New Years was two days away so I knew it was about to be a party weekend. I was less than thrilled by that fact. It had been a long week. Outwardly, I seemed as fine as I could be. I spent most of the day hanging out with my cousins or Jensen. Laura and Jensen liked to hang out at the mall so it was easy to keep them busy and less likely to engage in meaningful conversation. Not that they would have asked me about anything deeper than the weather right now. Everyone was walking around me on eggshells like I was the one in the padded room and not Ari. Winter Break was already almost over and Ari was still gone.

Last week Christmas came and a Christmas miracle happened; Elyse came. I was sitting at the table with dad eating breakfast on Christmas Eve Day when a cab dropped her off. I literally ran into her arms. I was dying to fill her in on what was happening with Ari.

We were up well into the night talking by the fireside. She braided my hair like Jordan used to and told me about her life at her new job at some fancy accounting firm.
When she was done with my hair I started playing with hers. I was in the middle of braiding her hair when she said something surprising.

"So I was wondering what your summer plans were?"
"Nothing much yet."
"Well I was hoping maybe you would like to spend some of it with me?"
I shrieked.
"Yes, of course!" I hugged her from behind with enough force to knock her over.
"I thought you would like that. Dad has already approved. It would be on top of the 2 weeks the judge granted Jordan."

Elated and ecstatic barely began to cover how I felt. The idea of getting to go home kept me up all night.
That and Christmas was the next day.
Elyse had brought gifts from her, Jordan and Patrick.

We all went over to enjoy an Aunt Claire feast for lunch. All of them freaked out when they saw Elyse. We spent the next few hours catching up, playing games, and eating way too much pie. It reminded me of the days when I was really little. Before Mom became just my egg donor and Dad became Tim the evil villain.

I looked over at Tim then. He was in the middle of telling a story very animatedly. Uncle Jim and Aunt Claire were laughing and soaking it all up. It hit me then that these were brothers wanting to raise their kids together. I knew I wanted to do that with Elyse one day. Even though I hated being away from Dallas, I was starting to understand why he moved me up here. He was just trying to be a good dad.

Elyse came and sat next to me. She threw an arm around my shoulder and said, "How are you doing kiddo?"
I shrugged, "I'm pretty good."
Her left eyebrow cocked slightly. "How are you doing for real Alex? I mean without Jordan, Patrick, or me. Just you and Dad? I knew you were pretty anxious when I was here for your birthday."
I shrugged even harder while trying to formulate a response. "Okay I guess. I mean I feel like I miss home but here is starting to feel like home too and that's a little weird."
"How are things with Ari?"
"Now that is a fun question. I have no idea. He's been more or less in a sleep coma the last week and a half. We've barely talked. I don't even know what to say to him right now."
"What's going on there?"
I shook my head because I didn't quite know what to say. I couldn't explain this depressive episode he was in. I had spent so much time worrying about him but I also just had no clue where to even start.

I just did my best to change the subject.

Elyse went home two days later.

New Year's Eve came and I was ready to party at my cousin's house. I wore a backless white dress that sparkled all over. The sleeves were lace and I felt like a snow angel in it.
I had borrowed Aunt Claire's silver heels for this one.

I hated that I had to put a coat over it. In Texas, Elyse said it was fifty degrees. It was snowing here. I longed for year round heat.

I wondered if Elle would be there tonight. She had been AWOL for most of the break too at her dad's. I was ready to have her home. I saw what looked like an angel standing outside my cousins' when I walked up their driveway.

He looked glowing in a white pull over sweater that hugged every curve of his abs. I was so used to his hair being straight that the curled ringlets that matched Jake's were almost shocking to see. He was not wearing any eyeliner or jewelry or anything that would make him look like my normal Ari. I never thought Ari looked sick but this guy standing in front of me just looked so much healthier.

"Hey, Gorgeous." He said timidly.

I just ran into his arms.

Our lips met and fireworks started flying.

They literally started flying.

I could hear the boys in the back yard hollering in satisfaction that they had managed to set off the fireworks without setting something on fire. I beamed and stared into his Blue-gray eyes.

"How are you?"

