Everything Kai said as she started to explain her fears and anxieties hit home with Eric. Her fears were his fears. He loved to think about romantic relationships, and it was something he definitely wanted to have someday, but...it did scare him. "I worry about that, too." he said quietly, for once not trying to make her feel better by giving any sort of advice. He wasn't good at it anyway, so why bother with it? Sometimes people just needed empathy. They didn't need an explanation of their problems or ways to fix it, sometimes they just needed someone to understand.

Eric was this kind of person. He enjoyed the feeling of being close to someone, having someone to cry into when the world went dark, having someone to rely on when things got shaky, and having that overall connection with someone was so important to him. Words didn't do much for Eric when trying to console him, he needed touch and he needed to feel like the other person genuinely cared and understood. He needed to feel like the other person truly cared.

Although Eric spent a lot of time alone, that didn't mean that he wanted to be alone forever. He wanted someone to hold, to hug, to cuddle and kiss. He wanted that connection with somone special, and it terrified him to think that he may not find that someone. What if he wasn't good enough for anyone? What if he couldn't hold a relationship? He was prone to pushing things off until he was forced to deal with it too, but he was already at the age where he didn't want to do that with relationships.

He feared that if he waited too long to start looking around, everyone would see him as someone who wasn't interested at all and then it would be too late. He was still young, both of them were. He was a freshman in high school and she was an eigth grader, but they were both old enough to begin to taste the beginnings of real life. Eric's father was starting to let him in on jokes that were typically reserved for adults or older children, and he was allowed to watch movies he could never have dreamed of watching in middle school.

The older he got, the more privileges he gained, and it served as a constant reminder that he wasn't some silly little boy anymore. He was growing up, and with growing came changes. Changes he didn't have much control over too, like his voice. It wasn't the voice of a litle boy, it was the voice of a boy easing into adulthood. Still cracking a little at the most random of times, a bit deeper, yet still the gentle tone he almost always carried. As he grew, he would grow into his voice more naturally, and it would be a voice he would carry for the rest of his life. A soothing, calm, gentle sound that was a bit unusual for most men to have.

She thanked him as he answered the infamous question, a wry smile placed on her lips. He nodded, swallowing and shifting slightly on his feet. The short game of tag had indeed lifted his spirits, and all was fun until it wasn't. He'd come to a short stop, and as he stood still watching the cop drive away....the echos of their laughs faded.

Once again he was reminded of the darkness in life, and that it wasn't always happy. For the first time, he felt something well up inside of him. It was the feeling of protectiveness, strength, and a bull-headed stubborness that he'd never felt so strongly before. Sure, Kai was his best friend and in turn he always felt the small need to stand up for her and protect her. That much was evident from day one, when he'd stood up for her on the first day of school.

But this was different. Much different. Eric was now married to the knowledge that not everyone saw the world like he did, and not everyone saw the innocence in children his age and older. Eric was left standing here with the knowledge that the officer had assumed the worst, and he was aware that he no longer looked like a cute little innocent boy. He was a high schooler now, and in turn he was responsible for any actions he took. If someone assumed something and had power over him to attack, he could be severely punished, even if he was innocent in the matter.

Eric no longer had to feel like he had to protect her from other people, but he was aware now that he had to protect her from himself as well. He had to be more mindful of his actions and their surroundings, and he felt the almost overwhelming need to prove that he was no harm to her. He couldn't be with her all the time obviously, but he knew that whenever he was, he would be more alert and pay attention to more things. He would always be on the ready to defend her, protect her, help her, and be there when she needed him.

When she asked him if he wanted to race, he felt a bit more happiness slip inside. This time, he wouldn't be left in the dust. She might get mad, but she wouldn't stay mad for long. With no warning, he bolted, laughing to himself as he looked to see her scrambling to chase after him. He felt cruel, but not too much so, and it was all in good fun.

To no ones surprise, he reached the door of her house first, placing his hand on it. He stood up a bit straighter, his chest rising and falling, his breath visible in the cold winter air. He chuckled a bit as he watched Kai struggle to make it to the door, bending over all out of breath when she finally made it. She huffed out three words, which sent him into a small fit of giggles.

"How the tables have turned," he said softly with a teasing lilt. He stepped to the side, giving her an ornery smile as he let her open the door and walk in first. She called out to her mother to let her know their presence. Eric felt the change in temperature right away, his freezing hands quickly beginning to sting, burn, and tingle because of the warmth of the house. He slipped off his shoes and jacket, following her into the house once again.

He rubbed his hands together, trying to warm them as they emerged into a room. The only place to sit was next to a rather young looking girl who Eric assumed to be one of Kai's cousins. She was watching My Little Pony on the tv, and the corners of Eric's mouth turned up into a slight smile at the sight. It was at moments like these where he questioned if he was actually a male. Here he was, watching Disney movies with Kai as many times as she wanted to, and now he was going to sit in on an episode of My Little Pony with her and her cousin. Did he mind? Not at all.

Maybe being able to tolerate (and quietly enjoy) such activities was a good quality for him to have, even though it would press teasing from other guys his age if they knew. Kai asked him if he cared, and he shrugged, shaking his head in reply. Of course he didn't care.

"If I can watch princess movies with you I think I can handle some pretty ponies." He gave her a grin and sat down. He wasn't sure if she wanted to talk or do anything, but the blaring brightness of the cartoon was a bit hard to ignore. Each time Kai got sucked in, so would he. She apologized ofr doing so, and suggested that they go someplace else to concentrate. He wouldn't admit it to her, but he secretly wouldn't mind staying here. There wasn't a ton he needed to talk about, and he was a bit afraid of the conversation turning serious again.

