Ezra, have you seen my-"

Michaela froze when she stepped out into the living room, stopping mid-sentence. Standing there with her hand delicately placed on Evra's arm was a little brown girl in pigtails who looked to be about fifteen. Her eyes went wide as saucers when she saw Michaela appear with wet hair in shorts and a tank top, and she quickly stopped touching Evra.

They stared at each other blankly before the younger girl broke the silence. "Hi!"

"Hi," Michaela said slowly. She glanced over at Darren, whose T-shirt and hair were drenched in melted snow, silently demanding who the strange girl in their apartment was.

"Mikey, this is my friend Debbie. Debbie, this is Michaela. She's my…" He trailed off, not prepared with a lie. He finally picked up with "...sister" just as Evra attempted to save him with "girlfriend."

The boys' eyes met in alarm, their mind short-circuiting as they searched for a way to explain their contradicting explanations. Michaela let out a chuckle and smiled softly at Debbie, stepping in to save the day. "What he meant to say is that I'm due to be his sister. I've been around so long we all forget sometimes that it isn't official. I'm Evra's girlfriend."

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Debbie took a step back from Evra, bringing herself closer to Darren. "No wonder you gave me such an odd look. You must think me something terrible for having my hands all over your boyfriend! I just…" She smiled, trying to convey her apology. "His skin is so cool. I've never seen anything like it."

Michaela laughed, letting Debbie know that she wasn't angry at her in the slightest. "I know." She took a step forward so that she could intertwine her fingers with Evra's, resting her head on his shoulder and looking up so that she could meet his eyes. "I never get tired of it either. Which is actually why I came out. You were supposed to meet me in my room…"

"Right!" Evra pulled his hand out of hers so that he could wrap his arm around her waist. He grinned at Darren and raised his eyebrows. "If you two will excuse us."

Darren watched Evra lead Michaela to her room, a scowl on his face. "You guys are disgusting." He stared at the door as it swung shut, only tearing his eyes away when he heard Debbie speak up.

"They're so cute. Does she always travel with you guys?" When she caught Darren's nod she continued, "It's amazing that they can spend so much time together and still look at each other like shiny new toys. Do her parents mind her being away so much?"

"Not at all." Debbie stared at him, waiting for an explanation, and Darren bit his lip. He wracked his brain for a reasonable explanation that would explain why her parents weren't in the picture that at least somewhat aligned with her true past. "Her parents are really prejudiced. Bringing in someone of a different culture would be bad enough, but when they met Evra and saw that he was a snake-boy, they told Michaela that she couldn't see him anymore. She came over and used me as an excuse for a while, but they eventually found out.. Her parents said she couldn't live with them unless she broke up with him, so since she was eighteen by then, she's been traveling with us ever since."

"That's so tragic." Darren looked down in surprise when he felt Debbie's hand slip into his, squeezing it gently in order to convey that she was truly sorry about their hardships. "But so romantic. He's lucky to have someone like her, willing to give up everything to be with him."

"Yeah," Darren agreed uncomfortably. He didn't know why, but the idea that Michaela had left home to be with Evra rather than him was bothersome. His fingers closed around Debbie's as he shook off the sensation. "He is. Are you ready to go to the movie?"

"I'd love to." Debbie smiled at him and followed him out of the hotel room.

As soon as Michaela heard the door shut behind them, she stepped out of the bedroom and turned to face Evra. "Who was that?"

"Debbie."

"Well, no shit." Michaela walked over to the window, looking out to the square where Darren and Debbie were strolling through, hand in hand. She frowned as she added, "I meant, why haven't I heard about her until now? And why did he bring her over to meet you and freak out when she saw me?"

Evra shrugged at her in response. "They met last week, the day after he got mad at us for not going with him to play in the snow. He met her in some store and they've hung out pretty much every time he's gone out without us." He watched the way Michaela's eyes darted back to the window, watching them disappear in the crowd and turn out of the square beyond her field of vision. "Wait… do you…?"

