December 22, 1997

Veronica's POV

Alyssa and I land in Columbus. As we walk through the airport, we're so tired. Alyssa hates flying but I love it. My dad is at work so Hank and Jill agreed to pick us up. JD and Eva drove and would probably be in Sherwood tonight. "So if you don't mind me asking... How have you guys been since the whole cheating accusation thing?" I ask on the drive to Sherwood. "We've been good. I trust him. If he says nothing happened, I believe him." Jill says. "And I'm grateful for that trust." Hank kissed her hand. "You guys are so sweet." I smile.

Alyssa is passed out next to me. I let her sleep until we get to my dad's. She is not happy when I wake her up. "Baby come on." I laugh as she whines. She finally gets up and we get out of the car. "Thanks again, guys!" I wave at Hank and Jill. We go inside and put our stuff upstairs. "So don't be mad," Alyssa starts. "Uh oh." I start to unpack. "I may have accepted my mom's invitation for us to come over." Alyssa sits on the bed. "Okay... When is that?" I'm definitely not mad. But I'm not exactly happy about it. "Shes coming to get us at five." She says. I look at the clock. It's twelve o'clock. "Okay. That's fine." I continue taking stuff out of my luggage. "You're okay with that?" She seems like she was hoping I'd be mad so we didn't have to go. "Yeah. It's fine." I shrug. "Okay." She pays the spot next to her. "Okay." I sit in that spot.

At five, Ms. Greene picks us up. "Hey Veronica. How are you?" She doesn't even look at me. "I'm good. How are you?" I get in the back seat. "I'm fine, thank you." She smiles in a way that feels fake. We get to her house and go inside. "Make yourself at home, Veronica." She says as she makes her way to the kitchen. "I'm sorry." Alyssa whispers. "It's okay." I kiss her. Ms. Greene walks out and sees us kiss. She looks mad but like she doesn't want us to know that. "Well. How have you guys been?" She's carrying a plate of pâté. Not the "pâté" my mother would offer guests but actual pâté. "We've been good. I've been busy teaching and Veronica has her band." Alyssa tells her. "Oh yes. The band." She nods. "Yeah. We had our two year break, but now we're back." I say. "Right. You and Jason weren't talking." She offers us some of the pâté. "Oh thank you." I take one. "Yeah, but we're friends again and happier than ever. I don't know if you heard but he's getting married in four months." The wedding is happening in Boston because of how many friends and family that are coming that live in Boston. "That's great. It must be so unfortunate that you're in a relationship where you can't get married." Alyssa mumbles "oh God" and puts her head in her hands. "Well it is sad, but this country's not there yet. But we hope it will be there one day." I take Alyssa's hand away from her head and hold it in my hands. "We'll see." Ms. Greene fake smiles again. "I need some air." Alyssa gets up and goes outside.

I close the door behind me. "Hey." I sit on the stairs next to Alyssa. "God. Why is my mom so... hateful." Alyssa groans. "It's the way she is, babe. It'll take some time for her to change her feelings about us." I hold her close. "JD and Eva should be getting into town soon. We could call and see if they'll pick us up." I suggest. "Please." Alyssa looks at me. "Okay." I take out my phone.

JD's POV

"Thanks for picking us up." Veronica touches my shoulder from the backseat. I slightly shudder. Eva gives me a look. "What was that?" Veronica laughs. "Nothing. You just scared me." I lie. "Well just get us home. I can't be around that woman another minute." Alyssa sighs. "Okay." I say, driving away from the Greene household. "So how was your tour of the venue yesterday?" Alyssa asks. "It was great. We're going to do it. It's gorgeous." Eva gushes. "I'm excited to see it." Alyssa says.