She shot him a grin, and began to tease him once again about his racing tactic. He put up his hands and smiled, his blue eyes bright with mischief. "Alright, alright!" he exclaimed, laughing. "I admit, I cheated. I'll take that. But I'll take a second round no cheating, I'm up for the longer distance challenge." He knew with a longer distance Kai would undoubtedly win, but was he going to admit that to her? No. Of course not. What was the fun in that? Besides, if he acted confident and cocky it would give her even more of a reason to boast, brag, and tease him when she won.

He liked to see her happy, so he would egg it on if he could. "Crush me, huh?" he asked, his eyes sparkling. "Challenge accepted my friend." The sound of her mother's voice broke the teasing, and he straightened his posture, his expression falling into a more genuine well behaved one. His ears perked at the sound of the sport, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to get roped into playing. He enjoyed basketball a lot, but...around kids his own age. He was slightly uncomfortable with the idea of being surrounded by adult and young adult men who he didn't know.

Besides, he and Kai had just come in from the cold, he wasn't sure if he wanted to get back out in it. He looked at Kai, not sure what to say. He could tell she was feeling a bit stuffy and enclosed again, but with all the men leaving the house would feel less cramped, especially since most of the younger kids seemed to be preoccupied with tv and toys. From Eric's observation it appeared that Lisa could use some extra help, since maybe only one or two other women were helping her. Even then, they had to keep leaving the room to check on the younger children.

"What do you want to do?" he asked her quietly when her mother was out of earshot. He knew either way it may still stress her out, but he personally felt more comfortable around the women rather than the men, and helping her mother would at least make them useful. "I'm good with whatever, but it does look like your mother could use some help." He nodded into the kitchen, his eyes following an aunt who rushed out to head over to a toddler who was beginning to get into some things he shouldn't be.

Eric giggled as she snapped back at his comment. She seemed to always have a reply to any statement he made. She was a quick thinker, and he appreciated her comebacks, even if he didn't outwardly show it. It was complicated, how she made him feel. He didn't understand or comprehend the blantant fact that he had a crush on poor Kailey. He didn't want to believe that he did. Deep down, he supposed he did know. He was aware of his feelings, but he didn't linger on them, and he often shoved them aside and made them out to be insignificant and meaningless. He couldn't have feelings for her, she was his best friend.

But aren't you supposed to marry your best friend? he questioned himself again, reminded of his mother's philosophy. Well yes, he did agree with that. But did it have to be taken so literally? Maybe it had a deeper meaning, maybe it was more intricate than that. He didn't have to be worrying about this yet anyway, he didn't need a girlfriend, he didn't need the satisfaction. He just needed her friendship, which he obviously already had.

He told himself he was being selfish and needy and once again pushed aside the fluttering in his stomach and the lovely pain in his chest as he looked at her. "Hey now," he said, his tone becoming playfully warning. "Don't cross a line." He was fair and honest a good portion of the time. The only times he wasn't was if he was playing a game that wasn't serious, or if it was a serious situation in which he felt it was best to lie. For safety or other reasons. It was situational, but for the majority of the time Eric was faithful, honest, and true.

"Come on, you love me and you know it." he said teasingly, although his voice dropped significantly into a more calm and gentle tone. He hadn't meant it to come out that way, and even though it was slight, it was obvious to tell the difference. Not to mention the fact that his accent had slipped into the sentence as well, directly hinting at the fact that he wasn't completely kidding and that his true self was coming through.

He followed her quietly into the room, staying silent as he watched the interaction between her and her cousin. The girl didn't look very pleased, but she moved regardless, allowing room for both Kai and Eric to sit down. He let Kai go first, then followed suit, sitting down next to her. Even still, there wasn't much room for him to sit, his side pressed tightly up against the arm of the couch. His shoulder rested against Kai, as well his his leg. On a normal basis, he wouldn't think much of it. But for some reason, since someone else was sitting with them, he felt worried that he was too close. He felt as if he wasn't giving her enough space.

He didn't worry for much longer however, as Kai's cousin propped her legs up onto her lap, her toes brushing softly against Eric. He didn't mind, but he did shift a little as Kai glanced apologetically over at him. He gave her a small smile before his eyes were drawn to the tv. Several long moments went by, with the three of them watching the show, before the girl's voice interrupted. Her question was startling to Eric, so forward and blunt. So startling in fact, that the first thing out of his mouth was an amused breath.

Kai of course gave the answer, but her younger cousin continued to press. Kai shot him a helpless look, and he shrugged. It wasn't worth it to argue with her, it didn't matter too much. They knew what they were, even if nobody else did. "It's okay," he whispered quietly to her. He had sat up a little in order to see her cousin's face, so he settled back into the couch now that the conversation was over.

Joking and teasing between them started up again, and he continued to push down any fluttering feelings that popped up during the midst of it. The lines of flirting and teasing were beginning to become fuzzy, and his emotions were blurring how he interpreted things. Finally, the decision about where to go was made, and he stood up. He was a bit relieved, because he didn't exactly want to be outside any longer than he had to be, plus he had just begun to get warm and comfortable again.

He bumped her shoulder in a light affectionate way before following her and her mother into the kitchen. Lisa accepted their willingness to help, and Eric did his part. About halfway through the job, he set a plate inside the washer and pulled out his phone. He set his phone on the counter, shooting Kai a mischievous grin. Pretty soon, upbeat Disney songs began playing, and he went back to helping, humming along and occasionally belting out lyrics in a playful manner, yet still being able to carry a tune.

Once or twice he was handed a spoon, only to over exaggeratingly pretend to use it as a microphone before putting it in the dishwasher where it belonged. It wasn't often that he had fun doing chore-like work, but he found that music almost always seemed to make things better. When the short Disney playlist was through, an automatic suggestion song began to play. Because of the holidays, it was naturally a Christmas song, and one Eric should have expected to play next.

