A/N: Oh my dear lord, Tonight Alive (Jenna McDougall is the singer) dropped their new album Underworld ft. Lynn Gunn of PVRIS and Corey Taylor from Slipknot. It's honestly the most beautiful thing I've heard so far (and I've only been able to listen to four songs so far) Even if you don't listen to Tonight Alive, I highly recommend looking up their songs, especially this album. I mean, you're reading this story with Jenna and Amelia as major characters so you obviously like them to some extent, right?

Usually, it's colder on Thanksgiving, then again, I live further south compared to New Jersey. There's no snow or even a cold climate in general, at least compared to what I'm used to. I told my mother I was going to Jenna's at 4:30 so she could go out with her coworkers. They invited her to a banquet but she didn't want me to be alone. She's attending now that I have other plans. It's nice she cares but if she stayed, we would really do anything together, unless you consider watching TV together after dinner spending quality time together. But I'm heading out and staying the night over here.

There are a couple cars already parked in the driveway when I walk up to her porch. When I ring the doorbell, a little girl answers the door. She looks to be about 3 or 4 and has the same platinum blonde hair and grey-blue eyes Jenna has. "Hi, happy turkey day!" she says, hopping backward and opening the door wider for me to come in.

I smile softly and step into the house, taking my converse off among the cluster of other shoes. There is an older gentleman sleeping on the couch with his feet propped up on the coffee table across the hall and I see someone else sitting next to him. The little girl shuts the door closed and jumps up to flick the lock. "My name is Vivi, who are you?" she asks.

"I'm Frank," I say, "I'm a friend of Jenna's."

"Oh, she's my cousin," she says. Vivi stares upward, eyeing me suspiciously. "Are you her boyfriend?"

"No, dear," a voice behind me says. I turn around and see Jenna walking over wearing a red sweater, ripped leggings with a jean skirt on. "Hey, Frank," she smiles, giving me a hug. "Happy Thanksgiving."

"Happy Thanksgiving," I say, taking off my coat.

"Oh, here, let me take that," she says, grabbing it and putting it away in the closet a few feet over.

"He's not your boyfriend?" Vivi asks, holding her hands behind her back and swaying side to side.

I glance at Jenna and give a small laugh. "No, we're just friends." She walks back over and picks Vivi up in her arms. "Boys and girls can be just friends."

"But boys are annoying," she mumbles.

"She's not wrong," I say. Jenna smiles and sets Vivi down. She trots over to the living room. "She's cute."

"Yeah, she's almost 4. My youngest cousin," Jenna says. "So far."

"So far?"

"Her mom's having another baby so."

"Ah, that makes sense. Who's all here?" I ask.

Jenna brushes a strand of hair behind her ear. "Just my dad's parents and then his brother and his family but my grandpa's sleeping right now. My Grandma is the kitchen and she's helping my dad and uncle cook dinner."

"How many cousins do you have?" I ask, leaning against the wall.

"5," she says. "My Aunt Claire has 3 boys and 2 girls. Remington, Quince, Indigo, Langston, and Genevieve. She's having another girl next month and I think they settled on naming her Yvonne."

"Your cousins sound like their protagonists with their names. I like that," I say smiling. "I'm just Frank, like I'd kill for any one of those names, even the girl ones."

"I always envied them too," she says. "Come on, I'll introduce you to them." She takes me by the wrist and leads me to the kitchen. I notice she takes me by the wrist opposed to my hand unlike someone else.

Her cousin Remington is a junior and Quince is a sophomore but they could pass as twins. Remington has darker hair while Quince is platinum blond, but they dress similarly, wearing slacks and button up shirts with their sleeves rolled up. Quince though has one of the sleeves rolled down instead of up like the other one for whatever reason. I guess it's to annoy his sister. They're in high school but they don't attend North Shore High. Indigo is an 8th grader but she acts much more mature than any 14-year-old I know. She has blonde hair coming up as roots but the majority of it is dyed it a blueish, well, Indigo. She dresses in a cross between Lynn and Gerard, wearing black tights and a grey long sleeve, blouse but she has a leather vest on zipped up and he hair is the same style as Gee's but not black. Langston is 9 and he looks like a smaller version of Quince but wearing a sweater vest and jeans. Then there's Vivi. Their mom is resting in the living room with their grandfather. She's very pregnant so I guess she's due soon.

