“I’m not having anymore,” Keely announced, sending a sharp look at Colton.

“What?” he reacted as she may have expected, wearing a stricken look. But he still tried to find her cup to pour in more rum, no eggnog anymore, giggling at him Keely kicked her empty plastic cup off the coffee table. “C’mon,” he complained, “You had like two shots three hours ago, you could drive or something.”

This time her look was confused as she leaned back into the fabric couch. “That’s the point; I need to drive back to hotel eventually.”

“No, no you don’t,” protested Colton.

“Yes, yes, I do,” she replied firmly, sinking back into the couch, farther away from Seth.

“Actually, you don’t.”

At the sound of Seth’s voice that had become rough after the long show, Keely felt a shiver run up her spine as she spun her head around so quickly her neck cricked.

Wincing she watched as he smirked at her, making her eyes drop to his lips. Really, they looked much too tempting, on that perfect border of being thin and full to make them all the more inviting.

Feeling herself blanch at the thoughts running through her mind, Keely dragged her eyes up to his, the gold shining amused as he continued to look at her evenly. His smirk broadening even further he ran an absent hand through his hair, the locks standing up on end before slinging his arm over the back of the couch.

This time she resisted the urge to shiver, clenching her jaw tightly when she realized how very close she’d gotten when she’d been trying to get away from Colton. Their sides were almost touching on the couch, the arm he had over the back was brushing her tangled hair. And Keely could almost feel the parts of their bodies that were so close coming alive with electricity.

When he quirked his eyebrows at her stare, bringing his cup to his lips casually with his other hand, she finally dragged herself from the daze.

“What do you mean I don’t?” she questioned, grimacing when her voice came out slightly breathless. However the hoarseness that she’d gained from the show hid it fairly well. She didn’t know why her voice was rougher than Seth’s though. It seemed to be a curse; her voice would be coarse and croaky after just single shows while Seth’s always stayed the same with maybe a hint of hoarseness along the edges. She could only guess it was from the fact he’d had his voice trained for touring long before she’d ever even let someone listen to her music.

Still his eyes didn’t leave her face as he drained the cup. “What I meant was exactly what I said; you don’t have to go back to the hotel.”

Trying to not act like an obsessed fool around him, Keely attempted to look calm as she leaned back into the comfortable cushion of the couch even though her body was tight as wire at the proximity. “And where am I supposed to go?”

“You can stay here.”

She arched one eyebrow at him, retorting, “And sleep on the couch? No thank you, I’ve been sleeping in those bunks on the bus long enough, I think I’ll opt for a bed.”

His expression becoming cocky, Seth replied, “You’re welcome to share my bed.”

Resisting the very strong urge to roll her eyes, Keely elbowed him lightly in the stomach, simply saying, “Pig.”

He smirked, switching his empty cup from hand to hand so he could pass it to Colton over her shoulder for a refill. “Seriously, though, it’s snowing like mad out there, you shouldn’t be driving in it. There’s even a choice of guest rooms.”

“I’m not staying at your mother’s house,” she told him firmly.

“I bought the house, so, technically, it’s mine.”

This time she didn’t resist the urge to roll her eyes. “Doesn’t matter, I’m going to go back to my hotel in a minute,” she told him, her voice becoming absent as she pulled her cell phone from her damp jeans that were clinging to her legs.

Glancing up when he reached around her, Keely watched his quarter filled cup be passed back to him. She sent him a fleeting glance to see his eyes looking far away, fixed on the fire instead of the television where some Christmas program had Colton and Marco’s undivided attention. Sighing, she watched him take a deep drink from her cup.

She wasn’t exactly the picture for absolute sobriety either, but the way she drank was different from him. Not to mention her amount of drinking was actually a lot less than most people her age, especially seeing as she was a musician on tour, she’d only gotten drunk three times in the months that had passed since she’d left home. And two of those times had just been with friends, the rest of them being with friends although she’d never drank at those times to the point of being called drunk.

