Kinsley: Long Short Week

I had dinner with my brother on the Tuesday before Christmas.  He made it into the city to meet me this time, and I went straight from work.  He was fitting me in before his nap before his shift, so we decided on an earlier dinner.  I was (of course) late, and Kaleb was already there.

"Sorry," I apologized, sliding into the other side of the booth.  "Being late is kind of my thing."

He chuckled.  "Good to know.  It's fine, I'm glad you made it." We were both quiet for several seconds too long, then started talking at the same time.  "Sorry, go ahead," Kaleb said.

"I was just asking what your plans for Christmas are," I answered.

"I'm going to Mom's house," he said.  "I don't know what to expect."

"Oh," I replied.

He burst into laughter at my non-response.  "Oh?"

I shrugged.  "Not to needlessly color your expectations, but the last time I saw Mom she threw something at me and called me a 'stupid little tramp', so...."

"Nice," he responded, smirking.  "I'm looking forward to seeing what she can come up with for me then."  I snorted and rolled my eyes.  "What are you doing?  Christmas with the boyfriend's family?"

"His name is Damien.  And no, actually.  He and I are going up to his sister and brother-in-law's place in Crested Butte for the weekend.  Just the two of us."

"That sounds nice," he said.  "Though I'm shocked you're not going to Dad's house."  It was my turn to crack up at that.  Not in a million years.

Our dinner was great.  The more time we spent together, the easier it got.  I was still wary, and I think he could tell, but overall things were going well.  So well that he hugged me without asking this time before we parted.


I was so excited to spend Christmas with Damien.  I didn't even care if we skied.  I was just happy to be spending a holiday with someone I actually wanted to spend it with, not someone that I felt obligated to spend it with (like my family).  I couldn't remember the last time I actually enjoyed a holiday.  Pleasant holidays were a foreign concept to me.  We'd decided to each take a half day off on Wednesday the 23rd and leave that afternoon.

I got up super early on Wednesday to make sure I had enough time at work to get everything done that I needed to before taking off for the rest of the week.  I left work around 12:30 and hurried home.  I'd packed the night before, so I just took a quick shower, double checked my stuff, and then let Damien know I was ready.  Damien got to my house around 1, and we left right away.

I'm weird and I totally love long car rides, so I was prepared with snacks and a playlist.  Damien was amused by my antics, but quickly appreciated my planning when he decided he wanted a snack.  "I don't know," I teased him from the passenger seat.  "You thought my snacks were silly an hour ago."

"I never said they were silly," he replied indignantly.  "I think I said 'unnecessary.'"

"Well, I think it's 'unnecessary' that I share them with you, then," I said, smirking.

He snorted.  "You're going to let me starve to death while I'm in control of the vehicle you're riding in?  That seems like a poor life choice on your part."

I laughed.  "I don't know, this giant truck would probably hold up pretty well, even without a live driver, don't you think?  I'm not too worried."  Damien laughed and shook his head as I grabbed my bag of snacks off the floor and handed over the candy bar he'd requested.

By hour 3 in the car I realized that my plan was not foolproof, and I'd forgotten caffeine.  Much to Damien's disappointment, I dozed off for awhile.  He was enjoying my singing prior to that, I swear.  I woke up when Damien parked the truck and turned it off.  I yawned and stretched.  It was already dark even though it wasn't even dinner time.  "We're here, Sleeping Beauty," Damien said.

"Mmm, aren't you supposed to kiss me to wake me up?" I asked, yawning again.

"I'm no prince, you're out of luck," he replied, opening his door and hopping out of the truck.  I laughed to myself and unbuckled my seatbelt.  He surprised me by pulling my door open.  "But I guess I can try," he said, wrapping his hands around my waist and pulling me down out of the truck.  He kissed me hard with one arm around my waist and one hand tangled gently in my hair.  "Well?" he asked after he pulled away.

"Definitely awake," I said, nodding.  "And anyways, it doesn't have to be a prince, just a true love's kiss.  Though it's supposed to be a true love's first kiss."

"You are...so very special," he replied, laughing.  "I have no response to that."

"Not a Disney movie buff, huh?" I teased him.  He shook his head, and I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him again.  I was pretty sure that nothing could keep me from being in an amazing mood right now.  He kissed me back and then we stood outside his truck with our foreheads pressed together for several seconds before I finally pulled away and peeked behind him at the house.
"Wow," I said, surprised.  "When you said Elize and Jason had a place here, I didn't imagine it looked like this."  The house was actually a gorgeous log cabin.  It was moderately sized and clearly well cared-for.  "It's beautiful."

"Wait until you see the inside," Damien said.  He pulled open the back door of the truck and grabbed our bags.  "Jason designed it himself."  Jason was a real estate developer, so I don't know why I was surprised by the house.

We headed inside and I admired the fireplace with the gorgeous stone surround, the high, vaulted ceilings, and the giant windows.  The furniture and decor was simple, accentuating the beautiful design of the home.  I followed Damien up the stairs and into a large master suite.  The suite has its own fireplace, but I was a little confused by its position in the wall.  It made perfect sense once Damien showed me into the bathroom and I saw that the fireplace also serves the bathroom.  It's right next to a deep corner tub that I could easily spend hours in.

"Okay, I'm going to need a house exactly like this," I told Damien, poking my head around the glass wall of the shower and seeing the multiple shower heads.  "I don't even need the whole house.  I just need this master suite."

"It's pretty amazing, isn't it?" Damien agreed.  We walked back into the bedroom and Damien wrapped his arms around my waist.  "I love you," he said, smiling at me.  "I'm excited to spend Christmas with you."

"Gross, stop it," I said, trying not to laugh.  He shook his head and tightened his arms around my waist.  "I'm just kidding," I amend.  "I love you too, and this is already perfect. Was your mom upset?"

"She was a little disappointed," he admitted.  "But she understood."  He leaned down to kiss me, but I yawned.  Damien laughed and said, "How about this?  I'll go out and pick up a few things from the grocery store for the weekend and you can lay down for a little while."

"I'll feel bad if you go by yourself," I protested.

"You can come if you want, but I don't mind going alone.  I'd rather you get some rest so you don't fall asleep on me as soon as we get back."  I had to admit it sounded great, because I really hated going grocery shopping.  I agreed to the plan and got settled in the comfortable king sized bed while Damien went downstairs.  I fell asleep almost immediately.

When I woke up and made my way back down to the living room of the house, I was surprised to see Damien sitting in front of the fireplace, untangling a string of Christmas lights.  I was even more surprised to see a tree in a stand in the corner of the room.  He grinned at me.  "Passed a tree stand while I was getting groceries," he explained.  "I thought the place could use a little festivity."  

"You're amazing," I said excitedly.

"I dug out some of their decorations.  Here, can you untangle this?  I picked up some dinner, and I'll go get it ready."

He stood up and handed me the string of lights, and I made him stop so I could kiss him.  "I love you the most," I said with a grin.

Damien was gone for a couple minutes, then came in with plates.  I abandoned the string of lights I was working on and sat at the small table in the corner by the tall windows to eat.  Damien set the plates down and returned to the kitchen.  When he came back out he had two steaming mugs in his hand.  He set one in front of me and said, "Hot apple cider with bourbon."

"Has anyone told you that you're absolutely perfect?" I asked him.

"I wouldn't go that far," he replied, chuckling and shaking his head.  "But I'll just be happy that you're happy."

We ate and then returned to the tree.  I turned on my Pandora Christmas music station and we drank our spiked cider and decorated the tree together.  I was showing off my sweet dance moves while we cleaned up the excess decorations when Damien wrapped an arm around my waist from behind and pulled me against him.  "You don't like my Christmas dancing?" I asked, laughing.

"Hmm, it's fine," he replied, his breath tickling my neck, "But I had something else in mind now."  He pushed my hair off my neck and started kissing along my shoulder and the back of my neck.  "Unless," he said, stopping abruptly, "You'd like to carry on dancing by yourself."

"No," I said quickly.  "No, I like your idea."

We ended up having sex pressed against one of the tall windows, which luckily wasn't visible by any other houses.  We left the rest of the Christmas decorations and our mess from dinner and went straight up to the bedroom.  It was a little chilly, but Damien turned on the fireplace and we climbed into bed.  "How are you still tired?" Damien asked, as I yawned and curled up against him.

"It was a long short week," I replied, shrugging.  It had been, since I'd had to try to cram a week's worth of work into two and a half days.

Turns out Damien shouldn't have talked, because he was asleep before I was.  I carefully extricated myself from his grasp and rolled onto my other side and got settled.  It didn't take me long, and I was soon asleep too.

Lauren: An Apology

My plan to move off the bed and back to the chair doesn't work, because I end up falling asleep almost immediately.  When I finally wake up, it's light in the room and someone is bustling around.  I look up guiltily, straight into the face of a young nurse.  "I'm sorry," I say, quickly sliding off the bed.  "I didn't mean to fall asleep there, I was going to--"

She smiles kindly and holds up a hand, stopping me.  "It's okay," she says softly.  "But you're lucky it was me.  Some of the other nurses would have had a fit."

I start to thank her, but I'm interrupted by the sound of Alex's mom's voice in the hallway.  I immediately tense up, which doesn't go unnoticed by the nurse.  Alex's eyes flutter open and he groans, blinking in the bright daylight.  He squeezes his eyes shut again, clearly in pain, as his mom bustles into the room.  "Alex!" she exclaims dramatically, and I roll my eyes.  "Oh my god, Alex!"

"Could you please keep your voice down?" the young nurse asks politely.  When Alex's parents aren't looking, she winks at me.  I like her.  "Just so you know, he's scheduled to head downstairs for an MRI in 45 minutes."