Her cousins are cool and the older ones have the same taste in music as me and Jenna. Remington, Quince, and Indigo follow come with us to the upper levels of the house and we hang out together.

"When's Cody coming back again?" Quince asks.

"He'll be back when we are probably having dessert," Jenna says.

"I love Cody, he's like so cool and funny, I wish we saw you guys more," he says. He sits down on the bean bag chair and sinks in.

"We hung out like two weeks ago for my birthday," Indigo says. "We saw them then and we'll be seeing each other for Christmas."

"I know but still, Cody is just the best," Quince says.

"Yeah, what about Jenna?" Remington asks. "Your actual cousin, the one who's related to you?"

"She's okay," he teases.

"Thank, Quince," Jenna mocks. "I'll remember that when I'm buying your gift."

"As in okay, I mean okay as in the best?"

She rolls her eyes and laughs. "Nice try, dude."

"Is Amelia still coming?"

"Yeah, should be here in like an hour or two," Jenna replies.

"Okay, even though Amelia isn't related to us, she's like our cousin the way Cody is," Quince says. "Like you guys have been best friends your whole life."

"We went to preschool together, I've known her for like 12 years," Jenna says. "She's always been my friend, my best friend. I've never lived without her so yeah, she's like your cousin."

"You guys should get married," Indigo says. "I mean, you could in this day and age."

"I could but she's like straight, straighter than Cody is actually," she says. "Granted that's not saying much since he and Gerard act like a gay couple."

"I remember Gerard," Remington says. "He's like the male version of Indigo except for more emo."

"I could be emo if I wanted to," Indigo says.

"Dude, if anything, you're scene," Quince says. Indigo flips her hair sassily and crosses her arms. "She's the scene version of Gerard."

"You do have hair like him," I say. "I mean, not the color but the style and the cut."

"See, even he agrees," Remington says. "You should invite him over."

"He's out of town," I say slightly disappointed.

"Yeah, I offered but he said he was going to New Jersey to see family, well, he and his dad were going, his mom's staying here."

"Wait, why is she staying?" I ask. Jenna looks at me and narrows her eyes, nodding slightly to the side. "She's not going with?" Jenna tilts her head as if she's trying to imply something but I don't know what she's trying to have me guess. "Is it work?"

"Yeah, work," she says. The way she brushes it off, I get the notion it's something else but she realized I don't know. Considering Gerard's known her longer, she probably knows more about him than I do.

"That sucks, I like that guy," Indigo says, picking at her nails.

"What, don't tell me you have a crush on him," Remington says, nudging her with his leg.

"No, nothing like that, ew, he's way too old."

"He's 16, that's two years older than you," Jenna points out. Indigo doesn't say anything. "Wait, you like him?"

"Probably not, I just think he's cute-I mean-cool." Her eyes widen and she covers her face with her hands.

"Oh, jeez, my sister has a crush," Quince says.

"That's not what I meant. I mean, sure he isn't ugly and I've acknowledged that but it doesn't mean I want to do anything about that. I don't ever see the guy, maybe a few times a year for Jenna and Cody's birthday and like once in the summer. I just like wish I was his friend, you know? I don't want to date him or anything, just like talk to him and hang out."

"You have a friend-crush on him?" Jenna ask. Indigo adjusts her jacket and nods her head. "I'll let him know, he'll probably be confused about why though."

"Well, like," Indigo looks at me, "how close of friends are you to Gerard?" she asks me.

That's a good question, I probably should ask him that sometime. Last time we saw each other, we were just laying next to each other and holding hands. I eventually fell asleep, his pillows are so comfortable and it was warm with the heater. When I woke up, we weren't holding hand anymore, we were full on cuddling. I was curled up on him, my head nestled in the crook of his neck. Our legs were tangled together and one of his arms was wrapped around my torso. I thought he fell asleep too and it was just something that happened but he was awake on his phone scrolling through Instagram. His battery was low, the red light flashing and a couple hours had passed. He was awake the whole time just letting me lie on top of him and he wrapped his freaking arm around me. I pretended I was still asleep just so he wouldn't move away. But who does that? I know I've never had real friends before so I'm not sure what real friends do but I am pretty sure friends don't do that, especially not guys. Girls are like sisters if they're friends, they have no boundaries but guys don't do that.

