AN: Just a small trigger warning in this one for some mentions of past underage drinking gone wrong. Nothing explicit and no assaults', more just vague hints of what could have happened and a crappy situation that could have gone worse but was still not great.

~ Hey is there any chance you are at the Bulkhead?~

Metal frowned at his phone. Jess had texted him a total of three times in the two months that had passed since he gave her his number. He set his beer down so he could answer.

~ Yup. Whole gang's here. Should be for a while.~

There was a minute delay before Jess answered.

~ Cool. I might show up for a bit. Not that I'll crash your party. Just didn't want to go out if there weren't people I knew there.~

~Friends aren't coming out with you?~

~No. They all went home for Christmas. I need out of the house and couldn't think of anywhere else to go.~

Frown deepening, Metal typed. ~We're here. See you in a bit.~

"Everything alright?" Jason picked up on the change and called it out in a way only he could.

"We'll see." Metal rumbled, putting his phone next to his beer. "Jess is coming out. Alone."

Looks were exchanged and Jason said, "Thought she was going home for the holidays. Maine, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, to see her dad!" Clay nodded. "She seemed pretty excited about it."

"What's she still doing in town?"

"Guess the plans changed." Ray shrugged.

"Seems that way."

About thirty minutes later Jess came through the door. She slipped in when the boys were having a good laugh about something and nearly went unnoticed until Scott spotted her getting her ID checked at the bar and served a shot of tequila. He half expected her to join them when she turned, drink in hand and made eye contact. Instead she just looked about ready to burst into tears and hurried to a table in the far corner.

"That's not good." Trent murmured from beside him. "She never drinks. Ever."

With all the subtlety worthy of their status as operators, they casually observed for a few minutes.

The drink remained untouched. First she stared at it and drummed her index finger on her knee, then she raked both hands through her hair and held her head for a few seconds before going back to staring at the drink.

"Are we really just going to let her sit there like that?" Ray asked.

"She's a big girl. She can come to us if she needs." Jason answered, but there was a worried glint in his eye despite the seemingly harsh words.

"Jason, the kid is obviously not ok." Ray argued. "You don't seriously think we should do nothing and just leave her alone!"

"Well, I am not one to deny someone holiday cheer," Said Sonny. "So I vote to invite her to join us."

Before the vote could go further and seconds before Metal was about to get up and go over to her, Jess suddenly stood up, grabbed her shot and marched over to them.

She was pale and there was a shattered look about her.

"Hey! Can I sit here?"

"Hey, Jess!" Jason was already dragging over an extra chair for her and those who knew to look for it would have picked up on the note of relief. "Take a seat! What happened to the home for the holiday's plan?"

"Fell through." Jess clenched her jaw as she set down the single shot, pulled her arms out of the sleeves of her coat and hung it on the back of her chair. "Turns out my dad's got a new girlfriend and she wanted it to be just them for the holidays, so I'm not going home after all because he's decided I'm old enough to have my own plans anyway."

"When did he tell you?"

"This morning. An hour before I was going to get on my flight. I was at the friggin airport when he called." Jess sat down.

"He going to pay for the plane ticket you didn't use?" Clay asked, a sympathetic smile twisting the corner of his mouth as he thought of his own dad.

"Nope."

"What about your mom?" Ray suggested carefully. "You said she wanted you home too, but that you picked your dad's this year. Maybe it's not too late to see her."

A humorless laugh escaped Jess's lips and she raked her fingers back through her hair. "Yeah, no. I'd rather spend Christmas alone than go see her and my step dad. But that's not important. I'm here because my friends are all out of town and I've had enough of being alone in that quiet house. I was just going to drink at home, but then drinking alone is a bad idea, so I came here."

Sonny picked up her untouched shot and moved it closer to her saying, "Say no more."

Jess reached for it almost instantly, which sent a ripple of concern through the group. Their young friend never drank. Ever. She even said she didn't enjoy it that much. Whatever was going in with her, this was a fairly drastic change in behavior.

