Kirsty’s eyes blearily opened as she felt a stream of warm sunlight burning its mark across her face. She glanced at the large glass window over the other side of the room and scowled at the small crack in the curtains that was allowing the light in.
          Reluctantly she pushed the covers back, padded over to the evil drapes and moved to close them properly. Kirsty paused and instead opened them up fully, allowing the morning light to fill the room.
          "What are you doing?" Ross grumbled from somewhere under the large doona that was covered in exotic looking Indian elephants.
          "Seizing the day," Kirsty smiled, taking in several deep breaths.
          "I can find you something better than the day to seize," Ross mused sleepily as Kirsty sauntered back over to the bed.
          "I think I did enough of that in Chris’s pool thankyou," Kirsty chided as she crawled across the monolith of a bed to lean against Ross.
          "That’s true," he agreed. "I did a bit of seizing of my own."
          "Until Bear tried to join in."
          "Yeah, that was a little creepy."
          "It took you a while to work out that it wasn’t me licking the small of your back."
          "It was dark," Ross pouted. "How was I supposed to know the difference?"
          "Surely the tongue of a dog and the tongue of a woman would feel different."
          Ross pondered a moment. "You’d be surprised how similar they are actually. When I was at college we got some strawberry jam and…" his voice trailed off as Kirsty’s expression changed to mild disgust. "…Had breakfast, hey do you think Chris has cornflakes?"
          "Please don’t ever finish that story," Kirsty said in a soft, controlled voice.
          "About the cornflakes?" Ross said innocently before Kirsty snatched up one of the Indian elephant clad pillows and belted him over the head.

          A short while later, Kirsty insisted they hunt out breakfast and Ross agreed, hoping it might be a reprieve from being beaten anymore. As they headed downstairs Kirsty made no attempt to keep quiet and stomped on every single step.
          "Kirst, shouldn’t you be quiet," Ross announced in a whisper. "Jools is asleep on the couch."
          "All the more reason to be loud," Kirsty grinned evilly and made the biggest bang as she leapt off the last few stairs onto the floor.
          "You’re not very compassionate are you?" Ross mused as Kirsty sauntered into the kitchen and switched the radio on loudly.
          "Hey, it’s not my fault they decided to consume large amounts of alcohol," Kirsty shrugged as she opened the fridge door.
          "I could have consumed large amounts of alcohol too you know," Ross sighed.
          "Then why didn’t you?" Kirsty asked, looking over her shoulder at him briefly and then piling various supplies on the sideboard.
          "Good point," Ross frowned. "It probably had something to do with the possibility of having sex but hey, today is a new day right?"
          "Right," Kirsty nodded. "I can do bacon, eggs, sausages and tomato."
          "So, I’ll make up for my lack of drinking today," Ross grinned. "And a fry up sounds great," he added. "Think I’ll go see if Jools wants any…"

          Julia was in a dark hallway, she could hear something breathing behind her and she took off at a run. The more she ran, the louder the breathing got and then suddenly she was thrown to the floor and something heavy pressed on her chest. She gagged, choked and gave a silent scream as she fought whatever it was.
          Suddenly her eyes flicked open and Julia let out a yell. "GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF!"
          "No, I only do that for her," Ross declared, smiling mischievously down at Julia and motioning to Kirsty who was busy in the kitchen. He was perched on Julia’s abdomen and seemed to be intent on staying there.
          "Get off me Mutt," Julia scowled groggily giving him a shove.
          "Hmm, no," Ross smirked and Julia let out a huff. Her head was throbbing, she was over tired and this was the last thing she needed.
          "Fine, I don’t care," she groused and closed her eyes.
          "You’re not allowed to sleep," Ross declared and bounced a little. Julia felt her stomach lurch.
          "I really wouldn’t do that if I were you."
          "Not a little queasy are you?"
          "No not a little," Julia grumbled. "A lot actually."