Pretty soon, the iconic sound of Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas was blaring through Eric's phone. His first reaction was a laugh, to which he quickly glanced over at Kai. As much as it was overplayed, he didn't mind it. It was by no means a song that he enjoyed. In fact, it was one he very often made fun of, but it was upbeat, peppy, and overall fun to hear play around Christmas.

For a moment Kai thought she might have done something wrong, but she realized he was still playing around. The race had been totally for fun. There were a few times, when she raced against her friends more seriously. She had raced against cousins before, and some of the less scruplous would cheat, because they hated to lose. She got a lot of delight, when she beat them without cheating. She was just that speedy. "Yeah, I do," she playfully pushed him away some to keep the movement going, so they wouldn't get bogged down in a serious moment.

At first it was a little awkward the way they were sitting, but her cousin made it natural. Eric was pretty easy going, but she still felt bad that he was being squished and slightly laid on. Apparently, either they were going to have to act differently around others, or get used to people assuming that they were a couple. She raised a brow at Eric, not sure how to take his breath of laughter. "Conspiracy theorist," she whispered to Eric, meaning that her family members were making up things that weren't true with their vivid imaginations.

She did give up arguing the case. She wasn't sure if it was okay to give up, or if she should keep fighting, but she was tired of trying to convince them. They were too stubborn. It was odd. She knew that all of their joking around was platonic, and shouldn't be taken seriously, but sometimes it sort of played with her emotions. She just pushed it away, and reminded herself that they were just friends. Nothing was going to happen between them. She was becoming slightly sleepy here warm and comfortable. She needed to get up.

She wasn't sure if her mother would accept help or not. Sometimes, she wanted help, othertimes, she didn't want the guest working while they were at her house. During Christmas was commonly one of the exceptions. She was often drained and tired, so she accepted any help that was offered. She set to work without talking, because she wanted to get through it was quickly as possible. Even though it might be more fun to talk, chatting often slowed her down. It made her feel stupid to admit, but it took some brain power to chat, and it was channeled away from her ability to scrub.

She stared at Eric, wondering why he had stopped to get out his phone. It was unusual for him to text anyone when they were together, much less when they were doing something together, even if it was an unsavory. She grinned as Disney music began to blast from his phone. She was surprised that he was willing to do that, when there were still a few people left in the house, who he didn't know. She began to sing at the top of her lungs. When it came to low notes, or especially high notes, it was off, but otherwise she held the tune decently. She loved to dramatically sing high, so it always sounded worse than it had to. She preferred to sing what she couldn't sing well badly, so no one knew how badly she really sang.

She had never gotten the point of holding a spoon as a microphone. She had never gotten the hang of singing iwth a microphone. Either way, he kept her grinning and laughing, which was much different than their silent somber atmosphere of before. Kai knew it would take them even longer, but she started doing full on dancing, hand motions and facial expressions to the song All I want for Christmas. They were already halfway done, so she didn't feel as bad about goofing off.

She stopped short, when her angry cousin Katelynn appeared in front of her. Her eyes had been squinted shut with her head tilted back, and singing rather loudly. "Hell..." she began.

"SHUT UP KAI! I can't hear my TV!" her cousin had her arms raised into the air, and her face was becoming slightly red tinted.

"Sorry," she smiled amused that she had caused so much iritation. She wasn't sorry a bit. Apologizing was only reflexive.

"Why does everyone decide to interrupt, and become super noisey, when I am watching my show?" Katelynn huffed in a way that made Kai believe she was probably copying some adult in her life. "I thought I would finally get to watch my show in peace with everyone gone," she began walking back to her place on the couch.

Kai stopped singing and quickly finished. That was enough playing around. "I need to go get ready for the service," she told Eric, as she headed toward her room. She was a little wet from washing dishes. She always managed to splash herself, so she searched out something that was dry, and changed. After applying a light layer of mascara and lip gloss, she decided she was almost finished. Grabbing her shoes, she headed back into the common area. She would wait to put on her shoes until the last minute. If she had to run around and grab stuff, she felt that she could do it quicker barefooted.

She felt bad for not making sure that Eric was able to keep up, but she was only running around to do some last minute stuff, and to grab stuff she wanted to bring with her to the service. She had a few friends at church, who she had gotten little Christmas presents. She wished she had thought to invite Eric to the Youth Christmas party, but it had already happened. It couldn't happen too close to Christmas or none of the youth would be able to get away from their families to attend. The house had become crowded, chaotic, and confusing again. Many people were competing for the showers, and the others were hogging all of the rooms that had clothing in it, or the rooms that were private for changing.

Kai was glad that she had thought to get ready before the great rush. Most of them would be kind of late, since they had put off getting ready for too long. Most of the women were ready before the men. It was quite amusing when mothers who had to make sure their children were ready, including themselves, got ready before their husbands. Since they had to take separate cars, they tried to fit the women and children into two cars, and the men could come in the last one later.

Kai slipped on her shoes, and led the way to the car, they would ride in. She got in the car, and made sure that Eric got to sit near her. On her other side somehow Katelynn had managed to sit by Kai. Kai could see that Katelynn was still mad about earlier, but she decided she didn't care enough to try to reach out. Once they were at the church, she found a place to sit inside. She wasn't sure if her church friends wanted to sit together, or if they would go ahead and sit with their family. Her mother told her to be ready to go home as soon as possible. They had a lot of things to do.

Eric couldn't help but grin at her agreement and playful shove. He exaggerated the force of the shove by stepping a couple feet further than he could have, putting her in a position that made her seem more in control. It wasn't an intentional decision, but it was something that he'd subconsciously picked up from watching some of the more well mannered high school boys. Kyle for example, managed to uplift some of the girls he spent a lot of time with by making them appear stronger, more in control, and in general just agreeing with what they said instead of pushing for an argument.