She hesitated after bringing the glass halfway to her mouth and cast a look around the table before settling on Scott, "It's…ah…been a while since I've touched alcohol. There is a really good chance I'm going to end up drunk and a part of me really hopes that's going to happen. You won't let me do anything stupid, right?"

Scott tapped his nearly empty beer. "This is my last drink of the evening. I'll keep an eye on you, keep you out of trouble and make sure you get home safe. I'm already driving Sonny home. I can take you too."

"Awesome." Jess kicked the shot back without so much as a grimace or a blink.

Sonny whistled. "Yeah, I think we'll definitely all be keeping a close eye out for you, Jess. Just how much experience do you have with alcohol? Thought you were only twenty-one."

"I've had some experience," Jess's eyes suddenly watered and she finally gave an uncomfortable cough. "That was really awful by the way. I forgot how much I hate that. Do they have any cider? If I'm going to poison myself I'd rather enjoy it."

A laugh broke out around the table and the boys relaxed a little.

"I am going to pretend that you didn't say that." Sonny told her, getting up from the table and heading to the bar.

"No, I'm serious. I can't do another one like that." Jess moved to get up but Ray stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.

"He's getting you cider. Don't worry."

"Oh! No, I can get it-"

"Uh uh." Jason got up to get another round. "You aren't paying from your drinks tonight. We are."

Scott shifted in his seat and added pointedly, "Unless you don't want us to, Jess. It's up to you. We're happy to do this. It's the least we can do."

Relaxing, Jess nodded. "Ok. Thank you."

A phone started buzzing and Jess dug hers out of her coat, glared at the number and rejected the call. Then she slid it across the table to Metal and said, "Do me a favor and don't let me answer that."

"Done." Scott slipped the phone into his pocket.

"Can we answer it?" Asked Trent, not overly serious but also slightly hopeful.

"Sure!" Jess wrapped her hands around the cider Sonny set in front of her. "And you can tell my mother that I'm wonderful, I'm not a huge disappointment because I didn't go to MIT like my brother and that I don't care how manipulative she gets, I'm not coming home to get bullied by her and her asshole husband. And if it's my dad you can tell him to fuck right off."

There was a stunned silence and Jess flushed, ducking her head.

"Sorry. I don't have much of a filter today. I'll tone it back."

"Sweetheart," Sonny tapped her glass. "You just enjoy that and talk all you want. We all got issues here."

"Yeah," Clay grinned. "Especially Sonny."

The laugh rose comfortably and a smile finally cracked through the stress lines on Jess's face.

Another shot of tequila, two more ciders later, Jess was drunk, chatty, carefree and an entirely different beast than their usual meek, quiet and anxious girl.

They were extremely careful with her. They made sure she didn't do or say anything she would be embarrassed about later and tried their best to keep her from becoming too much of an oversharer. That part was hard. The second the alcohol loosened her voice, she couldn't seem to stop herself from telling them a few more details about her life than was likely appropriate given how careful she'd been in the past.

It was clear she was vulnerable and fragile so when she was in the thick of feeling the alcohol and talking more, they didn't let her have any more to drink. It was almost alarming how hard so little at a time hit her. No one offered alcohol and only got it for her when she asked at the start of the night. Once it was clear how much of a lightweight she was, they took turns convincing her to drink water between beverages until they eventually cut her off all together and decided it was time to take her home.

The goal had been to keep her safe and let her have fun, blowing off some steam. For the most part, they accomplished that goal.

It wasn't until they were packing her up to leave the bar that things went a little south.

With how drunk she was, it was a good thing the bartender, Jeff, knew them and knew they'd been looking out for her for months now. They'd even asked him to watch out for her when they weren't around and he was aware of her situation with her friends and a little about her fears.

Jeff waved them out without question, trusting that she was in good hands.