We drop Alyssa and Veronica off and Eva immediately turns to me. "Can you not do that, please?" She asks. "Do what?" I look at her. "You totally got weird when Veronica touched you." She crosses her arms. "I did not!" I definitely did. "Yeah you did. You jumped." She mimics what I did. "I just wasn't expecting her to touch my shoulder. She just scared me. That's it." I say a little too sternly. "Okay. Sorry." Eva looks out the window. "No I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said it like that." I reach for her hand. She pulls away at first but then lets me interlace my fingers with hers.

We get to my mom's house a few minutes later. "Hey honey!" My mom hugs me, then hugs Eva. "Hey, JD." Hank walks by the door, not even stopping. Things between Hank and I are still a little awkward after I accused him of cheating on my mom. "Hey Hank." I don't think he even hears me. "He's just a little upset still. He'll come around." My mom pats my back. We get everything upstairs and into my room. Katie is outside playing with Heather and James. I meet them outside and sit at the patio table. "Brother!" Katie smiles. "Hey, stinker!" I call to her. She runs up and holds her arms up. I pick her up. "Ugh! You're so big!" I tickle her. "Hey!" She giggles. "Silly girl." I set her down. She runs back to Heather.

December 24, 1997

"No! Absolutely not!" Eva storms out of the house. "Come on! You know she's my best friend." I follow her out. "Your best friend whom you have feelings for." She turns around. "They're just that. Feelings. I love you and am marrying you. It's not fair to her to be cut out of the wedding because I have passing feelings for her." I say. "Fine. Then I'm making Alyssa my maid of honor. As a reminder that she has a girlfriend." Eva walks past me, back into the house.

I've already asked Sam and Owen to be my groomsmen. I just haven't asked Veronica to be my best man. Or best woman. I don't know. But I called her over to ask her. Eva did the same with Alyssa. She asked Heather to be one of her bridesmaids this morning before our argument about Veronica. Her best friend Amanda is probably going to be sad that she isn't the maid of honor but she'll get over it. "Hey!" Veronica hugs me when she walks into my mom's house. Alyssa comes in behind her. We have them sit down on the couch. "So we asked you here to ask you both two important questions. JD, start with Veronica." Eva says. "Okay." I take a deep breath and turn to Veronica. "So you know that you're pretty much my best friend. I love you to death and want you in my life. And I'd love for you to be my best man. Even though you're... not a man." I tell her. "Oh my God. Of course." She hugs me. "And Alyssa, I know we haven't really talked in two years, but you've always been so kind to me and I'd be honored if you'd be my maid of honor." Eva says it in a way that doesn't make it sound like she only chose Alyssa because she doesn't trust me. "I'd be honored." Alyssa smiles.

"Who else is on each side?" Veronica asks. "Well it's you, Owen, and Sam on his side. And Alyssa, Heather, and my friend Amanda on mine." Eva explains. Wow. Poor Amanda. She's just "my friend Amanda." Alyssa smiles, "I'm glad you considered me." Eva nods, "of course." Eva stands up. "Well we appreciate you coming here. You're free to go." I say. "Okay." Alyssa grabs Veronica's hand and they walk out.

"What was that about?" Eva asks. "Since when is Amanda just your friend? Didn't you two go to prom together because you didn't have dates? And didn't you promise her you'd name your first kid after her?" I cross my arms. "Yes. But she'll understand. She'll probably do most of the work." She shrugs. "Okay then." I sigh. "What's your problem?" She scoffs. "Why are you using Alyssa as a way to get back at me?" I ask. "I'm not using Alyssa. She was going to be a part of the wedding party anyways. All I did was change her role." She says. "Okay." I go to the kitchen. "Do you even want to marry me?" She follows me. "What kind of question is that?" I turn around. "Well it seems like you keep trying to pick a fight. So I'll ask again: Do you want to marry me?" She steps forward. "Yes!" I take her hand. "Okay." She looks down. I lift her head with my hand, "Eva, I love you." I pull her into my chest. "I love you too." She mumbles.