Eric naturally wasn't bull-headed enough to start or last in an argument, so that wasn't a problem for him at all. But when it came to demonstrating strength he was one to show it in smaller ways. Such as protectiveness when it became necessary, or when playing sports. He valued his own abilities when it came to sports, especially a physical one. He was by no means the biggest one on the team at all, but he was one of the fittest and fastest.

Once on the couch, the awkward question about them dating had been brought up, and of course neither he nor Kai could really figure out how to prove it to anyone that they were nothing more than best friends. Kai made the comment saying that her family were conspiracy theorists, and he gave a small smile. She wasn't wrong in that for sure.

Once in the kitchen, Eric noticed Kai get straight to work. It was silent for a good portion of time except for the running water and the soft clinking as Eric slid the dishes into the washer. It was almost becoming an aching need for there to be some other sort of noise, but a noise that wouldn't be heard as annoying. So of course, music was the solution for him. He liked the quiet, but too much of it made things tense and awkward when it shouldn't be. He enjoyed music, and he knew Kai did as well.

Once the songs started, Kai burst out singing almost straight away. It took Eric a moment or two to warm up the courage to belt out any notes, even though it didn't take too much courage to do so. Once the Christmas song started, Eric was already comfortable enough to not care what anyone else thought. For him...it seemed as if it was just he and Kai having fun like always. It seemed like everybody else had faded away, and he wasn't afraid to be himself. He wasn't afraid to act goofy and look like a retard because...he was with Kai. He trusted her and he knew her well enough to know that she wouldn't judge him harshly for it, especially since she was doing some of the same things.

Her dancing led him to come towards her, grab her hand and let her do a spin and twirl away from his body. A wide grin split his face as he watched her, his singing being interrupted by a constant stream of giggles and laughter. He was aware of how stupid they both must look, but they were having fun so what did it matter? To the adults in the room they either were being annoying or looked "super cute." Either way, it wasn't going to stop him.

He did stop however, when he saw an angry faced cousin standing in front of Kai. She had stopped so suddenly that he bumped a little into her back, reaching out immediately and grabbing her arms to stop her from falling forward. He let his hands slide down them gently before letting go and stepping back a couple of steps.

Eric felt bad for angering her, but the cousin's yelling was a bit amusing, and he did his best to try and not smile as she was scolding her older cousin. She let out a dramatic little huff and spun around, walking back to her place on the couch to continue watching her show. Eric shot a glance over at Kai, an amused grin on his face. He went over to his phone and stopped the music, quietly finishing up.

He nodded as Kai told him she had to go get ready for the service, and he made his way quietly to a less crowded part of the house. He leaned up against the wall and pulled out his phone, scrolling through his social media while he waited. He glanced up and exchanged brief and somewhat awkward conversations with any family members that spoke to him, feeling a little odd and cold without Kai close to him.

He watched somewhat curiously as Kai darted past him and around the house, collecting items she would be bringing with her. Even though he hadn't spoken to her since she'd gotten ready, his observant eyes still caught her slight change in appearance. A light bit of makeup, maybe? He didn't try to follow her, knowing well enough that he wouldn't do well in keeping up anyway. He did move however, when all the men and older boys came flooding into the house upon return from their basketball playing.

He quickly backed away, trying to avoid the herd of masculinity as best as he could. It was sort of entertaining to watch everyone disappear and then emerge from the bathrooms and other rooms, seeing the change they'd put themselves through. Women went in with normal clothes and came out in nice outfits or dresses, faces covered in makeup.

He finally found and miandered his way over to Kai, who seemed to have gathered all of her belongings. He followed her out to the car, and slid into the seat next to her, once again feeling a bit packed in. It didn't matter too much though, and he didn't mind. It felt weird, going inside a church that he'd never been to before. He'd always gone to the church his mother had attended, but never had been to any others. This was a first for him walking through this church's doors.

It didn't take too long for Kai to find a seat, and he followed her quietly there, feeling the buzz and energy from the people filing in. It was the same sort of feeling he got before a play started, or waiting for a movie to start in the theater. The dull but excited little buzz of knowing that there's a show about to happen, that they are there to watch something or listen to something.

He watched casually as people he didn't know at all walked in, finding their seats and sitting down, hearing the vibrations of their voices as they spoke to their friends and family. He swallowed a bit nervously, his gaze traveling to his hands which were in his lap. He didn't know anyone but Kai and some members of her family, and he was beginning to feel like a young kid who'd just moved cities or something.

Kai had experienced that silence often made work quicker, even if it was more boring. It kept her concentrated and constant. Even though Kai could be chatty, she didn't mind silence, nor did she find it awkward. It would naturally happen, and words didn't need to be exchanged every moment, nor did noise need to be made. Kai could see that Eric must have found the silence on the oppressive awkward side, so she made an effort to add her voice to the noise. As it was her house, she knew that especially here, she would have to start before Eric became comfortable enough to sing. Kai tried not to care what others thought, even though she felt anxious most of the time. It wasn't natural, but she didn't want fear controlling her actions. Kai thought that even if she did tease Eric, he shouldn't be upset. She was doing the exact same thing, and he would know that she was just being playful.

She began to giggle, when he spun her around. She was happy that they could work together, and still goof off and have a good time without acting weird, or being afraid of what the other thought. They could be themselves around each other, and it was a very valuable friendship to have. She had to stop singing there for a moment, because her words were unintelligible through her heavy breathing. She wasn't sure how the adults would percieve this, but she had a feeling that they would find watching them amusing. They might find the noise level annoying, because they wanted to hear, or to get a break from noise. However, Kai could remind them that they were the ones working at the moment, so they deserved to goof off a little.