"Well, we just got here," Sharon informs her snottily.  "Can't it be rescheduled?"

"Mom," Alex mutters.  "Don't be ridiculous."

"Sorry," the nurse says cheerfully.  "The schedule is tight, no wiggle room."    Sharon huffs but doesn't say anything else.  Instead, she sits down next to Alex's bed and stares at him.

"Lauren, my wife and I would be grateful if you could give us a few minutes with our son," Alex's dad says softly.  His face makes it clear that it's not actually a request, but I can tell he doesn't expect me to go.

"She stays if she wants to," Alex tells them.  "You've lost your right to kick her out."

"As if we ever had that right," Sharon snips, rolling her eyes.

"It's fine," I reply, turning back to Alex.  "I'm going to go find something to eat, okay?  I'll be back before you go down for your MRI."  He catches my hand and tugs gently, and I lean down and kiss him softly before I go.

I wander down to the hospital cafeteria and choose the most edible looking thing I can find.  I sit and eat at a small table near the window, staring out at the snow.  Now that Alex is awake and seems  relatively okay, I feel so much better.  My phone vibrates in my purse and I pull it out.  It's Liv calling, and I answer.  "Hello?'

"Hey, are you still at the hospital?" she asks.

"Yeah," I reply.  "I'm getting some breakfast.  Alex's parents just got here."

"Yuck," she says.  "How'd that go?"

"It was fine, his mom is being really dramatic.  Alex is awake.  He's got an MRI soon, but they seem pretty happy with everything.  The doctor and the nurses, I mean."

"Good."  The relief in Liv's voice is obvious.  "Everyone is really eager to see Alex before we have to head back.  Do you think it's okay if we come over around lunchtime?"

"I don't see why not," I respond, shrugging even though she can't see me.  "I'm sure it's fine.  You might have to fight his mom for access to her precious darling though."  Liv chuckles and I smile.  "I should go though, I told him I'd come back up before his MRI.  I'll see you a little later."

We say goodbye and I drop my stupid cafeteria tray in the bin near the door, then walk back towards the elevator.  When I get to Alex's room, his mom is sitting in the chair I'd vacated, holding his hand.  Both his parents look up when I enter the room.  Alex can't move his head that way, it's still locked into the stupid plastic brace.  Alex's dad smiles and his mom gives me a forced smile that looks more like a grimace.  David stands from the chair on the other side of the bed--the one Liv had sat in the night before.  "Here, go ahead and sit," he offers.

"It's okay," I say.  "You can sit there."

"I insist," he replies, stepping around to the other side of the bed and leaning against the wall behind Alex's mom.  I smile slightly and sit down.

Alex's eyes slide towards me and he smiles.  We're all silent for long enough that finally Alex says, "Talk about an awkward silence."

Luckily, the young, kind nurse returns then.  "Time to take him out of here," she chirps.  "He'll be back in an hour or so.  You guys are welcome to sit tight right here if you want."  Once she leaves with him, I immediately wish I'd waited to go get breakfast.  Now I'm sitting here with Alex's parents and no buffer.

"Lauren," his mom says stiffly.  "Will you walk with me?"  I regard her suspiciously.  "Please," she adds.  "I...I owe you an apology."

"Okay," I agree.

We stand and walk out into the hallway.  We make our way downstairs to the wide hallway outside the cafeteria.  Once we're there, she finally speaks.  "Your ring is beautiful," she says, her voice sad.  "Have you picked a date?"

"Well..." I start, but I trail off, not sure if I want to get into this right now.

"I understand that I made a mistake," she tells me.  "And I'm sorry.  I'll be honest, I still don't think you and my son are right for each other.  Our values just don't match up.  But when I saw your ring and realized that I made my only son angry enough that he wouldn't even tell me he was getting married, I couldn't believe it.  We were in there without you for over 30 minutes and he still didn't tell us, did you know that?"

"Mrs. Berg," I start, opting to address her formally.  "It's...not really an engagement ring.  At least, not at the moment.  I don't know what the future will bring.  And I don't know if that makes it better or worse."  She's clearly confused, and I toy with my ring as I push on.  "Marriage isn't really my thing.  But I love the hell out of your son, and I want to spend the rest of my life with him.  I know you know that feels the same way about me.  This isn't an engagement ring, it's just a really great piece of jewelry that he got me to symbolize that neither of us are going anywhere.  I don't really expect you to agree with that, but you don't have to."

"I don't understand it at all," she admits.  "But I see the way he looks at you.  He does love you very much.  Enough to be awful to his own parents in defense of you."  She stops walking abruptly, and turns towards me.  "Don't you dare ever take for granted how much that man loves you, do you understand me?  His father and I took him for granted, and now I doubt our relationship will ever be the same."  She starts walking again, turning back to face straight ahead.

"I won't," I say quietly.  When we get to the elevator she opts to go back up, while I decide to stay down here and pace the hallway awhile longer.  I make it to a random chair in the hallway and slump into it.  I pull my knees up to my chest and wrap my arms around them, then rest my forehead on top.
I don't know if I'm exhausted or if Sharon's final plea really hit home, but I start to cry again.  I think about what Alex said last night and I wonder if he remembers it today.  It's no surprise to me that I have a hard time expressing my feelings, but I thought Alex understood me.  I thought he knew.  As I sniffle, I try to brainstorm a list of ways to do a better job letting him know I love him, but I quickly realize that I have absolutely no idea how to do it any differently.  This causes the tears to start up again, and I'm frustrated and angry at myself.

"You know," someone says suddenly, "I've found people crying in strange places before, but never here."  My head snaps up and I see the young nurse from Alex's room.  I look around and realize that I actually have no idea where I am.  "You're just outside our changing room," she informs me.  "How did you even get down here?"

"I have no idea," I reply, wiping furiously at my face.  "I just walked, and no one stopped me."

She sits down on the floor and looks at me curiously.  "You and his parents don't get along," she observes.

I snort.  "What gave that away?" I ask bitterly.  "His mother was on a mission to replace me at Thanksgiving.  She recruited the neighbor's perfect Southern belle daughter to help."

"That clearly worked out well for her," the nurse replies with a grin.

"Yeah, I don't think he's talked to either of them since, until this morning."  I feel overwhelmingly guilty then, as though it's my fault.  Maybe it is.

"Sounds like a pretty great Thanksgiving."

I appreciate her sarcasm, and I laugh.  "Something like that."

She stands, brushing her pants off with her hands.  "Well, his parents went out to find some breakfast and he should be back in his room soon, if you want a few minutes with him before his parents swoop back in."

"Thank you," I said, carefully uncurling myself from the chair.  "Um, how do I get back?"  She chuckles and leads me back to the elevator.  "Thanks," I say again.  "I appreciate it."  She nods and smiles, then heads toward the cafeteria.

I take the elevator up and make my way back to Alex's room.  It's blissfully empty and I stand by the window and stare out into the parking lot.  I zone out until I hear Alex's voice in the hallway.  He's being wheeled back into the room, and he looks more alert than he was earlier.  "Hey you," he says as the nurse with him helps him out of the wheelchair and back into the bed.

"Hey," I reply softly.  Once the nurse is out of the room, I go over and sit on the edge of the bed.  He reaches for my hand and our fingers twist together.  "Your parents went to go find breakfast," I tell him.  "How are you feeling?"

He makes a face.  "I'm really surprisingly tired.  I mean, I guess it's probably the pain meds, but it's weird.  I don't feel like I should be exhausted after spending so much time in a bed."

I nod, and it's pretty obvious I'm distracted.  "Hey," Alex says, squeezing my fingers.  "What's on your mind?"

I suck in a deep breath, and knowing that I probably don't have long before his parents come back, I say, "Last night you said something--"

"I know," he interrupts.  "Lauren, I didn't mean it.  I don't know where it came from.  I know you love me and I know you'd be devastated if I...well..." He trails off, but I know what he means.

"That's the thing, though," I reply.  "It came from somewhere.  And I know I'm not an easy person to love.  I'm pretty impressed you've managed it this long, actually."  I give him a small smile, which he returns.  "Look, I just want you to know that I want to do better.  I'm not really sure how, but I'll figure it out.  Last night when I realized that if something really bad had happened you might not have really known how I felt, it was pretty much the worst feeling in the world.  And I don't ever want that to be a thing again."

Alex is quiet for a minute, then the hint of a smirk starts on his face.  "You're easy to love.  I've been doing it for years.  But sometimes you're hard to like."

"Don't be a jerk!" I exclaim.  "You'll make me regret everything I just said."

"I don't want that," he replies, trying not to laugh.  Then he gets serious again.  "Lauren, I love you.  And I appreciate that you want to try to express your feelings more.  Honestly, I think you're way better at it now than you were a year ago, so I know you can do it.  But also, I meant it when I said that I love you the way you are, and I'd hate for you to go completely soft on me.  I wouldn't know what to do with a soft, sensitive Lauren."

I wrinkle my nose and shake my head.  "You don't have to worry about that," I assure him.  I fiddle with my ring, then hesitantly ask, "Are you really okay with never getting married?  Please be honest."

"I'm really okay with it," he answers.  "I promise.  Marriage is not something that's incredibly important to me either way, so if you wake up in 15 years and decide you want to get married, then cool, let's do it.  If that never happens, also cool.  What's important to me is being with you.  I don't need a piece of paper declaring us legally bound to each other."

"Okay," I say, nodding.

"And I definitely don't want you to want to marry me just because I was an idiot and busted up a few bones while I was skiing and scared the shit out of you," he adds, grinning at me.  That makes me laugh, and I lean down to kiss him.  "It's been far too long since I've brushed my teeth," he warns me, making a face.

"Hey, that makes two of us," I say, kissing him anyway.