Having a beer with friends wasn’t bad, having rum with – or in their case, without – eggnog at Christmas was far from being a bad thing, it was fun. But when Seth was drinking alone and thinking about his past, it worried her. That wasn’t healthy. That wasn’t good for his sanity either. Not to mention his career since those fights were worrisome too. It had been stupid for her to drink alone back in Vancouver when she’d been thinking of her mother, but that had only happened once.

Hadn’t he himself once classified himself as a ‘chronically hungover musician’ to her?

Abruptly Keely noticed that his eyes were looking straight back at her, apparently catching onto her stare.

Instead of flushing she just moved held his golden hazel gaze for a long moment, holding her breath thoughtlessly. Letting out a long breath, she finally tore her eyes away from him to look down at her phone.

For a moment she floundered, why was she looking at her phone again?

After blinking blankly at the screen, Keely remembered the task at hand and began searching through her missed calls. But the last one she’d received was from Maureen yesterday. No one had called her since that phone call with her family before the show.

Sighing, she rubbed her temples wearily. What on earth was that supposed to mean?

Not knowing what else to do, she just shoved the phone back in her pocket, looking around at the scene.

Marco was sitting cross legged in front of the coffee table, his mouth hanging slightly open as he stared at the television. On her left, Colton was holding his hand determinedly steady, his eyes so focused he was going cross-eyed as he poured the alcohol into the cup he was holding sturdily against his leg. Then to her right Seth was holding his cup in front of him, staring darkly into the red cup.

Her nose crinkling in confusion, she looked around one more time before decidedly speaking up. “So... this is your Christmas tradition?”

Nodding mutely, Marco continued staring at the TV; Seth’s eyes didn’t as much as flicker so she fixed her gaze on Colton. Biting his tongue between his teeth, he squinted as he attempted to pour, his hands shaking despite the precautions he’d taken.

Shaking her head at him, Keely snatched the cup and bottle away from him. Being quite sober, she poured the three fingers worth, repeating her question patiently.

“Kind of...” he answered, frowning as he thought about it. “When we were kids it was just eggnog, and we’d have to stay at either my parents or Marco’s because our parents, well, mine and Marco’s, were wrapping presents at the other ones house. We used to just drink eggnog even though it was disgusting and watch those really old Christmas movies. It was when Seth first discovered rum that the eggnog became less and less every year.”

Handing the bottle and cup back to Colton, she sent a smirk in Seth’s direction. “How old were you when you discovered rum?”

“Twelve,” he replied unemotionally, not glancing away from the mug.

Keely stared blankly at him and asked shocked, “Twelve?!”

Finally he looked up, meeting her eyes and sending her a twisted grimace that she assumed was meant to be a careless smirk but failed greatly. “It wasn’t exactly difficult to find around my house, was it?”

For a moment she continued to stare at him, but he simply raised his eyebrows at her, bringing his drink to his mouth again. Resisting the urge to slap herself in the cheek to bring herself out of the daze, Keely composed her expression looking back to the room in general. “So your parents still do this?”

“I guess,” replied Colton, happily wrapping his hands around the cup and bringing it to his mouth. “We haven’t actually all been home for a Christmas since we were seventeen.”

“Are you serious?”

“Touring and making music is a full time gig, Keel.”

Frowning as she felt the sick feeling well up in her stomach, Keely let her eyes fall on the window, watching the snow continuously fall thickly without ever really seeing it. Would that be what it’d be like for her? When she was twenty one would she look back and say that she hadn’t been at home for a Christmas since she was seventeen?

But even they saw their parents more often than that, despite everything, they went home for visits or their parents went out to New York. However, with the way her relationship was progressing with her father, would it really be that easy to just head home? Yes, he’d called her tonight, but she’d tried calling him for months before that and he’d never answered. And just tonight he hadn’t called back and neither had Joe or Haley.

Feeling her stomach clench uncomfortably at the thoughts, Keely pushed herself up from the couch. “I’m going back to the hotel, I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” she announced.

“Do I really need to quote Baby It’s Cold Outside?” Seth asked in a bored tone, draining his cup.

For a moment, Keely didn’t like the way her stomach automatically flipped at his words. She’d always found it wearing and annoying when men said ‘baby’, it was all too common and plain, but when Seth said the word it sounded sexy, especially in the slightly worn after show voice. “Oh, no way in hell,” she said trying for an easy going exterior, “I’m much more stubborn than that.”