Kai was annoyed and amused that her younger cousin was the one who had stopped them, and that she let Katelynn stop them. Katelynn was just a bratty younger cousin. Why would Kai listen to her? Was she really that cowardly that she bowed to the whims of Katelynn? Kai's halt wasn't graceful, and Eric stopped her from falling too badly. She grimaced at Eric, glad that he was still able to be amused, but a little ticked at her entitled family member. Now they they had been interupted, she reflexively got back to work. When she realized the time, she began to run around trying to get ready.

She felt a little odd leaving Eric alone. They whole point of having him over was to spend time together. Personally, she knew if she were at his house, s e would prefer to follow him around, however, it was quicker and less complicated, if she could run around without his help. She had to weave through the wave of family members, and she knew they all needed showers, after passing by so close to all of them, one of her male cousins wasn't heading toward a shower, and she stopped near him. She was being quite rude, and brutally honest, but she had a group of friends at church.

Jason was a year older than her, and she wrinkled her nose at him. ""You reek. Go clean yourself. We're going to be at church, and we want you to be presentable," she scolded him with the practiced ease of a child who watched her mother. He stuck his tongue out at her refusing. She glared at him, but moved on. Not too long after, a shower opened, and she noticed that he took that opportunity.

She noted that Eric seemed to be overwhelmed by the crowd, so she tried to make her way back to his side to help shield him. She waited out some of the worst of it. It was amusing watching the mothers emerge, and how tough appearing they could be. Now that she was ready, she made sure everything was stabled that she could do herself. "What did you do while you were waiting for me to get ready?" she asked him, when they were in the car, and not afraid of being left at home. Honestly, Kai wasn't overly fond of visiting other churches. She loved her own, and couldn't imagine attending anywhere else. Kai found a seat quickly, because she knew the positions would be soon filled in such a short amount of time.

Many of the people in her congregation hadn't gotten to see each other with the various holiday crazy or Christmas plans, so they were visiting. She got up and went around to hug a few people, but she didn't want to leave Eric alone for too long. Even though he had come with her, she could see a few girls around their age, waiting to make some sort of move, even though they hadn't seen Eric before. It was always more fun to go say hi to the cute new kid. She would have thought they would think that Eric and Kai were together and respect their space.

"How do you feel being here? she asked him. As far as she knew they last time he had been in a church, had been his mother's funeral. She sat down beside him, as the music began to play. A few of her friends sat with her, and on Eric's side were some of her family members. She was feeling a little possessive, and glad that none of the church girls were sitting by Eric. A few of them were flirts, and she didn't really want Eric's attention diverted by someone else, even if there was nothing going on between them. They all arose, and began to sing some popular Christmas hymns. It was better worship music than usual, because the church band practiced more, and they had a choir.

When they sat back down the preacher went up to the pulpit, and talked about God's love, and the peace and joy that people should find during this time. After church was over, her mother began to collect family members, and heard them back toward the house. Kai tried to talk to a few more friends, but she had to do it on the way back to the car. Once they were in the car she sighed, "How did you like the Christmas Eve service?"

Eric instantly felt better as Kai finally approached him. He straightened his posture and slipped his phone into his pocket now that he had someone to focus his attention on. His phone often acted as a distraction or a protection for him when in crowds. It gave him something to turn his attention to so he didn't have to talk to people he didn't know. It gave him something to look at so he could avoi uncomfortable eye contact with strangers. He sidled a little closer to her, enough to feel the brush of her shoulder against his briefly before moving back a little. It was a small sign of reassurance for him that even he didn't fully understand.

Once in the car, she asked what he'd done while waiting for her to get ready. He shrugged. "Just on my phone." he answered quietly. "Some of your family came over to talk to me for a little bit once or twice, but..." he trailed off, giving her a bit of a shy smile and a small breath escaping from him. "I think I'm a little too shy for most people. Conversations just don't....flow." He gave a self depricating smile and ran his fingers through his hair before casting a slightly nervous glance out of the car window, the houses passing slowly by.

"You and Kyle seem to be about the only two I can be myself around." Once at the church, he stuck close to her. It was a bit overwhelming being inside of a church he wasn't used to. It was bad enough that he hadn't been inside a church to begin with since his mother's funeral, which put a small damper on the mood. It wasn't too bad though, and he quickly brushed the small cloud of negativity aside.

Kai got up and began going around and greeting people. Eric immediately stood up as she did, feeling his heart do a fearful flip upon the realization that she was getting up and leaving him. It hadn't been too bad at the house, but now it was ten times worse for him to not be by her side. In a building he'd never been in before, surrounded by extended family of hers he didn't know, plus a good portion of townspeople he didn't know at all. He swallowed nervously, debating on if he should follow her or not.

I'm such a baby. he thought to himself, clenching his jaw and ultimately deciding to stay put and let her do her thing. No need for him to be annoyingly clingy. He kept an eye on her though, just in case she wandered too far and left him completely isolated. If she did, he would go and find her so he didn't have to put up with awkward conversation starters from the adults starting to fill up the seats.

Among the adults though, Eric's eyes did catch a few rather pretty looking girls who seemed to be around he and Kai's age. One in particular seemed to be about a grade older than Eric, her hair long and black, pulled back into a french braid. Her skin was a soft pale and she wore a dark green dress with small black sequins that glittered in the light. He was too far away to say anything to her, but he felt his attention drawing back to her every little bit. By the third glance over at her, his heart took a leap when he noticed she was looking back. He quickly glanced away, his eyes searching to find Kai once again.

He finally spotted her, and a small smile began to grace his lips as she turned and began making her way back over to him. He did however shoot a look back over at the girl he'd never met before, blanching a bit as he noticed she and a couple of younger girls were making their way over as well. It took him a minute to conclude that they probably knew Kai and were friends with her since they all went to the same church. When this was realized, his nerved died down and he didn't feel as uncomfortable.