          "Won’t want me doing this then," Ross grinned and bounced some more.
          "Ross!" Julia snarled and gave him the hardest push she could. He let out a few unnatural noises as he was forced to his feet, staggered back and knocked a crystal bowl off the coffee table. They froze as it fell, in what seemed slow motion, onto the carpet.
          "Thank god for plush carpet," Ross gasped as he quickly put the unscathed bowl back on the table.
          "Ross, leave Jools alone and come in here," Kirsty ordered. "Before you actually destroy something."
          "Can’t you chain him up outside with Bear?" Julia groused, resettling herself on the couch.

          Julia was just settling back to sleep with thoughts of giant marshmallows in her head when the quiet was shattered by more stomping on the stairs and through the room. She blearily caught a glimpse of Liam stumbling out of the door in his undies before pulling the quilt back over her head. Liam walked across the patio and past the ornamental birdbath before literally falling into the pool. He swam a couple of laps before he climbed back out again, feeling vaguely refreshed. He walked, still dripping, into the kitchen and sat down at the table.
          "What’s for brekkie?"
          "Do you want a towel or something?" Kirsty asked, eyeing the growing wet patches on the Italian tiles.
          "Nah, it’s warm today I’ll dry off soon," he shrugged as he grabbed a plate and cutlery from the pile on the table.
          "JOOLS YOU WANT SOME BREAKFAST?" Kirsty shouted into the living room.
          "WHY CAN’T YOU JUST LET ME FUCKING SLEEP?" Julia wailed.
          "I’ll take that as a no then," Kirsty mused as she turned the bacon over.
          "Liam, want a beer mate?" Ross asked, fishing one out of the fridge for himself.
          "It’s 10am," Liam said blankly.
          "And?" Ross shrugged. "That’s not answering my question Princess."
          "Only weirdos and alcoholics drink at 10am."
          "Well, I’m one of the two," Ross mused. "You pick which one."
          "Weirdo, definitely weirdo," Kirsty muttered and received a black look from Ross. "Sorry hon but you know it’s true."
          "The teachers at school said I was special," Ross pouted.
          "They said I was one step away from a juvenile detention centre," Liam added.
          "Really? What’d you do?" Kirsty queried.
          "A small Bunsen burner exploding and setting fire to half the people in my class incident," Liam replied nonchalantly.
          "Yeah fair enough," Ross nodded as he poured beer onto his cornflakes. "Hey Kirst, what’d the teachers say about you at school?"
          "Not much really," She sighed. "Apart from the skipping rope incident."
          "Which was?" Liam pressed.
          "I whipped a fellow six year old."
          "Hmmm saucy," Ross mused, looking impressed.
          "What’d the teachers say about Jools?" Liam mused.
          "Oh she was the one they had the most hope for," Kirsty enthused. "They didn’t know her like we did."
          "Come on, there must be something," Ross chided before taking a mouthful of his beer soaked cornflakes.
          "No really, there’s not."
          "That’s kinda disappointing really," Liam sighed. "Don’t tell her about the Bunsen burner incident."
          "Liam, do you have a criminal record?" Ross asked cheekily.
          "Or that," Liam mumbled sheepishly.
          "Cool, what’d you do to get that?" Kirsty gasped as she dished out the bacon and eggs.
          "Spot the journalist wannabe," Ross grinned and was soon wearing a bowl for a hat and dressed in beer scented cornflakes. "I have cornflakes in my pubes."
          "You’re wearing pants," Liam announced. "Please tell me you’re wearing pants."
          Ross grinned impishly, picked a cornflake off himself and ate it.
          "So what did you do to get a criminal record?" Kirsty asked, sitting herself near Ross.
          "A small Bunsen burner incident involving the science teacher’s car," Liam mused. "He failed me."
          "You gave half the class third degree burns and destroyed the teacher’s car," Kirsty chided. "I can see why you have a criminal record."