A giggle peeled from Jess as she nearly tripped over her own feet and Scott caught her arm, saving her from falling on her face as they crossed the parking lot.

"Wooops," She stumbled into him and an arm automatically went around her shoulders, keeping her up. Fuzzy and happy, she leaned into the warmth and let her eyes close a little as they walked. "This was great! Wow! The last time I was this slooshed was-"

And then just like that, something in her little brain flipped. She froze under his arm and stopped breathing all together, eyes snapping open when the sound of a car unlocking filled the air and a different group of guy's voices carried through the night air, rowdy and drunk.

Scott had a good idea what was happening before the rest of them caught on and, as carefully as he could, he withdrew his arm from the girl.

"What's wrong," Clay asked, from behind them.

Up ahead, Jason and Ray turned back.

"Uh oh. She gonna throw up?" Sonny asked.

"No. Not that." Scott said, waving them off as they came closer. "Something else. Give her space."

"Panic attack?" Trent asked softly.

"I think so. Think her brain is somewhere else right now."

"We can all guess probably what kind of place that is based off what we know of her," Brock commented, an edge lining his typically milder demeanor.

Jason swore softly. "Alright. Let's just play this quietly and calmly. Last thing any of us wants is to trigger anything further. Scott, she seems to react the best to you and you know her the best. Take point."

The big man nodded, never taking his gaze off the white, haunted face of Jess as her eyes darted around the dark parking lot and she struggled to stand without swaying.

"Jess. Look at me. It's all good people here. You're safe." Scott's voice was rough as always, but calm.

The girl reacted almost instantly.

"Right." She tried to take a step back, hands flying to grip her scalp before she stumbled an extra two steps further and nearly bumped into Trent. He had his arms out, ready to catch her if she needed it.

"I'm ok." She said, clearly lying and fighting the effects of the alcohol with everything she had now.

"It's ok if you aren't." Scott told her. "No one is going to judge you or hold it against you."

"I'm ok." She repeated, closing her eyes and whimpering. "I-I'm sorry- it's not - I got away…they didn't…I was ok. Nothing happened. Pauline got me out and it wasn't...I'm ok. Everything is ok…I just…Scott?"

"Don't be sorry. I'm coming closer, ok?" Scott covered the small distance between them slowly and deliberately. "If you seem like you're going to fall before I get to you, Trent is right behind you, he's going to catch you so you don't hurt yourself, alright? Just take a deep breath for me."

Jess nodded mutely, hiding her face in her hands. She didn't last long and she swayed dangerously.

"Gonna fall." Jess mumbled from behind her hands before her knees gave out.

As promised, Trent was ready to catch her, but by then Scott's long legs made the ground and he steadied their young friend instead, holding her up by her forearms. Her forehead fell into his chest and she stayed there, refusing to look up when he tried to see her face.

"How's that five percent of your brain doing." He asked quietly as the other moved off to give them more space.

Jess shook her head and whispered with a slur. "S-Not good. I'm so sorry- I don't know what happened…didn't even think about that all evening. I'm sorry."

"Enough of that. No one is upset with you. Shit happens." Scott glared in the direction of the rowdy boys that had just left. "Are you in a place where you can trust me right now to take care of you or do we need to figure out a different way to get you home."

A fist found his sleeve, gripping tightly as Jess pressed her head heavily against him when her knees started to give out again. The oblivion started to beckon to her. "Don't wanna go with anyone else. Take me home, please? I'm ok. Brain just glitched."

"Are you alright with me carrying you to the truck?"

Jess nodded and mumbled, "Leg's won't work. They're broke. Like me. I am so broke. Hashtag student life…"

"Come on, Tippy." Scott grumbled gruffly as he picked her up. "Let's get you home."

Her head instantly went to rest on his shoulder and she curled into him unconsciously making it easier to hold her.

"Can you tell the others I'm sorry my brain glitched?" She whispered as they got closer to where the others were waiting.