Someone clears their throat, and we both look up to see Alex's parents standing in the doorway.  I start to stand up but Alex's mom shakes her head.  "Stay," she says.  "Please."  Even though I'm still uncomfortable around them, I sit back down on the bed next to Alex.  He squeezes my fingers lightly.

Alex's parents come into the room and sit down in the two hard plastic chairs in the room.  After a short awkward silence, Alex's dad finally starts talking about something funny that had happened while they were having breakfast.  I shift and get comfortable for what is sure to be a long day of hanging out in a hospital room with Alex and his parents.

Brody: Christmas Eve

Hello, friends!  I know you're all waiting patiently for more on Lauren and Alex.  I'm working on the next one but it's not ready to go today.  So here is a short mini-bonus Brody post!  I'll have the next Lauren post up tomorrow, and a Kinsley post either on Thursday or this coming weekend sometime.
________________________________

I trusted I would wake up before Liv's alarm, and I did.  I almost always did.  I shifted carefully and snuck out of bed, grabbing a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt off the floor so I wouldn't have to open drawers and risk waking Liv.  Eddie (luckily) stayed quiet, padding gracefully out of the room after me.  I was surprised he even came with me, usually he stays put wherever Liv is.

It was Christmas Eve morning, and we were flying out to Wisconsin a bit later to spend the holiday with Liv's family.  We'd both been so busy lately, though, that we'd hardly had any time together.  She was busy getting ready for her transition at work, and I was busy getting things moved and starting to make some changes to the way my company was structured.  Throw my weekend away and Alex's accident on top of everything, and it had been a really wild month.  We were both exhausted, and I'm not sure Liv was even looking forward to going home today.

So that's why I'd waited until she fell asleep and reset her alarm for an hour earlier.  She already had it set earlier than it needed to be, probably so she could micromanage me and make sure I had my shit together.  Our travel styles don't mesh at all.  I'm so sick of the inside of DIA that I prefer to spend as little time there as possible, but that makes Liv crabby.  We manage, somehow.  This morning she'd be pleasantly surprised because I was actually all packed already.

Anyway, I'd set her alarm a bit earlier and hoped I'd still wake up earlier than that.  I did, of course.  Once I was downstairs, I turned on the fireplace and headed into the kitchen.  I let Eddie out and put some food in his bowl for when he came back in, then turned my attention to breakfast.

I went all out.  Omelets, french toast, sausage, fruit, and even freshly squeezed orange juice.  Why not?  I turned the Keurig on when I heard Liv stirring upstairs, and I had a cup of coffee ready when she came clomping down the stairs.  For being so small, she sure makes a lot of noise when she walks around this house.

"Did you change my alarm?" she grumbled, coming into the kitchen.  She looked ridiculously cute with her hair still messy and the sleepy, irritated look on her face.

I grinned at her, which made her narrow her eyes more.  She was definitely not a morning person.  "I sure did," I answered.  I handed her the cup of coffee I'd made and said, "Here.  Go sit.  I'm making breakfast."  She took it silently, let Eddie in, then turned towards the living room.  Eddie looked seriously torn between his breakfast and Liv, but decided to wolf down his food before trotting out to join her.

By the time I was done with breakfast, Liv had woken up a little.  She was curled up on the couch under a blanket with Eddie (yes, Eddie was under the blanket too...spoiled as hell).  "Seriously?" I asked, looking at Eddie.  He blinked up at me, then laid his head on Liv's arm, not breaking eye contact with me.  That dog's heart belonged to her.

"What?" Liv asked with mock innocence, trying to keep the smirk off her face.  I just shook my head and chuckled, setting down plates on the coffee table.  "Did you reset my alarm so you could make breakfast?"

"Yes," I replied, turning to go back into the kitchen for the rest of the food.  "I wanted to spend a little time with you before we had to go to the airport.  We've hardly gotten to see each other lately, and this weekend will be crazy."  We were flying out today and back on Sunday, and I knew it would be a busy weekend.  "Then it's back to work right away."

"It's true," she agreed.  She yawned, then said, "I'm not even mad that you made me get up early."  I laughed and sat down next to her.  "Merry Christmas," she said, smiling.

I leaned forward and kissed her.  "Merry Christmas, Liv."  We ate our breakfast and caught up on each other's lives.  I wasn't kidding when I said we'd barely seen each other.  Liv started to take the dishes out to the kitchen when we were done, but I stopped her.  "I've got it.  You just enjoy your coffee and your spoiled dog."  Eddie opened one eye and looked at me disdainfully.  "Seriously," I muttered, chuckling.  She didn't protest, and I gathered our dishes.  Then I grabbed her Christmas gift (part of it, anyway) off the counter and went back into the living room.

I sat back down and smiled as I handed her the envelope.  "What's this?" she asked curiously.

"Part of your Christmas gift," I replied.  "Open it."  She grinned and slid her finger under the flap of the envelope, loosening the glue.  She pulled out the card and opened it, taking out the travel vouchers I'd stuck inside.  "It's been so crazy lately that I thought we could use a vacation together," I said.  "I know things will be nuts for you in your new position, and you won't be able to take any time off for awhile.  And neither will I.  Things should be better for me by the end of March, so over your school's spring break, we can go wherever you want."

She looked up at me and started laughing.  "What?" I asked, confused.

"Hold on," she said.  She shifted Eddie, who grumbled in irritation.  When she stood and headed upstairs, he jumped down off the couch and bounded up the stairs after her.  I just shook my head.  Eddie liked me just fine, but when given the choice, he always chose Liv.  I was grateful for that, since it really did help me worry less about her when I was gone.  I knew he'd take good care of her.

After a minute, Liv reappeared, coming back down the stairs.  Eddie walked behind her at her pace, looking comical as he tried to keep himself from succumbing to his forward momentum and knocking them both down the stairs.  Liv grinned at me and handed me an envelope.  Then she turned to Eddie and commanded him to "go lay down" while pointing at his bed.  He cocked his head and seemed to consider this, then begrudgingly went over to his bed next to the fireplace and curled up.

"Part of your gift," she said to me, motioning to the envelope that was now in my hand.  I tugged her down into my lap and she curled up against my chest while I opened the envelope.  I flipped open the card and read what she had written, then I started laughing too.  Inside the card she had written a promise for a long weekend trip anywhere I wanted to go, once both our schedules allowed.

I set the card to the side and wrapped my arms around her, kissing her temple.  "I guess we both want the same thing for Christmas, huh?" I asked.

"I guess so," she replied, and I knew she was smiling.  She wiggled loose from my grip and shifted so she could kiss me.  After a long kiss, she said, "Well, thank you.  Now we have a couple things to look forward to."

"You're welcome, and thank you," I said in response.  I kissed her again, and we enjoyed our last 15 minutes before we had to start getting ready to leave for the airport just snuggled up on the couch together.

Lauren: The Accident

"What?" I ask, sure that I didn't hear her right.

"I don't know the details," Liv says gently.  "All I know is that Alex had an accident and is in the hospital.  Let's go pack a bag for you."  Liv gently nudges me in the direction of the stairs and I dutifully walk up with her trailing behind me.

When I get to my room, I sit down on the bed.  "But how do you know?" I ask, still confused.

She must realize I'm not going to be helpful, because she roots in my closet for my overnight bag.  Once she finds it, she pulls a couple things off hangers and begins to pack for me.  "Brody called me," she replies.  "He thought the news would be better coming from me than him."  She digs in my drawers and drops a few more things into the bag.  Then she carries it into the bathroom.  When she emerges a minute later, she says, "Anything you want to bring I might not have grabbed?"  I shake my head silently and follow Liv out of the room and down the stairs.

"But he's okay, right?" I ask.

"I think so, but I'm not sure," Liv answers honestly.  "When we get on the road we can call Brody and find out some more if you want."

I trail behind her out to her shiny new SUV.  When I get in, I wrinkle my nose again at the new car smell.  Liv puts the hospital into the navigation system and then starts driving.  "Do you want me to call Brody?" she asks.

"Sure," I reply.  She hits a button on her steering wheel and instructs the car to call Brody.  "I didn't know Toyotas had Bluetooth things," I comment absently.

"Everyone does now," she answers, as we hear the phone ringing through the car's speakers.

"Are you guys on your way?" Brody's disembodied voice booms through the speakers.  I cringe and Liv scrambles to turn it down.

"Yes," Liv replies.  "Lauren's here too.  Laur, did you want to know more about what happened?"

"Sure," I say again.

"I'm not completely sure," Brody starts.  "I was on a different run at the same time.  He was on a tough run and he fell.  Someone who saw it said he hit a couple trees before he stopped.  I don't know what happened.  I know the run and I've seen him do more difficult ones.  Anyway, sorry.  He lost consciousness and it sounds like he has a broken clavicle, several broken ribs, and a collapsed lung.  They're worried about some neck and head trauma as well, but it sounds like we'll know more when he wakes up."

"He's still unconscious?" I ask, starting to get really nervous.

"Oh, sorry.  No.  He woke up, but he was in a lot of pain and didn't remember much of the accident, so he was kind of panicky, so they put him on something that knocked him out again."

I'm starting to feel a little panicky myself.  This was supposed to be a fun weekend for them and my much needed alone time.  "Lauren, he's going to be okay," Brody assured me, correctly interpreting my silence.  "The biggest concern right now is just seeing what the fall did to his head and how much he remembers when he wakes up.  But they don't seem too worried.  He remembered that we were skiing this weekend while he was briefly awake, which is a good sign."

"Okay," I say blandly.  "Thanks for filling me in."

"When will you guys be here?" Brody asks.

Liv glances at the navigation display.  Traffic had been mercifully light and we were making pretty good time.  "We've got a little over an hour, it looks like," she replies.