He sat down when she reached his side, some of her family taking their seats beside him on his other. The girls he didn't know the names of sat on Kai's other side, and he found himself scooting closer to Kailey so he wouldn't have to have any sort of physical contact with a person he didn't know very well.

She asked him how he felt being here, and he took a moment to reply, trying assess how he actually did feel. "Nervous." he said before giving her a self depricating smile. "But when am I not, really? It's okay, just different." He fell silent for a brief moment as he watched the band begin to play. "Haven't been in a church since my mom's funeral. Dad just won't go." He stood up as the songs began, singing along to the ones he knew, and listening to Kai on the ones he didn't. He made it a point to try and not look over at the other girls, slightly aware of jealousy and what it could cause, even if the jealous girl didn't even have feelings for him. He didn't know for sure how Kailey felt, but based on the responses he'd gotten earlier that day, he didn't think she had any sort of feelings towards him. Even still, he didn't want to take that chance.

He listened quietly to the sermon, but about halfway through found himself itching to leave. Even before when he attended church regularly, he could only handle it for so long before his mind began to wander and his creative side started to kick in and want him to do something. When the service was over, everyone bustled about, the hum of voices echoing within the church walls. Eric rose to his feet, staying behind Kai as she found her friends. The girl who he'd seen previously finally took the opportunity to approach him.

"Hey," she said, her voice smooth and kind. "I feel like I've seen you around before. Do you go to school here?"

"Elk Creek High, yeah." he answered, putting his hands in his pockets. His attention was flicking back and forth between her and Kailey, who was several steps ahead of him, talking with some of her other friends. The girl nodded.

"Do you do sports? I go to Silver Oak High, and I know we've played Elk Creek before. Maybe that's where I've seen you?" A smile small formed on his face at the mention of sports.

"Oh okay. That's probably it then. I do basketball, have been since sixth grade. I'm a freshman this year." A smile appeared on her face as well as they emerged into the lobby area, heading towards the doors.

"That's cool." she said. "I'm a sophomore. What did you say your name was?" In the lobby there was a desk with blank cards, sticky notes, and pens available for use if needed.

"Eric." he answered. The girl grabbed him by the sleeve as a sign to stop, and reached over to the table, her fingers grabbing a pen and index card. She quickly wrote something, and then handed it to him.

"Have a good night, Eric." she said, giving him a friendly smile before turning and finding her family, vanishing out the doors with them. Eric glanced around before looking down at the card. Scrawled across it in neat handwriting were the words,

Holly Burke, 970-266-8765

Eric folded it up and put it in his pocket, unsure of what to do with it. Would he call her? Probably not. It was very unlikely that he'd do so, even if he was intrested. Sure, she was nice and pretty but...he didn't know her and wasn't exactly comfortable trying to get to. He also felt strangely guilty for some reason, as if he was going against what Kai would want, even though he was 90 percent positive that she had no feelings for him whatsoever.

He caught up to her rather quickly, sideling up beside her to walk with her out to the car. Once inside, she asked him what he thought of the service. "It was nice." he answered. "I liked it." He paused for a second or two before pulling out the index card. "This girl gave me her number." Eric slid the card to her, a look of hesitant curiousity on his face. "I...don't think I'm going to call it. She was nice enough I guess but..." He shrugged. "Don't need to worry about it now."

Once back at Kai's house, Eric slipped out of the car and followed her into the house, taking off his jacket. He'd left the card with Holly's number on it in Kai's hands, he'd made no effort to take it back.

"Is there anything you want to do?" he asked. He wondered how long her extended family would be staying, and if they would leave tonight or tomorrow morning. Between the service and everything else he'd done that day, Eric's mind had completely brushed aside the brief comment and warning she'd made to him about the mistletoe at the very start of the evening.

She hated obstacles. He quieted inside the church. It was really too loud to have a real conversation, and going to say hi to friends she hadn’t seen in a while was more interesting than sitting there not being able to hear a word they were saying to each other. If she went to talk to friends, she could fairly easily guess what they were asking. She had noticed that Eric liked to follow her. She didn’t think she needed to invite him to go with her. He didn’t know any of the people she was going to talk to, and he became uncomfortable around them. At least at their seat, he would probably be left alone. A little part of her felt guilty for leaving him, however, she didn’t think just because she had a friend over, she should abandon the other ones she saw. She wasn’t sure how to balance that, so she went with what she wanted to do. She soon returned, because Eric appeared to be a little lost, and she didn’t want to make him feel bad.

Besides, she had gotten to at least say hi and hug everyone, but she had invited Eric to be here, so she should at least invite him to walk with her, if she were going to talk to more people. Kai frowned a little, because Eric's dad didn’t take him to church, but didn’t verbally reply. “Perhaps we can come pick you up on Sundays,” her face changed to a more pleasant expression. It was slightly hopeful, yet dubious that it might not work. Soon the service started, and she was happy to sing the Christmas carols, which was only a seasonal thing.

Kai often got bored in the middle of the sermon. She began to draw a face, and offered her notebook to Eric, for him to draw another part of the face. They could keep going until they had a suitably horrible figure. Her mother allowed her to draw, as long as she wasn’t being disruptive. With the girls, sometimes they traced a hand, and put jewelry on it, which was sort of hard to do, since a more aesthetic hand wouldn’t be covered in jewelry. It was a nice way to connect with everyone who was sitting together, and making sure everyone felt included, without being disruptive. Her friends began to talk to Kai, and she was slightly separated from Eric.

