Beep! Beep! Beep!

It is a few minutes after they turkey went into the oven, and the two have already set off the smoke alarm in Steven's apartment.

"We should probably take care of that, before it turns into the whole building's smoke alarms. That sounds like it would be an expensive mistake," Pippa laughs.

"Good idea," Steven smiles, running over to the oven and seeing what is wrong. It is just some of the juices in the turkey, though, and nothing that would need to be fixed.

In the meantime, Pippa presses the button on the smoke alarm to turn it off.

"Here, can I start to set the table?" Pippa suggests.

"Of course! I think I'm going to get started on the pie, if that's alright."

"Sounds fancy," Pippa smiles. "Where's the silverware?"

"It's in that drawer over there," Steven says, pointing to a drawer next to the dishwasher.

"Great," Pippa tells him, and opens the drawer, pulling out two forks, two spoons, and two knives. Pippa takes them into Steven's dining room, and sets two places at his large table, across from each other on either side. She even folds the cloth napkins into fancy little pyramids, like she had figured out how to do when she was young, at a restaurant, while she was waiting for her food to come.

"That's so cute, Pip," Steven calls in, upon a quick glance at what she is doing. Pippa giggles.

"Thanks."

She tucks her hair back behind her ear, and looks at Steven. She watches him, for a moment, hard at work in the kitchen, through the doorway. Suddenly, he turns around. They lock eyes for just a second, and then, Pippa blushes and stares at her feet.

"The food should be ready soon," Steven tells her.

"Awesome," she says, quietly. Steven smiles at her, and walks into the dining room.

"I think that all we have to do now is wait. Do you want to go watch TV or something? How about Charlie Brown?"

Pippa giggles. "Okay."

Steven grabs her hand, and drags her into the living room, where he inserts a DVD, then sits down right next to Pippa on the couch. He drapes a blanket over the both of them, and Pippa snuggles in closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder. She half expects him to push her away, but he doesn't. Instead, he grabs her in his arms, and holds her. She relaxes her body, which she didn't even realize was tensed up, and he strokes her hair.

Just after the episode is over, and both of them have gotten a good laugh out, they hear the timer going off, which signals that the turkey is ready. They smile at each other, and hop off of the couch, running to check it. Sure enough, their dinner is ready.

"I'll carve it. You just go sit down, and I'll bring the food to you, alright?" Steven asks.

"Okay," Pippa says, and she heads into the dining room, conveniently sitting down in the chair that is facing the direction that allows her to see through the doorway to watch Steven. Her heart flutters as she watches him prepare all of the dishes to bring in.

Soon, he has set them all out on the table, and poured himself and Pippa a glass of wine.

"To Christmas," he says, raising his glass.

"To Christmas," Pippa smiles.

"Steven, this turkey is so good," Pippa smiles, taking a bite.

"Wow, it is!" he agrees, giving it a taste. "I'm so glad it isn't dry. I feel like my mom would be proud of me."

Pippa giggles. "I think she would be."

After they're done eating, Steven announces that he's going to put the pie in the oven. Just by the time that they've recuperated from their large main course, the dessert will be ready.

"Pippa?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you sing for me? I have a piano that you can play, if you want," Steven requests, bashfully.

"Oh! Um, sure," she smiles.

"I've missed it."

Pippa blushes, and allows Steven to lead her to the piano.

"I have a bunch of music. I can't really play it, but at one point, I thought I was going to learn. It's mostly just decoration now," Steven admits.

Pippa laughs. "I'll see if I know any of it." Steven points to the bookshelf full of books from just about every musical imaginable. Her eyes drift to the Cinderella book. She pulls it off of the shelf, and flips through it.

"I used to have this same book. I think that it got ruined in the flood, though," she says, sadly. "They all did."

"I'm so sorry," Steven tells her. It hurts Pippa to know that her piano also got ruined, so she pushes that thought out of her mind.

"How about I play one we can sing together?" Pippa suggests.

"If you want to. I can't promise that I'll be as good as you," Steven giggles nervously.

"I'm sure you'll be better," Pippa rolls her eyes. She opens up the book to 'Ten Minutes Ago,' and plays the opening note, which happens to be a D. After the intro, she gives Steven a little nod to signify that he should start to sing.