“Not quite a mouse?” he asked smirking.

Rolling her eyes, Keely just skirted past him, grabbing her leather jacket she’d slung over the back of the arm chair.

But when she looked up, Seth was tossing his empty cup, hitting Colton square in the forehead with it. While the offended party swore ripely, he just shoved up from the chair, making his way to her.

“Seriously,” she told him firmly, flipping her jacket on easily before shoving him in the chest lightly. “Go get drunk, have fun with your friends, I’m leaving.”

“And I’m serious,” he responded, his tone matching his words, “You shouldn’t drive in it.”

“I’ll be fine,” Keely assured him, sneaking past him to the hallway.

Still he didn’t give up that easy, following her at a steady pace. Rubbing her forehead in annoyance, she stuffed her feet into her shoes. Why had she even thought he would listen to her? Had he ever before?

“You’re not even that good of a driver,” protested Seth, standing in front of the door, his arms crossed over his chest.

Ignoring the fact that his shirt was still ever so slightly damp from the show and clinging onto his distinct stomach muscles, Keely sent him a narrowed eyed look. “I find that quite insulting you know.”

He opened his mouth to argue more, yet she just let out a defeated sound and stepped forward. Clenching her jaw in hopes that her actions wouldn’t make herself blush, Keely fixed her eyes on the door as she pressed her body against his, reaching around to grip the door handle behind him.

Yes, it was quite distracting with Seth’s hard lean body pressed against her, but she forcibly kept her mind about her and yanked on the doorknob.

Surprisingly, it was fairly easy to make him move out of the way. Still not looking at him, Keely felt a smug expression lighting up her face; she’d never thought she’d be strong enough to make him move. But, disregarding the cold blast of air, she found herself freezing before she’d taken so much as one step out on the porch.

She couldn’t so much as see her car, only the large lump of snow where she assumed it was buried.

Not needing to glance to the side to know it was Seth who had stepped beside her, Keely felt her nose crinkle slightly as she continued to stare blankly. “It really did snow a lot, didn’t it?”

“I told you so,” Seth answered, his turn to sound smug. Glaring, Keely turned her head to him as he folded his arms over his chest protectively against the chill blaring in on them. “Now can we go inside? It’s fucking cold out here.”

Losing her glare, Keely looked out considering. “I could walk; it’s not too far...”

“Oh, shut up,” he advised, hooking an arm around her shoulders casually and pulling her inside.

“It’s your mom’s house,” she whined, even adding in the four year olds’ voice, “It’s going to be so awkward.”

Seth rolled his eyes, letting go of her to slam the door shut. “I’m sure she’ll prefer that to you killing yourself trying to walk home and getting run over by a snow plough.”

“That’s doubtful,” Keely muttered under her breath.

“What?” asked he blankly, clearly not hearing her words despite that sharp hearing that could detect a flat note anywhere.

Sighing, Keely shrugged off her coat. Who was she kidding? She didn’t want to dig her car out and then try to drive it nor did she want to be run over a snow plough although it was doubtful one would be out this early in the morning, it still wasn’t a pleasant prospect. Plus she didn’t exactly hate spending time with Seth anymore.

Sending him an innocent smile, she replied, “Nothing.”

He sent her a quizzical glance, but then continued to walk back to where his friends hadn’t moved.

Following him with her hands stuck into the pockets of her jeans, Keely fell into her previous seat between Seth and Colton. Although this time she was sure to be evenly spaced between the two as Colton passed them their cups, once again filled.

“I think I might drink too much,” Seth observed, staring down at his cup thoughtfully.

No one responded.

Being reminded of a song, oddly Keely kept silent, the song wouldn’t bode well for their, at least his, futures.

Abruptly Colton nudged her side, asking, “Baby It’s Cold Outside?”

“Baby It’s Cold Outside,” Keely agreed, lifting the glass and looking at the television screen where the original Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer was beginning, Marco making sounds of excitement.