She was only about five feet away from him, but bodies made the distance seem greater. She kept a surreptitious eye on him, and was surprised to see a girl who was a year older than him approach him. How contradictory! She let herself leave Eric, but if one of the girl’s talked to him, it made her unhappy. She supposed hse wasn’t going to speak to other guys, but why should that make a difference. They didn’t like each other like that. Perhaps it was because guys took up a different territory, but if a girl started hanging out with Eric, she’d be stepping on Kai’s area. They might do things that Kai and Eric did together, while Eric did different things with his guy friends. It was childish to be jealous of Eric, because another potential friend might take time away that they would spend together.

It made her feel like an awful friend, but she had decided that it wasn’t that she was jealous of how this girl might like Eric. It was simply that if he spent time with his new girl, and made a new friend, there would be less time for her, which was super selfish, and she shouldn’t be like that. When they began to head out the door, Kai fell into step besides Eric. Even though her stomach was roiling at the thought, and she wasn’t sure if she would be able to talk to Holly too much again without being annoyed, she forced herself to be peppy. With a wide teasing grin, she nudged his shoulder.

“What did Holly want? Did I see her write her number down on a piece of paper? You should have gotten a profile picture, so you don’t forget who the number goes to.” Kai stepped back slightly, seeing that he wasn’t in a peppy mood to match her teasing. “How come?” Kai couldn’t understand not wanting to make more friends. If someone reached out that obviously to her, she would definitely try to befriend them. Did Eric want more friends? If so, he had to reach out, when people reached out to him. It was one of the first, and she considered the obvious rule to being social, and having friends.

She didn’t want to bug him too much, or be pushy. It wasn’t any of her business, and she knew that could quickly become annoying, and she didn’t want to scare Eric off. She was surprised when he gave her the number. She wasn’t sure what to do with it. She wasn’t sure if this was even Holly’s number. Even though she didn't think that Holly would ever do this, she had a suspicious thought. What if she was giving Eric a prank number? Kai wasn’t planning on testing this theory out, and she was certainly not going to mention one of her random fears. It seemed appropriate at this point to steer the conversation elsewhere, even though if she thought Eric was comfortable with an interrogation, she would have asked more questions.

However, questions often made him feel panicked, and she didn’t want to cause a breakdown of any kind. She wasn’t convinced that Eric liked the sermon. It sounded like the kind of routine thing you would say, and not necessarily mean. “Would you like to come back?” The jealous part of her reminded her that Eric would get to see Holly again. She liked being in the car near Eric, because even after a short jaunt through the outdoors, the car had had plenty of time to cool off, and being squished together meant preserving heat. While they were in the car, Kai had folded the paper a few times into various things. An airplane, and little squares being the preferred shape.

Now that she was in the house, she looked a little sheepish. “Sorry for bending your card. I’m not sure what you want to do with it. Would you like it back?” It almost felt like Eric was trying to get her approval, and she didn't want to stop him from making a friend. The easiest way to get where Kai wanted to go was from the entrance hallway and part mudroom to the living room. She left her coat here, as she was almost immediately warm once she was inside. As this had a lot of traffic, it also got a lot of people under the mistletoe in front of everyone. They were one of the last people, because they had been sitting in the back, and the parents didn’t wait for them.

Kai was just following the leader. Sometimes it was amusing and awkward, other times if it was someone with a husband, it was annoying, because she was normally in a rush to get somewhere else in the house. However, they rigorously adhered to the tradition. Mainly, because if another family member caught you, they would forcefully drag you back to the mistletoe. She found it odd, when everyone made a wide berth and went a different way, but she took the way she normally did, when it wasn’t the holidays, and almost continued going, when she realized that she was under the mistletoe.

She looked around for someone. She didn’t want to be trapped here for long. Katelynn was walking in, and saw Kai’s hopeful expression. “Heck no!” she shouted before running along. Kai rolled her eyes. No help from her unhelpful cousin. She turned her gaze upon Eric. She gave him a shy smile, but it was broader than normal, because she was kinda embarrassed to be in this predicament. Her cheeks were flushing from outside and inside heat. Most of her family members had headed off to change, so they would be alone for a little while.

Eric perked up a litte upon hearing her suggestion. Going to church with her family on Sundays would be refreshing and something to look forward to. He wouldn't have to sit bored at home and listen to his dad watch boring pawn shop shows. He could go spend time with his best friend and get back into what his mother had always insisted was very important for any person to have in their life.

"I would really like that," he said, his voice laced with a genuine kindness and gratitude towards her. He caught Holly looking at him and gave her a small smile before looking away. During the sermon, Eric noticed that Kai had opened her notebook and was busily doodling away inside its pages. At first he thought nothing of it, for he used to do the same when attending church regularly. He was however not suspecting her to slide it over to him. At first he thought she was just showing him what she'd done so far, but quickly came to realize that she was offering him to add on.

He gave her a small grin and took it, gently taking the pencil from her. He added onto it, trying to make it look at least somewhat decent but not taking his sweet time on it either. He'd been drawing and sketching for several years now, self taught in a lot of areas, but he still saw lots of places where he could improve. He slid it back to her, and the small group of kids added on and on until it had gone from suitable to pretty much horrifying.

It was fun though, and he enjoyed the time spent. When the service was over, his slightly awkward encounter with Holly began almost right away. Eric was nice of course, but he was prone to being awkward around the opposite sex, and it wasn't hard to make him nervous or embarrassed. He hoped that someday he would outgrow most of it if not all of it, but he didn't think that was very likely at all. It hadn't exactly changed much within the last ten years of his life.

As flattered as he was to have yet another girl somehow take interest in him, he was unsure about accepting the invitation of a new friendship that could perhaps grow into something more. It seemed to be the focus of a lot of girls right now to get into a relationship just to have one. He didn't know Holly at all, and maybe he was being unfair by not wanting to give her a chance. But could anyone blame him? He was shy, far from outgoing, and he was intimidated by girls who wanted to talk to him solely for the purpose of maybe getting to date him.

