Zeke

The Snowball's Chance had finally quieted down. The Games crowd had tuckered out early and headed off into the night, back to their cozy homes and hotel rooms. That's where the Brightons had gone, Zeke along with them, and Celeste, too, as she went to escort them. Olly and Sterling were busy doling out drinks to the remaining patrons, and Alicia was left down at the end of the bar, nursing her drink.

She had switched to soda water and syrup half an hour ago, but her head still felt a little too fuzzy. She didn't need a hangover tomorrow. She needed to be sharp. Tomorrow morning, she was—

A big glass of ice water dropped down in front of her. She looked up.

Olly. He grinned at her. "I thought you might need this."

"You're the best," Alicia said, eagerly taking the glass. She put her lips to the straw sticking out the top and drank deeply. "And a goddamn mind reader."

"I wish I was a mind reader," Olly replied. "If I was, then I'd be able to figure out what in St. Frick is going through your mind."

Alicia looked up at Olly. "What? My mind? What are you talking about?"

Olly leaned over and lowered his voice. "I'm talking about you and Zeke."

"What about us?" Alicia said with a scoff, making a face.

"Exactly that," Olly said, his eyes brightening. "Is there an...'us'?" He hooked his fingers around that last word.

Alicia realized what he was asking, and a guttural noise shook her. "No! Absolutely not!" she cried. "There's nothing between—"

She noticed someone watching her.

Sterling, at the other end of the bar.

He had overheard her outburst and was now watching the two of them with a quizzical look on his face. Even if Sterling and Zeke seemed to be on better terms, there was no telling how Sterling would react to even the idea of that, whether it was true or not. And that wasn't even considering what Celeste would think...

Alicia smiled at him, then turned back to Olly and dropped her voice. "There is nothing between me and Zeke."

"It didn't look like nothing," Olly replied, a single eyebrow rising. "In fact, it looked downright friendly. You even laughed at his joke."

"That?" Alicia let out a long breath of air. "Come on."

"And you two seem to be getting along quite well now," Olly pressed.

"Only because we have an understanding," Alicia said, turning smug. "Remember my plan? Well, it worked."

Olly just laughed. "Yeah? Zeke and Sterling are besties?"

"Well, not quite. Zeke only promised me that he would behave—"

"He promised you, did he? Oh man." Olly gave another laugh. "It's worse than I thought."

"He only promised because I said I would get him out of the rest of the games!" Alicia shot back. Olly was twisting her every word, and she was too buzzed to get ahead of him. "So, he'll play nice for the rest of the season. And that's enough for me to—"

"Finally tell Celeste?"

Alicia nodded, sipping away at her water. "Tomorrow morning."

"Why not tonight? She'll be back soon."

"It's late, I'm still kind of drunk, and that's a recipe for disaster. I get so emotional when I drink. I'll probably start sobbing and not make any sense."

Olly gave a knowing nod. "Ooh. Too true. Yeah, tomorrow sounds good. At least it will finally be done."

"Finally," Alicia agreed, then sighed.

"As I told you," Olly said, pulling out the fountain gun to refill her water. "It will be fine. Celeste will understand."

Alicia just nodded and took another deep drink. Though her mind told her this was true, her worries could not be convinced.

"Olly!" Sterling called. "Can you help me?"

They had just made a last call, and there was a bit of a rush as people hurried to get in their last drink orders and settle their tabs.

"I'll be right there!" Olly called back before refilling her water one last time with his fountain gun before putting it away. "Drink all of that, okay? If you're finally fessing up tomorrow, you need to be in top form."

Then he waltzed off.

Zeke dropped down into his seat by Alicia.

Alicia jolted. "You!"

"Me!" Zeke replied, mocking her wide-eyed shock.

"W-What are you still doing here?"

"Should I not be?" Zeke asked. He signaled down the bar for another drink. Olly gave him a weird look but nodded and started work on another Old Fashioned. Zeke had already downed two hot chocolates before moving onto less heavy—but no less hard—drinks. Now his eyes were starting to droop a little, and his usually perfectly coiffed hair was all out of place, a single auburn strand hanging in his eyes.

"I thought you said I could stay, as a one time exception... thingy," Zeke continued. "Is it, like, Cinderella rules? Do I gotta be out by midnight?" He checked the expensive watch on his wrist. "Oops, too late. Now what? Do I get turned into a pumpkin? Or whatever the Christmas equivalent is?"

Alicia had to press her lips together to stifle her giggle. He was just like his sister—when they drank too much, they both were total disasters. "I just thought you went with Celeste when she took your parents back to the hotel."

"Now why would I do that?" Zeke said, grinning wide. "The fun's just getting started."

"It's last call," Alicia said. "Olly's closing up soon."

"Surely there's more fun to be had," he said, raising an eyebrow. "Elsewhere."

