“I should tell you,” Ashley said, following Aaron downstairs to the front door; he was laden down with his bag and he was trying to find his jacket, to no avail. “That Skylar did come home for Christmas.”

Aaron spun around. “What?” He demanded, dropping his bag in the foyer. “You told me she didn’t.”

“I know what I told you,” Ashley replied softly, “But I lied. She didn’t…doesn’t…want to see you. I was only being her friend.”

He rolled his eyes and sighed; without looking at his sister, he said, “Ashley, where is she?”

“She’s where she’s always been.” Ashley opened the front door and pointed down the street. “Right down the street.”

*

Skylar answered the door wearing an oversized Speedo shirt and soccer shorts; she inhaled sharply when she saw him at her door.

“Hey,” Aaron said, attempting a smile, but failing.

“Hello.” Skylar leaned against the doorjamb, her arms across her chest. “I didn’t think you knew I was home.”

“I didn’t,” Aaron replied stiffly, “Until just now.”

A gust of wind blew up and nearly knocked Skylar over for the coldness of it all; she crouched down rubbing her legs quickly. “It’s freezing out there. I thought I was in California.”

“You are,” Aaron said softly, leaning down beside her. “Here.” He took her elbow and pulled her to her feet, kicking the door closed behind him; gently, he prodded her into the living room, a living room he actually knew just as well as his own.

He pushed her gently down onto the couch and grabbed the afghan her grandmother had made, draping it around her the best he could; she pulled her feet beneath her and sat there, staring at him as he took a seat beside her on the large couch.

“You should wear more than a t-shirt in December,” he said, leaning back against the back of the couch and gazing at her, a gentle smile on his face.

“I’m always cold,” she grumbled, wrapping the afghan closer around her.

“I know.”

Skylar looked at him, then, and found she couldn’t look away in anger like she’d done so many times over the past few months.

“Listen, I don’t know why you’re angry at me. I really don’t.” She opened her mouth to jump into a really heated tangent, when he put his finger to her lips and told her to shut up. “I know what you think you saw, but you didn’t see what you thought you saw.”

Aaron’s forehead crinkled in thought. “That’s not making any sense. Let me start over.”

“I’ll make it easy on you,” Skylar replied, pushing his finger away from her mouth. “I saw you and Amanda Beard making out in the hallway, all over each other, only several moments after you kissed me. And, okay, maybe that kiss didn‘t mean anything to you; maybe it was just a pity kiss, or a kiss meant for a friend, or a sister‘s friend, but God, it meant something to me.”

“Of course it meant something to me,” Aaron said, his voice low as he scooted closer to her on the couch to make sure she was looking at him, and couldn’t look away. “It freaked me out. I didn’t know…how I felt until I kissed you. I didn’t realize until then.”

Skylar sighed, shaking her head. “It doesn’t matter. I refuse to have anything to do with you if you’re having anything to do with her.”

“But I’m not.”

“You’re not. That’s not what it looked like.”

Aaron took her hand, and while she wanted to pull it out of his grasp, she found he had too good a hold on her. “She pushed me up against the wall and stuck her tongue down my throat. What was I supposed to do? Short of pushing her across the hall, I couldn’t think of anything.”

He began rubbing his thumb across hers, and Skylar tensed all over.

“Do you remember when you came downstairs with your hair wet on your first day in Indiana?”

Skylar looked perplexed. “Yeah…”

“You smelled really good; and you looked adorable all tired and grumpy. And it’s when I knew.”

She blinked at him. “Knew what?”

“That I loved you.”

She blinked again. “I don’t…quite understand.”

Aaron leaned forward and pressed his lips to her, gently at first, undemanding; one of his hands slid around to hold onto the back of her neck and she felt all the tenseness drain out of her body.

He pulled away, leaning his forehead against hers, a smile quirking his lips. “Hey.”

Skylar’s lips twitched. “Hey.”

“You know I’ve had a thing for you since we were younger. I just never knew.”

“No, I didn’t know that,” Skylar replied, pulling away slightly. “I do know that I’ve been in love with you since I was about fourteen…and honestly…I didn’t think it was real until…”

“Until what?”

“Until Scrabble,” she smirked, loving the feel of his palm pressed against her neck.

Aaron pulled Skylar toward him, and she lost herself in him; they never heard her parents returning home from a neighborhood party, and creeping quietly up the stairs. They didn’t hear Skylar’s cell phone ringing off the hook in her bedroom; Ashley, wondering what was going on.

She wrapped her arms around him, wrapping him up in the afghan with her, and they stayed there, on the couch, until morning.

*

“Well.” Ashley said, plopping down onto the coffee table and gazing at her friend and brother wrapped around each other.

Skylar blinked against the sudden sunlight, and felt a smile spread across her lips as she remembered the night before.

“Hi, Ash,” Skylar laughed, shifting slightly; Aaron was laying beside her, his arm draped across her stomach. He was still sound asleep, snoring lightly.

“I see things went well,” Ashley confirmed, nodding happily. “I’m glad.”

“Me too,” Skylar replied groggily.

“Okay, then I’m all set to go.”

“Go?” Skylar repeated, looking confused.

Ashley was halfway to the front door when she turned back around. “I’ve booked a flight to Australia. I leave in a few hours. I wasn’t about to let you have all the fun.”

Skylar chuckled. “Have fun, Ash.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Oh, I will.” Smiling, she pulled the front door open and tossed a goodbye over her shoulder before disappearing into the early morning sunlight.

Aaron woke up soon after, blinking rapidly and attempting to stretch but finding he had constricted movement.

He turned his head to look at Skylar, who was grinning at him. “Good morning.”

Skylar leaned forward, kissing him lightly. “Good morning.”

“I’m starved.”

She laughed. “Pancakes?”

“Yeah, but I’m making them.”

“I can cook,” Skylar replied indignantly, watching as Aaron climbed over her to stand up.

“Yes, you can,” Aaron stated, holding a hand out for her; she took it, grinning from ear to ear. “But I’d prefer to cook for you our first morning together.”

Another kiss. “I didn’t know you were so soft.”

Aaron cocked an eyebrow. “I guess you have a lot to learn, then.”