"She's fine." Scott said in reply to the unspoken questions on the faces of his brothers. "Just got a little lost for a moment. We're good."

Jess swatted him feebly and hissed, "You're supposed to tell them my brain glitched and that I'm sorry."

Humoring her even though the group had heard her clearly enough, Scott added, "Her brain glitched and she is 'sorry'."

A slew of 'good' and 'glad to hear you're ok' rippled through the air as everyone got ready to depart.

"Wait!" Jess's eyes opened suddenly and she tried to lift her head. "Is everyone still here?"

"Yeah, we're here." Ray answered. "What do you need?"

Eyes slamming shut again, Jess said sleepily, "Just need to say thank you for putting up with me. I had way more fun than I would have at home and I hope I didn't ruin anything with my ridiculousness...you guys mean a lot to me…hope that's not weird."

"Awww, take her home, boys. She's getting all mushy on us." Jason groaned teasingly, making Jess smile. "Sleep tight, kid. We'll see ya around."

With goodbyes made, Jess was slipped into the front seat of Scott's truck and bucked in while Sonny squeezed himself into the backseat. She fell asleep on the way home which complicated things a little, but they were equal to the challenge.

When Jess woke it was with a dry, foggy taste in her mouth and swollen eyes that only opened with immense of effort.

It took a few moments to collect her thoughts and figure out what happened the night before.

She was home. In her own bed, same clothes she'd worn the day before, minus the long sleeve and her shoes. Her hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail too, which she couldn't recall doing.

Yesterday…what happened yesterday?

In a rush, everything came back to her. The phone call from her dad at the airport. The numb anger and the unbearable loneliness that came from being in the empty house along with the depressing thoughts about being alone for the holidays. Then she'd just up and gone to the Bulkhead and then-

"Oh my gosh I am such an idiot." Jess covered her face with her hands winced at the sound of her own voice in the empty room. "They probably think I am such a loser! You said all kinds of dumb shit! Why the hell did I do that?! What the fuck possessed me to go drinking!?"

Sitting up, Jess got a look at her sheets and frowned.

They were fresh linens, not the ones she had on yesterday morning.

"When did…ohhhh…"

Recollection of waking up suddenly and puking her guts out came slowly through the hazy jumble of memories. She'd made it to the bathroom around the corner, but that was after stopping twice more. She couldn't remember cleaning it up or changing the sheets, so when did that happen?

Dragging herself out of bed and into the bathroom, Jess couldn't find a trace of vomit anywhere. In fact, her bathroom seemed cleaner than she remembered.

Weird. Did she clean it in her sleep?

Trying to piece it all together and hating the growing sense of dread in her gut, Jess soaked in the shower before forcing herself to get dressed. By the time she was stepping onto the landing to head downstairs, there was a solid double knock at the front door followed by a key opening it and someone stepping through.

A familiar gruff voice called out, "Jess? You wake?"

"Scott?" Tension was instantly replaced with confusion. A hazy memory surfaced of asking her huge, growly friend to stay because she hated being alone and Jess flushed. "What are you doing here?"

"Dropping off your rust bucket and keys, checking on you. Good to see you upright."

"Oh, man…thank you! That's really great! Sorry I was so out of it last night." Jess started down the stairs. "I don't remember some of it. I really shouldn't have started drinking at all. You guys didn't need to deal with all that."

"Don't worry about them. They didn't mind. I am gonna level with you, though. I spent the night down here on your couch cause I didn't like how out of it you were." Scott looked uncertain, which was an odd look for someone who almost always had an expression of stone. "That and you asked me to stay, though you might not remember that. Hope you don't mind. Left early this morning once you seemed fine."

"You stayed?" Jess's face shifted to one of utter amazement mixed with an emotion that clearly said she was deeply touched by the gesture and not remotely freaked out.

Scott relaxed when he saw her reaction and shifted back into his usual self.