Two hours later, Keely was lying awake in the comfortable bed, her eyes tracing nonexistent patterns on the roof.

Just an hour previously Colton and Marco had departed drunkenly down the road, arms hooked around each other’s shoulders as they made their way home. And after an awkward conversation where she couldn’t even meet Linda’s eyes, Keely had quickly parted for the guest room, stealing one of Seth’s shirts as she did so.

And that lead to her staring at the roof.

Her throat was so dry she was almost afraid to make a noise in case she found what it sounded like.

All she wanted was to make a break down to the kitchen for a glass of water; the show had really taken its toll on her voice and throat. But the last time she went into that kitchen for water was clear in her mind and that wasn’t something she wanted to repeat.

Not to mention the fact she was wearing Seth’s black The Yardbird’s shirt with nothing else, she didn’t exactly have her pyjamas waiting at his house. Plus her jeans were still damp from playing a show while in the snow and were hung over the end of the bed. Yes, the shirt went down to the mid thigh and her habitual set of pyjama shorts she wore on the bus were shorter than that, but the fact she might meet his mother while running through the house in her underwear and Seth’s t-shirt was simply mortifying.

Yet at that moment, Keely gulped, a dry feeling running down her throat and making her wince.

Grimacing, she threw the covers off of her, stepping as lightly as a person with her lack of gracefulness could and made her way to the door. She may not want to meet Linda wearing this, but it also happened to be eight in the morning and the rest of the people inhabiting the house had only gone to sleep at six in the morning, so it was doubtful that anyone was up.

Opening her door cautiously, Keely poked her head out of the door, finding the hallway dark and empty; she let out a sigh, tip toeing towards the stares. Her decision was made by the fact that she was her voice, and she couldn’t abuse it by refusing to get water in the middle of the night.

With that deciding factor she hurried her step, sprinting down the stairs quickly. The faster she got there the faster she could hide in her room, right?

But Keely found herself skidding to a stop steps from the kitchen.

A dull light was shining from the doorway, making it clear someone had the lamp turned on.

Wistfully she wished that someone had just turned on the light and forgotten about it or that Seth was in the kitchen. After all, he didn’t sleep often, it was possible. Anyone but Linda, even if she didn’t like the woman on general principle, she couldn’t face her in the kitchen after that last conversation.

Figuring she should at least check before she fled like a scared child, she shuffled forward, stepping into the doorway.

Biting back the groan, Keely managed to not smack herself in the forehead with great difficulty.

Of course it had to be Linda, when did anything just go easily for her when it came to this family? The woman was sitting at the kitchen table facing Keely, but her head was down, the blonde hair creating a curtain around her face as she read a newspaper, sipping a steaming beverage from the a plain beige mug.

Realizing she’d been still standing there much too long, Keely pressed her lips together and tried to move away from the doorway without being noticed.

However Linda’s bored voice stopped her.

“You’re not good at sneaking up on people, are you?”

Wincing she folded her arms in front of her chest, stepping to the doorway but not moving any further. “No, no, I’m really not.”

The woman sighed, finally looking up and pushing her hand through her hair and away from her face as she did so. Keely just blinked at her, the familiar movement Seth did daily catching her off guard when seeing it from the woman.

“What do you need this time?” Linda asked, breaking through Keely’s slight daze.

“Water,” Keely answered honestly, her voice cracking on the word. Awkwardly, she let her arms fall away from their defensive stance and tug at the bottom of Seth’s shirt as the woman looked at her, a confusing expression on her face. “The show was really long and all the boys gave me afterwards was rum, my voice is dying.”

Linda regarded her a moment longer than necessary, her unreadable expression not so much as faltering. “It’s in the fridge,” she said after what felt like an eternity, finally looking away from Keely.

Letting out a relieved breath when no longer under the woman’s scrutiny, Keely stepped hesitantly into the kitchen, still pulling at the bottom of the shirt in hopes to make it just a little longer. At the fridge, she hastily grabbed a bottle of water, soaking her throat instantly as she chugged down the water a little too fast.

“Uh, thanks?” she offered uncomfortably, stepping as far from the table as possible while making her way to the doorway.