"How'd the shopping trip go?" I asked as Dad and Taylor walked in the kitchen at seven o'clock that night.

They had gone on their traditional "Oh shit it's Christmas Eve and I need to buy gifts" shopping trip tonight, leaving me at home to make dinner and Christmas cookies before they got home. I didn't mind it though, it gave me time to clean up around the house and make dinner in peace. I'd also been trying to wrap Taylor's gifts for nearly a week now and he kept being nosey and trying to peek at what I had gotten him every time I tried.

"I got the best Christmas pajamas ever," Taylor smirked, bringing a bag into the kitchen.

"You do know that the point of the shopping trip was to buy other people gifts right?" I asked, trying to keep a straight face.

"That's why I got you a matching set," he said, pulling two identical red pajama sets out of a Pure Hockey bag. They, of course, were hockey themed with a Christmas tree made out of sticks, adorned with various types of hockey gear and rows of snowflakes constructed out of hockey sticks. The pants had the snowflakes on them and a Pure Hockey logo on the hip.

"Those are great," I laughed as he handed me mine.

"I knew you'd like it," he grinned, "What's for dinner?"

"Pork chops," I replied, "They should be almost done. I was just getting ready to put some corn on the burner and mash the potatoes in the sink."

"Sounds like a good time to go unload the car," he smirked.

"I can handle it," Dad laughed, "You two can finish dinner."

"After dinner we can frost cookies," I said, "The frosting is in the fridge and the cookies are cooling down over on the island."

"I think they're fine without frosting," Taylor said, walking over to 'inspect' the cookies.

"If you eat one I'll have to cut your fingers off," I smirked, knowing exactly what he was trying to do.

"Damn it," he grinned.

"If you put the potatoes in the bowl I'll mash them," I remarked, grabbing the hand held mixer out of the cabinet.

"Okay," he said, grabbing a bowl from the bottom cupboards and dumping the potatoes in.

"Can you grab the milk and butter?" I asked, plugging in the mixer, "You can pour some in there."

"That good?" he asked.

"Yeah," I replied before turning on the mixer.

I had spent a lot of time in the kitchen when I was growing up. When my mom first went to jail when I was 8, my dad's sister stayed with us for a few months until my dad could find a way to take care of Lisa and I while still working enough hours to pay for everything from bills to my ice bills to Lisa's new dance shoes. My aunt owned a bakery in a town about an hour from Buffalo and we'd spend hours in the kitchen making cookies, brownies, cakes, anything you could think of. I was too young to really realize that she was actually teaching us what Mom never bothered to. She knew that she'd eventually have to go home and Lisa and I would have to learn to do the cooking and the laundry and anything else that Mom had done before she went down the wrong road, Dad couldn't do it all.

"You okay?" Taylor asked.

"Yeah, just thinking," I replied.

"Your mom?" he asked.

"Yeah, whatever," I sighed, unplugging the mixer.

"You sure you're okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine," I replied.

"Whatever you say," he said, "But you know I'm here if you need me."

###

"Taylor stop eating the frosting!" I laughed as we frosted cookies at eleven o'clock that night.

"I'm not eating the frosting, I swear," he said.

"You have red frosting on your chin, I caught you red-chinned," I smirked.

"Well you have green frosting on your nose," he said.

"No I don't," I glared.

"Now you do," he smirked as he tapped me on the nose.

"Ugh, I swear you're five," I laughed.

"You're both five," Dad remarked.

"I'm definitely six," I replied, trying to be serious.

"Tess he's not going to take you seriously with green frosting on your nose," Taylor grinned.

"Bastard," I laughed, hitting him upside the head.

"Your phone is ringing Taylor," Dad remarked.

"Great," he sighed, picking up his phone and reading the caller ID, "It's my dad, I'll be out back."

"I feel so bad," I sighed as I sat there and watched him out the kitchen window.

"Me too," Dad sighed, standing next to me, "But we're doing as much as we can for him, we can't fix all his problems for him."

"I remind myself of that on a daily basis," I laughed halfheartedly.

"I'm glad you two are as close as you are," he said, "You need each other."

"Yeah," I said, "And I think we always have."

