The snow was falling heavily as Stephanie walked up the stone path to stand under the cover of the patio in front of the door to her parent's house, a beautiful and modern two-story building. Inside, the festivities of the Blaine family Christmas party could be heard. Stephanie paused for a moment to allow her anxiety to settle. Glancing at the crowded driveway and at the cars on the side of the street, she could expect that everyone would be here as usual. Her aunt and uncle were here, along with her three cousins, who were similar in age. Her other uncle was here, too, alone for the first time Stephanie could remember. Her grandparents on her Dad's side were here. Stephanie heard her younger sister, Daphne, yelling at one of her cousins. She smiled slightly; everything was as it always was- almost
A more longing survey of the cars told her that there was one person still missing, and she sighed.
Suddenly the door opened and Stephanie was startled by the sudden appearance of Daphne. "Are you going to stand out here in the cold?" she asked beaming at her big sister.
"No," Stephanie said smiling warmly. "I suppose not." She giggled as Daphne grabbed her hand and pulled her inside.
It was warm and filled with the smells of Christmas. There was a collection of Christmas songs by various artists playing on repeat. Her parents greeted her warmly as they always did. Living in the same area all their lives, her presence there was common place. Stephanie's aunt and uncles, however, hadn't seen her since last year, and smothered her with flattery just like every time. She awkwardly stumbled through greeting her family as she made her way into the living room to take a seat on the couch, Daphne still attached to her. One of her cousins, Damien, strode over to her and pressed a glass into her hand as she sat down.
Stephanie regarded him quizzically, to which he responded with a mischievous wink that made her blush. He was handsome- tall with short dark hair and hazel eyes. She and Damien had always got along great, and he always managed to cheer her up if she was feeling down. His brother Kyle was younger and was Daphne's nemesis, which Stephanie always found humorous. Damien had a sister as well, Kelly, who was the same age but couldn't stand Stephanie. Stephanie had never figured out why, but it was easy enough to avoid her most times.
If he ever shows up, she'll turn into the life of the party, as usual, Stephanie thought.
"Do I even want to know?" Stephanie asked Damien as she eyed the dark liquid inside her glass.
"No," he answered raising one brow. "But how else are we going to get through another one of these?" He touched her shoulder and returned to mingling, allowing her to settle in for a moment, Daphne still by her side.
"Can I have some?" Daphne chirped.
Stephanie gave her a pleading look. "You know you're not supposed to."
Daphne hugged her sisters arm. "Please?" she begged dramatically.
"Geeze..." Stephanie playfully tried to shake her sister off. The girl was a ball of unrelenting energy. "Take a sip, and not a word of this passes your lips to anyone."
"Yay," she answered energetically. Daphne accepted the glass from her sister, looking around to make sure it was safe.
She took a gulp and almost threw the glass back her sister in a fit of coughing and gagging, before Stephanie, laughing hysterically, quickly secured it from her and gave her a playful push.
"I need water!" And Daphne fled to the kitchen.
Eyeing the drink more closely after witnessing that reaction, Stephanie decided she wouldn't test it. She looked around for Damien, hoping that he would not be disappointed that she was going to pass on drinking alcohol that night.
Finally alone on the couch, Stephanie sat back and crossed her legs, absently smoothing the wrinkles in her jeans. She hadn't felt much like getting fancied up. Her long blonde hair cascaded about her shoulders unchecked, and she pulled it over to one side as she watched her family carry on. As she was adjusting the top button of her pink long-sleeved shirt, Stephanie noticed Kelly approaching her out of the corner of her eye.
She pretended not to notice, but Kelly engaged her anyway.
"Well look what the cat dragged in," she said snarkily. "I missed you, cousin, how have you been?"
Kelly had clearly made the apposite decision about drinking alcohol. "Oh just fine, Kelly," Stephanie said gritting her teeth. She hated this charade, which they played out every time they saw each other. "And how are you?" she forced herself to ask.
"Good," Kelly said as uninterested as a person could possibly be. "Do you know when he is going to be coming?"
The question felt like a slap in the face every time. "No," she responded curtly. Her hands were shaking. She looked at the glass of dark liquid again, considering her options. Her anxiety was beginning to come on full force, which always happened when she was forced to deal with Kelly, but she didn't want to start taking her medication so soon in the evening.
