The next morning and afternoon flew by as Lennon and Kade took up the job of entertaining Benny, while Julie prepared for their Christmas party. As the event drew closer Lennon helped bath and dress her little brother. By the time she finished and walked back into the guest room, Kade was ready. He sat on the edge of the bed, his hair perfectly styled, wearing a crisp red button down and slacks.

"You look good! Got any plans tonight?" Lennon asked.

He studied her for a moment.

"I do. I have some people I gotta impress. Show them I care about my girl," he said. 

"You gotta girl? Better not let her catch you in my room," she said.

He forced a small laugh, his eyes serious. Lennon turned and reached for her bag.

"I'm gonna get ready. You can wait for me or go down without me. Either way is fine."

She didn't wait for a response before she left. She knew he could tell something was wrong and it was aggravating.

He hadn't asked about where she had slept the night before, when he had come downstairs that morning. He had just said good morning to everyone and joined Benny for breakfast. But she had caught him watching her throughout the day, a worried expression on his face. She tried to silently reassure him that everything was fine. But she could tell he didn't believe her.

********************

Someone called out Lennon's name as she was passing through the dining room. She refilled her champagne flute before she turned to find the person seeking her attention. She found a middle aged woman, with startling highlights and too much sequins on her dress, waving to her with a big, bright smile. Lennon drank half the glass in the few steps it took the woman to reach her.

"I thought that was you!" the woman said. "It's so good to see you again."
"It's good to see you again too," Lennon said.

The woman looked vaguely familiar, but so did everyone at the party. That was the problem with it being her dad and Julie's Christmas party. Lennon had only ever met everyone once before.

"We were all so happy to hear you would be here for Christmas!" the woman said.

Lennon took another sip of her drink.

"We all know how much your dad and Julie love having you around!"

"I'm happy to be here," Lennon said.

"I can tell Benjamin loves having his older sister around."

Lennon smiled and nodded.

"And I do have to say my daughter still hasn't stopped talking about this years Fourth of July party. Meeting you and getting to take a picture with you made her day! Thank you so much for doing that."

"It was my pleasure," Lennon said.

"She just loves you!"

The woman started in on a detailed story, about how her daughter had sung one of Hey Farewells songs at her school talent show. She was just pulling out her phone to show Lennon a video of it, when someone called to the woman.

Lennon let out a sigh of relief as she watched her go and finished her drink. She scanned the table with food but her stomach gave a small flip. She settled for refilling her glass and moved into the next room.

It felt like since the moment Lennon had come downstairs to join the party, someone was always chasing her down. They always wanted to express their joy that she was visiting and mentioned the Fourth of July party she had attended over the summer. She had only really seen Kade from across the room.

The youth population at the party was high. Lennon had a pretty good suspicion that Kade's name, whether intentional or not, had been mentioned when invitations had been sent out.

Lennon stepped into the family room and easily spotted Kade across the room. There was a good cushion of girls around him. The sight was oddly entertaining to her. She smiled while she watched Kade practice social politics. The gracious smile and keenly interested eyes. Her attention was pulled away from him when another woman approached her.

Their conversation played out similar to all the others Lennon had been having. But for some reason it didn't didn't seem to drag on Lennon's nerves like the others had.  She listened contentedly, sipping her drink, while the women talked about taking her daughters to Lennon's concert. Lennon found herself profusely thanking the woman after she finished the story. Her voice took on a giddy quality, but she wasn't even sure why.

Lennon glanced around the room after the woman left, an odd feeling settling into her stomach. She felt slightly lightheaded. She whipped around, heading back towards the food. The world tittered, her stomach flipped into her ribs and blood rushed to her brain. And just as suddenly as the dizziness had happened, it was gone.

She took a hesitant step. She found herself steady again and headed towards the food. When she reached the table, her stomach did another sickening flip. As she turned away from the food, her eyes caught that of a guy across the room. She held the gaze, knowing there was something familiar in it. Her staring encouraged him and he started towards her. Lennon racked her brain for his name, knowing she had met him at the Fourth of July party.

"Hey" he said, hesitantly.

"Don't tell me your name. I got this!" she said, staring at him intently.

He held her gaze for a moment before he gave a shy laugh and looked away.

"Can I refill your drink while you think?" he offered.

"Yes please!" she said, handing her glass over.

She watched as he refilled their drinks.

"Thanks," she said.

She sipped her drink as she studied his face.

"You're in school?" she said.

He nodded.

"Yes!" She cheered. "One point for me."

He laughed, his dimples sinking deep into his cheeks.

"And you are studying...?"

He matched her gaze and she squinted her eyes in an effort to try to remember. "Literature. You want to be a book editor?"

A spark of surprise lit up his face. Lennon did a small celebratory dance.

"Jason," she finally said.

"Lennon," he said.

"It's nice to see you again. How is school going?" she asked.

"Good. I just finished my second to last semester. Only one more and I graduate."

