"Any bright ideas?" Nina asked as she stood next to Devon on the ice-slicked pavement and looked at the large Christmas tree strapped to the roof of her little car.

Virginia had had a massive snowstorm the day before Thanksgiving leaving many of their friends who had been planning to go home for the holiday stranded, so her apartment had been full of people all weekend. They had started to arrive on Thursday morning and had been coming and going all weekend. The previous evening she and Nina had decided to get a Christmas tree for the apartment, but when they had mentioned the fact to their friends they had had no offers of help in either the procuring of the tree or the decorating of it.

Neither she nor Nina had been discouraged, and they had set-out early that morning to pick their tree. Devon had insisted on a large one since the ceilings in the old house were high, and because it was the first time she and Nina were putting a tree since their college days, her excitement had overruled practicality.

Now, she and Nina stood in the bitter cold, wrapped up in their woolly hats and mittens, stomping their feet to keep warm, and wondering how to get the tree into the house. They had had plenty of help at the tree lot to load the tree onto the car, but they obviously hadn't thought the whole process through.

"So, no one is going to come out and help?" Devon asked in disbelief.  She had sent Nina in to get some help, but the football game and the cold weather had made it a no go for everyone. "I should send them all home. Their all fair-weather friends."

"No pun intended I hope." Nina stomped her feet again while Devon just shot her a glance that told her she wasn't helping.

"We can't leave it out here, it'll get stolen." Devon sighed as she tried to think of a way to get it off the car and into the house. "Well, the first step is to get it off of the car." Devon started to unstrap the large tree that was at least nine feet tall.  She wasn't at all sure how they got it on her little car in the first place or how she managed to get it home without taking out any other cars or buildings.

She and Nina worked with gloved, but still frozen, hands to unstrap the tree from the car and when that was done they stood back and looked at it again. "Maybe we can just roll it off and onto the ground? If we had a tarp or a sheet or something we could drag it."

Just then a large dump truck drove by and the draft it created started to roll the precariously perched tree off the top of the car. Without thinking, Devon tried to catch it but lost her footing and landed under the tree as it fell off the car. It was ungraceful and must have been funny because Nina started laughing and couldn't stop.

"Nina, my butt is getting wet and cold, help me! I could be hurt or something!" Devon demanded.

"Hey guys!" Nina called waving to someone across the street. "You're just in time."

Devon closed her eyes in embarrassment. She knew who it was. It was the one person who had always managed to show up when she had needed help as a girl. Josh.

"Nina!" she hissed.

"What? At least we have someone to help us move the tree now." Nina wasn't even attempting to hide her grin.

Devon looked up and saw Josh standing at the other end of the tree looking down at her with an eyebrow raised in a question, but she stubbornly remained silent and stared back at him trying to act as if a Christmas tree landing on her wasn't at all unusual. She could tell he was biting back a smile as he kept watching her.

"Don't you dare laugh Joshua Reed McIntire!" Devon hissed.

"Oooooh, she brought out the middle name, the big guns!" Will said, joining Nina. Then they both turned to look at Josh to see what his response would be but he remained silent.

"It looks like we got back just in time," Kellan said from behind Devon, and she turned to see him and another man that she remembered from the review of the interrogation video. She remembered that his name was Mercer. Devon must have eyed Mercer longer than usual as she tried to place him and Kellan felt inclined to make introductions.

"Sorry, you two haven't really met. Lee, this is Devon, Devon, this is Lee. Devon grew up with Josh," Kellan said added unnecessarily.

Devon's rarely seen temper was starting to rise. "I'm glad that my situation is proving to be so entertaining for all of you, but would someone please help get this tree off of me!" They all looked at Josh waiting for his direction and Nina just stood there with a grin on her face.

"How do you manage to find yourself in such awkward positions Devon?" Josh asked no longer able to hide the grin that split his face. "This reminds me of the time that you tried to hang the tire swing by yourself," Josh mused, watching her as her face grew pink and her eyes started to spark.

"Come on guys, it's like you're poking a trapped badger, you should know this, Josh." Nina said, shaking her head. Nina had only seen Devon mad a few times, but she was prone to throw and break things when she got angry.

Hearing Nina's warning, Josh nodded to the two men behind her who then helped lift the tree off of her with ease. As they lifted the tree off of her she gathered up snow into a ball, and when she was finally free she nailed Josh in the face with it just before she started to make a run to tackle him, but he stopped her easily, grabbing her by the waist and throwing her into a large snowdrift.