"Oh my god, okay," Kelly said obviously picking up on Stephanie's dismissiveness. "You don't have to act like such a freak about it."
And with a roll of her eyes Kelly walked off.
Stephanie exhaled sharply and, without giving herself a chance to reconsider, took a few rapid gulps of the drink Damien had given her. She clenched her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut, praying for the burn to go away and praying harder that she wouldn't immediately vomit on her parent's carpet. Finally she allowed herself to exhale and it felt like she was breathing fire. It was in that moment that she realized just how much she despised Kelly.
It irked her that Kelly shared so many physical traits with ; she had the dark hair and hazel eyes, she was tall and had elegant features. What she did not share with her older brother was his charisma, intelligence, or basic appreciation for all the luxuries she enjoyed in her life.
"Atta girl," a voice behind her suddenly said, and a hand squeezed her shoulder.
She smiled sheepishly and shuddered; it was Damien, and he had noticed her sudden desperation for booze. She placed a hand on his to acknowledge his victory, and then he slipped away again. She watched him as he walked around the couch and approached her Dad, and she wondered what they were talking about.
Emboldened by his approval, Stephanie drained the rest of the drink and slapped the glass down on the coffee table. The commotion garnered attention- another heart-fluttering wink from Damien and a concerned, not so impressed look from her father. She looked away, cursing herself. She saw Daphne picking on Kyle and it made her smile.
Daphne had inherited their father's darker features. She had the brown hair and hazel eyes that were in stark contrast to Stephanie's blonde hair and green eyes. Having just turned 18 years old two days ago, Daphne was considerably younger than her 22 year old sister. Stephanie smiled at the sound of Daphne's shrill laughter, which was completely at the expense of poor Kyle.
Her head was beginning to feel swimmy and her anxiety was still threatening to send her into a panic. Stephanie stood up and realized she was slightly not in control of her faculties. Nobody noticed, however, and she carefully made her way to the front door; she needed some air to clear her mind and calm down. It seemed that her nerves got worse and worse every year.
She walked out side and closed the door, muffling the noise of the chaos that was happening inside. Stephanie hugged her shoulders and exhaled, watching her breath in the freezing air and still feeling the fumes of the alcohol in her mouth.She walked down the patio to the other side of the house, trying to put distance between her and anyone who might open the front door to interrupt her brief alone time. The snow was falling hard and she realized that nobody was going to to be leaving tonight. They would all be in town for the next four days, anyway, so it didn't make much of a difference. Stephanie rolled her eyes and decided she was getting in her car and taking off no matter what, anything to avoid having to watch Kelly flaunt around in her sleep clothes the next morning, but she admitted to herself after that thought that it would be a foolish decision to try and drive anywhere in the storm. It was unfortunate, she thought, that her parent's house had more than enough space to accommodate the family sleep over. She stood there lost in thought, ignoring the freezing breeze as it swept its way around her.
"You'll catch your death out here."
His voice boomed in Stephanie's head and she stopped breathing. Her eyes widened and she swallowed hard. The shiver that rippled through her entire body had nothing to do with the temperature outside. Her heart was threatening to pound its way out of her chest as she slowly turned around to face him.
"Sebastian," she almost whispered.
Stephanie's older brother stood looking at her now, his emerald eyes holding her captive. She swallowed again, pushing her long hair behind her ears as she steeled herself against his gaze. Sebastian was here now. He was oblivious to what that meant to her, as he had always been. As the initial shock subsided, Stephanie hastily began damage control.
"Everybody has been waiting for you," she said as casually as she could muster.
Sebastian gazed into the snowy night. "The weather is slowing everything down."
"Kelly is asking about you," she blurted, and immediately chastised herself.
Stephanie saw Sebastian almost every day, it wasn't as though he was returning from a far away land. He was a trainer at the local mixed martial arts academy. He was also next in line to fight for the belt in the local circuit. She was his biggest fan. But more than that, for reasons that she had thus far refused to explore, and frankly didn't quite understand, his presence gave her the butterflies every time, and she hated herself for it.
"Not her again," he said taking a step closer and putting his hands in the pockets of his slacks.
Stephanie's heart was in her throat as he drew nearer to her, and there was no small amount of satisfaction for her in his response to Kelly's interest.
He smiled at her, his intense green eyes sparkling. "Let's just go get this over with," he said running a hand through his short blonde hair and gesturing toward the front door.