"No. God no." She shook her head, shooting down the question that Evra had implied. "It's just weird. He wanted her to meet you, but freaked out when she met me. Did you see how uncomfortable he got? I just…"

"I'm sure it isn't like that," Evra reassured her. "I'll bet he was just worried your feelings would get hurt if you found out he was… spending time with someone else."

"Why?" She frowned, beginning to get heated. "I've always encouraged him to make new friends. Both of you. I mean, when you were both friends with that Sam kid-" She caught the way his eyes immediately darkened and quickly corrected herself. "Sorry. This is nothing like Sam. I'm just saying that I'm more than happy for him whenever he makes friends, not to mention that if he'd given us notice we could've come up with a better story for who I was."

"You don't want to be my girlfriend?" Evra feigned a pout, pretending to be offended in order to steer the conversation away from what was obviously a touchy subject. "I'm hurt. Especially after I let you come live with me. Very Romeo and Juliet. Very romantic."

Michaela rolled her eyes, refusing to give in and laugh at his antics. "The story is so old-fashioned. I feel like I'm in the 1950s." She paused before admitting, "Though for no forethought, it was pretty good. Even I was rooting for us."

"Me too, babe." He wrapped an arm around her waist in jest, grinning down at her suggestively.

She laughed and swatted his hand away, laughing all the while. She loved the way he was able to bring a grin to her face regardless of the situation. "Nice try, jackass."

Darren returned to the apartment at about ten that night, walking in quietly so as not to wake anybody up. He froze, however, when he saw two figures on the couch. They were illuminated only by the flashing lights of the television, but he was still able to make out the familiar forms of Michaela and Evra.

"Hey." When neither of them responded or even moved, he frowned at them. "Guys." Once again, they remained still in their respective positions. He flipped on the lights in an attempt to startle them awake.

Evra's head snapped up as soon as the lights came on, leaving Michaela's head isolated on his shoulder. She came to as well, slowly lifting her head up just far enough to be able to twist her neck to look at Darren. She had just enough time to murmur a simple "Hey" before drowsily nuzzling her head into its prior position.

"It's just me," Darren informed them. He was more than slightly uncomfortable with their close proximity, and the only explanation he could offer for it was that they were keeping up with their cover story. "I didn't bring Debbie back."

That caught Evra's interest. "Were you planning to?" He laughed at Darren's blank facial expression. "Props to you, man. Even if she is a little young."

"You guys are pigs," was Michaela's simple evaluation.

"I didn't mean it like that. I just thought you guys were- I mean-" He quickly grew flustered, unable to verbalise what he was trying to say. He'd assumed the only reason they'd been curled up together was in order to keep up the couple facade for Debbie's sake- but they hadn't even been expecting her. So why the hell were they so close? Darren decided against pursuing the questions he couldn't find the words for and instead changed the subject. "What are you guys watching?"

"Saturday Night Live." Evra glanced back at Darren to explain, "I've never seen it, so Michaela rented some old episodes for us to watch. Apparently, the Cirque has kept me from more than just girls. I have a new favourite show."

Michaela smiled softly, awake enough to listen but still too asleep to open her eyes. "I told you you'd like it."

"Says the girl who couldn't make it through half an episode," he shot back. He nudged her and added, "Why don't you go to bed? Dare can watch with me. I'm sure he'll be better company."

"Time for guy talk. Got it. Have fun perving it up." She forced herself to her feet and dropped a kiss on Evra's head. She rolled her eyes at his "Aw, shucks" and ruffled Darren's hair as she walked past.

As soon as the door shut behind her, Darren tore his eyes away from it to frown down at Evra. "What was that?" Before Ezra could even finish asking what Darren meant, he was cut off. "You guys aren't usually so…"

"Nothing happened, man." Ezra could tell what Darren was trying to get at, and cut in so that he wouldn't have to be so uncomfortable. "We talked for a little bit after you left and decided if you were out on a hot date we might as well go have fun without you. So we went out to town and grabbed a bite to eat, which was when she flipped a shit on me for not knowing SNL. She just passed out on my shoulder," Evra swore.

"Oh." Darren paused, considering the story. When he decided it sufficed, he nodded. "Okay. Sorry."

