Clay had long since been gone, and neither of the friends had spoken to the college boy since their scene on Thanksgiving morning. Blair wouldn't admit it, but she thought about Clay and the guilt on a daily basis, and though she put no blame on Julian, regretted giving in to temptation. At the same time her feelings toward him we're mixed, and she couldn't decide whether there had been actual depth the night she slept with him, or if their rendezvous was a mistake. A one time only release of stress and act of loneliness.

Tonight would give her a better idea, she knew, as she dressed and cleaned up for a very large, extravagant Christmas party. Of course it wasn't her regular dress, but now the brunette wore a pink, short tutu and black dress jacket, accompanied by the current decade's typical styled, curly hair. Blair found herself roaming through crowds by herself for quite a while, before finally she joined a friendly acquaintance upstairs. The entire floor was decorated to resemble a cold, icy environment, with drawings of naked, twisted and entwined figures on white walls. The second floor had just as many tv sets displaying the exact footage as the main floor, and the same music played, only lower. Blair sat herself on a high, wooden chair in a small corner of the room, just behind a double bed covered with white sheets, pillows, and comforter. She pulled a single leg up so that it tucked underneath her., and smiled weakly as the blonde in a light pink dress stood close. "So have you talked to Clay?" Her friend asked a very harmless question, naive to the tension between Blair and her old lover. She'd called him a few times, pleading for him to come home to see her, and in knowing him well the brunette could tell he was just as lost as she felt. The attempts were not only for herself, which was the lie that sifted through her teeth and fed to Clay, but also to benefit their third link.

"Um- Yeah, he should be home for Christmas.."
"Is he coming tonight?"
"Oh, I dunno.. He didn't say."

After a good amount of time filed with pointless conversation, the two were laughing in remembrance of a few memories from senior year, which to the Blair seemed like long ago. Subtle footsteps sounded to her right, and immediately her friend glanced their direction.. In came the college man himself."Hello, Clay." Blair couldn't help but swallow hard at the sight, eyes wide in knowing speaking with him again would at the least be uncomfortable.

Of course Clay's eyes were trained only on Blair, which signaled to the blonde that her stay was overdue. "Bye, Blair."She was hardly noticed as she left the room, and suddenly the entire room seemed to shrink, closing in on two old lovers. The brunette grew nervous, unsure, and gave an edgy smile as she spoke up. "Hi, Clay." He, on the other hand, seemed only mesmerized by the brunette in return, and a small, knowing smile played especially on the right corner of his lips.

"Hi."
"Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas."
"You look pale."

Now he advanced, smile remaining, and came boldly close to Blair as he responded. "Santa's gonna put a suntan in my stocking." Before she could protest, his hands cupped both sides of her jaw, and she managed a small question before his lips silenced hers. "So how's school?" "Great," Clay murmured, though hardly pulled away before he continued the kiss. "You know, school." He gave her no chance to respond, and did so for a good few seconds before Blair pulled away, and let herself down and around his hovering body. "Well you- You look great." "I thought I looked pale?" "Well, you look pale and great.. Have you seen Julian?"

With hands in his pockets, Clay's expression remained the same as he gave a short, careless response. She could see she wasn't having much success in distracting the college man, while she was overly worried about Julian."No." "He misses you." And then she turned away once more. "The three of us together, like In High School.." "Why'd you call?" This question felt like some kind of interrogation to her, with Clay speaking in a high pitched, knowing tone. "I wanted to." "Good reason." "Well, there's more." Blair gave in, the subject eating at her like a parasite would.

"I'm here."
"I think Julian's in a lot of trouble."
"Julian?"
"I didn't know who else to call."

As before Clay approached her with lusty eyes, a hand reaching to tangle in her hair, while Blair felt slightly more panicked now. "I can think of about 500 people downstairs." "No, he's in trouble." Finally disappointment coated the man's voice, and his hand dropped back to snuggle in his dress pant's pocket.

"Old trouble or new trouble?"
"He disappears, nobody knows where, and then he comes back like nothing ever happened. An-And he's wasted all the time."
"Julian's been doing that since he was ten."
"No no, it's different, I mean, he gets really sick. It's not like you remember.. Will you just talk to him an-"
"I didn't come home to talk to Julian."
"Please?.."

Clay's smile had now disappeared, and meanwhile Blair felt desperate for his help regarding their friend. The two had been best friends since they were small boys, and now he needed Clay. "I gotta go." "No, um-" She'd have to convince him to stay, at least remain in town until she could ask for his help again."Do you ever think about me?.. Do you?" "Yeah," Clay nodded, and the grin returned that Blair needed to see. "All the time." the two looked back at each other with loving expressions, rekindled after her accidental affair. But something faltered. Something felt strained, broken, and with that Clay suddenly pulled away, leaving her side. Hopefully he'd find Julian. Hopefully he'd realize things had changed, Julian was growing increasingly worse, and they both had to aid him despite their tensions.