"Okay.  I'll call if anything majorly changes.  Otherwise, drive safe and we'll see you soon."

They exchange "I love you"s, then Liv hits a button on the steering wheel again, and Brody's voice is gone.  She turns on the radio and doesn't say a word when I start spinning the dial, looking for something else.  She normally gets irritated when people mess with the radio in her car, but apparently having a boyfriend injured in a snowboarding accident gives me special privileges.  What a perk.

I turn the radio up as loud as I think I can get away with and look out the window.  The loud music deters Liv from talking to me, though I know she probably wouldn't anyway.  She knows me well enough to know when she should or shouldn't talk to me.

When we get there, neither of us has said a word since we hung up with Brody.  Liv turns the radio off as she pulls into the parking lot of the small clinic/hospital and calls Brody to let him know we're here.  He tells us what door to go in, and by the time we've parked and found the entrance, Brody is leaning against a lamppost just outside.  I can see his ski goggles dangling from his coat pocket.

He kisses Liv quickly on the cheek and leads us inside and down a hallway.  I trail behind them as we go through one set of doors, turn left, turn right, and go through another set of doors.  Another left turn, one more set of doors, and a right turn.  Then we stop, and Brody turns to me.  He motions towards the room we're outside of.  "You can go in if you want.  He's still out.  His parents are on their way."

As I creep into the room, I see Brody wrap his arms around Liv in a tight hug out of the corner of my eye.  Christian is in the room and he stands when I come in.  "Hey," he says softly, offering me a small smile.  He touches my arm lightly as he walks past, vacating the room for me.

I'm surprised that Alex doesn't look like he should be in a hospital bed.  He looks like he's sleeping like a normal person, aside from the oxygen thing on his face and the brace around his neck.  I pull back the blankets a little and see what I expected to see on his face.  His left arm is immobilized against his body and his torso is bandaged.  The flesh I can see around the bandages is blotchy with every shade of purple, blue, and green that you can imagine.

His right side looks much better, so I drag the chair in the room over to the right side of the bed and sit down.  Liv tentatively starts into the room and stops a few feet in.  "Brody's going to go find some food," she says.

"Okay," I reply.  She turns to leave and I impulsively say, "You can stay.  I mean, if you want to."  She turns back and plops herself into the other chair.  Before I know it, I'm talking.  Rambling, Liv style.  Liv listens and contributes when necessary.  I talk about everything under the sun except for my seriously injured boyfriend that's laying in the hospital bed between us.

Brody returns with food and I eat mindlessly.  "Do you want to sleep at the hotel tonight?" Liv asks awhile later.  It's late.  After 11, anyway.

"No, I'm staying here," I reply.

"I can stay with you," Liv says immediately.  If I wasn't in robot mode to protect my emotions, I'd be touched by her offer.

"No," I answer.  "You guys go.  I'd actually prefer to be alone."  Liv doesn't push it, but does insist that I take the keys to her SUV in case I need to get somewhere before they come back.  I drop them into my purse and wait until they leave before I slip into the small bathroom and switch my jeans for the sweatpants Liv packed for me.

When I can't keep my eyes open anymore, I pull my chair close enough to the bed that I can rest my arms and head on the edge of the mattress.  I've just gotten as comfortable as I'm going to get when a nurse comes in to check on him.  I try not to glare at her as she checks his vitals.  "He's doing well," she tells me.  "I feel good about what we'll find out when he's able to be awake with a little less pain."

I nod, and when she's gone I get settled again.  I don't think I'll be able to sleep, but I do drift off eventually.  I wake up randomly, assuming I'm being disturbed by a nurse.  Then I feel a hand on my head, moving softly over my hair.  I'm confused and disoriented so I lay still for several more seconds until I realize the touch feels familiar.  I quickly lift my head, knocking the hand away inadvertently. Alex is watching me through heavily hooded eyelids, and one side of his mouth twitches upwards in a weak half-smile when our eyes meet.  "Lauren," he croaks, his voice raspy and painful sounding.  I bite my lip and swallow hard as he clears his throat.  "Don't cry," he implores softly.

But it's too late.  The tears are there, and I can't stop them.  "You motherfucker," I sob.  "You idiot.  What the actual fuck are you trying to do to me?  I'm so fucking pissed at you."

He reaches for my hand and strokes the backs of my fingers with his thumb, about all the moving he can do.  The other side of his mouth is moving to join the first and his smile gets a little bigger, which makes me cry harder.  "I knew you would be.  Thanks for not letting me down."

I'm interrupted by a nurse hurrying in.  "How long has he been awake?" she asks me.

"I don't know," I hiccup, trying to get a hold of myself.

"A couple minutes," he says quietly.  "Not long."  The nurse gives me and my tears a dirty look and I move away from the bed a little so she can do whatever she needs to do that I'm apparently preventing.

She starts asking him about his pain, about what he remembers, making him wiggle his fingers and toes.  Everything wiggles, which is a relief.  He remembers he was skiing, and he remembers the run he was on, but he doesn't remember anything about the accident or anything after that, including waking up earlier.

The nurse leaves, and seconds later a doctor enters.  She asks him the same questions the nurse did, which seems stupid and inefficient to me, then tells him about his injuries.  "The nurse is scheduling you for an MRI later this morning to check everything in your head and neck out a little better than the CT scan we did earlier.  The amount that you remember is good, and the things you don't remember may just be due to the shock and trauma of the accident.  We'll want to keep an eye on that lung for a couple days, but if the MRI looks okay, I don't imagine we'll keep you longer than 1 or 2 more nights."

Alex thanks her and turns his head the tiny bit it moves back towards me.  "I'm sorry," he says.

"What?  Why?"

He gives me a weird look.  "You said you were pissed at me, remember?  And they're worried about me remembering things."  He grins a little, and I'm so relieved he's telling jokes.

"I'm not actually mad at you, and I'm sorry I swore at you," I say guiltily.  "You just scared the shit out of me, Alex."

"You're in good company," he points out.  "It's pretty scary waking up in a hospital, immobilized, with your girlfriend that doesn't cry sobbing next to you."

I shudder, imagining what that was like.  "You said you knew I'd be pissed, though."

He chuckles, and immediately winces and swears softly.  "So, laughing is a thing I shouldn't do," he notes.  "And I didn't have to know why I was here to know that you'd be pissed about whatever it was."

"Your parents are coming," I tell him, randomly.  "I don't know when they'll be here.  I think Brody talked to them."

"I wish I remembered what happened," he says, and he looks frustrated.  "I should have been able to make that run without a problem.  I've done that one a hundred times."  I don't know what to say, so I don't say anything.  "What time is it?" Alex asks.  I can see he's struggling to keep his eyes open.

I dig my phone out of my sweatshirt pocket and click the display on.  "Almost 1:30," I reply.  "You should get some sleep."

"You should too," he points out.

"I was sleeping just fine until someone woke me up," I tease him.  He manages another small grin.

"Come lay with me," he requests.

I shake my head.  "Your entire torso is the color of an overly ripe plum."

"My right side is fine," he protests.  "Please?  Just for a couple minutes."  I sigh and carefully climb onto the bed, settling at the edge, barely touching him because I'm terrified of hurting him more than he already is.  His hand finds mine and our fingers twist together.  "Would you have been sad if I wasn't okay?"

I stiffen and fight the urge to sit bolt upright and glare at him.  Instead, I hiss, "What the fuck kind of question is that?  Jesus, Alex, I'd be devastated."

"Sometimes it's hard to tell," he says.  His words are slurring together a little and I hope it's the combination of good drugs and exhaustion that has him talking like this.  "I know you show it in your own way but sometimes I wish you'd show it in a normal way.  Sometimes it's hard.  But I guess you're here, so there's that."

"Alex..." I start, but I don't know what to say to him.  Finally I manage, "I'm sorry, I--"

"No," he interrupts.  "I know.  Don't apologize for being you, Laur.  I love you the way you are.  I just need to sleep."

"I love you too," I tell him softly.  "So much.  I can't even imagine my life without you."

"Any of it?  Ever?"

"Any of it," I confirm.  "Ever."  My hands are trembling because talking about shit like this is not a thing I do, but I ease my fear by deciding that he probably won't even remember this conversation tomorrow.  Then I realize that I want him to remember, because I feel like the worst girlfriend in the world after hearing him tell me that maybe he isn't sure I'd be sad if he wasn't okay.

"Laur, I know that," he says.  He yawns, and then groans.  "Fuck, I hurt," he mutters.

"Let's get some sleep," I suggest.  I start to sit up but his hand tightens slightly on mine.

"Stay here.  Please."

I shift into a more comfortable position.  I'll just stay until he falls asleep, I tell myself.

Lauren: Cookies and Wine

Hi friends!  If you didn't see that I posted yesterday, make sure you scroll down and read that one first.  I'll have quite a few posts coming this week for you!
____________________________

I sit at my desk at work, feeling annoyed by the entire day.  My client is officially passed off to Logan.  When I called to let them know, the client seemed confused and a little unhappy.  I'd be lying if I said I'm not a little pleased by that.  Not because I want it to go poorly for Logan--because I don't--but because it means that I've done a great job with them.  And maybe because I feel a little vindicated, as well.

Training Logan had been interesting.  He'd actually stopped hitting on me and intentionally trying to make me uncomfortable nearly completely.  He still makes a little quip here and there, but it feels more like a joke and I'm way more comfortable with it.  He's just generally been a lot more respectful, and I appreciate that.  It was bad enough having to train him to take over the best part of my job, I might have run someone over with my car if I'd had to suffer through his impertinence on top of it.