"It's not a problem." Darren said nothing further, and so Evra went on to say more. "Can I ask you a question, though?"

"Go for it!" Darren couldn't believe it had taken Evra so long to say anything. He'd expected to be bombarded with questions about his movie date with Debbie from the moment he stepped through the door.

"Why are you spending time with Debbie if you want to be with Michaela?" He saw the incoming denial on Darren's face and cut in, "Listen, she might be too naive to realize it, but I'm not. You aren't exactly suave."

"I like Debbie," Darren argued, immediately defensive. "She's fun. So why shouldn't I hang out with her?"

"I'm not saying you can't." Evra remained calm, hoping that in seeing how unemotional he was Darren would mimic the demeanour. "If she makes you happy, go for it. But you can't go on dates with her and then come back and get mad at me for spending time with Michaela."

"I didn't get mad, I was just–"

"Jealous. Believe me, I noticed." He saw how upset and flustered Darren was getting decided to drop the subject. "Just think about it, okay? And come watch Chris Farley do his fat kid thing."

Darren shook his head and told him, "I'm really not in the mood. I'd rather head to bed."

"It's only ten," Evra scolded. "Prime time for a creature of the night."

Darren let out a sigh before submitting and collapsing on the couch next to Evra. "Fine. Just don't expect me to be all cuddly with you, too."

"I wouldn't dream of it, buddy," Evra replied with a grin.

Darren hardly got through the opening credits when he felt his eyes beginning to close. He snapped them open what he thought was minutes later before finding that it was light out. He sat up and let out a yawn.

"Oh, you're up!" Michaela grinned at him from where she sat in the kitchen before looking back down at her magazine. "I've been out here so long, I almost thought you died."

There was a brief pause before Darren finally settled for a response. "Not quite." He rose and padded his way over to make himself a bowl of cereal. For whatever reason, he felt really uncomfortable with Michaela being there, even
though she was paying no attention to him whatsoever.

All was quiet as he poured his cereal and then his milk. Suddenly, her voice cut through the silence. "Want to go get some ice cream after you finish your breakfast?"

There was a long pause while Darren debated how to answer. "Uh... Yeah, sure." He hesitated again before asking a hesitant, "Should I go get Evra?"

"Nope," Michaela replied, dismissing the notion. "The asshole stayed up till four watching SNL. He's going to be out for a while."

"Oh." Darren paused, debating whether to be elated that Evra was excluded from their tryst or nervous that he was going to spend some long-overdue alone time with Michaela. Finally, he decided that his fear was ridiculous; they'd been best friends for what felt like an eternity. Nothing was changed just because they'd each made new friends. "When do you want to go?"

"Well, it's ten," she said, glancing at the clock, "and Evra told me last night that you're seeing Debbie again around noon. So hurry up and finish so that you have enough time to come back and get ready for your date."

"Uh... okay," he said slowly. The way Michaela said it so casually, as though she had no qualms with the idea of him dating someone other than her, completely bothered him. Why was she so okay with it? Her lack of care forced him to add on an assertive, "And it's not a date."

Michaela smiled at him knowingly and gave him a smile that he knew was supposed to be comforting. "Darren, it's fine. You don't have to pretend like you two aren't an item. I think you guys are cute, even if she is a little young." She stood up and grabbed her jacket off of the counter, opening the door to the hallway immediately. "You ready?"

He nodded and followed her out the door. The whole time he trailed behind her, he heard her words echoing in his head. What did she mean, it was fine? And why did she think they were cute? Did it not bother her at all that he was seeing somebody else?

They only had to walk four blocks before they made it to the ice cream parlour. The man working the counter made a comment in regard to Michaela not being the same "broad" that Darren had brought last time; Darren's face flushed a bright red, but Michaela merely laughed. Once she moved aside to allow Darren to pay, the man whispered, "Personally, I think this one is an upgrade."

Darren scowled and continued walking. He and Michaela took a seat outside, but were only there for a moment when Michaela made a joke. "Darren Shan: Ladies' Man. I can see it now."