He shrugged, "About as good as anyone can be when they find out they have the family curse."

"Curse?"

"It's a whole story, Alex. One I will gladly tell you, tomorrow. Can we just have tonight to be normal?"

I nodded. I wanted to know what was going on with him but I knew it just wasn't the time.

We walked over to Aunt Claire's and were welcomed first by Uncle Jim and Dylan. Uncle Jim, I could tell, was already on his way to being smashed. The adults around here only ever seemed to drink on holidays and they made sure to make up for the fact it was the only time they partied. I made the rounds with Ari and he led me over to Elle. We hugged it out. I was excited to have them both back tonight. It felt like ages since we had all been in one room.

Half an hour later, I left them to go see who was upstairs. In one room was Brenna and the Nick, or Nixon, or Nike guy going at it.

Ew.

The game room had several of the seniors playing pool.

I went to the end of the hall and peeked in. It was my Aunt's room. There was only one person in there, drinking from what looked like a beer bottle. He was sitting in complete darkness looking out the window.

Tyler.

I walked slowly over and sat on the bed next to him.

"Tyler what's wrong?"

He seemed to collect himself and after a moment spoke, "Nothing. Everything." His voice sounded distant and his speech slurred slightly. "I'm just frustrated, Harrison."

"So you're sitting alone in a dark room drinking?"

He laughed, "Why are you even here? I saw the Prince of Darkness came back."

"He doesn't look much like the Prince of Darkness tonight."

Tyler shook his head, "Nope. I haven't seen that kid looking so normal in at least two years."

"Is that when he discovered eyeliner?"

"And his sister's skinny jeans."

That one made me giggle. "Enough about him. What's going on with you?"

"Besides the fact, half of the group still treats me like a leper?"

"I figured everyone would have gotten over it by now."

"Nope.

"Probably deserve it anyways. I've been a dick the last few years."

"I wouldn't know. I've only been around four months."

"And in that time, you managed to make a mortal enemy out of a soulless ginger, won the heart of her little brother, became best friends with her little sister, and got her ex-boyfriend to profess his feelings for you to a room full of people."

"Hey, she started it! And I did not make you sing that song. That was on you, boo."

I took the bottle from his hand and took a swig. Patrick and I had spent the summer sneaking beer out of the fridge at Elyse's. I wasn't sure what kind this was but it was warm and made me want to go and sneak a colder one. I handed it back to Tyler. He looked surprised but didn't say anything about it.

"Yeah, I fucked up there. I should have waited for Munro to fuck up first before I tried to swoop in."

I shook my head and smirked, "No you should have kept your damn mouth shut."

He smirked back, "Did you at least like the song?"

"I plead the fifth."

Tyler laughed and put his hand on top of mine, "You're in Canada, Harrison, you can't plead the fifth."

I rolled my eyes and chose to change the subject. "Thanks for getting Patrick here, by the way."

He smiled and took a swig out of the almost empty beer bottle. "You're welcome, Harrison." The door creaked slightly, letting in light from the hall. I looked down and saw our hands still together. I looked up then to see who it was opening the door.

Ari.

I jerked my hand away from Tyler's who in turn held his hands up as if the police were asking him to.
I expected rage like what happened at Halloween or for Ari to storm out.
But neither happened. He instead stood there, cool, calm, and collected. Almost too calm for comfort.

He seemed to be patiently waiting for an explanation.

"I found Ty in here and we just started talking."

Ari looked almost bored at my explanation.

"Cool. You ready to head outside, babe? They're about to start fireworks up again."

I looked at Tyler who's face looked just as confused as I felt at the moment.

I smiled hesitantly and started towards Ari who was already heading out the door. He waited for me to catch up and then wrapped his arm around my waist. I wasn't sure what zombie had taken over Ari's body tonight but I wasn't about to rock the boat.

"I could hear everyone outside counting down to one. We made it outside just in time for midnight. It was officially a new year here in Cabbagetown. Ari leaned down and put both hands on either side of my face. He closed the gap between our lips and the fireworks started going off both around us and in my stomach. I wasn't sure what was going on with Ari or us but I was happy to relax and enjoy this moment.