###

Taylor came back into the kitchen about twenty minutes later, told us he was going to bed, then silently went upstairs. I gave him his space for about twenty minutes before I went after him.

"You alright?" I asked as I quietly walked into my room to find him lying in the middle of the floor, his phone thrown across the room.

"Yeah," he said, "I'll be fine."

"What'd your dad want?" I asked, laying down next to him.

"Why I went to Buffalo instead of coming home," he replied.

"How'd he know you're here?" I asked.

"Apparently Tommy told him accidentally," he replied, "He was pissed and I'm pretty sure he was drunk."

"I'm sorry Tay," I sighed, grabbing his hand in mine.

"I just need to stay away from it, I don't even want to talk to him, or my mom because they're both the problem," he replied.

"I understand what you're saying," I said, "So tell them you don't want to hear about the drama anymore. Ignore their calls. They need to leave you out of their issues with each other."

"Thanks Tess," he said after a minute, "For everything."

"What are friends for?" I asked with a smile.

"What's been bugging you the past few days?" he asked after a minute or two of complete silence.

"Nothing," I replied quickly.

"Tess, you're a liar," he said.

"I don't know, I've just been thinking about my Mom a lot, you know?" I replied, "I'm still pissed at her more than anything I guess."

"It's okay to be pissed," he said, letting go of my hand and putting his arm around my shoulders.

"I know," I sighed.

"But I don't think you should even give her the time of day," he said, pulling me close, "She hasn't been a part of your life since you were seven, don't let her bring you down, okay?"

"Okay," I sighed.

"What was the sigh for?" he laughed.

"Because we're lying on the floor and I'm tired and don't want to get up but I want to sleep in bed," I said.

"Alrighty then," he said, pulling his arm away and standing up.

"What are you doing?" I asked as he bent over and scooped me up in his arms.

"Throwing you onto your bed," he grinned.

"Don't you even dare!" I giggled, throwing my arms around his neck.

"Alright then," he smiled, flopping onto the bed on his back with me still in his arms.

"I'm kind of digging this," I grinned, my head on his chest and my arms still around his neck.

"Me too," he smiled, kissing my cheek.

"You know, I thought this would take some getting used to but these last three weeks made me think otherwise," I said after a minute, "You know, the whole we're together now thing?"

"Yeah," he said, "The more I thought about it though the more it made sense. I think I've always had that feeling in the back of my mind, it just took some encouragement to make me realize it was there."

"You don't have to lie," I laughed.

"I'm not lying, I swear," he said, "Cross my heart."

"Then why didn't you listen to me about Kayla?" I asked.

"Because she wasn't that bad at first," he replied.

"Really Taylor, really?" I laughed, "I know what that translates to, FYI."

"You're the worst," he grinned.

"I know," I smiled, "But I know you wouldn't have it any other way."

"That, is very true," he sighed as his phone began to ring in his back pocket.

"Damn phone," I pouted as he let go of me and reached into his back pocket.

"I have to take this," he sighed as I sat down on the bed next to him, "I'll be right back."

"Alright then," I sighed as he went out to the balcony.

There was something bothering him since Kayla called and I couldn't figure out what exactly it was. I was trying to think of what she could possibly have on him that I didn't already know about. I knew he drank a lot, but it wasn't illegal and he sure as hell wouldn't get kicked off the team for it. Taylor didn't keep secrets from me and I didn't keep secrets from him, so I trusted that he wasn't taking part in any illegal behavior, I knew him too well to think otherwise. But as I watched him pace on the deck that night, I wondered what she could possibly have against him that was making him worry this much.

"You okay?" I asked as he came back in.

"Yeah," he replied.

"Kayla?" I asked.

"I don't want to talk about it Tess," he replied quietly.

"Okay," I said quietly, "G'night Tay."

"Goodnight Tess," he said, moving closer to me and eventually wrapping his arm around my waist and I was okay with that.

When we started break, I was hesitant about the whole relationship thing. It sounded like this fantastic thing in my head but as soon as he went to hold my hand or kiss me in front of anyone I was unsure of how I actually felt about it. But now, now I didn't want to let him out of my sight, I wanted to spend every waking minute of my day with him. It was funny how things can change and I was perfectly okay with how things were changing.

###

***