Being in this bar by Zeke's side brought Alicia back to that first night they met. Or met again, rather. Under Olly's twinkling lights, the warmth of alcohol coursing through her veins, she was suddenly reminded of what she had seen in him then. Even looking devilish and disheveled, he was so...

"So," Zeke began, dragging the word out. "Is this what you wanted?"

Alicia blinked. "What I... wanted?"

"Tonight," Zeke said, twirling his finger around. He seemed to sway a little in his seat. "We all got along. Isn't that what you wanted?"

"Oh. Right. Yeah," Alicia quickly agreed, looking away. For some reason, she was starting to feel warm. "Just what I wanted."

"Now you'll get your perfect Christmas," Zeke said, "to preserve your memory of this dumb little town."

Alicia rolled her eyes. "Back to bashing Winter Grove, then?"

"Hey, you said I had to make nice with Sterling, not this town."

"Whatever," Alicia said with a shake of her head. "You know, you have a real talent for being annoying. Just when I start to think that you're—" She had to stop herself before she said something foolish.

Zeke's emerald eyes flashed. "Just when you start to think I'm... what?"

"Nothing," Alicia said, taking a long drink. The cool water felt nice. Once again, she felt too warm sitting next to Zeke.

Zeke just eyed her.

"How'd you end up in Winter Grove, anyway?"

"What do you mean?"

"You seem like the kind of a girl that should be flourishing in a big glamorous city, not trapped in some boring small town."

"I'm not trapped," Alicia said, her tone sharpening around the word. "And, yeah, there was a time I had hoped to be in a big city, I'm glad I ended up in Winter Grove. And besides, I'll get to live those big city dreams soon enough."

"Glad I ended up in Winter Grove," Zeke echoed. "You said something like that before. What was it? This town 'saved' you, or something?"

Alicia cringed. She wished Zeke hadn't remembered that. "S-Something like that."

"And how does that work?" Zeke asked. "How does a town—let alone a town like this—save someone?"

Alicia wanted to snap at him and tell him where he could put all his judgmental questions, but something in his eyes made her stop. There was a genuine interest there as though he cared...

Or maybe even wondered how Winter Grove might save him, too.

It took Alicia a second to gather her thoughts.

"Well, I'll admit it, Winter Grove was not my first choice," she began. "I grew up a few towns over, in a place barely larger than this. I found the little town suffocating, and I had dreams of moving to a big city—preferably abroad. I thought that if I could find a school, that might be my way out. And I made it happen—as I graduated high school, I was set to study in London."

Zeke's brow creased together. "So, what happened to those plans?"

"My brother, Will," Alicia said, her voice softening as she said his name. "Or rather, his passing."

Zeke's face fell. "Oh. I had no idea. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. It's been four years ago, now. But as you might imagine, that changed everything. I was heartbroken, and any plans I had for my future went completely out the window. My parents couldn't fathom letting me go and study halfway around the world, and I couldn't bear to leave them alone, either.

"So, I found a compromise—I made a last minute transfer to a school nearby a school nearby, which ended being Grove University."

"I see," Zeke said, nodding. "And so you came here, and that's when you fell in love with Winter Grove?"

"Not quite," Alicia admitted. "In fact, when I first came here, I hated it. Winter Grove couldn't have been farther from the iconic big city I wanted. And I was still so brokenhearted about my brother. Coming to Winter Grove seemed like the perfect solution, but I was deeply unhappy.

Zeke tilted his head. "So, what changed?

"I met Celeste," Alicia said. "She didn't just end up in Winter Grove—she chose it. And through my friendship with her, I learned to see the magic of this place. This town was there for me when I needed it most—just like Celeste. Which is why I'd do anything for her."

"Even go after her own flesh and blood?" Zeke said, raising an eyebrow.

"If that flesh and blood was being extremely annoying?" Alicia retorted. "Then, absolutely."

Zeke stared her down, and his lips tugged up in a smirk...

"Time to pay up!" Olly cheered as he dropped off Zeke's final drink of the night, along with an incredibly long check.

Zeke grumbled something about 'timing' but reached for his wallet.

"What about my check?" Alicia asked Olly.

"I've got it," Zeke said, pulling a black credit card out of his wallet. "I've got the whole tab for the night."

"That's kind of you," Olly said, taking the card. The praise sounded genuine, though Olly still watched Zeke with slightly narrowed eyes. He flashed a look at Alicia, which she pretended she didn't notice.

"You didn't have to do that," Alicia said, warming again.

"Sure I did," Zeke replied. "Think of it as penance for my behavior."

Alicia giggled. "Then I'll take all the penance I can get."

Zeke looked at her, his emerald eyes shining. His cheeks were rosy from the alcohol. "Too bad, we're not friends. I have plenty more penance in my hotel room..."

Olly's eyebrows launched across his forehead as he shot another look at Alicia. Alicia did her best to ignore him.

Alicia cleared her throat. "Yeah. Too bad."

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