"I mean, Jenna's my best friend but after her, it would be him," I say. "We're really close and we hang out a lot, text like every day."

"See, he's cool," Indigo says. "Right?"

"Yeah, pretty chill, good at art."

"That's awesome, all my friends don't do art, they're all into sports and I'm like no thanks so it's nice being able to have a conversation about art with someone who gets it. Other than like family and stuff."

Jenna's phone buzzes and she turns it on. "Looks like dinner is ready and they want us to set the table," she says. "Come on."

I'm a little weary as we head downstairs for dinner, wondering what I would eat but I see they have a plethora of food, including vegetarian dishes. Roasted vegetables with garlic, pumpkin soup, stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn, cranberries. It's more options than I ever got. Jenna found most of the recipes and her grandmother and dad have been cooking them. They all eat together and halfway through, the doorbell rings.

Jenna answers the door and comes back with Amelia, who is wearing an auburn-gradient, long sleeve top that drapes down to her mid-thigh with blue jeans. "Hi," Amelia greets, waving to the kitchen.

"Hey, Amelia," Jenna's dad says. "You want to grab a plate?"

The two of them walk over to us, Amelia sitting in the empty seat next to Jenna and Jenna sitting back down next to me. "Oh, no thank you. I just had a lot of food at my place."

"Melia," Jenna says, "we have that apple pie! You have to have it."

Amelia's face lights up. "Oh my god, are you serious?" Jenna smiles and nods her head. "Maybe in a little bit, I'll have some." She leans forward and looks at me. "Frank, did you have the pie yet?" she asks.

"No, I'm not really a pie per-" All of the kids stare at me in shock. What have I said?

"No, you don't understand, this pie is LIFE CHANGING!" Jenna outcries. "It's literally divine, the best thing you will ever eat."

"It is ambrosia," Remington says. "It's the nectar of the gods."

"Yeah, it really is life changing," Jenna's dad says somewhat sarcastically. "When I took a bite, I suddenly wanted to be a ballerina."

Jenna sighs, rolling her eyes to the ceiling. "You mock me but that pie is so good. Like I'd take a bullet for this pie."

"You better not," her grandmother says.

"Bet," she mutters. "Frank, I'm getting you a slice," she says, trotting over to the table with all the deserts. "It's literally the best thing you could ever taste. They cook the pie in this paper bag and I don't know how but it just makes it supreme and it's just so good." She comes back with a small plate with a slice of pie and a silver fork. It's crumbly and a few apple slices are showing. She sets it down in front of me and smiles proudly. "You will like this or there's something wrong with you."

Indigo starts giggling. "He looks threatened," she says.

"I don't know," I say, giving a shrug. "I'll try it if it means that much to you but let me finish my mashed potatoes."

"The mashed potatoes are good," Quince says. "I'd take a bullet for them."

"You kids these days," their grandmother sighs. "Some claiming you'd die for your food."

"Hey, I don't need a reason, I'd just take a bullet," Remington sighs with a hint of our generations humor for me to understand. I start laughing under my breath and he catches me in a glance, smiling to himself.

The pie is really good. I can't explain it, just the way the crust crumbles but doesn't taste dry or flaky and the apples aren't sour or soggy and the sauce isn't overly sweetened. It tastes the way Bath and Body Works smells for their fall collections, the pure freshness of apples. It tastes like crisp autumn.

Jenna's dad starts clearing off the table, and his brother starts putting away the food. Amelia and I help Jenna and her cousins bring the dirty dishes to her dad. "Grandma, you have Cards?" Quince asks.

"Oh, you know I brought them," she says. "I may be old but my memory is still sharp."

"Cards?" I ask, facing Jenna.