"Yeah, who do you think peeled you off the bathroom floor, cleaned up your puke and put clean sheets on your bed?"

Jess tried not to feel mortified at the same time as getting overwhelmed with warmth. She came to stand in front of her friend, craning her head a bit to make eye contact. "I- I guess not me…you really didn't have to do that."

"Promised you I would keep an eye on you." Scott shrugged as he studied her. "Hope you don't mind too much. Wasn't planning on staying after we got you home safely, but with how hard that alcohol hit your skinny ass I didn't feel right leaving you alone to choke on your own vomit. You threw up twice before Sonny and I ever left."

"I didn't have that many…did I?"

"No, you didn't." A snort huffed out of the big man. "You're just a real lightweight. Better keep that in mind the next time you decide to drink. How are you feeling?"

"Like I got hit by a truck." Jess admitted with a grimace.

"That'll pass. You're young. Come on."

Surprised, Jess stared at him. "Come where?"

"We have places to be."

"It's Christmas Eve. I don't have any places to go…" Jess's eyes went big and she grabbed her head. "Oh my gosh, Scott! It's Christmas Eve! Don't you have stuff going on?! I can't keep you from-"

"There's no food in your fridge so, yes, you do have places to go today." The big navy man was already walking away into her kitchen, making eerily little noise for someone his size on the old, creaky floors. "Get your coat. It's raining."

"Hey! There is too food here!" Jess followed him, oddly enough not finding it weird that he was opening her freezer and scowling at the contents. Somehow it felt like the most natural thing in the world for him to be doing. "I still have oatmeal, cereal and unexpired milk!"

"That absolutely does not qualify as food." Scott rumbled back.

"Since when are you the food police!?"

"Since I started hauling your drunk ass home from bars and holding your hair while you puke your guts out. Now let's go."

"Are you seriously dragging me out grocery shopping?"

He let the door of the freezer fall shut, turned on her, crossed his arms and fixed her with a stone faced, steely stare that might have scared her once.

"Before I answer that I'm going to ask a question of my own and I'll know if you are lying to me so tell the truth; would you even go get food- proper food - today if someone didn't harass you about it?"

Jess was like a deer caught in the headlights because the truth was she hated grocery shopping and didn't go unless she literally had nothing left to eat. It was a quirk that had its advantages. She didn't spend as much money that way.

"I'm waiting."

"I am a responsible adult. I would totally go shopping for food." Jess said, struggling not to make a face as she tried to act casual.

"You are the worst liar I have ever met."

"Ughhh, fine!" Jess crossed the kitchen and got a glass of water. "No. I would probably just live on cereal and oatmeal until Boxing Day when I finally ran out of milk."

Scott shook his head at her while she chugged her water and Jess couldn't help but feel like a little sister with her older brother who was about to tell her how much he still cared about her even though she was dumb.

"I really do worry about you some days. No wonder you're so damn skinny. Come on. Get your coat."

Jess narrowed her eyes a little as she set her empty water glass down by the sink, curious bemusement bubbling up at how much of a grouchy, secretly affectionate older brother/uncle he was acting.

"Why is this such a big deal? It's not like I'm really your problem to deal with or anything. Why do you care if I'm eating properly or not?"

A slow smile suddenly graced Scott's face. "Remember when Clay and Sonny warned you there were down sides to being taken in by a team of Seals, and you said that didn't sound so bad?"

Realization dawned and Jess groaned, "Oh my gosh, this is one of the down sides, isn't it."

"You got it." Scott leaned against the counter and crossed his arms. "Is that a problem? Cause this is what having us in your lives is going to look like, kid. Say the word and we'll back off, but this is how we operate when it comes to people we care about."

Jess sighed and ran a hand through her hair, a self conscious flush creeping up her neck as she tried not to think too hard about hearing verbal confirmation that they cared about her. Instead she admitted, "To be honest…it probably would not be a bad thing if someone gave me a hard time every so often when I'm not taking care of myself as well as I probably should."