Anyway, I'm sitting at my desk being annoyed.  It's Friday and I'm working on a stupid, pointless busywork project given to me by Sean.  I want to tell him that he's wasting my skill-set, but I know that won't help me.  I'm also jealous because Alex isn't at work.  Instead, by this point he's on his way to Winter Park to go skiing with the guys.  I don't want to go skiing, but I'd kill to not be at work.

Alex suggested last week that I update my resume and start applying for new jobs.  I've been miserable lately and he's getting the brunt of it.  I feel shitty about it, but I've never been unhappy at work so I don't really know how to deal with it.  I did update my resume, but I haven't actually applied for anything yet.  Actually, I haven't even looked.  This was my first real world job after college, and just thinking about writing cover letters and interviewing makes me want to vomit.

"Almost finished with that report?" Sean asks from behind me, startling me.

I take a second to force my face into a neutral expression before I turn.  "Almost," I reply.  It's true, but I could have been done an hour ago.  I was purposely working slowly because I didn't want any other stupid projects assigned to me so close to the end of the day.

"Great," he replies.  "So, when's the wedding?"  He motions to my left hand.  I've finally gotten my ring resized so I can wear it on my left hand, but it's proven to be awfully confusing for people.  I don't care.

"We haven't decided yet," I answer, not willing to tell him that there is no wedding.

"Your fiancé must love you quite a bit, that's an impressive ring." I had to fight to keep from rolling my eyes.  "How big is that emerald?  Looks like it's close to 2 carats."

"I have no idea," I respond, not at all surprised by his brazenness.  How fucking rude.

He grins.  "Well, I'll let you get back to work."  Finally.  He turns and walks back to his office, just a few steps behind me.  I hate this cube.  I hate it more than anything.

I wrap up my project and get it to him about 20 minutes before the end of my workday.  I spend the last 20 minutes dicking around in my work email, pretending to be busy.  Finally it's 5, and I can leave this hellhole.  I hate how quickly my job went from something I enjoyed to something torturous.

I stop at the liquor store on my way home.  While the guys are all in Winter Park skiing, Kinsley, Kendra, Liv, and I are going to bake cookies and drink wine tonight, then do a little last minute Christmas shopping tomorrow.  Liv has the most room, so we're all heading out there tonight after work.  Liv and Kinsley are providing all the cookie making ingredients, Kendra is picking up Thai food, and I'm charge of bringing the wine.  I'm actually pretty excited for this, it's been awhile since we've gotten the girls together for something so laid back.

After much text debate, we had realized that it made the most sense for Liv to just pick us all up on her way back home after work.  She's just gotten a new car, a brand new Toyota Highlander, and it stinks.  I really hate that stupid new car smell.  But it's really nice inside, and even I can appreciate that.

We collect the rest of the group and head out of the city.  Kinsley, who is sitting in front, insists on finding Christmas music on the radio, which Liv quickly shoots down.  Liv hates Christmas music before Christmas Eve.  "You're such a grinch," Kinsley grumbles.

"I'll have to listen to it all day tomorrow," Liv protests.  "Don't make me listen to it now too."

"You're so weird, even I like Christmas music," I chime in from the back seat.  Everyone laughs at that, because it's true.  I don't like many things.

Once we're inside, Liv turns on the fireplace.  "Brody likes it to be freezing in this house," she complains.  "I'm so excited that he's gone for the whole weekend so it can be a reasonable temperature in here.

I promptly sit down on the floor to pet Eddie, who sits right next to me, then lays sideways over my legs.  "You're ridiculous," I say to him.  He just stretches further over my legs and lets his tongue flop out of his mouth.  Kinsley wrinkles her nose--she's not a pet lover.  I feel like people would expect that of me, not her, but she definitely is not a fan.

"Eddie, let's go out!" Liv calls.  He lifts his head and gives her a disdainful look, then closes his eyes and pretends to ignore her.  "Eddie!"

I stop petting him and he lifts his head again and looks at me with big, imploring eyes.  "Nope," I tell him.  "Listen to your person.  I'll pet you more later."  With a big, exasperated sigh, he hauls himself up and pads over to the door.

"Some guard dog you have there," Kendra teases.

"Oh, he can be really scary," Liv assures her.  "The UPS man leaves packages in the middle of the driveway most days because he won't get close enough to the house to leave them on the porch."

Liv gets busy pouring wine (and the sparkling cider I picked up for Kendra, because every once in awhile I'm thoughtful) while I wash my hands and Kendra gets the food out.  Kinsley regards Kendra carefully.  "You can't even tell that you're pregnant," she says.

"Well, I'm not even three months pregnant yet," Kendra points out.

"Wait a second..." I say, the wheels in my head spinning.  "Oh my god.  Did you get pregnant at Liv's wedding?"

Kendra snorts.  "Well, not at the wedding," she replies, rolling her eyes.  "That would have been inappropriate.  But it's possible that I got pregnant after her wedding."

"Lauren, you can't just ask people when they had sex," Liv chimes in.

"I didn't!" I protest.

"You basically did," Kinsley replies.  "You do know where babies come from, right?"

We all laugh at that, and Eddie looks confused when he comes back in.  "I'm used to it by now," Kendra assures us.  "And let's be real, Lauren has no qualms about talking about people's sex lives."

"We're all friends here," I say, shrugging.  "So Liv, how's married sex?  Is it as awful or non-existent as people would like us to believe?"  I smirk as Liv turns pink.  I love to harass her about sex.  She can be such a prude about talking about it.

"It's great, thanks.  Even better, actually," she retorts.

Kendra smirks and says, "Hello?  Clearly it's still existent."  She points to her completely flat stomach and wiggles her glass of sparkling cider at me.  "You do know where babies come from, right?"

We laugh again, and it feels so good to be hanging out with them and having fun.  I manage to forget all about the bullshit happening at work.  "Guys, why did we stop doing this regularly?" I ask, taking a big bite of my pineapple fried rice.

Kinsley shrugs.  "We all got so busy with our own stuff.  You're right, though.  We need to do this regularly.  Every month, maybe?"

We agree to that and finish our food.  Then we get to the cookies.  Even with the size of Liv's kitchen, we're constantly getting in each other's way.  That increases as we open our fourth bottle of wine, and soon we're just sitting on the couch eating cookie dough.  Well, Liv, Kinsley, and I are.  Kendra is popping chocolate chips into her mouth because salmonella.  Whatever.

"We shouldn't even bother baking these," Kinsley says.

Kendra shakes her head and wrinkles her nose.  "You guys are disgusting.  I'm baking some of these cookies so I can actually eat them."

"You'll have to pry this bowl out of my cold, dead hands!" Kinsley challenges her, grinning.  In the end, we end up baking what's left of the cookies. We honestly probably ate half of the raw dough.  No regrets.

Kendra ends up in bed shortly after eating a couple warm, gooey cookies.  Apparently being pregnant makes you really tired.  She opts to take the downstairs guest room in hopes that we won't keep her awake with our drunken shenanigans.

Turns out she has little to worry about.  Instead of getting ridiculous, we end up curled up on the couch, passing the last bottle of wine around (because we're classy as hell) and talking about relationships and marriage and babies.

"So is Alex okay with not ever getting married?" Kinsley asks me curiously.

"I think so," I reply, shrugging.  "I mean, he said he was.  One time he said if it was up to him he'd like to get married, but he'd rather be not married and with me than married to someone else."

"You guys have the strangest relationship, but it works for you."

"Like you should talk?" Liv crows.  "Your relationship is weird too."

"So is yours!" I exclaim.  "You guys never even see each other."  We all dissolve into drunk giggles and admit that we all have our weird relationship things.  I look at Liv.  "Are you guys going to have kids?"

"Someday," she says.  "Not yet.  We both want Brody's schedule to be more reasonable and predictable first.  He's actually making a bunch of changes at work to make it happen, so we'll see.  I'm thinking not for a couple years though.  We both have things we want to do first."

We both look at Kinsley.  "What?" she asks, confused.

"Have you and Damien talked about the future?" I ask.  "Marriage, babies?"

Her eyes widen slightly and she shakes her head.  "No, not really.  I mean, yeah, a little in general terms.  But we're both really happy with how things are right now.   I think about it sometimes, though.  I love watching him with his niece and nephew.  It makes me think about him being a dad, you know?  I'd kind of given up on having kids of my own, but I think I'd like to have kids with him if everything works out."

"He'd be a good dad, I think," Liv says, nodding.

I yawn, quickly setting off yawns all around.  Kinsley and I are sharing the guest room on the main floor, and we head in that direction while Liv turns off the lights and fireplace.  Eddie gets up from his bed near the fireplace and follows Liv over to the door so she can let him out one last time for the evening.

I wake up to the smell of breakfast, and find Kendra in the kitchen cooking.  I'm surprised no one else is up, but neither of them take much longer to make their way down to the kitchen.  We eat breakfast and get ready to go out shopping.  I don't know how I let myself get talked into braving the crowds to shop the weekend before Christmas, but here I am.

Despite the crowds, we have fun.  But I'm definitely still relieved when Liv drops me off at home and I can kick off part two of my weekend: the "me time" part.  I start by immediately ditching my jeans and sweater for fleece pajama pants and a hoodie.  Then I order a pizza.

I've been parked on my couch for several hours when my doorbell rings.  I ignore it.  If I'm not expecting you, I generally don't answer the door.  If you can't be bothered to call me before you stop by, I can't be bothered to get off the couch to let you in.

Seconds later, my phone vibrates.  I look and I have a text from Liv.  It says, "It's me.  Let me in, please."  

I haul myself off the couch, unlocked the door, and pull it open.  "You know, you really should call first," I say grumpily.  I'm about to say more, but the look on Liv's face stops me.  "What?" I ask, getting nervous.

She slips past me to step inside, then turns back to me.  She touches my arm gently and says,  "Lauren, we're going to Winter Park.  Alex is in the hospital."