"Oh, my god." He shook his head, refusing to even momentarily entertain the idea. "No. No way."

"I dunno, Dare. Bringing two girls to the same ice cream shop?" She grinned and took an exaggerated lick of her ice cream cone. "That was ballsy."

He scowled. "Technically, you brought me."

"But you went along with it." When he didn't crack a smile, she frowned. She nudged him with her foot and said, "Okay, what's gotten into you? Things have been different between us ever since we got to this stupid town."

"No, they haven't."

Michaela scowled at him, irritation heating her blood. "Okay. Fine. Nothing's changed. You've always been this distant and uncomfortable around me."

He paused, debating what to say. He didn't think she'd noticed the changes in his behaviour. Finally, he decided to just make a joke of it and end the matter. "Glad we got that settled."

She scowled and stood up. "Glad I know you're not interested in fixing things." She dropped her ice cream into the nearest trash bin and began to storm off.

"Mikey!" He stood up and followed her, throwing his out as well. She got only three steps before he caught up to her. "Come on. Don't be like that."

"Listen." She turned to face him and held up a finger, adding one with every item she listed. "i don't care that you're not spending time with me. I don't care that you're dating some little girl you just met, or that you keep ditching me for her. I don't even fucking care that you wanted her to meet Evra and not me. What I care about is the fact that you keep acting like I'm a fucking stranger, and I am not in any way, shape, or form okay with that."

He paused. "Okay. I'm sorry." When she looked disgusted and turned back around, he got louder. "Wait! I'm not done." He waited for their gazes to lock onto each other's before talking. "I just assumed you were mad at me. So I guess I started treating you like you were."

"Well, I'm not. So can you stop?" When he nodded, her entire body relaxed and she smiled. "Okay. Good." She gestured to the garbage can and added, "Since we wasted perfectly good ice cream, we might as well go head back to the hotel."

He nodded and followed alongside her this time. Neither of them spoke until they got to the hotel. She entered first, but he stopped just as he entered the doorway. Once he'd shut it, he turned back to face her retreating figure. "Mikey?"

"Yeah?" She turned back around, and when she saw that he had stopped all the way back at the front door she backtracked so that she was standing directly in front of him. "What's up?"

"So since you aired out everything, and we're okay again, I figure it's my turn. Right?" He let out a shaky breath when he caught her nod of approval. He mustered every ounce of confidence in his body to slowly say, "Back at the Cirque. Before we left. You said if I started drinking you might let me kiss you." Her only response was to stare at him blankly, giving no indication that she understood what he was getting at. "I've been drinking." Still, he recieved nothing. "Can I?"

There was a long- drawn-out silence before she finally found a response that suited her. "Darren, you have a girlfriend."

"I know, but–"

"And you brought her here to meet me and Evra." She thought about what she'd said and quickly reevaluated her statement. "Well... Evra. I just happened to be here when she walked in."

"Mikey–"

"I'm not upset about it anymore. Don't bother apologizing." She hesitated to find her words before continuing., "Debbie seems like a nice girl. Incredibly innocent. As she should be for someone her age. Do you recognize how utterly wrong it would be to kiss someone else while you are dating her? It would be like stepping on a flower."

"But... I asked you a while ago. And you said yes."

"No, I said I'd think about it. And now you have a girlfriend."

"But..." He paused to let her words fully sink in. "So, you're saying no because of Debbie. Not because you don't want me to?"

"Darren–"

"No," he snapped immediately. She fell silent, and he continued. "Answer the question."

She stared at him blankly like she had when he first mentioned to idea of kissing her. Finally, after a little deliberation, she found a way to side-step the question. "If you kiss me I'll tell Debbie."

"That's not a no."

"I'll slap you," she insisted.

That was all she had time to say, because almost before she'd finished the short sentence Darren took a step forward and pressed his lips to hers. She instinctively rose onto her toes in order to better kiss him, but when she felt her lips part for him,, her mind returned to her. She ripped herself out of his grasp and smacked him, just as she'd promised to do and wavered, "You are such a fucking asshole." She turned on her heel and retreated to where she'd originally been headed: her bedroom.