"Good. Consider this your kick in the ass. You can't expect to be healthy and have a functioning brain if you aren't eating right. Get your coat."

"Do I seriously not have a choice here?" Jess asked, laughing nervously as she tried to gauge the new playing field she found herself in.

Scott went serious instantly. "You absolutely have a choice, all joking aside. If you really want to spend the holidays eating cereal and milk, I'll absolutely judge you, but not stop you."

"Oh my gosh, you make me sound so pathetic." Jess walked past him and made a show of grabbing her coat. "Have it your way. Let's go."

He smiled then and tossed her the keys he'd brought back. "Be glad I'm not Jason. He has a different way of dealing with things like this."

"What would he do?" Jess asked suspiciously as she locked the door behind them.

"Probably toss you over his shoulder the second you started making excuses." Scott cast a critical eye around at the house and looked like he wanted to say something but decided against it.

Jess laughed until she spotted the smirk around Scotts mouth.

"Wait…are you serious?"

"We'll take my truck. I'm not getting back in that death trap you call a car."

"I call it a truckie, actually, and don't be mean to her. She works hard to get me where I need to go." Jess gave the Blazer an affectionate pat as she walked past it. "Thanks for bringing it back for me, again. Also, you didn't answer my question. Jason wouldn't really do that, would he?"

"You'll find out the answer some day, I'm sure. Especially if you keep running late at night with your earbuds in."

"Hey, how'd you-" Jess started to say until she saw the triumphant glint in the other's eye. "Oh, shit."

He hadn't known, not without the confirmation she'd just given him.

"I knew it." He pointed at her sternly as he got in the driver side. "You gotta knock it off."

Jess got in, her headache making her feistier than she normally dared as she protested, "They aren't loud and I run better with them in!"

"Keep it up and one of these days one of us is going to show you exactly why you shouldn't, and you ain't gonna like it."

"So, where are we going?" Jess changed the subject with a disarming grin that made her friend roll his eyes and shake his head.

"To get breakfast first."

"Really?" Jess gave him a quick look. "You don't-"

"I haven't eaten yet. Don't want me to get cranky. That and you'll feel better after you've had something. Going to guess you haven't eaten yet either?"

Jess bit the inside of her lip and suppressed a half sigh, half laugh. "No."

"Didn't think so."

They were quiet for a little before Jess ventured to ask, "So…um…did I say or do anything really dumb last night? It's all really fuzzy and I have a bad feeling I might have gotten…overly chatty."

"You did get talkative. Good thing you don't have national secrets to hide. You'd be a liability."

Jess winced. "What did I say?"

"Well, you talked about your mother and step dad a lot. They sound 'pleasant'." Scott grimaced a little as he recalled some of what she'd mentioned the night before. "And you talked about your dad, then cried a bit about missing Christmas in Maine, then Sonny made you laugh and you told us in great detail about how you and your dad go moose hunting every year. Not gonna lie, but that one was a surprise to everyone. Never would have put you down as an avid hunter. There were several references to shows and movies I've never even heard of, but Trent was right there with you, so your nerd ramblings weren't lost on all of us. Other than that, the rest was pleasant chatter, interesting stories and enthusiastic sharing that we were careful not to let get out of hand. We'd rather the more personal stuff get shared when you're fully aware of yourself."

"Ah." Jess went quiet for a little while before saying softly, "I freaked out a bit when we were leaving…didn't I."

"That you did." Scott said it so casually, like it was nothing.

"I'm so sorry. I should have thought of-" Jess went quiet when Scott gave her a look that she was quickly learning meant that she was apologizing too much.

The man stayed quiet, a glare forming as he watched the lights, waiting for them to change.

"Are you mad?" Jess asked timidly.

"Not at you. Ain't gonna lie though, I'd like to bury whoever's responsible for those demons of yours."

Jess relaxed a little and offered a weak smile, hating that the mood was dampened with all this. "Thanks. I'll point them out if I ever see them again."

