Some birds are not meant to be caged, that's all. Their feathers are too bright, their songs too sweet and wild. So you let them go, or when you open the cage to feed them they somehow fly out past you. And the part of you that knows it was wrong to imprison them in the first place rejoices, but still, the place where you live is that much more drab and empty for their departure.
~Stephen King

The kardashisn family looked forward to their annual ski trip all year but this time around they would have Dwayne's family there because that's what kourtney wanted. A week of skiing, snowboarding, hot chocolate, and most importantly, the little log cabins they stayed in which were everybody together in the cold under a log roof.

Khloe was no exception, she couldn't wait to get away from the cameras and the madness of California and relax with all her family.

That everyone met outside the kardashian home where one large coaches were ready to take them on the five hour journey to where they would be skiing. Khloe caught sight of kim, who was standing with Kennedy.

"Hey guys are you ready for the our famaction?" Kennedy asked.

"Nope, not really at first I was all for it until I heard Dwayne's family were coming." I said.

"Why? Weren't you talking to one of his cousins?" Kim asked.

"Yeah, I am but I'm not for the whole hey we might have a future thing." I said.

"Is this about Lamar?" Kennedy asked raising a her left eyebrow.

"Of course, it's about Lamar. Even when he isn't here, he still finds a way to control her and ruin her chance at happiness." Kim said.

"Kim, I thought you liked Lamar?" I asked.

"Yeah I liked Lamar but once you put my little sister through pain and suffering than you don't deserve my kindness." Kim said.

"I know that's right. Khloe, you shouldn't hold on to Lamar. You need to let go, don't let him hold you back from experiencing something great." Kennedy said.

"I need to let go but I feel wrong." I said.

"Letting go doesn't mean that you don't care about someone anymore. It's just realizing that the only person you really have control over is yourself." Kim said.

"The truth is, unless you let go, unless you forgive yourself, unless you forgive the situation, unless you realize that the situation is over, you cannot move forward." Kennedy said.

"Okay, I get what you guys are trying to say but-" I was interrupted by my mother.

"Girls, it's time to get on the coach!" Mom yelled before climbing into the coach bus.

"Let's get on the bus before she kills us ruining her schedule." Kim said.

♝ ♝ ♝

They all chatted and laughed for the first hour or so, and then one by one people began to listen to music or fall asleep, until the bus was pretty quiet. Khloe was happily listening to her i-pod, when suddenly it ran out of battery. "Shit," she muttered, "I knew I should have got a Sony." She looked over at Kylie, but she had fallen asleep, some random pop music blaring from her headphones. Khloe sighed, and leatn back in her seat. She examined her cuticles, she really needed a manicure...She was just about to try and go to sleep when the seat in front of her shifted slightly, and she remembered that Rob was sitting there.

"Rob," she whispered, leaning over the top of his seat.

"What?" he whispered back.

"I'm bored."

"What do you want me to do about it?"

"Entertain me."

She heard him chuckle, and then he twisted round to face her. "Entertain you how?"

She rolled her eyes, "I don't know, talk to me."

"Why don't you talk to Kylie?"

"She fell asleep on me. It's typical, I go to so much trouble to get her to sit next to me and then she's totally comatose for the whole ride!"

Rob laughed and Khloe smiled. Kylie shifted slightly in her sleep, she seemed restless. Khloe gently reached over and removed her headphones, and switched off the CD player. She pushed the jumper Kylie was using as a pillow slightly further beneath her head, and she was silent again.

Rob smiled as he watched Khloe attend to their little sister. When she turned back to him he said, "You're going to be a great mother."

"Yeah, if a man could stick around long enough. I mean who would want the tall and fat kardashian sister." Khloe said.

She meant it as a joke, but Rob's face fell.

"Don't talk about yourself like that. Khloe, I swear to God if you don't change that my mindset of yours." Rob just shook his head.

"I'm sorry." She said.

"You're a great girl khloe, don't let no one tell you otherwise." He said.

They talked for almost an hour, about the last couple of weeks, and about their dreams, and the random things people find themselves talking about on too long bus journeys. Eventually people started to wake up again, and the noise level in the bus grew.

"Khloe, that guy has been staring at you since we got on the bus." Rob said.

"Stop looking at him." Khloe said. 

"Is he the one you were talking to?" He asked.

"He's name is Joshua and yeah, we're talking." She said.

"Oh well good luck avoiding him." He said.

♝ ♝ ♝

The family all piled off the coach, and found themselves standing at the bottom of what appeared to be a tiny village on the hillside, but was actually the large mansion where they would be staying in. Kris stood before them now, holding a key, which was for the mansion.

"Um, Khloe." Khloe turned to Kendall.

"Yeah?"

"Would you mind if maybe…you switched with Kylie?"

Khloe rolled her eyes at her; she had forgotten that Kylie and Kendall had already planned to share rooms.

"Sure, whatever." she laughed and went over to Kylie and Rob, "Kylie, Kendall wants you, we're switching, "she through her key at her, and she caught it, surprised but smiling, and threw her key.

"Well Kourt, I guess it's you and me then," she clapped a hand on his shoulder and he laughed.