He stood for a moment in silence, watching her walk out the doors before taking one last look at the paper in his hands. It wasn't up for much debate. His decision was quickly made. He wouldn't be calling that number, even if it was legit. He was pretty positive that it was her real number, which almost made him more nervous than if it wasn't.

It wasn't too long before Kai appeared by his side, her shoulder nudging his own as she teased him about what had just happened. Normally he was all up for this sort of thing, and would have happily replied back in a similar way to herself. But for some reason he wasn't feeling quite as peppy as usual. Maybe it was just because of the stress of the day. Being surrounded by a bunch of people he barely knew plus being inside a building he wasn't used to surrounded by even more strangers. As an obvious introvert, it was quite exhausting to be in public around a lot of people for too long.

He found himself wanting desperately to just be back at Kai's house and have some time alone with her. Just her. Nobody else. No interruptions, nothing to take up their time. He just wanted to sit down and enjoy her company, whether that be talking or even just being quiet for awhile while watching a movie. His dad hadn't given him a time to be home, but mostly because by now he trusted that Eric knew what was too late. He also trusted that Eric knew what time was rude to stay past, unless told otherwise by Kai's parents.

Regardless of his slightly dampered and exhausted state, he still gave her a smile in response to her teasing and a small nudge back. "Yeah she wanted to talk." he answered her. "Guess she wants me to call her but..." he trailed off and shrugged. Kailey asked him why he wouldn't, and he shrugged again. "I don't know. Just...have all the friends I need and want right now." He shot her a shy smile. "You know me. I don't do well with groups. And adding another friend gives me less time to spend with the ones I have." He was an intimate person. He liked small groups and one on one time. He wasn't like Kyle. Kyle was boisterous and enjoyed large groups with loud people and fun games.

Eric liked quiet time, drawing, watching a movie, talking, and just being close with someone. He liked the feeling of being able to put his trust in someone else, and you just couldn't do that in a large group who constantly had to be doing something to have fun. He liked going on trips and doing fun things but...he enjoyed doing that with one other person. One. Because it was more enjoyable for him that way. He could preserve memories easier, take in the beauty of the situations, and get quality time with someone he liked.

He was the kind of person who could cuddle and lay with you for hours on end if need be, someone who wanted to always be there for support and love, and someone who craved an intimate relationship with someone else, whether it was romantic or not.

"Besides," he added quietly to her. "I like spending time with you, and if Holly has any interest in me I'm sure it's because she just wants a chance to date. If she has that in mind then...I lose time with you." His slightly teasing grin faded a little, and he looked down at his lap for a second before shifting his gaze out the window. "I don't want to lose time with you." If he was older and knew her even better than he did now, he would have reached over a little and grabbed her hand. But he didn't, because he was having doubts and was worried about how she may take it. It would just take time. They'd only known each other for a year, and they were still young. It took time for people to really know each other, and the same would go for Eric and Kailey.

She asked him if he would want to come back to the church, and he gave her a smile. "Of course." he said. "I liked the Sunday idea you had. I'm sure my dad would be fine with it, as long as he knew he wasn't going to be forced to go." Eric watched observantly as Kai folded the paper into various shapes, not really caring much at all what she did with it. He wouldn't be calling Holly, so the paper was Kai's to destroy if she wanted.

Once inside, she looked a bit apologetic, and offered him the crumpled paper back. He smiled and shook his head, giggling a little. "No, I don't want it back." he said. "You can throw it away if you want. Or keep it, I don't care." He shrugged, giving her a goofy expression that read,

I don't know what you'd exactly want to keep it for but go ahead if you want to.

Eric was passing under the doorway when he noticed the Kai had stopped. He stopped as well, giving her a confused look as he heard her younger cousin shout a disgusted "no!" before running away. Kai turned to look at him, and he took a slight step back, still confused. He recognized the type of grin on her face, and his heart dropped with nerves as he glanced upward, his blue eyes falling upon the dreaded decoration.

He felt his cheeks flush, and he gave her a nervous and slightly embarrassed grin. He knew what he was supposed to do, but he was scared to do it. She wasn't pushing him away or rushing to leave the doorway, so...did she want him to? Was she expecting him to? He took a step closer, a very slight teasing look in his eyes. He reached out, his fingers brushing lightly against hers before gently taking her hand.

"I feel like I'm supposed to," he whispered, feeling as if he was going to start giggling. It felt weird, because the simple decoration made it feel forced, as if he was supposed to do it, and if he didn't it would be wrong or offensive. He decided that he wouldn't kiss her like most people would, instead, he decided it was best to kiss her on the cheek. After all, they weren't a couple and he was worried that if he kissed her on the lips it would be far too awkward.

He leaned forward, moving her hair aside before brushing his lips against her cheek, the touch gentle and smooth. Not too long, not too short. Simple and easy, and the least awkward he could make it.

However...

What is this? he wondered, feeling his heart begin to flutter wildly in his chest as he backed away, letting his hand slowly fall out of her hold. It was beating far faster than it normally did, faster than it should be even for something like this. It was a kiss on the cheek! It shouldn't be causing such a wild free feeling inside of him. Why was this nervousness still present? Why did he feel the desire to do it again?

He took another small step back, clearing out from underneath the mistletoe. He cleared his throat a little and glanced down before looking around to make sure no snoopy cousins had seen. He didn't want to be teased about it, even though usually he wouldn't mind. He was beginning to feel very confused, and an explanation for it was prickling in the back of his mind. He continued to push it aside, not wanting to believe that he was forming a crush on his best friend. It just couldn't be so.

He looked towards the game room, wondering if she wanted to go in there, or if she wanted to stay in the living room for awhile and hang out. Maybe watch a movie or something. "Is your extended family going to be here for awhile still?" he asked, trying not to focus too much on the kiss and the odd feeling swirling about inside of him.