That was as far as he got, because Darren took a step forward and pressed his
lips to hers. They kissed until Michaela's mind returned to her, at which point
she pulled her mouth from his and smacked him, just as she'd promised. "You are
such a fucking asshole," she wavered. She turned on her heel and retreated to
where she had originally been headed: her bedroom.

Darren stood there for a few seconds, wincing as she slammed her door. A few moments after hers had shut, Evra's opened, and he poked his head out. "What the hell was that?"

It took a few moments for Darren to even register the question. Once he had, he merely shook his head; he wasn't quite sure what to respond. "Uh, you might want to go check in on her. I have to go get ready for my date."

Evra gave Darren a long, steady look before nodding and walking towards Michaela's door. He knocked on it softly, and when he didn't recieve a response, he turned the knob and stepped inside. He walked in to see her standing with her hands balled up into fists, leaning both them and her head against the wall. "Michaela?"

She whirled around angrily, ready for combat, but when she saw that it was just Evra she let out a sigh. "Oh. Hey, Evra."

"Hey," he replied immediately. He took a step closer to her as he asked, "What's
going on?"

"Nothing.". She caught the dubious look on his face and let out a sigh before collapsing onto her bed. "Okay, fine. Something."

"You know, I never would have guessed that?" He took a seat next to her on the bed and looked down to study her face. "So what is it?"

"Darren is an asshole." She saw that Evra was waiting for further elaboration, so she let out a sigh before explaining. "The son of a bitch kissed me."

Evra's brow furrowed. "Isn't that a good thing?"

"Are you crazy?" she demanded. "He's dating Debbie, remember? The little girl who thinks we're the cutest couple ever? And I told him if he kissed me I'd tell her, but I'm supposed to be his sister-in-law, and even if I wasn't I couldn't do that to her, and–" She fell backwards so that she was laying across the bed. "Ugh!"

"I've gotta hand it to him– that was ballsy," Evra acknowledged. "I mean, he asked you and everything. Didn't even stop after you said you would tell Debbie." He saw the frustration on Michaela's face growing, and cut of that line of conversation by laying down next to her. "What'd you do?"

"I slapped him," she said simply, a small smile growing on her face. "Asshole." Her face crashed as she added, "I would feel bad about it, but I fucking warned him about that too. At least that threat I could follow through on."

"He really is ballsy," Evra commented. There was a sense of admiration in his voice as he demanded, "Where did our wimpy Darren go?"

"He's not ballsy, he's an asshole!" She glared at Evra and ordered, "Get past that fact that he kissed me for two seconds and look at the fact that he cheated on his girlfriend. It wasn't that he got caught up in the moment or anything. He knew exactly what he was doing and he was told not to and he still did it."

"Okay, well, yeah," Evra finally admitted, "That was a dick move. But it's not like it was just some random girl, you know? He won't admit it but he's had a crush on you for the longest time. And before you came to the Cirque I had to hear him whine about you 24/7."

"But I'm still going to be here when we leave this city," she argued. "And we sure as shit aren't bringing Debbie with us when we go. And furthermore, if he's so head over heels for me, why did he get involved with another girl? And why did he kiss me now?"

Before Evra had the chance to say anything, the doorbell rang. The water in the shower was on, symbolizing that Darren had not yet finished getting ready for Debbie's arrival. Michaela and Evra shared a look before they both got up, and Michaela answered the door.

"Hi!" Debbie exclaimed with a grin. "I'm here to pick up Darren? He was supposed to meet me at my house ten minutes ago but he didn't show. A boy in the hallway said that he just saw you and Darren get home, though, so I guess he's just running late."

"He's in the shower," Michaela said slowly, "so he should be out soon. You can wait for him inside if you'd like." She turned around and looked at Evra, who was laying on the couch.

He pulled himself into a sitting position slowly, as though he'd been laying there a long time and couldn't bear to leave his spot. "Hey, Debbie."