Kinsley: The Best Christmas I'd Ever Had

I have the best news.  My semester is ovvveerrr!  It's so exciting.  To thank you for your patience with my goofy schedule and lack of engagement around here, I've got all sorts of great stuff coming your way!  A bunch of bonuses, including a Christmas mini-bonus Brody post.  You guys are the best!
_____________________________________

"You're going skiing without me?" I asked, pouting.  I stabbed at a piece of lettuce on my salad plate and glared at him.

Damien laughed.  "I am, but that doesn't mean I can't go again with you," he pointed out.  Which was true, but if he thought that was going to keep me from pouting and giving him a hard time about it, he had another thing coming.

"You're so terrible to me," I whined.

"Jason and Elize have a place in Crested Butte that we can stay at.  Pick a weekend.  I'll even take some time off work, if you want."

The offer was enough to shut me up quickly.  "Well, in that case, I'll have to look at my schedule at work and figure out when I want to go," I replied.  Damien rolled his eyes and shook his head at my quick attitude change.

"How was seeing your brother?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Good, I think."

"Good, you think?" he repeated, raising an eyebrow.

I shrugged.  "Yeah, I mean, it was good.  But it was weird.  And I had a lot of feelings."

"Oh, that makes sense.  I know how hard feelings are for you," he teased me.

I laughed.  "One feeling at a time is perfectly alright with me," I retorted.  "I just don't like when a bunch of them attack at once.  And I definitely don't like discussing them in public."  I looked around the crowded restaurant for emphasis before making a face at him like the mature adult I am.

"Well, it's not like you'll tell me about it at home either," he joked.

I tried to give him another dirty look, but ended up laughing.  "Just for that, I'm going to tell you all about it in excruciating fucking detail when we're done with dinner."

"That actually sounds pretty great," he replied, smiling.  I rolled my eyes at him over the edge of my wine glass.  That just made him smile wider.  At one point, when I'd first met Damien, I'd thought he was quiet and meek.  Maybe even a little boring.  I thought I'd steamroll him.  He'd proven me wrong for sure.  He didn't need to be loud and obvious about it, but he had a killer sense of humor and was possibly almost as stubborn and persistent as I was.  He also put up with my bullshit incredibly well, which I appreciated greatly.

"Have you decided what you want to do for Christmas?" he asked.  We'd talked about it briefly a couple times, but I'd blown the conversation off each time.  Honestly, after the way Thanksgiving turned out, I kind of wanted to pretend that Christmas wasn't even a thing that was happening.

"We can just do whatever your family does," I replied, shrugging.  I didn't care.  I didn't want to think it about.  "Whatever you want is fine.  I definitely don't want to see my family."

"Not even your brother?" he asked, prodding gently.

I snorted.  "It's way too soon in this whole relationship with my brother thing for me to want to spend a holiday with him."  And anyway, he was probably spending Christmas with my father.  Or...the artist formally known as my father, since he'd washed his hands of his disgraceful loose cannon of a daughter.

"Okay," Damien replied slowly.  "Well, I'll check with my mom on the plans, then.  We usually do Christmas Eve dinner and then stuff on Christmas day, but maybe you and I can just spend Christmas Eve together."

"Sure," I said.  "That sounds nice."  And I meant it, even if the words fell a little flat.  I hated that even now, nearly a month after Thanksgiving, just bringing up my family put me in this shitty mood.

"Alright, I'll let you know what she says."  After that, he launched into a funny story about something that happened at work, and I was glad for it.  There was nothing I hated more than sympathy, and I certainly didn't want it right now.

As promised, when we got back to my house after dinner I told Damien all about seeing my brother.  I drank an entire glass of wine while I was telling the story, then poured myself another.  I pretended not to see Damien's slightly raised eyebrow.  He didn't say anything, and I continued on talking, telling him about my day at work.

By the time I finished my glass of wine, I was solidly buzzed.  I set my glass aside and climbed onto Damien's lap, straddling his legs.  "Well, hello," he said, sliding his hands up my legs to my hips.

"Hi," I replied, smirking at him.

"Something I can do for you?" he teased as his hands continued over my hips and slipped beneath the hem of my shirt.  I shivered when his fingertips brushed across my bare skin.  

"I sure hope so," I said, shifting so my hips pressed against him.  One of his hands left my back and snaked up to grab my hair, tilting my head down so he could kiss me.  I grinned against his lips, and he tightened his grip.  He let go of my hair long enough to tug my shirt over my head, then wrapped his fingers in it again and tipped my head back.  He kissed down my throat, stopping to suck and lightly graze his teeth across my collarbone.

I wriggled away from him and started on the buttons on his shirt.  He swatted gently at my hand and said, "I'll take care of this, you get those pants out of the way."  I loved when he was bossy.  I stood and shimmied quickly out of my pants, then unhooked my bra.  I tossed it at him and giggled when it bounced off his shoulder.  He laughed and lunged forward, wrapping his arms around my waist.  "Get over here," he growled playfully, swinging me onto the couch.

Damien nudged my legs apart with his knees and lowered himself on top of me, kissing along my collarbone again as the hand that wasn't supporting him slipped over my breast and began toying with it.  I groaned and wrapped my legs around his hips, pulling him against me.  "Why do you still have pants on?" I asked impatiently.

"I didn't know you wanted them off," he answered with mock innocence.

"I want them off," I informed him.  I sucked in a sharp breath and shut my eyes as he lowered his head to my breast and tugged on a nipple with his teeth.  "Pants off," I demanded, reaching for his belt.  He grabbed my right wrist and pinned it to my side, leaving me to try to undo his pants with my left hand.  I got his belt undone but couldn't get the button.  I growled in frustration and Damien freed my hand so I could finish what I started.  When I had his pants unbuttoned and unzipped, he stood and let them fall then kicked them away.

Before Damien laid back down, he flipped me over onto my stomach and tugged my underwear off.  He kissed down my spine and along my shoulder blades as he pushed his fingers between my legs, making me moan.  Finally he laid down and pressed into me, still moving his lips against my spine.  Pinned under his weight, I was at his mercy as he rocked his hips against mine.

We didn't move for several minutes after we finished.  Finally, we shifted to lay side by side.  I was sleepy now and I yawned as Damien wrapped his arm around my waist.  "Tired, baby?" Damien asked, kissing my shoulder lightly.  I nodded, closing my eyes and relaxing back against him.  He convinced me that we should get up and go to bed, and I grumbled as I sat up and stretched.

Once we were in bed, I snuggled back up to him for a few minutes before I rolled away and fell asleep.  I woke up to Damien's alarm in the morning feeling like I had just closed my eyes.  I groaned and rolled over as he silenced it.  He rolled onto his side and stroked my back.  I groaned again and pulled the pillow over my head.  I was normally a bit more of a morning person but I probably made a mistake with that last glass of wine the night before.

"I'll wake you up when I'm out of the shower," Damien offered.  I nodded and his hand left my back, then I felt the mattress move as he sat up, then stood.  I dozed until he came back and woke me up, then I dragged myself into the shower.

I was still in the shower almost 15 minutes later, and Damien surprised me when he tugged back the shower curtain a little.  "I have to go," he said.  "I love you.  I'll see you tonight?"

"Yeah, okay.  I love you too," I replied, leaning out of the spray of the water to kiss him.  His eyes drifted down my body after our lips parted, and he shook his head.

"I shouldn't have come in here," he said.  "Now I want to stay."

"Go to work," I said, grinning.  "You can look and touch as much as you want later."

He leaned in to kiss me again, then said, "I'm going to hold you to that."  

My day passed surprisingly quickly.  I was thankful it was Friday.  I stayed a little late, finishing up some things so I wouldn't have to come in early on Monday, then I headed to Damien's house.  Damien and I had created a Friday night routine of cooking together and spending the evening in.  I know, I know, we're disgusting.

I knocked and then let myself in.  "In the kitchen!" Damien called.

"Where you belong!" I yelled back as I slipped off my shoes.  "Make me a sandwich!"

I heard him laughing.  "I'll do better than a sandwich," he replied when I came into the kitchen.  "How about salmon?"

"Ooh, I'll take it," I answered.  I grinned at him and looped my arms around his neck, and he leaned down to kiss me.  I started to disentangle myself after an appropriate hello kiss, but he tightened his arms around me and gently parted my lips with his tongue.  We stood in the middle of his kitchen making out like teenagers for close to a minute before he finally pulled away.  "Well," I said, a little breathless.  "Hello to you too."

He chuckled and turned back to the counter.  "Want to chop some vegetables?"

"From making out to vegetables," I muttered to myself.  "My boyfriend is fucking weird."  He turned and cocked an eyebrow and I smiled innocently.  "I'd love to!"

We made dinner and then sat down to enjoy it.  When we were finished, Damien stood and cleared the dishes, waving off my offer to help.  "I even got dessert," he said, grabbing a white waxed paper bag off the counter.  He pulled out a giant turtle brownie from my favorite bakery and I grinned.  As we shared the brownie, he said, "I have a proposition for you."

"You don't have to pay me for sex, Damien," I joked.  "I'll do it out of the goodness of my heart."

He snorted and rolled his eyes.  "I'm afraid my proposition isn't quite that good.  Though I'm sure there will be some sex involved, because there always is when it comes to you."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" I asked, pretending to be offended.

"That I appreciate your high sex drive," he answered smoothly.  "Anyway, I had an idea.  We talked about Christmas last night, and I was thinking that we've been spending an awful lot of time with my family lately."  I stayed quiet, curious where this was going.  "You mentioned wanting to go skiing...what if we went over Christmas?  Jason and Elize won't be using their place then.  We could leave on the 23rd or 24th and stay all weekend."