          "I have a cornflake in my arse crack," Ross declared, fishing it out and eating it.
          "That’s fucking disgusting you dirty mutt," Kirsty announced and slapped him across the head.
          "Well I wasn’t gonna wait for you to get down there and fish it out," he muttered, rubbing his head. "What’s that look for?"
          "Just trying to remind myself why I pined for you for weeks," Kirsty sighed.
          "I think it was desperation," Liam mused. "Maybe you were just depressed or on mind altering substances."

          The shrill tune of ‘Jingle Bells’ echoed through the silent, dark bedroom which Penny and Chris had somehow found their way too in the previous night’s drunken stupor.
          "That’s your phone Christopher," Penny scowled as she poked Chris in the side.
          "That’s nice," he mumbled. "If it’s important they’ll leave a message." No sooner were the words out of his mouth than the phone sent the caller to messagebank and all was quiet for a total of ten seconds, before the ringing started again.
          "That’s the third time, you’d better answer it," Penny groused.
          "Why?"
          "Because it’s your phone, and if it keeps ringing I may be forced to break it," she informed him as she started jabbing him in the side furiously.
          "Ok, just stop poking me will you," Chris muttered. "It’s starting to hurt." He picked up his phone and looked at the screen to see who was calling. He groaned as he saw it read ‘Mother’ and decided he’d better answer it.
          "Hello mother," he grunted.
          "Christopher do you have any idea of what the time is?" Angie shrieked.
          "Uh, no."
          "It’s 10:30. Where are you? You were supposed to be here hours ago. Everyone’s waiting for you to arrive here. I can’t believe you’d be late for your family’s traditional Boxing Day barbecue."
          "Mum, Dad doesn’t even start cooking it until noon. Why should we be there now?"
          "Christopher you know everyone gets here early and what do you mean by we?"
          "Well I’ll be bringing Pen with me Mum."
          "Oh, you’re back with her then?" Angie sighed. "What time will you two be here then?"
          "Noon."
          "Christopher that will most certainly not do! I expect you to be here in half an hour. I’ve just sent Ronald round to your place with the car to pick you up. I expect he’ll be there soon, so you two better he ready." Angie hung up abruptly and Chris sighed as he looked at the phone in anger.
          "What’s the problem?" Penny asked, her voice slightly muffled by the quilt.
          "Mum’s sending Ron around to pick us up and take us to her family barbecue. Actually, she’s already sent him so I daresay he’ll be here soon. We’d better get showered and changed and everything,"
          "Chris I’m hungover. The last thing I need is that demon in my way all day," Penny grumbled. "Is your brother going to be there?"
          "Why?"
          "I’m not sure I can deal with all his save the dustmite shit at the moment."
          "Pen, you’ll be fine," Chris soothed squeezing her arm. "Now hurry up and get in the shower," he added before laying back on the bed.
          "We haven’t moved yet," Penny mused, five minutes later.
          "I know, but I really don’t want to get up."
          "I’ll wash your back if you wash mine," Penny offered.
          It was a further five minutes before they finally threw the covers off to finally shower and change.

          Julia was half asleep as she sat on the couch listening to the others in the kitchen. For some unknown reason she’d started humming ‘The Wombles’ theme and then realised that her phone was ringing. She grabbed it off the coffee table, wondering how it got there in the first place, and groaned as she saw ‘mum and dad home’ flashing on the screen.
          "Hello?"
          "Oh you are up," Faye gushed.
          "Just. Why?"
          "We’re going looking at wedding venues today and we wanted to know if you were going to come."
          "Who’s we?"
          "Me, your sister, nanna, the kids, Luke and everyone else really."
          "What do you need me for then?"
          "Well, you are her sister and one of the bridesmaids you know. I thought you’d be a little more interested in your sisters wedding Julia. I’m surprised at you…" Julia’s mind drifted off and she started humming circus music. All the while her mothers voice rambling on about the wedding and everything associated with it. "…Don’t you think? Julia are you even listening to me?"