"Congratulations!" Lennon said, shocking herself at the high pitched volume of her voice.

"Thanks," he said, giving her a pleased smile.

Jason became friendlier the more they talked and Lennon found herself enjoying his company. Everything she said, came out sounding giddy and excited, which in turn made Jason smile more.

As Lennon laughed at a joke Jason had told her, she could feel herself losing her balance. She reached out and grabbed his arm to steady herself.

"Are you ok?" he half laughed.

She found her balance again and pulled back.

"I'm good," she said with a big smile.

"It looks like you are having fun over here," someone said from beside them.  Lennon started when she turned to find Kade giving her a tight smile.

"Hey!" she said.

"I thought I would come find you, since I haven't seen you all night," Kade said.

His tone was casual but his eyes were intent on her.

"Ok!" she said, eagerly wrapping an arm around him.

She turned to realize Jason was still standing there, but his expression had fallen. His eyes focused on Kade's arm slipped around Lennon's waist.

"I'm Jason," he said, offering his hand to Kade.

"It's nice to meet you," Kade said, shaking his hand.

Lennon could feel the air between the three of them becoming tense.

"I met Jason at the Fourth of July party!" Lennon explained. "He's going to school to be a book editor. He is almost done. He was just telling me his hilarious story from his trip to New York."

"Oh yeah?" Kade said.

"It wasn't that funny," Jason rushed to say.

"No, it was..." Lennon started to say.

"When did you go to New York?" Kade asked, cutting Lennon off.

"Over Thanksgiving break," Jason said.

Lennon felt slightly annoyed with Kade for cutting her off. Kade's tone was friendly and he made the conversation comfortable. But it didn't matter how smooth he was. Jason wasn't very interested in talking with Lennon's boyfriend. He quickly excused himself and left.

Lennon turned to Kade and gave him a playful smile.

"Having fun with all your girlfriends?" she asked.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked.

"Nothing. I feel great!" Lennon said.

She drank the last little bit of liquid in her glass. Kade's eyes zeroed in on the glass.

"Are you tipsy?" he asked quietly.

Lennon couldn't stop the smile from spreading across her face.

"Maybe!" she said playfully.

"How many of those have you had?" he asked.

He took her glass away. Lennon tried to remember, but her brain didn't feel like it was functioning at its correct speed.

"I dunno," she shrugged.

Kade pulled her close, sniffing her breath.

"Kade!" she said playfully.

She rested her hands on his chest to keep a few inches between them.

"We are in the middle of the party," she said.

She looked around pretending to be scandalized. He didn't laugh. He looked mad. He pulled away from her. Lennon saw one of the girls walk in their direction.

"One of your girlfriends is looking for you," she joked.

The frown stayed in place on Kade's face. She didn't understand what he was mad about. She felt great and energetic.

"Come with me," he said.

He grabbed her wrist and pulled her along with him. He led her into the kitchen, grabbing a few things as they went. Someone tried to stop them on their way to the back door, but Kade kept moving. He held the door open for Lennon and gave her a small push out.

The cold air was a shock to Lennon's system. It cleared her head instantly.

"It freezing," she said, rubbing her bare arms.

Her thin party dress didn't provide much protection and she started to shiver.

"The cold will be good for you. Here, eat this," Kade said.

He handed her a roll. Her stomach tightened and she shook her head.

"Lennon," he said more forcefully. "Eat it. It will help."

He grabbed her hand and put the roll in it. She went to protest, but his stony look stopped the words in her mouth. She took a big bite of roll. After two bites, her stomach started to feel better. She quickly finished the roll and ate another.

"Drink this," he said, handing her a bottle of water.

She took it and quickly drank the whole bottle.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"I feel fine," she said. "Just like I did before you dragged me out here."

"Why are you drinking?" he asked.

"It's a Christmas party. That's what people do."

"Not you," he countered, fixing her with a stern look. "I've known you for eight months and haven't seen you touch alcohol once. And that's not the only problem. You're acting weird."

Lennon kept her face set in a neutral expression. She had finally started to feel alright for the first time since they had arrived and now he was trying to kill her buzz.

"Lennon talk to me," he said, a hint of pleading in his voice.

"I'm cold," she said.

She moved past him into the party.

"Lennon," he said.

He caught her arm as she passed.

"Kade I'm fine," she said.

She gave him a steady look, before pulling her arm free and returning to the party.

**********************************************************************

Hey-woah! (It's an odd way to say hello. Say it out loud and it will make more sense)

So I think it is safe to say that we are chums. (Question: do people even use the word chums anymore?) And since we are chums (I think the jury is still out on that one) I want to ask you something. When you're in a crowd, do you ever say something and then instantly think, "wow I have to be the weirdest person in the world?" *crickets* Ha, yeah me neither *awkward laugh* Like what, me weird...that's...crazy...*sighs and turns way immediating running into a pole*

Vote, comment, follow, cause you know you would make a weird girl's day!