December 25, 1997

Veronica's POV

I wake up and turn to Alyssa. "Merry Christmas." I whisper, moving a strand of hair out of her face. "Merry Christmas to you too." She smiles. "Do you still wanna go to Jill and Hank's today?" I ask. "Not really. I just want to stay here with you." She says. "Sounds good to me." I laugh. I kiss her but interrupted by my phone ringing. "Dammit." I grab it and see that JD is calling. "What?" I answer. "Hey. What time are you coming over?" He asks. "We're not coming." I say. "What? Why?" I roll my eyes, "I want to spend my Christmas with my partner. And my partner wants to stay home." I tell him. "Okay. I just wanted to see you. But that's fine." Why does he want to see me? That's a little weird. "What do you mean you wanted to see me? For what?" I ask. "Because you're my friend and I wanted to see you on Christmas." He explains. "Okay. We'll come later. But right now, I need to get off the phone and be with my partner." I hang up. "Is that okay? If we go over later?" I turn to Alyssa. "Yeah of course." She kisses my forehead.

"Oh! I have something for you." I get up and rummage through my bag. I pull out a box and hand it to her. "Ronnie! I thought we said no presents." She says as she picks up the note on the front. "Just read the note." I say. "'Together we've seen both sunlight and storms. Here's to hoping for many more years of them with you.' Oh my God. This is so sweet!" She holds the note to her chest. "Open the box." I tap the top of the box. Inside is a necklace that says "V&A" on it. "I know it's not much but I saw it and thought of you." She smiles widely, "I love it."

JD's POV

I tap my foot anxiously, staring at the clock. Where is she? They! Where are they? I care about Alyssa being here too. There's a knock at the door so I stand up. "What is up with you?" Eva asks. Veronica and Alyssa walk in. "Hey!" Veronica hugs Eva. Over Eva's shoulder, Veronica smiles at me. "Well Merry Christmas." I open my arms once Veronica and Eva stop hugging. "Merry Christmas, JD." She hugs me. She does it for  a second before letting go. "So where's your mom, Hank, and Katie?" Alyssa asks. "They're at Hank's parents' house. Heather and James are there too." I tell her. "Oh cool." Alyssa nods. "Hey Alyssa. I have something to show you. I need my maid of honor's opinion on it." Eva drags Alyssa off upstairs.

Veronica and I sit on the couch next to each other. It's A Wonderful Life is on. "Remember watching this during senior year?" Veronica nudges me. "Yeah." I laugh. The way we're sitting, our shoulders are touching. "Hey." I turn my head to look at her. "Hey." She smiles. "I'm sorry for kissing you. I know I already said it, but I wanted to say it again." I say. "It's okay." She pats my leg. Her lips are so close. She definitely doesn't mean for them to be that close but the temptation to kiss her is strong. I sit up. JD stop. Veronica and you can't happen. "What's wrong?" Veronica sits up. "Nothing." I stand. "Okay then." She smirks.

Alyssa and Eva come back. "Oh my God! That's adorable!" Eva is saying when they get to the bottom of the stairs. "You should tell JD." Eva looks at me. "Tell me what?" I ask. "So Veronica got me a necklace with our initials. But the best part was the note. It said 'Together we've seen both sunlight and storms. Here's to hoping for many more years of them with you.' Isn't that so romantic?" Alyssa gushes. I look at Veronica. "So romantic." I smile in the realest way I can. "JD never says that kind of stuff to me." Eva says. "I do too! My proposal was extremely romantic. Just wait to see what I have to say at the wedding." I argue. "I'm kidding, babe." Eva puts her arm around my waist. "You guys are going to be an amazing married couple." Veronica puts her hand on her heart. "I know!" Eva kisses my cheek. Something about Veronica being excited for us getting married feels weird. I still remember when she was excited for me and her to get married. JD stop! Eva is right here. You love her. Veronica is nothing but your ex and current best friend. She is in love with Alyssa and I'm in love with Eva.