          "Every word."
          "Are you drunk?"
          "Of course not!" she replied indignantly. "That was last night."
          "Liam’s welcome to come too you know."
          "Oh, he’ll be absolutely thrilled," Julia sighed. "What time are you going?"
          "We expect you here for lunch and we’re going as soon as we’ve finished eating."
          "Fantastic. See you then," Julia sighed as she ended the call. She got up from the couch and wandered into the kitchen. Ross appeared to be picking up cornflakes one by one and putting them back into his bowl while Kirsty and Liam seemed to be in deep conversation about something not entirely legal.
          "Well all you’d have to do is jimmy the lock," Liam pointed out.
          "What about security cameras?" Kirsty asked.
          "The trick with security cameras is…JOOLS! Good morning" Liam beamed.
          "I don’t want to know what you two are planning to do and what is he doing?" Julia asked, pointing to Ross.
          "Beerflakes," Kirsty replied. "There was a small bowl tipping on the head incident."
          "To go with the Bunsen burner in the classroom and the teachers car?" Julia mused.
          "Fucking wench of a girlfriend," Ross mumbled, still picking up cornflakes.
          "Clean it all up and I’ll give you a blowjob," Kirsty replied bluntly.
          "Love you," Ross chirped and started cleaning up quicker.
          "Is it just me or do guys have two pastimes," Kirsty breathed. "Eating and fucking?"
          "No, it’s just the guys we know," Julia nodded.
          "Excuse me. I play sport," Liam countered.
          "Oh and that makes you a well rounded human being" Kirsty sarced.
          "Oh, we’re going looking at wedding venues with the family" Julia piped up and Liam’s face fell.
          "Why?" he cried. "Why did you say yes? What’s wrong with you?"
          "Chronic stupidity," Kirsty sniggered.
          "If I wasn’t really hungover I’d hit you," Julia groused.
          "What time do we have to be there then?" Liam sighed.
          "For lunch."
          "Oh yeah!" There was a loud thump from under the table as Ross’s head collided with its solid mahogany underside. "That reminds me. We’ve gotta be at my parents for lunch."
          "I’m meeting your parents?" Kirsty gasped, starting to go into panic mode. "They’ll hate me. They always hate me."
          "No, that was because you told you last boyfriends parents that they had the beliefs of fascist jellyfish," Julia chided.
          "Oh god they’re gonna hate you," Ross grinned, poking his head out from under the table
          "Ross you’re not helping me here," Kirsty sighed. "Is there anything else I need to be aware of?"
          "Um, they’re religious zealots."
          "Oh Christ," Kirsty groaned.
          "Yeah, they’re gonna hate you," Julia laughed, patting her friend on the back.
          "If you weren’t hungover I’d hit you," Kirsty groused, narrowing her eyes.
          "That’s never stopped you before," Julia giggled.
          "Gotta go, bye, lock up on your way out," Chris babbled as he and Penny dashed through the kitchen and into the loungeroom.
          "WAIT!" Kirsty screeched. "Where are you two going?"
          "Chris’s mum’s sending the car for us," Penny breathed. "We’re going to her traditional Boxing Day barbie," Penny replied as Chris dragged her toward the front door.
          "Don’t do anything stupid," Julia called after them.
          "We’ll try to," Chris yelled as he and Penny climbed into what was a waiting limousine.
          "I guess we’d better get going soon too then," Julia sighed, running her fingers through her curls.
          "Do we really have to?" Liam sulked, resting his head in his hands.
          "Unfortunately," Julia nodded. "So you’d better shower and change before we go."
          "Only if you come and wash my back," Liam smirked.
          "I think I can manage that," Julia perked and followed him out of the room.
          Ross popped up from under the table immediately. "I’m ready for my blowjob now!"
          Kirsty rolled her eyes and smacked her head on the table. "Such a moron," she mumbled.