Devon was in a full rage by now and there was no stopping her. A normal person would have conceded the fact that they didn't stand a chance against someone like Josh, but Devon was mad, and it wasn't just about the tree. It was about his leaving and not talking to her for ten years, it was about the fact that he had wanted her and wouldn't do anything about it. She had bottled it all up for so long, and now there was no holding any of it back.

She gathered up more snow and threw it in his face again and was satisfied to see his anger start to gather. He looked normal but Devon knew the signs, his grey eyes were darker than normal, and he had started to clench his jaw, but despite his anger, he only stood there. Devon wasn't willing to stop being angry, and she wanted to make him angry, make him feel a little of the frustration she had been feeling, so hit him with another snowball this time in the shoulder. She wasn't dumb or crazy enough to hit him in the face again.

"I remember the tire swing, you weren't much help then either!" She ducked behind the drift in an act of self-preservation as she threw another snowball at him.

"Everyone choose their sides!" Will said as he gathered up a snowball and hurled it at Nina. Nina sputtered and wiped her face, her eyes narrowing as she moved towards Devon.

Josh stood silently, still angry. "You really want to do this Devon?"

Devon didn't have a chance to answer as Nina hurled a snowball at him before pulling Devon behind her car.

"You realize you're going to lose right?" Kellan asked as he joined them.

Nina grinned. "Don't underestimate an angry redhead." She started to pack another snowball and the other three men stood there talking softly

"Quick more snowballs!" Devon said as she started to throw them faster than Kellan and Nina could pack them.

Kellan was right they didn't stand a chance, they had the speed and the snowball packing skills, but they lacked the high ground. There were a few minutes of everyone volleying snowballs across the car with lots of shouting of lewd things that Devon would never say in front of her mother, but eventually, the guys had enough and they moved in for the kill, and it was over in a matter of seconds.

"We surrender!" Nina called when they were finally pinned down and being pummeled by incoming snow, but the anger had all been eased and everyone was laughing and high-fiving as Kellan was given a slap on the back and told that he was a good man for siding with the underdog.

Lee and Will grabbed the tree, lifting it with ease asking where it needed to go as Nina ran ahead to show them. Kellan followed at a more leisurely pace and Devon moved to follow, but Josh reached out grabbing her around the waist to stop her.

Devon stood still, and held against Josh's warm body, she closed her eyes as she savored the moment. He was home safe and, while he wasn't really holding her, she was at least assured that he wasn't a figment of her imagination. He rested his head against the back of hers and she could the warmth of his breath on the back of her neck.

She didn't say a word, she just held still, waiting.

"Thank you for that." His voice was rough.

"For what, landing on my butt with a Christmas tree on top of me?"

She felt him chuckle as he finally did laugh at her, but she didn't mind because she had the sudden sense that he needed to laugh.

"For making the guys laugh, they needed it."

"So did you," she said softly, knowing she couldn't ask any questions.

"So did I," he agreed as he turned her around and silently looked down at her. He had taken a deep breath and was about to say something when they heard a shriek behind them, and Devon was pushed away from Josh as Bree hurled herself into his arms.

"Your home!" Bree cried as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

Devon shook her head with a sad smile. Such was her luck in life, she was sure that Josh had been about to say something important. She turned and started into the warm house where she found Nina directing the men on the best way to set up the tree as they were placing it in the stand.

"Devon, look you didn't hurt the tree," Nina said as they looked at the large green fir tree. It was lovely.

"And the tree didn't hurt Devon," Kellan said as he joined Grant on the sofa where he was watching the game. Betty was looking at the door, no doubt waiting for Josh. She only had to wait a few seconds before he entered with Bree's arm around his waist while she looked up at him adoringly. Betty frowned and Devon looked away as Nina rolled her eyes.

"Look, Bree, Kellan, and Will are home too and you haven't met Lee yet, have you?" Nina asked just before she told them to move the tree a little to the left and to the area in front of the large windows.

Bree looked at the three other men and then back at Josh with a quick look of indecision before settling on Josh.

"Where's Shane?" Grant asked suddenly, curious as to why Bree had come home without him.  The two of them had been hanging out together for the past week, and they had both left together earlier that day to go to a movie.

Bree just shrugged not answering the question as she pulled Josh down onto the other couch and started to talk softly to him. Devon tuned them out as she and Nina focused on decorating the tree.  Some of the guys helped every once and a while, but for the most part, they just watched the game and drank a few beers, and eventually, someone ordered Pizza for dinner.