I was confused.  "But...don't you want to spend Christmas with your family?"

"I've spent 34 Christmases with my family," he replied with a shrug.  "And we can see them any time.  I want to spend Christmas with you.  Just the two of us, no family for once."

"You'll just have gone skiing the weekend before," I pointed out, baffled by his willingness to give up his holiday with his family.  I bit my lip and studied his face.

"Kinsley, it doesn't matter," he said gently.  "But if there's something else you'd like to do for Christmas, I'm game for whatever.  It was just an idea I had."  Impulsively, I stood and threw my arms around him.  He slid his chair away from the table and I sat down in his lap.  "What's wrong?" he asked, sounding concerned.  He rubbed my back gently, and I realized I was sniffling.

"Nothing," I replied.  "I just...I don't know.  Yes, I love that idea.  And I love you."  I struggled to get the words out to express that I was so happy that he seemed to understand that I needed a family-free holiday.  I was shocked that he was willing to do that for me.  He'd come a long way from the person who had been pushing me to spend altogether too much time with his family.  I pulled back finally and brought my eyes to his.  "Are you sure?"

"Positive," he responded immediately.  He brought one hand to my face and brushed away the one tear that had managed to escape.  "You're making me nervous with that," he teased gently.  "If you don't want to--"

"I do," I interrupted.  "I really, really do.  I'm just surprised.  In a good way, though."

He smiled and kissed me softly.  "I'll let Jason and Elize know that we want to use their place then."

I nodded and hugged him again, tucking my head against his shoulder.  Then I smiled to myself, because this would probably be the best Christmas I'd ever had.

Lauren: Insubordination

A pit forms in my stomach.  His words, combined with his polite yet brief tone, make me nervous.

"Okay," I reply, but he's already walking back towards his office.  I dig the client file out of the pile of stuff on my desk, take a second to take a deep breath, and stand.

Sean is waiting by the door, and he closes it quickly behind me.  He motions for me to sit and I do.  Once he sits, he holds out his hand for the file.  I hand it over, trying to keep my now-sweaty hand from brushing his.  "Is there a problem?" I ask as he flips through the file.  It's my own copy of the file, filled with my messy and probably non-sensical-to-anyone-else notes.

"No, no problem," he replies, continuing to look through the file.  He doesn't say anything else, and I shift in my seat.  He looks up at me finally and smiles.  "You've done great work with this client, and we really appreciate it.  I'm going to need to you to sit down with Logan and walk him through your notes, please."

"Logan?  But...why?" I ask, confused.

He smiles again.  "Your work is so valuable, Lauren.  And you're so efficient.  You're probably one of my most efficient employees.  We're looking at ways to increase productivity and efficiency, so I'm going to need you spending more time in the office.  Logan's going to take over the fieldwork for this client--after you train him, of course."

"What?" I almost yelp.  "But it's my client.  And I love fieldwork."

"I understand," Sean responds, but his empathy is clearly fake.  "I'm not taking you completely out of the field, but this client takes up a lot of your time, and that time is better spent in the office."

"You--" I start, but I stop myself.  I don't know what to say.  "Sean, you don't understand.  This client is our client because of me.  And I've worked my ass off to keep them.  I've been working with them for over 3 years."  This particular client is one of my favorites, and they are the first major client I handled solo.  I've been their main contact since their beginning of their contract with us.  I'm attached, to say the least.

"And you've created a nice tidy package to pass off to Logan, which is really great.  This job is a team effort, Lauren.  Should I have concerns about your ability to work as part of a team?"

I gape at him, then quickly snap my mouth shut.  I start to think it might actually be possible for smoke to come out one's ears.  "No," I reply through gritted teeth.

"Good," he says, smiling broadly.  "Now, I think you should plan to set aside a couple hours a day for the rest of the week to sit with Logan and walk him through this."

"Does it have to be Logan?" I blurt.  As soon as the words are out of my mouth I regret them.

Sean raises an interested eyebrow.  "Do you have an objection?"

"I have an objection to this entire plan," I mutter.  Sean's left eyebrow flies up to join his right, and I realize I need to gain control of my mouth immediately.  "I just wonder if there are people who have been around longer who would like the opportunity," I say hurriedly, trying to save myself.

"I don't go by seniority, Lauren," he responds in a patronizing tone.  "I go by skill, motivation, and what people show me.  Logan is the man for this job."

"Fine, I'll walk Logan through," I agree reluctantly.  "But I don't think I have time today.  Can I start tomorrow?  I'm in the middle of--"

"Lauren, at this point, someone who doesn't know you as well as I do might accuse you of insubordination."

All I can do is stare at him.  I don't know what to say.  I'm confused, because my last supervisor was open about the fact that he didn't know everything, and encouraged us to speak up and question things.  I admit that I haven't handled this conversation perfectly, but I'm nowhere near being insubordinate.

"If you need to stay a little late today," he continues, "I'll make sure you're compensated accordingly."

"I..." I start, but I trail off when I see the warning look on his face. "Okay," I say finally.  "I'll go check in with him and see when he's available."

"Excellent," Sean says, and his smile is back.  He stands and walks over to the door, pulling it open and effectively dismissing me.  He starts to reach out as though he was going to pat me on the shoulder as I walk past, but he catches himself at the last second and holds his hands up, grinning.  "Almost forgot."

I bite my tongue and walk straight to Logan's cube, file in hand.  Logan has headphones on and is air-drumming just above his desk, eyes closed, like an idiot.  I drop the file on his desk, startling him.  He grins and pulls his headphones off.  "Long time no see, gorgeous," he says.

"Stop it," I snap.  "Look, Sean said I have to go over this stuff with you so you can take over their fieldwork.  He wants me to start today.  When do you have time?"

"I've got some time right now," he offers.

I shake my head.  "Right now is bad," I reply.  "I'm right in the middle of a project with an 8am deadline.  I need to finish it before I go.  Can I finish that and then we can meet?"

"No can do," he responds, shrugging.  "I have a meeting later this afternoon."

I'm ready to pull out my hair at this point, and I resist the urge to growl and stomp my foot like a child.  "Fine," I tell him.  "Then let's do it right now."

It takes me two hours to get through what I need to get through with him today in order to be done by the end of the week.  Logan is surprisingly dumb and asks far too many questions.  I can't tell if he just doesn't get it or if he's fucking with me.  We have to quit at 3:30 for Logan's mysterious meeting, and I'm not sad to be done.

I am irritated, because there is no way I'm going to get my project done before 5.  Sean is right--I'm efficient.  I rarely have to work more than 40 hours a week, because I always get my shit done.  I don't stand around chatting in the break room or take extended lunches.  So I'm a little mad that I suddenly have to stay late today.

I get back to my desk and send Alex a text letting him know that I'll be at work late and might have to at least postpone our dinner date.  He texts back immediately, "What do you mean?  You never work late."

I roll my eyes.  "I mean that I have to work late.  It's stupid, and I'll explain later."

There's a long pause before he responds.  I see him start typing, then stop.  Then nothing for several seconds, and then the text bubble is there for what seems like ages before one word finally pops up: "Okay." 

Okay?  Is he fucking serious?  I can tell he's annoyed, but there's nothing I can do about it.  I move my mouse to wake up my computer and get to work.

I finally finish just before 7.  I pack up my stuff and walk out, calling Alex on the way.

"Hello?" he answers.

"Hi, I'm sorry.  I'm just leaving work.  Can we meet at 7:30?"

"I guess so," he replies.  "I mean, you obviously won't make it by 7."

I sigh.  "I told you I probably wouldn't."

"We could just reschedule for tomorrow if it works better."  He's sullen and I have no idea what the problem is.  I'm never late, I never reschedule.  Why is this irritating him so much?

"I want to see you tonight," I insist.  I have to set my bag down so I can open my car door and not drop my phone.

"Let me help," comes a voice behind me.  I turn, startled, and see Logan standing behind me.

"Who's that?" Alex asks.

"Hold on," I say to him.  "I've got it," I say to Logan.  I pick up my bag and sling it into my passenger seat.

"Lauren?"  Alex sounds confused.  Logan isn't going away.  I squeeze my eyes shut for a second.

I physically turn away from Logan.  "Alex, let's just have dinner tonight still, okay?  I'll head straight there."

"Okay," he agrees, sounding reluctant.  "I'll see you in a little bit."  We say goodbye and I hang up while I get in my car.  As I start to pull my car door shut, something stops it.

I look up and see Logan standing there with his hand on the door, holding it and keeping me from closing it.  "What?" I snap, wanting nothing more than to not have to look at his face any longer.

He surprises me by saying, "Look, I just want you to know that I had nothing to do with this switch.  I actually advocated for you to keep the client.  I don't know what Sean's deal is, and if I were you, I'd be upset about it.  So I get it if you are.  Just know that this isn't my doing, okay?  I like to fuck with you, but not like that.  And I'm sorry you had to stay late tonight because of it."

"Oh," I answer, not sure what else to say.  "Well, thanks for advocating for me, I guess."  I don't know if it's true, but on the off-chance it is, I resolve to maybe not be so short with him tomorrow.

Logan takes his hand off the door and steps back.  "Enjoy your evening with your boyfriend," he tells me pleasantly.  Then he turns and walks towards his car.  I pull my door shut and start the car.  I need to hurry to even get to the restaurant by 6:30 at this point.

I have to park about 3 blocks away, but I still manage to walk into the restaurant at 7:32.  Alex is leaning against the wall, looking irritated.  "Hi," I say, standing on my toes to kiss him on the cheek.

"Hi," he replies.  It's anything but warm.

"You're pissed at me," I say quietly.  The last thing I want to do is argue with him in public, but I'm also not going to suffer through dinner with him in this mood.