"Hi!" she chirped. She followed Michaela into the room, who sat casually on top of Evra's lap. Debbie opted for a seat on the opposite end of the couch, giving the couple enough room for all of the antics Darren had warned her they pulled. "How's it going?"

"Pretty well," Evra said with a smile. His arm had found its way around Michaela'a waist, and he could tell from the way Debbie was looking at them that they were doing the whole 'couple' thing right. "I mean, this one has been making reptilian jokes all day, but other than that..."

"Hey! Some of them are pretty funny," Michaela defended herself. A grin broke
out on her face as she managed to actually think of one on the spot. "Okay, okay, here's one. What do you call a snake that works for the government?" She allowed a pause for them to consider the joke. "A civil serpent." When nobody laughed, she held up a hand and said, "Okay. Fine. I have a better one. What do you get when you cross a pastry and a snake?" She glanced around, grinning. "A pie-thon."

That joke evoked a smile from Debbie. "That one was actually kind of cute."

"Don't encourage her!" Evra exclaimed, half-sincere in his mortification.

"Do you know what happens after snakes fight?" Michaela chided Evra, tapping a finger against his nose. "They hiss and make up." Debbie smiled and watched as Michaela brought her forehead against Evra's, bringing her lips closer to his as he did so. She was a mere centimeter from actually kissing him when she let out a hiss in his face and turned her attention back to Debbie as though nothing had happened. "So, what are you and Darren doing on your date?"

"Oh, we're just going Christmas shopping," she replied simply. "Nothing fancy."

"You're going Christmas shopping together?" Michaela's face dropped, remembering that Darren and she had made plans to go Christmas shopping together on their first day in the city.

Debbie nodded her head in agreement. "We met when he was in a store looking for a gift for Evra and I was there searching for mittens. We obviously got caught up so he never actually picked anything, so we're going to the store and then to the movies again."

"Two movies? That's how Michaela and I got started," Evra said with a warning tone to his voice. "Be careful, or you might accidentally fall in love with him."

She smiled shyly and hung her head, blushing madly at the floor. "I'm much too young for that sort of thing. We're just... fond of each other, is all."

Michaela forced herself to smile at the naive girl and said, "Well, hopefully we stick around a while so that you guys can spend more time together."

"I hope so, too," she agreed. After a moment, she looked up at them and asked, "Hey, what are you guys doing for Christmas? I was going to ask Darren to invite you all to celebrate with my family while we were out, but since I'm here with you now and it's not too far it seems as good a time as ever."

"We'll have to check with the old man," Evra said slowly, "but being as I didn't even know when Christmas was, I think it's safe to say we're free."

"You know how antisocial Lart– I mean, your dad is," Michaela said. "I don't know that he'd want to go, and that's assuming he doesn't have work that night."

"I still think it's odd that you call my father by his first name," Evra murmured.

"Yet another thing you have to get used to if we're going to spend the rest of our lives together," Michaela responded. "Speaking of which, you should get me a ring for Christmas! That would be so cute."

"With what money?" Evra made a face in response to her grandiose suggestion. "Get your head out of the clouds and enjoy the fact that we're fortunate enough to have each other at all. Things could have gone a lot differently for us and we have to count our blessings where they lie."

"That's adorable." Debbie grinned at the two of them and said, "I hope to find a love as strong as yours one day."

"Hopefully the circumstances are a little different," Michaela answered with a small smile, "but I hope you find something all your own. Something that makes you happy, even if you have to fight for it."

Debbie opened her mouth to respond, but at that moment Darren emerged, dripping hair and all. He froze when he saw Michaela on Evra's lap, conversing with Debbie. Debbie's face instantly lit up when she saw him, causing Michaela's to fall. "Hey!"

Michaela twisted around to glare at Darren as a nervous smile came upon his face. "Hey," he said slowly. "Are you, uh–" His eyes flitted between the two girls before settling on Debbie. "Are you ready to go?"

"Why don't we invite Evra and Michaela with us?" She at grinned at Michaela and corrected her offer. "If you guys would like, of course. I'd love to get to know you both better."