She looks at me with a guilty smile. "Cards Against Humanity?" she says. She starts chuckles. "Your face just dropped so I take it you know what that is."

"Of course I do, are you guys playing?"

"Hell yeah, we are," Remington says, "and you're joining us."

"I-no," I say, shaking my head. "You're parents and grandparents are here, I'm really...I can be inappropriate," I whisper.

I feel a hand on my shoulder and I glance to see it's their grandmother. "Frank, dear, you're playing with us and believe me when I tell you that I have decades of experience to have a much dirtier mind than you are capable of." I start laughing and she walks past me, helping her sons put away the dishes. "Quince," she calls out, "you start shuffling and dealing out the cards."

Well after a several dozen rounds, we have collected just laughed about every single topic that should not be laughed about, murder being the most innocent of them. And to my surprise, their grandmother is winning. Vivi is asleep on the couch with her mom and grandfather and Langston is watching some cartoon on the flat screen. The front door opens while we are supposed to finish the card Why Can't I Sleep At Night? Jenna turns around and there's a rustling coming from the front. There's low murmuring before I hear footsteps running and fading away.

"I got this!" Indigo says, slamming one of her cards down.

"That's what you think," Quince says.

"Hey, everyone!" I turn around and see Cody's mom walking over to us all, wearing a nice outfit and silver earrings. "Happy Thanksgiving."

"Happy Thanksgiving," we all murmur in unison. She goes around the table, giving everyone a hug.

"How are you?" Jenna asks when she comes over to her.

"I'm doing alright, tired and hungry."

"I'll get you some food, honey," Jenna's dad says, standing up.

"Oh, thank you, dear." She walks around and smiles at me, giving me a small hug. "Playing Cards?"

"Yeah," Indigo says, "and Grandma's winning again."

"I'm not surprised."

"How's Cody?" Amelia asks in a soft voice.

She pauses, giving a soft look. "He's a little distraught, said he wasn't hungry but I know he's just...he's angry, you know how he is."

"Yeah," Jenna says.

"Hey, Jim?" Amelia calls out. "Could I bring Cody a plate up to him? I know what he likes."

"If you want, that's very nice," he says. Amelia gets up and sets her cards face down, walking back over to the counters. "You staying the night?"

"Yeah," she says, "and I think Frank is too." I nod.

"Alright, he may be out of it but just give him some space tonight," her dad says.

I look at Jenna concerned. "He's okay, don't worry," she reassures me. "He's just...he's angry his life is the way it is and he doesn't like the holidays because it reminds him."

"Oh," I say quietly. There's nothing else I really can say. Here I am at school complaining about my parents while Cody's family is split up and he lost his dad.

Amelia grabs a napkin and a set of silverware. "Hey, could you get me the strawberry kiwi bottle?" she asks, balancing a dinner plate piled with a mountain of food as well as a dinner plate with an apple pie slice and little squares of fudge. "That's his favorite drink."

"Yeah," I say, reaching back and grabbing one for her. "You able to carry all that?"

"I've got this, I got mad skills, bro," she says in an obnoxiously edgy voice.

"Don't ever do that again," Jenna mutters. Amelia laughs to herself and heads to the stairs.

"Why Can't I Sleep At Night?" Jenna's uncle reads. He picks up the other card and sighs. "White People." Off to a great start.

Eventually, we stop playing cards and start talking, Indigo and Quince went to lay down on the couch and they've fallen asleep too. Langston is still up, watching some Lego series with ninjas. Jenna and I talk about how we met and our classes. Remington talks about his school and his classes. We eventually go back and have more mashed potatoes and pie. It's around midnight with her cousins and grandparents leave. Vivi stays asleep but Quince and Indigo are woken up, groggy and dazed as they put on their shoes and coats. Remington and Langston are still fully awake.

When they all leave, Jenna and I offer to help them put away the dishes but her parents tell us that we've done a good job and we could go hang out upstairs, seeing how the others are doing.

"They're probably in one of Cody's rooms, probably his bedroom," she says. "He might be asleep or they're just talking."

"They've been up there a while," I say as we head up the stairs. When we make it to Cody's room, we hear low whispers.