"No," he argues.  I raise a skeptical eyebrow at him, because I don't believe that for a second.  "I'm not pissed.  I'm...well, I don't know what I am."

"Alex, I got stuck at work late.  I'm really sorry.  I don't really understand why it's such a big deal."

"Who were you talking to when you were on the phone with me?" he asks.

It suddenly occurs to me what the problem is.  "Logan," I answer truthfully.  "But I really want a chance to tell you about my day before you get upset about that.  Trust me, everything will make more sense then."  Part of me can't believe we're still talking about Logan months later, but a small part of me does understand it.

"Okay," he agrees, his face softening.  So we get a table.  And once the server is gone, I tell him about my day.  He goes from looking mildly irritated to looking angry, but this time his anger is on my behalf, at least.  "Wow," he says when I finish.  "That really sucks, Laur.  And I'm sorry I was such an asshole.  I just..."  He trails off and shrugs.

"You just worried I was with Logan," I supply wryly.

He winces, then nods.  "Yeah, I guess I did," he admits.  "I'm sorry."

I consider if I want to be mad about this.  Part of me does, but he clearly believes me and looks pretty damn sorry already.  I have bigger things to worry about, so I decide to forget about this time.  I earned his lack of trust regarding Logan.  And it's been a really long time since he's been weird about it.  "I accept your apology," I inform him.

We talk about my job for a little while longer.  I vent and share my frustration with Alex, and he's pretty sympathetic.  I appreciate that he actually listens and cares about the stupid things that happen at work.  Finally, I'm done and ask to change the subject.  "Sure," Alex says.  "So, Brody, Christian, Damien, and I are going skiing the weekend before Christmas.  We're going to Winter Park."

"Okay," I reply.  "You invited Damien?"

He shrugs.  "We invited James too, but he's working that weekend or something.  The more the merrier."

"Works for me," I say.  "I'm just glad I don't have to go."

We finish our dinner and head to my house.  I'm tired from the long, frustrating day and I drag Alex up to bed almost immediately.  But he doesn't mind at all when I curl up against his chest.  I sigh as his fingers rake through my hair and over my scalp.  Neither of us talk, and I quickly drift off to sleep.

Lauren: There's Something I Need to Talk to You About

I need to get Lauren's story caught up a little bit, so no Kinsley this week.  Kinsley will return next week!  
_________________

Even though I hate to admit it, I'm still happy enough from the day before that I don't even get irritated with Alex while we travel.  I don't even know who I am anymore.  When we're in the car on the way home from the airport, Alex says, "So I thought I'd drop you off at home and then--"

"What do you mean, drop me off at home?" I ask him, smirking.  "Are you sick of me?  Too much together time this week?"

"Well, no, but I assumed you would be completely over spending every second with me," he replies.  "You usually need a lot more alone time than you got this week."

"Plenty of time for that tomorrow," I scoff.  Normally he'd be right.  I don't even know what's wrong with me.  "Unless you need some alone time."

"Nope," he answers.  "Okay then, my place or yours tonight?"

"How about this...drop me off at my place and I'll ditch my stuff, shower, and change.  Then I can pick up some food and head over to your house in a little bit?"

Alex nods and says, "That works."  

It isn't until I'm home by myself that I realize that I really do need some alone time.  It's hard to explain to extroverts, but the sense of relief I feel when I'm finally alone is amazing.  I don't want to cancel on Alex, and I do want to spend the night with him, so I just take my time unpacking and getting ready.  I haul my suitcase right to the tiny laundry room, unzip it, and upend it on the floor.  I fish my flat iron, makeup bag, and toiletries out, kick my shoes to the side, and leave the clothes in a heap to sort through later.  

I make my way up to my bathroom and carefully slide my ring off my finger, but not before admiring it once more.  I can't help it.  It's probably the greatest material object that has ever been mine.  Alex was right when he said it was perfect.  I manage to tear my eyes away and set it down carefully inside one of the drawers of the vanity.

My shower is much longer than usual.  I linger under the hot water and soak up my me-time.  By the time I step out of the shower, I'm ready to be around other humans again.  I get dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie, dry my hair, slip my ring back on (and admire it for another 30 seconds, because I guess I'm that girl), and think about putting on makeup but decide not to.  Then I grab my purse and leave to pick up food and go to Alex's house.

I try to just walk in when I get there but the door is locked, so I have to knock.  "Thanks for locking me out, jackass," I say when he lets me in.

He shrugs and smirks.  "I guess I was hoping you might not come."

"Don't be a dick!" I reply, laughing.  He pulls me into a hug and I let him, because I'm a nice girlfriend sometimes.

We spend the evening being lazy on the couch until we go to bed.  In the morning, we go out for brunch and then I head home.  I know I should probably do some laundry and cleaning and maybe go through some of my work emails so I won't have to spend two hours doing it tomorrow, but I spend the day catching up on my DVRed TV shows instead.  Liv calls early in the evening, but I decline the call and send her a text telling her that I'm unwinding and asking if we're on for Monday.  She says we are and tells me to enjoy my "me time".  It's nice having a friend (besides Alex) that actually understands.

I'm actually ready to get back to work on Monday.  I'm such a creature of habit, and it's nice to get back into my routine.

Because I'm such a creature of habit, I notice immediately that my desk is not how I left it.  Now, I'm surprisingly not a neat freak by any means, so my desk is a disaster, but it is definitely not the way I left it.  I rifle through my stuff but don't notice anything missing.

I spend the rest of the day suspicious and a little anxious, but nothing out of the ordinary happens.  I'm still relieved when it's time to leave and go meet Liv.  Kinsley had texted me earlier and I'd invited her along too.

I'm not surprised that I'm the first one there.  I get done with work first and Kinsley is always late.  Most people would just stay at work a little later or run home and change or something, but I've never minded being alone at restaurants.  So I get there right after work, get us a table, order a drink, and people watch.

Liv arrives right on time and finds me quickly.  "Hi!" she greets me cheerfully.  "How was your trip?"

I make a face.  "It was...interesting," I say carefully.  "I'll tell you guys all about it when Kinsley gets here."

"Tell us all about what?" Kinsley asks, walking up right in time to hear.

"About my trip," I reply.

It's right at that moment that Liv notices my ring, which is still on my right hand.  "Whoa," she says, grabbing my hand.  "Does your story involve telling us where this gorgeous thing came from?"

"It does," I assure her, snatching my hand back.  "Don't touch the goods."  She laughs, holding her hands up in surrender.

I don't waste any more time, and I launch into the story.  It takes us all the way through our appetizers and first drinks.  As soon as I start telling the story of Thanksgiving dinner and Carolyn, Kinsley interrupts.  "She set you up!" she gasps.  "She wanted Alex to dump you for that stupid southern belle!"

"Thank you!" I reply, feeling just a little bit vindicated.  "Alex thought I was crazy when I first said that, until his mom actually said it to him too."  So I keep going, telling them about our fight and everything that happened after it.

When I finally finish, both Liv and Kinsley are grinning wildly.  "So now what?" Liv asks excitedly.

I give her a confused look.  "Now what what?"

"Now what are you and Alex going to do?" she clarifies, but it doesn't clear things up much for me.

"We're going to keep being awesome?" I try.  Liv sighs and looks to Kinsley for help.

Kinsley says, "So you don't want to get married, but this seems like kind of a big deal.  Are you guys going to like...celebrate it?  Or, I don't know, move in together?"

This is why I suck at relationships--the thought of either of those things didn't even cross my mind.  "I have no idea," I respond truthfully.  "We didn't talk about that.  I don't want to do either right now, to be honest.  I don't know what he wants."

"Have you guys talked about moving together?" Liv asks curiously.

"Not since he offered for me to move in with him before I moved into your place," I reply.  "I don't want to."

"Ever?" Kinsley asks skeptically.

"I don't know," I reply in frustration.  "I love him, obviously, but living with you was bad enough," I say, looking at Liv.  I realize what I said as soon as it's out of my mouth and start to apologize, but she cuts me off.

"Trust me, the feeling was mutual," she says with a laugh.  "I don't think either of us are very good at sharing our space."

I smirk and then say, "But I really don't want to talk about this anymore."  Luckily, Liv and Kinsley let it go.  I have to admit that they took some of the fun out of it all, with their talk about what was next.  It probably seems really stupid, but even though we had just talked about spending the rest of our lives together, I'm happy with how things are right now and don't want to think about making any changes.  I'm sure that at some point it will make sense, but right now I'm good with things like they are.  I think Alex is too, but I guess I'm not sure.  He hasn't said anything yet, in any case.

Kinsley tells us about her Thanksgiving next, and it was definitely worse than mine.  Liv's was pretty tame in comparison, and much better than her dinner with Brody's family last year.  We stay for awhile after we pay our bill, chatting and taking up a table.  The restaurant is half empty so I don't feel too bad about it.

Eventually we head out, and I go straight home.  I change into comfortable clothes immediately and lay across the couch with my phone.  I call Alex, and we talk for about 15 minutes.   "Can I see you tomorrow?" he asks at the end.

"Yes," I answer automatically.  We make plans to get dinner and for him to spend the night at my house, then hang up.  I finish catching up on my DVRed shows before I head to bed.

About an hour into my workday on Tuesday I realize I haven't seen much of Logan.  I'm surprised, because I expected him to have missed harassing me while I was gone, but I'm relieved.  Maybe he's over it.  One can hope, right?

I'm enjoying my Logan-free work-zone right after lunch when I become conscious of someone approaching my cube from behind.  I turn and see Sean stepping up to my desk.  "Lauren," he greets me.  I nod in response.  "Do you have the file for the client you've been working with?"

"Of course," I reply.

"Good," he says.  "Grab it and come to my office, please.  There's something I need to talk to you about."