"Wait a second, we can switch?" Kourtney asked.

"I guess so," Khloe shrugged, "Mom,never said we couldn't."

"Cool," said Kourtney, and took Khloe's key, and grabbed Dwayne's hand, "We'll see you at dinner," they began making their way up the hill.

"Okay…" said Khloe, slightly startled by Kourtney's swift actions, "So I'm with Brock."

"Actually, if you don't mind…" Kennedy held up her key, and Kennedy sighed and switched. As Kennedy and Brock began making their way up the hill hand in hand, Khloe turned to the last person left standing there with her. There was a moment's silence as they contemplated each other, and then Khloe said, "So I guess we're sharing a cabin."

"Looks that way," Joshua fought to keep a straight face as Khloe eyed him suspiciously.

Finally she shook her head and laughed, "Come on Fatu." they began the walk up to their cabin.

"Alright, do you know we're sharing a room?" Joshua asked as they made their way inside. The cabin had a little living room with a fireplace and sofa, and a small TV in the corner. Two doors went off it, and Khloe approached one and opened the door, to find a neat bathroom with a sink, toilet and shower. Joshua opened the other door to reveal a bedroom.

"I don't mind," Khloe replied as she came out of the bathroom.

"Alright, I'll have this one then," Joshua chuckled as he made his way into the room on the right.

Khloe stuck her head round the door, seeing the room for the first time, "Oh my god, no way! This room is way to intimate for us!"

"You said you didn't mind!" Joshua laughed as he threw his bags onto the king bed.

"I hadn't seen it yet! Come on, that's so unfair, I thought they'd be twin beds and…" she stopped as she saw what Joshua had discovered, "There's a walk in closet! Josh I have so many more clothes than you, you have to give me the closet!"

"Sorry," Joshua laughed as she pouted, "But no way!" he lay down on the bed, stretching out his arms. Khloe made a disgruntled noise and rolled her eyes, slamming the door behind her on her way out.

A few minutes later she was back again, this time carrying an armful of clothes. "Josh, this stuff won't stay in my suitcase, so I'm dumping it in closet, k?"

He looked up from the book he was reading, "um, sure, there's loads of space."

She dumped the clothes on the floor of the closet, muttering, "I'll sort them out later," and collapsed next to him on the bed. "Travelling is tiring! I'd forgotten. I'll be asleep here if you need me." she murmured as she shut her eyes.

Joshua looked at her and laughed, "Okay," then he muttered, "We could cuddle so you don't freeze."

Khloe slapped him on the arm, her eyes still closed, and he chuckled to himself.

♛ ♛ ♛

She was woken by the sound of the phone ringing.

"Can you get that?" she heard Joshua ask, seeing she was awake. She reached over to the bedside table and picked it up. "Hello?"

"Hey Khloe."

"Lamar? Hey," she sat up quickly; she hadn't expected him to call so soon.

"How's everything going? I tried calling your cell phone but it was out of range, so I called the camp number and they gave me your room number. Rob picked up though, but he told me this number."

"Oh yeah, we, er, switched rooms."

"Oh, I see, so who are you sharing with?"

Khloe looked over at Joshua, who had been watching her over the top of his book; he smiled innocently and went back to reading.

"Um, Kylie," she stated, well, she had been at one point…probably, in the middle of all that switching.

"That's cool, well I was just ringing to see how you were, I hope the first day is fun."

"Yeah, it's good."

She didn't hear Lamar's reply because Joshua tapped her on the shoulder and said, "I'm going to get a drink, do you want something?"

She mouthed 'no thanks' and caught the end of Lamar's question.

"Sorry, what did you say?" she asked.

"Who was that? It sounded like a guy."

"Oh yeah, Rob, he just, um, came by to see Kylie. What were you saying before," she quickly changed the subject.

They talked for another few minutes, and then she said goodbye and hung up. She left the room to find him sitting on the sofa.

"I thought you went to get a drink?"

"I did," he held up a can of Sprite. She joined him on the sofa, taking the can and drinking some.

"Hey! You said you didn't want any. You know, you really need to think more carefully about your decisions if you're just going to keep going back on them," he joked, "if you want the bigger room, chose it, and if you're thirsty, ask for a drink! Otherwise you just regret it later and I end up losing out!"

She laughed, and then realised that what he had said could be applied to another decision she'd made recently, one she was beginning to regret…

"So what was all that about Kylie?" he asked, as he switched on the TV.

Khloe paused for a minute, unsure how to answer. "I don't think Lamar would be too happy if he knew I was sharing a room with you."

"Why do you care if he gets mad? And so you lied to him?"

She gave him a sideways look, "You don't understand."

"Oh I don't. Well I understand that I care about you, and I want you to be happy, and you can't be happy with this guy if you're lying to him."

Khloe squirmed under his gaze. He was right of course, but she hated that he was so sweet to care about her relationship with a guy who treated her like shit. "It was just a little fib," she said, "He'll never find out, and it's not going to hurt him or anything, it'll just save a whole load of crap from being re-hashed."

"You could do better, Khloe, and you know it." He said.