"Damn straight you will." Metal growled.

"I wasn't lying when I said nothing happened," Jess said suddenly, looking out the window and gripping the bottom of her coat. "It was the end of high school. The last party before we all split. They swore up and down after that it was just a joke. They thought it would be funny to mix stuff into my drink, but my body reacted really badly to whatever they put in it and I was really messed up. Ended up in the hospital a few days. Whole thing kinda got in my head, you know? Sorta why I'm so paranoid now, I guess. But, I'm ok. I got lucky. I wasn't...you know- Just in case you thought-"

"First off, you don't owe me an explanation." Scott's growl hadn't eased much, which meant what she had just told him only made him angrier. "Second, I'm glad you feel safe telling me and that you felt safe drinking with us last night. Thirdly, it doesn't fuckin matter what happened or didn't happen or what the intentions were. What they did was unforgivable. If I'm putting the pieces together right it sounds like someone did or tried to do something while you were drunk that put you in a vulnerable situation, then it landed you in the hospital and it was a bunch of assholes you knew, which is even worse. I don't care if they claimed it was a joke. Spiking drinks is never something to laugh about and they deserve to get their skulls crushed."

Something hit Jess in the gut and she drew a sharp breath.

"Wow…thank you." She swallowed thickly as tears threatened to crawl up her throat. "I don't think anyone but Pauline has ever really been on my side with this one."

"What?!"

"Well, our old friends were just so scared of getting in trouble and the they convinced everyone else it was a prank gone wrong, and my mom told me it was my own fault for drinking underage, that was after my step dad said I was overreacting because 'nothing actually happened and we were just being dumb teenagers'." Jess rubbed at one of her eyes and tried to gather herself. "I stopped telling people after that."

"You gotta be fuckin kidding me."

"Nope…do you think we could talk about something else?"

Metal didn't miss a beat or bat an eyelash. "How do you feel about pancakes?"

"They're pretty great."

"Good. I know a place."

The light mood slowly returned.

"Do they take debit?"

"Yeah, but you aren't paying."

"What? Hey, no. You really don't need to do that, I can take care of it!"

"Seriously? What kind of college student are you, passing up a free meal?"

Jess tried in vain to think of an answer.

"Alright, fine. You got me there. You can buy just this once because I'm feeling sorry for myself and it's Christmas Eve-" Jess looked at her friend sharply, "Which reminds me, don't you have places to be?"

Scott shook his head firmly. "Nope. Family stuff is tomorrow."

"Good." Jess settled back into her seat, satisfied and utterly genuine. "I'm really glad you have stuff to go to."

A few hours later, Jess was putting away groceries, listening to music and thinking about what she would do with herself the rest of the day. She didn't feel so bad about things now. Shopping for food didn't end up being as tedious as she usually found it because Scott teased the shit out of her for one half of the trip and lectured her good naturedly the other half about buying food with nutritional value. Who knew he was such a health nut.

She'd bid him a very Merry Christmas and quite expected not to see him again until possibly even the New Year. He'd done so much for her already. They all had.

Without them this Christmas would have been the absolute worst instead of just pretty crappy.

It would be fine though and next year she would just have to make plans that didn't count on her family.

That's what she told herself.

By six in the evening she was starting to feel the emptiness of the house again and she'd had a good cry. Movies weren't helping and neither was reading. Her last resort for trying to forget all about Christmas entirely was a new computer game, so she went on Steam and bought herself one that was probably more expensive than she should have allowed for.

The rest of the night passed with mind numbing hours of adventures, magic, dragons, scrolls, endless quests and constantly dying. Around two in the morning she was about to turn in, but then one of her online friends from Ireland messaged her and they ended up solving puzzles with portal guns together for another two hours. By four she was passed out at her computer and by five she had dragged herself to bed.

Too short a time later, around ten in the morning Jess woke to loud knocking on her front door.