"Oh, no, we couldn't impose," Evra answered for the both of them. He sent a knowing look at Darren and added, "You and Darren go have fun. We have to leave for our dinner reservations soon, anyway."

"Oh." Disappointment evident in her voice, and Debbie frowned. After only a moment her face picked up and she was once again chipper. "Have fun on your date, though! I'm glad you guys are getting out to do something. I'm sorry if I seem rude for asking, but won't some people..."

"Yes." Michaela smiled in order to reassure Debbie that her inquiry hadn't been the least bit offensive. "And it isn't rude. I know you're only looking out for us. Evra always has to bundle up when we go places, to cover at least most of his scales, which is why we don't do it often." Michaela twirled the hem of Evra's shirt around her finger and added a sultry, "But I always make up for it later, don't I?"

The grin that came over Evra's face was interpreted by Debbie as a combination of even love and lust, though in all honesty it was Evra reigning in his laughter. "Is today a special occasion?" Debbie asked mildly.

"It's our anniversary. Our original one, not the anniversary of when we got back together. Actually, when you think about it…" He glanced at Michaela, eyebrows raised. "We probably have a lot of anniversaries, huh? With all the breaking up we had to do?"

"Don't think about it." Michaela shuddered at the implication of his words. "We are not celebrating any of
them. Especially not the way you have in mind. We don't need any snake babies running around here, do we, Darren?"

"No, we don't." The bitterness in Darren's voice surprised even himself. When everyone turned to look at him in unison, he let out a weak laugh to cover up his instinctive disgust. "Please! You two are so irresponsible. Do you know who would wind up having to take care of them?"

"My loving brother-in-law?" Michaela guessed with a grin. Her eyes made their way over to the clock as she added, "...who is going to miss his movie if he doesn't skedaddle with this pretty young thing?"

"You're so sweet," Debbie told her with a grin as she stood. "Well, I hope you have a lovely evening on your date and hopefully I'll see you soon!"

"Toodles!" Evra agreed as they walked out the door.

Michaela flipped off Darren's retreating figure until the door shut. Once it had, she turned back to cock an eyebrow at Ezra. "Toodles?"

Evra shrugged. " I thought it was cute."

Michaela slid from his lap onto the couch and closed her eyes. "What's cute is Debbie. What's not cute is her asshole boyfriend."

"On the bright side, I have zero competition," Evra agreed with a grin.

"Shut up," came Michaela'a easy reply. Her brow furrowed. "I can't believe Christmas is next week."

"I can't believe you guys are freaking out over some holiday." He grinned and added a joking, "Must be a human thing."

"You're human." And to her it was true. His skin composition, Larten's age, and Darren's blood made them no less human in her eyes than she was. "Are you honestly telling me you don't celebrate Christmas?"

"Never have I ever." He pouted when she gaped. "Don't look so surprised. I grew up in a cage, remember?"

"I know, but I thought maybe Mr. Tall..." She frowned and shook her head. "How is it that you're nineteen and this is your virgin Christmas?"

"I'm not as promiscuous as you," he joked, but only to get her off he subject of his childhood. He played it off with jest for the most part, but he still found himself getting emotional whenever the subject of his life prior to Mr. Tall came up in conversation.

"We'll change that," she decided.

"No." He shrugged in reply to her incredulous gaze, anticipating her question before it escaped her lips. "It's dumb. We all spend money on presents that the other may or may not even like? It's dumb. Count me out."

Michaela frowned, but did not argue his logic. There was no way to explain the magic of the holiday to someone who had never experienced it, no way to force him to embrace it. "Fine." She grinned. "But I'm still getting you a gift."

"But then I'll feel bad for not getting you one!"

"That's your fault." She grinned and poked him in the stomach., "I'm not letting you drag me into your Scrooge ways."

"You're ruthless," he told her. He glanced out the window to pry his eyes away from her and give him an excuse to change the subject from yet another one he was uncomfortable with. "So— what are we doing on our super-cute anniversary date?"

"SNL?"

Evra grinned. "You're on."

A/N: Since the next chapter is already written and just needs to be revised, you can expect the next Steve chapter to be up relatively soon. :)