His voice rings out, deep and rich. Pippa is entranced, but her fingers don't fumble on the keys.

"I have found her, she's an angel, with the dust of the stars in her eyes. We are dancing, we are flying, and she's taking me back to the skies!"

When she comes in, her voice sings the notes out sweetly. Her voice doesn't waver, even when Steven places his hands on her shoulders, though her heart does leap.

"I wanted to ring out the bells, and to fling out my arms, and to sing out the news!"

After the song is finished, the two share a silence that neither of them want to break.

After a moment- "Pippa, you know something?"

"Hmm?"

"You sing even prettier when it's not muffled through a wall."

Pippa feels her cheeks turning pink. She stares at the floor.

"Hey Pip?"

"Yeah?"

"I know that I don't know each other that well, so excuse my abruptness, but would you maybe like to get coffee sometime?" Steven asks.

"Like, as a date?" Pippa asks, looking up at Steven.

"Uh, yeah. Only if you want it to be, but uh-"

Pippa cuts him off. "Absolutely," she smiles.

A smile breaks out onto Steven's face.

They share a moment of silence, just looking into each other's eyes; each trying to see what is on the other's brain.

"So, uh, what do you say we sing some more?" Pippa asks, after a moment.

"Of course!" Steven replies, snapping back into reality.

Pippa wanders over to the shelf and looks through a few more books. She notices that she used to own many of them. She pulls out a book of Rent songs, and flips through it to 'Seasons of Love.'

"I love this one," Steven remarks, upon hearing Pippa play the first few chords.

After a few more minutes, Pippa has gotten out quite a few more books that she used to own, and played through some duets that the two of them sing together.

"How about you just sing one for me?" Steven asks. "Your voice is so beautiful."

"I- I don't know," Pippa says, bashfully.

"Choose your favorite one, and just try it. For me?" Steven pleads with puppy dog eyes.

"Fine," Pippa gives in. She decides on 'Memory' from Cats.

"Touch me, it's so easy to leave me, all alone with my memory of my days in the sun."

Pippa's voice wavers a bit as she sings the lyrics. She can't help but remember back to what used to be, and wonder if this will turn out the same way. She wonders if she is getting herself into something she will only regret later. For a brief second, she even considers ending it. It's soon enough that she can back out.

Something in the back of her mind stops her. It tells her that this will be different. It tells her that Steven is special. She decides to trust it. She blinks a tear out of her eye, and hopes that Steven doesn't notice.

As she is finished, Steven is left speechless. The only thing that breaks the silence lingering in the air is the timer going off, signifying that that pie is ready.

Steven serves them both pieces, with ice cream, and then they sit down.

"Pippa? If you ever want to borrow any of my music books, I'm sure you would get a lot more use out of them."

"Oh. That's really sweet of you, Steven, but I don't really have a piano anymore..."

"Oh. I'm so sorry about that."

"Me too," Pippa whispers. Playing music was one of her joys, and was a way for her to relax from the pressure of her life.

"How about this? In a few days, I'll take you to Guitar Center and we can get you a keyboard? It won't be quite as good as your piano, I'm sure, but it can hold you over for a while," Steven suggests. "You would even be able to take it out on tour. We can go before coffee. Think of it as my Christmas present to you."

"What? Steven, no! I can't let you do that!" Pippa protests. "I mean, you can take me, but I can't let you pay."

"Would it make you feel better to go half?" he asks, stubbornly. Pippa can tell that he won't settle for anything less.

"I guess so. Thank you so much, Steve. That means a lot to me."

"Only the best for you, Pips."

The two talk and laugh for a bit longer, enjoying the pie, and soon, Pippa decides that she is going to head back to her hotel.

"It's been quite the day, and I think I'll get some rest," she explains.

"Alright. I'll probably do the same thing," Steven smiles. "Goodnight, Pippa, and Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas!" she smiles. Steven wraps her in a hug.

"Will I see you in two days then?" he asks her.

"I guess so," she smiles. "Bye!"

"Bye!"

As soon as she gets into the elevator, Pippa squeals. She immediately pulls out her phone, and texts Jazzy.

Pippa: omg i have big news!